How the World Is...

I was driving into work this morning, I tend to reflect on things in the car and this is where I pray. I try not to focus on the dumb drivers out there and getting angry, which is easy to do. I try to think about other things, just reflect on things in the world and going on in life. Keeps me much more calm when I'm driving.  I also find that if I listen to the local Christian station I tend to be more calm  and slow down. If I listen to the other local station I normally listen to, I tend to really get a lead foot, I speed and I get angry at the people around me! LOL I'm so quirky I know!

I was reflecting back on the Sunday service at church. I was talking to Kevin about it when he woke up on Sunday evening.. his Monday morning. They read a passage in Revelations. Now, if I would have read that passage on my own I would have closed the bible and not known what the heck I just read. I would have thought of horror movies with monsters and dragons and 666. But instead, they really break it down and allow to make so much sense. They really go into the history of the writing and break it down so even I can understand. Then after delving into the history of it, they bring it back to today and it all becomes relevant.

So, what did I learn? I learned that the visions of the beasts coming out of the earth were representative. They represented the different Caesar's; and there were two different Caesar's that they represented. I couldn't tell you the first names of them because.. well... I'm just old and can't remember things like I used to LOL! I also learned that back in those Roman times they used Cryptogram type writings often and that 666 really represented the name Caesar back then. Caesar (whichever one it was) had people stamped with 666 on their foreheads and hands in order for them to be allowed to buy and sell. So, he was pretty much marking them as his property it seems to me. I found it really interesting listening to the history of it all. The service was on "Your Focus" so it talked about how the Caesar's manipulated the people and they lost focus on the Lord. Then they switch it around to today and how we can lose focus on all that goes around us. Anyway.. I thought it was really great and I always learn so much.

After the service I grabbed one of the newsletters they had in the pews. It was about the missions that the church works with. I read the stories and learned things that I just never knew or paid attention to. The church really does some great things. They feed pastors in poor areas of Cuba so that they can reach out to their communities without having to worry about how they are going to fee their families. The one that really stuck out to me was China. Now, If I'm correct, China is a communist country. I know that the government rules over pretty much everything there, but I never knew you couldn't be a Christian. There are a lot of Christians in China, but they are all underground. It is so hard for me to comprehend that you can not choose, because that is all I've ever known. Mount Paran North went to China and taught bible study there to the underground churches. Apparently, there is bible smuggling into that country like smuggling drugs. It really touched me when I read that.

Okay.. enough of my reflecting LOL Too Deep, huh? What's going on? Yesterday I started working on my first card for One Stitch At A Time.. which you won't get to see until August LOL! I also need to work on another design team card that will preview on Monday morning. More to come on that :) And just work work work! Oh! And the kids tend to drink milk like its going out of style! So I have to stop on the way home to pick up more milk and get gas. Exciting days aren't they? LOL

I'm sharing a layout with my youngest.. She will be 11 on the 24th of this month.. this is back when she turned five! I believe the papers are from Club Scrap, but I can't be sure. Have a great day everyone!!

Where Oh Where Did My Weekend Go!

Can you believe its over? Where do the days go? The week seems to just drag on, but get to the weekend and its gone in a flash. I really think we should be off five days and work two. I think that seems much better! But, we still should be paid like we worked for five LOL! Hey.. its my dream.. It should be how I want it :p

So, today I went through a bunch of challenges.. put them in an excel spreadsheet so I could sort them by date. That way I know which ones are going to be done and I can keep track better. That will work much better.. I will stop working on challenges that are already finished LOL! I might actually get more of them completed this way.

Just said goodnight to Kevin. We had our nightly, his morning, Skype visit. He has to see about a front tire issue on his motorcycle. He hasn't had that tire very long at all... it was after March when he got back! And the tire is dry rotting on the front. There is something seriously wrong with that. I hope the guy doesn't give him any problems and replaces it like he should. He gave him a bad tire. We will see what he says in the morning.

Now I'm just waiting on the kids to get home. They are on their way. I'm ready for a shower and to crawl in bed. That's when I turn the television on and watch a little Netflix before bed. I'm watching "Brothers and Sisters" right now. I never thought I would like that show, but I was wrong. I'm really enjoying it. I love the close knit, dysfunctional family dynamic LOL I love Sally Field too.. I think she's great. Oh... And Rob Lowe.. wow.. he's a good looking man.

I do have some news.. I applied for a couple of Design Teams and I was accepted by One Stitch At A Time! I couldn't be more excited to join them and I look forward to creating and learning along side them all. I hope to see you all join in on the fantastic challenges there! And be sure to check out the shop for tons of GREAT digis!

I did manage to work on a card today.. I rally don't like how it turned out LOL, but that's me.. picky. Too simple or something.. I don't know.

