Goodbye Summer, my friend

I am so sad. Today is the last day of

August. I know it's not officially the

end of Summer, but it signals the

beginning of Autumn which means cold

weather isn't far behind. I'd say that's

a good reason to be depressed.

  So here are some butterflies to help me

say goodbye. I hate cold weather.

I have my injection today, finally.  My

shoulder settled down, but it's been

worse than usual and I can only get

the injection once every three months.

It's pretty awful to look forward to something

like that, LOL.  One moment of discomfort

(OK, a lot of pain) and then at least 6

weeks of relief.  I'll take it.  One of these

days I will get brave enough to say I

want surgery.

 Ephesians 2:8-9

 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Happy Friday!

Another Christmas tree-in August!!

As much as I hate cold weather, I do like

making Christmas patterns and have

acquired quite a few recently, trolling

on the internet. But by no means does

that mean that I'm looking forward to

Christmas, winter, snow, or anything

else that has to do with that season.

I just wanted to clear that up. LOL.

My brother was here visiting yesterday and

when I showed him this one, he decided that

he would like that to be part of his order.

I think it's a pretty pattern.

 It's a little nippy out this morning.

So far no rain, and they keep promising.

I never believe them. I missed my calling.

I could have been a meteorologist. I mean,

they're never right and they make big bucks.

2 Corinthians 5:21

 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in him we might become

the righteousness of God.

Happy Thursday!

Sweet teddy bear

I'm not sure if I've made this pattern before

or not, but since none of them come out

alike (unless I'm making a set) this is

all brand new. 

  Isn't this a sweet little bear?

It looks like it rained a little between

last night and today. I was hoping for

a storm even though it was only 40%.

I can't believe September is almost here.

Pretty soon instead of storms there will

be snow flying and I will be crying.

  Colossians 3:17

 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Happy Wednesday!

Two patterns combined

I need to start finding new ways to use

these patterns because I have tons of

them and I have more I want to buy.

Hey-Halloween is coming up. I need

more patterns. Well, I don't need them

exactly, but I want them! Anyway, yesterday

my friend's aunt was laid to rest and this

is the card I gave her, two patterns

combined into one card. This is not always

easy, but this one came out nicely.

I also re-did the card from yesterday. The

stamping/embossing didn't come out as

nicely as I had hoped, mainly because

the stamp was a tad too big, but it was

all I had.

It is what it is, I guess.  I will send it

to one of my crafty friends who will 

overlook the obvious flaws.  There is

another, but I'm not going to point it out!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Happy Tuesday!

A very hard week

Sorry I've been gone. My sister in law

has been very, very sick. She crashed

on Thursday but they were finally

able to revive her. Without going

into detail, it has been and continues

to be very serious. Needless to say I

haven't been much in the mood to blog.

I finished this card last night and as I was

almost done it dawned on me that it looks

more like a wedding card than the Christmas

card it was meant to be.  Maybe I should have

done it in reds and greens like I first planned to.

I'll probably stamp Merry Christmas or

something inside the oval, but if  I mess

it up, I'm going to be pretty ticked off,

so maybe I won't. 

I can't believe it is almost September.  I

don't remember summer being here.

(can you hear me sniffling?)

Psalm 37:7  

Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Happy Monday!

Silver Christmas tree

When I was a kid we had a silver tinsel

Christmas tree. I thought it was the

coolest thing ever. I'm not sure why...

When I got married my parents let me

have it so we didn't have to buy a tree.

It's long since been gone. But now I

have a pink tinsel tree that I bought

last year. It's only 4 ft., but it's all I need. 

 The jury is out on if I like this card or not. 

 It looked a lot better in the picture.

Of course, they used multiple colours

rather than just one but since this

is kind of iridescent  I thought it might

work.  Now I'm not so sure.

It's chilly again today.  This is still August.

It should not be chilly.  But I hear a big 

warm up is coming, so I'm happy.  Not

so much about the predicted 90 degrees,

but it's better than 60.  Maybe.

2 Timothy 1:12

 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

I love it when I find songs that are

taken right out of Bible verses!

(I know whom I have believed)

Happy Thursday!

Birthday football

I'm not into football, but I know someone

who is and when I was thinking of how

to make a card for him I remembered

the paper that hobby lobby has. This

paper actually has a pebbly feel like

a football would have.

 

It's a pretty simple card, but it gets

the job done and looks masculine.

I'm not very good at masculine cards.

We got a small storm last night and I'm

pretty sure it rained all night.  I know I

heard it pounding early in the morning.

We need the rain, but that means I'll

be out mowing again soon.

I have an appointment this morning and

then I'm going to lunch with Dianne.  I

haven't seen her in two weeks because she

was getting her daughter moved in to

Florida to start her internship, so I'm

looking forward to it.

 Psalm 39:12 A

 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
    listen to my cry for help;
    do not be deaf to my weeping.

Happy Tuesday!

Another swirly tree

I like this design MUCH better than the

one I posted a few days ago. And go

figure-my brother happened to see that

post and wanted me to make him 12

Christmas cards with that design! I hope

he doesn't change his mind when he

sees this new one!

Not much has been going on. It's pretty

breezy and chilly this morning, but I

don't think we are going to get any

rain today. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Psalm 34:17

 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.

Happy Monday!

pump lamp!

A long time ago my dad made some lamps

from real pumps. Let me tell you-these

are heavy! When my aunt and uncle died

my cousin asked if I wanted theirs. Now

it sits proudly on the new table that

Coleen gave me when she was cleaning

her aunt's apartment when she moved to

the nursing home.

Isn't it the coolest thing ever?!

