Father's Day Inspiration

Father's Day is a month a way but I know if I don't start now trying to make my cards they won't get done. I learned about Seems a Little Sketchy from a couple of friends' (Sandy and Allison) blogs I follow. After visiting the site I decided to be brave and jump in! I used Sketch 13 sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps to create this card.

I chose to make this card a 6x6 as I plan to hand deliver this card to my husband for Father's Day. I actually began with my stamped image and then created the card around the image. For the card base I used a solid card stock. The printed papers are Creative Imaginations Samantha Walker "Cowboy" line. The blue paisley is "Cowboy Borders" cut 4.25 x 5.5. The plaid paper is "Ride On" cut 4 x 5.25. 

The stamp came as part of a set I purchased off Ebay as a retired Stampin' Up set. I colored the horse with my Copic Markers E53, E55, E57 and I used E53, E55 for the ground. I used Copic Marker B21 for the sky. Using a 3 inch circle die I cut out the image. I wasn't pleased with my result. The image still needed something. I decided to break out my sewing tools I have from Bazzill and We R. Using a temple I poked holes on the outer edge of the image. Using twine I sewed around the circle. I liked this look much better! I applied foam tape to pop the image. 

 Looking in my stash of western embellishments I found this felt horse shoe. Using some brads I had for horse show nails and popped this image with foam tape. The sentiment is a stamp from Hero Arts. It reads "A Father is one of Life's Special Gifts". I chose to stamp part of the sentiment to place on the front and the remainder I stamped on the inside of the card. I used a punch to make the sentiment. I matted the sentiment with the same blue paisley paper and popped with foam tape. Using the same twine I sewed the stamped image with I wrapped the card twice and tied in small bow.

Thanks for taking time to look. Hope you enjoy!

Enjoy the Season

Well, I had so much fun creating my card for the ABC Christmas Challenge that I was inspired to try to make one more before the challenge I is for Icy Inspiration is over. This time the photo I used for inspiration was the penguins and snow. I remembered I had some penguin stamps.

I found a pack of 6x6 textured papers from Bazzill Basics called Two Scoops that I had gotten from my LSS Cat's Creations Scrapbooks. I wanted to choose a bright paper and found this blue that I loved! I stamped the snowflakes with a retired stamp set from Unity called Little Jolly Winter using embossing ink and white embossing powder.  I stamped the snowy hills, applied glossy accents, added Diamond Dust and set aside to dry. I stamped the sentiment with embossing ink and used black embossing powder. I cut out the sentiment to look like a sign and inked with Distress Ink Vintage Photo. I cut a strip of paper to make the sign post and colored with my Copic Marker E79. I stamped the penguin and colored with my Copic Markers C1, Y17 and E79. I popped the penguin with some foam tape. The ribbon is from my stash. I don't know if I'll do this every time but we'll see! Hope you enjoy and thanks for taking time to look!

Merry Christmas in May?!

Yes, if you're a card maker and want to make your Christmas cards you need to start early. The earlier the better! I've had the urge to make Christmas cards for a few weeks but the demands of other crafting projects made me keep shoving the Christmas card idea to the back burner. I have been following a friends blog Sandy Trefger as she quite frequently makes cards and enters card challenges. I became intrigued and checked out some of them. One in particular caught my attention ABC Christmas Challenge. After quizzing my friend and her graciously giving me some how to's I decided to be brave and jump in. I chose this one as 1) I need to start making cards for Christmas 2) I have two weeks to complete a card 3) I can start right where they are in the challenge (they are on Letter "I") "I" is for Icy Inspiration. 

This card is rather simple but I really like how it turned out. The photo I used for inspiration was branch and snow. I remembered I had a stamp that looked very similar and although I wasn't really trying to duplicate the photo for inspiration I almost did!

I began with a card base using a solid color card stock. It was already cut and scored for use when I was making Christmas cards last year. I embossed a smooth white piece of card stock using a Cuttlebug embossing folder and put through my Big Shot. The embossing folder didn't have a name on it but the design is snowflakes. Once embossed I trimmed it to 4 x 5.  I had some all purpose ink (frost white) that I had purchased from Stampin Up that I covered the embossed paper with giving it a sheen. I stamped the branch, ornament and sentiment using Christmas Bough from Unity.

