Sometimes things just stink....... for a while

Coffee of the Day - Creme Brulee

The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day. But my heart is sad and I am crying. I am saying goodbye to my lovely DTs. They have been a part of me and so very special to me for a while now. I have met the most wonderful people through these teams. I have been introduced to some gorgeous art.

But I am sick right now and just can't seem to get better. This blankety blank fall from the other day has done some damage. So I have to take an even longer break from crafting than I originally thought. It isn't fair to leave people hanging on week after week waiting to find out if I am up to submitting a project or not, so I am stepping down. But gosh almighty I am gonna miss those fantastic people! So please continue to stop by those phenom stores. please continue to visit those amazingly talented crafters and leave them bloggy love.

And the sun still shines and the birds still sing and God still sits on His throne and loves. that doesn't change. thankfully! :)

Flowers & Coffee... It Must be Spring!

Coffee of the Day - Cinnamon Hazelnut

Today starts a new challenge over at Squigglefly - Flower Power - just use flowers and a Squigglefly image somewhere on your creation.

I have been trying to do a bit of scrapbooking lately, not much mind you, but a bit. I think this is one of my ab fab fave pix that I have taken EVER! I took it last fall when Dave and I had gone on a day trip to Chagrin Falls. I decided to print out this wonderful flower frame by Rich Davis onto acetate and then color it with my sharpies on the reverse side. Other than the GORGEOUS papers from My Mind's Eye, everything else on the page is vintage - including that wonderful millinery flower at the top. isn't it stunning?! of course it is one of my delightful Etsy finds. The sentiment is also a SF. Whoops, the velvet leaf is a new Prima. The title block was sponged and distressed as I wanted to keep it simple. The page is 8 1/2" x 11", which is the size I have been doing lately. These books are so much easier for people to look through than the larger 12x12 ones.

Sorry to have such a short post today. I took a really nasty fall yesterday and am sore and bruised. It seems that my hearing being gone in one ear and overall klutziness to begin with are not a good pairing...... I am more purple than this page!

Y'all have a good day and I hope to see you tomorrow! :)

Crafts 4 Eternity Reverse Challenge

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Macadamia

Hello! If it is Sunday, then it is time for a new challenge with Crafts 4 Eternity! For today, we get to use the sketch, some brads, and reverse something on your project. The sponsor is a fun company called Crafty Sentiments. I was blessed to receive this adorable stamped image & flower in the mail from Suzette, a C4E teamie as well as a designer for Crafty Sentiments.

I decided to REVERSE the sentiment portion of the sketch from one corner to another. I grabbed this fun new paper pack from K & Co. called Poppyseed. I love the great colors in it, as well as the bold images. The brackets (which are somewhat REVERSED), punched little flowers, girl's socks, hair bow, & bow on dress are all painted with butter cream shimmerz to give them a bit of sparkle. I also painted over the word 'Journey' with the same butter cream shimmerz. The centers of the flowers and butterfly body have been highlighted with stickles. the butterfl itself was painted with wintergreen blingz and a gold glitter pen. I wanted to be sure to have little shiny bits on this card! I went over the polka dots and edges of her sleeves and dress with my white gel pen to make sure the white stood out. An organdy bow and vintage button finish off the card.

Be sure to play along if you can! I would love to see what you create!

An Easter Egg for You!

Coffee of the Day - Tiramisu

Good morning! Are you getting ready for Easter? I haven't even started yet... our middle son, Mick, is heading off on a rock climbing trip the end of next week (eek!) that snuck up on me out of the blue, we've had an invite for dinner, and this is just the 2nd card I have made. how is that for not being the least bit prepared... oh well, we will get there - ready or not. :) I hope you are doing better than I!!!

This adorable image is created by Cheryl Alger and can be found at both her store and Squigglefly. Speaking of SF, they have some fun new images being released today, including a new line called "Inside Outs". Be sure to take a look! Cheryl has her own challenge blog that has recently started, so I am entering this.

