Homemaking Mondays: Something For Those Special People In Our Lives

 

                             

Hello!
It's a heavy fog kind of day here

and the lake is completely obscured. 

The fog is brightening up the outdoors and even though

the sun is not yet up it is cheerful out.

The grey jays are flittering about

waiting for their morning 

nibble.

We now have four of them

and I love how they sit on the branches around the feeder

saying hello.

For some reason I find their conversation

very sweet.

I joined my husband for his morning walk

and it is so lovely and crisp

with the frost

having spread about the leaves

and needles on the evergreens.

This past week I finished up making some cards.

I know there are many ways to tell others

that they are important to us

and that we're thinking of them.

For me creating cards is a special way to do this.

In all of our busy lives...we need to make time 

to let others know that they are not forgotten or unseen.

To give them something small

just to let them know they're special to us.

Do you know someone that may be encouraged

to know that they are thought of?

I put together a couple little baskets

simple soap/candles/washcloths.

Something practical and lovely.

For those that the Lord has put in my life

that I see often.

Their smiles uplift me and brighten my days.

It was my parents 50th wedding anniversary

this past week.

A wonderful milestone in marriage.

Praying for them as they continue on this 

journey of life together.

This past week we also 

splurged and bought a new carpet.

No it's not very big. I was hoping for a larger size

but it is a nice

cozy spot in the middle of the room.

Our dog is quite delighted with it

and readily sprawls out to sleep...in the sunlight.

It is not too thin so that your toes can sink in as you walk across it.

We have also been blessed with finding some 

nice curtains at the free store. 

We picked up a simple curtain rod at Walmart

and my son installed it for me.

Now we'll have an extra layer of protection

from the cold on winter nights.

Thanks for dropping by today!

I'm so thankful for each of you that take

time out of your days 

to pop by!

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Honeycomb and Lace

Hello Friends!  Today I have a card to share with you.  Yes, I know it's been a long time, and it was so nice to play with paper and ink again. :)  

I made a thinking of you card with a Heidi Grace stamp, a honeycomb embossing folder and some My Mind's Eye paper.  I layered some pretty ribbons and of course there is a touch of distressing on the papers.  

Something simple to go with a gift I'm sending to someone.  I think you'd agree, that every gift is nicer with a card with it. 

Praying you all have a wonderful day!

Sharing with Word Art Wednesday.

Book for Memories

Hi! I have some wonderful things to share with you that I've created for a dear friend of mine who is getting married this month.  Above is a card that I made for their wedding.  I know it's not "wedding" but not being able to go and be there I'll be thinking of the two of them as they say their vows.

I used some lovely paper pieces from Momenta and a paper set I got long ago.  I added a touch of doily, ribbon and a scroll backing the sentiment I die cut.   The sentiment is from a digial set I got free online a long time ago.

Now below is a little book that I've constructed to help hold some special memories for them.  I used some heavy board that I saved from something and was able to punch holes in it with my hole punch. I used some paper from a sweet paper set I got from a crafty lady, some papers from a Momenta paper pack and freebie tags from Ephemera's Vintage Garden and Shoregirl's Creations.  With some touches of ribbon, flowers, doilies, pearls, buttons and some inking the following is what has come to be. :)

I hope you enjoy!

Praying you have a blessed day!

Do You Love Puddles?

Hello! Do you love puddles? or rain?  Well today starts a brand new challenge over at the Card Crafter's Circle and it's April Showers!  I don't live in a place that gets  much rain and so when it does rain we all find ourselves glued to the window watching.  We often also open windows and doors to hear the pitter patter, and oh the smell....that's wonderful!

Well, for my card I've used this sweet Little Girl with Umbrella image from Milk Coffee and coloured her with my pencil crayons.  I have her standing in a puddle (of which I have yet to grow out of loving to do!) I added some lace and twill ribbon and added a tag with a sentiment from my stash. It says I've been thinking about you today.  I used some papers that I got at the dollar store and a bling flourish from Recollections and some added rhinestones.
We'd love to have you show us your April Showers cards and hear about what you love about the spring rains.......April Showers bring May Flowers!
Have a beautiful day and here are a couple more pics of my card.

A Bit of This and That

Hello! I'd just like to share with you all some cards that I created for my friend as a gift.  I put together a bit of this and that from my stash (somethings that she had given me to....since she's always on the look out for me. She's just awesome!).  So have a gander, I  had fun making these and I hope she will enjoy giving them to others!

Thinking of You!

