Happy Easter Wishes!

Happy Easter weekend, my dear friends!
I know I'm running a little bit late with this post! I've had very busy days with company coming...and going...and more coming! Lots of fun happening but no time for the computer. I'll be by to visit all of you again as soon as things have settled down!
Easter is so meaningful to me. It's a time to remember the sacrifice that was made on our behalf! In John 11:25-26, Jesus said:

"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live,

even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die."

This year, the verses found in John 17: 25-26 are speaking to me. This was Jesus' prayer:

"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you,

and they know that you have sent me.

I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known

in order that the love you have for me may be in them

 and that I myself may be in them."

The bunnies and chocolate are so much fun...but the real JOY is that we serve a risen Savior...He is alive!!

So,  I made this card in appreciation for each and every one of you, my dear friends! It is full of heartfelt wishes that you enjoy a very blessed Easter! :o)

This sweet image is from Kathryne at Stamp Art Design by Kathryne. It's called Happy Little Bunny!

The bling is from my stash.

All the other materials used are from the March Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp.

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Linking Up To:

Twist of Faith Card Challenge - #30 Make it Sparkle!

Simon Says Stamp - March 2013 Card Kit Gallery

A Happy Monday Card

 *Note: I've jumped on the bandwagon and signed up with Bloglovin. The button can be found in my sidebar. *

Happy Monday, my friends!
I have another card to share with you today! I've used another Digi Darla Designs image. This one is called Brianna's Bike. I recently won a few more of these sweet images and was having trouble deciding on the final image. (It's hard because they're all so adorable!) So I had my husband pick the last one, and this was his choice. I think he did very well!
After coloring up the image, I used some pretty Prima papers, and my new Butterfly Chain edge punch. The punch was one of the fun new toys my husband gave me for my birthday. Then I punched out some flowers and added some pearls!
I'd like to thank you all for the super sweet comments on my last posts! You guys are the greatest!! Also, thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes! It's still my "birthday week" so my celebrations are just going to continue! I hope you all have a fun week of celebrating your joys too! :o)

Materials Used:

Papers: Prima - Sparkling Spring,

Recollections - Cardstock;

Image: Digi Darla Designs - Brianna's Bike;

Prismacolor Pencils and OMS;

Punches: EK Success - Butterfly Chain Edger,

Martha Stewart - Hydrangea;

Ink: Martha Stewart - Pink Geranium;

Pearls: Stampin' Up.

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Linking Up To:

Digi Darla Challenge #55 - Flowers

Word Art Wednesday - Challenge #72

Card Crafter's Circle - Challenge #67 - Sketch It!

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Here's the great sketch from Card Crafter's Circle that I used for my card. I turned it upside down:

Sushi Dolls #6

Welcome back!
I have a new Sushi Dolls DT project for you! This image is from Susi's latest Sushi Doll release. You can find  all the images HERE. You can find some wonderful projects using the Sushi Dolls HERE.
The image I used is called "Geeky", and I think she's adorable! I knew right away that I would be using these  Basic Grey papers for my card. The rows of books are just too perfect for it, aren't they? For the sentiment I fussy cut a banner so the word "Brilliant" would be featured. I added an embellishment of punched cogs and a brad. Here it is:

Materials Used:

Papers: Recollections - Cardstock,.

Basic Grey - Oxford;

Image: Sushi Dolls - Geeky;

Prismacolor Pencils and OMS;

Ink: Distress Ink - Walnut Stain;

Punch: Stampin' Up - Double Cog'

Brad: My Stash..

I used a wonderful sketch from From the Heart:

Linking Up To:

I (Heart) Card Sketches No. 10

Playing in Paradise #109 - Let's Add Some Banners!

Hymn and Scripture Challenge #5 - Cleanse Me

Happy Spring day to all of you!
I'm back with a new Scripture Challenge page! The hymn Cleanse Me is another familiar favorite, although I know it as Search Me, O God. It's a beautiful, prayerful song that is very meaningful to sing. I've included the words to all four verses at the end of this post, but I want to share the first verse here:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart today, 

Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;

See if there be some wicked way in me;

Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free."

Isn't that beautiful? For my Scripture verse I used 1 John 1:9 which says:

"If we confess our sins,
 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Yes, God is faithful! Every single time we ask for forgiveness...He will give it! He doesn't hold a grudge at our disobedience, or set a limit on how many times we will be forgiven. He understands our human frailty and weakness! He knows our heart when we fail Him! He cleans away all the sin and sets us free! That wonderful freedom is only available to us  because of Jesus, and His sacrifice on the cross. What a blessing that is...what a gift! :o)

My page is clean and simple! ;o) I had this image in my head as soon as I heard which hymn we were doing this time. With the aid of my Slice cards it came together nicely. After cutting out the pitcher I realized there was no basin or bowl on the card. So this is actually a tab cut in half. I thought it worked very well. Yellow is a color I don't gravitate towards. Every once in a while I challenge myself to use yellow. Since I wanted a background paper that looked like old wallpaper, this one with the yellow flowers was perfect. I think this page symbolically displays the message of the song! :o)

Materials Used:
Papers: Papermania - Summer Bloom (gift from Susan),
Cardstock - Recollections and Momenta;
Dies: Spellbinders Borderabilities - Fleur De Lis Border;
MM Slice Design Cards: Think Pink - Alpha,
Home Sweet Home - Frame and Insert,
Bon Apetite - Pitcher and Basin ( gift from Friday);
Ink: Distress Ink - Walnut Stain.

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Linking Up To:

Triple the Scraps - Hymn and Scripture Challenge #5

Word Art Wednesday - Challenge #72

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These two gentlemen are wonderful and sing this song beautifully! 
In this first video they sing the first verse of the song, and it's very short.
I'm also adding a second video.
It's longer, as it contains some talking before they sing.
I've added it for those of you who have time and would enjoy a chuckle or two!

