We're Home!

Well, after six days in the hospital my son is finally home. It was probably the most intense six days of my life. They decided to transfer him to another hospital an hour away that was better equipped to meet his needs and had a nephrology specialist team. They understood what was wrong and treated him aggressively and we started seeing improvement within twelve hours. It was so encouraging to know they knew what was wrong and how to treat him. They did a kidney biopsy and we will not have the results back from that for 7-10 ten days. He has some more hurdles to cross but he has come such a long way. He is so happy to be home as are his parents and siblings that were scattered all over.

Thank you all so much for the prayers, thoughts and support. I can't begin to tell you how much the comments and emails meant to us. I feel so humbled and truly blessed to have such great friends. I know God had his hand in the situation and He was always in control. My son and I were talking about how fast the recovery was and he said he knew it was because of all the prayers. The complications that could have set in that the doctors warned us about never happened. God is so good and He is always right on time.

So now I have some catching up to do...a house to clean, mountains of laundry to do, grocery shopping, cards to make, blogs to visit...uh, just SO glad to be home.

Prayer Request

I know there are prayer warriors who read my blog. Please pray for my son, Malachi. He is very sick. He was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome when he was 9, but this is very different from anything we have experienced before. The doctors have admitted him to the hospital to try to stabilize him and to watch for risks. They are not exactly sure what is going on with him. Please pray for his healing and that God will give the doctors wisdom. Also, please pray for our family. This is a really scary time and his younger siblings are very sensitive to it (as are his parents). I KNOW my God is a healer and I really appreciate your prayers.

Hopefully, I will be back soon with a card to share. These past several days have been focused on my son and meeting the needs of my family. Designing D.I.V.A.S.--I hope to be able to visit your blogs soon. Thanks for understanding.

Short Sabbatical

Just stopping in to let you know that I am taking a couple of days off from my blog. My boys are away at camp for the week and I am going to spend a little quality girl time with my daughter. I also have big plans of re-organizing my school room and getting ready for the coming school year while I have less feet in the house. I'll be back soon.

Have a blessed week,

Belated Birthday Card

This is a card I made for the Design D.I.V.A.S. Secret Sister Challenge. The challenge was to make a birthday card. I found this really cute stamp by Inkadinkadoo and decided to use that. Lately I have been terrible at getting birthday cards out on time and I really liked the sentiment. I just stamped it and added some Stickles, no fancy coloring on this one...just quick and easy. I never wrote down the supplies I used and I can't be sure by looking at the picture, so I do not have a supply list for this card. The things I am sure of--Papertrey cardstock and ribbon, Martha Stewart border punch, stamp from Inkadinkado Clear mini stamps, lime Stickles. Sorry I couldn't be more specific.

Have a blessed day!

Great Deal..Run

So, I just came across this deal on HSN.com for Cuttlebug Embossing folders. A package deal of the NEWEST release of embossing folders. All eleven for only $29.95 + $6.21 shipping. That comes out to only $3.29 a folder. I am pretty sure this price is for today only, regular HSN price is $39.95. Click here for more information.

Included are:

• Cuttlebug emboss folder - fleur de lis
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - Morrocan screen
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - diamond plate pattern
• Cuttleug emboss folder - stars
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - flourish frame
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - owl flourish
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - journaling card
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - herringbone
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - Victoria
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - harlequin
• Cuttlebug emboss folder - Celtic knot

Just thought I'd share my find with you.

Have a wonderful day!

A Birthday Chapel

Happy Wednesday! I used a Thomas Kincade stamp to make this birthday card. It is called "The Forest Chapel". I stamped it in Faded Jeans distress ink onto Vintage Cream cardstock and matted it onto a silver metallic paper. I used Scarlet Jewel as my card base and stamped the canvas backgrounder stamp in Versamark and embossed it with Transcendence embossing powder. It is hard to see in the photo but the texture really pops out in real life. The sentiment from Vintage Picnic Sentiments is stamped in Scarlet Jewel and die cut with a ribbon tag. I used some silver organza ribbon to adhere it to the card. I really do wish I could learn to take a photo that truly captured the subject the way it looks in real life. Maybe I should take a photography class next. Mmmm...

Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by.

