Creative Journey

Together Forever - Paper Crafts Gallery Idol & RAK Winner!

Good afternoon!  Well, today is the day that Paper Crafts has revealed the fabulous creations by the 2009 Gallery Idol Top 20 contestants! I have to say that all of the projects had me catching my breath in awe. Everyone did such a wonderful job with their creations, and I'm sure that you'll be as inspired as I was when I had my first look at them!

Here's my submission for this first round which called for us to create a wedding themed card:

Here's a close-up:

I used a scalloped chipboard heart from Making Memories for the frame. I used crackle medium in order to get the shabby chic look that I wanted on the frame, and I stitched a border along the inside edge using my sewing machine. The card is layered with a piece of lace accented with pearls, two Melissa Frances glittered hearts that I accented with stitched borders, a floral embellishment from Melissa Frances, and two sentiment tags from K & Company. The light blue background paper, which is from Making Memories, has a flocked damask pattern that I love! The framed heart is mounted on cardstock that is folded on the left and opens from the right. I hand cut and distressed the cardstock so that it borders the scalloped shape of the heart. The quote on the second tag says: "You'll be in my heart from this day on now and forever more." My gratitude goes to Paper Crafts for the blessing and opportunity to share this creation with you! 

If you would like to vote for my card and help me advance to the next round of the contest, please go to the following link:

Christine's Gallery Idol Wedding Card

Please note that you will have to register and log in as a member in order to vote!  Voting has already opened today and will continue until this Thursday, July 9th, at 12:00 p.m. U.S. Mountain Time.

Now before I announce the winner of the RAK, I would like to thank all of you who participated this week and left such heartfelt and encouraging comments for me! I can't express just how much your thoughts and prayers have truly blessed me! I know the Lord hears the prayers of many, and I am humbled and so very thankful for having you lift me up in your prayers this week!

The winner, according to the random number generator, is:

 

After skipping Greta's post at her request, the winner left the following comment:

First...congrats on being in the Gallery Idol top 20! Your card is lovely!

Second...how wonderful it is to read your words about a time in your life when you could be worrying like crazy but instead you give it to God. Having such a great attitude will rub off on your family and is inspiring to your readers. Keep it up, even if things get tough!

Posted by: Tifany #5942 | June 30, 2009 at 08:41 AM

Congratulations, Tifany!

I will contact you by email to request your mailing address so I can send the goodies out to you! :)

One more thing before I sign off for today...I've been going through my mounds of paper crafting supplies and found this kit that I put together a while back. It contains one of my favorite collections from 7 Gypsies, and I am going to be sharing offering it up as a new RAK to celebrate the good news I've received this week (and because I really enjoy giving away things, too! LOL! ;-D). 

To have your name added to the drawing for this RAK, simply leave a comment here with a link to a post on your blog sharing this RAK giveaway with others! Please link back here in your blog post about this RAK.  Feel free to use any or all of the photos above in your blog post.

You will have until this Sunday, July 12th, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time to post your link here and be entered into the drawing. I will announce the winner next Monday, July 13th.

Thanks again for your support and prayers! I am so blessed and thankful for this online community of ours!

Have a wonderful week and may you all...

The View From Our Home - Creative Therapy & Good News!

Happy Sunday!  I hope you have all been enjoying your weekend! I have been blessed to have spent some time with my brother and sister-in-law and their kids along with our cousin and his family this weekend! We actually got together yesterday at the Scrap Retreat House and had a great time together. We had a barbeque, stayed up late, and watched a movie in the upstairs bonus room on the projection system. Almost all 12 of our kids had their sleeping bags and pillows set up in the room to enjoy the movie-like experience (okay, it really wasn't exactly like a movie theater, but I enjoyed having them all together enjoying the movie just the same! LOL!). I'm hoping that we'll be able to get together again soon! It seems like the time just goes by so quickly!

Well, today I'd like to share my project for this week's Creative Therapy catalyst. The question this week is:

What is your favorite thing about where you live?

Here's my project (which happens to be a digital layout):

When we first came to look at the model homes in our neighborhood, we weren't expecting to purchase a home here. Our intention was to get decorating ideas for our current home at the time. However, after waiting quite a while for my husband to return to the car, I realized that he truly liked the area. The neighborhood was set within the rolling hills of our town, and the homes on the hilltop had beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and the mountains miles beyond it in Riverside County. By God's grace, we were able to afford to purchase one of the homes upon the hill.

