Fstop memories

2011-03-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

I have a little crafty post up at Jafa House....you can check tha tout here>>>>>>> http://thejafahouse.blogspot.com/2011/03/music-monday-faithful.html

New blog

2011-03-25T03:45:00.000-07:00

Hey folks! before I direct you over to my new blog for a sneak peek I wanted to take back my words. I'm not sure that I'm ready retire this blog. I enjoying sharing my crafts with others. There will be some crafty goodness on the new blog but not every post. So, I will keep Fstop going to post things that don't make it on the new blog. However, most times you will find me over HERE!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

This here blog

2011-03-17T03:49:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to stop by and let you all know that this here blog will be retiring soon...or should I say moving and changing it's name. Spring just being around the corner I was in the mood to start new. Details coming soon!

Thank you to all who have been a support of Fstop. I hope you will join me in my new adventures....

Hugs & God Bless!

Happy Platypus Day!

2011-03-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

Betcha ya didn't know today was Platypus Day? Actually I think I read somewhere that Australia has National Platypus Day on Feb. 2 (don't quote me on that) but today Disney has deemed it Platypus Day in honor of Perry the Platypus. If you are not familiar with this semi-aquatic pet/secret agent you can find more about him HERE.
Because of the above beloved cartoon character this beloved boy (below) has become slightly obsessed with platypus, Australia and the art of becoming a secret agent.

He's a walking encyclopedia of platypus facts. "Did you know that their eggs are more like leather? Did you know that they have up to a dozen burrows? Did you know they have hard pads in their bills to crunch up dinner? Did you know...."

So, today I thought I would share with you some of the platypus crafts that we've done.

I made this little stuffed plattie using the pattern I found HERE.

Abraham made the above platypus using an egg carton and some construction paper.

Today, to celebrate Platypus Day we made these cuties. We used Rice Krispy squares, vanilla cream wafers, Townhouse crackers, chocolate chips and frosting.

Now the kids are informing me I've spent too much time on the computer and it's time to watch a few episodes of Phineas & Ferb. Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Happy Platypus day!

Thanks you for stopping by...Happy Creating & God Bless!

Sandwich Wrap

2011-02-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember back in September I made some reusable snack bags for the kids' lunches. Well, I dusted off my sewing machine once again to make some fun matching sandwich wraps. My favorite part about this idea is that they now have a place mat...can you imagine all the fun germs on a school cafeteria table?....mmmm.

Another great part about this project is that it's easy peasy lemon squeezy.

All you need is:

14x14 piece of cotton fabric

14x14 oilcloth or other waterproof fabric

Sew on Velcro (about 1 1/2 inches)

Put the fabric pieces right sides together. Stitch along edge; leaving an opening. Turn right side out. Press down opening seam. Stitch around outside edge to finish. Sew Velcro pieces on opposite corners (one on front and one on back).

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Inspired Crafters Anything But A Card

2011-02-02T04:05:00.000-08:00

Hello folks! I have a challenge up over at Inspired Crafters blog. It's an Anything But A Card challenge....enjoy! You can find it HERE!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Piggies

2011-01-26T03:52:00.000-08:00

I've been using the sketches over at ScrapFriendzy to finish Abbey's 1st year. She's now 5 1/2 if that gives you any clue how over due these pages have become. I however am not stressed over it....and Abbey is enjoying all the new pages going into her book.

This is from sketch # 4...which you can find HERE.

Today is a snow day. I was a little (okay a lot) grumpy about that at 5 am when the school called. Now I'm looking forward to a day lounging around with the kids in our PJ's.

Hope you all stay safe and warm.

Happy Creating & God Bless!

9th Anniversary

2011-01-19T04:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Folks! Today Frank and I celebrate our 9th anniversary. We keep it pretty low key but I did make him a card to go along with his apple pie=). So, I thought I'd shaer that with you today.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Little Dancer Tote

2011-01-18T03:11:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a few sewing projects. This is a little tote I made for Abigail's dance shoes. Usually we have a "discussion" about who will carry her shoes to class. This week she was happy to carry her pink butterfly bag.

I used the tutorial over at the Papertrey blog. You can find that HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

A Soldier's Heart

2011-01-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12

These pictures were taken right before deployment #2. Like many of us, Frank really dislikes having his picture taken but this particular morning he stopped (and even smiled=)) for the camera. Maybe he knew that somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking this could be it...these could be the last pictures we have of him....because it's there, always there in the back of an Army wife's mind...will he come home this time. I thank God that He brought Frank home safely each and every time!

Life is so unbelievably precious! I urge you to take time today to thank the Lord for the joy, blessings and even the trials this life offers us. He is an amazing God!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Jump For Joy

2011-01-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

A quickie to show you another layout I did using sketch 2 over at ScrapFriendzy. I'm not as pleased with this one. I think it lacks something but sometimes you just get to the point where you need to move on...hahaha. Not every page can be a master piece...hehe! Either way I love the photos of Abbey just being herself....carefree!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Rattle Snake

2011-01-13T05:06:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd give you something new to look at...lol. My blog seems to be lacking in posts lately. Anyway, here is a layout I did for the ScrapFriendzy sketch-a-thon. I believe this is sketch #2. I'm currently working on sketch 4 and they are already on 13....but I'm alright with that. I've scrapped more these past few weeks then I did most of last year! So, I'm happy with getting at least two done each week.=)

Thanks for stopping by...I hope you have a lovely day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Cupojafa Studio

2011-01-07T07:46:00.000-08:00

Hello Folks! Well, this is it! This is the year I keep my craft goods organized and under control! Yay, yay I know you've heard it before but for real this time....right along with being healthier and shedding a few pounds. Anyone else with me?

Over Christmas break I locked myself away in the craft mess to sort, purge and reorganize (Thank you Frank for keeping the kids busy while I worked). My main motivation was the new craft table I found. That and in this mess I couldn't possibly create anything...

Pretty sad huh? (I thought I had more before pictures but I think this one shows my heaps of chaos.)

Anyway, one of my main frustrations with my area was my small work space (now my cutting area). The photo below shows what my space use to be...I think it measures 27 x 19 inches.

So, I often dreamed of owning something like the Original Scrapbox EZ view desk. However $500 seemed beyond steep to me. So, I waited and searched for something more affordable. I final came across some clearance cabinets at Home Depot. When put with some inexpensive counter top you get this....

All for the bargain price of $138. It's 4 feet by 2 feet of crafting space!

Not to totally bore you with lots of photos of my newly organized space but here are a few more views of the Cupojafa Studio! (click on the photo for a larger view)

My space is in the unfinished part of our basement....also known as the laundry room...but Cupojafa Studio sounds cooler=).

Close up of ribbon and embellishment storage (above).

Buttons and paper (below).

Last but not least, I wanted to show you the cool vinyl cling my friend Sara made for me quite awhile ago. It's finally up because now I feel I have a space worthy to display it. Oh, and for those of you who don't know Cupojafa is the name I use on Splitcoast Stampers. It's also a combination of my favorite drink and my families initials.

Hope you all have enjoyed a "walk" through my creative space.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

My Little Dancer

2011-01-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to show you the layout I created for the bonus sketch over at ScrapFriendzy's Sketch-a-thon. They have some great sketches going up over there. You should check it out HERE!

Hope you all have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Sketch-a-thon 2011

2010-12-31T04:07:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone! This year I plan to get a ton of scrapbooking done. So to start the year off right (with the encouragement of my friend Chris) I'm joining the lovely ladies at Scrap Friendzy for their 2nd annual Sketch-a-thon. If you wanna learn more about it just pop on over to www.scrap-friendzy.com.

Have a safe new year! Happy Creating & God Bless!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you PEACE. Numbers 6: 24-26

Merry Christmas! May your day be filled with the peace of our Lord and Saviour!

See you in 2011!

