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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

SALT Challenge - Gethsemane

This week it was Pauline's turn to pick the topic for the SALT team and she chose Gethsemane...a fantastic topic!! Before I touch on our topic and today's card I want to mention that on Monday the Sweet 'n Sassy team will be hosting a blog hop (button on the right) so be sure to check back on Monday for details on prizes!! For today's card I decided to create a simple ATC that focused on Christ's words as He prayed alone in the garden before His arrest and crucifixion. The tree image and moon made me think of what it might have been like that night as Jesus was in agony over what He knew was going to happen to Him in the coming hours. One of the things that strikes me the most about this passage is the obvious distress that Jesus was in, for our sakes...He was, after all, God in the flesh, able to overthrow all of His enemies with just a word (John 18 gives us a peek into His great power, "Now when He said to them "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground."), and yet He was fully human, experiencing all of the emotions that we would (and do) face. His greater agony though was that He was about to have all of the guilt and sin of His people laid upon His head and God, His Father whom He had had perfect communion, would turn His back on Him during His greatest trial. In His humanness, Jesus prayed "please, please let this cup pass from Me", Spurgeon wrote, "The mental pressure arising from our Lord's struggle with temptation, so forced His frame to an unnatural excitement, that His pores sent forth great drops of blood, which fell down to the ground." However, His desire to do God's will and redeem a people for Himself demonstrates the mighty power of His love. Spurgeon goes on to write, "We see our Saviours in His agony; He is so utterly oblivious of self, that instead of His agony driving his blood to the heart to nourish Himself, it drive it outward to bedew the earth. The agony of Christ, inasmuch as it pours Him out upon the group, pictures the fullness of the offering which He made for men." Today's theme begs the question, "Do we perceive how intense must have been the wrestling through which He passed, and will we not hear its voice to us?" Seek Christ while He may be found... Please visit the SALT blog to see the lovely creations posted by our design team and if you're feeling inspired to create something based on this week's theme, leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Sweet Shop Challenge

So much creating this week!! I love it but it feels like I don't have enough days in the week to post all of the fun images I've been playing with! Today's image is a darling camper, a relatively new Sweet 'n Sassy image, that I just love. (And you should see the tent and camping accessories that go along with it! Love 'em all!!) I have to say that I was so excited when Korin announced the camper image because I'd been eyeing this darling camping paper at Wholly Scrap for weeks but couldn't justify buying it because...well let's face it...I'm not exactly the camping kind of gal. (Although you could easily talk me into spending a weekend in a camper...as long as all bears would be removed from the premises.) As soon as I saw this image, I waltzed into Wholly Scrap and bought one of each of the paper designs! Just like that! And guess what? It was fun!! LOL! My sketch is from this weekend's Sweet Shop post, which I only slightly altered by putting the ribbon across the middle of my card vs. the bottom. I added some paper hills for my camper to rest on, using the plain and textured side of Bazzill cardstock to separate the layers. The rest of my card is a ode to that glorious camping paper from Three Bugs in a Rug. (Love their stuff!) My craft room is calling me...more class samples to make...so I'm off! Enjoy today's card and get on over to The Sweet Shop. You could win prizes!! Well...What are you waiting for...get going...

Monday, March 29, 2010

Don't Worry, Bee Happy!

I hopped on over to Splitcoast this afternoon to check out today's challenges and realized that today is the CAS (Clean and Simple) challenge day...WooHoo!! Since I love CAS challenges and creating in the pouring rain...well, not creating in the rain but on a day when it's pouring rain outside....I decided to toss together a quick card while the children were engaged in mind stimulating exercises (aka playing a computer game...hey, sometimes a Mom needs to do what a Mom needs to do to get a card created...).
Today's challenge was to create a card using a sketch, which makes life oh so much easier when one is short on time. (The computer games only entertain them for so long...right now our youngest is flipping out, he claims to be bored, "I'm so bored, look at me, I'm just hanging here" and "please, give me meatballs to eat" Yeah, yeah, yeah kid your Mother will play and feed you in short order...I have a blog post to finish doggoneit!) I've had these sweet "bee-lightful" Sweet 'n Sassy images printed out and ready to color for days and this set, Bee Happy, had the perfect size images for today's sketch. Since it is pouring rain outside - again - I needed to create something Spring-like to get my mind out of its rain-induced comatose state. After coloring the images with my Copics, while the oldest agonized over his subtraction problems (I helped him when he got stuck...really I did), I cut them out with Nestibilities and grabbed some delightful DP from Jillibean Soup, purchased from my favorite local scrapbook store, Wholly Scrap. (That was one serious run on sentence!) Ribbon is from Papertreyink and the black background was embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder. Oh, I used a kraft knife to cut out the bee's wings, popped them up, and added some Stickles (fun!!)
OK, I think dinner is burning and if I don't get this kid some meatballs he's not going to be happy and no one wants to upset a three-year old...They're way crankier than two-year olds. As a matter of fact, I don't believe there's such a thing as the terrible twos. However, there are definitely some torturous threes!!! Enjoy today's card!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Keep it Simple Sunday

