The Story of Jonah video

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice (perfect way to finish off the year!)

David sent me this link that I had to race over to share with all of you! This is one of the most precious things I have seen in a long time. Not only is this young girl adorable, but her passion for the story is so contagious. I found myself both smiling and crying at the same time as I listened to this messenger God sent........ May you be as blessed as I was.

The Story of Jonah video

Enjoying the Days.....

Coffee of the Day - Marzipan

Hello to all of you! I hope you had a most beautiful holiday - full of love, good cheer, laughs, and memories to keep your heart full of smiles! :) Ours was quiet, well, with the exception of the game systems going non-stop and the laughter that went along with it, but you know what I mean. It was glorious, truly glorious, to have everyone together! :)


Thought I would give just a little update on what is going on and what to expect with my crafty blogging.......


Still recuperating from a pretty nasty time of it. oh well, life has ups and downs. we must accept that the valleys will come, put on our muck boots, and just walk right on through them. so I am hopefully coming out of it all and will be back to crafting again soon. at least I hope so! ;) my butons and ribbons are calling out to me every day, so I am anxious to get back to playing with them! grins!

Santa blessed with me with a few crafting magazines in my stocking. how delightful to see some of my friends in publication! kudos to you! a big shout out to Dru at Garden of Dreams! I have always admired her way with vintage, so it was a thrill to see her card published. Makes me think I might get back to sending things in to try again, but we shall see. I am just so proud of those who DO get accepted. way to go! :)


as for DT work, you will probably notice that I have cut way back. Some I stepped away from, some I was removed from, some the time was up. Right now I remain with Shady Tree Studios. I have to say over and over again that I have loved every team I have ever been on. There have been so many amazing people I have met over the years and of course wonderful companies to be associated with. I appreciate so much the people who took a chance on me.


I hope to keep trying new techniques over the upcoming year. I have seen such fun things featured that I am anxious to try! I would love to work on more scrapbook pages. Perhaps a few more altered projects as well....... who knows what might end up on these blog pages in the new year?! maybe even that dreaded sewing machine will get pulled out of the attic........ giggles!


I guess that more than anything I want to stay true to who I am, but keep refining my style. I don't ever want to lose sight of myself in my crafting and get caught up again in trying to 'keep up' with everyone else. I can't afford it, but I think I lose a part of who I am when I do that.


So for those of you who would like to hang around for this journey, grab a cuppa! I so love and appreciate you! I will give my blog a new look again right after New Year's Day, but until then, I do love the look of this bg! :) For those of you who decide to choose a different road, it has been a great time having you around and I thank you for your visit for a while! You have all, in whatever degree you have stopped by, made my life a bit brighter. and for that I thank you deeply! :)

Until next time.... Jennifer

A Beautiful Merry Christmas to You!

Coffee of the Day - Chocolate Peppermint



Just wanted to take a moment to wish you and yours a most beautiful Christmas Day! May you rejoice in the celebration of the birth of our precious Saviour, Jesus, and the gift He so lovingly brings to us all. May you know that every day God looks at you with love and sees a person of great beauty and worth! You are important to Him! :)

Shady Tree Studios Winners!

Sorry for the delay, but I have decided to give away TWO sets since I have taken so long to get winners announced in the Shady Tree Studios new release blog candy!

Crafty Mom of 2 (Meredith) and

youiesmom (Babe)

who both happen to be members of the STS group over at PCP, are the winners! woooo hoooooo!

send me your mailing info at jenscull@yahoo.com and I will get these out to you right after the holiday! congrats ladies!

and thanks to everyone who left such kind and wonderful comments over the new release time! they sure meant a lot to me! :)

Delay on Shady Tree Studios Drawing....

I am so sorry for the delay in drawing for the prize winner of the wonderful stamp set from Shady Tree Studios. I have been in bed really sick for several days and will get right to this as soon as I am up and about again......
until then, stay warm and enjoy the holiday prep time with your friends and families! :)

Shady Tree Studio Release Day!!! :)

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

Woooo hooooo! The big day is here!!!!! The December releases from Shady Tree Studio are all ready for your crafty hands to start playing and creating! Hop on over to the store to grab a few of these cuties and then stop by the other DT members' blogs to see what else they have to inspire you! You know you are gonna have your socks blown off! :)

For today's card I am using the fun 6" x 8" set, "Groovy Kind of Love". I flipped over this one just as soon as I saw it! these big puffy letters took me back to Jr. High when I would spend my days doodling on my book covers, notebooks, page margins..... whatever I could find. guess High School wasn't really any different now that I think about it. and even though I was an adult..... (ahem..... now all of you snickering out there just hush up!)......when gel pens came out, I had to have them in all of the colors, especially the glitter ones.

