SALT Challenge - Continue in Prayer

This week it was Julie's turn to set the SALT challenge and she picked "continue in prayer." She also posted a wonderful write up, which I've copied here for you: My topic today is taken from Colossians 4:2 "Continue in prayer." I have been thinking a lot lately about prayer and it's importance in the life of God's children. As a busy wife and mother it's often difficult to find time for a meaningful conversation with anyone!! And yet, prayer is most important especially when we are busy! I remember hearing this quote from John Wesley, "I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it." When I read the morning reading from January 2 out of Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon which used this verse as it's text I was convicted to be more prayerful this year. Here is an excerpt of that reading: It is interesting to remark how large a portion of Sacred Writ is occupied with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before we read, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord;" and just as we are about to close the volume, the "Amen" of an earnest supplication meets our ear. Instances are plentiful. Here we find a wrestling Jacob—there a Daniel who prayed three times a day—and a David who with all his heart called upon his God. On the mountain we see Elias; in the dungeon Paul and Silas. We have multitudes of commands, and myriads of promises. What does this teach us, but the sacred importance and necessity of prayer? We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives. If He has said much about prayer, it is because He knows we have much need of it. . . .If thou be a child of God, thou wilt seek thy Father's face, and live in thy Father's love. Pray that this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of His love. Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master. I have to agree with Julie...it is so hard to find time to really pray when one has a busy life and a household and children to care for. I find that some days I'm not really praying until my head is on the pillow! The verse that has been going through my mind this week is from I Thessalonians 5:17, "pray without ceasing" and it has reminded me that I can have more prayer time but that it may be in shorter bursts, throughout the day. So I used this verse as the main focal point on my card and surrounded it with chipboard leaves and felt flowers from SU! and Wholly Scrap. The ribbon is from Papertreyink and the dp is a scrap found in my stash. Thanks so much for stopping by today! The SALT team would love to see what you create using Julie's inspiration - please leave us a link on the blog to your project.

Scrapbook News & Review Published Creation

Today's card is a flashback to the holidays...I know, noooo....I just got the decorations packed! LOL! This is actually a card that was published in Scrapbook News & Reivew to support one of their sponsors, Shirley's 2 Girls. (From the looks of their web site they've gone all digital, all the time and their clear stamps are 50% off!!) This card, along with another one that I'll post later, is from before the holidays and was part of a lovely package I received from SNR. I love packages that contain free stamps!! I was asked to help out with some last minute stamping and of course how could I refuse!! I really liked the design of their images and enjoyed creating with them! The DP is from Stampin' Up! and the image was colored with Copics. And speaking of SNR...I've made the difficult decision to step down from the team. I've recently taken on a larger teaching role at Wholly Scrap (the store where I work P/T and have taught for a number of years) and that combined with my current design team work was making it too difficult to keep up with the workload required by SNR. However, I loved my time on the team and was thrilled to have been given a number of writing assignments (I love to write!). I'm hoping for a few guest spots here and there but would encourage you to check out their site...it's a fantastic resource and a great group of people!! Enjoy! (We finally got hit with about seven inches of snow yesterday...it was nice to feel like we actually live in New England yesterday instead of Florida - it's been so warm...well by NE winter standards!!)

The Sweet Shop Challenge - SSS-43

It's time for a new Sweet Shop sketch challenge! And this week, we have a fun one! I love the scalloped half circle on this card. My card is a variation of the sketch...everything just seemed to fit better with this format. This bit 'ol piece of cake is part of the newly released chocolate-themed digi images from Sweet 'n Sassy. I used some of the images on a card posted last week and this cake is another one of the images included in the Chocoholic set. I made a little plate for my cake slice and although it's not easily seen in this photo, I lined the place in a gold glitter. The paper is from K& Co. Be sure to hop on over to The Sweet Shop to check out all the other wonderful DT creations! Enjoy!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Today's Tip: Use those solid image stamps to create quick cards!