How about another clean and simple card created using rub ons? Yeah!! This card follows one of my favorite layouts...the bizillion squares layout. I just love using four different patterns or textures next to each other on a card. It's quick, it's funky, it's just plain fun! For this card I used some of my Cuttlebug embossing folders for three of the squares and then a whole lotta thanks rub on from American Crafts, which is part of a sale pack I picked up at Wholly Scrap. Not a ton of explanation needed for this card so tonight's post is going to be short and sweet!! Enjoy and have a blessed Sunday!!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Sukkersot & Sweet 'n Sassy Sketch Challenge

Hey there fellow stampers! It's been a busy crafting week this week and I'm so excited to tell you that Sweet 'n Sassy is sponsoring not one but two sketch challenges today! The first is an international site, in Norway, called Sukkersot. They have the most amazing team of designers and we're thrilled to be a participating in their challenge! I opted to do the Sukkersot sketch challenge, which is listed below, and I used this darling Asian Doll image from Sweet 'n Sassy on my card and she's been paired with a saying from the Flower Sentiments set. This lovely DP is from Graphic 45, a paper collection that is carried at Wholly Scrap.The second sketch challange we're hosting is with Friday Sketchers and you can find that sketch and samples here. (I'm going to have to try and get a card created for this sketch too...I just love sketches!!) Be sure to hop on over to both sites to check out the wonderful sketches and beautiful artwork! Enjoy!

Digi Day Equals Free Digis!!

It's time for another fabulous Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Day over at Scrapbook News and Review! Todays' theme is BABY! Create a card with a baby theme and you'll be entered into a drawing for a few digi image from Sweet 'n Sassy but that's not all...Korin has posted a free digi for anyone who is a member of our SNR group! And it's a perfect image for today's challenge, a darling baby buggy. For my card I used the Precious Baby image from Sweet 'n Sassy...Isn't it darling! I love the clotheline and teeny ladybug walking across. This image is available for download for only $3.50 and includes one sentiment that says "welcome precious baby." I opted to leave the sentiment off of the front of the card and will use it on the inside of the card since this will go to a friend of mine who just had a baby girl a few days ago. Ahhh....I've been having baby thoughts lately...Must be because our youngest is almost four, already! But my husband has refused my "let's adopt a baby girl" requests so I may have to just get a puppy or something... LOL! Well we've had a late start this morning so I'm off to get on with the chores of the day! Be sure to click here to go directly to the Sweet 'n Sassy group page and challenge details!
Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Sweet Shop Challenge

The Sweet Shop posted a new sketch on Saturday (every Saturday is Sweet Shop day!) and this week there was a twist included with the sketch challenge....to add something fuzzy to your card. What fun!! The other fun thing is that if you create a card for the challenge, and add your name to the Mr. Linky list, you'll be entered into a drawing for three free digi images from Sweet 'n Sassy!! Who doesn't love free product!!??
I wasn't sure what I was going to make fuzzy (can you find the fuzzy element??) on my card but I finally found a perfect image or I should say images as my card was created using two different sets of images; this darling frog, named Fenton, and his pond "accessories", included in the Flyin' By set. I paired my images with a hysterical sentiment from the Princess Seeks Frog set, which includes three frog-themed sentiments for only .99! All of my images were colored with Copics, cut out and attached with foam tape for lots of dimension! (My class attendees have started laughing at me because there isn't a card I create that doesn't include foam tape...I just can't live without some kind of height on my cards! LOL!) In addition to my fuzzy element I also added glossy accents to the Fenton's spots and Stickles to the dragonfly's wings. This fab paper is from the new Basic Gray line, which I picked up at Wholly Scrap and the rhinestones are from Kaiser.
Hop on over to The Sweet Shop to get the sketch and participate in this week's challenge! Enjoy!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Keep it Simple Sunday