Since the day we called this place our home, one of my favorite things about living in our neighborhood are the views that we are blessed to see each day. We are able to enjoy beautiful sunsets from our living areas each cloudless evening, and in the winter we can even see the snowcapped mountains to the north of us. It is truly a treat and blessing to be able to enjoy God's creation and be mindful of His presence within the beauty of the what we see in the neighborhood where we live.

I hope you'll take the time join us this week and share what you like about your own neighborhood.

In other news...I did get some good news a couple of days ago! I got a letter from the radiology department informing me that after examining my mammogram, they didn't find any abnormalities! After reading it, all I could do was breathe a huge sigh of relief and thank and praise God with all my heart!

I just want to sent at big "THANK YOU" to everyone who has sent me such encouraging messages this past week and for taking the time to pray along with me! It has been such a blessing to me to have your support, and I truly thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Well, I hope you come back tomorrow to find out who the winner of my RAK will be! I will also be sharing my wedding card entry for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol then!

Thanks so much for visiting today! :)

An early Freebie Friday RAK!

Good morning! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend! Yesterday I spent the day enjoying the cool breezes and sunshine around the San Diego Harbor on a bike ride with my family. It was a gorgeous day, and we saw so many people out in their sailboats in the harbor enjoying the day like us. I treasure days like that when each and every one of our kids share the same feeling as us, and say, "That was a GOOD day!"

Well, I want to share new RAK with all of you today! I always enjoy giving things away because it really makes me happy to share these with you!

There's a full paper pack of Brenda Walton papers from K & Company, a Stampin' Up stamp set, a package of Making Memories double sided sticker letters (great for glitter and flocking), a vial of red glitter, an album cover set from Teresa Collins, some tags, rubons, die cut paper mats, and coordinating Prima flowers (plus a whole box of extra Prima flowers!).

I usually post my Frebbie Friday RAK's on the first Friday of the month, but there's a reason why this is early. I have to confess that the beginning of my weekend (which I usually consider begins on Friday evening when my husband steps into our home after work...LOL!) wasn't what I expected. Thankfully, with a few prayers and a change of perspective, I'm feeling a lot better!

Let me explain...and please forgive me if you think that some of this is TMI (too much information).  :)  I have shared on my blog that there has been quite a lot of changes that I've been working through this past month especially in regards to my health. I've been working with my doctor to try and reduce and/or get off of my blood pressure medications that I've been taking for over eight years (since our youngest son's birth). Thankfully, since my last doctor's appointment on the 15th, I've been able to discontinue one of my prescriptions. I was taking two medicines before I made many dietary and lifestyle changes which have helped to greatly improve my blood pressure.

However, during the same visit, my doctor noticed a couple of lumps in my left that were questionable. She asked whether they hurt at all, but I hadn't even noticed any pain (I'm so bad...I hadn't done a self-exam in months!). She said it was probably nothing to worry about, but she did want me to go have a mammogram taken since I hadn't done so yet since I turned 40 (yeah, she said she got me and said I couldn't get away with it again this year! LOL!)

Well, last Saturday (the 20th) I went to get the mammogram done. Then, on Monday, the 22nd, I got a call from the radiologist requesting that I come in again for more x-rays. I went in on Tuesday morning to have them done, and was assured by the technician that it was common for them to need additional images since it was my first set of mammograms. However, last Friday I got a notice in the mail requesting that I come in again this week for more, and needless to say, I've been concerned about it even more. So many things went through my mind, and I have to confess that I have been more than worried.

However, I am thankful to have such a supportive husband who has helped me keep from worrying too much by reminding me of God's grace and mercy in the past. I know that I need to hold fast to my faith in God to get me through the troubling thoughts that come up now and then when I think about this. Lord willing, it really isn't something to be concerned about, but if it turns out to be more, then we will remember to keep our trust in the Lord knowing that my life is always in His hands.

One of the thoughts I had was that maybe there was some mis-communication in the radiology department, and that the notice was a duplicate request for the second set of images that I already had taken last Tuesday. I called the radiology department on Friday evening to find out whether this may be the case, but all they could tell me was that I needed to call my doctor on Monday to find out whether she received the results and confirm whether I need to go have more x-rays taken. That information really didn't help me...sigh.

The funny thing about all this happening at that time was that I had already been praying about what I would do with my days this summer. We don't usually go on vacation during the summertime (we take them in the spring), and I had already felt that the Lord was asking me to spend more time on relationships...my relationship with Him, my husband, and our children...just appreciating and enjoying them. I had already decided to start packing my scrapbooking and card making supplies to have them put into storage at the scrap retreat house that morning. Then the notice came in the mail late that afternoon...what timing! :) If and when the desire to create arises, I'll simply have to make a trip out to the retreat house on a weekend when it's not being used! 

