Plans For You & a Bee Sting

This cute polka dot paper is My Minds Eye -- but here's what on my mind today. God has a plan for me and I'm so glad! Left to my own sweet self, I might not experience living out God's purpose for my life. His purpose is highly personalized. He has thought your life through. God thinks about you! Jeremiah 29:11 says that nothing in this life is haphazard.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

You & I have a little spin around this planet earth, and we must be extremely intentional about serving God. His purpose in each persons life is perfectly timed. You were assigned to this generation. After all the centuries have come and gone, the important thing is that we served Gods purpose in our own generation. I don't know about you, but my sweet self is all about clinging to this promise ... God has a plan man!

So ... I got stung by a bee while riding with Kevin on the motorcycle and that wasn't so fun, but my hero husband got the stinger out in 63 seconds. Thus, the cute little bee buzzing around on today's scripture card. There are SO many things I love about this card! My 86 year old momma crocheted the super cute flowers! If you "need" a few flowers and if you ask sweetly, I bet my sweet momma will indulge you. The stems (and stinging bee) are from My Cute Stamps {hint: get thee to the website, they are toooo cute to pass up). There is a row of crystal diamonds in the middle of each stem. I traced the bird from a chipboard piece, and the wing is a Hero Arts Paisley stamp. Entire card is stitched with a white inkessentials pen by Ranger. I love it when a plan comes together!

Grab a chair ...

My honey got a brand spankin' new shiny motorcycle and to make the first ride extra fun, my honey took me an hour and a half away to a fabulous stamp store called Papertrix! They have thousands of stamps (but who's counting!) and the owner, Cindy, knows me by name (okay, so I've been there a few thousand times!). But the point is, she recently had Karen Lockhart teach a class in her store and even though I wasn't able to attend, she let me in on the "deal" which was buy 10 Lockhart stamps, get 1 free, and get 10% of all of them, and (yes, there's more) ... all stamps signed by Karen Lockhart herself! So, grab a chair and let's visit my first set of cards!

I have wanted this beach chair stamp for like-ever and it did not disappoint! Karen likes to color with Prisma Colored Pencils, but I prefer Copics and boy, did I have fun with these shades! I just gathered up all my favorite Copics and went to town! The flowers are highlighted with a White Inkessentials Pen by Ranger.

Get a load of these kites on the envelopes! Flying by to say "you've got mail" - how cute is that?! {Note: the kites are from a Unity KOM}

Each Kraft card is stamped with PaperTrey's Polka Dot Basics in Fresh Snow Ink, then I chose assorted sentiments from various sources, just whatever struck my fancy. If you're interested in a particular one, just let me know! I particularly like the inside of the cards below:

Everyday has the possibility of a miracle! (Like when your honey gets a shiny new motorcycle and you get an unexpected trip to the stamp store! "R-e-l-a-x" is on the inside of the "Summer Days" card ... to remind me to enjoy the lazy hazy days of summer! I'll be sending these out to friends this week! I hope you had a beautiful Sunday!

Well-Watered Garden

The Lord will guide you always. He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

We had a very hot spell here in Indiana this summer, and I don't do high humidity heat well. Allergies, flopped hair, and sweat (yuck!). But on the flip-side is cool watermelon, Redkin Super Strength Finishing Spray (24 hour humidity resistance), and Claritan. This past week as I was preparing for our summer scripture challenge, this verse seemed perfect. Let the Lord guide your steps this week with me and you will be like a well-watered garden!

I enjoyed making this 6x6 card to add to my scripture collection. The bird houses is a very old stamp from Stampin' Up (1997!), colored with copics to match my Cosmo Cricket paper. Once my bird houses were colored, I overstamped the entire image with Pretty Pattern Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms. I LOVE all my backgrounder stamps, use them loads! The verse was computer generated, and cut with the largest Nesty from Spellbinders Labels Four. The embellishment was inspired by Mish Mash back in March when we were getting ready for Spring! I have learned to never sit idle while watching TV - busy hands are happy hands when making cute little embellishments for half the cost! Have a happy day!