Today's Tip: Utilize rub ons and some of those fancy Cuttlebug tools to
create a super quick card!
A few months ago I picked up a darling package of American Crafts rub ons from Wholly Scrap. They were on sale and I think I paid a whopping $2.00 for them...my kind of price! The package came complete with a bunch of darling rub ons; lady bugs, sweet sayings, birds...all in bright, cheery colors.
This card was so easy to make I'm not sure an explanation is necessary! I used the swiss dots embossing folder for the background and Nestibilities dies for the cut out frames. I submitted this card for publication, didn't get picked, but I thought it was kind of cute....humm....I guess my opinion isn't the one that counts when being published! LOL! Well I hope you, my little blog audience, enjoy it! Have a wonderful evening!!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Hey, Hey, It's Digi Day!

Well...it was digi day...yesterday! :-) On the weeks that I have a SALT challenge, I'm a day behind for the Sweet 'n Sassy digi day over at Scrapbook News & Review. Every Thursday, you have the opportunity to participate in the challenge and win FREE digital images from Sweet 'n Sassy!! And have you seen all of the new images that have been uploaded...they're wonderful!! Check them out here! This week's challenge was to use an Easter theme on your card. I've had this lovely cross image colored and waiting in my stash of images for the past few weeks. As soon as I heard the challenge, I knew I had the perfect image ready to go! I kept the card layout fairly simple to keep this beautiful image front and center. The paper is some left over SU! paper I had lying around and how about that ribbon? A throw back to my beginning SU! days...I haven't used the narrow grosgrain ribbon in ages! But it was the perfect color match, no? :-) Hope your day is sunny and bright, as it's been here in NH this week! We've had the windows open, the kids have been outside playing until dark, and we're hopeful that soon the water table will go down so our basement will be void of all water! LOL! Enjoy! PS - I had a few questions about how I created the background of my card yesterday (behind the tree) and it was created by using the 'direct to paper' technique, which is bascially just swiping the ink pad across the paper. I found this particular technique on Michelle Zindorf's blog. Also, my layout yesterday came from this week's Card Patterns sketch!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

SALT Challenge - Penitence

Lythan provided the SALT team with today's challenge - "Penitence" and she made the following comments on the SALT blog, "I would put simply as "being aware of what we have done wrong and seeking God's forgiveness" or having a sense of regret for sin and wanting to make a sincere change. The focal reading for me is this one 1 John 1:8-9 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." What does it mean to be aware of our wrong doing and of the forgiveness we receive through Jesus Christ? How can we sincerely make a change in our lives? Our challenge reminded of a song by Jewel in which she sings, "if we want to be forgiven, we must first believe in sin." It's true...Based upon conversations with many friends over the years, I don't think most people see themselves as all that bad. One of my favorite lines is, "well I've never killed anyone." It's like that's God's only criteria for determining whether someone is "good" or not. Or we compare ourselves to those around us and figure that most of the time we behave better. I mean I give to the poor, use fabric grocery bags instead of plastic, am faithful to my spouse, that's enough, right? This turns the gospel of Christ on it's ear...assuming that God has some giant chart up in heaven where He keeps track of all the good and bad things that you do and as long as the good things outweigh the bad, then you're in! The truth is we're all far worse then we even realize. And even one little sin, one small transgression is enough for God to cast us into hell. It's His great love and mercy that offers us hope....that hope is Christ. Spurgeon, in one of his Morning and Evening devotions, says the following, "It is true that our Lord Jesus does redeem all His people from the wrath to come; He saves them from the fearful condemnation which their sins had brought upon them; but His triumph is far more complete than this. He saves His people 'from their sins.' Where Christ works a saving work, He casts satan from his throne, and will not let him be master any longer. Sin will (continue to) be in us - it will never be utterly expelled till the spirit enters glory - but it will never have dominion. Sin will never get the upper hand so as to be absolute monarch of our nature. Is sin subdued in you? If your life is unholy your heart is unchanged, and if your heart is unchanged you are an unsaved person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you, given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, He has done nothing in you of a saving character. The good news is that "if we confess our sins, Christ is faithful to forgive us our sins." This is a most powerful verse for me for it is the one that God used to bring about real change in my own heart. Salvation isn't based upon a set number of good acts, it's based solely upon the work of Christ, Who came to save His people not in their sins, but from them. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." If not saved from sins, how shall we hope to be counted among His people? If you feel lead to create something based on this week's topic, please leave us a comment on the SALT blog with a link back to your blog or gallery. We'd love to share in your creation. See the SALT blog to see how the design team explored the challenge.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Sweet Shop Challenge

