Just catchin' up.....

(Before y'all get into this, I want to say that part of this has been setting in draft for about 3 months or more, so, that is why it may sound a little more strange than usual.   hahaha)

Good morning y'all!!!!!!      Do y'all ever feel like time just flies on by, or that maybe you've just missed a week or two or even a month or two or three?    Well, I don't know about y'all, but I just feel like this year is flying by!!!!!!     I really do.     It seems like the busier I am the faster it flies on by.    But, busy is good.     Busy is very good.     I have gotten busy and have neglected my blog again.     I really hate when that happens.     I have so many projects that I want to share and just some fun stuff in the mix also.      But.....I'm gonna try to share all that I can this go around and maybe get a little caught up on some of it.

These first pics are of the cards that we made in March for our Card Ministry at Church.    I think they are fun and beautiful, as usual.

This goose one was a really nice masculine card.   We all know how hard it is to come up with pretty masculine cards.    I really love the wood grain embossing on the background and then the dots on the little green piece.    This one was a fun card to make.

The kites was also a very fun card.    I think most of us have memories of flying kites as kids and this one brought back memories of trying to fly kites in the woodsy area that I grew up in.    I could fly a kite really good, to the top of tree, and that was where it stayed till the wind blew it down, by then, it was time for a new kite to just get blown into the tree tops, again.    And to think I actually thought flying a kite was fun.    hahaha     So, if I tell someone to "go fly a a kite", it's with those memories that I say it.    hahaha   All but impossible, but, still fun to try anyway.

I really like this one also.    It was a fun card.     It is of the kookaburra.    It's a very colorful bird and we all enjoyed coloring this one.

This next pic here is of a meal that a friend and I had here while back at Burdett's Tea Room here in town, back in February.     Every table in the tea room has a hand crocheted table cloth and it is very warm and inviting.   It's such a special place to catch up with a friend or meet a new friend and have a nice meal.   Lots to look at while waiting for your food to arrive or to just enjoy looking afterward.   This was a very delicious meal.   I love to try the different scones and I usually take my scone home with me for an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee.   And as  usual, I took my scone home.     It was a strawberry and basil scone.     I'm just being honest, it was not my fav part of the meal for sure.     I think I got the scone that had most of the basil in it.   I'm happy I at least tried it, but I won't be getting this one again.    The rest of the meal was scrumptious.      That is some of the best home made pimento cheese salad I have ever eaten.    Delicious!!!!    The broccoli salad was just divine, as was the Waldorf salad.    The best part of the meal is always the friends that I dined with.      That's always the best part of any meal anyway.

The funniest thing about the basil scone was when I texted my friend and told her that I did not enjoy the basil scone.    She said she really enjoyed hers.   (That's why I think mine was one that just had a lot of basil in it.)     We started texting each other using the word "basil" as our new "it" letter word.    Hahaha, go figure!    You know, like..."what the basil did you say?"  or, "well, that's just basil", or...."oh basil!", or "you watch out now, I'll wash your mouth out with basil."    We went on all night long, or should I say, she did.    My cell phone would go off and I would look at it and it would be another basil joke.    I laughed all night long.    She should be a comedian!!!     My sweet friend, the Jesus in you has made me a better person!!! 

So, now on to more beautiful and fun cards.     This is a fun card.      It is really sparkly and shimmery.     It doesn't show up really well in the pic though.      My friend that does the Card Ministry at church let me borrow her die for this and I cut several card fronts and put them aside for further use.     I seen someone making a card using a used dryer sheet and I wanted to try one too.      It really is a neat card.

The dryer sheet was covered with adhesive on the back to stick down to the card front.     Then it was covered with really fine glitter and the excess knocked off and then the frilly card front glued down.

You can see the glittery shimmer on the card and I must say that it really is a very pretty card and I will be making more.

The final touch to the card was placing a few flat backed jewels on top of some of the little flowers on the card front.    Overall, I really love this card a bunch and can't wait to make a few more of them.

I just used this card recently for a bridal shower at church and told the bride to be that is had a used dryer sheet in it and she couldn't believe it.    No one could believe it was dryer sheet.     It looks so nice and shimmery in person, that it's really hard to tell that it is a dryer sheet.    So, now that you seen that card, the only thing left to say about that is, "Ladies, save those used dryer sheets!"     You know how we can't seem to part with anything.    Well, sooner or later someone will come up with a craft project or a card project using whatever it is that we have a problem tossing.    That's ok.    I think it's actually pretty great.

This is a cross box that I made.   I got the image from the Silhouette library.   I think it is gorgeous.   It is on a pad of paper that is 9x12.    I added some red jewels to it and then in the very middle, I had some micro beads that I put down and then used glossy accents to hold them in place and to adhere them together to make it look like one stone.   I love how it turned out.    It will be a fair entry.   