Christmas Baking

2010-12-24T05:23:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to do the whole Christmas cookie thing this year (just to keep myself from eating it all..hahaha) but with little ones there always has to be a batch or two. Yesterday the kiddos and I spent a good hour decorating cookies, talking and laughing. I also got a chance to use my new Nativity cookie cutters.

There was a lot of licking of fingers and knives...but since these weren't leaving the house I let it slide...=).

We have a very casual Christmas dinner of pizza and cake. Here is this years birthday cake for Jesus.

There is much excitement in our house over today being Christmas Eve. The kids keep running around shouting out that fact. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

December Daily

2010-12-23T05:19:00.000-08:00

I love little mini albums for holidays! I've started to display them in a basket in the living room to enjoy all year long. This year I'm playing along with Ali Edward's December Daily (There is a link to the left>>>>). However I had to put my own twist to it=). I don't plan to do a photo a day for December 1-25 but rather highlight some traditions and activities we did this year. Here is a peek at the cover and simplified inside pages. Behind each number I plan to add full size 4x6 photos with maybe some one word journaling. I haven't quite decided yet.

I kept the inside simple so I can just pop in the photos when printed.

Products: Paper is mostly Basic Grey, K& Co. Letters are Making Memories. Star is Quickutz. Bookplates are Stampin' Up.

Hope this day brings you all great joy!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Teacher Gifts

2010-12-22T03:05:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd share a quick post about the gifts I made for the kiddo's teachers this year. The idea came from a swap I was in awhile back. It's an ABC Master Muffin Mix book. There is a recipe for a basic muffin mix and a few toppings. Then there are add in recipes to create different types of muffins from A to Z.

You can find all the recipes I used HERE.

Products used for the recipe book: Paper is K& Co. and Papertrey cardstock. Stamped image is Papertrey. Alpha stickers are Making Memories. Ribbon by Making Memories and unknown. Felt flowers are Stampin' Up.

Have a beautiful day! Happy Creating & God Bless!

JAFA House Goodies!

2010-12-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

I'm a little tardy in getting this to you but as I promised here are the recipes for homemade granola and caramel corn used in this years gifts.

Homemade Granola*

4 cups of rolled oats

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup of your favorite nut (optional)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup water

6 oz. of favorite dried fruits

Heat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together oats, wheat germ nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Make a well and add oil, honey and water. Toss mixture until it is well combined. Spread evenly on cookie sheet. Bake until lightly browned, about 0 minutes. stirring every 10 minutes. Let it cool then stir in dried fruit.

*Slightly modified from Disney Family Fun Christmas magazine.

Caramel Corn*

8 cups popped popcorn

¾ cup packed brown sugar

6 T. butter

3 T. light corn syrup

¼ t. baking soda

¼ t. vanilla

Remove all unpopped kernels from popped corn.

Put popcorn into a 17x12x2 inch baking pan. In a saucepan,

combine sugar, butter, corn syrup and ¼ t. salt. Cook and stir

over medium heat till butter melts and mixture comes to a

boil. Cook, without stirring for 5 min. more. Remove from

heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn;

Gently stir to coat popcorn. Bake at 300*degrees for 15 min.

Stir. Bake 5 to 10 more. Remove corn to large bowl; cool.

*Take from the Better Homes and Garden's recipe book.

Hope you all are enjoying Christmas week. That all your shopping and wrapping and preparations are a time of joy. I hope you find some peaceful moments this season to reflect on what truly matters to you & your families.

As always, thank you for stopping by my little ol' blog.

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Brown paper packages....

2010-12-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

So, I seem to have gone tree crazy with my last uhhh four posts. I thought I'd give you something else today. Our family created labels and handmade goodies for family and friends. Then neatly packaged them in brown paper packages=).

The JAFA House label was a group effort. Frank came up with the design idea. Abraham drew the coffee cup. Abigail drew the sun. I colored it in and used PowerPoint to make the labels.

If you haven't guessed JAFA is spelled out with each of our initials (Jen, Abraham, Frank, Abigail).

We filled the bags with homemade granola, caramel corn and party mix. I will share a few of those recipes with you all tomorrow.

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Three Tree

2010-12-18T04:33:00.000-08:00

Last but not least is our Christmas tree adorned with ornaments collected from my childhood to today. My mom started the tradition of each family member getting a new ornament every year. Abraham and Abbey have their own boxes of ornaments and when the day comes when they move out on their own they will take that box with them. I'm not in any hurry for that day and I'm grateful it's many years away! (you can ask me if I feel the same way after the first week of Christmas break...hahaha).

I also found this fun, yet meaning full little Christmas tree poem. Take a few minutes to enjoy!

Have a blessed day!

Two Tree...

2010-12-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

Another tree we put up for Christmas is the Jesse Tree. It's a tradtion we started a few years ago. This year instead of a bare branch I used the clippings from our large Christmas tree.

A Jesse Tree is it's an advent tree that takes you on a journey through the Bible starting with creation to the birth of Christ. You can find more on it HERE.

Thanks for stopping by & have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

One Tree....

2010-12-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10

Hello Everyone! I thought I'd do a few posts on the different trees we have up this Christmas. The first one is a little artificial pine I keep in the living room all year. My hope is to have handmade ornaments for each season someday.

I made these cute little primitive candy canes for it this year.

I thought these were pretty simple to create. The instructions came from the Christmas edition of Family Fun magazine. If you are interested here aer the instructions. If you'd like some visuals you can find those here at Family Fun.

Materials:

3 strips of cotton fabric (we recommend using different colors and/or prints), 3 by 12 inches
Waxed paper
White glue
Small paintbrush
3 pipe cleaners
Wire cutters (optional)

Instructions:
1. One at a time, lay each fabric strip, printed side down, on a waxed paper-covered surface and use a paintbrush to coat it with a thin layer of glue. Place a pipe cleaner along one long edge.

2. Roll the fabric around it as tightly as possible. Smooth down the outer edge.

3. Pinch together the tops of the 3 wrapped pipe cleaners. Tightly twist them into a spiral and bend the top into a candy cane shape.

4. Set the cane in a short drinking glass to dry (it can take several hours, depending on the humidity). Then neaten the ends by trimming them with wire cutters, if needed.

Hope you enjoyed today's post. Have a lovely day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

A tree for us

2010-12-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hello folks! Hope you all have been enjoying some Christmas cheer. I've finally gotten around to putting together a few posts about what we have been up to since Thanksgiving. Is it really December 9 already? Anywhoo...before the countdown begins I thought I'd show you our trip to the tree farm.

For the kiddos running around the tree farm was more fun then picking one to take home=).

Frank was the one to spot the tree we would cut down..and yes I let him do all the work. Someone had to take the picture.

Of course the kids did their share.

Well, I should go check on the chocolaty goodness in the oven...more on that later...

Hope you all have a beautifully blessed day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Under construction...

2010-12-03T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hello readers! I am taking a few days to redo the ol' blog for the CHIRSTmas season. So, forgive the "dust" so to speak.

I found a new favorite Christmasy (not sure that counts as a word...but I make things up all the time) song. For your listening pleasure.....

Hope you all enjoy a lovely weekend!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Give Thanks

2010-12-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. Psalm 145:7

I can't believe it's December 1...I'm still in Thanksgiving mode. Anyway, this post should have gone up this weekend but as usual I'm a little behind here. I have been so inspired by my friend Chris. She has created some wonderful Thanksgiving mini albums. So, this weekend I dug through my drawer of unfinished mini albums and found this awesome box with a mini album inside! Between cooking turkey and mashing potatoes I worked on this....

Here are the inside pages....

On the back I had each family member write something they were thankful for.

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend. Thank you for stopping by...have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God bless!

2010-11-25T03:52:00.000-08:00

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalm 107:1

I hope you all have a blessed and beautiful Thanksgiving!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Where Did Thanksgiving Go?

2010-11-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

I will praise the name of God with a song;

I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 69:30

I know, I know Thanksgiving hasn't come yet but you wouldn't know it by the retail stores! I know this isn't a surprise to you all but it seems we went from Halloween to Christmas overnight. So, here on my little 'ol blog I'm going to pause for awhile and bask in the idea of being thankful.

