Longing for you!!!

A quick card I made with an image Sabrina sent to me from Japan. Thanks Sabrina!! This one will be a cute one for my hubby!I used CTMH markers in shades of yellow to color in the giraffe and cranberry for the hearts. Also used our double sided textured cardstock.

RAK!!!!

Ok, so I'm taking a quick break from packing to post this very sweet RAK. OMG, when my hunny came in tonight he had the mail and to my very big surprise was a package from Aimee. She sent me this pretty card and instructions and materials to make this purse album. I was just astounded by her kindness. In the craziness of my day, trying to prepare for our trip to Florida this random act of kindness made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Aimee, you are such a sweetie!! Those papers are gorgeous and the colors are scrumptious. Be sure to check out Aimee's blog!!!!

I've been tagged!!!!!!!!!!

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. Ten Years Ago
10 years ago I met my husband and I was singing with my band in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace.

2. 5 Things in todays 'To Do List'

1. Read my thru the word
2. finish laundry for our trip
3. get my nails done, go to post office
4. Get food for our last dinner before we leave
5. Pack and clean up the house

3. Snacks I enjoy.
1. Kashi
2. better n butter from Trader Joes with a banana
3. fruit

4. Things I would do If I was a Millionaire
I would do whatever the Lord instructed me to do at the time and pray that I could be a blessing to someone in need.

5. Places I have Lived
1. New Jersey, where I grew up
2. My college years I lived in New Brunswick
3. At 22 I moved to Las Vegas where I have been for the past 13 years

I am now going to pass this fab tag on to some of my blogging pals - hope you haven't already had it!

Cindy
Adrienne
Leslie
Caroline
Sonja
Vicki

Celebrate The Battle

Good morning friends!!! If you are in need of a good devotion and happen to be going through some trials, check out Girlfriends in God on my side bar. I know so often when the going gets tough it's hard to look up, it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's hard to understand what God is doing. Often times we can become downcast and discouraged, we even fail to praise God.

However it is in the midst of these difficult times that God is usually trying to do something amazing. It's then when we must walk by faith and not by sight. We must take our eyes off our circumstances and fix our eyes on God. We must remember that He is the God of all creation, His ways are higher than our ways, He knows the beginning from the end, so does He not know how to handle our circumstance???? Of course He does and much better than we know how to. He wants us to completely trust Him and surrender our will to His so that He can bless us. So while you're going through your trial, remember to praise Him and thank Him for what He is doing in your life even if you don't understand.

Here's an excerpt from the devotion

Praise is not a feeling but a choice, a step of obedience taken without the assurance of a changed circumstance or the elimination of a trial. Praise focuses on God, not the circumstance, and fixes its gaze upon God's truth and God's character instead of the trial at hand or just ahead. That is why we can celebrate the battle before it begins. The outcome is neither our responsibility nor our goal. Praise begins and ends with faith in the very nature, personality and integrity of God...and that never changes.

More from the Girlfriends

Our praises are a gift to God. What an amazing thought! God listens for and longs to hear the praises of His children. Busy schedules, crowded lives and chaotic hearts can keep us from sifting through circumstances to find the seed of victory...to praise Him. What has God done for you, friend? Take the time today to stop and praise Him. He will be pleased and you will be blessed.

Card for a friend!!!

Here's a little cupcake card that I made for a sweet friend! Again I used my stickles for the icing and some ribbon that Sabrina sent me from Japan, which I lOVE!!!! I also used my new 8x8 glitter pads from DCWV, love that blingy paper,although it doesn't seem to be showing up very well in the photo.

Have a great day everyone!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll try to post some more later!!!

Thanks Tina!!!

Here's the award that Tina gave me . Check out Tina's blog!! Thanks Tina, so very kind of you!!!
I thought I would post some pics of where I get scrappy! This is my little pink and brown make shift craft room. It's a retreat off of our master bedroom and overlooks the downstairs of my house as well as the upstairs loft and hallway to their rooms. This works out as I'm able to see and hear the kids while I'm in there. It's slowly closing in on me. I need to add cabinets to the other side still, that should help with storage.




So here it is my scrappy haven!!! I painted some peg board pink and covered the whole wall with it to house my tools and embellishments. I love having things out and in front of me. I used my cricut to cut out the names of my stations, Tools/Embellishments. I still need to hang my storage shelves on the left wall for extra storage and display.


Cubes are from Target. They hold my CTMH cardstock and the files have patterned paper all organized by color.
The right side of the desk top is where I hang my embellishments and my cricut. I have a rolling cart that I altered and that has all my immediate tools - adhesives, stamping/chalk supplies, distressing tools, embossing stuff and stickles
This is the other side of the room. I got the canvas baskets from Walmart and have them labeled. One bookshelf has all of my books (bible study, inspirational etc) The other bookshelf houses my sizzix and cuttlebug tools. The baskets on the top shelf hold fabric and flowers, the bottom shelf holds my punches and some albums and kits.
Here's the french doors that open up to my room. I have a small craft table that I love. My mom bought it for me years ago so it is very special to me.

