Hello!!

For those who have been stopping by I just wanted to say a quick hello. We just had our crop at the church this weekend and I am just settling in at home. I will be posting some pics hopefully tomorrow of our crop. It was a blessing as usual and the Lord was good. I wanted to give a shout out to those of you gals who brought your prized scrapping tools and machines to share will all of the ladies. I pray that you were abundantly blessed and that you feel the warmth of Jesus' smile upon you as you served to bless the body of Christ!

Till tomorrow! God bless and good night!!!!

Melanie

Hello!!!!!

Hi everyone!!! Well we made it home. It's a pretty interesting story but I don't have time to go into it now. My step daughter just flew in yesterday and we have a jam packed week ahead of us. My computer is broken but fortunately I have my laptop. I will post pics and lots of stories soon. I have missed seeing everyone's blog and how everyone is doing. Can't wait to catch up. Hope you are all well.

God bless,
& Smiles,

Melanie

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!!!

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!!!

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone, I have many things to post but I was super sick, Lexi and I came down with a wicked fever and virus Sun in the middle of the night. It's Tues now and I am feeling human

My expo went well and my girlfriend LeighAnn was an awesome blessing. It was very fast paced. We had 8 ladies at a time and we had 15 min to complete the project before the next rotation. I learned that I definitely need to have multiple supplies but other than that everyone seemed to be very pleased. I will post the sample along with instructions shortly.

I also was able to finish a couple more boom di ada cards that I will post as well.

It was good to hear from all of you and I am eager to get my posts up for you.

God bless you!!!!

Family Time!!!!!

Hi to all. I won't be posting this weekend because I will be enjoying some family time in California. I pray you all have a blessed weekend!!!!!!!!

Smiles,
Melanie