Card Patterns Sketch Challenge

Just a quick post today...Too much to do today!! I've had this darling Sweet 'n Sassy image and sentiment sitting on my desk for weeks...just waiting for the right card and this week's Card Patterns sketch was a perfect fit! I paired my sweet pie image (found here) with some brand new Jillibean Soup paper, purchased at Wholly Scrap. I also added a few buttons and ribbon from Papertreyink. That's it for today folks - enjoy your weekend!!! PS - I had someone leave a comment on yesterday's post asking about the stamps that I used..Sorry for not sharing Sarosa!! Yesterday's tree image was from Impression Obsession, a set I purchased at Wholly Scrap. The moon was created using a 1 1/4" punch, which was set on the paper before I sponged ink over the entire piece. The scripture text was simply printed out on my laser printer and attached. Let me know if you have any other questions!!

SALT Challenge - Gethsemane

This week it was Pauline's turn to pick the topic for the SALT team and she chose Gethsemane...a fantastic topic!! Before I touch on our topic and today's card I want to mention that on Monday the Sweet 'n Sassy team will be hosting a blog hop (button on the right) so be sure to check back on Monday for details on prizes!! For today's card I decided to create a simple ATC that focused on Christ's words as He prayed alone in the garden before His arrest and crucifixion. The tree image and moon made me think of what it might have been like that night as Jesus was in agony over what He knew was going to happen to Him in the coming hours. One of the things that strikes me the most about this passage is the obvious distress that Jesus was in, for our sakes...He was, after all, God in the flesh, able to overthrow all of His enemies with just a word (John 18 gives us a peek into His great power, "Now when He said to them "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground."), and yet He was fully human, experiencing all of the emotions that we would (and do) face. His greater agony though was that He was about to have all of the guilt and sin of His people laid upon His head and God, His Father whom He had had perfect communion, would turn His back on Him during His greatest trial. In His humanness, Jesus prayed "please, please let this cup pass from Me", Spurgeon wrote, "The mental pressure arising from our Lord's struggle with temptation, so forced His frame to an unnatural excitement, that His pores sent forth great drops of blood, which fell down to the ground." However, His desire to do God's will and redeem a people for Himself demonstrates the mighty power of His love. Spurgeon goes on to write, "We see our Saviours in His agony; He is so utterly oblivious of self, that instead of His agony driving his blood to the heart to nourish Himself, it drive it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours Him out upon the group, pictures the fullness of the offering which He made for men." Today's theme begs the question, "Do we perceive how intense must have been the wrestling through which He passed, and will we not hear its voice to us?" Seek Christ while He may be found... Please visit the SALT blog to see the lovely creations posted by our design team and if you're feeling inspired to create something based on this week's theme, leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery.

The Sweet Shop Challenge

So much creating this week!! I love it but it feels like I don't have enough days in the week to post all of the fun images I've been playing with! Today's image is a darling camper, a relatively new Sweet 'n Sassy image, that I just love. (And you should see the tent and camping accessories that go along with it! Love 'em all!!) I have to say that I was so excited when Korin announced the camper image because I'd been eyeing this darling camping paper at Wholly Scrap for weeks but couldn't justify buying it because...well let's face it...I'm not exactly the camping kind of gal. (Although you could easily talk me into spending a weekend in a camper...as long as all bears would be removed from the premises.) As soon as I saw this image, I waltzed into Wholly Scrap and bought one of each of the paper designs! Just like that! And guess what? It was fun!! LOL! My sketch is from this weekend's Sweet Shop post, which I only slightly altered by putting the ribbon across the middle of my card vs. the bottom. I added some paper hills for my camper to rest on, using the plain and textured side of Bazzill cardstock to separate the layers. The rest of my card is a ode to that glorious camping paper from Three Bugs in a Rug. (Love their stuff!) My craft room is calling me...more class samples to make...so I'm off! Enjoy today's card and get on over to The Sweet Shop. You could win prizes!! Well...What are you waiting for...get going...

Don't Worry, Bee Happy!

