All I Ever Wanted

I adore my husband. Chris is the love of my life and everything I could ever want or need in a partner. He's been on my mind so much this weekend. Chris has been having problems with his lower back since May. He hurt it chopping wood at work. It seemed to be doing better so he went back to his usual routine, but in reality it wasn't healed and the result has been months of pain, sleepless nights, medication, physical therapy and an MRI.

Chris has been diagnosed with a degenerative disk disease and tomorrow morning he is going to see a neurological surgeon for a consultation. I trust that he is in the Lord's care, but am still concerned for him. Chris has insisted that it isn't neccesary for me to go with him to the consultation tomorrow. He can be stubborn sometimes. ;) I'm going along with his wishes, but will be leave this card in his car for him to find as he heads off for his appointement. I need him to know how much I wanted to be with him.

Details:
All products are from Stampin' Up!, unless noted otherwise.
Stamps: Wanted
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Handsome Hunter, Natural Ivory, Outlaw DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Handsome Hunter
Embellishments: Chocolate Chip grossgrain ribbon, buttons, brads (from Archiver's)
Punches: Ticket Corner, 3/4" circle

WSC20- Priceless Sparkle

I'm not sure this is quite what Beate had in mind for her weekend sketch challenge, but I had an absolute blast creating it!

I started with Close to Cocoa cardstock and stamped it with the Weathered background using Creamy Caramel ink. Then I added the scalloped edge at the bottom using my corner punch minus the guard. Next, I cut my pieces of Basic Grey Blush paper and sponged them with Close to Cocoa ink. I stamped the swirl flourish on the red piece, scalloped the edge of the floral piece and added gems and ribbon before layering it on the cardfront.

My favorite part of this card was creating the "flower". I stamped the flower from Priceless on Vanilla cardstock with Baroque Burgundy ink and punched it out with my 1 1/4" circle punch, then layered it onto a 1 3/8" circle of Rose Romance. I then layered that onto a Vanilla Scalloped Circle and onto a big Heidi Swap flower and finally onto a Vanilla Marvy Mega Scalloped Circle. On the center flower I layered another flower using dimensionals.

Next, I stamped and cut out the butterfly, punched out my corner pieces and stamped and punched my ovals. After assembling these pieces, I added gems to my scalloped edge, a big Doodlebug gem to the center of my flower and Fruit Punch Stickles wherever my heart desired.

I haven't had this much fun creating in a while. You should see my desk. ;)

Just for Giggles

Happy Monday!!! I've seen this floating around the blog circuit and thought it would be fun to share for a giggle.

1. YOUR ROCKSTAR NAME (first pet, current car): Buffer Caravan ...not bad

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (favorite ice cream, favorite cookie): Mint Scotcharoo ...doesn't sound very tough does it

3. YOUR FLY "GUY/GIRL" NAME (first initial first name, first 3 letters last name): P-GIN ...lol

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Black Jack ...ok, I cheated a bit...our dog's name is Jack ;)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Jo Morris ...just call me Jo

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (first 3 letters last name, first 2 letters first name): GINPA ...it'll do

7. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink, & add "the"): The Red Margarita ...hmmm

8. YOUR NASCAR NAME (first names of your Grandfathers): Pat Kenneth ...two first names-so Nascar

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME (favorite perfume, favorite candy): Cherry Blossom Chocolate ...it's enough to make a girl blush

10. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (Mother's & Father's middle names): Jo Ray ...I'll never be found ;)

Have a name or two that makes you laugh? Please share...it's Monday and I could use a giggle. ;) Thanks for stopping by today!

How 'bout a little something sweet?!

Happy Friday!!! I can't think of a better way to celebrate the end of this very long week than to share some blog candy. Yum! :)

My husband and I really enjoy relaxing with a good movie on the weekend. We especially like romantic comedies, action flicks and the classics. We're always looking for something new.

So, if you're interested in a chance at the goodies above, leave a post here with the name of your all time favorite movie. I'll do a random drawing on Wednesday for the winner.

BTW, if you're looking for a good movie to watch this weekend, check out...Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice (the BBC version), Just Like Heaven, Return to Me, Serendipity, Hitch, The Island, Black Hawk Down, The Bourne Identity, Rear Window, Mr. Smith Goes to Washingon or You Can't Take it with You. Just a sampling of our faves.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a super weekend!

Meet Jacob

I love this picture of my son Jacob. It's so him! Notice the big smile and expressive eyebrows. He wakes up that happy almost everyday. It's so delightful!

Jacob is 10. He's our easygoing guy. With 2 older brothers and a younger sister, I guess he figures he better just go with the flow, and he does.

