Very humbled to accept this Honor....

The last post told you about the new site WTWSJ and invited you to take a look and perhaps follow the group. Korin Sutherland has passed an honor to me for exalting Christ on my blog. Receiving this award brought tears to my eyes because I don't begin to feel worthy. I have met so many wonderful Christian women who share my love of the Lord and express themselves more eloquently than I.

I have looked at many wonderful blogs written by sisters in Christ and pass this along to some of the members who have touched my life in some way. I wish that all my dear friends were a part of this wonderful site so that I could include them as well.

Here are the details about this award:

"The Exalting Christ Blog Award is given to bloggers who consistently exalt the name of Christ on their blogs. What a joy to see crafters blend their passion for Christ and paper crafting. This award is given to bloggers who share Christ through their posts or through the design of their artwork. We are commanded in Scripture to be 'salt and light' sharing the Good News of Jesus no matter where we are (Matthew 5:13-16). This award is just a way members of Women to Women: Sharing Jesus can say thanks for exalting Christ with us!

Rules:Post the blog award in a regular post on your blog with the explanation, including the original link to WTW and the rules for passing the award along

1. Name five people to whom you want to offer this award and link to their blogs. The blogs need to obviously exalt Christ in some manner.

2. Contact the bloggers you have named to let them know they can pick up their blog award from you.

3. Invite them to permanently display the WTW blog badge and/or the award on their blogs. The badge can be obtained on the WTW site."

I am thrilled to pass this award on to the following 5 dear sisters in Christ:

Chris Olsen
Christi
Judy
Betty
Michelle Bradford

Please take a look at the lovely blogs these Sisters in Christ have created!

I have been honored!

To have friends you must first be a friend and I am so honored to be called Friend! Many people touch our lives and have become our friends, so I too will take the time to honor some of my stamping friends with this award. If I could I would name many, many more who have become my friends through stamping. This is for all of you! Thank you to all who encourage, advise and help me along my stamping adventure!

Here is the text to be included with the award and it is to be passed on to 8 others. This award comes from Ceal and I have to give it to her because she has become one of my dear friends who encourages my work, gives me Christian love and support in life and I have come to cherish her. Thank you Ceal! The other 7 are listed in no particular order:
Chris
Becky
Linda
Grace
Shirley
Teresa
Heidi
Please check these lovely ladies' blogs, they offer encouragement, advice and friendship.



I was also honored with an award from Grace who sent me this Brilliante Blog award. She has a fabulous blog so be sure to check it out if you aren't familiar with it. Thank you Grace!
Now, the rules for receiving this award:
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. On your blog, link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Put links of those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated
What a great way to share with the rest of blogland some great blogs they might not have seen yet and might just really want to visit again and again! So here are my nominees:
Deb
Jackie
Chris
KathyJ
Denise
Wendy
Ann

CPCM Saturday Artist: Ceal

One of my favorite people is Ceal who is the Christian Paper Craft Magazine featured Saturday artist. I have CASED one of the cards from her blog changing the slightly different color, backgound and sentiment. I used one of the CB border folders in Just my Style on a Groovy Guava SU long note. I stamped SNS Dream Silhouette flowers in the Groovey Guava onto white cs and stamped the sentiment from SNS Be Still in Close to Cocoa matching the trim. The ribbon is Coffee from JoAnn's and used Antique Hodgepodge Hardware instead of a bow. The peace that Ceal's card evokes spoke to my heart and this is what evolved..."Peace be still and know that I am God". Do you have that Peace that only comes from God? It is a wonderful feeling that will bring you through many trials and difficult times. Blessings to all!

Challenges

This was made for SNS' DT Monday challenge to use Scripture. Once again I took apart a card that was started at a swap and now that I changed it, I'm not so sure it is any better but it certainly has more detail with adding the Basic Grey Two Scoops dsp. The stamp is from SU Occasions Mini called Soft Summer. The card design was actually supposed to look like the example in the catty, but you know me, I had to change it!! I made mine into a Mother's Day card with a Bible verse, both from SNSS Special Women and Rejoice in the Lord. The ribbon came with the basic card supplies and i added the K&CO. jewels to pick up the deeper shades. Ink used is SU Rose Red for the words and Regal Rose for the rest. This card also fits the criteria to list it on the new Christian Paper Crafts Magazine site. If you haven't been over to see it, you really should. This site glorifies the Lord through creativity, sharing, praying and joy of Christian Crafters. A link can be found on my side bar.

The criteria for this card is from SCS's Ways to Use challenge this week to make a white card. I chose the CB Textile folder to emboss the front, added Prima Hydrangea flowers in pale shades with SU pink rhinestone brad centers. The ribbon is from Michael's, Marvy scallop punches, BG paper, SU Whisper White cs & Regal Rose ink. The words are from SNSS Special Women and True Friend. The sketch is from Cupcake Craft Challenges also on my side bar, another fun challenge for you to try.
I'll probably make a few more Mother's Day cards to send to some very dear friends. My mother is at home with the Lord and never saw any of my cards as she passed away before I began this wonderful hobby, but I know she would have cherished them as she did all the cards I sent! We had a very special relationship and she was a wonderful Christian woman who shared her faith daily. Distance kept us from seeing each other as often as we would have liked so we talked every day and did so until the day she went home to be with the Lord. I was able to get there and hold her hand as she went home, I know she heard my voice.

