A very merry Christmas is what the sentiment says on this holiday card. I hope all of my cyber friends out there have a blessed Christmas that is filled with love and laughter spent with those near and dear to them. My Christmas prayer is for those who are spending their first Christmas without a loved one and have suffered a loss this year. May sweet memories of Christmas past fill you with comfort and may each day get easier for you to bear as you go into the new year.

I think pretty papers are just one great part of Christmas. Here's one from Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding Collection. I used it as the background paper for this sketch challenge card on Splitcoaststampers. A Flower for all Seasons is one of my favorite stamps in the current Stampin' Up catalog. Don't forget the new catalogs will be coming out soon. You can check out the dates and events happening at Stampin' Up here. There is a free shipping deal going on until December 23. Just think, you can order one more stamp for the money you will save!!!

Since this year I've started my card selling business, I have most of the Christmas cards I've made for sale at Hermman's General Store in beautiful downtown Brenham, Texas. So, I am making a Christmas card daily as Christmas cards are being delivered to my house. I am using challenges at various places to inspire and motivate me to make yet one more Christmas card. Today's card I used the Color Throwdown Challenge that can be found here. Let some of these wonderful sites give you the motivating force you might need to get started on some of those last minute projects.

This is for the Ways to use Challenge on Splitcoaststampers today. I folded an envelope in half, used the front of the envelope to stamp, the back of the envelope is the inside of the card. Cut the flap on the fold and stick down the left side. Use the other side to slip in a gift card. I punched a doulble slot on the side to run the ribbon through so it would hold shut. Use this idea to make a special way to present your gift to its receipient. Hope I spelled that correctly!! Hope you are enjoying December and taking time to make some of those great handmade gifts and card that are one of a kind, because they are made from the heart by your own wonderful hands!!

Over on PaperCraftPlanet they are having an awesome 12 days of Christmas challenge. They are giving away prizes from many of the companies who are part of that website. Check it out. I haven't won anything yet, but it sure serves as a great motivational tool for me. This is one I did for the second day when you could put birds or reptiles on the card. Of course, my reptile of choice would be a lizard! I recently won $10 worth of free stamps from Rubbernecker on Joan Ervin's blog and this is one of the ones I received. This is a most unique Christmas card, don't you think???

I know this is an unusual Christmas card, but you know how out of the box I can be!! I stamped this in vanilla ink with the Scandinavian wheel from Stampin' Up! I cuttlebugged the taken with teal background. That riding hood red is becoming a standard for me.

Guess I'd load a bunch of cards I've done for some of the challenges over on PaperCraftPlanet.com. This was for one of the color challenges last week. Really rust, cameo coral, vanilla, and chocolate chip. I found this stamp at Hobby Lobby during the 50% off sale.

It must be time for bed. I pushed something and lost this a minute ago, so had to start over. I did this with a stamp set by Flourishes LLC. It is my prayer for this holiday season that all of us realize the things that are truly the blessings in our lives and spend time with those we love and hold dear.

I loaded this onto the Paper Craft Planet wesite for the cuttlebug challenge for this week. The stamp is from Flourishes LLC and the pretty pink ink and paper is from Stampin' Up. The design paper is Baisc Grey from the Perhaps pad. I don't think you could make an ugly card with this beautiful pink, do you??? Might be selling this one at the craft show I'm doing in Angleton, Texas on Friday and Saturday.

This is for SK111508 today's sketch challenge on Paper Craft Planet. com. If you haven't visited there, check it out!! I used some of the Basic Grey Figgy Pudding dp, ruby red cardstock, always artichoke, and white and mellow moss. The ink is always artichoke and the leaves are punched from my Martha Stewart holly punch. I used red rhinestones as the berries. I'm getting a lot of Christmas cards ready for a craft show next weekend. Think I will make the inside of this with a pouch to hold a gift card.

