SSIC turns 1!

Even though I am no longer on the DT for Stampin' Sisters in Christ, I am very excited about it making it a year. I love the site and what it stands for. And have you been to the site lately...it is looking so cute! :) So, since SSIC is turning 1, they are having a blog hop which includes all of the current and past DT. I thought that was very neat to include us as well. :)

So if you came from Randi's blog, then you are in the right place. If not, why not start the hop at the beginning right here. (There are prizes to be won!)

Each of us was asked to create a project based on your favorite Bible verse(s). Here are the verses I choose:

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)

And here is the project that I made:

Those verses have been my favorite for as long as I can remember. I know I am not alone when I say that there are times when I just feel weary. I'm kinda there right now in fact. Tired. Busy. Just plain weary. But God has told us that HE will give us strength. I believe we need only ask and change our focus to Him! He can handle our lives and our problems better then we can. Come...all who are weary. But you know what is involved with coming to God...with placing our hope in Him. It's the T word...you know the one....time. When we change our focus from earthly things...from our own lives and just spend time with Him....things seem to fall into perspective...and we do feel renewed. Did you hear what He says...He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak! Wow! Why wouldn't you want some of that! :) I need Him right now. And I am so glad that I will have this reminder on my wall.

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And there is blog candy up for grabs today...you can win a $50 gift certificate to the sponsor of you choice! Visit the SSIC blog to find out more, but I too am offering up something simple.

Here's my blog candy:

These are the fabulous mini alphabet stickers from My Little Shoebox. It's kind of hard to tell in my picture...but those really are 5 different colors: Gumball (red), Lemon Pie (more orangish), Kiss (pink), Celery (green), and Seaside (aqua). To be eligible, simply leave a comment on my blog post and I will draw one lucky winner. :)

Ok...now it's time to hop on to the amazing Chris!!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day! :)

Supplies:

Acrylic Heart--Punky Sprouts, Papers--Prima Marketing and Studio Calico, Flowers--Prima Marketing, Stamp--Unity Stamp Company, Ink--Stampin' Up!, Computer Program--Microsoft Word, Computer Fonts--Cambria and Marker Felt, 3D Paint--Scribbles.

SSCC #32 AND Final Day of my RAKS

Hello everyone! I cannot tell you how happy this week has made me...I feel like I have made lots of new friends. :) I have enjoyed reading your comments, and I am amazed at how many new followers I got. You guys ROCK!!! :)

Well, today is the last day for me to be on the Stampin' Sisters in Christ DT. This is officially my last challenge. Although I will still be around and will still participate in some of the challenges now and then. :) Stay tuned to the SSCC blog to see some new (fabulous!) DT members. This week the challenge was to make a card or project that uses the Paper Tole Technique. This one was a new technique for me. If you are unfamiliar with the technique...basically, you stamp an image several times and then cut portions of the image out and layer them all so the pop off the page. Here is the card I made:

And here is another picture so you can see the technique:

The stamps I used are from Unity Stamp Company. :) Make sure you check out the challenge to see what the rest of the DT did as well as the verse for the week (it's one of my favorites!).

So if you get a chance this week, why don't you try the technique yourself!

And on to the real reason you are probably here...

Here is today's RAK:

It includes an album, some misting screen and four colors of Glimmer Mist...all from Tattered Angels! :) I must say...it's a pretty awesome RAK. If you haven't had a chance to play with Glimmer Mists yet, then now is your chance!

Now as for the rules...they are exactly the same as yesterday and the day before and the day before...

How to get entered into the drawing for this awesome prize:

* Leave me a comment on this post! :)

For EXTRA chances to win, here are two more ways to get entered into the drawing...

* Post about this giveaway on another site (blog, group, etc.) and then leave me a link to your post! :)

* Be a follower of my blog! Over to the right you will see the "follow" section. I have never done a giveaway where you have to become a follower of my blog...I kind of always thought of that as pimping out your blog. But then I was thinking about it and here is why I decided to go ahead and do it this time... 1) What's wrong with pimping out your blog? :) and 2) I have had many faithful and wonderful followers...isn't it ok to "reward" them for following me? Afterall, shouldn't they get a little extra love from me at times. :) So yep, if you become a follower or if you are already a follower, then you have another chance to win. Simply leave me another comment stating that you are a follower! :)

So there you have it! You have all week to leave your comments. I will announce a winner on Monday March 29th.