I used Memento "Cottage Ivy" to stamp the branches. I wasn't very pleased with the color so I went back over the image with my Copic Markers G94 and G99. To give it a more "icy" feel I used Distress Stickles Pine Needles. Unfortunately it doesn't show well in the photo. For the snow I used Distress Stickles Picket Fence. I stamped the sentiment in the box with Memento Lady Bug. I cut out the branch and popped it with foam tape. I stamped the ornament image with Memento Desert Sand and colored the ornament with my Copic Markers YR23, R24, and G03. I then applied Glossy Accents to give it an epoxy look. Once it dried I cut it out and popped it with foam tape as well. As a finishing touch I used some ribbon I had in my stash. Most of the products I use for crafting come from my LSS Cat's Creations Scrapbooks.

Thank you for taking time to look at my very first attempt at a card challenge! It's not too late for you to join in on the fun and create Christmas cards from A to Z, just click on this LINK and jump right in!

My Favorite Season of the Year

Nothing says Spring in Texas like our beloved Blue Bonnets! They are in full bloom and after our severe drought God graciously poured out His rain on our thirsty landscape over the winter providing us with a bumper crop of wildflowers! I love the wildflowers even the ones that are weeds! They are all beautiful! Just seeing all the color covering the ground makes me smile from ear to ear and I can't keep from taking pictures! As many sunset pictures as I have, I probably have that many wildflower shots! This year I had an extra treat as I got to photograph not only these beautiful plants but my adorable granddaughters! They just made the pictures "perfect" for me! I wanted to be sure to get pictures of both girls together while Remi was visiting. She went home today.  I discovered it is a real challenge to photograph this age by yourself! You have to be quick and be happy with what you get!



 Aren't they just the cutest thing?!  I had the hardest time getting Remi to smile. She wasn't too thrilled about walking through the grass to sit in the Blue Bonnets. I provided them with my camera bag to sit on which seemed to help.

 They also wanted me to take a picture with them. My battery had died in my remote to trigger the camera so had to set it on self-timer. Oh, well at least we have a picture of us all!

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 I took the girls to another location I had spotted with my other favorite wildflower, the "Indian Paintbrush". We had to walk a little farther to get to these. Bless their hearts...they both had sandals and shorts on while I had on boots and jeans. I'm sure the grass and weeds were scratchy and itchy. At one point I was trying to carry both of them, my camera and tripod! What a sight we must have been! It was worth it though!

 I finally get a smile out of Remi. We said "Ice Cream"!

 I think Kennedy is going to be my little "tomboy". It doesn't bother her in the least bit to get dirty or go exploring. Her girliness does come through every once in a while...especially if bugs are involved!

We had fun. Hope you enjoyed it too!

I was on my way to a card class the other night. That field of yellow flowers I wrote about last blog had these to young steers in it. They seemed hungry for attention as they came right up to me when I walked to the fence mooing at me! I thought they made a nice addition to the photo!

Have a good one!

Time for a Change

I have been wrestling for months maybe even a couple of years now about my blogging. I love to blog but now that I help with the care of my granddaughter (who is 2) I find that I can't sit at the computer for long...usually not at all when she's here. I have another blog site which is where I originally started but this one seems so much more "user friendly" and I know many people who already blog here. Just makes sense that it might be time to move. I am following several blogs and realized I really need to update mine. I did finally put up a more current profile pic but its time to change that again too!

 My daughter is getting married in 17 days! Egads! She had a bridal shoot last Friday that required my help as she wanted to use our horse. It rained 2.5 inches last Monday and everything was still soggy. I was hoping I didn't have any trouble getting the trailer out of the pasture. I got the trailer out of the pasture but got stuck trying to put it back! Had to unhook it where it was and go back a few days later to park it properly.  I waited until Friday to bath the horse because if I didn't he would promptly roll in the mud!

Before and after bathing.

 I had been trying to groom him every day as he is shedding his winter coat so there is lots of loose hair to brush out. I used clippers on the long scraggly hairs on his face. He's a good looking horse for 22! He's the last of the original three we bought 17 years ago. He stands 15H and weighs probably about 1500 pounds! He's stout!

Went shopping Tuesday for an outfit for the wedding. I DID NOT want to wear a dress. I thought I was going to have to until I finally found something I thought would work at Dillards.

Made a card the other night for a friend having a birthday. I used sketch#66  from Operation Write Home and some scrap Basic Grey papers from their Valentine collection last year. Turned out cute I think.

Finishing up a Beth Moore study at church "James - Mercy Triumphs". This study is on the book of James and Beth's newest. It is very good and I highly recommend it. Just a word of caution. If you're not ready to be confronted to change don't take it.