I'm making a panel pocket for the inside to turn this into a card that is a gift card holder. Sunday morning at church one of the men in our church who was given $1oo a few weeks ago got up and reported that he had turned his $100 into $1000. He took family portraits for $100 setting fees. He donated $500 of it to a women's shelter, and randomly placed 20 envelopes taped under the pews Sunday morning. Only 5 contained a $100 bill for others to see what they could do to grow their $100. I received one of those and now because my passion is stamping, I plan to make a variety of cards such as this to sell for $5.00 to see if I can't at least triple my money for a prison ministry that I am part of. What do you think? I also plan to sell bookmarks and for those not sold on the Sunday I plan to set up a table, I will donate the leftovers to the church bookstore so that it might generate even more money to donate to the church. Keep me and my endeavor in your prayers.

Here's a card I did for the Flourish featured stamper challenge of the week. This baja breeze is such a soothing color to me. Using the wider ribbon is a new thing for me too. I colored the flowers with copic markers.

Emily's color combination challenge today on Splitcoaststampers used two of the new in colors: kiwi kiss and riding hood red with pretty in pink. Doesn't that make a pretty color combo?? One of my favorite things to stamp is scripture from the Bible. I am busy getting some cards ready for a fall church festival and thought the scriptures would be a great thing to share. I think these would be very suitable for framing, which I think is a very flattering way to recycle a card. I also like to tell people that beautiful cards also make great layout items for a scrapbook page as well.

Today is also election day, and I don't think I've seen such excitement as this ever in an election. Regardless of the outcome, I know God is in our midst, and this verse gives me great hope for the difficult times we face as a nation. It is my prayer that God will give wisdom to our leaders whoever they turn out to be and that they are humble enough men to seek His wisdom.

This is a little card I am doing with my stamp club tomorrow. That Pocket Silhouette set is such a great set. One of the stamps from that set I used to make the arrangement in the pumpkin. I also used some little punched flowers from a little punch from Creative Memories. Many of the gals in my club are CM consultants so they will be thrilled we are using a CM product on this.

I am so technically challenged!!! I have a great camera and a new computer, and it had everything I needed to be cropping and fixing these pictures. I finally figured it out. Hope this improves things in the gallery for me. I made this card for the featured stamper challenger on SCS. The feature stamper this week is Becca Feeken and you must check out her fabulous creations there.

I found this Martha Stewart punch at Michael's today and used my 40% coupon!! Some of the really great discoveries come from just playing and creating. I plan on using this card for my card group on Monday. Hope they like it!!!! I am using an SU stamp, their cardstock, and 2 of their punches.

I'm busy getting my cards ready for my Monday evening stamp group and these terrific inch square design paper scraps were left over. I had to create a card using them. This stamp is a clear stamp that I found at Hobby Lobby for Christmas stamping. I'm beginning to love some things about clear stamps. This little bow was made by weaving the ends of the ribbon through a punched hole with a small scrap of paper holding the center of the ribbon onto the back side of the paper. This makes use of less ribbon!!!

I keep making a few cards each week using some of my Flourish LLC stamp sets to enter their featured stamper of the week. Here's my card I did for this week. It is embossed with silver embossing powder. I added silver rhinestones to make it more festive for the holidays. I figure this is the time to get some of these holiday cards done before things get hectic. So start getting those creative juices flowing.

"Getting ready for the holidays" is the theme of the contest Kitchen Sink Stamps website. I decided to make this stocking shaped card to submit as my entry. This is the set that my dear sister, who adores Kitchen Sink stamps and is such a wiz with them, gave me for my retirement. It is certainly not too early to be thinking of the holidays. Use your talents and creativity to make the holidays special at your house.

This is a pink thank you card for those wonderful women we know and love who are battling cancer. Thank you for the strength they show us, the courage they display, and the hope they hold for the cure. I hope all of us find a way to support this cause in making that a reality.

Think pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month!!
Here's a card I did for Faith's Chat Challenge on Tuesday night for Flourishes LLC.

