Cheers to You Card Challenge

The current card challenge over at Cards in Envy is "Cheers to You". We are to create a card for any type of celebration whether birthday, graduation, retirement, anniversary. You get the idea.

I made a birthday card for a member of our church who also likes horses 😊.

I used a Unity Stamp by Phyllis Harris called "Felt with a the Heart". The sentiment is from Unity's sentiment kit called  "Hugs, Kisses & Birthday Wishes".

Thanks for taking a look!

Have a good one!

More Birthday Cards

I think I have told you before that I decided early in the year to send handmade cards to my church family along with friends and family members.

I found that there are LOTS of September birthdays! Mother's being one of them! Her birthday is September 3rd.

This is the card I made her.

This card was so fun to make. The image is a Unity Stamp from their "Uniquely Unity" collection. I colored it with my Copic Markers then cut it out. I put foam tape behind it to give it dimension. The sentiment I stamped and cut into a banner. The background I made using Distress Inks Black Soot, Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean to create a night sky then spattered with Distress Stain Picket Fence and sprayed with Perfect Pearls Mist.




This card is for a family friend who attends church with me. He turned 37. I am very good friends with his mom. He was 10 when I started attending church there. He has long blonde hair. I've shared several cards I've made with this stamp. It is a Unity by Phyllis Harris called "Strong & Courage". My stamp is actually a girl but I think I successfully turned it into a young boy. You can get the "boy" version here. I colored the image using Prisma Colored pencils.

The background I created using an embossing folder. It's called basket weave but if you look close it looks like small crosses.

The sentiment I created using my friend Teresa's Alpha Stamps by Ken Oliver. The clip together. I thought that was cool. I may have to have these!

I made this card for a lady who runs a coffee business on our church property. I buy a coffee from her once a week. She has horses and shows them. Her family raises horses too. We have become friends. She has even helped me out a few times with my horses when I have had health questions. Her birthday is September 7th. I made this card for her. It is a Unity stamp by Phyllis Harris called "And For a Moment". This is a very large image and takes up most of the card space (which is a A2 - 4.25 x 5.5). I created the sky background using an Impressions Obsessions. I cut out the image and placed on the card. The sentiment is from another Phyllis Harris stamp set called "Felt With the Heart".

My Uncle Philip's birthday is September 9th. I haven't sent him a card in years but decided to this year. This may seem a bit girly to give to a man but this image reminds me of when I was a little girl except I never worn a dress when I was around horses. Heck I didn't wear a dress unless my mom made me! So I thought it worked to give to him. This is a new release from Unity by Phyllis Harris called "Simple Places".

There will be more cards to come. Vanessa and Korin's birthdays are this month and so is Doyle and my anniversary!

Have a good one!

Hummingbirds in East Texas 08-28-2017

I went on my annual scrapbook retreat last weekend (Aug 24-28) with my buddy Teresa. Things were a bit different this time. There are usually 6 of us but 2 of the spots went unfilled. The leader of our group husband ended up in the hospital a week before the retreat and didn't get out until after the retreat so she didn't come. There were only 3 of us.

The retreat venue quit offering wifi and cell service was all but none! That was hard with me being the weather buff I am and Hurricane Harvey on the verge of landfall. I had the TV on The Weather Channel to keep up.

I also didn't take pictures like in the past. I'm not really sure why.

The picture of the bottom right came about because of the devotional we had for this retreat comparing our lives to diamonds.



We made TWO trips to the little scrapbook store in the middle of nowhere just outside Mabank called "Country Scents". The owner is called "Miss Mae". She is a real sweet heart. She had several boxes of new product come in that she hadn't opened yet. I helped her check in a lot of it so we could buy some of it.  It was SO worth it.

I wish I didn't live so far away I would go to work for her!

As we were leaving the store the second time there was this gorgeous moth right outside the door. I've never seen a moth colored like this!








I tried to get prepared for this retreat by picking papers, cardstock and pictures to put together. That's how I got so many pages done last year (over 100). I did do that but I wasn't as prepared as last time. However I still completed 65 pages and that's nothing to sneeze at!