I must say this card did create a challenge for me. I realized that I only have one Easter SF image, and thankfully it was one of Cheryl's. Since it IS going to be sent to a little boy, I tried to keep it less girly than I typically make, which proved to be more difficult than I thought it would. Usually I don't have a problem with guy cards, so maybe it is coming out of my time off from crafting for so long. Anyhow, in the end I gave in and added the paper flowers in the corner. It just seemed so bare without it! :) Since the little boy is only 5, I hope he won't mind. ;) I tried to keep the colors boy-friendly though. My guys will have kittens when they see it, so I am gearing up for that confrontation. oh well...... I do think it turned out fairly cute.

Do you realize this is the first pair of shoes I have colored in ages that aren't PINK?! giggles! in case you have never noticed, I have a thing about making all of the girls' shoes PINK in the cards I make. look at yesterday's post... and if you check back to almost every single one, the shoes are all PINK! :D so making his plain ol' brown was another one of the challenges for this card. but no way, no how was I giving this guy pink shoes. forget the kittens, my guys woulda had cows! I soooooooooo wanted to add glitter to the little baby flower and egg, but I didn't 'cause of the whole boy factor.... man, they are HARD to make a card for! :p guess I had better girly me up a card QUICK!


Y'all have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you tomorrow!

There is always laundry to do......

Coffee of the Day - Kahlua & Cream

Well there may always be laundry, but doesn't this chica look like she is enjoying herself while she is doing it?! :) I love this image from Isabella's Sketchbook, a new store that I have come across in my wanderings. She has groups at both PCP and SNR, so come join us for some fun chatting! She is also doing a DT call-out if you are interested. well, golly gee..... who wouldn't be interested in playing with these wonderful images all the time?! grins! I, for one, am putting in my app! and crossing fingers, too!

I haven't played with this wonderful 'in color' from SU! much, Bermuda Bay, so thought it high time to use it. You see, a most amazing set of boxes arrived at my door this week. Kate, the owner of i {heart} papers, had of course heard about my craft room fiasco. In all of her sweetness and goodness and most deep down generosity, she sent me 2 of the biggest boxes filled to overflowing with 12x12 cs and dp! She also threw in some clear stamps, rub-ons (she knows I am getting so addicted to these!), and other embellies! oh my stars, was I one weepy weepy gal! my guys were as flabbergasted as I. so this gorgeous paisley paper is some from this collection. the red polka dot is the flip side. I just had to make a card with it PRONTO!!!! and the BB looked perfect with it! so the best way I can say thank you to Kate is to tell all of you about what she did and tell you how fabby her store is - which I do all the time anyhow each time I mention shimmerz, especially the PINK that she keeps in stock just for me! giggles! so run over there and leave her some love, either on the blog, the PCP group, or just buy something wonderful 'cause she has lots of goodies!

Everyone have a great and glorious day! love ya!

Jennifer

It's Twisted Thursday with Shirleys 2 Girls!

Coffee of the Day - Creme Brulee

How wonderful to be back crafting again! Although I am still slower than molasses at getting things done, it is so nice to be getting inky again! I love getting lost in the entire experience!


So today brings us another Twisted Thursday challenge with Shirleys 2 Girls! the twist this week is to use buttons. gosh, no prob for me! you know how much I love buttons! :) I also wanted to do some more paper piecing, so thought it would be fun to use this cutie little chick. He just seemed perfect for the job! grins!

The polka dots on the egg are colored with a white gel pen, and the little black sparkles of the bg are highlighted with a spica glitter pen. The floral trim is from Making Memories; buttons are an asst. of MFT, SU!, and vintage. The card base is edged in white craft ink.

The Girls have provided a very informative blog page that answers all kinds of digi how-to questions. Be sure to check it out! :)
And don't forget to check out the rest of the DT's creations! You know you will be amazed as always! Play along this week! can't wait to see what you make!