So it was easy peasy to come up with a plan for what to make with this fun set. I grabbed one of the fun journal cards from Jenni Bowlin and pretended I was back in school doodling away...... then once I finished coloring, I grabbed my glitter gel pens and did add a extra little doodles of my own! do you ever doodle? I seem to always draw the same things over and over again - hearts, flowers, stars, and swirlies. that probably says something about me. not even gonna go there as to the 'what'!!! ;)

I added a strip of Basic Grey Lime Rickey paper, some fun felt Primas, vintage lime green buttons, and a baby clip tied with the same hot pink satin ribbon used along the side. it just seemed perfect to use the SU! punch along the top of the card as if I had just torn this from my little notebook to pass to a friend between classes!

Now don't forget to leave a comment on this or any of the Shady Tree Studios new release posts for a chance to win your very own "Sweet Romance" set. you must leave a comment by tonight at midnight, as I will post a winner first thing tomorrow morning, along with one more sample from this fun release! If you are a member of our STS group over at PCP, you will have double the entries! just be sure to let me know in the comment section. Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

• edited to add - I am giving everyone some extra time to get those comments in. I will draw the winner for the "Sweet Romance" set on Sunday evening and post on Monday. so you have a few more days to leave a comment for your chance at a free stamp set! :)

Shady Tree Sneakies, Day 2!

Coffee of the Day - Eggnog

Back again with a preview of stamps from another fab set from Shady Tree Studios! This set is "Elegant Valentine". Such a beautiful mix of heartfelt sentiments and gorgeous images!

I chose to go with the heart shaped candy box, using the cracked glass tecnhinque after coloring. The bow was painted with pink shimmerz prior to covering with ep. the glittery shine comes through so well! it almost seems to jump out of the little square! :) once I finished 'cracking', I sponged caramel ink over the piece to help distress it. I love the way the ink gets down into the little cracks! the tag was made with a page from a french book, doily sprayed with walnut gold glimmer mist, a pink tag, some wired ribbon & tea stained twine, Prima flowers, and vintage buttons. I used my SU! ink squirty tool to add a bit more age to the tag. The beautiful papers are by Prima. The cute little watch is from Making Memories. The ribbon tied at its top is another little coffee stained bit I played around with one day while whipping up a big batch of coffee stained ribbons and trims. 'With Love' is just one of the sentiments in the "Elegant Valentine" set. if you look carefully along each side of the card base, you will see a lovely border that was stamped ever so lightly. this is a fabbylicious stamp from this set that I just could NOT wait to play with somehow! :)

Don't forget that I am giving away one of the new sets, "Sweet Romance", as blog candy! Be sure to leave a comment on any of the STS posts through Thursday to get your name in the proverbial hat! :) in fact, if you are a member of our Shady Tree Studios group over at PCP and leave a comment, I will DOUBLE your number of entries into the hat! how's that for festive fun?! :) so go join now if you haven't already.........

and please please stop by the other members' blogs of this fantastic DT! they have created some of the most gorgeous projects using these new sets! Hope to see you tomorrow! :) love ya!

Day 1 of Shady Tree Sneaky Peeks! :)

Coffee of the Day - Maple Pecan

Good morning to you! after a few little compy glitches, caused I am sure by the enormous snow storms we are being battered with, I am up and running again! whew..... always seem to be doing computer work these days. but at least we haven't had to take it in for service and can do it all ourselves. hugey huge blessing!

anyhow, on to the good stuff!

I am here with the first day of Shady Tree Studios sneak peeks for the new release on Thursday! I will get straight to it without further adieu.....

I am using the precious new 6" x 8" set, Power of Love for my card today. I love all the little hearts that are part of this set! My Basic Grey Green at Heart papers seemed ideal for this, so out they came! after stamping my main heart image with Timber Brown staz-on, I did some free hand cutting. The little crochet flowers along the side came from a vintage bit of linen. All of the buttons are from my vintage collection. gosh, I love that big mason jar of goodness that sits on the shelves above my craft table! it makes me smile every time I look at it! :) The little pink ticket comes from Making Memories. because it is a heavily coated gloss surface, I used the same brown staz-on to distress as well as stamp a sentiment with the 'Love' stamp from the same Power of Love set. once it was crinkled & wrinkled, the white of the paper came through. pretty cool look! a little smidgen of pink rose trim with netting was stapled on with the tiny attacher. that baby never ever leaves my crafty table either! ;) of course all edges of the card and papers were distressed with sahara sand ink to help age.....