Anyway, after lots of support and encouragement from the family members and friends that I shared this with this past weekend, I felt so much better! The Lord truly knows who to send my way with the perfect words and Scriptures to remind me of His wonderful mercy and grace!

Stacey, the owner of Shimmerz, shared this particular verse with me, which happens to be a favorite of hers, and it brought tears to my eyes:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,

plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.

 Jeremiah 29:11

There were even a couple of sermons on the radio that greatly encouraged me during moments when fear and doubt began to creep into my thoughts again. I had so much peace that I really did enjoy the weekend with my family! What a blessing!

Thank you for taking the time to read all this...now you know what I've been up to, and why I've decided to posted my RAK early (and called it a June RAK instead of July). 

All I ask is that you post a comment on today's post and your name will be added to the drawing for the RAK. You will have until this Sunday, July 5th, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time to leave a comment. I will post the RAK winner on Monday, July 6th.

Have a great week, everyone! :)

Edited to add:

I just found out today that my name happens to be among the Top 20 for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest!  Whoooowee! What a wonderful blessing and honor! Funny how things happen, eh? LOL!  ;-D 

I suppose my paper crafting supplies will be out for another week for this event...LOL!  Thanks to the Paper Crafts judges for the opportunity to create for just a little while longer (and perhaps get my mind off of having to wait another week for my results and to know whether I actually need another set of images taken since my doctor happens to be away on vacation this week! Eeek! :-D ). 

Happy Birthday Card

Here's another birthday card that I haven't had a chance to share on my blog yet:

Happy Birthday Card
Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned papers: October Afternoon
Journaling tag: Creative Imaginations
Sentiment tag: Elle's Studio
Ribbon: Michael's
Rhinestones (center of flowers): Prima
Other: lace, rhinestones (Michael's)

I'm preparing for a month full of birthdays in July. Most of them are on my dh's side of the family:  my dh's birthday (on the 15th), my father-in-law's birthday (on the 13th), my brother-in-law (on the 21st), two nieces and two nephews (whose exact birthdates I don't remember at the moment...eek!). I'd better make sure that I have enough birthday cards to go around before next month!

I made a batch of chocolate ice cream today, and will be giving it a try tonight. I'm crossing my fingers that it comes out okay! The only difficult part is having to wait for the ingredients to cool down and having to freeze the bowl of the ice cream maker. It does take a while, and I'm just hoping that it's worth the wait! :)

Celebrate!

I hope you all have blessings that you can celebrate today! My time has been filled with so many new and different changes that I've been slowly incorporating into my life these past few weeks, and it has been challenging as I try to make these adjustments.  I've been spending much of my time trying to find and try new recipes that are dairy and gluten-free to try. If you happen to have any, I would love to know!

It's been a little over four weeks since the change in my diet, and I've already lost eleven pounds, and have more energy than usual except for today. Heehee! I had to get up early and have another set of mammograms taken early this morning. I've been assured by the radiology technician that it's common for them to request another set of x-rays, and I'm trying not to let my imagination get the better of me, but it would be nice to finally find out the results soon!

Because of all the time I've been spending trying to get healthier, I haven't done a lot of creating (thus the lack of posts on my poor blog). However, I did have time to create this card that I want to share with you today:

Celebrate Birthday Card
Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned paper, glittered alphabet stickers: K & Company
Notebook journaling page: Making Memories
Journaling tag: Creative Imaginations
Chipboard: Tattered Angels
Lace: Carolace
Shimmer spray: Shimmerz Spritz - Baby's Breath
Rhinestones, flowers: Prima
Corner, scalloped oval punches: Stampin' Up

I've also entered it into this year's Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Contest. I didn't think that I would enter again this year, but I thought that the challenge would motivate me to create something, anything, that I could share on my blog! LOL! ;-D    There are so many wonderful creations in the gallery, too (over 1,200 cards are posted there...WOW!!!)!  Go check them out, and be prepared to be amazed and inspired by the talent. There are so many gorgeous creations there that I'm not holding my breath this time.  However, it would be an honor and blessing to be chosen to participate in the Top 20 again this year (I made it to the Top 15 last year).  :-D

