This project has quite a story to it.

Candace is the hostess this week at Stampin' Sisters in Christ and the scripture she chose is Psalm 118:6.

 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

The Challenge is to:

Do something on your card that you're "afraid" of!
(ie. something you wouldn't normally do, like if you’re a “CAS” girl, try to pile it on… or maybe it’s a technique you’re scared to try etc.)

Now here's my story.
I've spent a lot of time these last weeks on a big sewing project for hire, on top of having a new baby. (Ten weeks old now.) Which means I haven't had much scrappin' time.  Yet, when I go to my paper crafting area, there are all these usable scraps staring at me.  I have great ambitions to make them into pretty things because they are too good to just throw away.
The problem:  every time I sit down to make something 'using only my scraps', I don't like the way it turns out.

So here's what happened.
 I visited Lovely Linda's blog post here, and was encouraged to dig into my scraps---again!.  I was also feeling discouraged over all the big projects I have going that are moving slowly toward completion and wanted something to do that would be an accomplished project, done quickly.  And I have a little daughter who was wanting to stamp, and we hadn't done that together for a while.

I found a piece of SU! DP lying on the scrapping table and a piece of Cameo Coral CS, (which matched the DP!), already partially used.  I cut the card base to the best size I could.  Then I cut the DP to fit at the bottom of the card to make the front the proper size.  I  punched the scalloped trim on the DP for the outside edge, and then decided it would be cute to have that same edge on the inside, too.
I wanted to use my Spellbinders Label 14 so I cut out the second largest size for the front.  When I took it out of the die I noticed that the paper (another piece of scrap, just big enough for the die) had slipped and one curve was cut off the edge.  =(  Major NoNo in Nutty's book of doing things right!  But I decided to use it anyway.  Then guess what!!  It happened again on smaller die I cut for the inside! Argh!!
While my little Dinky was inking the Labels for the stencil effect, I went looking for a stamp set to use.  I found an old SU! set,  , that I haven't used in along time, and decided to make a bouquet with the flower and leaf stamps.  Lots of cutting out, but it went fairly quickly.  I had The Dinky girl stamp those, too, and it took us three tries to find the yellow we liked best! (Which just meant more stamping for her! =) )

As I was cutting, I wondered if I could possibly use this for the SSIC challenge for the week, but the chances of a card I was making on SATURDAY evening fitting in with the challenge that wouldn't be posted until the next morning were pretty slim.  Oh well, that just means more scrappin' for me! =)
I finished the card by gluing everything together, popping one of the pink flowers up with a dimensional, and adding pearls to the center of the flowers.
Voilá!  A finished card...made from only scraps.....And I LIKED it!  Done in one evening, and I stamped with my little girl.  A very pleasing accomplishment.

When I checked my blog reader for the SSIC challenge the next day, I found the above info.  I had a hard time thinking of something I'm afraid of, or haven't tried in stamping/scrapping.  Then I thought of my card of the night before.  And of the fact that it was the first time I had a 'scraps only' project turn out to be something I liked.  (Had to get over that 'fear of failing' to even try again.) And of how I used the two labels, even though they weren't perfect.  (A confessing perfectionist, here.)  I decided this card did fit in with this challenge.
I'm reminded of how we aren't perfect, but God accepts us when we are cleansed from our imperfections by the blood of His Son, and even though those imperfection still show.  He helped me conquer the dread of having it all come out wrong...again!  And of not having everything 'perfect' on the card.
I'm reminded of how God knows what we need, and won't let us have more than we can bear.  He knew I needed a 'pick-me-up' so the card came together quickly and beautifully!

And.....God knew I really wanted to start participating in the SSIC challenges again, but only have so much time while I'm still finishing these dresses I'm sewing.  So He orchestrated my time available, and the inspiration for this card to fit with the challenge.  Thanks, Lord!
God really does care about the littlest things in our lives.  And He does want to help us in every little battle we have to face, as well as the big ones.

Thanks for coming by!  Blessing to you! 

(If the SSIC team determines this does not fit the challenge, I'll gladly have it removed from consideration for the prize!)


Challenges:
Stampin' Sisters in Christ #141: Do something you are 'afraid' of
Make it Monday # 91: Always anything goes

Ooops! Big Time!

I suppose it doesn't do me any good to make a card for a challenge and then forget to enter it in the challenge! =(

I was in a hurry when I posted the card here on my blog since my wonderful husband and I were preparing to go out for a little early anniversary celebration.  I got everything up here in my post............but then forgot to linky at SSIC!!

I'm consoling myself with the fact that I made the card, within the time limit, and posted it here on my blog, so I think I'm good as far as my personal challenge goes!  =)  But I definitely need to plan better in the future and not have so many things on the 'list' that stack up on themselves and each other!!

I don't know which challenge I will use for this week's card, but I'm going to be more careful about the posting of it!  That's for sure!

SSIC 121 - Phil 2:3-4

So far, so good! =)  I'm ready with my one challenge entry for this week!  Yea!

The ladies at Stampin' Sisters in Christ have a wonderful challenge that posts every Sunday.  One of the DT chooses a scripture, writes a bit of encouragement, and then selects a challenge for the week based on all of that.  I really enjoy reading through these encouraging words and the cards made by the DT and other challenge participants are so lovely!!

