Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas ...........

in about 5 months.  But we're having Christmas in July.  I had a little trouble figuring out what I was going to make, but once I created this card, I came up with an idea for another card!

Here is my card:

This card is a mish mash of products.  I used a stamp that I was gifted.  It is somewhat like this set A Year of Flowers.  I used Stampin Up White Embossing Powder, the pine branch for the background and the from Ornamental Pine.  I watercolored the images with Zig Clean Brush Pens.  I wanted it to be more red, but with watercolor the red was diluted.  I like the way the color turned out though.

I've entered this card into the challenge at Cards in Envy.  I also entered it in the challenge at Christmasstampin

Thank you for stopping by and Merry Christmas (in July).  Tune in tomorrow for another Christmas project.

April

1 John 4:10  This is love:  not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Wonders with Washi - Use it - Don't Stash It!

Have you ever had one of those weeks?  You have a list of things you need to do each day.  Then - something unexpected comes up.  You didn't plan for that to happen, yet you still need that birthday card.  Here is a 'cheat' for your card making needs.  Use it sparingly.  :-)

For the quick and dirty method - skip the embellishments.  But if you just can't bring yourself to that clean and simple - add a few enamel dots and drop that puppy in the mail.

Here is the video!

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  Tune in tomorrow for Christmas in July.

Have a great day and be inspired.

April

Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us?

Please take a moment to pray for our world leaders that they look to a higher more wise power to guide and direct them.

Everything Summer Wrap Up

This week has been all about summer.  We started out on the beach and we end up looking in the window.  Dee has created the most adorable summer window scene.

Summer

Card Recipe: Window and Flower Box from Sizzix called Susan's Garden. Flowers from a Marvy punch and leaves from Sizzix sizzlits die. Window background embossed with a Sizzix Brick embossing folder. Cardstock is Authentique from Jenny at SBN Memories. Green cardstock in window background is a DCWV Marioosa stack 6x6.

Well that wraps up this week's summer theme.  Next week's theme might freak some people out.  It freaks me out!  Christmas in July.  I hope I am inspired because goodness knows my goal of making one Christmas card a week fell by the wayside about the second week of January.  ;-)

Have a great weekend.

April

Romans 8:18  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Summer is Flowers

Summer means flowers.  I used the Regarding Dahlias stamp by Stampin Up to create this cool card.

I used the new Stampin Up In Color Watermelon Wonder ink to stamp the dahlias.  The sentiments are from Paper Smooches.   I'm lovin this color and this stamp.  There are so many options for this stamp.

Thank you for stopping by the blog.

Have a great day and be inspired.

April

Matthew 6:33  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.

Summer Summer Summertime

This week's blog theme is all about Summer or Everything Summer.  Diane has once again outdone herself with the AI ladies.

Love Love Love his card.  And the umbrella popped up looks awesome.  These ladies are rockin it in the sunshine!

Thank you for stopping by the blog today.  Tune in tomorrow for some more summertime fun.

Have a great day and be inspired.

April

Psalm 33:18  But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.

WOYWW 319 - In Memory of Eliza.

It's Wednesday which means that it's time to take a picture of my work area and share it on Julia's Stamping Ground.  Then I am going to go surfing from desk to desk to check out all the desks across the world.

Eliza, one of the dedicated deskers passed away suddenly this past week.  I will always remember her great pictures of Yoda and he always supportive comments on my blog.

Here is what my desk looks like:

I have been playing with my new Fuse tool and trying out a no line watercolor technique.  There are just so many things I need to do and so many things I want to try.  There's just not enough time in the day.  :-)

Thank you for stopping by the blog today.  Tune in tomorrow for some more summertime fun.

April

2 Timothy 1:7  For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Please pray for the leaders throughout all the world that they be guided by a higher power and make decisions based on the good of all their people.

It's a Summer Thing - I Think You Understand

It's all about summer this week on the blog.  Summer is probably one of the most popular seasons.  There is sun and fun.  Beach time, picnic time, play time, school's out -  what's not to love!

Here is my contribution to this week's theme.  I have a flip flop thing as you will see.  Well maybe you won't.  I will explain in a minute:

I used paper designed by Lori Whitlock for Echo Park (I believe).  I used my new Fuse from HSN to create the shaker part of the card.  The sequins are from my stash as is the cardstock.  

