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Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!


Wishing all of you in blog land a very Merry Christmas!

The design team at Stampin' Sisters in Christ is taking a break until January 8th, so you have until then to enter our current challenge to use inchies. Check out the main blog here.

The other design team sisters at Stampin' Sisters in Christ have Christmas cards to share with you all as well. You can visit their blogs as listed below. We look forward to a new year of spreading the love of Christ through papercrafting starting next month. You can find our challenges each Sunday starting January 9th. Wishing you all a blessed holiday and may you find true joy in the birth of Jesus Christ!

Chris Olsen: Twinkles Glow with Stamps
Grace Nyweming: Th-INK-ing of You
Miesje Flach: Craft Room with a View
Linda Lucas: Lovely Linda's Craft Central
Lisa Hjulberg: The Craft's Meow {on break}
Patti J Gilliam: Cherish Each Precious Day
Rebekka Reed: A Diamond in the Rough
Randi Barrett: Randi's A New Creation {on break}

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 7o . . . think small

Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ. You can find the main page here where you will find the lovely creations by the other design team sisters. This week I have the good fortune to be the hostess, and Our Daily Bread Designs is our sponsor. They are awarding a $15 gift card to one lucky, randomly selected winner on our blog so although it is a busy week, we hope you can play along.

The verse I selected for this week is from Micah 5:2 {NKJV} "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."

Here are my thoughts on the verse I selected:
My husband loves adventures; he loves to explore. A few years ago at Christmas the kids got him a book entitled, 1,ooo Places to See Before You Die.

Two thousand years ago if there had been such a book, Bethlehem would not have been included on the list. And of all the places included in that thousand, my guess is that very few of us live in one of them. The world is dotted with small towns, villages, out of the way corners and even random streets within large cities where millions live and go about their business every day. We live ordinary lives in ordinary places completing ordinary tasks.

And that very ordinary life might cause you to feel a sense of defeat, of hopelessness, especially at this time of year. What significance do I have, what contribution am I making, in this very ordinary life of mine?

God's message to you from this verse is that there is no insignificant member of his family. He doesn't make mistakes. God has placed you in that ordinary place in your specific situation for a reason, for a purpose that fits into his eternal plan.

Feel the tenderness in that verse . . . 'though you are little among the thousands of Judah'. . . and let that tenderness wash over your soul. God feel the same way about you, He has his loving eyes upon you. Out of the thousands and millions of people on this earth, He notices you from among all of them. And just as God chose the small town of Bethlehem to bring forth the Savior of this world, He can use you for kingdom work, right where you are.

That's why this week's challenge is to use an inchie or inchies in your stamped creation, to remind us that no matter how small we might feel we have great beauty in God's eyes and a purpose in his plan.

There are many ways to incorporate the inchie concept in your creations. Some stamps are specifically designed as inchies, some images are small enough to fit inside an inch sized space, or you can do what I did with my card and punch out an inch worth of image to highlight. And though you can't see it, I stamped white on white on the back panel and then stamped a swirl of snowflakes and embossed them with irridescent ice embossing powder, so there is a lot of depth in the white, it just doesn't photograph well. Thank you for looking, we hope you can play along this week.

Stamps: Gina K, PTI, Inkadinkadoo, Verve

Paper: black and white

Ink: black, white craft

Other: pencils, gamsol, glitter, ribbon, impression plates, crystal effects, silver whatchamacallits, irridescent ice embossing powder, vintage corner die


"

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 69 . . .a way with words


Happy Sunday stampers! It is time for another challenge from Stampin' Sisters in Christ! Our lovely and talented hostess this week is Patti who has selected this verse from Ephesians 4:29, "Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."
Her challenge is to create a card or project that will compliment, encourage or cheer someone in need of uplifting. Our sponsor this week is Simon Says Stamp, check the home page to see which set one randomly selected winner will receive!
Ouch! Excellent verse from Patti. Especially for someone as blunt as I am. No matter how many times I tell myself to watch my words, there are days when I slip, and more than once.
But what if we woke up each day with that resolve? What if we thought about our words before we said them, or typed them, or texted them?
I believe our conversations might actually cease for a while, that there would be a period of quiet. What does quiet afford us? Time for reflection--and the best sort of reflection is to ponder God's word and its application in our lives. Then after that reflection, how would the bible be 'reflected' in our words? Imagine instead of complaining, offering someone a compliment. Instead of ennui, putting forth the effort to encourage. Instead of gossiping, cheering someone on in their walk. How uplifting that would be!!
For my card, I did a variation of the sketch challenge from this week on splitcoast. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I stamped the sentiment on a piece of patterned vellum, its sort of swirly. Thanks for looking and hope you can join along with us this week!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Mark's Finest Paper December Blog Hop . . . Take a Peek

Welcome to the MFP December Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!

We have 4 New Stamp Sets Released: Hearts, Hearts, Hearts, Nature's Postage Due; Hello Sunshine and Take a Peek.For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (December 11, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!)
If you miss a day,
you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.


