Savor the Memories!

Can you believe it? This is the last day of November. ALREADY!

Where has the month gone?

The Crafters of Faith blog group is a GREAT group of women - I call them my Faith-Filled Friends. They inspire me - both with their faith and with their crafting ability. I love to visit their blogs and see what they've been making!

That being said, because this is the last day of the month, we're all in for a treat... because THIS IS THE DAY (don't you want to sing???) that the Crafters of Faith share their monthly project.

This is the day;

This is the day;

This is the day that the Lord has made!

We will rejoice;

We will rejoice;

We will rejoice and be glad in it!

Darlene is the hostess this month, which means she got to choose the theme. And WOW! What a theme it is! Such fun (though I will admit I had to think on this quite a bit before I decided what to make).

Here's what Darlene asked us to do:

Matthew 10:13-16
"People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them."

 
I have always loved the image that this brings to mind. The culture of the day was such that children were valued even less than women were, so once again, Jesus is teaching that he came for the least ones in society. My biggest pleasure in teaching Sunday School is always experiencing God's love and grace through the accepting eyes of children.
 

So, with that in mind, look through your treasure trove. What do you have that shows the innocence of childhood? The pleasure in simple things? The wonder of nature? The pure fun of our world? What speaks to that child-like spirit that you remember from your childhood? Try to create something that takes you back to your childish, unquestioning, innocent faith in God. Create a little bit of heaven on paper!


I love your idea, Darlene!!! THANK YOU!!!

Here's the card I made:

This card truly does speak of the child-like spirit I remember from my childhood! It was an incredible childhood. My dad's work was such that we moved a lot - every 3-6 months, to be exact. We even said it was like we were on a "constant vacation" because my parents made sure that we saw everything we could possibly see in the area where we lived, because we'd soon be loading up and moving again. The four of us (Daddy, Mama, my sister Jeannie, and I) really had experiences that we would have never had, if we'd lived in one location.

You probably noticed my card doesn't have any embellishments. I did that on purpose. Because of our constant moving, we learned to live without a lot of extra "stuff". It just meant that much more to move if we had it. I'm  not saying we did without, but what we had was time spent together!

I wouldn't trade my childhood for anyone's!

This is the inside of my card:

Oh, and did I mention... I loved to GIGGLE then, just as I do now!

Please be sure to stop by the other Crafters of Faith blogs today to see what they've made. You'll find the links in my left sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Image & Sentiments: The Cat's Pajamas Quality Time
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP! Cool Caribbean
Designer Paper: from my scrap file

Ho! Ho! Ho!

I hope you're having a great day! Some of you will be out shopping - enjoy the crowds! Me? I'm decorating for Christmas today! Love love LOVE Christmas!

I'll be listening to some Christmas music and enjoying my day immensely.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Merry Christmas!

I made this card for LJ's (LauraJean on SCS) Christmas swap. I love this Santa. He's a Peachy Keen stamp. The candy cane is a brad. I bought the brads when I was on vacation in Branson at a wonderful LSS there called Scrapbooks Forever. If you're ever in Branson, I highly recommend that you check out the store!

Here's the inside of my card:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Image & Sentiments: Peachy Keen Santa Set
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Red
Designer Paper: A Muse Studio
Embellishment: Eyelet Outlet Brad

Gobble! Gobble!

HAPPY

THANKSGIVING!

Today is a day to be spent eating too much (turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie), cheering a lot (for your favorite football team), watching parades (love those floats!), spending time with family, getting an early start on "Black Friday" shopping, and GIVING THANKS for all the blessings in our lives.

Oh, and since it's the 28th, this is also the day for the Calendar Girls to post their monthly project.

Here's our challenge for this month: Thanksgiving theme......anything goes.......food, thank you card, Thanksgiving anything. And as a wee bit of extra fun, let's include Barb's suggestion: share a story of the best or worst food we have eaten on that day in the past.

Here's the card I made:

The turkey on the front was made with punches and a pair of googly eyes.

Here's the inside of my card:

Now, about the best or worst food I've eaten on Thanksgiving...... for me, it's all about the homemade noodles! YUM!!! I only make them two or three times a year, since my husband doesn't eat them at all, so it's a special treat to have them.

I hope you'll go to the other Calendar Girl blogs and see what they have created, too. You'll find the links to their blogs in my left sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Sentiment: A Muse Studio Thankful for You
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock: Recollections Chocolate and Kraft and scraps from my scrap file
Designer Paper: from my scrap file
Embellishments: Michael's Rhinestones and Ribbon and Googly Eyes from unknown vendors

Wishing You Well

I love Penny Black stamps so every time Barb (barbaralynn on SCS) has a Penny Black / Whipper Snapper swap, I have to join.

She just had one. This is the card I made...

I sure wish I'd made the Teddy Bear's shirt red instead of blue. 

Oh well, too late now!

Here's the inside of my card: 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Image: Penny Black Wishing You Well
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP! Cool Caribbean
Designer Paper: from my scrap file
Embellishments: Eyelet Outlet Brads

Thankful for YOU!

In this week of Thanksgiving, I just want you to know that I am thankful for all of you, my faithful blog followers. 

You check out my blog often... and leave the sweetest comments. You make my day! THANK YOU!!!

Today I have some more autumn types of cards to show you. These are for two different challenges: The {PIN}Spirational Challenge and the Twisted Tuesday Challenge.

Twisted Tuesday

"Autumn Thankfulness"

November 26 - December 9

Theme: Make your creation a fall theme

Twist: Make it a thank you theme also

Here's my card:

I used the Peachy Keen Build a Scarecrow stamp set to make the scarecrow, along with some punched ovals.

Actually, this was my second card. My first attempt at the card looked like this:

I decided it needed some designer paper. 