Qualifying Challenges:
Just Us Girls - lt. Brown (I used kraft), lt. green, yellow, lt. blue
Crazy 4 Challenges - Spring
Paper Sundaes - paper piecing
Incy Wincy - Easter or Spring
Digital Tuesday - Spring
Stampin' for the Weekend - Easter
Bee Crafty - Spring
Jacksonbelle Embellishments - Easter or Spring
Paper Garden Projects - Easter or Spring
Totally Gorjuss - Ribbon

Voting open for 50/50 Group....

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Biscotti

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a grand and glorious day! I awoke to rain, but with a hubby beside me playing "Pickle in the Middle" to Latte on the other side and Mocha at my feet. can't get any better than that! Dave laughs that our bed is like the one on "Willy Wonka" except with big labbers instead! I wouldn't have it any other way! I love my big doggies! :) oh yes, and hubby, too! giggles!

Feeling better, bit by bit. horray! crafted a bit yesterday. it is taking me FOR-EV-ER to get anything accomplished, but the important thing is that I am getting it done.

Wanted to let you know that the voting is up for the 'Special 50/50' group I told you about the other day. (see below post). because we crafters really like to know that other people like our work, I am going to ask you to wander over to the challenge blog and take a looksie at ALL of the neat projects that are entered. if you feel inspired to vote for someone's, then please do. if you would like to vote for me, then I would most certainly appreciate it. but only if you REALLY want to. I know I am not the greatest crafter out there. I just do this because I really like playing with paper and ribbon and buttons and getting inky and ribbon and buttons and Primas and shimmerz and ribbon and well, you get the idea! :D

So may the sun be shining on your corner of the world, even if only in your heart! :)
see you later, gator! Jennifer

A Vintage Bunny for 50/50 Crafters

Coffee of the Day - Kahlua and Cream

Well I am finally able to get a card completed and posted - yippppeeeeee! you don't know what a major undertaking this has been! took me 2 days because my energy kept disappearing, but I am thrilled to bits to have it finished. :) and it turned out okay, too. that is the happy happy part!

I am part of a fun group called the 'The Special 50/50'. Eventually it will be a group of exactly 50 designers and 50 crafters. The crafters are challenged each month to create something with the digis provided by the artists. I didn't get a chance to play last month, so wanted to try to participate this month. Thought this was the perfect catalyst to jump start my crafting without any DT pressures (not that I feel all that pressured by any of my DTs, but you know what I mean. I have been blessed by the people I work for and with!)

The digi I chose is from a store called Milly Dee Designs. I think he is adorable! and he is completely paper pieced! I did add a few little touches here and there with watercolors and a white gel pen to accent. Pretty much everything on this card came from a wonderful care package I received from Rhonda upon hearing of the demise of much of my craft room. Isn't she amazing?! Thank you again, Rhonda! so I can't tell you who any of the papers are by, but I think they all go well together. :) I added my own little touches here and there to give it that vintage flair - white craft ink along the edges of the card base, all papers distressed with ink.

Enjoy your evening! and thanks for the many emails, cards, and other outpourings of love! y'all are the best!

Challenges:

Paper Sundaes - paper piecing

When it rains it pours and then things get really really wet.....

We had several very lovely days with temps in the mid 50's. the sun was shining and it was glorious! but when you have layers upon layers of snow and ice built up on roof tops, things happen. For the first time ever in our 12 years of living in Ohio, we had ice break loose and do some damage. but we didn't realize the extent of it until yesterday.

A few days ago during the afternoon, Tyler and I heard a crash. I knew immediately what it was - ice breaking loose from the roof outside my upstairs bedroom. It sounded loud enough to have broken through the roof below, so I checked. All appeared fine. I climbed out onto the roof, and sure enough - the gutters had even been broken off, but otherwise all seemed well.

Yesterday the rains began. Temps had begun dropping again the afternoon before, but nothing unusual for this time of year. It rained all day yesterday. As I have been feeling better, I have been trying to do some organizing of my craft room - actually a closed-in porch that is - you guessed it - the room right below where the ice fell from my bedroom roof. Getting that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach yet? yep, you can tell where this is going..........