Here is another church picnic photo, this

time of me coming out of the belly of the

(cardboard) whale.  I have seaweed all

over my hair.

It was a fun time, for sure.

 

Romans 12:4-8

 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,  so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;  if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;  if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Happy Sunday!

Fremont eagles

Here's my last monotone card-for now.

I love black on white and was very happy

with how this one turned out.

 

And now for the Eagles-I drove by the

school the other day and here is this

huge blow up of an eagle. I wasn't able

to take a picture then, but on the way

home yesterday I was able to pull over

and get a good shot. Isn't he cool?!

I got awakened this morning by a huge clap

of thunder.  It's been raining pretty hard all

morning so it looks like I'm not going to get

the lawn mowed today either.  Oh, darn!

Romans 8:35-39

 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Happy Friday!

Bears can build snowmen!

I found this cute pattern of a bear building

a snowman and just had to make it. I am

in no way trying to rush the season. I just

thought it was cute.😃

I glittered the snow they were standing

on and it really stands out now.

 

o lawn mowing today. Sometime recently

it rained and the grass is pretty soaked.

As sore as I am, I'm not c0mplaining, but

it does need to be mowed.

Psalm 34:15

 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;

Happy Thursday!

 

Monotone blue

This card is an experiment and I think I

like how it turned out. I stitched the

piece in the center, then thought it might

look nice embossed. So I embossed it over

the stitching, not knowing what would

happen, but it didn't damage the stitching

at all and looks pretty cool, I think.

  I hear it's supposed to be raining for the

next three days. I don't believe it, of

course, but I do need to get my lawn

mowed and I can't do it today. I

will try to get it done tomorrow, but

of course, that's when it will rain if

it's going to. Or it will rain today and

grow a foot by tomorrow and I won't

be able to get the lawnmower through it! 😆

Philippians 4:13

 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Happy Wednesday!

pretty in purple

I happened across this purple piece

of textured cardstock and it gave me

the idea to make a monotone card-

get ready, there's a couple more coming!

I was really happy with how it came out,

but I don't think I'll be doing the shading

around them anymore. Firstly, I should

have used chalk but it didn't occur to me

at the time, secondly, I'm just not good at it.

 

And now on to the church picnic.

They had an area with “stations” for

the kids to do things in. One was to

take a picture wearing a wig and

beard (if you were a boy) to see what

you would have looked like in biblical

times-Noah's ark, to be exact. I did not

try on the wig, but Pam did.

 She has a picture of me inside Jonah's

(cardboard) whale, but she hasn't sent

it to me yet. If she ever does, and don't

anyone hold their breath, I will show

it as goofy as it is. But we had fun

and everyone brought great food. Way more

deserts than were needed, of course!

  Psalm 37:4

 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Happy Monday!

More flowers

I have two more flower ATC's to share.

I made these a few days ago. I've been

so happy with how they've turned out.

And a picture of Bri and her daddy:

Aww, aren't they cute?  Nathan,

trim that scraggly beard! I think he grows

it because he doesn't have any hair on

his head.  Just a theory!  I couldn't

copy it off instagram so I had to take

a photo of it, thus the flash.

Today is our church picnic.  I've not been

to one before because I've always had other

plans on the day they chose.  But since today

is Sunday, I'll already be there so I am looking

forward to that.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Happy Sunday!

Dill pickle pretzel

Unfortunately my friend has had to put her

aunt in a nursing home so I volunteered to

help her pack up her aunt's apartment.

So it will be a busy afternoon.

Yesterday in Shipshewanna I had a dill

pickle flavoured pretzel. It was so good!

It had way too much dill powder on it,

though, and that stuff is spicy, so I had to

leave some of it, but it was absolutely dillicious!

Pam thinks I'm nuts. She hates dill pickles.

As alike as we are, we have found a few things

we are different on. She loves mushrooms.

YUK!!

Well, on to the card.  This is a card I made last

month when my cousins lost their parents.

 I scored the lines on my scoreboard.

Here is a journal I made the other day:

Ephesians 2:8-9

 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—

and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  

not by works, so that no one can boast.

Happy Saturday!

Wrinkles

I made this birthday card for one of my

birthday twins. I love the saying. Of

course, I don't have any wrinkles, but

you never know, I suppose. The only

reason I don't have wrinkles is that I

fill them all out if you know what I mean.

  I also re-did the kitten card and it looks

MUCH better now:

Now for the REAL grad picture:

She goes to Virginia for 2 1/2 months more 

of training, then possibly deploys to Germany.

she's going to get to see some of the world, for sure.

I'm so proud of her!    I'm not sure if you 

could tell or not...

I' m going to a fundraiser with Pam this

afternoon.  I'm not sure what it will

be like, but I'm happy to be a part of

it.  This person is really going to need

support in every way possible.

Romans 8:15

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Happy Friday!

Kitten in a stocking

These cards, I've discovered, are sized for

I don't know what kind of card, but

maybe British card sizes are different

than ours??? At any rate, I did this card

on a larger card and it doesn't really

look right. So the next one I am resizing

and doing my best to make It fit the

card sizes that I normally use. It's still

cute any way you look at it! 😃

It looks weird around the edges and I'm

not sure what to do about that. Maybe

I'll end up putting some border stickers

along the outside of it. I'll post another

picture tomorrow.

Bri graduates from Army basic training

today! I'm really proud of her. I wish I

could be there because she's in Columbia

SC and there are palm trees there!  Well, OK,

 that's not the ONLY reason!! 😆  My son

was kind enough to send me a picture of

some on the base.

 I've probably said this before, but it bears

repeating.  I just want to see palm trees

(in real life) and the ocean again before I die.

Hopefully that will be a long time from  now.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Happy Thursday!