There is an old story that goes something like this….    A man, who’s life is full of burden, falls to his knees and cries out to God, “Please God, I cannot bear this cross you’ve given me!”.   Over and over again the man cries out.  Finally, the Lord comes to him and takes him to heaven.   He takes the man’s cross and the man is relieved.   He tells the man that he can pick a new cross to bear, so he takes him to an extremely large room filled with crosses.  There are crosses 20 feet high, there are crosses 30 feet high, there are heavily burdened crosses and then there stands a rather average sized cross in the corner.   “I’ll take that cross”, says the man.   The Lord smiles at him and says, “That, my son, is the cross you came in with.”

What’s this all about?   Well, yesterday afternoon, my husband came to me an nonchalantly advised me that he will be laid off between Thanksgiving and Christmas.   Immediately, my anxiety started flaring up and I was chewing my lip.   By evening, my blood pressure was so high, I was doing deep breathing exercises to calm myself.   I knew I was going to lose sleep.

Not long after that, I signed on to Splitcoaststampers and found today’s Limited Supply Challenge thread.   Silvia put out a challenge to make a Christmas card for a young boy named Noah.   My heart skipped a beat as I read Noah’s story.   I have a Noah.   I am so blessed that my Noah is strong and healthy.   Noah Biorkman is not.   Noah B was diagnosed with cancer when he was 3 yrs old.   He is now 5, and his precious little life is coming to an end.   The only thing Noah wants is Christmas cards.   I wish I could give him more.   More time.   More hugs.   More Christmases.   But, what I can give him is my prayers and a Christmas card.

You can read Noah’s story HERE.

This is for you, Noah.

So now that my cross seems so tiny in compared to Noah’s, I pray.   I pray for all of those who’s cross is bigger than mine.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Hambo Stamps exclusive digi Toy Soldier

Colors: GP White, True Thyme, Real Red, dp

Ink: Copics

Accessories: ribbon, jute, circle punches, dimensionals, candy dots

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Thanks so much for stopping by today.   May your cross be easy to bear and your blessing abundant.

~~ Holly ~~

Beneath this snowy mantle cold and clean
The unborn grass lies waiting
for its coat to turn to green
The snowbird sings a song he always sings
And speaks to me of flowers
that will bloom again in spring

I have stamped so much this past weekend that I may have trouble getting motivated this week.   I had not stamped much in the past few weeks, so I kinda went overboard.   But, I am happy with what I have created!

I got to thinking about my punches.   Feeling the need to think ‘outside the box’, I set out to find a way to use them in different ways (other than what they were intended).   So, I am throwing out a challenge to all of you.   Find a way to use a punch that is ‘outside the box’, then come back and post a link to your project here.   I thought about offering up some blog candy and I may just do that, but for now, let’s just have some fun with it.

For this card, I used the side of the designer label punch on the top and bottom of the main image panel and the mat underneath that.   Then I used the slit punch on the 2nd (real red) mat and nestled my main image into that.   It was a little tricky getting it centered.   I had to put little tick marks at the centerpoint of each side and use that as a guide, but it worked out perfectly.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Artful Inkables‘  A Bird’s Song and sentiment from Holiday Treats and Tails

Colors: Real Red, Baja Blue, Paper Studio Dp, Parisian Breeze dp, GP White

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics, Baja Blue, Buckaroo Blue

Accessories: velvet ribbon, red 1/2 pearl, snowflake punch, stickles, curvy label punch, designer label punch, slit punch, dimensionals, dauber

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ON SALE!

From November 1st to November 15th, Artful Inkables has 35 sets on sale for 25-35% off.   No special code is necessary.   And as usual, there is free shipping on orders over $45.   You can see the sets on sale by clicking HERE.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!  Now go create something ‘out of the box’!   I hope you all have a blessed day!

~~ Holly ~~

I cannot believe that it is October 31st already!    Crazy!  Well, we woke up to bright sunshine and fair warmth today.   The snow that fell the last few days is melting fast.   I am so glad, as I was worried about our little trick or treaters.

Since I only have four young kids in our little court, I decided this morning to make them each a little goodie bag.   I have seen these little frankenstein goodie bags all over and thought they would be perfect!   I actually made six of them and took a couple over to my aunts’ house for their little neighbor kids, too.

These are so easy to make.   It’s all punch work.   The nose is a round tab punch, the eyes are three different sized circle punches and the hair is my EK success wavy peirced punch.   The front is a 4 1/4″ x 3 3/4″ piece of Kiwi Kiss, sponged on the edges.   The back piece is 4 1/8″ x 3 3/4″ of Kiwi Kiss.   The bag in the middle is a tiny paper sack (I found them in black last year at Hobby Lobby and snagged a bunch!).

I wasn’t going to do much decorating this year, but when I got to Hobby Lobby this morning, they had all their Halloween decorations at 50% off!   I went a little nuts and bought some really cute stuff.   Now I have to go decorate!

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Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a spooktacular Halloween!

~~ Holly ~

Good morning, friends!

Well, it’s the final day of our blog hop sneak peeks.   It has been so much fun this week working with all the new releases.   Jessica did it again!   Today’s sneak peek is of a new set called Penguin Love.   I cannot believe how many images are packed into this set.   Oh the possibilities!

