I GOT MAIL!

Hi there,
I'm back. Kinda. I decided to try out my OLD computer, since I have absolutely no idea when my other computer will be fixed. So, If this thing works I will work with it.


I received this beautiful card in the mail from my little sister Katie. I had signed up with the Secret Sisters on Splitcoast. It is really a great way to get to know a friend. Katie received her reveal package and sent me this great THANK YOU card.
I am the one who will have to say THANK YOU. I LOVE it! I just absolutely love the combination of pink and brown. Love the velum layer with the spots stamped on it.
THANK YOU KATIE!

COMPUTER CRASH AND PRAYER REQUEST

Hi,
Well, my computer crashed yesterday. I am posting from my dh's computer which he takes to work with him. I don't know how often I will be able to use it to post.
I hope you understand.
I would also like to ask for your prayers for my dh's job. He and 2 other men own a company, and by what he told me today, they might have to close it next week. Since we have basically invested everything in this business, it would be a terrible loss. Please pray that God may lead in this situation. Thank you very much!

DIRTY OR DISTRESSED?

I thought I would have a lot of time to stamp coming August, but I have not stamped much at all. I have finally come up with a couple of excuses:
1) - I have been feeling very depressed
2) - I have to deal with cronic fatigue syndrome
3) - My craft room is downstairs in the PIT and since I don't want to be down there when my kids are playing outside. Just can't do it.
So, today I did something about my last excuse. I put my stamping tools in a basket and went outside on the table on the deck and stamped while the kids were playing outside.



I used the sketch callenge 138 on SCS. I really liked it. I used mostly SU supplies minus the watercolor paper.
Paper: Card - Ruby Red, Layers - Marigold Morming and Choc. Chip. Layer under image is ruby red.
The Tiled layer is POLISHED STONE. I used reinker colors: creamy caramel, marigold morning and gold. To do this you take a cotton swab add some alcohol and a few drops of the reinkers. Dab this on glossy cardstock. When it has dried, spray with matte acrylic sealer.
The image is from the set GIVE THANKS. Stamped with Stasz-on Black and colored with watercolor pencils and blender pen.
On the one card I sponged the edges of all the layers making it DIRTY
The other card I distressed all the layers: DISTRESSED
I'm not sure which I like better. My dd Vanessa likes the dirty one.

THANKS FOR DROPPING BY. Hope you are having a beautiful day.

RAK from MJ

This is a RAK I received from MJ during my BUSY summer. I have it sitting here on my desk, and I suddenly realized that I have not shared it with you. Thank you so much MJ. I absolutely LOVE it. Love the colors and everything about it. It is so great to get such wonderful mail.

MY FIRST ATC!

I have seen ATC's and I think they can be very pretty, I'm just not sure what to do with them. But I got invited to an Italian themed swap on SCS after I posted this card. So, I have a hard time saying NO, especially if somebody is telling me that I did a good job. It took me quite awhile to come up with what to do with this ATC. Since it is supposed to be Italian, this (provencal) was the only stamp that looks Italian. I finally decided to do a tile look. I cut a piece of confetti white into 2" x 2 1/2" and scored it at every 1/2". I inked the stamp with versamark and put it on the paper. As it is scored the scored lines do not get ink. I then did Poppin' Pastels on the image with my pastels. The cardstock I used to layer it are: Bravo Burgandy and Marigold Morning (I stocked up on some). I added some brads as an extra accent. Not quite sure about them. What do you think? Would you like this ACT?

AND THE WINNER IS....

Thank you all for coming by and giving me your comments on your summer activities. Sounds like you all are having a great summer. I'm very glad that a part of your summer activities is checking out my blog. It is so much fun to meet you all from all over the place.

....Oh yes...
The reason why you're here right now is to see who won!
The winner is No. 13 from Random Number Generator. Who says 13 is an unlucky number?
So the 13th comment was from SHARON IN NE
Her comment on her summer activities:
"We went to Miami and Key West in May, so that just seemed to make the summer feel much longer. I love it. LOVE summer. Wish it were "lazy days" like the song."

Please email me your address so that I can get your snack out to you ASAP.

Thanks again for your lovely comments. And have a GREAT DAY!

AUG 3, 1996 - AUG 3 2007 11 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Yesterday was my DH and my 11th wedding anniversary. We did not do much to celebrate yesterday. My DH had worked till 4am the previous morning and he was dead tired. He did ask me to see if I could get a babysitter for the kids, but she was not available and also my little Matthew got sick in the afternoon. So, we just had a relaxing evening at home.
As a gift for "us", I made this picture frame with one of our wedding pictures.

I was not sure what to give John as a present. I had bought the heart charm on Sunday when we were in Victoria. It says "God blessed me with you". But I was not sure what he would do with the heart. All of a sudden I got inspired and decided to add it to a picture frame - Micheals $1.5. I used the retired RECOLLECTIONS SU DP. First I sponged some Antiquing medium on the frame. I used ModgePodge to adhere the paper. I sponged onto the frame over the paper too. I tied the charm with ribbon and added some more ribbon and gold cord for accent. The little tags in the bottom read LIFE LOVE & FOREVER. I had received these as a present from my Secret Sister on SCS. Just perfect. I really like how it turned out and John liked it too! It is hanging on our wall already!

Don't miss out on my Blog Snack further down!

SCETCH CHALLENGE TRY OUT

Hi everybody!
I'm having a hard time getting my stamping mojo back. But I need a card so I tried to use yesterday's scetch challenge on SCS.


I wanted to use some dp that I had lying around and that is where I came up with this color combo: Pale Plum, Pixie Pink(A BOLD COLOR!) and Olive Green. Something I definitely would not have come up on my own. I used the BIG BLOSSOMS SU set for the flower. I am not happy with the words. I used a clear set I got at Micheals. It is not a sharp image. Will have to learn how to use them.

Remember the BLOG SNACK . I will draw a name on Sunday. Be back on Monday so see who won!!!

I AM BACK - WITH A BLOG SNACK!

WOW! What a month July has been. We had company for almost the whole month. First my sister and family came and spent 2 weeks here. That was 12 people in the house. After they left I had 2 days to get ready for the next family. My 2 SIL's with their families came and spent 9 days with us. That was a total of 13 people. Now I am trying to get used to it only being us again. I have absolutely not had time to stamp. I have hardly had time to go on SCS. Now it is time for me to catch up. So I want to try out the challenges. Let's see if that will help me get creative again.

I want to share a blog snack with you. Just leave a comment on how you are spending your summer, how do you keep your kids ocupied when at home from school, your favorite food, anything.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!