This other table I got from Sam's Club and I use it for my sizzix station as well as for my daughter when she wants to create too. The book shelf to the right holds inspiration books, and the canvas baskets are from Lowes. They fold flat and were only 4.99 each. They hold embellishments of all sorts.
Here's the inside of my cabinets which I got from Lowes, I think. The first one holds all my old woodies. Got the plastic cases at Joannes for half price.The next cabinet holds some more wood stamps as well as my foam stampls which are in the plastic containers and my Xyron machines and adhesives. The top container holds some ribbon spools.
This cabinet holds some embellishment boxes and some misc. supplies. I need to put this cabinet to better use. The last cabinet holds my CTMH acrylic stamps.I also have extra markers adhesive and envelopes in this cabinet. Below is the bench seat my husband built from scratch for me. It was a gift for Valentines Day a few years ago!!! He's the bomb!


The cabinets under the bench seat hold my albums and photos/memorabilia. These jars line the entire length of my counter top. We eat a lot of Better n butter peanut butter from Trader Joe's and the jars are just perfect for holding flowers and ribbon. I used my coluzzle to cut circles of PP to cover the tops. I used CTMH More to Adore as the inspiration for my room.
This was a pink shelf unit for a baby's room I got from Target 7 years ago. I never took it out of the box. It was meant for my daughter's room but instead it wound up in here!

I use it to hang these little $1 baskets from Target to hold flowers and accessories. The shelf holds my cricut cartridges and my beloved Primas.

Well that's it. I am still working on getting more cabinets put up an my window treatment but for now it works and it makes me happy. Hope that inspires somebody!!!

Happy scrappin,
Melanie

My First Bella Card!!!

I finally got a chance to play with my Bella images that Jenn sent me. Oh what fun!
I used a lot of stickles for the cupcake, prima flowers, CTMH autumn craft buttons, Teen Girl PP (retired CTMH), sunny yellow marker for her hair, bubblegum marker for her dress and shoes, peach whip re-inker with blending pen, chalk with the blending pen for her skin, corner punch to make the round scallop circle and the side scallops, simple stitches for the bubblegum polka dots along the sides, shimmery ric rac attached with liquid glass, and some pink rhinestones for the flower centers.
Thanks again Jenn!!! I just love her!!!

A couple of Cards!!!

These are the images I am sending out for my SBS 16 image swap. Thought I would show a couple of samples using the images. Used Spot on Backgrounds stamp set to make the pink polka dot paper and my cuttlebug EF for the yellow and black paper.

Simple Beauty and Creative Basics Paper and ric rac. The little bird house is Studio G.

RAK!!!!

Here's the card Jenn made and sent to me with all of these images. She stamped 4 of each Bella!!!
Ok, so I was so wanting some of these Bellas and lo and behold what came in the mail but these incredible images from Jenn!!!! Check out her blog!!! She's super cool!! I was so touched by her kindness and like a kid at a candy store all at the same time. Check out the beautiful card she sent along with it, OMG!!! I really will need some practice but I hope to have some cards to show with these adorable Bellas soon. Thank you so much Jenn, your a sweetie!!!

Happy Memorial Day!!!! From our Family to Yours!!!

We just wanted to take a minute on this special day of remembrance to let all of you who serve or have defended our country know how much we honor, admire, and appreciate the sacrifice of your service to this great country, that allowed myself and my children to live our lives in a truly free society. Freedom doesn't come free, it comes from brave men and women like you, who are willing to give their lives for a cause that is greater than any one of us. Also, it came from the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross over 2,000 years ago. We are the only country in the history of the world to declare our allegiance to God and his finished work of redemption through Christ, and because of this he has made us the greatest, strongest, most prosperous nation to ever exist on earth. Once again, thank you for your service and sacrifice, may God richly bless you, and may God bless America!

Kreative Blogger!!!

Well to my surprise when I got home I saw that I was awarded the Kreative blogger award. My SBS 16 sister Stacy passed this on to me, so please go check out her blog. She's got some great stuff on there!!! I so appreciate all the inspiration that I get from all of you out there. You are all so talented. Thanks again and now I will pass the award on to a few other creative gals.

Vicki, Sonja, Adrienne,
Jenn

CCGV May Crop!!!

Well, I'm back from the crop and I am alive!!!!! I wish I had a bunch of creative projects to show but I was not able to get anything completed. I was pretty busy manning the store, doing classes and answering questions. Once again it was a blessed time and I hope all the girls enjoyed themselves. However, my scor-pal came in the mail the night before the crop so I took some time on Sat to get acquainted with it and I think I will be addicted to that thing. Oh my, I'm glad I gave in and got it. There are so many awesome projects you can complete with that thing! I started a few things that I am going to try to finish up tonight and tomorrow, then I will post. For now I'll leave you with some pictures from our crop.