First and foremost I am thankful to our Lord and Saviour for all He is, was and will always be! For His steadfast love, mercy and grace.

Throughout the week I'll be sharing some other thanksgivings and would love to hear what makes you thankful. Have a beautiful weekend & thank you for stopping by!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Tribute To June Cleaver

2010-11-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Proverbs 31:27

I grew up watching Leave It To Beaver. Though I don't recommend cleaning and cooking in a starched dress, heels and pearls (well okay maybe the pearls) I do remember June Cleaver as a warm and loving mother and wife....someone who took the time to listen to even the Eddie Haskells of this world.

If you are wondering where I'm going with this I am in a (surprise, surprise) swap. For this swap we were to create a decorative kilt pin using a theme. That is where Mrs. Cleaver comes in...I found the image for the center charm and the rest just kind of fell together.

The center charm is made using the same concept as the Scrabble tile pendents (tutorial HERE).

Last but not least here is my little kitchen helper sporting her first apple pie.

Thank you all for stopping by and I hope you have a beautifully blessed day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

2010-10-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Abraham and Abbey created these beauties for a pumpkin contest at the PTO fall fest. Abraham's bat took 1st place! Abbey was so proud of her pumpkin she stood by the table to show all the teachers. I think they both did a wonderful job! Hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!
Thanks for stopping by...Happy Creating & God Bless!
J@

Hope

2010-10-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Since October is breast cancer awareness month I thought I'd end the month with a pink inspired project. This card and tin of goodies went out to a crafting friend who has survived breast cancer twice! Praise the LORD!

I hope you all have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Products used: Stamp is by Michael Strong...I picked it up at a local stamp store in Virgina. Paper is Papertrey. Button is Stampin' Up. Ink is Memento. I used a white adhesive label for the tin butterfly

Super Hero Party Highlights

2010-10-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we threw a Super Hero Party for Abraham's birthday. God blessed us with a beautiful day in the park! The kids had a great time running around the park in the super hero capes and masks I made for everyone. The Kit Kat cake has about 2 lbs of M&M's on it...can you say sugar rush! However,I think the highlight of the party was the "evil" Candy Man who came to steal all the treats (The Candy Man idea came from a church event we attended last month). A huge thank you to Frank for playing the part so well. His costume is a variety of candy hot glued onto a cheep sweatsuit. The kids had to defeat the Candy Man by snatching all the candy from him.

Here are a few more photos of the attack.....

Finally the Candy Man was defeated but not until the sugar rush from the cake wore off.

Hope you all are having a beautiful day! Thank you for stopping by...

God Bless & Happy Creating!

Seven

2010-10-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday that I was watching this little guy venture down the sidewalk, sippy cup in hand, like he was ready to take on the world. Yesterday he turned 7!

I am so proud of the young man he is becoming. Abraham is... so bright, sensitive, full of silliness, intense, chatty, loves to create, always thinking , often dreaming, sweet, ready for adventure....

The LORD has blessed me with a beautiful boy and I thank Him everyday!

Happy Birthday Boo Bear! I love you!

Hope you all enjoy a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Inspired Crafters Christmas Challenge #7

2010-10-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! This month I created the Christmas card challenge for the Inspired Crafters Blog. You can find more details about it HERE!

This is the card I created using the sketch I created for the challenge. All products are Papertrey except the twine, embossing folder (Quickutz) and cranberry crisp ink (Stampin Up).

Hope you all have an opportunity to join us in this months challenges over at Inspired Crafters.

Thank you for stopping by.

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Double duty

2010-09-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14

Don't you just love a buy one get one free deal? Me too...and today's card is just that...except it's more like make one get two to do's marked off. This card is done with the inspiration from Tracie's sketch on Inspired Crafters Christmas Card Challenge (okay..say that 10 times really fast). It is also the card I'll be using for one of my spot in the Papertrey Swap on Splitcoast Stampers...hosted by the lovely Banu!

I used dimensionals on the cranberry colored cardstock to make the stockings hang and swing when the card is proped up. Here is a close up that shows some dimension.

Products Used: Papertray; Stocking Stuffers & Signature Christmas stamps & cardstock, Amuse; pattern paper. Unknown; brads, twine.

Hope that you all are enjoying a lovely week.

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Snack Bag Tutorial

2010-09-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15 NIV)

So now that the kiddos are happily off to school everyday I have a little more time to try some of the fun ideas I come across. Today I wanted to share with you a little tutorial on making these nifty earth friendly snack baggies. Aren't they cute?

I found the idea in the Aug/Sept issue of Simply Handmade.

Items you will need for this project are:

cotton fabric, ripstop nylon, ribbon, Velcro

Step 1: Cut both fabric & ripstop nylon 13x7 inches. Pin wrong sides together.

Step 2: Fold two 5" pieces of ribbon in half. Pin them centered on each short side. Be sure to put loop toward the inside leaving 1 1/2 " tails.

Step 3: Stitch each short end using 1/2" seam.

Step4: Turn right side out and press using low setting.

Step 5: Cut Velcro 61/2" allowing 1/4" around top and sides. Pin down and stitch using two lines of stitching.

Step 6: Fold in half with ripstop side showing. Pin and stitch.

Step 7: Turn right side out and press.

Final step: Stitch down edges with 1/4" seam, enclosing the inside seam.

And there you have it! These are fun and fairly easy to make. Even for a beginner like me!

Another plus is these beauties are machine washable. Just turn them inside out and put extra loop Velcro over the hook Velcro to keep it from catching on other items. Wash and dry as normal.

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Simply Handmade has some great ideas you should really check out their blog.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Cool New Ride

2010-09-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hello folks! My friend Chris has posted a wonderful scrapbooking sketch for this months challenge over on the Inspired Crafters blog! You should pop on over and check it out. Here is my version of the sketch...

At summers end Abbey decided she was ready to give bike riding another shot. She's been able to ride without training wheels for over a year now but hasnt' been comfortable with stopping and starting. This time she was determined to keep at it. Her hard work paid off...she got a brand new hot pink bike!

Hope you all have had a fabulous weekend!

Happy Creating & God bless!

Footprints

2010-09-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! It seems like it's been awhile since my last post. Today I wanted to share with you the revival of the Inspired Crafters blog! We took a small break over the Summer Holidays but now we are back with three challenges each month. So, be sure to hop over to the IC blog and check out the new challenges!

The following is copied from the Inspired Crafters blog:

1) We will continue to have three Challenges - Regular card challenge, Christmas card Challenge and scrapbook page challenge.

2) The change is in the frequency of challenges. You will now have almost one month to complete the challenges. This gives us time to come up with interesting sketches and prizes..yes there will be prizes for each of the challenges.
3) So starting with the Month of September,

First Friday of the Month - Regular Card Challenge

First Saturday of the Month - Scrapbook page Challenge

First Sunday of the Month - Christmas Card Challenge

This month's Regular Card Challenge is this fabulous sketch that Banu created for us:

Below is my card created for this challenge. I made the card for a friend who is going through some rough times. My hope is that it'll help to encourage her and let her know that she is never alone.

I also enclosed a bookmark with the Footprints In the Sand story.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

O Come All Ye Faithful

2010-08-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

I know it's a bit early to be singing Christmas hymns...but right now I'm hosting a CHRISTmas swap. One of the categories in the swap is to create a 6x6 page with lyrics from your favorite Christmas hymn. You can learn more about my swap HERE. The due date for the swap is October 29...so there is plenty of time to join the fun!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Rainbows, castles and a mouse!

2010-08-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

M-I-C ya real soon K-E-Y because I like you! M-O-U-S-E

Disney World here we come!

Tomorrow we are off to the wonderful world of Disney! But before we go I wanted to share a project with you. This is another swap card for Susan's Praise III swap. The theme for these cards was Noah's Ark. I CASED this card from Maria Gurnsey's card in Paper Crafts, Card Creations Volume 8 issue. I was unable to find a link to her card (here is a link to her blog Scraps By M) but it's basically the same. I used a different embossing folder, sentiment and some of the colors are a little different. I just really like the rainbow stripes and thought it was a good reminder of God' promise....