I have been thinking of all my wonderful followers and I thank the Lord each day for being to share with you the things I enjoy creating! God Bless!
Are you ready for another wonderful sketch from Seems A Little Sketchy?  Today we have another great sketch for you to use:  Remember you can flip it, turn it whatever as long as we can see the sketch in your creation!

For my creation, I used a wonderful image called Barefoot Amy from one one of our great sponsors Crafty Sentiments Designs.  I coloured her with my pencil crayons and added a log for her to sit on in her meadow.  The papers are from Momenta and the lacy felt border is from Forever in Time.  I've lightly inked the edges of the papers and added the sentiment from Inkadinkado.  For a finishing touch I added the butterflies (EK Success punch) inked and centered with a rhinestone each.  Then It still felt like something was missing so I added rhinestones to the felt flowers and ladybug.

We would love for you to share with is your take on this sketch.  Do come join us at Seems A Little Sketchy! The challenge runs for two weeks so you've lots of time to play with it!

Thinking of You

Hello everyone! I have been thinking of all of you, my wonderful followers and how much I appreciate all of the wonderful comments and thought you share with me! It is really a blessing.  So just a note that you don't go un-noticed this is for you!

My husband at a garage sale last weekend found these incredible pre-made card bases from My Mind's Eye and surprised me with them!  So I plucked one out of the package and used it as my base.  I love My Mind's Eye papers and this is the first time I've had any of their product.  So, not to detract too much from this lovely pattern I chose to layer some wonderful flower dies (that included these lovely leaves) that I cut out by hand from Fred She Said Designs.  I did ink the edges just a bit with some blue Windflower ink and then added a pearl to the centers.  Then I stamped the sentiment from Heidi Grace with green Windflower, inked the edges with both green and blue and matted it to some green cardstock from my stash.  Then it still looked empty so I added some butterflies that I punched out of the remaining flowers from the sheet with my EK Success punch.  After adding the rhinestones to the butterflies I felt it was complete! The card base has a nice shine to it and you can see that in the pic under the sentiment.  I thought it gave the flowers and butterflies a bit of an airy feeeling!
Here are a couple more shots I took.

I will be sharing this card with:
Sentimental Sundays:  Whimsical + a sentiment
Stampin' Sisters in Christ: Build up your card -I chose to layer my flowers
Just keep on Creating: Anything Goes
Thank you for dropping by, God Bless!

Butterfly Thoughts

Hello, I just have a quick post to share.  I bought this lovely butterfly paper (Botanique- American Crafts) and it was just begging to be used.  It has a gold glint to some of the wings.  I cut it out, added some gold ink to the edges then I cut out a panel with my Fiscars oval punch and inked the edges with the gold as well.  Sorry the pic doesn't show the shine.  I then layered some gold and cranberry ribbon together and tied a bow with the latter.  I used my glue gun to add a couple extra loops and the flowers that a wonderful friend gave me! Then I stamped the sentiment from Inkadinkado and added a few little EK Success butterflies whose wings I inked and added a mini pearl to.  I then added a bit larger pearls to the four corners.   It was wonderful to make this just because. I do use a lot of these cards, so it won't be long until it finds a home.
Thank you so much for dropping by! I'm sharing this at Just keep on creating.  It's an anything goes blog challenge and is open for a couple more weeks.
I'd also love to announce the winner of the Clear Dollar Stamps Blog Hop "We're not Horsin' Around". Congratulations  Paula-Kay of Creative Stamping with Paula-Kay.  Your name was chosen from Kathy's blog, DunnitAgainDesigns.  Head on over to Clearly iStamp to collect your wonderful prize!

For You Trish!

Today is Trish's birthday from Trish and Treasure! I've created this for you have a wonderful day!

May your day be full of family and love! ps flower and cake to!
Love and Prayers,
Jennifer
I used my new Marianne Designs dies sets to create this bouquet and I made the card simple to highlight it.  The sentiment is from Heidi Grace.

For the Love of Birdhouses!

Hello Everyone! I have one gigantic post for you today! I just love all the birdhouses that Sandy over at Scribbles by Sandy has been creating!  I couldn't decide what image to use, so I just used them all and made a mini set out of them!  If you haven't discovered Sandy's wonderful site, and her lovely images, go HERE!
Ok, are you ready, it's a bit of a read, but I pray you won't be sorry! Then if you'd like, I'd love to hear which one you liked best!

For this one, I love blue as you can see and I thought that the tulips should stand on their own so I coloured them pink.  I am entering this card in For Fun challenges- just for fun.