It's time for another Sweet Shop sketch challenge! This week I'm using an adorable Cocoa image paired with a boatload of chocolates (I thought they were cupcakes! LOL!) and this sweet birthday themed paper from s.e.i., which I purchased at Wholly Scrap. All of the paper on my card is from this same line, love how the patterns work so well together! My sweet partying Cocoa is called Cocoa's Chocolates and can be purchased from Sweet 'n Sassy for a mere $3.00! For my background, behind Cocoa, I cut out two Nestie label shapes and then embossed them with a swiss dot embossing folder before joining them with foam tape. My original intention was to cut out two sizes because I didn't know which one I liked more...turns out I liked them both!! The happy birthday sentiment is also from Sweet 'n Sassy, a set that contains four birthday sentiments for only .99! My little flowers are from SU! Be sure to head over to The Sweet Shop to see all of the wonderful creations submitted by the design team! In other, non-stamping related, news...We were flooded out here in New England this weekend. I think we got over five inches of rain in a day and a half! Thought I'd share a few photos of the flooding...It's more dramatic if you live here and realize just how high the water is!
We live about a block from a river that winds through a good part of our county and eventually makes it's way to the ocean. The benches in this photo are typically 15-20 feet from the water's edge and the cream colored house across the river...they have a 6-8 foot foundation that is under water. The newer houses on that side of the river are built on huge foundations to allow water to run right through them. Unfortunately, that little brown house (a vacation home I think) doesn't have such a foundation is looks to be half under water. Folks from this side of the river were being rescued by boat yesterday afternoon. This is on the other side of the river where you can see that the river has overflowed it's banks. That house off in the distance is usually 15 or so feet from the river's edge.
This house is on the corner of the street that leads into our neighborhood. They usually have a tiny stream, which doesn't even exist in the summer, in their backyard. The river is running right through their basement and is about a foot from flowing right over the bridge. Just last week the river level was so low you could see the ground in some areas. The river by us is typically pretty narrow.
And here's the river running through our basement!! Ugh! It's not really the river but I guess the water table got so high that water started to find it's way into our basement through any tiny crevice. We've never had water in our basement so we were a bit shocked and not prepared to deal with it...Had to make the emergency sump pump run, which has managed to take out about half of the water. Not a ton ruined since most of our storage stuff is in plastic bins but we lost some good furniture and my hubby lost some parts from the Power Wheels, which he repairs and sells.
However, we are thankful that the damage wasn't worse and that the sun is shining today!! Looking forward to having a drying out time! Enjoy today's sketch!!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Keep it Simple Sunday

Nothing makes me crankier than to finish an entire blog post and have it disappear upon hitting the publish button...sigh...So folks, this is the abbreviated version! :-) This is a card that I'm going to be demonstrating this week at a coloring class I'll be teaching at Wholly Scrap. We'll create cards using Copic markers, watercolor crayons, pencils, and chalks. This is a lovely flower from Hero Arts, the Blossoms set, that was colored with Copics. The background was created by stamping a solid image, in dark brown ink, onto kraft cardstock. I then used a blending tool and distress ink to add more depth around the edges. I really like the way the bright color of the flower contrasts with the dark background. A simple hello, stamped on twill, finished off my card! Enjoy!! PS - It was my "baby's" sixth birthday this weekend...how in the world did six years go by so quickly?? And how did he get so darn cute?? See his little friend next to him? She was born just two weeks before he was...closer to his due date than hers! My dear friend, her mom, and I were pregnant at the same time, for both of our children so now our kid's birthdays are just weeks apart. Love that...

Friday, March 12, 2010

Faux Stitching Tecnique

Here's a sample of a technique card that I'll be teaching at at class tonight, along with this card and this card. We've started a new PMS (that would be Pizza, Music, and Stamping) class at Wholly Scrap and tonight is our first class! I'm looking forward to hanging out with the girls from the store and teaching them a few new techniques. Since many of the customers at Wholly Scrap are, well, scrapbookers, it's been fun to teach many of them the basics of stamping. (Yes, I am actively working to get them hooked on stamping! LOL!) This is a quick and easy card that showcases the faux stitching technique, one of my favorites, along with a darling deer image from TPC Studio. To highlight the image, I cut out a decorative shape with my Nestibilities and used a little ink for shading before adhering my deer with dimensional foam tape. A button and some twine were my finishing touches! Enjoy! And if you're in the NH, ME, or MA area check out the class schedule at Wholly Scrap, we'd love to have you visit!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

It's Digi Day!!