Here's the inside of my card:

* * * * *

{PIN}Spirational Challenge

November 26 - December 2

This is the photo to {PIN}Spire us:

The sponsors for this week's {PIN}Spirational Challenge are:

Anne's Cards 4 U

and

Eureka Stamps

I want to THANK both of our GREAT Sponsors! Each have provided images for the Design Team's use as well as a great prize package for a lucky participant in this week's {PIN}Spirational Challenge!

I used a Eureka Stamps image to make my card:

Eureka Stamps Scarecrow and Sunflowers

Here's the inside of my card:

I hope you'll play along in the {PIN}Spirational Challenge and the Twisted Tuesday Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Image: Peachy Keen Build a Scarecrow
Sentiments: A Muse Studio Autumn Beauty and Unity Scarecrow Thankful for You
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Chocolate and Kraft and Stampin' UP! Pumpkin Pie
Designer Paper: from scrap file
Embellishments: Stampin' UP! Ivory Grosgrain Ribbon and Brads from an unknown vendor

Image: Eureka Stamps Scarecrow and Sunflowers
Ink: Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP! Riding Hood Red
Designer Paper: from my scrap file
Embellishments: Michael's Rhinestones

Happy Fall, Y'All!

I don't know about you and where you live, but here in central Illinois it's feeling more like winter than fall. Brrr!!!

But the calendar still says it's FALL, and the MelonHeadz Friends has a fall theme for the new challenge that begins today.

MelonHeadz Friends Challenge

November 25 - December 8

Theme: FALL COLORS

I made a CAS card, using a sentiment and leaves from the MelonHeadz Happy Fall Bundle.

I love how the leaves turned out. I printed them in different sizes onto designer paper and fussy cut them out. The larger one is glued directly onto the card and the smaller one is popped up with a pop dot to give the card some dimension.

Here's the inside of my card:

I hope you'll participate in the MelonHeadz Friends Fall Colors Challenge. I'd love to see what you make! Remember, it's about the COLORS of FALL!

I am so glad you stopped by my blog today!

Image/Sentiment: MelonHeadz Friends Happy Fall Buncle
Cardstock: Recollections Black, Stampin' UP! Dusty Durango, and Staples White
Designer Paper: DCWV Basic Stack
Embellishments: Michael's Rhinestones

A Peek at My Week

What a week I’ve had! I was way too busy this week; couldn’t keep up with all that was going on, not to mention we had a scare last Sunday when the tornado came through causing quite a bit of damage in our neighborhood.  I’m kind of glad this week is over. LOL! That being said, looking back on the week, I can truthfully say, I have much to be thankful for as we head into the week of Thanksgiving!

THIS WEEK

1. I organized… Design Team lists. These are kept close at hand by my computer and help me to keep on top of what projects are due and what images I need to use, etc. They needed to be more current, so I worked on that this week.

2. I cooked… boring meals. I mostly fixed things that my guys like – which are pretty bland. I’m tired of bland!

3. I bought… a dozen square canvases (14 actually, but only needed 12) and 8 bottles of acrylic paint (in 4 colors) so that my daughter can make me a world wall display when she comes home for Christmas. I’m sooooooo excited! We’ve been working on this plan for nearly 2 years but couldn’t find the canvases at an affordable price. This week I found them at Michael’s – package of 7 on sale for $14.99. Yippee!!!

4. I’m enjoying… this week’s Bible study lesson. It’s from Psalm 100 and focuses on being thankful.

5. I made… some cute little snowmen out of those battery-operated tea lights. Such cuties and so much fun to make. Actually, Phyllis, a Stampin’ UP! demo, taught me how to make them, so I bought the supplies and made some more of them.

 

6. I procrastinated… cleaning house. Yikes! I need to get that done so I can start decorating for Christmas. I’m usually well on the way by now.

7. I learned… some details about my husband’s trip to Israel. He’s going on a Pastor Familiarization Trip to the Holy Land in January. He had a meeting on Monday night and found out some of the things they need to know regarding the trip. I’m so excited for him and will look forward to helping him prepare to go.

8. This weekend I’m… freezing! It is much MUCH colder than last weekend was. Of course, we also had a tornado last Sunday, so I guess this cold weather isn’t so bad, after all. :/

9. I’m working on… Christmas shopping. I’ve bought a few small things – stocking stuffers, etc. – for my husband and kiddos. I have a list of ideas for Brock, which is RARE. He has so few wants that it’s usually difficult to decide what to get him, but this year I have a few things in mind already.

10. I’m blessed… that we didn’t have more serious damage from last Sunday’s tornado. I cringe to think what could have happened if it had been just a little closer to the ground. We’d no longer have a home; might not have even survived. Yes, I do have much to be thankful for!

My 30-Minute Challenge… my email inbox was in desperate need of some attention, so I challenged myself to spend 30 minutes cleaning out the emails, trashing the ones I didn’t need and putting others into the appropriate folders. It looks so much better.

My goals for the coming week…

1. Start decorating for Christmas.

2. Go “Black Friday” shopping. I’m so excited! I love the crowds!!! (I know – I’m weird!) It always seems to get me in the Christmas spirit, so even if I don’t need/want anything that’s on sale, I just have to go for a little bit. Truthfully, I order almost all of the gifts that I buy for two of my children, so I don’t do a lot of Christmas shopping in stores. But this year I am buying MYSELF something on Black Friday.  I’ve been saving my money for months for this splurge and it IS on the Black Friday ad, so I’m planning to get it – if I can get there before they sell out. Wish me luck!!!

3. Get my blog lists updated on my blog. We’ve had a few members join a couple of the blog groups that I’m in and I need to get their names/blogs added to my blog list.

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Please come back tomorrow… I’ll have a MelonHeadz Friends Challenge to tell you about.