One of Jacob's favorite things to do is go camping with his Scout den. He loves looking for insects and collecting sticks and rocks and such. I think it's his love of science that makes him such a great explorer. Jacob also enjoys building things with legos, playing video games, sword and lightsaber dueling, reading research books and telling jokes. He has the best laugh too! I love it!

I'm such a blessed mom to have four wonderfully unique, totally awesome children!!! I hope you've enjoyed hearing a little about each of them. I've certainly enjoyed bragging on them. ;)

Victoria's Card

I was visiting Beate's blog today and saw a post requesting cards for Victoria. Victoria is a girl that lives in Texas and she is fighting cancer. Her teacher wants to help lift Victoria's spirits by encouraging others to send her a card. What a wonderful idea!

Visit Courtney's blog to learn more about Victoria and where to send your cards. And please, lift Victoria and her family up in prayer. God Bless!

Got Mojo?

Julee recently debuted Mojo Monday. I was so excited because I always enjoy visiting her blog. Julee is incredibly talented. Her designs are always inspiring!

I had a little time to play last night, so here's my attempt at Mojo Monday 3. This card is for my daughter, Sarah. She was amazing last night at her riding lessons. Her trainer has her working on refining some of skills and it all came together for her. She looked so smooth in the saddle. I'm so proud of her. She loves to ride, so this turning point is incredibly exciting and deserves to be celebrated.

Back to the card. It features Ruby Red, So Safron and Kraft cardstock, paper from Crate Paper's Cowgirl collection, SU!'s Bareback and Fabulous Flowers sets, vintage brads and prima flowers.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Fabulous Fall

I absolutely love fall. The crisp air and colorful leaves seem to awaken my senses. It's a wonderful time for enjoying family activities...apple picking, the corn maze, fire pit nights and football games.

This card was inspired by the season. It features Fabulous Flowers, Baroque Motifs, Canvas background, Small Script and the Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder. I used Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard and Kraft cardstock. The flowers were stamped in Really Rust and Pumpkin Pie Craft ink and embossed with Irridescent Ice embossing powder. The gems are from Hero Arts and the ribbon and hardware from SU!

Have a fabulous day! :)

Just Mail Them!

Happy Monday! Last night, after enjoying some more stamp time, I was sorting through my boxes of cards. Yes, I have boxes of them. Don't you? ;) Anyway, I decided that it was time to purge some of them. From time to time, I give a stack of cards to Pay it Forward House or my church card ministry because...well, I have too many cards.

As I was looking through the cards, I started to contemplate why I don't send more of them. I mean, that's why I make them, right? To share them. So, I put pen to paper and now have a stack of cards ready to mail to friends and family that say "happy fall", "thinking of you", "I miss you", "happy birthday", "thank you", "happy halloween"... you get where I'm going with this.

My post this morning is simply to encourage you to mail some of those beautiful cards you've made. Afterall, they aren't doing anyone any good in a box. ;) Enjoy your day!!!

Weekend Bliss

I am so happy that I've been able to enjoy some downtime this weekend. My husband, Chris and I actually got to go out on a date last night. It was just dinner and a bit of shopping, but it was wonderful. Don't get me wrong, our kids are fantastic, but with all of the running we've been doing since school started it was so nice to be able to talk and hold hands and just be together.

In addition, I was able to get my stamping area cleaned up and do a bit of stamping. I used Beate's WSC19 for this layout. Her sketch challenges are the best! We have a lot of birthdays coming up, so this is another birthday card made with Fabulous Flowers and paper from My Minds Eye. I also used the swirls from Priceless, Circle of Friendship, Rose Red cardstock, Vanilla Organdy, Moss Grossgrain, Fruit Punch Stickles and some pearl accents from K&Company.

Looking forward to doing some more stamping this afternoon. Hope you get to do the same! Thanks for stopping by!

She Stamps!

I recieved my SU! Fabulous Flowers more than a week ago, but only had time to assemble them, until today. I just had enough time to make this one card...a birthday card for a friend. I wanted to use my new set and get back to doing Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I've missed participating.

This is WSC18. In addition to Fabulous Flowers, I used Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, Old Olive and Very Vanilla cardstock and paper from My Mind's Eye. I inked up the large flower with Brocade Blue ink, thumped Old Olive, Not Quite Navy and Chocolate Chip markers on the inked stamp and then spritzed it with water before stamping it onto Vanilla cardstock. After cutting it out, I added a large gem from Doodlebug to the center and Waterfall Stickles on some of the petals.

Fabulous Flowers was not originally on my SU! Wishlist, but after seeing sooo many beautiful designs with it by Beate, Jenn and others, I could no longer pass it up. After using it today, it's already a favorite.