Friends are Fabulous!

And so are blog hops!!!  Today I am thrilled to share both with you through the Friends of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Birthday Blog Hop.

I have met some of the most amazing people in the past 5 years of business.  Many of those fantastic ladies are joining us today to celebrate our 5th birthday!

Be sure not to miss a stop and check back throughout the day because we may be adding more stops!!

Why shouldn't you miss a stop you say?  Well, not only might you miss some beautiful eye candy, BUT you may also miss the chance to win a $15 store credit!

We are giving away (4) $15 store credits. The winners will be drawn at random from 4 mystery blogs in today's hop!

You'll have until midnight EST on November 30th to comment for a chance to win and I'll announce the winners on December 1st on the SNSS Blog as well as on our FB page.

Enough of the technical stuff....

I wanted to share something extra special for today's hop but I really had a hard time deciding what that should be so here are a few of my recent favorites...

For this card, I stamped the poinsettia on DP two times, fussy cut one image then cut out some of the petals from the other image to layer on top of it for dimension. I do love how it turned out.

Stamps: Poinsettia (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Paper: Christmas Home (Teresa Collins)

Ink: Versafine, Copic for shading of flower

Accessories: gold cord, gold stickles, scallop die (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps), holly embossing folder (Sizzix)

For this card, I did two things I rarely do anymore...heat embossing and sponging.

Stamps: Old-Fashioned Christmas, Snowflake Flourish, Christmas Sentiments (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Paper: white CS

Ink: Royal Satin Kaleidacolor pad, versamark, versafine black

Accessories: ribbon, white embossing powder, corner rounder

And finally for this one I used a whole bunch of stamp sets to create this Christmas collage. I just love a country Christmas! :)

Stamps: Vintage Ornaments, Vintage Postcard, Grunge Borders, Holiday Baubles, Light of Christmas Background (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Paper: brown CS, kraft CS, Webster's Pages, flecked white CS

Ink: Cranberry (CTMH), Rich Cocoa (Memento), Copics

Accessories: pearls & twine

I hope you enjoy today's hop and find yourself inspired to create some of your own beautiful creations!

Tasty Sketches & A Pain in the Neck

No the two don't go together....I love a good sketch and I will get to that in a moment but first.....the pain in the neck.....literally...

Around 4:30 this morning I woke up with a searing pain in my neck and upper back/right shoulder. I don't know if it was the way I was sleeping or if it had something to do with my computer work yesterday (doing the same mundane thing with the mouse, over and over in the same position), but it HURTS...like the dickens, so much so that I was literally in tears at one point.  I have a sort of hunchback thing going on by the looks of the bulge between my neck and right shoulder and my head mobility is very limited.

After gathering my composure, I popped a couple Aleve and tried to go back to sleep.  I can only lie in one position, flat on my back, completely straight, with a pillow propping up my head a bit...pretty much like a dead person in a coffin which is not how I typically sleep.  I'm a curled up in a ball on my side sort of sleeper.  After a while, thankfully I did manage to get some rest after the Aleve, but when I woke up again, the pain was still quite strong.

I don't know how long this ailment is going to last but I surely covet your prayers.  It's going to effect my ability to complete many day to day chores and possibly even my ability to drive.  I can sit and type (thank you, Lord), but no heavy lifting or quick movements. It really hurts even when I take a deep breath....and that is after the Aleve.  :(  Why does this sort of thing always happen on the weekend?....that's what I'd like to know.  Pffft... ;)

Ah well, this too shall pass.....anyway, onto that tasty sketch....

Today over at The Sweet Stop the girls are featuring tasty treats with the sketch.  I thought I'd play along so I made a tasty gingerbread man card.  

I've been making lots of Christmas cards lately and using a lot of the traditional red and green, so I thought this time I'd go with a softer version, pink and pale green.  I think these two colors work very nicely together.

I used some creative liberty and changed the sketch up just a bit, but it's still recognizable.  Don't you think?

Stamps: Gingerbread Man (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Paper: Holly Jolly (Echo Park)

Ink: copics & memento

Accessories: ribbon, stickles, machine stitching, button, SNSS Scallop Border Dies

Nothin' Like a Cuppa

A brief post today...

Our Digi Sale at Sweet N Sassy stamps started yesterday and runs through next Wednesday the 21st. All digis including the 3 new releases are 25% off!!  YAY!

Today I am joining the SNSS Digi Challenge with a shaped card I made using two of the new releases  Kiwi Koala's Cuppa and Eskimo Kisses Sentiments.  Isn't Kiwi adorable?

Digis: Kiwi Koala's Cuppa and Eskimo Kisses Sentiments (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Paper: Winter Park (Echo Park)

Ink: copics & memento

Accessories: gingham ribbon, SNSS Scallop Border Dies

Sadness & Joy

Sometimes the sad things really weigh us down, don't they?