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." (Genesis 9:12-15 NIV)

I hope your day is filled with happiness, hope and blessings from above!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Lighthouse

2010-07-31T03:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! My project today was done for Susan's Mega Christian Swap on Splitcoast Stampers. She is always hosting some wonderfully thought up swap to celebrate our Lord! The category this one was for is a lighthouse themed gift. My intentions were to use 6x6 tiles to make trivets but as I had a hard time finding unfinished ones. I've discovered that the ink will rub off the tiles that have a finish on them...even with a coat of fixative. So instead I used the tiles, some ink, Papertrey ribbon and Our Daily Bread Design stamps to create some wall decor.

Our home is buzzing with excitement in anticipation for Daddy to come home tonight. We are looking forward to giving him big squeezes. Hope you all have a beautiful weekend!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Little Alterables Everywhere

2010-07-26T03:54:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks! I know I've been absent from the blogging world and I don't really see my posts becoming any more regular before school starts. We are a busy bunch! Frank comes home next week and then we are off and running to Disney World! WooHoo! I'm looking forward to family time, the excitement on the kids faces...NOT looking forward to the Florida heat in August.

Anyhow...here are a few projects I did for a swap I hosted.

A little piece of framed art using Papertry cardstock, stamps, ribbon & buttons. Other stamps used are Cornish Heritage Farms (did you know they are closing their doors?...sniff, sniff) and the itty bitty crow on top is from Ippity.

Altered Crystal Light container using K& Company paper, Papertrey cardstock, ribbon, button and stamps. Sentiment stamp is from Verve. Ribbon on top of container is unknown but I believe it's Making Memories.

The kiddos and I are off to hit the hiking trails in search for lizards and other crawly things. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you all have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Almost 5!

2010-07-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that my baby girl is almost 5 and will be entering Kindergarten in a few months! I thought I'd share some photos I took recently of sweet,silly, sassy & beautiful Abbey!

Abbey and I attended our first official tea last month. It was so cute how she waited and waited for that first cup of tea. She was very impressed with all the goodies they served. When the mini tarts came out she announced "These sure are some fancy cookies!"

She sure knows how to play it up for the camera!

I thank God everyday for bringing this amazing little girl into my life! I love you Abbey! Happy Birthday!

Have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

First & Last

2010-07-03T03:44:00.000-07:00

This post is a little last....Abraham finished school three weeks ago (by the way they already have school supplies going up in Wal-mart) but I wanted to share a few photos from his last week of school.

First and probably the most exciting was the loss of his first tooth!

The last week was spirit week and even though Abraham did most of them I only caught Crazy Hair Day on film.

Last but not least is the last day of school photo.

(Last Day of Kindergarten)

Which is a big contrast to the first day....All sweet and innocent and excited about his first day...To obnoxious I'm going to be a big 1st grader pose!

(First Day of Kindergarten)

Hope you all are having a fun and safe summer!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

B & W Christmas

2010-06-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

Honestly I'm not sure where the last two weeks went! The kids have been enjoy day camps and I've been using the free time to work out, get house and yard work done. I did take sometime to hit a few yard sales...those things sure can become addicting!

I have not had much time to craft lately but I did create this card for a swap. The theme of the swap is to make a black and white Christmas card (I added a little pop of color=)). It's hosted by KelliJo over at Splitcoast Stampers and I believe there is still time to sign up. She is using her hostess cards to sell for a Cops for Kids fund raiser. It's all for a good cause so hop on over and check it out>>>>>HERE!

Most of the goodies are Papertrey Ink. I think the paper is K & Company and the pearls are unknown.

Thanks for stopping by...hope you have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

For the birds

2010-06-17T03:46:00.000-07:00

Morning all! I thought I'd ease myself back into blogging with a quick post...and to give you something new to look at. I'm hosting a Tree, Bird & Recycle swap over on Splitcoast Stampers. It is now closed but this is the bird card I made for it.

Products: The stamp is Unity. Pattern paper is October Afternoon. Cardstock is Papertrey. Buttons are Stampin' Up. Brad is Paper Studio. Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Hope you all are enjoying a safe and relaxing summer!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Taking A Break

2010-05-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

*Warning...photo heavy post!*

Hello Folks! I'm so grateful for my little blogging audience and I wanted to give you all a heads up that I'm taking a break until late June.

I keep promising the grandparents photos of the kids...so before I go here they are....

Abraham and Abbey are coming to the end of their soccer season. They have come along way since that first practice/ game. No longer do they roll around on the ground with one another. However Abbey has taken to doing flips over the ball during warm up. So far, she has contained herself durning games.

Here are a few shots of Abbey enjoying some rainy day puddles. I love my little free spirit!

Abraham is so proud that he can make it across the monkey bars in 6 seconds. Pretty impressive huh?

Thank you all for stopping by. I hope your days are filled with God's Blessings!

Happy Creating!

Beary Special~ Taylored Expressions Blog Hop

2010-05-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Today is the Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop! I am so honored to be taking part in this hop. I have been a fan of TE for sometime now. Their images are often whimsical and oh so fun to use!

The idea of the hop is to use a TE stamp set from 2008 or 2009. For my project I used the Beary Special set to create a card.

Other Products I used: Pattern Paper is October Afternoon. Cardstock is Papertrey Aqua Mist & Vintage Cream and Stampin' Up Kiwi Kiss. Ink is Tim Holtz antique linen and walnut stain. Pearls are unknown.

Thanks for stopping by...happy creating and God Bless!

Be sure to check out all the other fabulous Taylored Expressions Blog Hop creations!

Thanks Teach!

2010-05-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

This is teacher appreciation week at Abraham's school. I wanted to do something nice for his teacher. He has had such a great first year of school and we wanted to thank Mrs. Thomas for being a big part of that success!

I used Papertrey's Teacher's Apple set to alter the following items:

1/2 Jr. legal pad, sticky notes, hand sanitizer, tissues, hand wipes, lip gloss, mints and a heart tin. I had Abraham write a few things he liked about his teacher to put inside the heart tin.

For the basket I used a bubble gum pink Easter basket I found at Michael's (90% off) for 80 cents. Then I used up all of Franks black spray paint to repaint it...shhh don't tell.

One more photo before I go of my kids snuggled up together reading. Abraham is now at a second grade reading level. He seems to really enjoy it and will read to anyone that will listen=)!

Hope you all are having a beautiful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Moo...baa....cluck cluck...moo!

2010-04-26T03:24:00.000-07:00

It's H{ippity} Hop time again! This week I don't feel I was all that original but it's a project I've been meaning to do for sometime. I've wanted some primitive looking coasters...so I picked up some 3x3 tiles at Lowe's along with a 5.5 x 5.5 for a trivet. The design I used came from THIS card my friend Chris shared with me. I love what this gal did with stacking all the animals! You can see more of her creations HERE.

Be sure to stop by the {ippity} blog for a blog hop list of other {ippity} inspired creations. Also, if you'd like to get your hands on some of these fabulous stamps you can visit my friend Banu HERE.

{ippity} stamps used are Simply Home and What Matters Most.

Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Here I Am

2010-04-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

To sponsor a child or for other ways to help visit World Vision HERE!

Yay! For Abraham!

2010-04-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Abraham came home with a letter from Letterkenny Army Depot stating he won second prize (for the kindergarten classes) in an Earth Day poster contest! He was invited to a ceremony and will also recieve a $75 savings bond. How sweet is that?! We are very excited and proud of him! Here are a few pictures I took from the ceremony.

*Please note that the dork that I am set the camera to take a close up of the snake drawing and didn't change it. So, the photos are a little off.*

I think Abraham was nervous or a little overwhelmed. He kept looking around at the people and it was impossible to get him to smile...haha.

