Monday, July 15, 2013

Mr. and Mrs. James Fowler



And they lived happily ever after. Well, isn't that how all love stories end in the fairy tales? But getting married is just the beginning not the end.
Sometimes life is happy -
Sometimes it isn't.
 Happiness isn't the goal of marriage.Time spent on looking for happiness will make it so that you miss the important part. Time should be spent more on giving love than receiving it. Time spent on serving rather than being served. Time spent on forgiving rather than being forgiven. Putting  God first in everything you do is the only way to love, serve and forgive your spouse..Having someone who will walk down the path of life with you is what marriage is about.

My daughter married her best friend this weekend. I gained another son. Since the day we met him, we knew he was going to be a part of our family. It really hit me when they were dating and he was late getting home and hadn't called her because his cell phone had decided to jump into a glass of water. As she was pacing the floor worrying about him, I realized that I was worrying about him too. I was already feeling those mother feelings of love and protection for him. I also realize that my daughter has a new family too. Her mother in law, loves her and I am thankful that they  have a good relationship. Two families paths have joined with my daughter and her husband starting off on their own path together.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Fowler!


Friday, July 12, 2013

MFP July Blog Hop day 4 - Presents



July Blog Hop! 


This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured July 9th

Lotus Blossoms

Featured July 10th
Shello
Featured July 11th 
Be Virtuous
 
Featured July 12th

Presents

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on July 13, 2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday July 12, 2013.




 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Dino News"


 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Dragonflies"
                                                      




Here's the Design Team:
Patty
Lois
Jane C
Debbie
Pam
Pat G
Thrifty Stamper
Marilynn
Karen K
Bonnie
Kathy
Angela
Cathy C
Toni
Sue W
Janine
An'Jenic
Kate Z
Shirley Q
Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co.



This card was way out of my comfort zone. I decided not to color at all but to paper piece the present. I doodled and stamped the birthday sentiment to make the background. Not my usual style. I had a picture in my mind of a project I wanted to do, but I am still figuring out how to do it. I wanted to cut the top of the box and have a hidden panel that when you lifted the lid you could read the sentiment. If I ever figure out how to do that, I will share that card at that time.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

MFP July Blog Hop Day 3 -Be Virtuous



July Blog Hop! 


This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured July 9th

Lotus Blossoms

Featured July 10th
Shello
Featured July 11th 
Be Virtuous
 
Featured July 12th

Presents

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on July 13, 2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday July 12, 2013.





 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Dino News"


 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Dragonflies"
                                                      





I used tea to paint behind the leaves of the bamboo. The long skinny panel on the left was a smooshed weed. I thought it looked really neat with these oriental images.If you don't know what I'm talking about when I say a smooshed the weed. I took a weed from my yard. I put it between 2 pieces of white cardstock and smooshed it as I ran it through my cuttlebug.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

MFP July Blog Hop Day 2 - SHELLO

Before we get to today's hop, here is the answer to my question yesterday.

 What is the difference between a water lily and a lotus blossom?

Answer: a water lily floats directly on the surface of the water. A lotus blossom has a stem that raises the leaves and blossoms out of the water.

  "The lotus is a plant that grows out of the slimy mud- the still, putrid water – to produce the most beautiful flower. It’s compared with life; that whatever your life circumstances, it’s possible for the most pure and beautiful thing to rise.”  Geoff Cochrane


July Blog Hop! 


This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured July 9th

Lotus Blossoms

Featured July 10th
Shello
Featured July 11th 
Be Virtuous
 
Featured July 12th

Presents

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on July 13, 2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday July 12, 2013.




 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Dino News"


 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Dragonflies"
                                                      





Here's the Design Team:
Patty
Lois
Jane C
Debbie
Pam
Pat G
Thrifty Stamper
Marilynn
Karen K
Bonnie
Kathy
Angela
Cathy C
Toni
Sue W
Janine
An'Jenic
Kate Z
Shirley Q
Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co.



What I like most about the set we are showcasing today is that it is so much fun to color.
When ever I start coloring an image I like to look at images on-line to give me inspiration. I got inspiration for coloring my sea turtle HERE
 Now everyone knows that you need expensive markers, or colored pencils to color images. Right?
No!
I like to use cheap crayola water color paint.  I think I spent $4.00 for this box at Walmart around Christmas. I plan to get more when Walmart has the back to school specials. I bet you can get some for very little money then.

On the lid of my box, I just mix the colors until I get a variety of colors to work with. For my sea turtle, I mixed orange/brown, green/brown, black/brown and red/brown and pink/brown.

I started with my black/brown mix. I didn't color the shell all the way in so that there would be shading.
I painted the edges and then wiped the excess paint off of the brush unto a scratch piece of paper. Then with a mostly clean brush I pulled the color from the edge to fill in the shell.

 Here is a video showing a little of my painting. It isn't the best video, because it was hard to video and paint at the same time, but I think it will give you an idea of what I was doing.


 

Here is how my turtle looked all colored.


I then fussy cut him out to put him on my card.

Here is how my card turned out.
I used the get well sentiment from Mark's Finest Papers set called

Birds and Trees

and I used the praying for you sentiment from Mark's Finest Papers set called

Hum Along

I made this  easel card for my friend Steve who had surgery. Praying that he heals quickly.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

MFP July Blog Hop day 1 -Lotus Blossoms


July Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured July 9th

Lotus Blossoms

Featured July 10th
Shello
 
Featured July 11th 
Be Virtuous
 
Featured July 12th

Presents

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on July 13, 2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday July 12, 2013.




 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Dino News"


 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Dragonflies"
                                                      




Here's the Design Team:

Patty
Lois
Jane C
Pat G
Debbie
Kathy
Angela
Thrfity Stamper
Toni
Janine
Sue W
Marilynn
Karen K
Bonnie
Cathy C
Pam
Kate Z
Shirley Q
An'Jenic
Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co.

This set is a lot of fun to work with. The part of the Mississippi river that I live by has a lot of lotus blossoms in late summer. I took this photo of the lotus blossoms last summer with 4 Canadian Geese.

The lotus blossoms that are on the Mississippi River near me are  cream colored lotuses. I decided to be a little wild, I don't know if there are lotus blossoms this color, but I made a card with lavender lotus blossoms. I chose the lavender color to match the rose petal paper I made. I was given a rose by a friend. I waited until the petals started to wilt and even dry out a little. I put the petals in a bowl with water to rehydrate them. Then I randomly placed them on a piece of white cardstock. I covered them with another piece of white cardstock making a rose petal sandwich that I ran through my cuttlebug. I stamped and masked the smaller lotus blossom and then stamped the bigger lotus over it to add some extra dimension.

 Here are two more cards I made using this set.




 



Do you know the difference between a lotus blossom and a water lilly? Come back tomorrow and I will tell you.

Friday, July 5, 2013

MIX23 and Mojo300 dragonfly birthday card



 The SCS MIX23 challenge was to use at least 3 different surfaces. The dragonfly was stamped, painted, cut out and I added glitter to make a glittered surface.I used striped textured cardstock, lace, mulberry paper and smooth cardstock for all my surfaces. I did MOJO300 sketch. The dragonfly and sentiment are sneak peeks of MFP sets that will be released next week during the hop.


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

mojo cards






These are the 2 cards I made this week using mojo300 sketch.