I made a shadowbox card. The idea here is you're walking through the woods and through the leaves you see this little guy peeking back at you. It really is a relatively simple card to make. Two sheets of 4.25x5.5 pieces of paper, score at a half-inch and an inch on both sides--folds flat for mailing. I really like the Indian Summer Basic Grey paper pack, the colors are so vivid! Thanks for looking, have a great hop!





Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Mark's Finest Paper December Introduction . . . Hello Sunshine



Hello Sunshine
For this card I used something I'm calling the suspension technique? I am absolutely sure there is another name for this, as I know I've seen it used before, but I cannot remember what it is called. Ever notice its a lot harder to look things up in google or in a database when you can't remember a name? LOL!

Anyway, when I saw the one sun, I pictured using it for a retirement card, so you could 'see' your retirement place through the sun as though through a window. Because at a retirement party you're almost there, but not quite! So I embossed the sun and cut out most of the image, then cut out the wee bird and glued it to a piece of thread that I attached to the top and bottom of the image, so the bird is suspended as though it is still flying. Helps carry out the illusion.
I used lots of layers of ruffled looking bright paper to mimic an island sundress. Again, it was fun to work with brighter colors in the middle of the foot of snow we have and the gray skies! Although I do like snow in December, it helps make it a more Merry Christmas!

I'm not in the hop officially today, my card is on the main blog, but here is the hop order if you get lost.
Nancyruth - http://nancyruthat.blogspot.com
Lois - http://clownmomcreations.blogspot.com
Vicky- http://www.villagestamperramblings.blogspot.com
Dawn L.- http://dawnanewday.blogspot.com/

Anne- http://inkinginred.blogspot.com/

Emily- http://mylittlesliceofbliss.blogspot.com

Karen- http://karenskreativekreations.blogspot.com

Patty- http://winnieswhimsandmycrafts.blogspot.com

Roxie- http://paperscaper.blogspot.com

Vicki- http://allidoisstamp.blogspot.com/
Liz: http://rightbrainmadness.blogspot.com

Claudine- http://cardsbyclaudine.blogspot.com

Dawn- http://dawnmercedes.blogspot.com

Joanne T- http://sleepyinseattlestamps.blogspot.com

Nicole - http://nicolesbutterflyears.blogspot.com

Marilynn- http://mississippi-mcgyver.blogspot.com

Geri – http://geriscards.blogspot.com/

Lynn- http://confessionsofaleft-brainedstamper.blogspot.com/

Mark’s Finest Papers - http://marksfinestpapers.blogspot.com

Mark's Finest Papers December blog hop . . . Nature's Postage

Welcome to the MFP December Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!

And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 4 New Stamp Sets Released: Hearts, Hearts, Hearts, Nature's Postage Due; Hello Sunshine and Take a Peek.For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (December 11, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!)
If you miss a day,
you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.

When I saw the pretty floral images I immediately thought of glitter window. The one problem I didn't anticipate though, is that when you use that technique, to protect the glitter, you reverse the image, so my postage is now backwards, as you can see from the blurry closeup. Thanks for looking and happy hopping!






















Wednesday December 8: Nature's Postage

Nancyruth - http://nancyruthat.blogspot.com
Lois - http://clownmomcreations.blogspot.com
Vicky- http://www.villagestamperramblings.blogspot.com
Dawn L.- http://dawnanewday.blogspot.com/
Anne- http://inkinginred.blogspot.com/
Peggysue- http://rosesbymywindow.blogspot.com
Susan – http://simplicitybylateblossom.blogspot.com

Connie – http://sodakstamping.blogspot.com

Claudine- http://cardsbyclaudine.blogspot.com

Dawn- http://dawnmercedes.blogspot.com

Joanne T- http://sleepyinseattlestamps.blogspot.com

Nicole - http://nicolesbutterflyears.blogspot.com

Marilynn- http://mississippi-mcgyver.blogspot.com

Geri – http://geriscards.blogspot.com/

Lynn- http://confessionsofaleft-brainedstamper.blogspot.com/

Emily N.- http://emmielouwho.blogspot.com/

Mark’s Finest Papers - http://marksfinestpapers.blogspot.com

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Mark's Finest Papers December blog hop . . . Hearts!

Welcome to the MFP December Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!

And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 4 New Stamp Sets Released: Hearts, Hearts, Hearts, Nature's Postage Due; Hello Sunshine and Take a Peek. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (December 11, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!)
If you miss a day,
you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.

Who doesn't like nice, lacy, delicate hearts? I chose to emboss mine in black on some basic grey pink background DP, then cut it out. When you mount it on pink paper it looks like lace. The card next to it in white I made and posted on my blog about a week ago, but I've imported the image to this post so you can see another idea for this set. There is more description of the techniques I used on that card in the post just below. Thanks for looking, happy hopping!

















DECEMBER 7, 2010- Hearts, Hearts, Hearts:

Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky-
Dawn L.

Anne
Peggysue- http://rosesbymywindow.blogspot.com -- That's me!
Susan

Connie

Emily

Karen

Patty

Roxie

Vicki
Liz:

Geri

Lynn

Emily N.

Mark’s Finest Papers