I think my acetate flip flops get lost in the printed paper.  I used a die set from The Stamps of Life to make the flip flops.  Diane suggested I add Wink of Stella to them, but both of mine seem to be stopped up.  The sentiment is from the Stamps of Life, too.

Thank you for stopping by the blog today.  Tune in tomorrow for WOYWW.

Have a great day and where ever you are - be there.

April

1 Samuel 2:2  There is no one holy like the Lord;  there is no one besides you;  there is no Rock like our God.

Everything Summer!

This week's blog theme is everything summer.  If it's related to summer - it is this week's theme.

Sherry kicks off the week with her cute card from the Silhouette Store.

I would feel better once I received this card - wouldn't you?  You can find the crab at the Silhouette Design Store.

This is a great start to our summer theme.  Tune in tomorrow for some more summer fun.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a great day and be inspired.

April

Phillipians 4:8  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Use it! - Don't Stash it!

Hi, my name is April and I'm a craft hoarder.  I believe they say acknowledgement is the first step to curing a problem.  Problem is - I don't want to be cured.  I'm a craft hoarder and I like it!

I do, however, want to use my crafty stash.  So I am sharing my adventure with my crafty hoarding friends.  If you're not a craft hoarder - it's okay - no judging here.

I created some cards using the embellishments I created with my new Anna Griffin Minc.

How gorgeous are those foil butterflies?

Here is the video sharing my experience with the Minc.

Don't be afraid!  Open those boxes full of crafty goodness!  Get crafting.

Thank you for stopping by the blog today.  Tune in tomorrow for some Summer Fun.

April

Proverbs 20:22  Do not say "I'll pay you back for this wrong!"  Wait for the Lord and he will avenge you.

Everyone say a prayer for the leaders of our nations that they look to a higher power for guidance and wisdom.

Peeps Wrap Up

I have one more people project to share with you to wrap up this week's theme.  She is a cutie from Fun Stampers Journey.

Check her out:

I used a mixture of tools from multiple companies.  The image from the Capture the Moment Stamp set from Fun Stampers Journey.  I used Tombow Watercolor Markers to color her.  I used a die set called On Film Framelit Dies from Stampin Up.

 This little stamp is from Technique Tuesday.  Is it ADORBS or what?

I'm just loving this stamp.  She doesn't require a lot of coloring because she is a small image.  Probably about 2 x 3.5.  You will be seeing her quite frequently on my cards.  :-)

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  I hope you found some inspiration with the people projects this week.  People are the hardest thing for me to color so it was a nice challenge.  Tune in tomorrow for a demonstration of the Anna Griffin Minc machine.  I am going to FOIL the world!  And tune in next week for the theme 'All Things Summer.'

Have a great day and be inspired.

April

Psalm 51:12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Please pray for the wisdom and strength of the leaders of all our nations that they look to a higher more noble power to guide them.  Let them be driven by the needs of their people and not greed.

More Peeps and Not the Sugary Kind

Is sugary a word?  Well it didn't squiggly line it, so it must be.

The card I have today features a stamp set from Stamping Bella.  It is perfect for a card to send to one of your crafty friends.

I used Zig Clean Brush Markers to color the Callista loves to craft stamped image.  The paper is Limeade Splash from Fun Stampers Journey.  I used dies from My Favorite Things.

For the Zig Clean Brush Markers - I stamp the image on watercolor paper with a water resistant ink like Versafine Onyx Black Ink.  For this image I didn't add any water - I just used the markers as is.  I LOVE these markers.  I started with the set of 24 trying to be conservative.  I wish I had purchased the full set of 60 now.  Oh well, I have some more on order.  They sell them individually so I can supplement my collection.

Tune in tomorrow because I have another fun people card.

Thank you for stopping by today.  Have a great day and be inspired.

And it is NASCAR weekend in Kentucky.  Even better than that - my favorite driver - Carl Edwards is driving the MINION car!  I am going to have to make some minions in honor of the occassion!

April

1 John 3:18  Dear children, let us not love words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Pray for the world leaders that they be guided by a higher power and work towards the good of all people of the world.