November Stamp Class

I have been getting ready for a craft show this week, so my time is limited today. Thought I would make a quick little post.

Here is what I have been working on... It is the next stamp class, for November. I wanted to incorporate the next month's promotion somehow, so I included the rub-ons for this class. Don't you just love them? I think I have fallen in love all over again with the rub-ons. And I really love the cute little felt flurries. (I'd like to try felt on my new Big Shot...yes!!! It finally came!)




Wish me luck this weekend...

TTFN,
Debi

A Really Freaky Thing

As I mentioned in my previous post, we headed out of town for our "extended weekend off". It was nice to get away, but a really freaky thing happened...

We checked into our hotel, and after a few hours of the kids playing, and M & D vegging, our 5-year-old son came up to Daddy and said, "Hey, Dad! Look what I just found." IT WAS A SYRINGE!! He had pulled the cap off and bent the needle somehow. Of course we were frantically asking him all kinds of questions, and in the process of retreiving it, my husband got poked. It was the weirdest thing, too, because, he was actually trying to put the cap back on, but because the needle was bent, it went through the plastic cap and into his finger. Talk about panic!!!

Well, over the next few minutes, our hearts were just filled with all kinds of thoughts. You can just about imagine, as the wife and mother in the situation, I began to worry. After about 30 minutes of worrying, though, this peace came over me and I was reminded of Matthew 6:25-33...

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look
at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet
your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than
they? (emphasis mine) Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed
like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is
here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe
you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or
'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first
his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I have decided that worrying about this is NOT helping this situation. I cannot change what has happened, so we need to just go forward and see where this lands us. The needle may have been clean, it may not. So, we have decided that we MUST trust Jesus on this one. He will take care of us, and we thank Him for the peace He has given us.

I'm also reminded of a really cool song by Natalie Grant called "Held" (it's new on my playlist). God does not promise us in Scripture that everything in our lives will be fine and dandy. But what He does promise us is that He is Holy and Righteous, Merciful and Just, and that He has and will go to every length possible to show us that He loves us more than anything. He promises that He will carry us through the hard times, for it is in those hard times that we grow and become stronger and more dependant on Him. It's always because of Him!! And we're really OK with that, because ultimately, He is in control.

TTFN,
Debi

The "Re-Naming" of my Blog

Ok, I have been so excited to have this new blog, and have been sharing my site with just a ton of family and friends hoping they would come visit. Well, my ding-dong husband and brother-in-law have now renamed it. All they "claim" that they can see whenever they visit is "is Crap 'n Stamp". Leave it to them to see that. That just shows their mentality. Too bad they're family, or I could definately consider disowning them. LOL! DOOM ON YOU CRAIG AND MIKE!!!

Well, we did NOT get the snow or wind that was forecasted, only 1". Thank goodness. We still have A LOT of corn to pick, and snow is not good for that. The ground is still pretty warm, so it all melted off by the afternoon, but it is still SO wet. Here are a couple of pictures of our back yard. School wasn't cancelled, but we have a long weekend as it's "Fall Break."

I did get the chance to get into the stamp room and work on some treat baskets for our teachers at school. Our Moms-In-Touch group provides "kind words and deeds" for all the staff at the school in which we pray over. It's a really nice touch, and it lets them know how much we appreciate ALL they do besides just praying for them. I made for 48 staff members plus a few extra just in case I forgot somebody.

The little boxes were cut at a scrapbooking store using their Sizzix machine, and I don't remember the name of the die-cut I used. They stand about 3" tall from top to bottom. Here is the rest of the recipe:

Stamps: Booglie Eyes, Best Yet

CS: Ghost paper (Adorn It by Caroless Creations), Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Scallop punch, 1 3/8" punch, 1 1/4" punch, large oval punch, black hemp, candy

Now, on to our fun extended week-end "off". Hope you all have a great week'end, too.

TTFN,

Debi

Halloween Treat Boxes

Boo-Hoo, Snow is on the way. The forecast says 4"-5" beginning today with 40+ mph winds. I was out in the rain earlier today "harvesting" the last bit of my herbs. In fact, my hands are still cold...it's hard to type. LOL :) The good thing about it, I can enjoy a day home with my kids as I am fully expecting a snow day tomorrow. There's just something about being "snowed-in" that I just love. And it will also give me some time to get into the stamp room. Yippie!

Thinking ahead, I thought I'd begin on some Halloween treat boxes for my daughter's class. Being a room parent, we plan all the class parties, so it gives me the opportunity to share what I love...stamping.

Here is the recipe:

The box was downloaded from the SU! website

Stamps: Arachnophobia, Booglie Eyes, Funny Faces (an oldie but a goodie)

CS: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper White, DSP Halloween Night

Ink: StazON Black, Basic Black (for the wheel), Basic Gray

Accessories: 1 1/4" punch, 1 3/8" punch, wiggly eyes from craft store, kleenex, black grosgrain ribbon

I also took a paper bag from the grocery store and shredded it through our paper shredder and put those clippings in the bottom of the box for filler.

I heard a statistic once somewhere that kids most generally do not prefer chocolate, but LOVE candy. This is so true at our house (yeah for my husband and I, although we really don't need it) so I think I will trade out the Hershey's Nuggets with some REAL candy or gum for them. Hope you like it.