It's a Sweet 'n Sassy digi day over at Scrapbook News & Review! Today, the challenge was to use birds in your creation and although I failed to include a bird, I did make a card using a branch that could be used for a bird's nest...let's just say that Ms. Bird is currently out looking for twigs to build her house and a few worms for dinner! :-)
This fabulous Sweet 'n Sassy digi image is called Cherry Blossom Branch and is available for only $3.00! I have to say that this is one of my favorite SNSS images...I've seen a lot of branch images lately, and even own one, but they're all too small for my taste. This baby has some umph to it! The branches are wide enough to easily color and the flowers large enough to add shading. And of course the joy of digital images is that you can can make the image as large or small as you'd like! My sentiment is part of a new set of Happy Birthday themed sayings from Sweet 'n Sassy that includes four birthday greetings for only .99! My card layout is from this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge and my paper...oh dear my paper...is more of that oh-so-fabulous Jillibean Soup paper from Wholly Scrap! Yes, it's the same paper I used in my last post...I just can't help myself, I love those orange polka dots and the pale yellow floral papers together...divine, I tell you, just divine! My last little embellishment was to add tiny rhinestones, from Taylored Expressions, to the middle of each flower.
Head over the the Sweet 'n Sassy SNR page for your FREE digi download and to post a card for today's challenge where you have an opportunity to win more free digital images! Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The Sweet Shop Challenge - SSS46

It's time for another Sweet Shop sketch challenge! I'm keeping with the Spring theme this week, especially as we're experiencing beautiful 60 degree, sunny weather this week! The kids are in their glory, finally able to run and play outside without coats! It was a joy to see them so excited to be outside yesterday. Today my card features an adorable toadstool digi image, aptly named Toadstool (available for only .99), from Sweet 'n Sassy. The paper is a new line that just arrived at Wholly Scrap from Jillibean Soup that features polka dots, sweet farm images, and even a music sheet from the song Old McDonald. Can't wait to showcase more of this fun paper line! Hop on over to The Sweet Shop and check out all of the beautiful creations posted by the design team! And I'm going to open the doors and windows and breath in this amazing Spring weather!!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Keep it Simple Sunday

Today's card is a sample of a card that I'll be teaching at Wholly Scrap in a few weeks. The class is focused on different coloring mediums; we'll use Prismacolor pencils, Copic markers, watercolor crayons, and chalks. If you're in the New England area, check out the web site for class times and descriptions! This flower, an image from Hero Arts (a stamp company that is becoming one of my favs and that our store to starting to carry), was my first attempt at using Prismacolor pencils and while I'm certainly no expert, I love how they work! The feel of the pencils and how they blend is wonderful. While I'm certainly no Asela Hopkins (her coloring skills ROCK!), it's obvious that with a small amount of practice my blending skills would improve. (When I'm looking at this photo it's obvious that I should have blended a little better! LOL! That's what I get for crafting at midnight! hee hee) I plan to use the pencils on more projects...I really like the softness of the pencils and think they work better with some images vs. markers. The background of the card was embossed with an embossing folder and the paper is from a new s.e.i. paper line called Happy Day. Button and twine is from Papertreyink and ribbon is from SU! I'll share the other cards from the class later this week (as soon as I make them!!!) ;-) Enjoy!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Day and CardPatterns Challenge

Today is the day for combining challenges!! (That's what happens when one is short on time! LOL!) Today's card combines the Sweet 'n Sassy digi day challenge posted on Scrapbook News & Review and the sketch layout from the CardPatterns blog. There is still time to participate in the SNR Sweet 'n Sassy challenge, which was to use pastel pink and yellow on a card. There is also a free digi download available for our members and opportunity to win more images for participating! My card is a little light on the pink color but it's in there...you just gotta do a little searching. :-) (It's found in that darling new sparkly paper from sei that I picked up at Wholly Scrap...I'm caving and have been shopping every time I'm at work...Houston, I think we have a problem!) My sweet sunflower image, Flower Bouquet, is a new digi image from Sweet 'n Sassy (available for only .99!), combined with just a portion of a sentiment from a retired acrylic set. This week's CardPatterns sketch is below, which is a sketch they're using to celebrate their anniversary!
I departed just a bit from the sketch by first creating a box, using my ScorPal to make embossed lines, for the four strips of paper to live in. My diamond shape was just two pieces of layered cardstock, the yellow being embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and my sweet flower bouquet was placed on top with dimensional tape. Be sure to head on over to the SNSS SNR page and the CardPatterns page for their challenges and giveaways!! Enjoy!!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