If you’ve arrived here from Gretchen’s blog, then you are right on the spot.  If not, you may wish to start back at Dawn’s blog to get the full show.   These girls are going to knock your socks off!

There are penguin stamps all over the place, but the difference with this There She Goes set is the accessories!   A girl loves to accessorize, right?

I couldn’t stop at a card.   I needed to make a tag to go along with my card

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  There She Goes‘ Penguin Love

Colors: Pacific Point, GP White, Paper Pizazz dp

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories:  ribbon, 1/2 pearls, snowflake ef, snowflake punches, snowflake border punch, circle punch, oval nesties, dimensionals, frosted lace stickles

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Now it’s time to pop on over to Faith’s blog to see what goodies she has to share!   Thanks so much for stopping by!   Have a blessed day!

~~ Holly ~~

Good day, friends!

Is your head swirling with all these new images, yet?   Well, we’re not through!   Today we are sneak peeking the new mini sets from There She Goes.   If you have arrived here from Gretchen’s Blog, you’re spot on.   If not, please start back at Dawn’s blog.   You won’t want to miss a thing!

I have four, yes.. FOUR cards to show you today.   Two are with the new minis and two are with older sets.   I am lumping them together in this one post as this week’s TSG challenge was to make CAS cards and all of these fit that category.   The TSG minis are perfect for CAS cards!

This first card comes from the new HSH Happy Hanukkah set.   I was really excited to see a Hanukkah set as I have absolutely no images for Hanukkah cards.

I wanted to add a little interest to the basic gray piece, but wanted it to be quick, so I just added a few diagonal score lines.

Here are my deets:

Stamps: There She Goes‘ Happy Hanukkah

Colors: GP White, Night of Navy, Basic Gray

Ink: Night of Navy, Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories: ribbon, dimensionals, scoring blade, moracan border punch

The next sample comes from the new Stick Together mini set.   I love snowflakes.   Even after the last 24 hours of snow snow snow here, I can say I still love it (as long as I don’t have to drive in it!).

For this one, I stamped the images, covered it in versamark and added dazzling diamonds.

Here are my deets:

Stamps: There She Goes‘ Stick Together Mini

Colors: GP White, Night of Navy

Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark

Accessories:  ribbon, dazzling diamonds, snowflake border punch, dimensionals

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Now these next two are made with older mini sets, but I have not shared them yet.   The first is made with Polka Dot Blooms.

Here are the deets:

Stamps:  There She Goes’ Polka Dot Blooms

Colors: GP White, Basic Black, SU dps

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx

Accessories: ribbon, eyelet border punch, circle punch, dimensionals

This last sample is made with the TSG Ice Cream set.   How yummy, huh?

Here are the deets:

Stamps:  There She Goes’ Ice Cream Mini

Colors: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, SU dps, GP White

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics, white gel pen

Accessories: ribbon, circle punch, scalloped circle punch, candy dots, dimensionals

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Now it’s time to send you HOPPIN’ on over to Faith’s blog.  I am sure she will have something gorgeous to share!   Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day.

~~ Holly ~~

Good morning, friends!

Welcome to There She Goes’ blog hop day #2.   Your head is really going to be reeling from all the new stamps coming this week!   Today we are showing off the new Home Sweet Home Holiday Additions set.   This set has an incredible 42 stamps included!

If you’ve arrived here from Gretchen’s blog, then you are right on track.  If not, you should start back on Dawn’s blog to get the full show.   Considering the number of stamps in this set, you are going to see a wide variety!

I am going to confess…. I really did not feel like making a card for this set.   I had in mind to make this little box and put some yummy Pumpkin Spice cookies inside for friends this coming holiday (Thanksgiving).    I had every intent to wake up this morning and make a batch of cookies.   My plans were foiled.   My son’s computer died last night, while I was asleep, so we had to hit Best Buy (Geek Squad) first thing this morning.   Then I got a call that my doctor wanted to see me.   By the time I got around to domestic things, I had a massive headache.   I took a couple of tylenol and sat down for a few minutes and poof, it was gone.

For this box, which measures 3″ square, I simply took a piece of cardstock 6 x 6 and scored at 1 1/2″ on all sides.   Form into a box bottom and set aside.   For the ”wrap”, I cut a piece of heavy designer paper at 3 1/4″ x 10″ and wrapped it around the box bottom, securing it with sticky tape.

For the yummy cookies to go inside, I have a recipe for you!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1/2 c. shortening
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c. canned pumpkin
2 c. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger

1. Cream shortening until light and fluffy. Gradually add brown sugar, mixing well.

2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Stir in pumpkin.

4. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger into pumpkin mixture. Chill dough.

5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheet.

6. Bake. Cool. Temperature: 400 degrees. Time: 10 minutes.

ICING:

1/2 c. butter
4 to 4 1/2 c. sifted powdered sugar
1/4 c. boiling water
Pecan or walnut halves (optional)

1. In saucepan, heat butter until light golden brown.

2. Add powdered sugar and boiling water. Beat until mixture is smooth.

3. Frost each cookie and top with pecan or walnut half, if desired.

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The box is the perfect size for three cookies (line with tissues paper).    Ok, now it’s time to hop on over to Faith’s blog to see what fabulousness she has to share!