Supplies
Stamps-The Forest Chapel, canvas backgrounder (CHF), Vintage Picnic Sentiments (Papertrey)
Paper-Vintage Cream, Scarlet Jewel (Papertrey), metallic silver (Wausau)
Ink-Scarlet Jewel (Papertrey), Faded Jeans distress ink (Ranger), Versamark
Accessories-silver organza ribbon (unknown), Transcendence embossing powder
Tools-ribbon tag die (Spellbinders)

Project 1: Completed

So I signed up to take Jessica Sprague's Photo Editing: Frame-ups and Special Effects class and this is my first completed assignment and the very first time I have used Photoshop CS4. The assignment was to add a frame and wordart to a picture. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I converted my picture to black and white and changed the frame and the word art to work with the picture. I really need to clean up the background, but I didn't have the time to do that today. All in all, I am really happy with the way it turned out.

Thanks for letting me share!

KLM Designs: Release Day

This cute little guy is Ryan the Frogcatcher and he is available today at KLM Designs. I colored him with prismacolor pencils and OMS. I added a little bit of shading with blue shimmer chalk. I die cut the image with a classic rectangle nestie and matted it onto Navy cardstock die cut with a scalloped rectangle nestie. The background paper is Just Like Dad from The Angel Company. For the horizontal strip I matted the patterned paper onto navy cardstock that I punched with a border punch and then a added a strip of Magic Mesh that I have had in my stash forever. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is also part of this release and comes with Ryan. I printed it out and then cut it with a double ended tag die. I punched two pieces of navy cardstock with a 1/8 inch hole punch and then punched them again with a 1/2 inch hole punch to get those cute little circles on the tag. I then put my brads through the holes of the circles and the die cut and adhered the sentiment to my card with foam tape. The main image is also mounted with foam tape. Don't forget to stop by KLM Designs today to check out the new releases.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We had a very relaxing, non-stressful day just hanging out at home as a family. I cooked steak on the grill and made homemade potato salad and we went to the farm stand and picked up some fresh corn on the cob and a watermelon. I cut up some fresh strawberries and blueberries and we put cream on top--my red, white and blue dessert. It was a big hit with the kids. It sure was yummy. We were so full we never even cut the watermelon. I am really looking forward to that. It is one of the biggest watermelons I think I have ever seen. The kids insisted we had to buy THAT one. It's a good thing they weren't charging by the pound! That thing weighs a ton.

Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by.

Supplies
Stamps-Ryan the Frogcatcher (KLM Designs)
Paper-Papertrey White, Navy, Just Like Dad (The Angel Company)
Embellishments-brads (Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts), Magic Mesh
Tools-EK Success border punch, 1/8" & 1/2" hole punches, double ended tag die, classic and scalloped rectangle nestibilities (Spellbinders), prismacolor pencils, OMS, shimmer chalks

Oh Say Can You See Blog Hop

Welcome to the SNR Card Universe Blog Hop! There are over 90 blogs participating in this massive event, with blog candy, ideas and inspiration all along the way. The Cuttlebug Challenge Blog is offering a wonderful prize package of a cuttlebug and new CHA Summer release embossing folders. The fun begins at the Card Universe at 9am CST, Saturday July 4th. Every blog along the way will have a fun project to share with you, and then point you to the next blog on the hop. Everything will conclude at 10PM CST on Sunday July 5th, giving you pleanty of time to enjoy all 95 blogs along the way. If you came from Debby Boltman you are on the right track! If you didn't you may want to hop back to SNR Card Universe and start at the beginning. You don't want to miss all the amazing things that are happening during this great event. Here is the card I made for the Blog Hop.
I used the Patriotic Girl image from KLM Designs as my focal point on my card. I colored her with prismacolor pencils and OMS. I used a small dab of Stardust Stickles on each of the stars on the flag. I used the classic rectangle nestibilities to die cut the image and then matted it onto Pure Poppy cardstock die cut with a scalloped rectangle nestie. The background paper is from the Summer Glitter Stack by DCWV and is also matted on Pure Poppy cardstock. The ribbon is from my stash and I don't remember the manufacturer. Sorry:( I made the star out of Bazzill cardstock by placing two star nestibilities on a magnet sheet that I purchased at ACMoore and cut to size.
I used the A plate, C plate, magnet sheet, nestibilities, cardstock and the B plate. Once I had it cut, I used a white Gelly Roll pen to add dots around it. I stamped "American Girl"--a Studio G stamp--in Pure Poppy ink and die cut it with a Labels Trio nestibilities die. I punched a hole with a 1/16 inch circle punch and tied it along with the star to the bow with Scrapper's Floss.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by. I hope you are enjoying the Blog Hop. Your next stop is Suzann Jones. Have a fabulous 4th of July weekend!


