When I Stand Before God

Hi Friends,

This really great poem came to me in the form of this gorgeous hand-made card created by my good friend Sandy.  I've blogged about her work before - here - when she sent me my "initials" beautifully altered and shabby-fied. She pretty much single handedly launched my interest in altered art and vintage style card making.

This card that she made came amazingly embellished with embellished embellishments!!  Seriously, just about every detail on this card was altered in some delicate and subtle way, making the overall piece a wonderful work of art!  The front, the back, the inside, the envelope - she touched every part.  It's just gorgeous and I love it!  Thank you so much my friend!

"When I stand before God at the end of my life,

I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left,

and I could say "I used everything You gave me".

Author Unknown

TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!

My Fabulous BRAKs!

 Thanks Girlfriends!  I am blessed !!  What an honor it is to me to have you in my life!!

From Anne Harmon (aka Inking in Red)

From Vicki aka Luvs2Stamp

 From Nancy Bush aka SouthernYankeeCrafterMy Woodware Homie!

 From Val Jensen aka lunaladyone    My new special friend!

From Paulette my faithful dear kind wonderful sister in Christ!

Many thanks and giant hugs to you!

God Bless!

Betcha Can't Guess??

Ahhh, see this gorgeous card?? Can you guess who created this wonder and sent it to me as a Valentine?? First person to post the correct answer as a Comment on my Blog gets this fun and BRAND NEW, unopened round box of Baby Pink Flower Soft and the Recollections Fleur de Lis Brads!! (and I'm sorry Ms. Sender -- you're not eligible!! LOL!!)

Here's your first hint... She is on my side bar. TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!

2008 RAKs Slideshow!!

RAKs from 2008 that I received are posted here!!

I have been way too slow to post these, I was actually trying to figure out how to do a slideshow for my blog, but I give up!! (I did figure out how to create a signature for my posts though!!) I didn't want to put this off any longer. So I am finally posting via PhotoBucket. (I will be adding a few more that I still need to photograph.) I hope you'll take a minute to check them out -- just click on the link above. I love them all and I am so proud of my collection from my favorite stampers! All of them are so sweet, lovely, and cherished. Thanks so much for remembering me in 2008, friends!! Sweet dreams everyone,

4 Cardinals, 3 Challenges, 2 Christmas Cards, and a Fun and Cool Award from My Friend Joan!!

Yah, you should be able to sing today's blog title to the "12-Days of Christmas" song...I'm humming... :) I have so much to post today. I'll try to be brief cuz I have lots of pictures!

First -- the 4 Cardinals! I am not nearly done with Christmas cards but I focused on two designs today. One of them was with the "A Cardinal Christmas" set from SU. Here's the 4 cards -- any of them stand out to you? I don't know which one to make multiples of for the give-away stash. Let me know, k?

Second -- I finished 3 Challenges today!! Personal best, record for me!! Here they are:

The first card is actually for next week's Doubledog Dare Challenge!! This was so much fun!! Bev (aka Beestamper) sent us a package of goodies to use for this challenge. We could use which ever parts we wanted but had to create a Christmas card with them. Check out all the fun stuff!!! ....and this cutie wooden mitten!!

I quickly grabbed the paper, ribbon, and stamps and made a couple of Christmas cards right away! I love love love that color combo!! The ribbon and stamps were so fun, this was easy peasy!! (The stamping is on the rose panel, didn't get a good photo of it.) Thanks for the wonderful goodies Bev, I will be using them more I'm sure!! The second card is a two-fer. It is for this week's Doubledog Dare Challenge that I hosted for our stamping gang. The challenge was to create a card inspired by either this Ugg Boot or this Ugg Boot! I chose this one (the first Ugg boot):

(The picture of the boot is not very good, you need to check the link of the first boot!)

and then made this card:

I paper fringed and quilled some flowers and leaves in colors to match the ones on the boot. I also used my cuttlebug scalloped dies to make some brown flowers, snipped the petals and layered them to make some large sized flowers. Stamped the sentiment from the "All Holidays" SU set, and glued down all the flowers and leaves sort of randomly to cover the card. Added a few white half back rounds to match the boot.

So, if you're counting, that makes 2 challenges. The 3rd one is using the same card above, and it is for a challenge that I am doing with one of my stamping pals, Joanne (aka Sleepy in Seattle). We are giving each other a month to use a specific unused, unloved, or forgotten tool or technique that we both never use that we once thought we had to have! This month we started out with quilling, and so this is my submission!! Check out the GORGEOUS snowflake card Joanne made for her submission (of course she was much more prompt in posting than I !!) Third -- Two more random Christmas cards I made this weekend:

The one on the left is a stamp designed by Judy Duke that I bought from a company called B&Js art stamps out of Las Cruces, NM. I stamped it with Green Stazon, colored in the pinecones with copics, added glitter and a shiny plastic bow, and stamped the sentiment using one of the cute little stamps from the stash of goodies Bev sent (see first challenge card!!). I really liked this one, I will be making a few more of these. The photo I posted isn't very good at all, but I posted it on SCS also, so if you want to see a better view of it, you can check it out here!

The card on the right was much simpler and faster. I used my Woodcut Wheel from SU to stamp the poinsettia background, then added layers of green, red, and some DP from HL. Glued on a little plastic poinsettia that I got in a pack from HL. The ribbon is SU wide grosgrain. Fourth -- and last, but not at all least...ta da!! Joan Irvin awarded all the Doubledog Dare bloggers a Kreativ Blogger award!! How cool is that? (See my cool new badge on the side bar!) Joan is a wonderful, sweet stamper friend of mine from here in Texas that I've never met!! She's super talented, a famous Dirty Dozen Alumni, and designs for several stamp companies. You have to check out her blog!! I am honored to be stamping with her and the award is such a thrill!! Thanks Joan!! Now to pay it forward.... how fun!!

The rules are:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog. (Done!) 2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award. (Done!) 3. Nominate 5 blogs. (In progress...) 4. Put links to their blogs (In progress...) 5. Leave a message for your nominees. (In progress...)

The first person I'm nominating is Susan Conrad (aka One4Joy). This is one creative woman whom I admire both artistically and personally.

The next 4 are TBD! I'm just so new at blogging that I am still discovering new and amazing blogs everyday!! So stay tuned for updates to this list!!

Whew!! See, I told you I had a lot to post today!! Thanks for checking it all out!!

Sweet dreams everyone!

Anne

RAK from Michelle

Oh my gosh. I can't tell ya'll how this warmed my heart, encouraged me, and just plain made my week, month, day...year!! Michelle (When Things Get Really Crazy) sent me a package of goodness and I was so shocked, I looked and looked for a note of instructions or requirements and there was nothing but stamping hugs from her! Oh my, is this for real??? Check out what she sent me, along with the gorgeous Michelle-ish card, and you will see why I was so overwhelmed with this kind gesture. Thank you my sweet friend, you have made me want to do the same for others. I can see how this seemly small gesture can change someone's outlook. I am greatful and humbled. Big hugs and a giant sloppy kiss to you!! :)

Here's what came with this gorgeous card!!