Mrs. Thomas had the kids draw a picture of their animal of choice and write a report about it.

Abraham's read:

Rattle snakes are reptiles with scales. Most snakes lay eggs and others give birth. Rattle snakes use their rattle to keep enemies away. Baby rattle snakes have the first part of the rattle called a button. They live in the United States and Mexico. Rattle snakes eat mice whole. It is not an endangered species.

(The reports were done in Kid Writing ... the above is traslated)

Thank you to his teacher Mrs. Thomas for entering him in the contest and for being a wonderful teacher! She has been a big part in Abraham's school success and we hope Abbey will have her next year!

Thank you all for stopping by...have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

H{ippity} Hop!!!

2010-04-19T03:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! Today {ippity} is hosting a blog hop!...and with a little inspirational nudge from my friends Chris & Banu I managed to create some goodness to share! So, if you hop on over to the {ippity} blog you will find a list of blog links. Take sometime today to get inspried by all these great crafters! Oh and I hear there is a challenge and a PRIZE!

For my scrapbook layout I used their set Simply Home. I love this little primitive set and can't wait to play with it some more! The other products used are Basic Grey, October Afternoon and Graphic 45 papers. Making Memories ribbon, Stampin Up crochet flowers dipped in walnut crystals (thanks Chris=)!)

This layout was also done for the Inspired Crafters challenge and you can find the sketch for this and more fun challenges HERE!

If you are interested in purchasing this set or any of the other fabulous {ippity} sets my friend Banu would be more then glad to help you out! You can find her site HERE!

Thank you for stopping by...have a beautiful day!
Happy Creating and God Bless!
J@

Shawn McDonald - All I Need

2010-04-18T05:51:00.000-07:00

A little music enjoyment for this beautiful Sunday morning! Enjoy!

Happy Creating and God Bless!
J@

How does your garden grow?

2010-04-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to show off the kiddos little garden. They picked out the plants and the pot...and pretty much planted the flowers all by themselves.

I also made this card a few weeks ago. My Divine Secret Sister on Splitcoast sent me this wonderful stamp. When I joined the Mega Christian card swap I knew this was a perfect opportunity to use it!

Products used: Papertrey cardstock & ribbon, Momentos ink, stamp unknown, Copic markers, Cuttlebug embossing zigzag and Spellbinders square Nestibilities.

Hope you all have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Sunshine

2010-04-07T03:38:00.000-07:00

This will be a quick post! I created this framed art for a Christian Mega Swap on Splitcoast Stampers. Susan, our lovely hostess has an abundance of ideas and has combine them all in one swap! I signed up for the framed art and card catatgories. Today's project is for my framed art slot!

A big shout of thanks to my friend Banu! She suprised me with Verve's Let It Shine stamp set a few weeks ago! I love it and will be giving this set more love soon! Thanks for brightening my day!

Hope you all have a sunshine beautiful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Egg Hunt!

2010-03-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

This morning I took the kiddos to an Egg Hunt. It was blue sky and sunshine but COLD! That of course didn't matter to them...hahaha! They had a blast and came back running with a basket full of plastic goodness! I was so very proud of them when one of Abraham's classmates had only found two eggs...without hesitation Abbey and Abraham gave him some of theirs.

Here are a few pictures of them waiting for the festivities to begin!

Always the goofballs!

I also thought I'd share a card I made. This one is for Taryn's Ladybugs, butterflies and dragonflies swap.

Products used are Papertrey except the lace (unknown), pattern paper (I don't remember...it came from my scrap box), gliter is Stampin Up, embossing folder is cuttlebug.

Hope your weekend is beautiful!

Happy Creating! God Bless!

Working On Swaps

2010-03-25T04:16:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks I've been working on some of the card swaps I've joined on Splitcoast Stampers. I usually only do the Papertrey one. Call it spring fever but I've joined six and I'm hosting 3! When do I find the time to craft? Often I find sometime in the evening when we all are off doing our own thing. Mostly I use Abbey's "nap" time for my creative time. Here is what Abbey does with her "nap" time....

As you can see from the crumpled bed quilt she's NOT napping but dressing up and dancing naked infront of the mirror. Gotta love that girl!

Here are the cards I created for the current Papertrey swap hosted by Angela (Monkeymama). The first one is for the regular swap. This was also one of the cards I used for the cardmaking get together at church.

Angela also had two sketchs for this round. I decided to go with this sketch created by Melissa Craig for Tuesday Morning Sketches...

I think all products are papertrey except on the top card. The green is Kiwi Kiss from Stampin Up and the ribbon is unknown. Just wanted to edit that the pattern paper on the Dude card is CosmoCricket.

Hope you all enjoy this beautiful day the Lord has made!
Happy Creating! God Bless!
J@

Randomness

2010-03-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Folks! This post is just a collage of random things I've been meaning to post. Hope you enjoy!

This is a little set I made up for my Divine Secret Sister on Splitcoast Stampers. The little backpack was so much fun to make! Inside the backpack I put one of her favorite snacks...gummy bears!

The card uses the sketch I created for the Inspired Crafters Christmas Card Challenge. I know it's not a Christmas card...the weather has been so sunny & warm...I just could bring myself to bust out the Holiday stamps=).

Here is a close up of the backpack. You can find a tutorial for them HERE.

Last week we said goodbye to all the snow in our yard. Frank helped it along some by spreading the mounds of snow onto the sunny driveway...I'm sure he is going to be over joyed that I shared this photo (I love you honey!). I love that he's a little bit crazy! I'm sure it helps him with my whole lot of crazy=)!

Abbey also took her bike out on two wheels! Woohoo...you go girl! We have told the kids when they learn to ride well on two wheels they get a new bike (they both learned on this second hand gem).

Wanna see the bike Abbey picked out? She's got such cool taste...she must get that from ME!

Last but not least...this is a photo of Abraham trying to be a tough guy...He'll always be my Boo Bear!

Hope you all have a beautiful Monday!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Birthday gifts

2010-03-09T06:19:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone! This weekend we celebrated Frank's birthday! I think I was more excited then he and the kids over the gifts because I finally finished a gift that was 3 years in the making. It didn't actually take me that long...I've just had the idea that long...Hahaha.

Anyway, Ali Edwards created a collage using an old letterpress drawer. I knew right away that I wanted to make one for Frank. Well, three years later here it is....

I also gave him a brass compass with Proverbs 3:6 (In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths) written inside. I wanted to have it engraved but I ran out of time.

The kids got in on the gift giving too. Abraham made Daddy this fabulous birthday crown. I promised Frank I wouldn't post the picture with him in it (oh but so tempting)...but here is a close up.

Frank has this love of Hostess cupcakes. This year and last year he asked for a giant version of the ever-so-loved snack cake. Now that I have done it a few times it's really rather easy...cream filling and all.

The rest of our weekend was pretty busy and on the go. Sunday we were able to enjoy some warm sunshine! All the snow is almost gone! There are even flowers popping up in the garden...come on spring!

Hope you all have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating! God Bless!

Man Cards

2010-03-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

I'm hosting a Man card swap on Splitcoast Stampers. The swap is broken down into three catagories...birthday, thinking of you and little men. There are still a few more days before I close the swap...so if you'd like to join in the fun check it out HERE!

These are the cards I created for each spot.

Birthday: I love the primitive star buttons I found at Hobby Lobby. I also embossed the happy birthday to make it pop. The paper is from Cosmo Cricket (the boyfriend). Cardstock and sentiment are from Papertrey. The lighthouse image is Our Daily Bread Design.

Thinking of You: This card layout is a CASE of my friend Chris. She sent me a fabulous girl card using pretty much this same format. Kraft cardstock, background stamp and ink are Papertrey. Dark green cardstock & Tree image are Stampin' Up. Moon brad is Making Memories. The "ribbon" is fabric from a local primitive store cut into thin strips.

Little Men: I have trouble photographing orange. It always turns out brighter then in real life...so image this card not quite so bright. Cardstock is Stampin' Up. Paper is K.I. Memories Ribbon is Papertrey. Stamps are Changitos by Stampendous!