So have any of you entered the PC Gallery Idol contest as well? Please let me know so I can take a peek at your creations in the gallery! If you post a link to your card in the comments today, I would appreciate it so I can send you some lovin' in the gallery.  :)

One more thing...I just picked up this neat little gadget today:

 

It's an ice cream maker! Yes, I caved and bought one from Costco this morning! One of the things that I've been wanting to do with our kids during the summer is to make some homemade ice cream so I thought it would be a good time to try it this year (hmmmm....or maybe not! LOL!). I've already collected a few vegan ice cream recipes, and can't wait to try making some nutty coconut ice cream tomorrow (I just LOVE the nutty coconut ice cream from Baskin Robbins, but not all of its calories...hehehe!).  The bowl is already in our freezer preparing for the batch to be made. I just need to buy a couple more ingredients, and we'll be good to go. Unfortunately, our sons don't like coconut so there will be more for us...ahem...I mean, more for my dh and daughters to share! ;-D

I've heard these books are really good, too, and I'm trying to decide which one to order first:

If you have an recommendations for ice cream recipes or any tips on making ice cream, I would love to know! Please share them with me!

Thanks for visiting today!

Shimmerz RAK Winner!

I would like to thank everyone who participated in this week's Birthday Blog Hop for Shimmerz! It was so much fun, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!

As promised, here's the winner of the Shimmerz RAK that I posted last time (the set of three products including Angel Wings Shimmerz, Pixie Dust Blingz, and Bed of Roses Spritz), as determined by the random number generator:

 

Who happens to be the person who posted this comment:

Adorable card! I love the clustered flowers! :)

Posted by: Jana Eubank | June 16, 2009 at 09:32 AM

Congratulations, Jana!

I will be contacting you for your mailing address so that I can ship the RAK to you!

Thanks again to everyone for playing, and stay tuned this week for another giveaway from me! I've been going through my stash and have put together a kit that I hope you'll all enjoy seeing! If you want to make sure to be notified when I post it, please subscribe to my blog by entering your email in the box on the top of the right sidebar.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow as you all celebrate Father's Day with your loved ones, and may you all...

Happy Birthday, Shimmerz!!!

Good morning all!

It is such a blessing for me to be able to be a part of Shimmerz' birthday celebration today! I would like to send a heartfelt thanks to Stacey McElyea for having me as a guest design team member these past couple of months. I have enjoyed playing....um...I mean, using her Shimmerz products on my projects lately! ;-D  It's always so much fun to add an extra shimmer and shine to the things I create, and the Shimmerz, Blingz, and Spritz have been wonderful products to add that extra special sparkle!

I hope that you've arrived here from Amber Kroening's blog as we celebrate this event today! If you haven't arrived here from Amber's blog, please be sure to begin at the Shimmerz blog so that you can collect all of the secret words in order to form a special phrase for this event. You will also need to leave a comment on each person's blog along the way during this blog hop. Once you've visited everyone's blogs, left a comment, and have the correct phrase, email Shimmerz with your guess, and you'll be entered into a drawing for this Grand Prize of over $80.00 worth of Shimmerz products:

Well, since we're celebrating Shimmerz's birthday today, I'd like to share a card that I've created especially for this occasion:

I used three of my favorite Shimmerz products on this project, and would love to share it with you courtesy of Stacey McElyea and Shimmerz!  I will be having a random drawing for one person to receive the following products:

    Angel Wings Shimmerz (on the Prima flowers)
Pixie Dust Blingz (on the KI Memories lace paper)
Bed of Roses Spritz (on the chipboard frame)

If you leave a comment on this post during this blog hop, you'll be automatically entered into my drawing for these three items! You will have until this Friday, June 19th, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time to leave a comment and be entered into my drawing.

Okay...I know you're also here to find out the next word that you need to collect for this wonderful event, and here's the word you're looking for:  "TO"

Now that you have it, please continue on to Claudia's blog for the next word and another great project created by her featuring some fabulous Shimmerz products!

Thanks so much for visiting today, and enjoy the rest of the Shimmerz birthday celebration blog hop!  :)

Hello...come celebrate with me tomorrow! :)

Yes...I'm still around! ;-D  I just haven't been around too much to update my blog, and for that I apologize. I've been challenged to make many, many changes these past few weeks, and one of those changes involved my health (which I had hoped to improve since the beginning of the year). I've mentioned before that I've been on blood pressure medication since our youngest child's birth over eight years ago, and I've been trying on an off to cut back on some of my prescriptions. There was a season a little over five years ago (before scrapbooking) when I used to take only 1/4 of the medications that I originally started with. Unfortuntely, Thanksgiving arrived along with the holiday foods...my diet got worse, I began to gain weight, and I had to go back to taking the original prescriptions' strength.

