The Sweet Shop Challenge

The Sweet Shop posted a new sketch on Saturday (every Saturday is Sweet Shop day!) and this week there was a twist included with the sketch challenge....to add something fuzzy to your card. What fun!! The other fun thing is that if you create a card for the challenge, and add your name to the Mr. Linky list, you'll be entered into a drawing for three free digi images from Sweet 'n Sassy!! Who doesn't love free product!!??

I wasn't sure what I was going to make fuzzy (can you find the fuzzy element??) on my card but I finally found a perfect image or I should say images as my card was created using two different sets of images; this darling frog, named Fenton, and his pond "accessories", included in the Flyin' By set. I paired my images with a hysterical sentiment from the Princess Seeks Frog set, which includes three frog-themed sentiments for only .99! All of my images were colored with Copics, cut out and attached with foam tape for lots of dimension! (My class attendees have started laughing at me because there isn't a card I create that doesn't include foam tape...I just can't live without some kind of height on my cards! LOL!) In addition to my fuzzy element I also added glossy accents to the Fenton's spots and Stickles to the dragonfly's wings. This fab paper is from the new Basic Gray line, which I picked up at Wholly Scrap and the rhinestones are from Kaiser.

Hop on over to The Sweet Shop to get the sketch and participate in this week's challenge! Enjoy!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Today's Tip: Utilize rub ons and some of those fancy Cuttlebug tools to

create a super quick card!

A few months ago I picked up a darling package of American Crafts rub ons from Wholly Scrap. They were on sale and I think I paid a whopping $2.00 for them...my kind of price! The package came complete with a bunch of darling rub ons; lady bugs, sweet sayings, birds...all in bright, cheery colors.

This card was so easy to make I'm not sure an explanation is necessary! I used the swiss dots embossing folder for the background and Nestibilities dies for the cut out frames. I submitted this card for publication, didn't get picked, but I thought it was kind of cute....humm....I guess my opinion isn't the one that counts when being published! LOL! Well I hope you, my little blog audience, enjoy it! Have a wonderful evening!!

Hey, Hey, It's Digi Day!

Well...it was digi day...yesterday! :-) On the weeks that I have a SALT challenge, I'm a day behind for the Sweet 'n Sassy digi day over at Scrapbook News & Review. Every Thursday, you have the opportunity to participate in the challenge and win FREE digital images from Sweet 'n Sassy!! And have you seen all of the new images that have been uploaded...they're wonderful!! Check them out here! This week's challenge was to use an Easter theme on your card. I've had this lovely cross image colored and waiting in my stash of images for the past few weeks. As soon as I heard the challenge, I knew I had the perfect image ready to go! I kept the card layout fairly simple to keep this beautiful image front and center. The paper is some left over SU! paper I had lying around and how about that ribbon? A throw back to my beginning SU! days...I haven't used the narrow grosgrain ribbon in ages! But it was the perfect color match, no? :-) Hope your day is sunny and bright, as it's been here in NH this week! We've had the windows open, the kids have been outside playing until dark, and we're hopeful that soon the water table will go down so our basement will be void of all water! LOL! Enjoy! PS - I had a few questions about how I created the background of my card yesterday (behind the tree) and it was created by using the 'direct to paper' technique, which is bascially just swiping the ink pad across the paper. I found this particular technique on Michelle Zindorf's blog. Also, my layout yesterday came from this week's Card Patterns sketch!

SALT Challenge - Penitence

Lythan provided the SALT team with today's challenge - "Penitence" and she made the following comments on the SALT blog, "I would put simply as "being aware of what we have done wrong and seeking God's forgiveness" or having a sense of regret for sin and wanting to make a sincere change. The focal reading for me is this one 1 John 1:8-9 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." What does it mean to be aware of our wrong doing and of the forgiveness we receive through Jesus Christ? How can we sincerely make a change in our lives? Our challenge reminded of a song by Jewel in which she sings, "if we want to be forgiven, we must first believe in sin." It's true...Based upon conversations with many friends over the years, I don't think most people see themselves as all that bad. One of my favorite lines is, "well I've never killed anyone." It's like that's God's only criteria for determining whether someone is "good" or not. Or we compare ourselves to those around us and figure that most of the time we behave better. I mean I give to the poor, use fabric grocery bags instead of plastic, am faithful to my spouse, that's enough, right? This turns the gospel of Christ on it's ear...assuming that God has some giant chart up in heaven where He keeps track of all the good and bad things that you do and as long as the good things outweigh the bad, then you're in! The truth is we're all far worse then we even realize. And even one little sin, one small transgression is enough for God to cast us into hell. It's His great love and mercy that offers us hope....that hope is Christ. Spurgeon, in one of his Morning and Evening devotions, says the following, "It is true that our Lord Jesus does redeem all His people from the wrath to come; He saves them from the fearful condemnation which their sins had brought upon them; but His triumph is far more complete than this. He saves His people 'from their sins.' Where Christ works a saving work, He casts satan from his throne, and will not let him be master any longer. Sin will (continue to) be in us - it will never be utterly expelled till the spirit enters glory - but it will never have dominion. Sin will never get the upper hand so as to be absolute monarch of our nature. Is sin subdued in you? If your life is unholy your heart is unchanged, and if your heart is unchanged you are an unsaved person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you, given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, He has done nothing in you of a saving character. The good news is that "if we confess our sins, Christ is faithful to forgive us our sins." This is a most powerful verse for me for it is the one that God used to bring about real change in my own heart. Salvation isn't based upon a set number of good acts, it's based solely upon the work of Christ, Who came to save His people not in their sins, but from them. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." If not saved from sins, how shall we hope to be counted among His people? If you feel lead to create something based on this week's topic, please leave us a comment on the SALT blog with a link back to your blog or gallery. We'd love to share in your creation. See the SALT blog to see how the design team explored the challenge.