Late in the afternoon, I needed to grab some things from my craft room to put into bins. I walked into the room and was devastated. Water was dripping from the roof - all areas of the roof. All around the perimeter, the center, you name it - it was leaking. I did my best to salvage what I could. Thankfully I had already taken out my Primas, the majority of my ribbons and trims, my Basic Grey 6x6 paper pads, and my buttons! :) y'all know how important those things are to me when I craft! essentially the only other thing that wasn't damaged was my vast collection of solid cs. whew! I did manage to get some of my single wooden stamps out and a few other embellies.

Now in the midst of this, Camp Burton has had the Senior High Sabbath Retreat going on since Friday night. This isn't your normal sky high fun in the sun kind of retreat. This is a really in depth 'take you to your knees' kind of soul searching retreat that causes each person to truly get a closer look at their relationship with God. Everyone fasts for 24 hours, spends lots of time in worship and prayer, does some kind of mission project, but also connects with God in a way that can only be described as awesome - truly awesome. The focus of the Retreat was the relief efforts for Haiti. I spent some time on Friday trying to find video for David to put together for a short presentation. After several hours of watching video clips, slide presentations, etc., I was emotionally drained. God was speaking to me through the pictures I was seeing; the voices I was hearing. oh goodness, the things He was telling me. What I take for granted. How blessed I am and don't realize it. I was sobbing because of my ignorance and blindness.

And then the next day many of my crafting supplies are gone. No, God is not punishing me. I don't believe that for one moment. But it sure helped me keep things in perspective as I was trying to salvage things from my room. God just kept telling me over and over as I picked up each thing dripping with water - "think of the people of Haiti. you lost things - they lost homes; lives. you have so much. you are so blessed. you have more than so many. you are loved. Rejoice!"

now, I am human and it did take me a little while, but it finally sank in. sure, I hate to see things lost or destroyed. I don't like to see waste. but these are just things. Things. Things can be replaced. ALWAYS. maybe not the EXACT thing. maybe not today, or tomorrow, or next month. it may take me years. I really don't think I want to replace it all. in fact I know I don't. it doesn't mean the same to me anymore - you see I have a different perspective now. it's just stuff. yeah, it's stuff I use to do something I like that hopefully reaches out to someone. but it is PEOPLE that matter. it is RELATIONSHIPS that Jesus spent His life telling us to cultivate. those can never be replaced. and I am blessed as all get out that I have a precious precious family. I have friends that have overwhelmed me with their outpouring of affection while I have been sick. I have all of you who put up with my blathering and yammering and whatnot.... but seem to love coffee as much as I! grins! and that can never ever be replaced! Allelulia!!!! and all God's people said -
"AMEN!"

Taking a Wee Break...

I am taking a self imposed break from life right now...... it is time for me to really try to get some major healing done. I am so weary of being so sick and want to try to get better. Hopefully by the end of the month my body will have had its fill of rest and be ready to party like a rockstar again! :) But so many pieces parts have been shutting down or not co-operating with the whole, that I feel it is just time for a big break.

Please continue to visit all of the many DT blogs and companies I am blessed to be affiliated with. I hope you can understand.
My love to each and every one of you!
Jennifer

Smile and the World Smiles with You! New Releases with Shirleys 2 Girls! :)

Coffee of the Day - Caramel

Well who should appear today, (or did he?! grins!), but our favorite cat - The Cheshire Cat! Shirleys 2 Girls have outdone themselves with this fabulous new line featuring our favorite characters from Alice in Wonderland!

and today, yes, I actually have a card to show you! I am using some of the new digi papers that the Girls have created to go along with these fun new characters and digis. Please be sure to check them out here at the store. My wonderful teamie, Gina, has a project to show you, too, so head over to her blog to see what she has to show you!