Well, my dear husband has been kindly reminding me to schedule my annual physical which I had today. So for the past three weeks I've drastically changed my diet, the type and amount of water I've been drinking (ionized alkaline water), and have benefitted in losing a little over 7 pounds in that amount of time! I've only started a serious exercise schedule since last Thursday and have been feeling much better physically.

Well, today my doctor shared that all of the blood work results show that everything is within normal range except that I'm slightly anemic. My cholesterol has improved by 14 points, and she encouraged me to continue doing what I've done to improve my health. She has also agreed to discontinue one of the medications I've been taking because my blood pressure has been consistently within normal range for the past month on only half of the original dosage. I'm so thankful for that! We are both hoping that I can discontinue all of the medications perhaps by the end of this year. I have another appointment with her in August to check on my progress. I am hoping that, Lord willing, I will be able to cut down on the current dosage then...I'll be praying for that!

In the meantime, I'm trying to get some projects done. Please be sure to visit the Shimmerz blog tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Central Time for a special celebration tomorrow! I am honored to be celebrating along with Shimmerz's design team for this event, and hope that you'll come along and play with us beginning tomorrow and continuing on until this Friday. Here's a little sneak peek of something special they have in store for the event:

Hope to "see" you all here again tomorrow for the celebration! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and may you all...

Celebrating with So Sketchy!

Today marks the So Sketchy blog's first anniversary! To celebrate, I used one of Allison Cope's fabulous card sketch:

to create this birthday card:

 

Happy Birthday Card

Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned paper: K & Company
Frame die: Spellbinders
Foam alphabet stickers: American Crafts
Mini alphabet stickers: Making Memories
Ribbon: Michaels
Embossing folder: Provo Craft Cuttlebug
Flowers, rhinestone swirls: Prima
Gold metallic marker: Krylon
Other: hemp, button

Just for being here as a part of the So Sketchy Birthday Bash, you can WIN some fabulous prizes! That's right...all you have to do to win is leave a comment on EACH of the participating So Sketchy Sista's blogs and then return to the So Sketchy blog birthday bash post and leave a comment with:

1. your first name & last initial,
2. your location (state/province & country) *open world wide* and
3. some means of getting a hold of you (ie: email or blog link).

So make sure you have commented on all the Sista's blogs to be eligible to win.

The prize draw will take place on Thursday June 4 after 10pm MST so you have until then to complete the round of So Sketchy! Sista blogs celebrating our 1st birthday. The winner will be posted on the So Sketchy! blog sometime after the 5th of June.  Good luck!

If you arrived here before beginning at the So Sketchy blog, I recommend that you start there so that you can follow along and visit all of the participating blogs.  However, if you've already done that, you'll need to head over to Tonya's blog now to view her fabulous creation! :)

Thanks for visiting today, and may you all...

Altered Frame Calendar - Shimmerz

As promised, today I'll be sharing the project that I created for the Shimmerz Dare. Each week one of the design team members will have a challenge in which you can all participate. For this first week, we were asked to use Shimmerz, Blingz and/or Spritz on a picture frame. I had a frame that I purchased from Michaels a couple of years ago. It was a magnetic menu frame originally, but I altered it to create a calendar for our family:

Here are a few close-ups of the dates:



I used the Eucalyptus Spritz to create the checkerboard background here:



I also used Shimmerz and Blingz paints on the chipboard pieces as well as on the Melissa Frances mini frames:



The chipboard pieces that have the peach hue have been sprayed with Terra Cotta Spritz and I used Eucalyptus Spritz on the chipboard shapes that have a turquoise hue (the background paper - #14, the butterfly - #21, and the glittered chipboard heart - #25):



I really enjoyed creating this since I've been wanting a calendar like this for a long time (ever since I saw Teresa McFayden's Advent Calendar a couple of years ago!). However, I wanted to have one that I could use every day of the year, and this frame is perfect for that since it has a separate space above for me to add each monthly title.

I hope you all take the time to create something for this dare! It will continue until Monday, June 8th on the Shimmerz blog. Once you've completed your project, simply post a link to it on this post using Mr. Linky, and you'll be entered into a random drawing for a prize pack of goodies from Shimmering Products. Cool, huh? ;-D 

Thanks so much for visiting today!