Freedom is not free!

**Scroll down for my M5D post**

Monday is Memorial Day in the US.  A day to remember those who gave their lives fighting for our freedom.  This poem is more often heard in Canada on Remembrance Day, but we all need to remember the thoughts it expresses...

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

                           ~John McCrae

 It is important to remember those who fought and died, but we also need to honor veterans.   I was recently asked about making some cards for the mail call of the local Honor Flight.   Of course, I said yes!  

At our church we have a Romans 12:15 ministry.  That verse says, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."   We make cards (sympathy, thinking of you, baby, birthday, etc.), pray for the person, then write a personal note.  We were all excited to make cards for the veterans who will be taking the honor flight.   

Cuttlebug 'Stars' embossing folder was perfect for these!!

The image and sentiment are from Patriotic Eagle COLOR Plus from Doodle Pantry.  I thought this set PERFECT for these cards!!   We made several all similar to these two.  I made them a more simple design for two reasons:  it is not about our 'beautiful cards' -- it is about honoring them for their service, and also, we have different levels of creative skills in our group.  (Am I right, ladies?   ☺)

Have a great weekend!  Please do remember that Monday is Memorial Day... it isn't just a long weekend nor is it "National Barbecue Day"!

Challenges...

Celebrate the Occasion # 113 - Memorial Day

Little Scrap Pieces Fun Friday - red, white, and blue

The Perfect Sentiment PSC80 - anything goes

Fab n Funky #172 - ribbon and/or lace (DP is sponsoring and I'm on the DT so I'm not entering to win)

Here is a pic of the full set...

This weekend, Laurie is having a sale... 35% off any purchase now through Monday.  Visit the Specials page for details.    Also, now through Monday, School Bus is also FREE w/ purchase!!                                               

On Monday, USA Freedom is available for download FREE!!  It will be for sale in the store after that.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

Are you in your craft room today??

Are you crafting?  You should be!!  Did you know that  today is National Scrapbooking Day??!!??  Or maybe you are shopping finding all the deals of the day!

Clearly Digi Stamps (Clear Dollar Stamps) is having 4 challenges today on their blog... Clearly iStamp! 

This card fits challenge #2 for the day... balloons!

For this challenge, we did not have to use a CDS stamp, but my sentiment is from CDS.  It is from the Lifting You Up digi set.  I did have some of the balloons from that set printed but not colored, so I grabbed this precolored digi since it was faster. :)  This balloon is from  Love Lifts You (color) from  Imagine That! ...digis by Kris.

 Other challenges for this card...
CAS-ology week 42 - care
Word Art Wednesday #78 - anything goes
Celebrate the Occasion #110 - anything goes
Twisted Tuesday 2TC49 - free for all
Simon Says Stamp - "happy mail"  (knowing someone is praying for me would make me happy!)

Thanks for stopping by!!  Now I'm off to create some more! :)

Sweet treats

Here's a quick post that I hope will work correctly!  For some reason, Blogger and I have not been playing well together this week.  I've not had a lot of time to go visiting blogs, but whenever I try to comment, it is fine for a couple, then it tells me something is not working!  Grrr! 

Sorry for the bad attitude!  Happy Valentine's Day!!
 
These were the treats that I made for our sweetheart dinner...

Filled with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses

All ready to go... but I made 52... one's missing!  :-O

I saw this pillow box on Gwen's blog and thought they'd be great for our dinner, so I went to SVG Cutting Files and bought the file.  (It is still on sale as of posting time)  I sized it to get 2 from a 12x12 paper. 

I "designed" the tags in MTC, printed them, punched them out, and tied with a bit of ribbon.

challenges...
Anything But a Card #12 - "Share the love"
Celebrate the Occasion #99 - Valentine anything goes
Decorate to Celebrate #44 - Valentine/love

Thanks for stopping by!!

Tuesday Morning Sketches #173

For my Daydream Designs Blog Hop post, CLICK HERE.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!!   Only two more days until many of us will eat waaaaaay too much!!!  I will have to say that a turkey dinner is right up there on my list of most enjoyed meals!!  The mashed potatoes and gravy are the best part of it all, IMHO! :)

All the talk of food aside, be sure to count your blessings this week!!!


This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches our sponsor is Digital Delights... they have digi stamps, digi papers, SVGs and more!  

Here is our fun sketch by Bonnie...

 Here is my card...

~Digital Delights Fall Pumpkin (colored) Digi Stamp
~DCWV "Rustic" DP
~Spellbinders Petite and Scalloped Petite Ovals
~banner cut in MTC
~stamp from ??