SALT Challenge - Keep Youself from Idols

It was my turn to set the challenge for the SALT team this week and I picked a doosey! (I confess that I enjoy diving deep into Scripture and being challenged with difficult topics, ideas, and beliefs.) So with that intro...I give you the topic, "Keep Yourself from Idols." Here's my write up from the SALT blog: I John 5:21, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." The idea for this week's challenge came to me by way of a short blurb from a church bulletin, titled "Me, Worship Idols?" The paragraph in the bulletin was from a book by Ed Welch, The Journal of Biblical Counseling in a section that deals with addictions. (I want to note that although this section from Mr. Welch's book is dealing with addictions, my goal is to focus more on how we create idols of the heart that may not be as outwardly noticeable). "One of the most common portrayals of the human condition, and one which captures both the in-control and out-of-control experiences of addictions, is the theme of idolatry. From this perspective, the true nature of all addictions is that we have chosen to go outside the boundaries of the kingdom of God and look for blessing in the land of idols. In turning to idols, we are saying that we desire something in creation more than we desire the Creator. This sounds like strange language to Western ears, but idolatry is perhaps the most dominant image in Scripture and it abounds in potential applications. Did you ever notice how many Biblical stories could be summarized with these questions? Who will you worship? The Creator or the created thing? God or man? The Divine King or worthless idols? The basic story line of the Old Testament is about people who find idolatry irresistible. Then God, ultimately through Jesus, comes to rescue His people out of their enslaving practices." One of the things that struck me from this writing is that I too frequently struggle with idolizing my work, keeping a schedule, or something I deem, based on my actions, as more important than Christ. When I get very busy, I have a tendency to have a "just a minute" attitude towards God. Thinking, "I'll pray and read just as soon as I finish this thing" and of course more and more things come into my day but I too often fail to make time to spend with God. And isn't that a form of idolatry? It reminds me of the text in Matthew 26:16, "for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his sown soul." At the end of the day, although God, through His providence, may bring many distractions into our lives, is anything as important as Christ? The good, or should I say great news, is that Christ came into the world to break the power of sin, to enable us to do those things that we're unable to do on our own, if we would simply seek Him in repentance and faith. If you feel lead to create something based on this week's topic, please leave us a comment on the SALT blog with a link back to your blog or gallery. We'd love to share in your creation!! Card details: Stamped images from Sweet 'n Sassy and paper from Bo Bunny, found at Wholly Scrap.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Trees of all Shapes and Sizes

Hi all! Guess what? I'm back with Internet service - yeah!!! Still no electricity but I'm thrilled to have Internet service, phones, and TV back! The town has said it will probably be another day or two until we have our electricity back on...so that will make a full week with us running the house on just generator power. Oh, and cooking on the grill...that's been kind of fun...the hubby doing the cooking and enjoying summer foods like burgers and hot dogs...yum! My craft room doesn't have power so I haven't had much crafting time this past week so I'm sharing another card that I'll be demonstrating at an upcoming Wholly Scrap Technique Class. This sample showcases the 'spotlighting' technique along with stamp images from TPC Studio, the Woodland Whimsy collection. I thought an image of trees would be perfect since we have so many trees down from the storm! Here's just one that is down across some power lines close to the store where I work...
This was the sight all over our area the day after the storm. In one of our neighboring towns, they had over 50 telephone poles down. We were fortunate to not have many down near our house....although I think we have enough branches down to make a few more free standing trees! Enjoy!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Happy Spring?

Hi all! Have you missed me? ;-) New England was hit with heavy rain and crazy winds (gusts up to 90 mph!) on Thursday evening and we've been without power ever since! Thankfully, we have a generator that is hard wired into our home so we have limited power, heat, and running water. No Internet though...cry, cry, cry. Today we're camped out at a friend's house, who has power, so we can work. We expect that the power will be out for a few more days but are holding out hope that maybe today our town will "be on the schedule" as my oldest said this morning! As for today's card, this is the Splitcoast sketch from last week and was actually the card I was working on when the lights went out! This darling image is from Sweet 'n Sassy, as well as the Happy Spring sentiment (although I'm not too sure Spring is that close yet!) The sweet watering can was colored with Copics, ribbon is Papertreyink.
Enjoy and I'll be back asap!