Again.. using all scraps. I used Maraschino and Denim twine from The Twinery! .. gotta love that stuff! Die-namics dies for the flowers... Botanical Beauty, Prima Donna Petals and Mini Royal Roses. Inked with Walnut Stain Distress ink.. The middle circle is from Spellbinders. Oh.. and the USA was from a Sizzlit - Bounce. And I inked the roses on the edges with red. I think that's it.

I'll be putting this into these challenges:

• Challenge 10: Fabulous Flowers @ LEJ Designs
• Tuesday Morning Sketches #153 @ Twisted Tuesday Challenges
• TPE155 - Photo Inspiration @ The Pink Elephant
• Inspiration Challenge @ Skipping Stones Design
• Color Throwdown #199 @ The Color Throwdown
• Die Cuts: red, White & Blue as Main Color @ Paper Playtime
• Red, White and Blue with Coordinating Trendy Twine @ Trendy Twine
• Day 110: Round @ 365 Cards

Oh.. and the kids are home. They haven't stopped talking since they came home; especially Michael. My gosh!! I think my sister loaded them up with sugar before they came home! I'm off to shower and head to bed.

Not Square!

So, I was working on this card for a "Not a Square" card. Then I realized when I was finished that the challenge was over LOL But it was still fun to make! Just for Kevin... :) So here it is:

Me and my fussy cutting.. LOL I fussy cut the card, the stars, the stamps LOL I popped a lot of things on the card. The stamps are Lawn Fawn "Critters Down Under".. the koala and the boomerang. I inked around the edge and colored everything with Copic:  Leaves:YG63 and YG67; Tree: E25, E27 and E13; Koala: I colored his nose with 100, C10, and C5; his body with CC5, C3 and C2; Boomerang: E25 and E13, YG63 and YG67, C10 and C5 and then I used Sharpie Stained pens to paint the circles. The G'day Mate! was done using a white opaque Painters Fine Marker.

Since I missed the one challenge LOL here is where I will put this one:

• Challenge C4C144 ~ Use Colors From Your Flag @ Crazy4Challenges
• Challenge #72: Color Challenge (Red, White, and Blue) @ Die Cuttin' Divas
• Lawnscaping Challenge #37 ~ Use Dimension @ {Lawn}scaping Challenge
• Day 113: Nature @ 365 Cards 

 And tonight .. still no kids! My sister called to see if they could stay another night. An extra night and day all to myself.. Woot!

Special Day! - No Kids!!

I don't get many days like this, so I cherish them when I do! My sister took Michael and Bailey last night and they are spending the day with her today. It was so nice to come home and not have to worry about anything. I finished up a tag last night and then started work on another card. Quiet and peaceful.. it was great. Said goodnight to Kevin and went to bed without having to fight with them about bed LOL Ahhhh.. so nice :)

This morning Kevin woke me up and I talked to him for a bit, but I didn't feel all that great. My throat was a little sore.. so he sent me back off to bed. I slept for a couple of more hours and I felt so much better when I woke up again. I have been finishing up my card so I will post that this morning along with the tag. I'm going to just enjoy the rest of the day. It is too hot outside, which is the perfect excuse to continue crafting! Have a great day everyone!

This is a tag that I made for the following challenge:

• Challenge #140 -- Life's A Beach @ Little Red Wagon (it doesn't say it has to be a card?)
• Summer Fun VSC #1 Challenge @ V's Sweet Ideas Blog
• Inspirational Challenge #SS19 @ Sisterhood Sunday Challenges

I used all scraps.. Boy do I have enough of them LOL I used chalk on the torn papers for the water and sand.. all of that is torn. I also punched a circle and chalked around the edge of it with red.. then in with orange and then yellow. I also wet that punch and rolled it up in a ball so it was wrinkled. I also did that with the leaves of the tree... I hand drew the leaves, fussy cut them and then wet them and rolled them in a ball so they wrinkled as well. I added detailing with Copic for the leaves, the coconuts and the tree trunk. The palm tree was completely hand drawn. It came out okay considering LOL  The "Summer" block was from an old color block I had .. I thought it was perfect. I used several different ribbons, ricrac, etc. for the fibers on it.

And this is my card I've been working on. The image is from Tiddly Inks Digitals and she is Wryn and I just love her! I love all of her graphics! And yes.. Super Fussy Cut LOL! Again I'm going for all scraps.. even had enough of the pink to make the card. The patterned papers are from an old Basic Grey pack. I stitched and inked. For the image I colored with the following Copic: Skin: E01 and E21 for shading; Hair: E31, E35 and E37; Dress and Shoes: YG03, YG13, BV00 and BV02; Crown and Stars: Y35; Frog: YG03, YG13 and the spots with G05. I used some sparkle fiber that I had to her wand. I was going to add glitter, but I thought she was good enough.