My card also uses Basic Grey Origins paper for the tree. I punched some small leaves and popped them up on foam tape for extra dimension. The Cheshire Cat is also popped up on foam tape. The street signs on the post have been covered with crystal effects. I love the funky bizarre, but true Alice-y feel of this card! Looks as if it would be perfect to send to someone who is lost down that proverbial rabbit hole! giggles!

Don't forget to play in the Twisted Thursday challenge this week - use green on your creation. Link your post to the challenge blog using Mr. Linky. can't wait to see what you make!

Don't Be Late - Check out the New Releases from Shirleys 2 Girls! :)

Coffee of the Day - Caramel Twist

Today's new release in the Alice in Wonderland series from Shirleys 2 Girls happens to be one of my fave characters - the White Rabbit. I just love him for some reason! If you head over to Carlie and Jana's blogs, you will find some neat inspiration! I hope you had a chance to check out what Judy and Jane made yesterday with Alice falling down the hole. To see the entire line, just click here for the full adventure in the store!

Be sure to play in the Twisted Thursday challenge this week - make something using the color green. then link up your post using Mr. Linky. easy peasy!

Well I am off to the University of Akron for a college visit with Tyler. He has been accepted and will start this fall. I am so proud of him - he took off this year to work and raise funds for college. Not easy to do when all of your friends are starting school. Mick is going to Ohio State, so we will be taking a trip there soon, too.

Have a great day! :)

Feel Like you Fell Down a Rabbit Hole? - New Releases with Shirleys 2 Girls!

Coffee of the Day - Creme Brulee

Today begins the new releases with Shirleys 2 Girls! Each day for the next several, 2 members of the DT will show you creations made with a new image in the Alice line. Today you can stop by the wonderufl blogs of Jane and Judy to see what they have come up with! You know it will be marvelous!

I almost forgot to add that this week's Twisted Thursday challenge is to use green on your creation. Be sure to link your post back to the challenge site using Mr. Linky! can't wait to see what you make! :)

It's a Monday Challenge with Squigglefly!

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Macadamia

Today is the Monday challenge over at Squigglefly! Remember that cool prizes are always up for grabs, so I hope that you will play along with us! Today's challenge is to use a fun border on your creation - either by using a neat punch or by creating your own.

I started with this most precious image by Cheryl Alger called 'Share the Love'. I dug into my most precious Daisy D's paper stash...... heavy sigh........ oh how I miss them....... okay, must get over it....... heavy sigh, cleansing breath...... still have Basic Grey...... okay, I think I am okay now..... phew, still have about 6 more packs in my supply so I am good for a while longer......... alright.... can breathe again.........

where am I? oh yes, my cute little card with this MOST adorable image...... used this fun Fiskars border punch and a sketch layout from Papertake Weekly. Added a sentiment of my own prior to printing, some wonderful vintage buttons, a neat vintage ledger paper circle, and finished with a gorgeous organdy ribbon. The card base edges were inked with white craft. I love the vintage look to this precious little girl, so wanted to keep with that for the overall feel of the card. I used to have some shoes just like these back when I was in high school. LOVED THEM! actually wore them all through my 20's until I couldn't find them anymore in stores.

Hope everyone has a most glorious day! these dag-nab seizures won't leave me alone and I have SO MUCH to get done this week..... oh well, I am still very very blessed each and every day. what is a bit of shaking to get in the way? just need to turn on the ol' rock and roll music and shake to the beat! grins! chat with ya later! :)

A Little Sneekie Sneekie with S2G!

This is going to be a HUGE week at Shirleys 2 Girls! The DT will be showing you little tidbits of the new releases until the big reveal on Thursday, March 4! Just in time for the Twisted Thursday challenge! (by the way, you still have a few days to get your HOT PINK creations in!)

Now I didn't color mine in - I am just showing you the little clip so you will be enticed to come back and look again at the full throttle image. Several others of the girls are showing clippies today, more tomorrow, and then even more on Wednesday. You will want to be catching glimpses of these cuties each and every day! Don't miss even one little bit!

Judy

Gina

Jane

Jana

Carlie