Be Joyful

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the PEACE OF GOD, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

These are verses I memorized years ago and they are written on my heart. There are times when I still need to remember not to be anxious, but I eventually listen to my heart saying these verses. I didn't really understand what the "peace of God" was until I experienced it. It's having peace inside you, even when you're going through heartbreaking situations and trials. It does "surpass ALL understanding" and you know it comes from GOD alone. Praise the Lord for His wonderful promises!


I love, love, love what I do. I am passionate about the things I create and the talents God has placed in me. I SO appreciate the time you take to look at my things and the comments you all leave me!

Blessings to you!

Kathy

Saturday, August 27, 2011

I Won!!!!!

Hi everyone!!!

I'm so excited! My "Letters to Santa" card I did in pinks won the Christmas in July challenge on Elisabeth Bell's World Challenge Blog! Such an honor to be chosen from all the talented ladies that entered! Truly a reason to be joyful! God continues to bless me through the talents He has given me!

Blessings!

Kathy

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Ice Cream...You Scream!!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are having a good week! It's a perfect time for some ice cream...of course it always is with me! It's time for another challenge at Elphine House Australia, this one is called "I Scream - You Scream - We All Scream For Ice Cream". All you need to do is incorporate ice cream on your card using ANY Elisabeth Bell stamp or image.

There are some awesome examples for you on the EHA Blog which you can find here. Doesn't our design team do a fabulous job? Here's my sample for the challenge using Elisabeth's "Puppy Tails & Ice Cream" stamp from Elphine House Australia.



It's such a cute image, but what image isn't that's done by Elisabeth Bell!

I used Michaels $1.00 stamps for the ice cream cone and banner and cut pieced them. The papers are from K & Co. Hopscotch Pack, confetti Cream from Stampin Up, natural white from Neenah for the image, and tan scraps for the cones. I stamped the image with black Versafine ink and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits as usual.

Make sure to check out the EHA Challenge and get your creation in!

Blessings!

Kathy

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Letters To Santa

Hi Everyone!

I have a Christmas card I did using PINKS!!! I've been wanting to make a Christmas card in pinks for quite a while. I bought these papers a couple of years ago to do it, but I'm just getting around to it now. I found this adorable Elisabeth Bell image from her digital collection that I thought would be perfect!



Here's a closeup inside.


Here's another view.





This is only my second time using a digi image and I think I may have made it a little big, but that's ok. For that reason, I turned it into an easel card...my first time doing this (I think).

I'm submitting this to the "Christmas in July" Challenge on Elisabeth Bell's World Challenge Blog. Also to the "Anything Goes" Challenge on Bells and Whistles challenge blog.

For stamps, I used "Letters to Santa" from Elisabeth Bell's Digital Collection, and "A Merry Little Christmas Set" from JustRite Stamps. Papers are Eskimo Kisses (Basic Grey), Solar white (Neenah), pink pirouette, old olive, pear pizzazz (SU).

I colored this with my Prismacolor pencils, but didn't use mineral spirits due the the printer ink running with it. I had to do this with just pencils...wow, lot different process, but it didn't come out too bad.

Lots of other little things on this that I'll list in my Split Coast Stampers Gallery if you need them.

Thanks for looking! Hope you have a great weekend!

Blessings!

Kathy

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Elphine House Challenge

Hi Everyone!

It's time for another challenge at Elphine House Australia! Sorry, this is a little late posting, but you still have plenty of time to join in. The theme this time is "Fun in the Sun". So get out your Elisabeth Bell stamps (any of her images will do) and submit your creation on their blog here. The winner selected will win 2 Elphine House Australia stamps of their choice!!! Make sure to get your entries in by 8/24th their time. They have a clock on their blog so you can see what their time is.

The Design Team came up with some adorable cards for this challenge to give you some ideas, which you can see on the Elphine House Australia Blog. Here's my card for a little sample of "fun in the sun"!



Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful week!

Blessings!

Kathy

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Calypso Pudding

Hi there!

I'm back again with another card from Elphine House Australia using the "Yummy Pudding" stamp by Elisabeth Bell. I just got this calypso coral paper from Stampin Up and was inspired to use these colors together. This has a "warm", fall feeling to it.

Here's the front of the card:


And here's the inside:


I love plaids and these look "kitchen-y" and perfect for the image.