Supplies
Stamp-Patriotic Girl (KLM Designs), American Girl sentiment (Studio G Series 30)
Paper-Summer Glitter Stack (DCWV), blue Bazzill, White, Pure Poppy (Papertrey)
Ink-Pure Poppy (Papertrey)
Accessories-ribbon, Stardust Stickles, white Gelly Roll pen, classic and scalloped rectangle dies, Labels Trio dies, Star nestibilities (Spellbinders), prismacolor pencils, OMS, red Scrapper's Floss, 1/16 inch circle punch (Martha Stewart)

TAC Happenings

The new Angel Company promotions are up. Be sure to check them out by clicking on the links on the right sidebar under The Angel Company logo. Don't forget to enter to win The Lilly Anna Package. It's a great prize with the complete Lilly Anna collection, the new Toodles stamp set and the newest catalog.

KLM Designs: Hula Haley

This is a new release by KLM Designs. It will be available this Monday. His name is Hula Haley and as with all KLM Design images, he is absolutely adorable. Hula Haley is a digital stamp all by himself but he comes with the invite title and info stamp as well. I chose to use them all together to make a "one layer" invitation. I love these for mailing. I just designed the layout in Photoshop Elements to fit on a 4 x 5.25 card and printed. You can fit 4 on one sheet of paper! A great time saver as well as cost effective. I colored him with prismacolor pencils and Goo Gone (I ran out of OMS). I also used my Stardust clear glitter pen to outline the balloons and go over the pom-poms on his outfit. I highlighted each word with a pencil in the colors that I used. I then just matted it to a piece of Pure Poppy cardstock cut to 4.25 x 5.5. Again 4 cards to one sheet of paper...very economical. I love making these simple one layer cards.

Have a blessed day!

Supplies
Stamp- Hula Haley (KLM Designs)
Paper-White, Pure Poppy (Papertrey)
Accessories-prismacolor pencils, Goo Gone, Stardust clear glitter pen

Black, White and Red All Over

Just a simple birthday card made with Pure Poppy as the base. The stamp is from Inkadinkado Expressions & Frames stamp set. I stamped it with Onyx Black Versafine ink. I find this to be the best ink for detailed stamps like this. It really catches all the little details with just enough ink. I used the doily lace punch to punch both sides of True Black cardstock and added a little strip of All Dressed Up paper. I wrapped organza ribbon around the black cardstock strip and threaded it through a button and tied it to secure it. I added a mini glue dot behind the button so that it would stay in place. You can see just a glimpse of the strip of paper I added to the inside. I love how adding just that strip really dresses up the inside of the card.

I can't believe how fast the summer is flying by. I always try to challenge myself to learn something new over the summer, since I am teaching my kids the rest of the year. It helps to keep my brain stimulated. Last year, it was blogging and starting my blog. I have really enjoyed the results of that. This year I'm tackling Photoshop CS4. I have used Photoshop Elements for years and my husband bought me CS4 recently. Isn't he just the sweetest? I love him so much! There is a bit of a learning curve, so I am taking some classes. I am really excited about the things I will be able to do with it. Hopefully, it will motivate me to get serious about the digital scrapbooking I have been dabbling in for so long. It is such a shame that my pictures just sit on my hard drive. Hey, why don't you try something new before the summer is over? You'll be so glad you did.

Have a blessed day!

Supplies
Stamps-Expressions & Frames (Inkadinkado)
Paper-All Dressed Up (DCWV), Pure Poppy, True Black (Papertrey)
Ink-Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories-cell phone bling, black organza ribbon, cream vintage button (Papertrey), doily lace punch (Martha Stewart)