Hey...it's 10:30 pm and I totally forgot about today's post! Yikes! It's been one of those days, which I think might turn into one of those weeks! I've got a busy week ahead of me, with classes to teach, cards to create, and a new Science class to start with my first grader! I'm already having that "Calgone take me away" feeling! LOL! Tonight's card is actually a sneak peek from a class I'll be teaching next month at Wholly Scrap. We've started a PMS night...That would be pizza, music, and stamping, you crazy girls! During the class, I'll teach three techniques. Can you guess what technique I used on this card? That's right...rock 'n roll! My sweet little owl, who comes from the most adorable set from TPC Studio, Woodland Whimsy, was stamped first in a gray and then "rolled" in a dark blue, which is seen on the edges of the image. I used the same technique on the decorative swirls behind the owl. During the class, we'll also create two more cards, using the same stamp set, showcasing the faux stitching and spotlighting techniques. That's it for me tonight! My hubby is painting a very dark color (oh man, I hope I'm made the right color decision) on one wall in our living room and I'm off to stamp so that I don't have to panic about the wall color until it's too late! hee hee

Enjoy!

For the Love of Chocolate

Who doesn't love chocolate...oh my, it's one of my all time favorites!! We're in the midst of potty-training child #2 (who wants nothing to do with the potty!) and we have a never ending supply of chocolate goodies on hand to serve as a bribe...errr, reward...should he decide to tell us he has to go. The problem is...the adults in the house tend to eat the chocolate faster than we give out the bribe...err, reward. I think that might be a problem... Anyway...I decided to play along with the Splitcoast sketch challenge this week and knew that Sweet 'n Sassy's latest digital chocolate-themed images would be perfect for this layout. The cupcake and chocolates are part of a Chocoholic set that also includes a piece of cake and Hersey kiss and the sentiment is part of a eight pack of hysterical sayings, Chocoholic Sentiments, that are perfectly paired with all kinds of snacky creations! My DP on my card is made up of a bunch of scraps left over from a scrapbook album I made for a friend of mine. Love the color combo...bright and cheery, in anticipation that Spring really will arrive sometime... Enjoy!

Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Day!

It's digi day over at the Sweet 'n Sassy Scrapbook News & Reivew group! And today, Korin is offering a free digi because our group has reached 300!! And now...I have a confession to make...it's digi day but I didn't use a digi on my creation! LOL! However, this is a Sweet 'n Sassy clear stamp set, Warm Up, that is on sale for $7.50! This darling set includes nine images, that can be mixed and matched, and 12 sentiments! And since today's theme on SNR was "so sweet" (hey, I should have used yesterday's card today!), I decided to go with a "so sweet" Valentine with a saying for "so sweet" friends!

This cute candy holder was created following a quick and easy tutorial on SCS. The dp, which is one of my all time favorites, is a long retired paper from SU! My cup was colored with Copics and I even added a bit of texture to the mug by removing some of the color with a Copic colorless blender. The tag was cut out using one of my new Nestibilities dies and sponged with a little pink ink. A sweet bow and some stickles on top of my whipped cream finished off my Valentine. Now...if I can just resist breaking into that bag of M&M's... Enjoy and head over to the SNR group to check out all of the amazing creations posted by the DT! PS - We've posted a new challenge over on the Stamping Around site! Check it out for a chance to win free Unity goodies!

Sew Sweet

I just couldn't resist creating another card with an adorable Cocoa image from Sweet 'n Sassy...isn't he so, or should I say sew, sweet? I'm not a big fan of mice but for Cocoa I'll make an exception because that little face is so cute! :-) This is a newly released image, Sew Happy Cocoa, which can be downloaded from the SNSS web site for a mere $3.00! The sentiments set, Sew Many Thoughts, is available for $4.50 and includes nine "sew" sayings. You just can't beat the cost of digital images and the ease of use. I like being able to print the images out at any size and Korin has sized the sentiment files so they are easy to use with punches and dies. This is a pretty straight forward card, not requiring much in the way of instruction but I will point out my lovely scalloped square. That's right...I finally, finally managed to get a set of oval and square scalloped Nestibilities dies! And that makes me very happy indeed! :-) Don't forget that tomorrow is the Sweet n' Sassy challenge day over at Scrapbook News & Review!! Everyone who participates will be entered into a drawing for some free goodies!! Enjoy!!