Challenges...
Celebrate the Occasion #89 - use pumpkin
Twisted Tuesday 2TC33 - thank you theme w/ 'food'

Be sure to check out my amazing fellow designers' creations for inspiration then play along for your chance to win!!
Angela

Bonnie  

Cheryl

Dawn

Jessi

Laura

Melissa

Silke -November guest designer



Thanks for stopping by!!!

for my Friend

Today, Doodle Pantry is sponsoring Sentimental Sunday's Challenge #127 - add dimension to your card (and a sentiment, as always)

Here's my card "for my friend" using Doodle Pantry's Autumn Star pre-colored digi. My dimension is with popdots and the poofy bow...

~Doodle Pantry Autumn Star digi and sentiment
~Cuttlebug Stars embossing folder
~Nestabilities Petite Ovals
~adhesive pearls
~ribbon from stash

challenges...
Celebrate the Occasion #86 - fall
Wags 'n Whiskers #91 - fall colours

Thanks for stopping by!!! 

"Oh, Christmas Sketch!"

Here is another Christmas card to add to my stash.   I'm getting quite a few, but looking at my stash, I think I need to start making them more mail-friendly.  This one is semi-mailable, I think. :-p

Challenges...
jingle belles JB:12:17 - Oh Christmas Sketch
Celebrate the Occasion #75 - Christmas
52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown August color challenge -red, black, white, silver

the red is not orange IRL!

embossed the sentiment

~Paper Studio "Magic of the Season" DP; Slice specialty paper
~Recollections cling stamp sentiment
~Swiss Dots embossing folder
~tree fro Christmas Noel cut at 3 2/1"
~misc. punches and adhesive pearls

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Happy Birthday w/pop-up balloon

While perusing one of the many wonderful craft blogs I follow, I found a cute, cute, cute idea at Clearly iStamp.  It is called Honeycomb Pop Ups and Lisa gives a great tutorial.  I was already planning to make a birthday card and thought this would be a fun addition to it!  I tend to make more pretty and girly birthday cards, so am trying to make some that are more masculine or at least generic.  This would work for a boy, I think.

Challenges...
Cards for men challenge 14 - Happy Birthday
Freshly Made Sketches #43 - sketch
Meljens Designs Challenge #118 - Happy Birthday (must use Meljens image)
Celebrate the Occasion #70 - Happy Birthday

Here is a close-up of the balloon... Click HERE to go to the tutorial.

~Kraft and Bazzill cardstock
~Meljens Happy Birthday digi
~MM number tape
~Distressed Stripes embossing folder
~Copic and Prismacolor markers

Thanks for stopping by!!

Birthday hugs

Here is a quick (and bright!!) birthday card.  With all the paper from a coordinating pack, it was easy-peasy!!

Challenges...
Stampin' Sisters in Christ #145 - use flag or banner
BBTB2 - birthday and pearls
Celebrate the Occasion #68 - happy birthday
           *they are having a DT call, if you're interested

~We R Memory Keepers "Sunsplashed" dsp
~Spots & Dots and Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folders
~April Showers banner cut at 1" (I hid the letters)
~There She Goes "Sentimental Birthday" stamp
~twine and adhesive pearls

Thanks for stopping by!!

Congrats! grad card

Want to see some beautiful flowers?  First off, I have black thumbs, so no credit goes to me because these irises were growing here at our house before we came almost 8 yrs ago, and they still bloom every year!  They are a little early this year and I'm glad because if they bloomed normally, I would miss them while we are on vacation!

Now for the card... I need grad cards for males this year, so no frills.

Challenges...
Cards for men challenge 11 - must have "congratulations" on front (I hope "congrats" counts)
Celebrate the Occasion #63 - graduation
Fantabulous Cricut #112 - "You did it!" -make grad project
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards #13 - "for the boys"

~Glitz "Hey Dude!"paper
~cap from Every Day Paper Dolls
~TPC Studio  sentiment
~twine and brad from my stash

Thanks for dropping by!!

Happy Mother's Day card

Finally, all the favors and decorations were made for our Mother/Daughter Luncheon tomorrow.    [Demented as I am, I forgot to take any pictures after decorating!  I'll try to remember tomorrow!] 
Am I the only one who seems to spend soooooo much time, and when it is all done, it looks like it really should not have taken me all those hours??   Oh well!

On to Mother's Day!  My mother won't be here on Sunday, but my parents are coming on Tuesday, so that's not too far off!   They will come bearing ketchup chips and Crunchie bars, I hope!!!   :)

I teach junior church on Sunday mornings and wanted to make a card for each child to give their mother.  I only started today, so we may have to go with a card for each family, but we'll see how tomorrow goes.  Here's the first one...

Challenges...
Freshly Made Sketches #34 - sketch  --I realized that my paper actually has a distressed look to it... I hope that doesn't make my card "unclean"!! :)
The Cuttlebug Spot - "Flowers for Mom"
Celebrate the Occasion #62 - Mother's Day

~Recollections "Charming" dsp
~rubber sentiment stamp
~Nesties scalloped oval and oval
~Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder
~flower, brads, and ribbon from stash

Thanks for looking!!!