And for those of you who have been asking--

Yes--open to international readers as well

Yes--you can comment on ALL of the posts until I post a winner. :) So all RAKS are still open for comments.

HAVE A FANTASTIC SUNDAY (or whatever day it is where ever you are)!

SSCC #31

Ok...this is the third time I have typed this up! Don't know what is going on...but it is going to be a short and simple post.

The challenge at SSCC is to make a clean and simple card. They have samples of simple cards there on the blog. I find the "simple" style fascinating. I love the way it looks, on both cards and layouts, but when I try to do it myself...I just can't do it. I always feel like I have to keep adding things. But this time, I really tried to go simple. Here is the card I made:

Thanks for peeking! Check out the rest of the cards on the SSCC blog.

Ok, hope this posts fine...

Have an awesome Sunday! :)

Supplies:
Cardstock--Bazzill, Patterned Paper--Prima Marketing Inc., Lace--Websters Pages, Dangling Piece--7 Gypsies, Stamp--Unity Stamp Company, Ink--Stampin' Up!, Thread--DMC.

SSCC #30

"The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." Psalm 29:11

That is the verse that our challenge comes from this week on SSCC. And the challenge is to make a card (or project) that shows peace or looks peaceful to you.

Here is the card I made for the challenge.

Hope you can join us this week for the challenge!

Have a blessed and relaxing Sunday!

Supplies:

Cardstock--American Crafts (white) and Bazzill (kraft), Papers--Prima Marketing and Sassafras Lass, Flowers and Pearls--Prima Marketing, Stamps and Ink Pad--Stampin' Up!, Glimmer Mist--Tattered Angels, Thread--DMC, Black Pen ("you")--Sharpie.

SSCC #29

Hello everyone! The challenge for SSCC this week is to create a card that shows or expresses "joy". I took a different approach then most of the DT. To me, I love rain and rainbows...they bring me joy. Especially rainbows and what they represent! So I created a card with those things. Here it is:

To see the verse, some words about it, and what the rest of the DT did, click here. :)

Supplies:

Cardstock--American Crafts, Papers and Pearls--Prima Marketing, Stamp--Studio Calico, Ink--Stampin' Up!, Rub-on--Pebbles Inc., Fabric Trim--Rusty Pickle, Lace--Offray.

SSCC #28

Ok, the challenge this week at SSCC is a bit different, and it comes from me! It's just that God has specifically been placing this on my heart for awhile now.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Colossians 3:17

We serve a creative God, and we, as creative people, tend to appreciate that more then some. But how much more creative is God. How awesome is He really? When you stop and think about who He is and who we are, what He has done and what we have done. How can we not fall to our knees and worship our God? I think many of us are a bit confused about what it means to worship. We tend to think it is a set of songs that we sing at the beginning of our church service. Ahh...but worship is so much more than that. A very wise person once told me that "worship is more the state of the heart then the state of our art." Worship isn't just music. Worship can be anything and everything. We, as Christians, are to cultivate a lifestyle of worship! WHATEVER we do, we should do it for the glory of God! Even card-making or scrapbooking. Our hobby, our art, can be done as worship to God. Do you believe that? Isn't it He that gave us our gift of creativity. Don't you think it gives Him pleasure to see us use it? Let us thank Him. This site often allows us to use a hobby in ways of serving our God. This week our challenge will be a bit different...it may be challenging and it may not.

Challenge:

You have free reign of what you want to do this week..card, layout, project...any theme, any colors, any style...whatever you want. But here's the deal: I want you to actively do this as an act of worship to our God. Before starting, pray. Thank God for your gift. While working, feel free to pray more, or perhaps sing out to Him. Put your focus on Him and remember that it is He who gave you your gift (however good or bad you think you are at this) and remember that it makes Him happy to see you at work. Do this challenge, as if you were doing it for Christ himself! This challenge will really be on an honor code...we have no way of knowing whether you really do this. BUT the only person missing out, would be you. Let this be a time with God. Thank Him. Worship Him. Serve him. He is so good!