Blessed Beyond Words

Hey you Summer Scripture Chicks! You girls are doing great. I've heard testimony after testimony how God has been using our summer bible study and your memory work. He has sure used it in my life! I've been making duplicate sets of my scripture cards. I add one card to my pretty wooden hanger collection, and I keep one in my car right by my gearshift so I can say my verses over and over as I am driving. It works for me!

Lately, I have found myself feeling and saying that I am Blessed Beyond Words. You'll never find another soul on the face of this earth who has been graced more than me! Psalm 36:5-7 sure comes in handy for being Blessed Beyond Words, doesn't it? I enjoyed making this scripture card almost as much as I love moon pies (you know those dreamy marshmallow concoctions)! Notice the delicate floral treatment surrounding the scripture verse? I used a fun set from Rubber Stamp Tapestry, as shown here and I love the result! Ribbon and vintage button by PaperTrey Ink. Flowers by Prima. Paper by Basic Gray. Blessed Beyond Words .... by God!

RAK Happy

I am nothing but grateful for the beautiful crafty ladies in blogland! Just look at the love I received in my mailbox recently! This first card is from a sweetheart who lives in rural Australia. Theresa is a very talented lady and I'm sure you would enjoy visiting her blog at Misstreez's Weblog. Theresa not only sent me this adorable card that I admired (no, I actually coveted the sweet thing!), but she also sent me some adorable handmade folded flowers! They are some of the cutest things I've ever laid my eyes on! I'm dying to know how to make them, but I don't have the heart to tear one apart to figure it out so I'm depending on y'all to visit her blog and ask her (beg her) to spill it in a blog post! You can get all the deets on this beautiful dress card here on her blog. Doesn't it put ya in the party mood? Thank you Theresa!

Now, onto more RAK happiness! Lori is no stranger to many of you who visit my blog, she made a guest appearance here. She has a heart the size of the moon. And I love moon pies, so that's pretty big! Lori is participating long-distance in our Summer Scripture Challenge, isn't that smarvelous?! If you little darlings will visit her blog at Lori's Addiction: Playing With Adhesive, not only will you see some beautiful scripture cards, you will get sneak peaks of the new Stampin' Up soon-to-be-unveiled catalog. Now, back to this RAK which truly showed up inside my mailbox one day as a big fat surprise! Isn't it pretty? And clever? And cool colors? And a way cool sentiment? And get a load of this girl: she wrote me a message on a large yellow post-it note that was slapped inside the card so that I might be able to use the card to send to someone else! Isn't that too much?! I hereby humbly decree this card to be the gift that keeps on giving! Thank you Lori!

Blog Hop

What time is it? It's time for another blog roll. When I discover blogs in cyberspace that are worth discovering, I like to share them with you. I hope you enjoy the blog hop!

Amazing Paper Grace - Becca Feeken is amazing! Her style oozes of elegance and layers. You'll see what I mean! Better get a cup o' Joe first, I'm just saying ...

Lori's Addiction-Playing With Adhesive. Get to know this one, gals! Sweet, fun, generous, talented -- ya get the picture?! Lori is participating in the Summer Scripture Challenge so be sure to check out her scripture cards in addition to her other great inspirations!

Make A Difference - Another Lori! I ran across Lori's blog through her "Divine Design" category and boy, am I glad I did! I often go to her blog and park it on my laptop right in front of me as I create.

2bKrafty - Think you have no time to stamp? Think again. Janine is on the design team for No Time To Stamp run by Sharon Johnson. That's how I stumbled into Janine on cyberspace, but she quickly became a regular stop for me! Her stuff is beautifully done, she has projects that make you want to stop everything and create, and the best part? .... she's SO nice!

Have fun hopping!

Scroll of Remembrance

Hello! How are my favorite crafters on God's green earth? Kevin & I had a bumpy start to our weekend when our family cat of 14 years went to cat heaven (click if you are a cat lover and want to see and read about our Cozy Cat), but we just clung to each other and tried to keep on going. You tend to get more attached to your mate when your kids are grown because you're all you have left within your own four walls. You young darlin' wives and moms need to remember that one day. It will happen before you know it. There are all sorts of adventures to have together. Just keep investing. Hence, we enjoyed our family cat together.