See, this is the center of the box, and I just love it!

This is another tag that I made for a special bride, earlier in the year.   I used my postage stamp die and my heart rosette die and other round rosettes to make this tag.    I embossed the whole front of the card and that made it really hard for the rosettes to stick to it like they would have, had I not gotten so embossing powder happy.    But I do love learning from my mistakes, though.    I do love the way it turned out.

This was another happy little accident.     I was gonna cut her name from vinyl and put it on the front of the envelope that I had made to put the tag in.     Well, I got the letters cut, but the vinyl would NOT stick to the card stock.   Go figure!  So, I put them down long enough to use them as a mask, and I put color around the letters and made her name pop like that.   As you can see, the envelope was purple and I used a darker purple to ink over the name, and I must say, I really LOVE how it turned out.    Then I took the little flat back red stones and just scatter glued them over the envelope and finished it off with a big sheer bow.     That was one of the most beautiful tags and envelope  that I have made.    Some of the tags I make just have more stamping on the back, others I make with the gift card sized holder on the back.

Ok, so I wanted to make some stencils.    I went to Wal Mart and dug around till I found something that I thought would work.    I found these plastic dividers and knew they would do what I wanted, so I got my goodies and headed home, happily.    If you click on the pic, it should bring up a larger pic that will allow you to see the product and the settings I used on my Silhouette.

This is what I ended up with.    And they work as well as any of the purchased stencils have.   I love them.    They have gotten a lot of use too.     When I was making a lot of bookmarks for church, these got used and used and used and I'm always pulling them out for other stuff.    I will be making more.    It was easy, fun and cheap.    You know I'm all over that!!!!!   Lots of y'all are too.   hehehe

Well, that's about it for today.     This is a blog post that I have had sitting in draft form for more than 3 months, so I pulled it out and dusted it off and just added some more projects to it.

This is the Fourth of July weekend.     The day set aside each year for us, in the United States of America to celebrate our freedom and all that we hold dear.    Freedom is the one thing that all humans on the face of the planet desire to have.   We all have that in common.    Freedom is a God given desire.    The Scripture tells us that God is no respecter of persons.     He doesn't care if you are a head of state, a president, a pauper, or a nobody,we ALL need freedom from sin!!!    The president, or head of state, or ruler is no better in God's eyes than the pauper or the prisoner.     While we as humans desire freedom; and there have been hundreds of thousands of men and women over the many centuries have died for others to have freedom; true freedom comes ONLY from Christ Jesus, as Savior and Lord of our lives!!!     We can be in chains and still know the freedom that Christ gives.    We can be behind bars and still know the freedom that Christ gives.     We can even have our lives taken from us at the hands of evil people and then be in the presence of the One and Only Freedom Giver, Jesus Christ. 

Romans 14:8 says this:  "for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's."   

This is what Paul said.    He knew first hand at having his personal freedom taken from him.    But he had determined in his heart, that NO MATTER WHAT, live or die, he would be living for Christ or he would die for Christ.    In Philippians he said something to this effect:   To live would be for Christ, to die would be gain, because he would be with Christ.  

No matter what kind of bondage you are in.    The bondage of sin is the one that you have the ability to change.    Not in your own power and strength, but thru what Jesus Christ has already done for you.    You just need to claim the victory that is yours by accepting Christ as your personal Savior.     That will break the chains of bondage on your heart.     That is where true freedom comes from!!!!    Christ is for everyone!!!!!!     He has never tuned anyone seeking Him away and He never will!!!!!!  

So as we celebrate Freedom as a nation this weekend, let us also be reminded of the greater Freedom that is ours, if we have a personal relationship with Christ.    If we don't already have that relationship with Him, then this is the perfect time to start your walk with Christ and walk in the Freedom that only Christ gives.

Thank you Jesus, for the the freedom that You give to all people who call on Your Name!!!!     Let us remember You this weekend while we are remembering the freedom that this great nation fought so hard for.    May we fight equally hard, within ourselves, for the freedom that You alone can give to those of us who desire it.    I pray that You will put the desire and need, for You, into each and every heart that does not already have the freedom that You so freely give.    Thank You Jesus!   Amen and Amen

I hope and pray that y'all seen something here today that you liked.   If you did, tell someone.    Share it with others.    I also love it when you leave me a note.

Ladybug, we hope to see this weekend sometime.   Sweetpea loves you and looks forward to another visit real soon.

Everyone, enjoy your weekend, stay safe, and thank a Veteran or a Soldier for the freedom we enjoy as a nation.   Thank Jesus for the freedom from the bondage of sin that we enjoy as Christ's Followers.

Always remember that God loves y'all, and so do I.    hugs, Patty