Another lady from my church and I have been asked by our pastor to consider leading a "single" women's group on Wednesday night after this class. This would include unmarried, divorced, widowed or women whose husbands are not spiritually active what I am terming "spiritually single". There seems to be a great need for ministry to this group. We will hold an informational meeting on April 18th to see how to best minister to them. I am looking at some possible studies to do with this group that are not DVD driven. I will know more once we meet with these ladies how best to proceed.

My other granddaughter Remington lives in Arkansas. She is here this week for a visit. Keannon and Vanessa had a meeting with our pastor Sunday evening and they asked if I would like to keep the girls. Of course I said "YES!". This is the first time I had both of them for any length of time. We had so much fun. We played with big rubber balls that I had bought them, blew bubbles, played with pinwheels and when it got too dark to be outside we colored and put stickers on paper. Needless to say, I was one pooped gal by the time they went home but I wouldn't have traded it for anything!

Went riding with my future SIL. He expressed an interest in riding with me every time he comes home from the job. He is working 2 weeks at a time away from home then is home a week. When he is home, he picks up Remington (Remi). I am excited to have someone to ride with me! I enjoy riding alone but its nice for a change.

 The wildflowers are sprouting up everywhere! Bluebonnets are my favorite and our State's flower. Indian paintbrushes are my next favorite. Lots of weeds have beautiful blooms too! Such beautiful colors scattered across grassy land makes me smile. God is such an amazing artist!

 I was on my way to shop for a wedding outfit when I saw these beauties! Bluebonnets (above)...if you look close you can see the edge of the field where the yellow flowers are. This field was just beautiful and covered in these yellow flowers.

 I think these are blooms to some weeds and not really flowers but I don't know that for sure.

 Bluebonnets with some albino mixed in. Not sure how common that is. I've not seen them very often.

 A little Indian Paintbrush (orange/red flower) mixed in this batch by the side of the road.

 A close up of the albino Bluebonnet

 Bees love the Bluebonnet's nectar

 Found a patch of Indian Paintbrushes. I set my camera up on a tripod for this one. I am hoping to get pics of my granddaughters out here soon.

 Aren't they beautiful?! I am such a sucker for wildflowers! I can't seem to quit taking pictures of them!




 That about wraps it up. Have a good one!

January 7, 2012

January 7, 2012

Christmas was a blur and New Year's passed me by while I watched helplessly unable to do anything to stop it. 

Maybe it's just the age I am or the circumstances I find myself in. I don't really know. I did enjoy the holidays but it just didn't seem to last long enough for me. 

One of my friends from church who was praying for me the other day shared a picture that God gave her for me. 

She said there were certain individuals in my life (whose identities will remain anonymous - although if you are really close to me you will figure out who they are.)

They were riding horses and I was being drug behind by a rope and these individuals were totally oblivious to what was happening to me nor could I do anything about what was happening. I was one beat up bloody mess! She went on to say that's what my emotions were like right now. Wow! I didn't realize I was that bad off! 

I was encouraged to keep pressing into Abba. I still after all these years of pursuing God deal with performance issues and resting in the knowledge that I am loved by Him. I know it intellectually but I want to experience it tangibly. I have in some ways over the years but it only seems like "snippets" and not much consistency. It is so hard for me not to compare myself or my experiences to others. I also feel as though there are some who have passed me by spiritually. Of course, I am smart enough to know that feelings are just that...feelings and are not the truth but it's still hard to not let feelings reign sometimes. 

I was going to start off the year with journaling everyday. Hmmm...It's already 7 days into the New Year and I've journaled once. Well, its still early. Some is better than none right?!

Incredible Weekend 09-04-2010

What an incredible weekend I had! My friend (Teresa) and I left on Thursday to go to a scrapbook retreat. This isn't just any ole' scrapbook retreat. This is a small group (6 women) all who know and love the Lord who have the same hobby! 

 

All but 2 of us converged on Ragle's retreat Thursday evening. We went into town (Canton) and ate at Ochoa's an awesome Mexican food place. This is this groups tradition. We finish the evening staying up late scrapbooking.

This is Vickie & Marshall Ragle, owners of the retreat location. Some of the sweetest people you will ever meet!

By the time I packed up my stuff to come home I counted 29 12x12 pages I had completed! I was amazed. Of course that wasn't without a cost of "minimal sleep". I was up late every night. I am usually up maybe 2 nights at the most. I was rumdum by the time we got home! The sad thing is I have only scrapbooked up through March for Lil' Peanut! I need another retreat! LOL!