I just love the little birdie on this one! I framed it in black to highlight the image frame!  I am entering this card in Stampin' Sister's in Christ's challenge - Use something new.  For this I have used a new clear sentiment stamp and the new digi stamp.

I love yellow roses (they mean friendship)and thought this image needed a yellow touch to it! This card I'm entering in Stamp and Create challenges - Anything Goes (monthly). This is a new challenge blog to me and looks fun!

 I printed out a second copy of this image and thought I'd give it a more delicate look.  I am entering this card in Sweet Stampin's challenge - glitter, bling, shine, sparkle.  I love the pearls on this and every girl who goes out with pearls shines in the spotlight.

I tried to give this one a bold look.  I think the two birds are hopefully having a "nice" chat atop the roof! I'm entering this card in Paper Creations Ink challenge - love and romance.  These birds have a wonderful place to share with each other.

I love the rose garden this little birdie looks to be guarding!  I am entering this card in Designed 2 Delight's challenge - Create a card with a heart.  I love the tiny hearts on this birdhouse so I thought it would fit! I am also entering this card in Penny's Paper-Craft challenge - To use birds.

I really liked this image to so I printed off a second of it as well.  This one making a bit more bold to highlight the black in it's border! I am entering this card in Annabelle Stamps challenge - Anything goes.

For me, this one is all about the ribbon and the sweet bows! I love buttons to so this one gets some.  I am entering this card in Sentimental Sunday's challenge - Ribbon + a sentiment.
Well, did you make it to the bottom?  Hope you enjoyed the cards I have to share with you today.  Remember leave me a comment of what one you liked best.  Thanks so much for dropping by! Hugs!

Blue Snow

Hi, I'm back again today with another post.  This one is inspired by Sentimental Sunday's challenge -Snow, Blue &/or Glitter and Stampin' Sister's in Christ's challenge- Thinking of You.  I just love this image by MelJen's Designs and thought he'd look good in blue! Not to mention that blue is my favorite colour. I coloured him and layered him on some blue cardstock.  Under this big sweetheart I put some velum with let is snow printed on it.  I used the dark blue ribbon and frayed the edges to look like scarfs.  I added some snowflakes from Hero Arts and added a rhinestone to the centers.  The sentiment is from Inkadinkado and to finish the card off I added some sparkles with my silver ink pad.  All in all, I thought this was super fun! Here are a couple more fun shots of this card.

Thanks for dropping by! Hugs.

Orange Baby

Now we have t#3 baby card.  I chose orange, and it can be used for either a boy or a girl. (even with the flowers)  I used a MelJen's giraffe - so cute with his little tie!  I used two pieces of ribbon, two buttons, two shapes, two patterned papers and two stamps for this card.  It was a lot of fun to create!
I am entering this card in:
MelJen's challenge - to use ribbon
Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge - to use two of everything
Supplies:
Stamps:  MelJen's giraffe; clear hello stamp by Fiskars
Papers:  Stampin' Up
Accessories:  Gift ribbon; orange buttons

Cutie Pie Harley

Today I have a card that I have made for the challenge over at Cutie Pie Challenge Blog.  It is a sketch challenge designed by Woo.  I had a lot of fun playing around with things until I got just what I wanted.  I just received a wonderful image from stretchnbubbles from their comment to win challenge. (So yes it pays to comment!) This precious little girl's name is Harley.  I thought she'd look just darling in blue today.

Supplies:
Stamps:   Stretchnbubbles -Harley, and MelJens's free Thinking of You sentiment
Paper:     Stampin'Up cardstock and Patterned Papers.  Light blue solid paper is from K&Company
Ink:         Prismacolor pencil crayons
Tools:      Creative Memories Oval cutter, Flower punch from EK Success
Accessories:  Three blue brads, white ribbon, and flowered ribbon, three blue rhinestones.

Thinking of You Kitties

Today I have a card for a MelJen's challenge.  It is paper piercing/ faux stitching.  I am new to this, but wanted to have a go at it.  I paper pierced the corners of the image and the sentiment.  My daughter picked out the sweet kitties from MelJen's freebies to use.  Since I love orange cats, I went with an orange based card.  I distressed the edges of the sentiment a bit and popped up the largest flower to add some depth.

Supplies:
Stamps:   MelJen's Kitten's digi freebie, Thinking of You clear stamp by Inkadinkado
Paper:     Papers are from Stampin'Up and the brown from my misc stash.
Ink:         Ink It Up! (Chocolate Brown) and image coloured with prismacolor pencil crayons.
Tools:      Paper Piercer 
Accessories:  Misc felt flowers with buttons from my collection, and misc brown ribbon.