I'm going to put this in the following Challenges:

• Card Patterns ~ Our Final Sketch @ Card Patterns
• Inspired by #31 @ Inspired By (stripes, flowers, pinks, greens, Oh My!)
• July Anything Goes @ Stamp N Plus Challenge
• Challenge #16 ~ Anything Goes @ Chocolate, Coffee and Cards Challenges
• Challenge #35 ~ Anything Goes @ Creatalicious Challenges
• July Challenge ~ Layers @ The Cupcake Craftroom 
• Challenge 46 ~ Anything Goes @ Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenge 
• July 1st Challenge ~ Use Ribbon, Twine or Washi Tape @ Card Cupids Blog 
• Sundays Are Lovely #11 @ Jaihart 
• Challenge 23 ~ Photo Inspiration @ Crafty Ribbons Challenge (made me think girly!) 
• Day 10: Happy Birthday, BFF @ 365 Cards

Thanks so much for looking!

Happy Friday

Happy Friday! I got up this morning and worked on a card while I talked with Kevin. I had another red, white and blue image that I had colored. I wanted to get that on a card today. And!! I finally pulled out my sewing machine and got it all worked out and even put some stitching on the card. Boy did I miss that; I love stitching on my cards and pages!

I once again used all scraps. I'm really trying to use a bunch of my scraps up. I have no idea what the patterned paper is.. no name on it anywhere. All of the cardstock is Bazzill; can you tell I love Bazzill?? LOL I love any textured papers! The ribbon is a mesh ribbon from who knows where. The image is from Bugaboo Stamps .. I absolutely love their Digis! I popped her to give some dimension and added the stitching around the white patterned paper. I stamped a couple of different celebrates on it. I colored with Copics C3 for the shadowing on the white, B21, B24, B29 for the blues and R20, R22, R24 and R27 for the reds. I used E000 and one other brown for the skin, but I can't remember which one!

I'm putting this in the following challenges:

• Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge 248 @ Mojo Monday
• Independence Day Theme with Kim O'Connell @ The Ribbon Carousel Blog
• Seeing Stars @ The Sisterhood of Crafters
• Stars N Stripes Challenge #22 @ Love To Create Challenge
• PTT #75 ~ Be Patriotic...Show Your Countries Colors @ Party Time Tuesday's 
• Anything Goes Red White and Blue @ The Perfect Sentiment 
• Challenge #20 ~ Use Your Scraps @ Lias Stampz 
• Challenge #69 ~ 4th of July @ Celebrate the Occasion 
• Going Grey with Scrap ~ Creations Challenge: 4th of July @ Scrap-Creations by Kristen 
• Patriotism ~ Use Colors or Items From Your Flag @ Incy Wincy Designs 
• Monday Challenge #62 ~ 4th of July and Canada Day @ My Craft Spot 
• My Sheri Crafts Challenge #88 ~ Oh I Love America @ My Sheri Crafts 
• Make It Monday with Kraft Outlet: Red White and Blue @ The Kraft Journal 
• Wacky Wednesday #73 ~ 4th of July Theme @ More Than Favors
• Challenge #30 ~ Patriotic/Military/Fireworks @ Crafting For All Seasons
• Challenge #83 ~ Red White and Blue @ Wags 'n Whiskers  
• Day 36: Imagine This - Freedom @ 365 Cards

Recover after the 4th

Wow! I was SO tired after staying up late on the 4th. I had a really great time with Jia and her family as always. It was really nice to have my oldest tag along as well. Now that she has moved out I don't see her much or even talk to her much for that matter. So, it is always nice to see her and catch up.

We left out of here early in the morning to head to Grayson, Georgia. I got the kids some breakfast for the trip. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get there. When we first arrived Jia and her brother had gone to the store. I got T-Bones crate inside and got him all situated. We really didn't do a lot, but hang out and talk. We always have a lot to talk about. The kids watched a couple of movies on and off. We had a great lunch of hot dogs, baked beans, mac and cheese and all the fixins' for the hot dogs. They even made sloppy joe sauce for the hot dogs.. Coney Dogs they called it. It wasn't bad.