Paper Blooms Earth Day Challenge

Paper Blooms challenge for Earth Day was to recycle something for use on your card. Does this flower look familiar? I took the card I recently made apart to save the flower and ribbon for this card which was supposed to be for Paper Blooms 3rd challenge.....This is the first chance I had to make the 5 B's challenge, went to upload and found the challenge ended yesterday. So I am entering it for this week's challenge instead! I decided that I liked Pacific Point as a base, placed my blossom and ribbon on it, then added the word 'bloom' and 2 layered butterfly with gem body for interest. My stamps are SU: Bloomin' Beautiful, From the Garden and Flight of the Butterfly, ink and cs is Pacific Point. The flower is colored in Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Basic Brown. The gems are Doodlebug's Blue Jeans Jewels, Stickles and ribbon finish the card. I saved the cs from the original card to use again for something else, no waste here. I love scraps and use almost every piece of paper I can.
Thanks for taking a look and leaving a comment.

Color challenge, wrong stamp, lessons learned....

The color challenge on SCS this week is Bordering Blue, So Saffron and Pink Pirouette. Easy, I thought, pretty colors. Perhaps it would have been, had I chosen a different stamp to use, but after I colored and cut out the large flower (SU's From the Garden) I wasn't happy with the cs base. The blue just didn't look right, so I went with the saffron after running it through the CB with the Swiss Dots folder although I still don't like the look, something dark would really have made the flower stand out. However, I stuck to the colors but may tear it apart and finish it differently now that it's entered in the challenge. This is one neglected stamp among many and thought I would give it some use. I stamped it in Basic Brown on Whisper White using Pink Pirouette to color the petals and So Saffron with a touch of Certainly Celery for the leaves. I added yellow Stickles to the center and Diamond to the rest to add a little dewy sparkle, although the scanner didn't pick this up. No sentiment because I'm not sure how I will use this card.

Thinking Embossed Thoughts: 2 for 1

This weeks Creative Belli Challenge is to use some form of embossing on the card and the Monday SNS Design Team challenge is to make a "Thinking of You" card. I combined the two using the CB Paisley Folder to emboss the front of my Mellow Moss card which I then scalloped the edge using matching SU dsp to show beyond the scallop. I picked up the other colors in the dsp: Pretty in Pink for the scalloped trim with a strip of dsp down the center, a Paisley die cut punched with my CM shape maker and Tempting Turquoise ink for the sentiment from SNSS Sweet Gretchen. I added a finishing touch of Dew Drops.

Cupcake Craft Challenge #35: one layer

This week's Cupcake Craft Challenge is to use only one layer of cardstock beside your image layer adding all the embellishement you care to use. I made this card at a friend's and thought it was perfect for this challenge. It is all Stampin' Up: Brocade Blue base and strip, Whisper White embossed with Background Texturz Plate on the Big Shot, silver embossing on the heart and sentiment, white ribbon and stick pin, pearls and crystals from the Pretties Kit & heart punch. Stamps are from Polka Dot Punches and Holidays and Wishes.

Cello Bag Topper

The Creative Belli Challenge this week is to use our cello bags. I made this topper to 'top off' my gift for a friend who adores chocolate especially 'very good' chocolate. I can't scan the Harry and David Dark Chocolate Truffles I bought for obvious reasons so I am only showing the topper. Naturally, I chose Sweet'n Sassy's "Chocoholic" stamp set coloring and mounting thechocolate pieces with dimensionals. I used the SU Top Note Die in reverse making it a frame for my patterned paper. The edges are stamped front and back with the small pieces of chocolate candy. I know that my friend will be very happy with her gift!

SNS April Sketch and CAS challenges

The CAS challenge was easy and combined with SCS's Color Challenge: So Saffron, Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa. For this I used Bashful Blue cs with coordinating blue stripe, So Saffron Ribbon and Close to Cocoa ink for the verse from SNSS Rejoice in the Lord. My card is actually 5x5, but the scanner only picked up part of it, not sure why! I added a flower punched from the three colors and finished with a rhinstone brad.


The sketch challenge is designed by Suzy. I chose SNSS Sweet Dreams stamp set stamped on white cs, colored and mounted on the SU dsp to add dimension to the card. The colors are Blush Blossom, Bashful Blue and Mellow Moss. I used the D'vine Swirl CB folder to emboss the card base.

It seems like I am only able to enter a few challenges these days, but I'm hoping to have more time again soon.

Sweet'n Sassy April Release Challenges

Chris' challenge is to use birds somewhere on your card. My card base of So Saffron was embossed with Birds & Swirls CB folder. I chose the SNSS sets of Rejoice for the verse and His Eye is on the Sparrow for the image panel on watercolor paper. I colored it with SU markers and mounted it on Close to Cocoa which I used on the verse as well. I added Easter Blessings from the SU set Flexible Phrasesand sponged Soft Sky on the background. 'His Eye...'is fast becoming a spring favorite of mine and use it every chance I can. I sing the hymn silently each time I think of this set as it has been special to me since childhood.

I have finished two of the 4 challenges. I was going to wait until all were finished to upload, however, our new ISP is in & out so I'd better upload now. The challenge is a color challenge for Sandy: blue, orange and green. The closest I could come to the shades she gave are these papers from Basic Grey Cupcake Collection. I made a birthday card using SNS Birthday Wishes stamp set inked in SU Brilliant Blue (same cs base color), orange ribbon and the balloon paper layered on matching green paper.

A Very Pink Birthday!

This week's color challenge on SCS is to use Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, and Chocolate chip. I had started two cards using the pink and red a month or so ago and only completed one, so I already had the basis for this challenge. The base cs is white with the top layer scalloped and the bottom edged in some of the Bella Rose dsp. The top layer is textured Pink Pirouette stamped with Rose Red Craft ink and clear embossed using the Pretty Petals background stamp. The sentiment and inside are printed with words from SNS Birthday Wishes. I trimmed the card with Chocolate Chip ribbon, a fleurette flower in R.H. Red, Pink Piro. and white with a pink rhrinestone brad ceter. I really like the SNS Birthday Wished set because you are able to use the words to create whatever wishes you care to convey both inside and on the front. I find I turn to this set more and more.