Happy Birthday for a 5 yr old

My last birthday card for the month of April.  [Can you believe May will be here on Tuesday??!!??]

This one was made in short bursts of time this week.  We are doing extra school work in order to get done early since we are going to be away in June.  (Busch Gardens, here we come!!!)  Making our own schedule is one of the many benefits of home schooling, but it has made for some loooong days of study this week. 

I gave this card to the birthday boy already but did not have time to post it!  And I've not been visiting all my blog buddies, so I apologize and will be back at it soon!

Challenges...
Mojo Monday 238 - sketch
Celebrate the Occasion #60 - Happy Birthday (must use ribbon)

~Echo Park "Splash" dsp
~DCWV cardstock
~CM and Fiskars punches
~Cloud 9 number stamps
~There She Goes sentiment stamp
~ribbon, twine, button, tag from my stash

Thanks for stopping by!!

Just BEE-cause

It's time to make some spring-y cards!  Though after this one, I think I'll go back to Christmas cards.   I am not thrilled with it.  It's too "blah"!  I don't really like the paper.  Maybe I just need to go shopping for some better paper.  Yes!!  That's it!!!  I need to go paper shopping!!   :)  {I'm glad my hubby doesn't pay attention to my blog!!}  :)  Anyway, here is my 'severely lacking something' card! 

Challenges...
Tuesday Morning Sketches #141 - sketch + "Think Spring"
Celebrate the Occasion #58 - "Just because" must use pink
Card Carter's Circle #18 - Pastel colours

~DCWV summer stack dsp
~Fiskars Threading Water border punch
~There She Goes "Bee Happy" stamps
~Copics and water color pencils

Thanks for stopping by!!

Stitched 'thank you' card

Brrrr!!!  We had some beautiful spring weather for the few weeks before spring officially arrived and now that we are having 'normal' temperatures, I am freezing!!   So I crank the heat in my craft room and stay warm and have fun! :)

Here's a quick thank you card.  Can't ever have too many of these!

Challenges...
Celebrate the Occasion #56 - "thank you"
iSpy Sketches ISSC09 - sketch

~Recollections "Charming" dsp
~stamp by Stampin Up  "Cute by the Inch"
~Paper Studio button brad
~my sewing machine

"thank U" for stopping!  :)

Spring-y "welcome" wreath

Isn't it funny how quickly we get spoiled?  We've had almost 2 weeks of nice warm weather (60's, 70's and a couple of 80 degree days) but today was only about 50 and it felt so chilly.  Of course, if this had been a normal spring, we would have been thrilled with today's temp!  But whatever the temperature, spring officially arrived this past week, and so it's time for spring crafts!

In the fall, I made a wreath that has been hanging on our school room door, and I had intended/hoped to change it every season or holiday.  Well, I missed a few - ok, I missed a bunch! - but at least spring is covered now! :)

Challenges...
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #103 - "Celebrate Spring" with at least 3 flowers
BBTB2 - "Welcome"
Celebrate the Occasion #55 - "Welcome Spring"
Krafty Girls #3 - "Get Growing" with handmade flowers
Whimsical Wednesdays - "Celebrate Spring"

~wreath from JOTS cut at 10 1/2"
~flowers from GBS at 2", 2 1/2", 3", 3 1/2"
~D'vine Swirls, Distress Stripes, Perfect Paisley, Swiss Dots, and Floral Fantasy Cuttlebug folders
~"Welcome" from Ashlyn's Alphabet cut at 2 1/2"
~Core'dinations and DCWV cardstocks

Thanks for stopping by!!!

"Green" birthday card

I know you are all eagerly awaiting my explanation of my environmentally-friendly card, but it is just green!  :)  I did use scraps for it!! 

Challenges...
Fantabulous Cricut #102 - "In like a lion" (or tiger, cat, etc.)
Celebrate the Occasion #54 - Any occasion (must use metal)
Birthday Sundaes #47 - must use green

~Bazzill cardstock scraps
~Allegro Cuttlebug folder
~tiger from CAC cut at 3 1/2"
~Heidi Grace sentiment stamp 
~ribbon from Hobby Lobby
~metal brads
~"Tea Dye" distress ink

Thanks for stopping by!!!

I'm back with a 'Happy Birthday' bouquet w/ bling!

I'm back!  Thank you so much for everyone's expressions of sympathy for the loss of my brother-in-law.  I appreciate all your kind comments, your thoughts, and prayers!  He is now with the Lord.

We were gone for a little longer than we anticipated thanks to a storm that made for nasty roads on the day we were to return.  So we had to spend more time with my family!  Not a problem!!  (more time to shop for our favourite CDN goodies!! -scroll down for pic!!!)