I hopped on over to Splitcoast this afternoon to check out today's challenges and realized that today is the CAS (Clean and Simple) challenge day...WooHoo!! Since I love CAS challenges and creating in the pouring rain...well, not creating in the rain but on a day when it's pouring rain outside....I decided to toss together a quick card while the children were engaged in mind stimulating exercises (aka playing a computer game...hey, sometimes a Mom needs to do what a Mom needs to do to get a card created...).

Today's challenge was to create a card using a sketch, which makes life oh so much easier when one is short on time. (The computer games only entertain them for so long...right now our youngest is flipping out, he claims to be bored, "I'm so bored, look at me, I'm just hanging here" and "please, give me meatballs to eat" Yeah, yeah, yeah kid your Mother will play and feed you in short order...I have a blog post to finish doggoneit!) I've had these sweet "bee-lightful" Sweet 'n Sassy images printed out and ready to color for days and this set, Bee Happy, had the perfect size images for today's sketch. Since it is pouring rain outside - again - I needed to create something Spring-like to get my mind out of its rain-induced comatose state. After coloring the images with my Copics, while the oldest agonized over his subtraction problems (I helped him when he got stuck...really I did), I cut them out with Nestibilities and grabbed some delightful DP from Jillibean Soup, purchased from my favorite local scrapbook store, Wholly Scrap. (That was one serious run on sentence!) Ribbon is from Papertreyink and the black background was embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder. Oh, I used a kraft knife to cut out the bee's wings, popped them up, and added some Stickles (fun!!)

OK, I think dinner is burning and if I don't get this kid some meatballs he's not going to be happy and no one wants to upset a three-year old...They're way crankier than two-year olds. As a matter of fact, I don't believe there's such a thing as the terrible twos. However, there are definitely some torturous threes!!! Enjoy today's card!

Keep it Simple Sunday

How about another clean and simple card created using rub ons? Yeah!! This card follows one of my favorite layouts...the bizillion squares layout. I just love using four different patterns or textures next to each other on a card. It's quick, it's funky, it's just plain fun! For this card I used some of my Cuttlebug embossing folders for three of the squares and then a whole lotta thanks rub on from American Crafts, which is part of a sale pack I picked up at Wholly Scrap. Not a ton of explanation needed for this card so tonight's post is going to be short and sweet!! Enjoy and have a blessed Sunday!!

Sukkersot & Sweet 'n Sassy Sketch Challenge

Hey there fellow stampers! It's been a busy crafting week this week and I'm so excited to tell you that Sweet 'n Sassy is sponsoring not one but two sketch challenges today! The first is an international site, in Norway, called Sukkersot. They have the most amazing team of designers and we're thrilled to be a participating in their challenge! I opted to do the Sukkersot sketch challenge, which is listed below, and I used this darling Asian Doll image from Sweet 'n Sassy on my card and she's been paired with a saying from the Flower Sentiments set. This lovely DP is from Graphic 45, a paper collection that is carried at Wholly Scrap.The second sketch challange we're hosting is with Friday Sketchers and you can find that sketch and samples here. (I'm going to have to try and get a card created for this sketch too...I just love sketches!!) Be sure to hop on over to both sites to check out the wonderful sketches and beautiful artwork! Enjoy!

Digi Day Equals Free Digis!!

It's time for another fabulous Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Day over at Scrapbook News and Review! Todays' theme is BABY! Create a card with a baby theme and you'll be entered into a drawing for a few digi image from Sweet 'n Sassy but that's not all...Korin has posted a free digi for anyone who is a member of our SNR group! And it's a perfect image for today's challenge, a darling baby buggy. For my card I used the Precious Baby image from Sweet 'n Sassy...Isn't it darling! I love the clotheline and teeny ladybug walking across. This image is available for download for only $3.50 and includes one sentiment that says "welcome precious baby." I opted to leave the sentiment off of the front of the card and will use it on the inside of the card since this will go to a friend of mine who just had a baby girl a few days ago. Ahhh....I've been having baby thoughts lately...Must be because our youngest is almost four, already! But my husband has refused my "let's adopt a baby girl" requests so I may have to just get a puppy or something... LOL! Well we've had a late start this morning so I'm off to get on with the chores of the day! Be sure to click here to go directly to the Sweet 'n Sassy group page and challenge details!

Enjoy!