I have entered several of these over the past year, and I hope to enter every one of them this year!  A bit ambitious, probably, since my 'realistic' goal is to make a card for one challenge per week, and there are so many other inspiring challenges out there!  We'll see how it goes! =)

For this week, Challenge #121, the scripture chosen is Phillipians 2:3-4:

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

The challenge is to make a 'Thinking of You' card.

Here's mine.

This is made with the second half of the digi DP CS (from the City Slickers kit at Everyday Mom Ideas) I used for the last card I posted .  And again the photo was taken with the flash so there is a glare. (Sorry! =( )

I stamped the swirl from the SU! Friendship Blooms set right onto the DP with SU! Real Red ink.  The sentiment is from the SU! Three for You set, stamped in Basic Black on white CS (from my stash), matted on a piece of SU! Real Red.  The flower is also from the Friendship Blooms set, stamped with Basic Black onto white CS, cut out, accented with a Filigree flower from SU! and held on with a colored brad from my stash.  Then I popped it up with a dimensional.  The ribbon is a double faced satin left over from my 'crafting days' of years gone by.  I tied three knots in it, then glued it down with two sided sticky tape.  Et voila! 

These aren't colors I usually do well with, but I'm really pleased with this card.  I'll be sending it to a friend who's been having a tough time in life the last several months.  I hope it will be a ray of sunshine in the midst of the clouds.

Thanks for visiting! Have a blessed and beautiful day!!

Challenges:
Stampin' Sisters in Christ # 121

Color Throwdown 173

One of my goals for this new year of 2012 is to participate in at least one card challenge each week.  For the first week of January, I chose The Color Throwdown #173.  The challenge colors for this week were:

I'm getting better at putting together black and white cards, but throw in that 'red' and I'm 'color challenged' to a big degree!  To make it easy on myself I used the sketch at Card Patterns (#147) so all I had to do was figure out how to make something with these colors.
Here is what I came up with.  As I look at it, I wish I would have done some things differently, but it's done.  And since I have a friend with a birthday this week to whom I will be sending it, I won't have to look at it for long! LOL

The card base is a digital DP from the City Slickers kit at Everyday Mom Ideas.  I inked the edges of it with SU! Basic Black using first a nylon stocking, and then a sponge.  I stamped the swirly from the SU! Friendship Blooms set in SU! Real Red right on the DP.  The flower trio is from the same stamp set.  I stamped it in Basic Black right on the white CS, then colored with Real Red from the Stampin' Pastels.  I didn't like how flat or dull that was, so I stamped the flowers again on a scrap, colored them with Real Red ink, then cut them out and popped them up with Stampin' Dimensionals.  The sentiment is from the SU! It's Your Birthday set, stamped in Basic Black.  The corners of the white are punched with a Fiskars corner punch.  I used the SU! 1/4" circle to punch the holes where I threaded the red sheer ribbon (which I found in my stash drawer).  Then I decided the white was too stark so before I glued everything down, I removed the ribbon and used the nylon stocking to rub some Real Red ink onto the edges of the white, and my sponge to ink the very edges with Basic Black.  You can't see these in the photo very well, since it was after dark when I finished and this had to be taken with the flash.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my first posted card of 2012.  Hope we'll be seeing lots more of each other this year than we did last year! =)

Blessings!

Challenges:
Color Throwdown #173
Card Patterns Sketch 147

A New Year: Looking Back and Ahead

I decided to start 2011 with a place to log all the things I do! =) I'll be posting here the projects I've been working on, plan to work on, hope to work on! OH, and the ones I finish, too! Maybe, this way I'll see how much I actually get done, and be a little more disciplined in the 'getting them done'!

I hope you find inspiration and encouragement here. And feel free to help keep me on track! =)

This is a quote from what I put in my sidebar last year when I started this blog.  My intention had been to use this as a place to track my varied fiber crafts, with the idea that I would be more motivated to work on them in an organized fashion if I was sharing them with others.

I included in the side bar a list of projects I was working on when I started this blog.  Some of them have been finished, others not.  Some of the finished ones were marked on here, some were not.  And.....there were others that I started during the year and completed, or didn't! =)

Unfortunately, I didn't use this blog to track, 'journal' or in any other way log what I did with my fiber crafts!!

Instead, as I found a wonderful community of paper crafters online, including many, many challenge blogs, I've used this as a place to 'hang out' with them.  It has been a fun, rewarding and encourging experience, one I plan to continue for this next year.

For any who are interested, I've been utilizing the features on Ravelry for tracking my fiber activities, and socializing over there with a great group of fiber artists.  Haven't left that part of me behind!  I've just found the best places for sharing the various interests I have! =))

Thanks to all of you that have become a part of my life here in blogland.  Each and every one of you has had an impact on who and what I am today.  May God bless all of you with Joy unspeakable and the Peace that passes understanding in the year of 2012.

Last but not least, I've created a new post signature.
I used elements from Sunshine Artz 'Darling Forever' kit and a lovely font from Open Font Library.

I may change it up a bit every now and then, but for now I like this one!

What do all of you think??