CLEANSE ME (also known as SEARCH ME O GOD)

Search me, O God, and know my heart today,

Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;

See if there be some wicked way in me;

Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin; 

Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within; 

Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;

Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;

Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;

Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;

I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;

Send a revival, start the work in me;

Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;

For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

A Die for a Sketch - Challenge #10 Reminder

Hello, my friends!
I can't believe it's already the 20th of March and time for my "reminder" post for A Die for a Sketch. A huge thank you to all of you who have already linked up! For those of you who haven't joined us yet...there's still time! :o)

Our generous sponsor this month is Bugaboo Digi Stamps! These images are always so fun to play with and you could win some of your very own!

Here is the great sketch for Challenge #10:

I made another Easter card using a fun bunny image from Bugaboo called Egg Shower. I had a good time  picking the papers for this one. I thought it was so cute how the raindrop paper turned upside down looked like an egg shower! lol You might have to click on the picture to see it better. I've added Stickles to the spots on the umbrella and to accent the bunny. Again, if you enlarge the photo you can see it better. I added some fun dies, some pearls and ribbon and it's a card! :o)

Materials Used:

Papers: Echo Park - Springtime, K & Company - Sweet Nectar;

Dies: Spellbinders Shapeabilities - Tulips, Spellbinders Borderabilities - Tulips,

Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG;

Punches: Stampin' Up - Scalloped Circle, 

EK Success Border Punch - Scalloped Scallop;

Image: Bugaboo Digi Stamps - Funny Bunny Egg Shower;

Prismacolor Pencils  and OMS;

Ink: Distress Ink - Walnut Stain, Martha Stewart - Stem Green;

Stickles: Cotton Candy, Diamond;

Ribbon: Offray,

Pearls and Sentiment: My Stash.

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So pop on over to A Die for a Sketch and join us this month! You have until April 4th to enter.

Remember to follow the fun sketch and use at least one die on your project!

Also, pop on over to Bugaboo and take a look at all the wonderful Spring and Easter images they have in the store!  

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Speaking of Spring...

  When I was a kid, March 21st was always known as the first day of Spring.

 These years it seems to always begin on March 20th but I the 21st is the first FULL day of Spring, right?

So with that in mind, I'm going to pretend today is the last day of Winter and share a few seasonal photos with you! 

A pretty sunset. The little trees are heavy with snow. This was early in the season:

Then later...my fluffy little tree:

These beautiful Waxwings come every year...hundreds of them! This one was right outside my sun-room window:

The beautiful frost pattern on my sun-room door:

This one was taken last week. We've had two more snowfalls since then. That's me waving at you! :o)

Well...Spring is here now! I think somebody needs to tell all my snow!

Have a happy day! :o)

Blessings!

Happy Friday, my lovelies!
Can you believe I have another card to show you already? I've become a card-making machine this week, and I've made even more that I can't show you yet.
I really enjoyed making this one. The image is so sweet, isn't it? It was one of my recent prize wins. It's from Digi Darla Designs and it's called Blowing Dandelions. On the inside of the card I included an Irish Blessing but I forgot to take a picture of it.It says:

May brooks and trees and singing hills

Join in the chorus too, 

And every gentle wind that blows

Send happiness to you.

I thought this verse worked well with the sweet image and the sentimen on the front. Thanks very much for stopping by! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend full of joy and laughter! :o)

Materials Used:

Papers: K & Company - Sweet Nectar,

Recollections Cardstock,

Echo Park - Springtime;

Stickers: Echo Park - Springtime Element Stickers;

Image: Digi Darla Designs - Blowing Dandelions;

Prismacolor Pencils and OMS;

Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Circles LG;

Punches: Stampin' Up - Scalloped Circle,

Recollections - Flower  Punch;

Ink: Color Box - Berrylicious;

Buttons: Pebbles Button Candy Dots.

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Linking Up To:

Twist of Faith Card Challenge #28 - Irish Blessings

Digi Darla's Challenges - #53 Buttons 

Word Art Wednesday - Challenge #71 - Anything Goes

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Happy St Patrick's Day Card

Happy Thursday, my friends!
This week has sure flown by for me! Has it been the same for you?
My friend Sandy introduced me to The Stamping Chef. I popped into their facebook page and found this fun free image. It's a bit different then my usual fare but lots of fun. When I saw it I just had to use it! Why...you ask? Well, because she made me laugh, of course! Oh, I think she's absolutely adorable but I laughed because of the memories she evoked. How many times did I forget to wear green to school on St Patrick's Day? How many times did I tell everyone I was wearing green underwear to avoid those nasty pinches? haha Well, this girl is not going to get any pinches, is she? :o)
The pearls might seem a bit random but they are serving a purpose. Always make sure your surface is clean when you turn your image over to apply adhesive! Yes, the pearls are hiding a couple of marks! lol I added some brads that just happen to match the design of the border punch. I thought that if four leaf clover is lucky then five leaf clover must be even luckier! ;o)

Materials Used:

Papers: K & Company - Sweet Nectar,

Recollections Cardstock;

Image: The Stamping Chef;

Prismacolor Pencils and OMS;

Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Labels 21;

Punches: Fiskars Border Punch,

Stampin' Up - Decorative Label Punch;

Inks: Walnut Stain Distress Ink,

Martha Stewart - Stem Green;

Ribbon: Offray;

Pearls: Stampin' Up - Jewels Basic Pearl;

Brads and Image: My Stash.

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Linking Up To:

The Stamping Chef - Good Luck/Green Challenge

Whimsical Designs - Happy St Patrick's Day Challenge

One Crazy Stamper - March - Anything Goes