Here is what I did for the challenge. It is a canvas project that I made to hang on the wall:

And I am going to share this with you, not because I am wanting to make myself look good, but because I want to encourage you with this challenge. I spent the whole night doing this. I prayed, I worshiped, I worked, I even felt led to take a break and comment on current challenge participants to encourage them. I felt like I spent the whole night with God...and it was AWESOME! I haven't done that in quite awhile. So I really do encourage you to take the challenge seriously and go for it! :)

Supplies for Psalm 62:7 Canvas:

Paint--Making Memories, Papers, Flowers, stamp and pearls--Prima Marketing Inc., Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Screen--Tattered Angels, Chipboard Bird and Cage--Maya Road, Chipboard Letters--American Crafts and Prima Marketing, Letter Stickers--Scenic Route, Lace--Offray.

SSCC #27

Just a quick card to share with you today. Made it for the challenge at SSCC this week. The challenge is to make a card or project that has something to do with time on it (i.e. a clock). To see the verse and what others did, click here. :) Sorry to post and run. This weekend has been so busy and even this morning...I am running late.

Have a great Sunday! :)

(I'll try to update this later with the supply list).

SSCC #26

Happy Valentines Day!!! I hope you were or are able to spend some quality time with your spouse/significant other. :) I love being able to spend time just Kelby and I, and this weekend we have been able to do just that. It's been super nice.

So even though you traditionally think of your significant other on Valentines Day, the day is really about love right. And what is the ultimate love....

"This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." (1 John 4:10)

So the challenge at SSCC this week is to make a card/project letting someone know how much God loves them. I made a layout for my kids:

Those papers and stickers are once again from Bo Bunny. The stamps are from Stampin' Up! And that big funky button (love it!) is from My Little Bit of Whimsy.

Hope you play along with us this week!

Have an awesome Sunday!

Happy Birthday Kristine!!!!

Happy Birthday Glitter Graphics

Today is Kristine's birthday! She helps run Stampin' Sisters in Christ. If you haven't seen her work, it is gorgeous and you should definitely check it out. The girls at SSCC are doing a quick blog hop in honor of her birthday. So if you just popped in, why don't you start at Kathy's blog. If you just came from Laurie's blog then you are in the right place. :)

First let me share the card I made:

And then here's what I am bringing to our virtual party...the movie. So sit back and relax and watch this video of Kris' favorite movie. :)

Ahh....what a great love story.

Ok, now hop on to Peggysue's blog to continue the party. :)

Have a fantastic Friday!

SSCC #25

The new challenge at SSCC is up! It's a challenging one, but it really is fun! The challenge is to use two of whatever you use on your project (i.e. two stamps, two papers, two....). I used several two's in my layout that I made. Here it is:

Those digital stamps are from our sponsor this week: Digital Ink Company. The cool thing about digital stamps is that you can make them any size you want. I totally enlarged them for my layout. :) Those fun papers are from Fancy Pants Designs.

So it's Super Bowl Sunday...anybody watching? We are having some friends and family over to watch...although I mostly watch for the commercials. :)

Have a fantastic Sunday!

SSCC #24

Oops...this was supposed to go up early this morning.  :(

Well I am still sick...I've pretty much completely lost my voice.  I just don't feel well and wish I could spend the day in bed.  But I've got several projects and deadlines and can't do that.  So is life.

The challenge at SSCC this week is to make a card with an image of a child (or child-like things) on it.  To see the verse, thoughts on the verse and what others did for the challenge go here.

This is my card:

The sponsor this week at SSCC was Mo's Digital Pencil and I used one of her images on the card.

Ok...well I gotta get to work.  Maybe if I work hard then I can go to bed early tonight.

Have a great Sunday!

SSCC #21

"Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind our wounds." Hosea 6:1

I will never ever forget that last verse to the song Holiness. You might know the one..."Holiness, Holiness is what I long for. Holiness is what I need..." And I am usually in tears by the time I get to the last verse "Brokenness, Brokenness is what I long for. Brokenness is what I need. Brokenness is what you want from me." Every time I hear that I think of the story I heard as a kid about broken glass. At first glance, it may just look like a piece of broken glass. But when the sun hits that glass we see beautiful light reflected that we would never have seen if the glass had not been broken.