TTFN,

Debi

P.S. I didn't even notice the little background flower from my flower bed on top of the little ghost sucker. Makes him look even that much cuter. :>

Color Challenge #26

Today is another Color Challenge over at KWerner Designs and thought I'd give it another try. The colors for this challenge are rose red, bliss blue, wild wasabi, so saffron, and whisper white. Wow, these were some really challenging colors for me, but here is my attempt...

Here is the recipe:

Cardstock: Rose Red, DSP from "Just Delightful" Simply Scrappin'

Accessories: Bliss Blue grosgrain ribbon, Season of Cheer rub-ons, "ice" rhinestone brads

I will sadly admit, this is about the simplest card I have ever made. I think it took me about two minutes. But I like it. I'm usually all about simple.

TTFN,

Debi

Finally, we're well!!

Whew!! We finally made it through the sickness at our house. Now, if we can just ward it off for the rest of the year we will be off to bigger and better things!! YIPPIE!!

I had the opportunity to go to Lincoln this past weekend and visit my sister and do a card class for her. It was a blast getting together with her and some old (and new) friends. Hi Tammy and Jill!! I am looking forward to another class. ;> The next class is still in the workings as I have not yet "perfected" the design for the class, but I can guarantee they will be Christmas cards. The gals at the class did get a "sneak peek", and I will be (hopefully) posting this class this week. My thought is to provide it as a class to other demonstrators for purchase as well. We'll see how I come along...

Also, I need to give a HUGE shout out to my 14-year-old nephew, Brady. If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you will notice something different...my new playlist. That is ONLY because of Brady's help. He is so "techy" and showed me how to go about adding this. It was fun, too, sitting with him and hearing his ideas. You rock, little brother!! Thanks a ton!!

Well, while we were all healing from our sickness, it actually did provide some time to stamp. I just love the idea of the calendars on page 11 of the catalog, so I tried my best to copy them. I called the company and asked if they used a special template for them, and they said NO. I just came up with the days of the week on my own and created these calendar pages. I'm very pleased with how they turned out, and need to make a few more. I thought they would make great teachers' gifts for Christmas this year. What do you think?

A Mother's Love

Since school began, we have now entered "Round 2" of the flu at our house. YUCK!! My 5-year-old-son woke up in the middle of the night last night with a tummy ache, and you know what came next. The thing that amazes me about myself is how I can clean him (and everything else) up afterwards. I think just about every mom in the world has the ability to do that. What I see is my poor, sick child just helpless lying there. He can't help himself and that just breaks my heart.

I couldn't help but to relate all this to how compassionate our Heavenly Father is toward us. He saw us and our need. Our sin is as disgusting to Him as what I had to clean up last night. But how awesome that He did not just leave us to ourselves in that condition. He provided a way for us. He gave us the opportunity to "get cleaned up" through forgiveness of sins, and by believing that His One and Only Son can provide salvation for us through His death on the Cross. All we need to do is believe and trust Him with all of our lives.

I am so thankful that Jesus died for me. The penalty for my sin is death, and He died in my place. An innocent man, perfect in every way. God in the flesh! I don't know too many people that would do that. Whenever I imagine how much His love for me could ever possibly be, I just think of how much I love my own children. My love doesn't even come close.

If anyone reading this is interested in learning more about how to have a REAL and personal relationship with Jesus, please contact me. It's not about religion. It's about falling in love with a man who loves you so much He died for you. You'll be glad you did...

So, I'm expecting to be getting this bug soon, too, as I haven't been feeling the greatest today. Will...post...when...I'm feeling....better....

Until then, here are a couple scrapbook pages from the heritage album I'm doing for our church. (Ideas came from Becky Higgins' Family Heritage book.)

Color Challenge #24

I have been having the most terrible time trying to go to sleep this week. I think it might be some new allergy medication I have been taking. It makes me so sleepy, yet I am restless and have the jitters. If that isn't an oxymoron!! So, it is now 12:30 am and I am still WIDE awake and tired. (Wendi, I think I caught the sleeplessness from you. LOL :)

I thought it might be good to slip into the stamp room and create until I cannot create any more. I was wandering around blog land and saw that KWERNERDESIGNS had her Color Challenge up and going for this week. That got my creative juices going, and I came up with this:

Stamps: Inspired by Nature

Ink & Markers: Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, & Chocolate Chip

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkim Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Bella Rose DSP, & Very Vanilla

Accessories: Retired Hodgepodge (antique brass), pumpin pie grosgrain, kiwi kiss striped grosgrain, 1-1/4" square punch, doodlebug design inc. (tm) orange sugar coating, stampin' dimentionals, 2-way glue pen, sponge

I sponged around the edges of the vanilla windows, and then I laid each piece on top of the ink pad and gently tapped it and rubbed it. It kind of gives it that "older, rustic" look. I like that. I also had to add some bling, so the "sugar coating" was the best touch I could come up with. It really makes it sparkle!!

TTFN,

Debi

12 % OFF!!

This month marks the 12-year anniversary for me being a demonstrator with Stampin' Up! So, to celebrate, I am having a "12% off everything" all month long. It has been an interesting ride to say the least. Please contact me via email if you are interested in hosting a workshop, signing up for a class, or simply to place an order.