---> I am offering one of the new stamp sets up for blog candy and will do the drawing on Friday. everyone who leaves a comment on all sneak peek posts today thru Thursday will be entered into the random drawing!!! also, please stop by the blogs of the other DT members! I know you will be inspired by the wonderful things they have made! Hope to see you tomorrow! :)

Big Stuff coming this week from Shady Tree......

Coffee of the Day - Eggnog

Just wanted to give y'all a heads up ~

new releases at Shady Tree Studios on Thursday with sneaky peeks starting tomorrow! and there is going to be some blog candy here!!!! so check back each day & check the other DT members' blogs, too! you are in for a treat!!! Groovy baby! :)

We are welcoming Lisa Silver to the Shady Tree team, too! boy howdy, can that lady craft! with much sadness, Joan has decided to step back from the team and say her hoorahs from the sidelines..... please be sure to stop by her blog, Paperlicious, to let her know how much she will be missed.

Hope to see you tomorrow!

p.s. haven't been around in a week 'cause we had malware come visit...... not a fun holiday guest! took me several days to get the compy cleaned out and then it was time to head to Camp for a group there for 4 days. had a blast cooking and catching up with some old friends. snow is coming down like crazy! love every flake that falls! :)

We Three Kings

Coffee of the Day - Eggnog

Hello my blogging friends! Long time, no see! I am doing fine over here... just busy with my family and getting ready for the holidays like many of you. Have a few crafty changes going on as well, but it is good good so not to worry.

We are currently in the midst of a huge snowstorm here in northeast Ohio. we have over 1 1/2 feet of snow on the ground and more on the way. Schools were closed today and might be tomorrow, too. David and Ryan took the dogs out to Camp for lots of romping in the snow. I had the chance to finally do a bit of card making. it was glorious indeed! :) Haven't been able to see the road out our front window for all of the snow coming down, but the plows are doing a phenom job keeping the roads clear as best they can and people seem to be taking care, which is the most important thing.

Tyler finishes finals tomorrow and Mick next week. Ryan has quite a few performances with Free Harmony, the HS show choir, but then he will be done next week as well. One last group at Camp this week, and then we will settle in for lots of fun family time for Christmas!

My card uses a wonderful vintage set from Paulette over at Create with TLC. She offers so many great freebies, but then has these amazing sets where you 'name your price'. I used papers from the Basic Grey Jovial collection, Prima flowers and leaf, misc. trims & ribbons, and lots of walnut gold glimmer mist for a wonderful shine. also added some touches with my gold glitter gel pen.

Well, we are enjoying some tasty snow slushies...... cranberry grape for me, blueberry for Dave, and Ryan is having a combo of flavors. oh how I love snow slushies!!!

chat with you again soon! love you all! :)

A Wonderful Award!

A huge thank you to Lisa for kindly gifting me with this fun award! what a surprise! I had the honor of being on the A Day for Daisies DT with her. if you get the chance to stop by her blog, Land of EnCRAFTment, to check out her wonderful creations!

As a requirement of receiving the award, I need to do the following:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this
2. Share 8 things about yourself
3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.

So here are 8 things you might not know about me after all this time ~

1. I have a tattoo - a heart with a cross inside on my ankle
2. I am a big fan of The Big Bang Theory. we watch it every single week and have it on DVD, too. :) just call me a big geek!
3. also like to watch UFC. GSP is one of my faves. yep, it shocks most people to know I am a fan of the octagon!
4. Pink is my fave color in crafting. you will find it on almost every single project I make.
5. I'm the rare person who is not a chocoholic, unless you count white choco. I would much rather have a fruit type dessert or cheesecake. strange, I know.
6. I absolutely positively MUST read every day. this comes before crafting as a priority.
7. I also need to have trees and wildlife around me. I just love nature!
8. My all time fave movie ever is Disney's Sleeping Beauty.

now for the people I would like to pass this award along to: (yes, I went over 8 and not all of them are new to me......)

1. Holly - http://hogwildaboutstamping.blogspot.com/
2. Maria - http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com/
3. Darlene - http://darscraftycreations.blogspot.com/
4. Stef - http://glitterbabegreetings.blogspot.com/
5. Heather - http://stampdetails.blogspot.com/
6. Nancy - http://shadytreestudio.blogspot.com/
7. Roxie - http://paperscaper.blogspot.com/
8. Michele - http://iamderby.blogspot.com/
9. Tracy - http://inky-doodles.blogspot.com/
10. Lisa - http://www.silverstamping.blogspot.com/