Late yesterday afternoon, maybe a mile from our home, a farmer lost his livelihood to a devastating barn fire.

I was sitting at the dining room table on my computer when my husband called and asked what was burning over this way.  He was on his way home and could see the smoke from miles away.

I looked out the front window and saw the dark smoke billowing from the valley behind our subdivision.  Suddenly, the sirens were coming from all directions.  We didn't know what was going on, only that something BIG was burning.  As time went on the smoke got lighter in color which was an indication to us that the fire departments on scene were getting it under control.

When we left for church after dinner it was already dark outside but you could see the smoke hanging in the air and the smell was fairly heavy. When we returned home, it was even worse.  Our house even smelled of smoke, but none of that compared to the tragedy and loss for that farm. 

This morning we found out that 78 cows died in that fire and the barn in no more. They were so scared and confused when the men were trying to get them out that they ran the wrong direction and the roof of the barn collapsed.  I can only imagine how helpless those men felt.

I drove by the farm this morning after taking the boys to school and the rubble was still smoldering.  Such a sad, sad sight to see.  The Good family will be in my prayers and I invite you to pray for them as well.

In spite of this sadness I feel for this family and our community, I am joyful for another reason.  Today is my 15th wedding anniversary.

I really have no words to express how grateful I am for the last 15 years and for my dear husband, Dan, who has stood by my side even when most people would have turned and forsaken me.

I thank God for the tremendous gift He has given me in my husband.  A gift I certainly did not deserve and I pray that He continues to bless our marriage for many, many years to come as we seek to honor Him through it.

So there you have it....sadness and joy....all in the same day.  My heart kinda hurts, to be perfectly honest.  Cherish the blessings God has bestowed upon you.  You never know when they might be taken away.

It makes me think of this precious portion of Scripture:

Ecclesiastes 3

1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born,
    And a time to die;
A time to plant,
    And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill,
    And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
    And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep,
    And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
    And a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones,
    And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
    And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to gain,
    And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
    And a time to throw away;
⁷ A time to tear,
    And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
    And a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love,
    And a time to hate;
A time of war,
    And a time of peace.

 ⁹ What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰ I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

 ¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴ I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
¹⁵ That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God requires an account of what is past.

Powerful words, wouldn't you say?  I hope you will ponder them in your heart.

In the meantime, here is a card I made that sums up how I am feeling...

Stamps: Season of Change (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Ink: Versafine & CTMH

Accessories: ribbon, button, twine, Season of Change leaf die (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Mornings are for...well, not me.

I am so not a morning person.  In fact, if you asked my family they would probably tell you to steer clear of me for at least an hour after I get up and definitely NOT until I have had my coffee.

Of course, when you have to get up early to get everyone ready for the day you just do it....very robotically, but done none-the less.

This morning was one of those typical "is it really 6am already?" mornings.  My hubby got up, gave me a hug and was on his way.  He makes me sick really.  He has no problem getting up and can be ready for work in 15-20 minutes.  It takes me that long just to open both eyes plus another 2-3 minutes to stagger to the bathroom without tripping over the dogs or stubbing my toe on the bathroom doorway.

When I finally managed to get myself "put together" and down stairs, my middle son was already in the kitchen making his lunch.  WHAT?  He takes after his father, obviously.

I packed the other two boys' lunches, signed Evan's weekend take home paper and put everything including his Spelling homework in his folder and stuffed everything into his backpack....all this BEFORE I had consumed even a drop of my favorite caffeinated beverage.  Can you see where this is going?

Next was the task of getting Evan up.  This is quite a feat because Evan is JUST LIKE ME.  After about 5 times of telling him to get up and he ignoring me, he grumbled and complained and got dressed.  He couldn't find his belt, which of course is no surprise, even though I knew exactly where it was.  He whined and complained because he was going to lose a light bulb for not wearing his belt (which is part of the school dress code) as if it were somehow my fault he couldn't find his belt.

I went down to the laundry pile and found his belt in the last pair of school pants he had worn, exactly where I knew it would be, brought it up and handed it to him.

"Perhaps you should take off your belt before you throw your dirty clothes in the laundry."

That comment resulted in a dirty look and a bit of stomping as he walked away to put the belt on.

Finally, I had a moment to make some beloved coffee.  By this time, we had just a few minutes before we had to head out the door.

I told the boys to grab something for breakfast FAST if they were getting it.  Everyone scooped up their things, I got my coffee and we were off. 

I drove the normal 35 minutes to school, dropped the boys off as Evan grumbled, "I am so tired" and something about not falling asleep until it was time to get up.  I think he may have needed some of that coffee, too.

When I arrived back home to a very quiet house I noticed a piece of paper laying on the table, up-side-down.  I flipped it over to find it was Evan's Spelling homework.  UGH.  I stuck LAST week's homework back in his folder instead of this week's homework.