This was my card for the limited supply challenge this week. I haven't used eyelets in a while so it was fun to dig them up. This is a 4 1/4 by 4 1//4 inch square card. I cut the Basic Grey design paper into smaller squares to make a block background. I'm using up some of the soft sky paper that I've had stashed. The baha breeze ink looked good with these colors. The teal eyelets went well with the color scheme I had going. This is one of my favorite ways to use the large eyelets by bringing the ribbon up through the middle and tying it.

I have to do a better job of keeping my blog updated. My dear sister Lynn, who has always been a source of inspiration to me has now entered the land of blog so that she can be an inspiration to the world. Check it out :http://confessionsofaleft-brainedstamper.blogspot.com/

I had a wonderful experience last night of hearing Lisa Whelchel's faith story. It was awesome and she has inspired me to not only spend more buddy time with the true lover of my soul, Jesus, but to also start to journal when I have those close encounters with Him and God. It seems the more I study and learn from the Word, I find myself recognizing these moments more often. I know they have been happening around me all my life, but it's no longer coincidence. I now know who to give the credit to!!!

Here's a card I did for this week's color challenge using two of the new in colors from Stampin'Up:

tangerine tango and kiwi kiss. Hey, Dara, I'm loving that new little paper punch I got from you!!! They made the cute flowers and butterflies for this card. And they punch through SU's great cardstock very well.

I've been tagged!!!

My blog friend, Julie http://thewritestuff.justwritedesigns.com/ recently tagged me! My first experience at this so bare with me!!!!

1. Link your tagger and list the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1.I taught school for 30 years. I just recently retired with most of my years teaching kindergarten and creative arts. Now I am being a teacher's assistant at my church for their 4 year olds in their preschool program.

2. When I was 15 my family was involved in a car accident in which we hit a fast moving freight train. This was before the days of seat belts, but not before the miracles of God. My dad was driving, my mom was in the passenger seat in front and my sister (Allee-Lynn) and I were in the back seat. The whole front of the car was mangled, only a paint stripe from the train was on the passenger cab part of the car, and then the back end of the car went under the wheels of the train and the car was thrown out from the train on it's side. We all walked away that night with little more than a few scratches. I do believe in God's miracles and that night proved it to me.

3. I'm too young to be the grandmother of a high schooler, but I am. Taylor is now 14, my oldest grand daughter, and I have 3 other grandchildren. What joy they bring to my life.

4. I love Christian contemporary music especially liking Casting Crowns and Chris Tomlin. I taught myself how to play a guitar and enjoying playing Christian contemporary music for Emmaus weekends and Kairos weekends. By the way, the Kairos weekends involve going into a women's prison 3 hours away from my house.

5. I am a hurricane survivor of Ike. I got to see what it was like to live without electricity for 11 days. It was doable!!!!

6. My sister, Lynn started this whole obsession I have with rubberstamps. She is very talented.
My parents who are both still very much alive, have made their Christmas cards for over 57 years and are still at it. My mom and dad are both very creative, but it's kind of funny to see how they clash on their opinions about what the cards should look like each year. They mail out just under 100 I think.

7. I must confess I am a sugar-holic!!!

Here's my seven that I tag:
Melody (lacyquilter)
Judy (StampinQueenJAR)
Shelly (papermoon)
Laurie (txstamper)
Cathleen (ctorina)http://crookedcardcreations.blogspot.com/
Neva (n5stamper)
DeborahLynneS

I spent last week without electricity because of Hurricane Ike. We were fortunate to have had very little damage at our house, but the 10 days without power were rather trying. It's good to be back and uploading. :) God is good and teaches us many things even in these trials.

I am in love with the new pink pirouette paper from Stampin' Up. It is so soft and so pretty. This card I did for the DSKETCH0908 on Splitcoaststampers and also for the Ways to Use challenge this week on SCS as well. It was to make use of a charm on the card.

I did this last week for Faith's chat challenge for Flourishes. She selected it as the winner of the challenge. The challenge was to use at least 2 or 3 layers of dots on the card. That is one of Faith's artistic trademarks and it was fun to give it a try. I have fallen in love with so many of the flower stamps that Flourishes LLC offers on their website. You can check out their gallery on Splitcoaststampers as well.

