Black & White

Today, I decided to “case” a Stampin’ Sister in Christ’s designer’s card. It’s my own version, with my stamps and punches. I’ve heard several arguments about “casing” other’s designs = is it stealing? Or is it adaptive creativity, taking others' ideas and developing new ways to combine and use them? In light of Stampin’ Sisters in Christ challenge devotional for this week, what are your thoughts? What say you Chris Olsen?

Moving Cards

I have had a busy two weeks – Family Reunion, Shoebox Party, caught a summer bug (I have asthma, so everything heads south), then a yucky central Missourian tick found my leg a tasty snack (yes, summer bug & tick bite required an antibiotic) and our son will be a groomsman in his best bud’s wedding this afternoon. I’m entering two cards to the Stampin’ Sisters in Christ challenge that I’ve made previously, sorry, ladies, my head’s not been up to par to design a moving card this week, so I’m entering two I’ve made previously. One, a waterfall card, is located at Splitcoast Stampers – one to remember during these HOT summer days and the other one is a rolling bee card. The background is strips of black electrical tape to make “bee” stripes. Appropo, don’t cha think? *smile* Have a great week, you all! And yes, I’m feeling some better myself! Now if the swelling and itch from the tick bite will go down, I’ll be all set!

Shoebox Party_2011

Have you ever had a deadline to make a card and just was not in the groove to come up with an idea? That happened to me this week. I was invited to a shoebox party plus I wanted to join the Stampin’ Sisters in Christ challenge. I don’t know how you girls do it when you make one card for a handful of different challenges. 

Well, I guess what works for me is to be frugal and recycle items leftover from other things, like this bulletin board border. I purchased it sometime ago from Dollar Tree, used it on a poster for Sunday School that never got put up and since I just can’t bear to throw good paper out, hence this card. At Bargain Factory liquidation store, back in the flea market section, I found two old Stampin’ Up sets of stamps – Petite Patterns (background set) and Borders Mini for $3.00 each. I came home and discovered one of my Cuddlebug dies worked perfectly with the Borders stamps and I also had several Hero Arts sentiments that were just the right size to fit inside of the borders. Woo hoo! I love it when it all comes together like that!

Oh, and by the way, I ended up making three more cards for the party Thursday. The picture below shows all the cards that we made and the four in front are the ones I made for it. Saints Rule! Thank you for the inspiration for the cherry card. I didn’t have any dotted paper like your lovely card, so came up with my own version of dots. Most of the gals do not own a Cuddlebug, so the swiss dot embossing folder worked wonderfully for that! The blue striped card was inspired by a bathroom towel design and the die-cut posies are Cuttlekids (the first die-cut machine I bought—on clearance at Walmart) I used white acrylic paint with a dauber tip on a rubber stamp to make the stripes.

(Tip: to remove dried on acrylic paint from a rubber stamp, soak rubber part on a wet soapy paper towel for several minutes, then scrub with a toothbrush. Peeled right off!)

Shoebox Party 2010

Building Blocks

“Train a child in the way he should go…” Proverbs 22:6
“You, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house. . .”
1 Peter 2:5

Ever watch a mason build a brick or stone wall? He starts with a strong foundation, usually of concrete, which is poured into a molded form inside of the ground. He lets it cure or get hard and then slaps on the mortar, the glue that holds the bricks together. After that, he places the bricks into place one at a time, building them up until they become a wall of a house.

I’m a mom, teach a preschool Sunday School class and believe this age is the prime time to build those disciplines (habits) children will need all their lives, such as kindness, taking turns, patience, looking out for brother, knowing how to read and write, Bible verse memorization, etc. As a teacher, it’s my job to help model those values, too, and to tell the children when they’ve done well. I make ATC’s (artist trading cards) as rewards for attendance and send cards periodically to let the children know they are thought of and loved. I’m helping the parents build a strong foundation under their children for their future, for eternity.

Prayer: Lord, remind me that it’s too important to let those building blocks slide. Remind me that children need to know they are cared for and loved. Help me be a good model, kind, but firm when needed. In Jesus name, Amen!

Today’s Quote:

“People long to belong. To be remembered strengthens one's sense of identity and purpose. . .To be seen, known, appreciated between sessions, send postcards, call, e-mail participants. Soon they may begin to be significantly attentive to one another as well." ~ Norma Cook Everist.

Thank You

Isn’t it amazing how God provides? I was going to design a thank you card for my kind niece as she sent me this lovely floral French Mini Border stamp (Delta/Rubber Stampede, #3293F) out of the blue and Stampin’ Sisters In Christ’s challenge this week was to design a red, white, & blue thank you card. The only other stamp I used was the sentiment = “Blessings hemmed with thankfulness will not unravel. I’m so thankful for you.” By Stampendous (#L226).
Did you know that you can run a brass embossing plate through your Cuddlebug just like you do a Spellbinders diecut? I had this small rose plate which I stenciled the color on the rose, embossed it, masked it, stippled color around it, and added stitch lines to frame it. Below the border stamp, the bottom is also embossed with a narrow Cuddlebug embossing folder, then I pierced it, ran another stitch line across it and trimmed the extra paper from below to make it look like lace.
Recently I found a complete Mini Bowdabra bowmaker craft tool at a thrift store and had to try it out. The bow’s not perfect, but looks tons better than my version would have looked. I hope my niece likes her card. I do!