The challenge this week at SSCC is to make the broken look beautiful...create a mosaic, or tear apart and stitch back together. In some way have your image look broken. I totally tried something new and different for me. :) Here's my card:

I do hope you play along with us. :)

Have a great Sunday!

Supplies:

Cardstock--Stampin' Up!, Papers, Stickers and Lace--Websters Pages, Stamp and Ink--Stampin' Up!, Bird Mirror--Heidi Swapp for Advantus, Thread--DMC.

Weekend Challenges

So I need to play a little catch up...I missed a couple things I was supposed to post this weekend.

First, the challenge at Scrap and Stamp is up. The challenge is to make a scrapbook layout that has both stamping and hand-cutting. :) Here is the layout I made:

And then the challenge at SSCC is up too. The challenge is to make a card for a new baby or a new Christian. :) Here's what I made:

Our sponsor this week at SSCC is Sew Many Cards, and we received some digital stamps to play with, which I used on my card...isn't it so cute! :)

Thank you to everyone who participated in the blog hop this weekend! I hope you all had as much fun as I did! :) I will be back tomorrow with a new sketch. Then in the afternoon I will announce the winners from the hop!

Have a fantastic day!

SSCC #18

Since it is Christmas week, the challenge over at SSCC is really easy. ;) It's a sketch.

Here's the sketch:

And here is the card I made:

I hope you can join us this week! :) And I really hope you all have a great Christmas week!!! It's almost here! I really want to take some extra time this week to reflect on everything the Lord has done for me...He is SO good! The Christmas story is a story of a miracle...but it is so much more than that. So many times it just goes in one ear and out the other...we've heard it all before. But it's not so simple and I hope we never forget that.

Showing Off My Bling!

Yes, I may be talking about bling...but I'm actually getting ready to show you my card I made for this week's SSCC challenge...who says a Christian can't show a little bling? :) The verse this week is:

Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

And the challenge is to use [crafty] "treasures" on your card or other project... in other words, BLING IT UP! (ie. bling = gems, pearls, dazzling diamonds, charms). :) So here is my card for the challenge:

Hope you play along with us this week! :) See the challenge post and post your links here.

Oh, and Regina was nice enough to let me refrain from doing yesterday's challenge at Scrap and Stamp, but I still wanted to let you know what the challenge is! The challenge is to scrap a gathering (any kind will do) and use stamping. you can see the challenge here. I do hope you play along there too!

SSCC #16

Hi everyone! Day two in my Christmas program today...just a quick post, as I have to run...

2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (NIV)

As Christians, we are called to pray. To pray for those we know and love, to pray for the poor, and yes, to even pray for our enemies. But I fear that most of us don't make enough time for prayer. I once heard a startling statistic about the percentage of Christians that pray everyday. Now I am not trying to make you feel bad, I have struggled with this myself...so maybe we should make a pact to try harder at this prayer thing. I do know that when my prayer life is healthy my whole life seems to be better (and even when it's not, I seem to be able to handle things better). :)

So the challenge over at Stampin' Sisters in Christ is to pray...pray for someone else, and let them know by making a card. On this card include some sort of person. :) Simple enough, huh.

Here's my card:

Ok...now I seriously got to run. :) Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!!!

SSCC #15 and Birthday Blog Hop

Let me start by saying a hugh HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Lisa!!!!!

Glitter Graphics from GlitterGeek.com

Lisa is one of our fearless leaders over at Stampin' Sisters in Christ. :) And her work is always beautiful!

Instead of just posting our challenge cards today we thought we would also make it a birthday blog hop! So start at the SSCC blog. :)

The challenge was to make a card or project with gifts on it. Here's the card I made:

The stamps are from Stampin' Up! and the patterned paper is from My Little Shoebox. The cardstock is Bazzill and the gems are from Zva Creative.

And since we are partying for Lisa's birthday...here is what I am bringing to the party...tickets to Europe!

