January 10 and 11....

Well, I didn't post anything yesterday for the January Joy Dare: capture these gifts, so today I will post for two days.

January 10:

     A gift that is sour: ummmm.... hmmmm........ 

     A gift that is sweet: my hubby scraping the ice off of my car in the mornings when he heads to work so I don't have to.

     A gift that is Just. Right.: massages that help release the pressure in my muscles.

January 11: 

     3 Yellow things that strike you as fresh mercy: 

          1. The yellow roses that are sitting on my desk right now.

          2. The yellow and pink ceramic mug from someone sweet at church.

          3. The sunshine that cuts through difficult, dreary days. 

One Thousand Gifts in 2012

Last year, I had a friend that started sharing her One Thousand Gifts and today I was reminded of it by Emily over at chatting at the sky. I was hesitant to jump in last year. Last year was a very difficult year for me and I will admit, I was not very thankful... Sometimes I think we can get so focused on "surviving" when we are going through difficult circumstances, but in that "surviving" we so often miss the little things, those things that so easily slip right past us without our even realizing it. Those things we don't see because we are so busy doing a million and a half things that we forget to slow down, to remember to look for those small gifts that our Father God has so lovingly left in our paths, to help us, to encourage us, to remind us of His presence and His undying love for us.


So... this year, I think I'll take the challenge.  If I really believe Romans 8:28, then I have everything in the world to be thankful for, even the {seemingly} bad stuff. If you'd like to give thanks to your creator this year for all he's done, you can find more info at A Holy Experience.

Today's Joy Dare is "a gift in your hand, a gift you walked by, a gift you sat with."

"a gift in your hand" - my Starbucks grande skim latte


"a gift you walked by" - the beautiful bouquet of yellow roses that sits on my dining room table, cheerfully greeting me each time I walk by


"a gift you sat with" - my husband, who so sweetly gets up in the morning and makes us breakfast because he knows how rough mornings are for me.... and who sits next to me on the couch as he eats his breakfast, drinks his coffee and reads the holy Word of God.

A Christmas Gift for my Mom and MIL

Good Morning all. This morning I am going to share a stationary set that I made for my mother and MIL. I didn't have a chance to photograph the set I sent to my MIL before I got it in the mail before Christmas, but the set was the same, just used different paper. I found the template for the box on Splitcoaststampers, but modified for my own uses. Hope you likey!

Supplies:
Paper: Basic Recollections card stock (8 X 11 pack), k& Company small paper pack, 1 piece of loose patterned paper (don't remember where it is from, but it was pretty. My awesome cousin gave it to me! ;) )
Embellishments: Leaf embossing with Cuttlebug embossing folder, twine from Paper Source
Sentiments: Type out and printed off my PC, then took my scallop punch (Thanks Anita - I use it ALL.THE.TIME!), and a corner punch and adhered to the cards
Templates/Tutorials used: Splitcoaststampers Stationary Box Tutorial

Some more catch up....

Hey peeps!  Today I am going to share some cards/projects for the various babies being born all around me! I actually made cards for three different babies (okay, more like their mommies) but I forgot to take a picture of one of them (either that or its still on my camera), so I will share a card/gift bag set for a boy and a card for a girl. 


Supplies:
Paper: Basic card stock, DCWV textured card stock, patterned paper for baby boy card from Recollections collection (Michaels brand) and from a friend, (I'll have to update this post later with the other brands), plain blue gift bag from Dollar Tree (I embellished it some to be personalized)
Embellishments: ribbon from dollar aisle at Target, gold pearls from acmoore,  buttons from a friend and dollar aisle at Michaels (Can you tell I love the dollar aisle??? And I really scored this year - Michaels put their dollar aisle stuff on sale for 60% and I was able to replenish my button stock for only 40 cents a pack!)
Sentiments: Sentiments from a Recollections stamp set for baby girls, and a Recollections stamp set for baby boys

Some Christmas catch up......

Hello all, long time no talkey... sorry... December has been totally insane! But things have finally settled down and I finally have had a chance to get some pictures uploaded and edited.... Here are some pictures of the Christmas cards I made. I managed to get them all made this year, so I was pretty happy with that!


Supplies:
Paper: basic cardstock, My Minds Eye signature Christmas & the merry days of Christmas 6 x 6 pads (Thank you Christy!!! I loooovvveee those pads!) and some paper scraps I had 
Embellishments: Gems from dollar aisle at Michaels 
Sentiments: printed out on computer, stamps from dollar aisle at Michaels and acmoore, white ribbon from Dollar Tree, digi stamp from Damask Love blog, chipboard from Wal-Mart
Images: Christmas tree from Crafty Sentiments Designs blog, Caroling Reindeer from Pink Gem blog, Reindeer from stamp from Wal-Mart, Holly stamp in Joy to Your World images from Inkadinkoo Christmas tag set

Long time no post....

Sorry... I am creating.... just been so busy haven't had time to post pictures... or even take pictures in some cases!


I'll be back soon.... got a lot of things for church to take care of and gotta get some final things done for Christmas gifts and Christmas cards that need to be sent out in the mail. 

It's December!!!

You know what that means!!! Time to put up the Christmas decoration and Christmas tree!!!
I started switching out all the fall decorations in our apartment (there wasn't much) for Christmas decor on Sunday. We are holding off on the Christmas tree until hubby gets back from the Dominican, but I just couldn't wait to start decorating...  (What can I say... I'm like a raccoon... I'm attracted to shiny things that sparkle....)

I went to the Christmas Tree Store while I was in PA for Thanksgiving with my mom and I scored two lit silver Christmas trees for $1.99 a piece! I was very happy... and I found a container of mini blue Christmas bulbs at Ollie's for 1.49 (or 1.79 - I can't remember) Between that and the few things I found at Hobby Lobby, I only spent less than 10 dollars on adding to our Christmas collection and I love the added extra sparkle they give to our dining room!

I'm not finished with the dining room table yet... There are a can of silver spray paint and some old bronze napkin rings that have my name on them!!!