Here is a close up of the background. I used some of the smaller images from the pirate set and versamarked a background.

I hope you all are having a beautiful day! Happy Creating and God Bless!

Blue bird!

2010-03-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

This card was made for a digi image card swap on Splitcoast Stampers. I adore this image...this is coming from someone that was anti-girly/kid images...most of them creep me out. I found this image at Cocoa Studios and for $1.50 who can go wrong!

Products used: Papertrey cardstock and sentiment. Ribbon is American Crafts. Image is Cocoa Studios

I have been busy making cards for a card making day at church. I've also been working on a special project for Frank's birthday next week. Hopefully I'll have some new posts up soon but for now I need to go see why I've been hearing the water run for the past 10 minutes...oh the adventures of a four year old girl!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Snow Wonderful!

2010-02-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

Well the snow has finally stopped...for now anyway! There has been some talk that we will get another storm tomorrow. So, today I thought I'd share a few photos of the kids snowday activities.

They had a blast digging through the gopher tunnels I made with Abbey one afternoon.

The highlight was making a snow cave with Daddy....one all three of them could fit in!

You might ask what was I doing during the cave construction...making a card of course! I played around with a shaker card. This was one of those cards that kind of took on a life of it's own but I like it nonetheless.

Products used: Papertrey; cardstock,pattern paper, ribbon, stamp sets and ink. Stampin' Up; clear beads. Misc.;Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder, Creative Memories circle cutters, Duck tape

Today we have heat being put in our basement. My craft room will be taken over by worker gentlemen as Abbey calls them. I had to clear my goodies out of the way...looks like time to do some early spring cleaning...yike! the things I found behind shelves and tables!

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T05:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! Hopefully I'm not spoiling suprises but here is a card I made for my folks from the kiddos. I used the Stair Step Fold Tutorial on Splitcoast stampers. You can find that HERE.

Front of the card:

Inside:

Close up (I used a quote from Where the Wild Things Are):

I also made this yummy Romatic Torte Cake to take along to church this morning. It one I remember my mom making as a kid. I was never very found of the dates but the Hershey kisses made up for it..haha!

Here is the recipe if you are interested.

ROMANTIC TORTE CAKE

1 - 8 oz pkg pitted dates, cut into small pieces 1 tsp baking soda

1 cup hot water 1 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans)

1 cup margarine 1 cup sugar

4 eggs, beaten 1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ cups flour ½ tsp salt

1 - 8 oz pkg Hersheys kisses, unwrapped,

or Hershey’s chocolate stars

Sprinkle dates with soda. Pour hot water over all and let stand. Cream sugar and margarine. Add beaten eggs. Add dry ingredients and vanilla. Add date mixture. Pour half of batter into ungreased 9 or 10" tube pan. Add half of kisses and nuts. Pour rest of batter on top. Follow with remaining chocolates and nuts. Bake at 350E for 1 - 1 1/4 hours. (Watch after 45 minutes. Cake should be firm but not dry on top).

Hope your day is filled with LOVE!

Happy Creating! God Bless!

Papertrey Contest Day 13

2010-02-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

I had a little extra time to myself today. So, I thought I'd play along with Papertrey's contest. Making the little embellishment sheets was a great deal of FUN! I think it makes a cute little gift for a crafty friend. If you'd like to read more about it you can find the rules and links to other great projects fans are making HERE.

Here are the inside goodies~

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Christmas Card Challenge

2010-02-12T02:48:00.000-08:00

Howdy Folks! I'm hosting the Christmas Card Sketch Challenge over at Inspired Crafters. I created my first ever sketch for this challenge. I ended up doing two cards because not being a sketch person I couldn't stick to my own sketch. Here is my stretch of my sketch...LOL. If you'd like to view the sketch and find other inspiring sketches for cards and scrapbooking pop on over to Inspired Crafters!

This card started out with todays sketch at Inspired Crafters and took on a life of it's own. Cardstock, olive ribbon, stamps and ink are Papertrey. Lace ribbon is Wal-mart. The fabulous tea dyed elements are from tags my wonderfully talented friend Chris sent me...thank you!

Have a beautiful day! Happy Creating and God Bless!

Birthday Card #2

2010-02-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a second card I created for the Papertrey card designer challenge. All products are Papertrey except the glitter is Stampin' Up.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely evening!

Happy Birthday Papertrey!

2010-02-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

This month is Papertrey's 3rd birthday! They have a huge celebration going on over at Nichole's blog.

This is one of the cards I created for the card designers challenge. I was instantly inspired by this image from Heather Nichols. I printed my own scripted background that reads (everyone sing with me): Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Have a goodie from me, happy birthday to you! All products are Papertrey except the glitter is Stampin' Up and ribbon is Making Memories.

Hope you are having a wonderful week! Happy Creating and God Bless!

Lighthouse

2010-02-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

This card was so much fun to make! At first glance it just looks like an ordinary square card but when you open it it sits like an easle. Splitcoast Stampers has a great tutorial HERE....very easy to follow!

I made sure that the verse popped out on the bottom when the card is folded.

Here is what it looks like opened:

I love how it turned out. Products used: Our Daily Bread Design stamps, Momentos black ink, Papertrey & Stampin' Up cardstock, Brads are Stampin' up, Spellbinders die cuts and the pattern paper and twine is unknown.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have a beautiful one!

Many Blessings! Happy Creating!

Thought I'd toss the video tutoril in here too....

Christmas Mouse

2010-01-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

Today's card is for Michelle's sketch over at Inspired Crafters. It has taken me forever to get this posted. Truth is I had the card done the day after the sketch went up but didn't get around to photographing it until today. Plus, I'm not entirely happy with my results. Anyway, despite my less the steller card the sketch rocks...so if you want a little inspiration hop on over the IC blog and take a look!

Hope you all are having a wonderful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

My House

2010-01-26T03:23:00.000-08:00

My poor blog is so neglected! I thought I'd cheer it up with a quick post. I made this card the day I got my first {ippity} stamp set...I think that was over 2 weeks ago! Anyway, if you haven't heard {ippity} is a new line of stamps for the people at Unity. My dear stamping friend Banu is selling these awesome stamps. So, if you want to get your hands on some of this fun rubber hop on over to her place (here) and she'll help you out!

Hope you all have a blessed and beautiful day!

Happy Creating!

A Good Cup of Jafa

2010-01-20T03:32:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It's been a little while since I've posted...so I thought I'd share a few cards I made for a coffee themed swap.

I adore this image! She looks so cozy curled up with her coffee (cocoa or tea). This is how I like to enjoy my mornings....my comfy spot on the couch, my Bible and a good cup of jafa!

For this card I was going for a funky coffee shop feel. I love the Basic Grey used in the background and mug.

Hope you all are enjoying a day filled with blessings!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

Kindergarten

2010-01-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

I am having photo editing issues today but what you see is what you are going to get. I guess I need to go back to kindergarten to learn some photo basics again! ha! Anyway, this is my version of the Saturday scrapbook challenge over at Inspired Crafters. The title is not showing up in the photo but I used crayon to write kindergarten and it looks really cool. Now that I think of it I should have Abraham write it...hmmm. I also need to ask him a few questions about his school day likes and dislikes for the journaling.

My plan is to have school days albums for both kids to take with them when they graduate...now if I can just stay ontop of that I'll be good...haha!

Here is the original sketch.

Here is my layout.

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Christmas Card Challenge

2010-01-09T03:35:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time is send out handmade cards. This past year I became overwhelmed. One because our list grew a bit...also I started the creating proccess to late. 2010 is a new year and with the help of Inspired Crafters Christmas card challenge I hope to get a jump start! Perhaps if I make a few each month by December I'll have a good stash.