The design paper for these cards are all from one sheet of double sided paper. You can find the details on Julee's blog. Any time you need extra inspiration I suggest visiting the many wonderful blogs that are out there. Julee's Poetic Artistry is one of my favorites to check out everyday. Her stamp company VERVE offers beautiful selections of clear stamps and she comes out with new things on a monthly basis. Her blog offers something fun on a daily basis. Check it out!!

I just thought this was the cutest Halloween wheel ever that is in Stampin' Up's fall/winter catalog. I used the new kiwi kiss cardstock and think it is a fabulous color for Halloween. I'm not usually one who makes many Halloween cards, but I have my cards now in Herman's General Store in Brenham, Texas for sale so I am trying to keep up with every season.

I made this card for Beate's challenge. I don't get around to making these long cards very often unless for a challenge. I did all the scallops with the new scallop punch from Stampin' Up. The stamps are from Always also from Stampin' Up that I am so glad is still available in the fall catalog. I was pleasantly surprised to find that garden green, certainly celery, and old olive went so well together because of this great design paper stripe I found in my paper stash.

School has started, fall is around the corner, and even though we are still experiencing the hot, hot days of Texas summers, we look forward to those wonderful fall festivals. I am going to try to do a few of those fall festivals and sell some cards, so I decided now is the time to get started on cards using those wonderful autmn colors. Here's a card I did for Roxi's sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers. I'm waiting for my first order from the new catalog which includes that cute new Halloween wheel, so I had to use this one that has retired. I put the color in the sky on with a brayer.

Here's a card I did for Sharon Johnson's weekly challenge on her blog . It was to use the same stamp to stamp the background as you use for your main image. I colored my tulip with copic markers. This set is from Flourishes and I got it as a birthday gift from my sister.

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for fall to come. A little relief from this hot Texas weather would be really nice. Here's a card I made using Lovely as a Tree. I colored it with copic markers. They are just wonderful at blending. The speckling was done with Itty Bitty Background.

This is a card for this week's featured stamper on SCS. Jessica's card is on the computer screen on the background and this was my CASE of her card. I've been wishing for this poppy set from Flourishes and my wonderful sister gave it to me for my birthday.

Got into some of my old color scraps today. This might be cool caribbean and cranberry crisp. Loved the way they looked with this scrap of Basic Grey design paper.

This spring card was for the new technique challenge today on Splitcoaststampers. My dear sister, Lynn has been busy starting her ritual of making at least one Christmas card a day. She makes different ones and then she is finished once the rush and hectic holiday season arrives. Then she only has the difficult task of deciding who gets what card in her spectacular one of a kind collection. I guess her diligence inspired me to make this holiday card. For the tutorial for this fold, check this link.

Here's another of my weekend creations. River rock has been one of my favorites of the in colors for 2008. The butterflies on this card are the new kiwi kiss. I thought blending the old with the new on this card made a fabulous color combo!

I had a great weekend August 1-3 attending a scrapbook weekend at The Lodge in Danbury, Texas. Most attending were busy scrapbooking, but I made about 40 cards. I was thrilled to hear that this Christmas set from last fall's mini catalog made the new catalog due to arrive any day now!

This is another cute new stamp set "Sock Monkey". It's a really cute set and on this one I did some paper piecing by stamping the stamp on some polka dot paper and then cut it out. I also used the polka dot background stamp and the sanded background stamp. I added a little prima flower on her head. It was white and I pressed it into the new pink pirouette pad to make it pink. Love this new softer pink.

This is one of the new hostess sets that will be featured in the new fall/winter catalog and again I used the pink pirouette, baja breeze, and another new color called kiwi kiss.

Here is a sneak peek at three of the new SU colors that will be available in August in the new fall/winter catalog. The colors names are tangerine tango, baja breeze, and pink pirouette. On this card I also used the new scallop border punch. This set called "Fresh Cut" will also be in the new catalog.