Jia, her boyfriend Rob and I went to the store at one point. I'm still trying to figure him out. I'm really not that crazy about him. It's just the little things that he does. They have been dating for quite some times.. it has to be four or five years now. He has never been married.. the ultimate bachelor. So, we go to the grocery store to pick up a few things. We need ice, water and playing cards. Rob picks up a magazine and some beer. We get to the line to leave and he puts his beer out and his magazine. Then he adds one of those things that goes in between two peoples shopping items. He puts it between the water, ice and whatever else Jia got. I'm watching this and thinking to myself.. "No he didn't!". So he checks out and then Jia goes.. her total bill is about $13.00. I can't figure out why he wouldn't just pay for those items. He has no kids.. a really good job.. In other words.. its not about money for him. And he will be eating the ice and drinking the water with everyone else in the house. I don't know.. I was just a bit shocked by it. There were no playing cards there so we went down the street to the drug store. Jia asks him to run in to the store and grab some playing cards. He tells her no! So, I tell her that I'll run it.. I run it and grab the cards and back out. Again.. SHOCKED! that he wouldn't do this simple thing for her. I've only met the man once before.. and he didn't make a good impression then either LOL! Maybe I'm just too critical, because I feel like she deserves so much better. She is my best friend!  Oh.. and then he got upset with her about something and wouldn't even be with the family when we went out to see fireworks.

Yes... we are a pair aren't we LOL!!!

So that was it.. after the fireworks.. which we really didn't see, the kids and I grabbed T-Bone and started home. Oh... if I had only known what was coming!

Look at my lovely handsome boy.. Okay.. kind of scary right there LOL Yep.. he's a special one! So, we head home and we are about 15 minutes down the road when all of a sudden Michael spews! Not once... not twice... but FOUR times! Now, how is it that you don't feel that coming? How is it that you don't say.. MOM!!! I need you to pull over.. I don't feel so well! Nope! He is absolutely covered.. Bailey has some on her.. T-Bone has some on him. What a nightmare!! It is 11:30 pm on the 4th of July and we are still a good 45 minutes from home. I stop at the next gas station we find and I buy a gallon of water, a small water for him to rinse out his mouth and drink, some handy wipes and paper towels and Febreeze! Thank goodness I made him bring a change of clothing thinking I would be able to get him to go swimming. I piled everyone in the van again and I went across the street to a vacant parking lot.. still in a lit area and cars not that far away. He washes off with the handy wipes and the gallon of water and paper towels. I'm trying to scrub the van seat and floor as well as I can. Taylor and I coat the seats with febreeze.. which didn't really help very much. Bailey and T-bone were both rinsed off with the gallon of water and Michael was sent to the back of the van to get out of the soaked clothes. We were probably out there for a good 30 to 45 minutes trying to get cleaned up. We climbed back in the van and started home. The febreeze did not work. I ended up having to drive home with the windows down the entire way. I'm just glad it had cooled down some. So that was our night.. Michael really threw a kink in it on the way home LOL Oh well.. Life happens and a mother's job is never done.

We got to bed late and I ended up talking to Kevin for a bit in the morning and then laying back down. Before we knew it we looked at the clock and it was already 3:45 pm. The day really flew by.

I worked on a card yesterday, trying to finish it up. The day before I had spent all my time coloring the image. Well.. I colored four images and it took quite a while LOL I used all scraps for this card.

The girl is from Tiddly Inks Digitals - Wryn the Patriot. I think she is so great! I used Copics B21, B24, B29, C2, C5, C7 and C10, E00 and one other brown .. I can't remember which one. Also R20, R22, R24, and R27. I used a fine Painters white opaque paint marker for the dots... err Stars on the flag. I also used "happy" from a hero arts stamp set - Essential Messages, "of" from a paper smooches stamp set - Word Salad and the "4" was from a Stampin' Up set of numbers that I have. The "TH" and the "JULY" were all hand written and colored. I used some glitter glue for the sparkles in her hair and the actual sparkle.. I used red, blue and white. Still working on my Copic coloring... Black I find is not that easy to work with.. well.. its really the different shades of gray, but still not that easy.

I'm going to enter this in the following challenges:

• OCL Challenge #123 ~ Let Freedom Ring @ Our Craft Lounge
• Freshly Made Sketches #42 ~ A Sketch by Jennifer T @ {Freshly Made} Sketches
• Mail-Able ~ Easy to Mail Card @ 365 Cards
• GL43 ~ Red White and Blue @ Gingerloft Challenge
• Inspired by: Independence Day @ Creative Inspirations
• 4th of July using Bling ~ Gems, Rhinestones, Glitter Oh My! @ Made Especially For You
• Challenge #48 ~ Color Challenge Red White and Blue @ Card Makin Mama 
• Challenge #47 Color Combo Red, White and Blue @ Pattie's Creations Design Challenge
• Stars and Stripes ~ Use both stars and stripes @ Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
• Challenge #98 @ 2 Sisters Challenge Blog
• Challenge #30 ~ Patriotic/Military/Fireworks @ Crafting For All Seasons
• Day 119: Mail-able @ 365 Cards

I have one more red white and blue card to go.. so I'll use that to enter in the rest of the may Red White and Blue challenges this month! :)  Hope you all have a great day!