I took a clean and simple approach to the fun sketch up at Inspired Crafters. The card came together almost too quickly that I sat and wondered if I need to add anything. I'm glad I didn't and I used up some scraps to boot...ending up with three cards! (only 97 more to go...haha)

If you happen to play along with this challenge besure to us ICCJAN10 when uploading to any gallery. Thanks for stopping by!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Creating & God Bless!

A Snowy Day!

2010-01-08T06:08:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!
Here is a card I created for a friend of Frank's who is in Afghanistan. I believe this young man is on his 4th or 5th (year long) deployment....which sad to say is the norm these days. I made up a few of these so I had a some masculine cards on hand....I never have enough!

This morning I was secretly thinking to myself that it would be nice to stay in my PJ's and craft today. We woke up to some snow but not enough to close schools. Then Abbey woke up with a fever so our usual busy Friday will be spent at home snuggling (and yes some crafting...haha).

There is a great new Christmas card challenge up at Inspired Crafters. I will be working on that as soon as I finish up my Papertrey swap.

Hope you all are having a cozy sort of day!
Happy Creating and God Bless!
J@

Happy 2010!

2010-01-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone! I'm back! Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's day! We spent ours at Hershey's Chocolate World stuffing ourselves with treats! Yummmy!

Anyway, I have some exciting news to share with all of you! My stamping friend Banu has set up a wonderful challenge blog called Inspired Crafters. She has done a fabulous job with it and I'm glad to be part of the design team. Saturdays are designated to scrapbook sketches and though I know it's Tuesday I've finally completed mine! Banu picked a fabulous sketch from Page Maps. To be honest I'm not much of a sketch scrapper but since it's been ages since my last layout it was very helpful. There will also be monthly card challenges. So be sure to stop by Inspired Crafters and have a look around!

Here is the original sketch...

Here is my layout....

I'm looking forward to getting more scrapbooking done this year (no that is not a resolution...those don't work for me..haha). I am however determined to get all my photos in order using the system Stacy Julian outlines in her book Photo Freedom. More on that later.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Stay warm and cozy!

Happy Creating and God bless!

Christmas Blessings!

2009-12-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone! We are getting ready to spend the afternoon with some friends...enjoy good food and company. Later we will attend a Christmas Eve service to rejoice in the beautiful gift that

God has given us all!

My blog will be quiet until the first of the year but I wanted to be sure to stop by and wish you all very Blessed Chrstmas and Happy New Year!

God Bless and Happy Creating!

A Christmas Miracle

2009-12-19T04:48:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we took the kids to a Sight & Sounds production of The Miracle of Christmas. It was an amazing show! The cast was great. The costumes & sets were wonderful. There were live horses, camels, goat, sheep, a donkey or two. The animals and actors go up and down the aisles.

Angels flew through the air!

But the best part of the show was watching my little girls reaction to it all. If we would have been in the front row I'm sure she would have jumped on stage and started her own song and dance!

There has been a lot of crafting going on around here. I just haven't taken the time to photograph and post it all...it just doesn't seem important at the moment. I'd rather spend time watching my daughter

soar like an angel!

Hope you have a very blessed day! Happy Creating!

P.S. I did find this on my memory card...a Christmas card I made a few weeks ago. I believe all products are Papertrey (minus the embossing powder)....enjoy.

Check this out!

2009-12-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

One of my all time favorite bloggers MckMama is giving away an Adobe Photoshop Lightroom2!!!

You can check out all the details here......... The Power of Two.

MckMama's friend Grammie Mama is also giving away Adobe photoshop 8 here!

Hope you all have a fabulous day! God Bless!

Happy Creating!

Five Little Gingerbread Men

2009-12-14T03:14:00.000-08:00

Morning everyone! We had a wonderfully busy weekend (more on that later). I'm behind a bit on sharing some projects. Today I wanted to show you a little something I made for Abraham's teacher. Since they are making gingerbread houses next week I thought this would be a fun fingerplay to go along with the theme.

I used Papertrey's Holiday Button Bits gingerbread man and laminated them. Then I just simply added velcro to the backs so they will stick to the glove. I found two cute poems to go along with the theme.

Five Little Gingerbread Men On A Tray

Five little gingerbread men lying on a tray,

One jumped up and ran away.

Shouting "Catch me, catch me, catch me if you can ...

I run really fast, I'm a gingerbread man!"

Repeat until....

No more gingerbread men lying on a tray,

They all jumped up and ran away.

Oh, how I wish they had stayed with me to play.

Next time I'll eat them before they run away.

I think this one is my favorite....yumm!

Five Little Gingerbread Men

Five little gingerbread men in a row
(Hold up five fingers, waving back & forth)
Not gonna' eat one no, no, no.
(shake finger and head side to side)
But they look so sweet from head to toe
(hand binoculars at eyes touch head then toes)
Crunch, munch...uh oh!
(slap thighs on crunch, clap hands on munch, then put hands over mouth on uh oh)

Continue until...

No little gingerbread men in a row
Wasn't gonna' eat one, no, no, no
But they looked so sweet that it's sad to tell (binoculars on sweet, then index fingers run down cheeks to represent tears on sad)
Crunch.. munch... oh well! (slap thighs once, clap once, then throw hands up
and shrug shoulders)

Hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! Happy Creating!
God Bless!
J@

Dancing Moose

2009-12-09T03:19:00.000-08:00

Just a quick share of the goodies Abbey and I made for her dance class. We scented some lotion (peppermint) and bubble baths (vanilla). I finally used my ballerina Sophie stamp to make the labels. Yesterday she passed these out to her friends. On little girl said, "Oh these are fabulous...so very fashionable for the ladies."
Hope you all have a wonderful day!
God Bless and Happy Creating!
J@

White On White

2009-12-08T05:25:00.000-08:00

Sometime ago I saw on Latisha's blog A Busy Little Craftee Bee a card she created with white on white background. I liked it so much I decided to make a few Christmas cards using the same idea. You can see Latisha's card here..... and here is mine...

Products used: Papertrey except the embossing folder is Quickutz and the die cut is Spellbinders.

I'm off to finish up some more projects. Hope you all have a beautifully blessed day!
Happy Creating!
J@

M&M Story

2009-12-03T03:35:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new home of Fstop Memories. Please pardon the "dust"...I'm still working on getting everything in place.

This year I volunteer for Release Time. If you are not familiar with this it is an hour each week where 3rd thru 5th graders are released from school for Bible Study. My project today is a simple little gift that I'm making up for our group. It's a 3 1/2 inch trifold card with M&M's (who doesn't like chocolate) and the M&M story inside.

The M & M Christmas Story

As you hold these candies in your hand, And turn them, you will see… The M becomes a W and E and then a 3. They tell you the Christmas Story! It’s one I am sure you know. It took place in a stable a long, long, time ago. The E is for the East, where the star shone so bright. The M is for the Manger, where Baby Jesus slept that night. The 3 is for the Wise Men, who came bearing gifts. The W is for Worship. Hallelujah, praise His Holy Name!

So, as you eat these candies or share them with your friends, remember the true meaning of Christmas.

It’s a love story that never ends!

Hope that you all find some beauty in each day! Happy creating!

He Is Here!

2009-12-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

Today I have a great little video for those of you with young children. It comes from one of our family library favorites...The Jesus Storybook Bible (Every story whispers His name).

I know I've been posting more videos then crafting goodies lately. I have been busy crafting. I just haven't taken the time to photograph and post them. Hopefully soon I will have a chance to share some cards and other gift ideas.

Have a blessed day! Happy Creating!

Christmas Change

2009-11-29T23:04:00.000-08:00

As I was looking around some of my favorite inspirational blogs this morning I came across this....

Christmas Change from Kujilana on Vimeo.

Please take a moment to listen... I promise it'll put a smile on your heart.

Happy Giving! Happy Creating!

Turkeys & Crows

2009-11-26T23:25:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! I just wanted to show you all my two turkeys....

Also, the other day I tried the Faux Torn Mosaic that was featured on Splitcoast recently. I enjoyed the whole messy process. Nothing like having a little glue and ink on your hands.