I spent some time porch sitting watching the hummers. There were more than I have ever seen in previous years. It was fun to watch.  The loud sound of wind blowing is a fan the owners have on the porch to help circulate air. You could still hear the hummers. Enjoy!




Have a good one!

Birthday Party 08-19-2017

The grands had a birthday party they were invited to. Keannon and Vanessa had gotten an opportunity to go to a Cowboys pre-season game and sit in the box seats provided by the company he works for. Vanessa asked if I could take the kids to the party.

It was a swim party for a 4 yo. Kennedy and Kashton swam but Korin was not interested at all. Which was really a good thing considering the pool was an above ground and if Korin had wanted to swim I would have had to go in the water with her. Instead she had fun chasing a loose chicken!

We also made friends with this beautiful Great Dane. This one is at least 4 inches taller than our Gracie but because Korin has been around ours she wasn't the least bit afraid of this gentle giant.

















It was a Unicorn themed birthday. Kashton proudly wearing his horn.

It really was a great turnout and party even though I didn't know very many people. The kids had a great time

Have a good one!

Penny for Your Thoughts Card Challenge

I've missed a couple of challenges and am just getting in under the wired on this one!

The card challenge over at Cards In Envy is a "Penny for Your Thoughts". We are to make a card with a "thought or speech bubble". Here is mine.

This cute little guy is a stamp from Unity's "Itty Bitty" Collection called Bad Days are Bearable. This I received as a "thank you" for ordering. The sentiment comes with the Koala. The bubble I got from some paper I had. I cut it out and outlined it using a copic marker.

I will probably send this one to my granddaughter Remi. It's been a couple of weeks since I last sent her a card.

Thanks for taking a look.

Have a good one!

School Starts 8-21-2017

The day school starts Keannon and Vanessa decide to have breakfast at our local cafe "Jimmy's"
along with their friends the Dunn's (Raydon and Reese's parents). Doyle and I join them.

We took pictures outside the cafe before they head off for their first day of school.

Kashton was having issues with the sun. If he had sunglasses like his buddy Reese that wouldn't have been a problem. 😉

First day of school Kennedy 2nd grade and Kashton Pre-K taken outside the school.

Kashton and Reese in the "commons" area. This is where they have lunch and many other things.

Kashton and Reese in their classroom. (photo credits go to Reese's mom "Shaina" and Vanessa).

Vanessa posted this on Facebook with the caption "Someone missed her human today". So sweet.



Have a good one!

Meet the Teacher 8-17-2017

Vanessa has been homeschooling Kennedy the last 3 years. This year both  Kennedy and Kashton are attending Community Christian School. This is the same school Vanessa attended  Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. She would have attended High School there but it was closed after her completion of Eighth grade. The school has grown over the years and now offers Pre-K through 12th grades. 

Kennedy is in 2nd grade and Kashton is in Pre-K



The school had a "meet the teacher" night before school started. Doyle and I went. This is the school administrator Doug Jefferson, welcoming us to the school.








Vanessa and Kennedy standing at her desk in her classroom.

Keannon and Vanessa are friends with another couple who have 2 boys. Raydon is Kennedy's age and Reese is Kashton's age. They are also attending CCS. Raydon is in this picture with Kennedy. His desk is next to hers.

Kennedy's teacher is Mrs. Wallace.

Mrs. Wallace in the purple shirt explaining a little what a typical day will be like.

Kashton's teacher is Mrs. Wheaton. She is going to have her hands full.  She has 14 students and 10 of those are boys!

Kashton with his friend Reese (Raydon's brother).

After we were done, Kashton came over to spend the night. The first thing he wanted to do was play board games.

















Here is a short video clip of Kashton with Kaidence.



He got tired of playing games and wanted to "stamp". So we go to my craft room. I taught him how to use the Misti (stamping tool). You can watch that video here.

It had been a long day and this 4 yo was tired.

So sweet! Makes this girl smile😊.

Have a good one!