It took me awhile last evening to get back into craft mode for whatever reason, but finding a sketch and challenge prompts helped... though it still took me about an hour to make this!!  Many challenges are already talking spring... that didn't work for me since we just got our first decent snow storm here in my part of NY!!  :) :) :) :) :)  I LOVE SNOW!!! 

Challenges...
Stampin' Sisters in Christ #128 - variegated colors
Birthday Sundaes #45 - "get messy" -lots of inking, paints or mists
Celebrate the Occasion #52 - birthday -must use bling
Card Crafter's Circle #11 - photo inspiration
Tuesday Morning Sketches #135 - sketch

~Fancy Pants 'Love Story" dsp
~Tim Holtz 'tea dye' Distress Ink
~Fiskars clear sentiment stamp
~Nestabilities Large and Small Labels
~$1 store flowers
~gems from ??

I'm almost embarrassed to post this pic of all the junk food awesome snacks we brought back with us, but I LOVE it all!!  **Disclaimer... it is not ALL for us... we had several requests to bring some of it for friends.   It was funny to see the cashier's face in Dollarama when we come with our basket of all these chocolate bars!!   (Note that we got Kinder bueno... not Kinder Surprise.  They would have been seized at the border because they are "illegal contraband"!!)

One thing missing...  "Go Canada"!   Michaels had carts on sale last week, but the store in Moncton was out of them though they still had about 10 cards to take to the checkout hanging up. ???!!!??  So I went on eBay and actually got it for less than their sale, so now I'm waiting for it to arrive!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

for MY Valentine

Here's the card I made for my hubby.  I won't show you the inside because that is full of mushy stuff! :)  And I did tell him that I feel that way every day, not just today!!!

I did make it at the last minute (I was busy working on my kids pop top can treats), but there are challenges still doing Valentine's...

BBTB2 Couples Heart Challenge - use cut from Love Struck (or other like it - I used Sweethearts)
Card Crafter's Circle #9 - Valentine Love Hearts
Cards for men challenge 4 - Valentine card for husband
Celebrate the Occasion #50 - Valentine card (must use heart)
Whimsical Wednesdays Colors of Love - red, white + one other color (mine is tan)

~Cloud9Design dsp
~couple from SWH (I cut them off at the knees-ouch!!)
~heart from Doodlecharms
~Inkadinkado clear stamp sentiment

Thanks for looking!!  [ FYI my hubby like it! :) ]

"Patchpal" ducky birthday card for little boy

Here's a birthday card for a little boy... probably for first or second birthday.  

After burning (I mean really burning!!) some brownies and making my whole house reek, I decided it was time to head for the craft room!   I got some new stamps from Clear Dollar this week and was eager to use them!  Isn't this little patched ducky just the cutest??

Challenges...
Mojo Monday 227 - sketch
Birthday Sundaes #42 - Birthday with wording on front
Celebrate the Occasion #49 - anything goes birthday

~Making Memories 'pitter patter' dsp
~Patchpal Ducky and sentiment from Clear Dollar
~Copics and distress inks
~Large and Small Labels Nesties
~ribbon and button from my stash

Thanks for stopping by!!

White embossed thank you card

 Monochromatic isn't often my first choice, but I need to do it more because I like it!!  This is an all white card except for the image.  

I just got a new Impressabilities die and was eager to try it out, too!!

Challenges...
Celebrate the Occasion #48 - thank you card and must use a punch
Tuesday Morning Skethes #131 - sketch
Card Crafter's Circle #8 - white on white (can have colour on image)  *I didn't misspell... I may live in NY, but I'm CDN, and this challenge is based in Australia!  :) :) :)

~Colorbok cardstock
~Impressabilities circles
~Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder
~Fiskars threading Water border punch, circle and scalloped punch
~ my own image  from clipart -I used crayon resist technique tha I heard about from TMS #94
~sentiment stamp and ribbon from my stash

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Boy's easel birthday card

When I began to make cards, I had a lot of trouble with masculine cards.  They are still not my favorite, but I found out that having the right paper helps.  :)  A while ago, I got the DCWV All About Boys stack.  It's great!!  Whenever I need something for a boy, it works for me!  And I've used a lot of it, so I must need to go paper shopping again, right??  :)

Challenges...
~Birthday Sundaes #41 - easel card (b'day wording on front)
~Cards for men challenge 2 - "boys and their toys"
~Celebrate the Occasion #47 - masculine birthday
~Tuesday Morning Sketches #130 - sketch

I used...
~DCWV All About Boys dsp
~Inkadinkado 'happy birthday'
~tiny letters from a set I got at J's a long time ago
~yellow braiding cord


Thanks for looking!!!!