Products: Stamps are Cornish Heritage Farms. Ink is Tim Holtz. Paper is Stampin' UP and Making Memories. Ribbon is Flourishes. Button is Papertrey.

Have a beautiful weekend! God Bless!

Happy Creating!

J@

Christmas Song ?

2009-11-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

I'm not ready to hook up the Christmas songs on the old blog...but I did find this light hearted video...it's worth a few chuckles. Hope you enjoy it as well.

God Bless and Happy Creating!

Can't Catch Me!

2009-11-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hello! I have to admit that when Papertrey first came out with there Button Bits & Holiday Button Bits sets I wasn't sold on them. Then I kept seeing all these adorable projects with them. Well, thanks to Sandye a fellow Papertrey swapper I was able to test some of these images out (Thank you!). I have to say I love 'em! In fact I purchased the Holiday Button Bits and the original version is on my wish list!

My card today is using the cute Gingerbread man (a family favorite) and my stamping friend Banu's sketch. You can view that sketch here.

Products used: Images, cardstock & ink are Papertrey. Ribbon is Wal-Mart (lace) and PaperStudio. Buttons and green cardstock are Stampin' up. Pattern Paper is Heidi Grace.

Have a beautiful day! God Bless!

Happy Creating!

Box Of Treasure

2009-11-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

Morning everyone! Have you seen the cute little boxes made with the top note die cut? There is a great tutorial here. When I saw this I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. A few weeks ago I found out a friend was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. She is going through her first stages of chemo and will be in the hospital for sometime.

I wanted to make her something that would remind her that God is always with her. So I filled this box with Bible verses that will hopefully comfort her during this time.

Products: Stamps are Stampin up (tree), Verve (all verses but the cover..not sure about that one). Cardstock is Papertrey except the green that is Stampin' up. Pattern paper is Stampin' Up as well as the pink ribbon. Buttons are Papertrey.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a blessed day!

Happy Creating!

Stir Sip Enjoy

2009-11-15T22:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday everyone! Just wanted to share a few cards I made with a card kit Angela (aka Monkeymama) created for a swap I hosted this summer. I think the image is fantastic!

I'm still plugging away on my 75+ Christmas cards. I did a one sheet wonder this weekend and will share those another day. Today I hope to finish up my Jesse tree ornament. First I have to take the van in for an inspection and run some other errands...oh joy!

Hope you all have a beautiful day! God Bless!

Happy Creating!

Christmas Cards!

2009-11-13T00:59:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas cards! I love making them...sending them....getting them! Whenever I read tips on how to cut back on holiday stress they always seem to throw out the Christmas cards...or at least cut back on them to a few good friends and family. For me it is one thing I don't want to give up...I take great joy in it. This year I have over 75 people on my card list. My hope is to make them all but I won't stress if I have to run out and by a box...LOL.

Here are a few Christmas cards I made a few weeks ago...

Products used: Papertrey cardstock, ink and ribbon. Taylored Expressions stamp set. Graphic 45 paper...love their stuff...yum! Oh and stickles.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! God Bless!

Happy Creating!

Christmas Cookies

2009-11-10T00:27:00.000-08:00

Coloring has become a new found pleasure....I was warned about this by a few fellow card makers. While it has not become a love I did find it soothing. Last week while Abbey and I were sick we spent sometime coloring together. Today's card is from a digi image I bought for a card kit swap hosted by Angela Monkeymama on SCS. She is the queen of card kits in my opinion so if you ever get a chance join one of her swaps!

Oh and I also threw together this gift tag...

Sorry but I do not remember where I purchased this cute little image. If I come across the information I will be sure to share. Other products include: copics, paper studio and papertrey.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a blessed day!

Happy Creating!

The Greatest Gift

2009-11-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

Giving Christmas Away Part 2

There's not much I can do to repay all You've done
So I give my hands to use

This is my desire, this is my return
This is my desire, to be used by You
Oo yea
This is my desire, this is my desire
To be used by You
-Lyrics from Jeremy Camp's song My Desire

This year I'm giving my Christmas away (you can view the song that inspired it all here). Why am I giving it away you might ask? It's simply because I have already been given the greatest gift. To me Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, my Lord and Saviour. When he died on the cross it was for me...He took the punishment for my sins...He gave me life! When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour I became part of the body of Christ ( 1 Corinthians 12). My hope is that this Christmas season and throughout everyday I can be his hands and feet...that with each kind word, gesture or gift the world will see Him in me. So, this Christmas the money my husband and I would spend on gifts for each other will be given to someone in need....in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will also be creating simple gifts for family and friends. The money saved will be donated as well. I look forward to sharing more Christmas giving and crafty goodness with you all. Until then here are a few blogs I have found great inspriation at...

Study In Brown

(In)Courage

Have a beautiful day! God Bless!

Happy Creating!

Outside my comfort zone!

2009-11-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

I made this card for my secret sister. She loves the Greeting Farm Anya's and Gorguss girls from Sugar Nellie. I wanted to make her a card that reflected her style. Unfortunately that is beyond my comfort zone...LOL. One, I don't care for coloring images. To be honest I think most of the kid character stamps out there are kind of freaky looking. I did come across this digital image by CC designs that reminded me of my mom's Precious Moments....I think she's pretty cute. I even found some enjoyment in coloring her.

Products used: Sentiment,Paper, cardstock, ribbon, button and ink from Papertrey. Image from CC designs. Embossing folder cuttlebug. Die cuts are spellbinders.

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Happy Creating!

I'll Eat You Up I Love You So!

2009-11-02T21:58:00.000-08:00

I bought these footed Max jammies for the kiddos because I STILL CAN....because they are still young enough to enjoy them...because someday soon it will be entirely uncool to match your sister or run around in a "boys" costume...so until that day comes I will still do things like this because I STILL CAN!

Let the wild rumpus start!

Have a blessed and beautifulday! Happy Creating!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

Abraham has been up since 5:30 am because today is trick or treat day...ugh!! Anyway, I just wanted to share a few pumpkin carving moments...

Abbey absolutely loved the pumpkin guts...oh what fun she had!

This was Abraham's response to the pumpkin goo...LOL...He's such a boy!

Here they are with there personally designed Jack-O-Lanterns!

We hope that you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

Happy Creating and God Bless!

Autumn Hearts

2009-10-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

Hello, this will be another "quick" post. I've had a lot of crafty energy lately but no time to do anything. So, todays project is one I made last week. I finally tried covering the 1/2 size Jr. legal pads my friend Chris sent me ages ago! It was so much fun and many more will be made for quick gift giving. Love 'em!

Hope your day is filled with unexpected surprises!

God Bless and Happy Creating!

Larry & Bob

2009-10-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post today. I wanted to share the cookies I made last week for church. The kids latest Veggie Tale movie came with a Larry and Bob cookie cutter....so we had to give it a try! I love to bake but I do not care for roll out cookies and the frosting part is something I usually leave up to the kids. This time I found some joy in making the first 1/2 dozen.

I have now decided that my mom was a bit crazy to hand paint frosting on Raggedy Ann & Andy cookies (a fund raiser for church) with 3 (not always so well behaved) kids running around. I wish I had pictures of these beauties because from what I remember they were quite detailed. I just slopped some frosting and put faces on these guys. Anyway, my quick post is turning into a ramble...so here they are...Larry the cucumber and Bob the tomato. Wanna bite?

Have a delicious day! Happy Creating!

Give This Christmas Away

2009-10-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

I promise I haven't fallen off my rocker. I know October is kinda early for the Christmas banner...but I have good reason for the early switch. After hearing the song Give This Christmas Away (by Matthew West and Amy Grant) I decided that is just what I'm going to do....give my Christmas away. Over the next few months each week I'm going to share with you all ways myself, my family and others are doing this.

If this is something you have done in the past or already plan to do I'd love to hear thoughts and ideas. Please take a few moments and watch this heart warming video. I will keep this posted at the top of my blog for the next week or so.

Many blessings to you all! Happy Creating!