Ok...no that picture of Charlie with the golden ticket has nothing to do with Europe...but doesn't it make you sing..."I've got a golden ticket..." No, Europe is Lisa's dream vacation, so let's all play along...we can all go right. :)

Ok, now why don't you continue the party by hopping on to the fabulous Peggysue. :)

SSCC #14

This is going to be a quick post today. With the unexpected visit of my grandparents who are not well at all, and so much else going on, I feel like I have hardly had time to breathe...just way too busy. I am writing this Saturday night, and I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to church in the morning. It is an escape. Plus we have a new pastor! So I am hoping for a great morning...then back to the Grandparents.

The challenge over at SSCC this week is to make a Thanksgiving card. Such a great challenge, and I do believe that I have never made one before! :) So here is what I did:

The stamps are from Unity Stamp Company. :)

Ok...I wish you all the best of Sundays!

While I was gone

Oh man, I just got back from a fun retreat! It was the Rusty Pickle retreat and I got to meet most of the rest of the DT and pickle workers in real life...I really had a blast! We also got to do all the classes that Rusty Pickle will be teaching throughout the year. I'll try to post some pictures later. First I need to post several things for while I was gone. :)

This week's challenge at Scrap and Stamp was to scrap your spouse or significant other, and of course you need to have stamping on your work. Here is what I did for the challenge:

I used a lot of different stuff on this layout, but I wanted to point out that those family labels are from Tattered Angels. I sprayed them with glimmer mist. That swirl is also from Tattered Angels, it is one of the Glimmer Glass pieces. That stamp is from Stampin' Up! It's one of those stamp sets that I just couldn't part with when I was selling all my SU stamps. :)

And then the challenge at SSCC was to create a shadowbox card. You can find more information on the challenge and shadowbox cards here. Here is what I made for the challenge:

Those papers are all from Pink Paislee, aren't they just gorgeous! That awesome stamp is a Gillian Roberts stamp that I just had to get after seeing it on someone else's blog. :)

And you may have saw the post for the Thankful for Friends of Faith blog hop that I had here on my own blog. But I also made a card for the SSCC blog and this hop. Here is that card:

Those papers are from Pebbles and the stamp is from Unity. :)

I have a lot more to show you, but I think I will do it in another post. :)

For now, let me leave you with the sketch for this week.

And here is what Katrina did with the sketch:

I will back tomorrow with another long post. :)

Have an AWESOME Monday!

Supplies for "What I See" layout:

Papers--Cosmo Cricket, Pebbles Inc and My Little Shoebox. "Family" labels, Glimmer Mist, and Glimmer Glass--Tattered Angels. Stamp and Ink--Stampin' Up!, Letters--American Crafts, Rubber Bird--October Afternoon, Border Sticker--Jenni Bowlin Studios, Thread--DMC, Computer Program--Microsoft Word, Font--American Typewriter, Cardstock (for journaling)--Stampin' Up!.

Supplies for "Sing Joy" shadowbox card:

Papers--Pink Paislee, Stamp--Gillian Roberts (Stampavie), Ink and Embossing Powder--Stampin' Up!, Chipboard--Rusty Pickle, Paint (on chipboard)--Making Memories, Flowers and Gems--Prima Marketing, Glitter--Scribbles, Glimmer Mist (on Chipboard)--Tattered Angels, Computer Program--Microsoft Word, Computer Font--American Typewriter.

Supplies for Friend card:

Cardstock--American Crafts, Papers--Pebbles, Inc., Stamps---Unity Stamp Company, Ink--Stampin' Up!, Pearls--Hero Arts, Computer Program--Microsoft Word, Computer Font--American Typewriter, Lace--unknown.

SSCC #12

Oh man...I don't know how I missed getting this up yesterday. :( I'm too busy...I just hope things slow down after next week (they should). Anyways, the challenge at SSCC this week is to make a patriotic themed card for a soldier. PLEASE find all the information here. I do hope you play along with us! Here's the card I made:

I made this card really fast, and frankly, I am not even sure that I like it. I think I am going to try to make another one after I get back from the retreat. :)

Sorry this wasn't up yesterday! I will be back with this week's sketch in a little bit.