I immediately called the school to let them know that I sent in the wrong homework, but I was probably too late. I am sure I will hear all about it when he gets home later. "I had to do it all over again and missed my recess."

I think tomorrow I should start with the coffee, which is also affectionately named, at least in our house, "mom's brain juice".

Now that I have had my coffee and I am ready to tackle the day, I thought I'd share another card I made this weekend while Janette was here.

This one is for the Mojo Monday sketch from last week (#266).  I enjoyed all the layers but it sure was tough to pick out just the right papers to match. Isn't that sentiment so corny?  I love it! :)

Stamps: Happy Hoolidays (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Paper: Holly Jolly (Echo Park)

Ink: copics & memento

Accessories: fibers (CTMH), button, Nesties

Skeeball...It's not for everyone.

You know...the game at the arcade where you roll the wooden ball up an inclined lane hoping to land it in that hole worth 50,000 points.

Saturday night we braved the crowds of gleeful children (and their tired token purchasers aka parents) to celebrate Evan's 10th birthday.  He had been asking for a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party for a few months and because the first double digit birthday is kind of a big deal in the world of a child, we decided to give in, just this once.

As we pulled up to the building I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was ample parking available, however, when I looked through the large wall of windows I instantly went into survival mode.  There were excited, token carrying, ticket-winning-crazed children EVERYWHERE.

We had 3 extra children with us plus a few more who were on the way to celebrate Evan's special day.

Before we even got out of the van I went over the rules...

#1) Play nice

#2) If you have a problem with something or someone, please come to ME or Mr. Sutherland instead of trying to solve the problem yourself.  (This one was mainly for MY child who doesn't always THINK before he acts...and yes, he gets it honestly....from his father...hehe, okay, from both of us.) ;)

As we walked into the building with 5 children in tow I just smiled.  We were led to a table with a sign on it which read "Evan Party 5-7".  Yep, that's us.

The other guests began to arrive so we divvied out everyone's tokens and off they went.  I figured they'd all be back within 5 minutes since that would be about how long the tokens would last.

Fortunately for the adults in our group, the tokens lasted longer than 5 minutes.  Since it was so busy, waiting in line to play the games meant the kids couldn't spend them as quickly, so the packed house was working in our favor. Go figure.

Every so often I would wander the game floor to make sure the kids in our group were having fun and not running into any problems.

As I approached the row of Skeeball alleys I noticed Evan awkwardly throwing the ball up the lane.  I cringed at the thought of that wooden ball ricocheting into the neighboring lane and whacking someone in the head.

"Woah, Evan.  Let me help you. You have to ROLL the ball, not throw it.  Here, like this."

You see, when I was a kid I LOVED skeeball.  I wasn't really good at it, but I did okay.  So after seeing my poor uncoordinated child abusing that ball I just HAD to step in and help him.  He let me show him, reluctantly, but as soon as I rolled the ball and actually scored him some points, he thought he knew what he was doing, so he grabbed the next ball and proceeded to clumsily throw it up the lane a second time.

I braced myself again for impact with a neighboring player.  Phew, it bounced into the gutter.

"No, no. You have to ROLL the ball, Evan.  You are still throwing it." "OKAAAAY, MOM."

Oy vey....he just couldn't figure out how to roll that ball.  It took all I had to keep myself from taking the ball right out of his hand and playing the game for him.  Restraint is a hard thing for control freaks, you know, but I behaved myself and let him bomb the rest of the balls at which point he said, "I don't like this game."  Well of course not, sweetie, you stink at it.  Okay, I didn't really say that.  I did what any good mother should do and told him not to give up, that it takes practice to get better at it just like anything new and that it was a fun game once you got the hang of it.  Well, he didn't buy it.  He was off like a shot to find something less frustrating to waste his tokens on....like whack a mole.

On the bright side, he had a GREAT time at his Chuck E. Cheese birthday party, which is a good thing since it won't ever happen again. ;) 

One of the funniest moments of the night was when Chuck E. Cheese himself crowned Evan with an inflatable crown which held 8-10 tokens.  I thought he was going to die, he was so embarrassed.  He will be 10 after all (on the 26th), which is much too old to have a man/woman dressed like a rat place a fake crown on your head while everyone is cheering and snapping pictures.

I do think maybe we should buy a skeeball alley for the basement, though.  Wouldn't that be fun?  Kinda like stamping...

I made this card yesterday for the SCS Featured Stamper challenge while my dear friend, Janette Olen, was here with her girls for an impromptu visit this weekend.  We haven't stamped together in what feels like forever. It was so much fun to giggle around the table while we made a huge mess with my stamping supplies.

Stamps: Vintage Ornaments (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

Paper: Aspen Frost (Basic Grey), kraft CS

Ink: Cranberry (CTMH)

Accessories: ribbon, scallop border die (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps), pearl, holly embossing folder (Sizzix), twine