The Sweet Shop Challenge

It's time for another Sweet Shop sketch challenge! This week I'm using an adorable Cocoa image paired with a boatload of chocolates (I thought they were cupcakes! LOL!) and this sweet birthday themed paper from s.e.i., which I purchased at Wholly Scrap. All of the paper on my card is from this same line, love how the patterns work so well together! My sweet partying Cocoa is called Cocoa's Chocolates and can be purchased from Sweet 'n Sassy for a mere $3.00! For my background, behind Cocoa, I cut out two Nestie label shapes and then embossed them with a swiss dot embossing folder before joining them with foam tape. My original intention was to cut out two sizes because I didn't know which one I liked more...turns out I liked them both!! The happy birthday sentiment is also from Sweet 'n Sassy, a set that contains four birthday sentiments for only .99! My little flowers are from SU! Be sure to head over to The Sweet Shop to see all of the wonderful creations submitted by the design team! In other, non-stamping related, news...We were flooded out here in New England this weekend. I think we got over five inches of rain in a day and a half! Thought I'd share a few photos of the flooding...It's more dramatic if you live here and realize just how high the water is!

We live about a block from a river that winds through a good part of our county and eventually makes it's way to the ocean. The benches in this photo are typically 15-20 feet from the water's edge and the cream colored house across the river...they have a 6-8 foot foundation that is under water. The newer houses on that side of the river are built on huge foundations to allow water to run right through them. Unfortunately, that little brown house (a vacation home I think) doesn't have such a foundation is looks to be half under water. Folks from this side of the river were being rescued by boat yesterday afternoon. This is on the other side of the river where you can see that the river has overflowed it's banks. That house off in the distance is usually 15 or so feet from the river's edge.

This house is on the corner of the street that leads into our neighborhood. They usually have a tiny stream, which doesn't even exist in the summer, in their backyard. The river is running right through their basement and is about a foot from flowing right over the bridge. Just last week the river level was so low you could see the ground in some areas. The river by us is typically pretty narrow.

And here's the river running through our basement!! Ugh! It's not really the river but I guess the water table got so high that water started to find it's way into our basement through any tiny crevice. We've never had water in our basement so we were a bit shocked and not prepared to deal with it...Had to make the emergency sump pump run, which has managed to take out about half of the water. Not a ton ruined since most of our storage stuff is in plastic bins but we lost some good furniture and my hubby lost some parts from the Power Wheels, which he repairs and sells.

However, we are thankful that the damage wasn't worse and that the sun is shining today!! Looking forward to having a drying out time! Enjoy today's sketch!!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Nothing makes me crankier than to finish an entire blog post and have it disappear upon hitting the publish button...sigh...So folks, this is the abbreviated version! :-) This is a card that I'm going to be demonstrating this week at a coloring class I'll be teaching at Wholly Scrap. We'll create cards using Copic markers, watercolor crayons, pencils, and chalks. This is a lovely flower from Hero Arts, the Blossoms set, that was colored with Copics. The background was created by stamping a solid image, in dark brown ink, onto kraft cardstock. I then used a blending tool and distress ink to add more depth around the edges. I really like the way the bright color of the flower contrasts with the dark background. A simple hello, stamped on twill, finished off my card! Enjoy!! PS - It was my "baby's" sixth birthday this weekend...how in the world did six years go by so quickly?? And how did he get so darn cute?? See his little friend next to him? She was born just two weeks before he was...closer to his due date than hers! My dear friend, her mom, and I were pregnant at the same time, for both of our children so now our kid's birthdays are just weeks apart. Love that...

Faux Stitching Tecnique

Here's a sample of a technique card that I'll be teaching at at class tonight, along with this card and this card. We've started a new PMS (that would be Pizza, Music, and Stamping) class at Wholly Scrap and tonight is our first class! I'm looking forward to hanging out with the girls from the store and teaching them a few new techniques. Since many of the customers at Wholly Scrap are, well, scrapbookers, it's been fun to teach many of them the basics of stamping. (Yes, I am actively working to get them hooked on stamping! LOL!) This is a quick and easy card that showcases the faux stitching technique, one of my favorites, along with a darling deer image from TPC Studio. To highlight the image, I cut out a decorative shape with my Nestibilities and used a little ink for shading before adhering my deer with dimensional foam tape. A button and some twine were my finishing touches! Enjoy! And if you're in the NH, ME, or MA area check out the class schedule at Wholly Scrap, we'd love to have you visit!