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Here are my deets:

Stamps:  There She Goes‘ Home Sweet Home Holiday Additions

Colors: Chocolate Chip, GP White, Abbey Road dp and Paper Studio dp

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics, Tim Holtz tea bag distressing ink

Accessories: ribbon, 1/2 pearls, nesties, dimensionals, sticky tape, scoring blade, dauber

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Thanks so much for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day

~~ Holly ~~

It’s time for some There She Goes’ release blog hops!   Over the next four days, we will be hopping and showing you some awesome new things.   If you arrived here from Gretchen’s blog, then you are in the right spot.  If not, you may wish to start back at Dawn’s blog to get the full show.

Every one of us are always looking for a way to store the cards we make, am I right?  Yup, I think so.   Well, There She Goes has the coolest card bins!   They are made of corregated cardboard and are easily altered.   These babies will hold a ton of cards and you know my cards are chunky!    And the price is right too!   For a mere $2 each, they are super affordable.

I altered my first bin to hold all the Christmas cards that I make.

As you can see, I did not assign the tabs just yet as I am not certain how I want to sort.   I am thinking I will do them by categories such as Christian, Santas, Snowflakes, etc.

Here are the deets:

Stamps:  There She Goes‘ A-Z and 123’s

Colors: Handsome Hunter, GP White, Paper Pizazz dp

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, Old Olive, copics

Accessories: oval nesties, dimensionals, sticky tape, snowflake punch

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Now it’s time for you to hop on over to Jessica’s blog to see her design.   Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day!

~~ Holly~~

I was so hoping to wake up this morning feeling like a million bucks.   Ehhhhhhh, wrong.    I was also hoping to have a leisurely morning in the studio as I have lots to accomplish this week.   Ehhhhhhhhh, wrong.    Finally, I was hoping this morning’s Technique challenge would be an easy one, because I am technique challenged.    Ehhhhhhhhh, wrong again!

Today’s challenge was to create a retiform background.   The instructions for this technique can be found HERE.   I was hoping my result would look something like the fields on a farm.    Well I tried, but they didn’t quite come out like I had hoped.   I tried again.   Same result.   What I ended up with is a hot mess.

That’s ok.   I winged it from there and pushed on.   I was so disappointed in my result that I let it sit on my desk all morning and now half the afternoon.   In the meantime, I worked on another project that was kicking my butt, too.   Maybe I was not suppose to stamp today afterall

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Artful Inkables‘ Down on the Farm

Colors: Kiwi Kiss, GP White, Real Red, Regal Rose

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, Kiwi Kiss, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, copics

Accessories: ribbons, candy dots, oval punch, circle punch, sticky notes, brayer, embossing folder

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Thanks for stopping by.   I hope you all have a blessed day!   I am going to take a nap and hope the stamping fairies are with me when I wake!

~~ Holly ~~

I made the mistake of pushing myself today.   I have been itching to stamp for days and couldn’t stand the idleness any longer, so I went for it.   I am paying for it now.   My mom always said, when you’re feeling better, give yourself an extra 24 hours after that to regain your strength, before doing your normal routine.   Well, I didn’t listen.   I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t sleep, so I got on Splitcoaststampers and found the Inspiration challenge for today.   My mind just started churning.   I wanted to get up then and stamp, but I knew that was a bad idea.

So, when I got up this morning, I put my plan in motion.   Only problem is, my body wasn’t cooperating with my mind.   It took me about three hours to get this project to come out even remotely like I had envisioned it!

I chose THIS piece as my inspiration…. or rather it chose me!

Now, I know someone is going to ask for directions on this, but I really winged it (no pun intended), so if you want a pattern, I will have to draw one up.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:   Artful Inkables‘ Bird’s Song

Colors: Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue, GP White

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, Close to Cocoa, Tim Holtz’ distressing ink, copics, black fine tip sharpie

Accessories: ribbon, 1/2 pearls, eyelet border punch, numerous hole and circle punches, straw, sticky tape, scoring blade, dauber, twine, oval punch, scalloped oval punch

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Now for the good…. I had an appt with my doctor yesterday and the lab work came back NEGATIVE for anything serious.   The bad news is, the infection persists.    He put me on a more aggressive antibiotic and more pain medications.   Now we take it day by day.

Thanks so much for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day!

~~ Holly ~~

I just wanted to pop on and let you all know that I am temporarily out of commission as far as stamping goes.   I had an emergency surgical procedure done on Monday (minor) and it has left me without the use or my left arm.   Well, I can type ok, but not much more than that.   I go back to the doctor tomorrow to find out more, and will let you know.

In the meantime, I am going to share with you a card I made for this week’s Artful Inkables tutorial (faux stone).   You can find the tutorial HERE.

While I am unable to stamp, I am very excited about some new stamps I have just received and am dreaming up ideas on how to use them!   I will be back soon!!

Thanks for stopping by!   Hope you have a blessed day!

~~ Holly~~