This card was made for Sharon Johnson's challenge this week on her blog:
http://http//notimetostamp.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

I did this card for Wednesday's Ways to use to challenge. I used my Scor-Pal to do the scoring lines on the bottom and side, and on the tiled floor under the bear. Don 't you love the striped ribbon from Stampin' Up? Just the finishing touch I thought. I've been busy making cards to put in my booth that I have in Brenham, Texas at the General Store. If you are ever there, check it out!!

I have to toot my sister, Lynn's horn a little bit. She has been the guest designer on Kitchen Sink Stamps this month. She gave me one of their stamp sets for retirement, this lovely rose was made with it.

I was sad to see my favorire background stamp, Print Pattern on the retiring list for Stampin' Up. I also am going to miss these "in" colors that are leaving us as well. Personally, I have to stock up on soft sky and river rock. I made this card for this week's color challenge on Splitcoaststampers. All the stamps are from Stampin' Up except for the fish!! I've been having some adjustment problems with my new computer I just have so much to learn about it and that has caused me to keep better updates here on my blog.

Experimenting with a few new supplies. I made this for my dad for Father's Day. I feel very fortunate to have been blessed with an exceptional father who will celebrate his 80th birthday in January.

The blue bird of happiness has finally brought me to this point in my life when I get to relax and do some things I've been wanting to do more of for some time now!! I invested in my supplies, papers, embellishments, and stamps while I was earning a full salary so that I would have a great stash when I quit and would be earning less money to spend on my hobbies. I called it investing in my retirement plans!!

Sorry, my blog has been neglected for a month now. I've gotten a new computer and I had a few problems figuring a few things out. I wasn't use to Vista. Also, I've recently retired from teaching in public schools for 30 years. Sorting out my classroom, giving things away and deciding what I couldn't part with took some time as well. This card I made tonight thinking it's how I probably pictured what retirement would be like 30 years ago. But now with the gasoline prices and the esculation of all other prices, I guess I won't be doing much traveling after all. I guess I can spend my days doing what I love best---stamping!! So I'll just download a few more cards I've been working on!!!

Here's the inside!!! I just freehanded the sentiment because of the limiting of stamping on that particular challenge. Hope you find this useful.

This is a gift card holder that I made for Jen's limited supply challenge on Splitcoaststamper's. It was to involve NO stamping. These are SU's rub ons with pearl centers. I'll include a picture of the inside so you can see the way I punched it with the designer label punch and the small oval punch. I used my Scor-Pal to score the paper (a 5 1/2 inch by 11 inch panel). I scored at the 3 inch mark and then changed the other edge over and did it again, then I turned the panel over and scored at the 5 1/2 inch marking. It makes a W looking fold. I use the red double stick tape to attach the two folded edges together. That leaves a folded page in the middle of your card. This is where I punched the edge of the fold to make the pocket for the gift card. It's fun to be creative and see what shapes the different punches can make. Thought this would be useful with Mother's Day, Father's Day, and graduations all taking place around this time of year.

For those of you who find it hard to just play with your creativity, here's a perfect little way to try out new color combinations, try out a new stamp set, and make use of ever-growing scrap piles!!

These are little 3 inch square cards to use for gift enclosure cards. These are nice to have on hand to pop onto a gift quickly.

Give it a try, but first and foremost, HAVE FUN!

Last weekend I had such fun on splitcoaststampers. com's virtual stamping night event. This was the last card I created for the event and I did about 10 or so during the course of the weekend. This one was selected by the hostess for the honor gallery. It was a very pleasant surprise for me. I loved this set that was offered in one of SU's mini catalogs a while back. Unfortunately, it was never selected to be a part of their bigger catalog, but I have always enjoyed using it any time I get it out of the box!! This was done using paper piecing as the techinque to use for this particular challenge. A great big thanks to all the fine ladies who coordinated this month's event. I don't always have a free weekend, but I sure was glad I had last weekend free to just have fun and be creative. It is so good for my soul!!! KWIM?

My wisteria.

Here are some of the signs of spring around my house. I'm a gardener by no means, but nature takes very good care of these plants in my yard. God is good and delights me with these lovelies inspite of my careless gardening habits.