Julie, Me and Becca
Me and my pal Cindy, thanks for helping to haul all the stuff to the crop!!!!
Me and Natalie our MC for the weekend!!! Great job!!!
The creative corner store tables
Displaying some swap items for inspiration
I can't do anything without my partner in crime. How does this name tag go on!!!!!!

Showing how to color images using markers and watercolor pencils
Aren't these acrylic stamps the bomb!!!! Here's a cute set "Flower Child"
Showing the girls different distressing techniques
Check out our foam tools they're awesome for distressing and making circles!!!
We used the lockers in the youth room to display some layouts.
Here's my duster from the Dollar Tree, put a little ribbon on it and dust in style!
Here's the card for the card class. It was made by Julie using CTMH Card Confidence program 3, Creative Basics paper kit, and Friendship Word Puzzle stampset

We kicked off our raffles with a little Deal or no Deal. Our contestant won the Cherish book!!!!

Itinerary:

Fri we started at 4:00, then at 7:00 we had a card class, at 8:00 Technique Time and at 10:00 Deal or no Deal. Lights out at 12:00!

Sat at 10:00 we had a layout class, at 1:30 Faithbooking 101, at 4:00 Faithbooking 102

We had a crop swap table where you could trade your trash for treasure, a snack table 24/7 and breakfast, lunch and dinner on Sat all for $20.00 per person. Did I mention that the card and 2 page layout were free. God is good!!!! We raffled off 20 products from Close to my Heart and had a goody bad at every table on Fri. Calvary Chapel knows how to bless!!!!! The next crop will be in July and will accommodate more ladies so if you think you want to come, let me know!!!!!!

How Sweet!!!!

Ok, I am so needing to be packing my stuff for the crop but wanted to check my blog really quick and to my surprise I was left a special treat!!! Caroline one of my SBS 16 sisters awarded me the Kreative Blogger Award. Well, there's a first for everything, right.

You must check out Caroline's blog. She has been coloring in images and they are unbelievable, they look like they came right out of a magazine. Check out the technique that she used and give it a try. I know that it inspired me to give it a go.

Thanks Caroline, you're a sweetie and I'll try to live up to the award and post some more "Kreative projects".

Happy stampin!!!!!!!
Happy scrappin!!!!!!

Melanie

Crop at Calvary Chapel!!!

Well hello everyone!!! Our quarterly crop is finally upon us and I am so excited. Due to the crop I will not be posting anything new until after the weekend, I should have lots to post by then. I pray that you all have a blessed weekend.

Check out some of my friends websites on my sidebar to the left, Becca sells Longaberger which is absolutely beautiful and of the highest quality and Adrienne has a diaper cake business, totally cute gifts for every occasion. And don't forget Leslie's bowtique - 25% off your entire order this weekend!!!

Blessings,
Melanie

SALE!!!

Hello everyone,

Check out my girlfriend Leslie's bowtique. She makes the cutest hair accessories for kids and everything in your cart will be 25% off in honor of Memorial Day. You can access her site anytime from my side bar, bowsandberry

Have a great day!!

Melanie

White daisy ink

I had some requests for step by step instructions on how to use CTMH stamps. So for those of you who are new to stamping, what you see is an acrylic peel and self stick stamp on an acrylic block. You can see through these stamps so it's pretty fool proof. You simply peel the stamp off the contact sheet place it on the block, ink it up and stamp away. I love acrylics because they are so space efficient and easy to store! If your stamp seems like it's not sticky, simply rinse it in warm water with liquid soap and it will become good as new.If you would like more info check out my website

Place your acrylic stamp on your acrylic block and ink up your stamp well
Pounce on your pad a few times until it is covered well with ink
With steady firm pressure stamp your image onto your cardstock (CS), don't rock your stamp or it will smudge!
Here's what you'll get. The white daisy ink is very wet so don't touch your stamped image
Take a sponge dauber, that's what's on my finger, and rub it in your chalk, oops I dropped them! Don't do that, lol.
With an up and down motion, dab your dauber onto the white ink until it is covered with your choice of chalk color
Use fan brush or mini duster to brush off any excess chalk, I got this one at the Dollar Tree and added some ribbon to it. I use it whenever I use sandpaper too, it brushes off my surface well.
And here's the finished project. Now use it to create a card. Sorry, didn't have time to do that yet.

Here are some other samples using the chalkboard technique. I used the dot in GROOVY to make the polka dot background, how fun!! See how our stamp sets are packaged???? In a hard plastic envelope that snaps shut. Each set comes with a foam sheet inside. This is for you to place under your paper so that you get a good stamped image, it really does make a difference on detail stamps.

This is It's a Party stamp set, I love this one too!!!! Very fun set.

I hope this helps!!!! Happy stamping and stay tuned for my next tutorial. I'm working on getting my video tutorials set up!!!! Stamping 101 is on it's way....