Stamps: Yummy Pudding (Elphine House Australia), Vintage Labels (SU).
Paper: classic natual white (Neenah), calypso coral (SU), truffle (Bazzills), and garden party matstack (DCWV).
Ink: black (Versafine), soft suede (SU).
Accessories: rick rack (My Mind's Eye), ribbon, buttons, floss, weaving fiber stash, paper flowers, felt flower (SU), dimensional stickers (Studio 18), piercer, large oval punch (SU), frond punch (Martha Stewart), paper glaze, Prismacolor pencils, and mineral spirits.

This is such an adorable image. It's perfect for giving a gift from the kitchen. If you haven't already, check out the stamps at Elphine House Australia all done by the talented Elisabeth Bell. You can also visit Elisabeth Bell on her Facebook page here and leave her some love.

I'm leaving tomorrow to go to New England for a week so you may not see me post for a while. Nice having a vacation, but I really hate to leave my craftroom behind! I may need to bring some crocheting to keep my creative side happy!

Thanks for looking and allowing me to share with you!

Blessings!

Kathy

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Tea Party Notepad

Hi everyone!

I'm back again! This time it's not with a card, but with a gift! I decorated a junior notepad as a present for a dear friend of mine. I'll be staying with her this weekend for a few days with my 2 boys. She lives in beautiful Henniker NH which is where I use to live. It'll be a fun visit, especially where they have horses, dogs, chickens, pigeons...my boys will have a blast!

I made lots of the junior notepads that are cut in half and sold them last year at craft shows, but last year I also did one for the full pad just making some adjustments on the measurements. I've been using that pad all this time, but just never got around to making another one. I thought this would make a nice present for her. I'm hoping to make a matching card to go with this before I leave.

Here's the outside of the notepad. I love those yellow pearls on it.


Here's how I decorated the inside, a beautiful verse for her to see.


The inside can't have anything too thick in it, but there's still plenty of ways to decorate it.

I'm submitting this to the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on SCS. This time it's for 4 different challenges!

For stamps: Scripture Collection #1 (Our Daily Bread Designs).
For papers: tea party DSP, certainly celery (SU).
For Ink: black (Versafine).
Accessories: labels eight #4 (Spellb), fiskers rub-ons by Kimberly Poloson, ribbon (SU), adhesive pearls, charm/jump ring/chain, paper flowers, branch w/leaves die (Sizzix), corner rounder, boho blossom punches (SU), frond punch (MS), rick rack.

That's it for now! Thanks for looking!

Blessings!

Kathy

Countryside Birthday

Hi there!

I'm back with another card for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges. This one actually has 8 different challenges included on it! Wow, I guess I just got lucky!

This is a fairly new stamp I got from SU and the first time I've actually used it. Makes a nice masculine card. I masked the trees behind the truck, but I'm not happy with how it came out. This is the first time I used my Prismacolor pencils on kraft paper. Very different than doing on white or cream paper. I blended more with the pencils themselves and didn't use any mineral spirits. It was fun to try something new for a change! I tried doing this with a snowman, but I'll need to practice with it a lot more. Not too bad for a first try thought!


Stamps: Countryside, Plant Hope, Sincere Salutations (SU).
Inks: black (VF), soft suede (SU), desert sand (Momento).
Paper: kraft (PTI), red rock (Bazzills).
Accessories: ribbon (PTI), buttons, floss, markers - chocolate chip, always artichoke, soft suede (SU), prismacolor pencils, craft knife, piercer, needle, aleene's paper glaze, stylus, punches - large oval, scalloped oval (SU).

That's it for now, but I still have a couple of more things to post! Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog!

Blessings!

Kathy

Pink Rose

Hi everybody!

I've made a couple of things this week for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenge on Split Coast Stampers. This is my first time doing this and I'm having lots of fun! The challenges can only be accessed by Fan Club members, which I finally am. I have to keep the details about the challenges a secret, but I can give all the others details for it.

I made this card with my OLD rose foam stamp...I think the first set I ever got years ago. I just love this image! I love pink roses too! This is the same stamp I used to make the blue rose card March last year in my Mom's memory. She actually loved pink roses, so I've been wanting to do this in pink for a long time.


I love the way this one came out. I love pink and green together, especially these bright, clear shades.

I'm submitting this to SCS Challenge DTGD11kharmagirl. For papers I used watercolor bouquet (K&co), Chablis (bazzills), and old olive (SU). For ink I used black (versafine). I colored it with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. For accessories, I used labels four die (Spellbinders), felt bird (puffies), ribbon, twine, adhesive pearls, charm, chain, and jump ring.

Thanks for looking! I have more things to post, so keep an eye out!

Blessings!

Kathy