Now, the title of this post, Scroll of Remembrance, does not exactly refer to our Cozy Cat. Our first summer bible study was so much fun, and this is my chosen scripture verse for this week!

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name. Malachi 3:16.


Try to grasp what that scripture suggests. Every time we speak of the Lord with each other - face-to-face, on the phone, in the women's restroom at work, over email, on the blog - God stops to "listen and hear". Then it indicates that a secretary in the Kingdom of Heaven literally records either the occasion or perhaps the conversation itself on something called "a scroll of remembrance." I don't know about you but over the course of my life time, I want to keep that secretary writing as fast as his hand can fly across that scroll. At this very moment, an historical record is being kept of our communication in His Name. That's too much, isn't it?

Give Him plenty of stuff to write about, girlfriend!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful, and I know that full well. Psalms 139:14

I bet there was a time in your life when you didn't know that. Maybe you don’t know it now. A time when someone let you down – big time. A time when, maybe, you let yourself down. We've all been there. That's why I chose this verse to kick off our Summer Women's Bible Study at my church. The theme is "Celebrate Life" which is an 8-week study on how to thoroughly enjoy the life God has designed for each of us. It includes a Scripture Memory Challenge for each lady to make a weekly scrapbook page or card that includes a bible verse that is meaningful to her.

I am taking these two examples to our first class, since many of the ladies are new to paper-crafting. Each lady will have a basic kit for a 6x6 page which includes this selected scripture verse, and they will have an opportunity to embellish using a variety of punches, flowers, ribbons, etc. Then, in the weeks that follow, they will choose their own weekly verse (because we have the most victory with the verses we each need most). Scripture memory is work -- but it can be fun, especially when we do it together! So get ready for some fun because - after all - you are fearfully and wonderfully made!

A Paper Vacation!

We've just returned from a visit to DC/Virginia Beach and look what jumped into my suitcase during vacation?! Loads of beautiful scrapbook paper! Is that trendy scallop Kraft paper not gorgeous?! Doesn't it just say "Please embellish me with Unity Stamps?" Yes, it really said that to me! The clerk in the local scrapbook store she had never heard it say that to anyone else!

Lynn and I graciously agreed to shop our way to DC/Virginia Beach so the guys could ride their Harleys, arn't we the bomb? We googled "local scrapbook stores" and away we went, baby!

Get a load of this bicycle paper, which I HAD to HAVE because of the gazillion bikes we saw at Virginia Beach. What a great boardwalk, full of families and Schwinn bikes of every shape & size. I wanted a pink one, with a basket for my beach towel, and a bird bell on the handle bars! The clear Hero Arts set is full of cute birds, and squirrels, and owls to go along with that nifty tree and tree stump. And the rocking chair stamp? Ohhh, I have it all planned out to paper pierce the pillows!

These papers have matching glitter adhesive borders, be still my heart! I can't wait to play with these goodies. God bless Harley Davidsons and Local Scrapbook Stores!

Coral Funky Monogrammed B-Day Cards

Sara B. is having a B-day! {the "B" is not for B-day, but it works, yes?} Sara B. is my son's strong girlfriend. So I made Sara B. a gift set of monogrammed note cards. Sara B's favorite color is coral. This rockin paper is the Blue Hill Collection by Crate Paper. It really gets me that they call it Blue Hill when it oozes of these wonderful shades of coral! I'm re-naming it Coral Hill, okay?

The "S" Monograms were made with JustRite Borders and Times New Roman Font. Notice those funky squiggly lines? I was inspired by the oh-so-uber-cool squiggles on this card made by Lauren. No sense making traditional monograms traditional!

I wanted to add a little funk to these cards since Sara B. is a trendy DC gal. Thus all the polka dots and squiggles. The funky bird on the matching envelopes is from a past Unity KOM Stamp set, colored with copics to match the Coral Hill (new name!) paper collection.

More funky squiggle stamps! Are we thinking that trendy Sara B. is gonna like these Coral Funky Monograms?