{MTSC80 & Curtain Call Act 36} Celebrate Freedom!

The 4th of July is one of my most favorite holidays!

And I *love* creating patriotic cards too!

It's late and I need to get this posted, so I'm keeping it very short and sweet.

This card was created for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge

 and Stacy's Curtain Call Color Challenge too!

LOOK!  Mercy's Muses have been at it again!

Cindy Haffner ~ Cindy Haffner's Corner
Crystal Birr ~ The Messy Stamper

Jackie Pedro ~ The Scalloped Edge

Pam Varnell ~ The Stamping Addict

Julie Lacey ~ Stamps and Taxes!

Jessica Diedrich ~ The Whimsical Butterfly

Mercy Kerin ~ Lord Have Mercy {Queen Muse}
and our June Guest Muse . . .
Jessica Knutsen
from There She Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I really hope you'll consider playing along with the challenge this week!  For all the details and the challenges, please hop on over to Mercy & Stacey's blogs! 

Wishing you all a very safe & FUN 4th of JULY! 

God Bless America!

Quote for Today ~
My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~Thomas Jefferson

{MTSC79 & Curtain Call Act 35} Start Each Day with "Whee"!

"Whee!"  What a bright and happy color combination and super layout!  You'll notice that I've combined two challenges again ~ Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge and Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge.

Ooops!  I just realized that I used "glorious green" instead of "garden green"!  Is that considered a color challenge foul or is it close enough?! ; )   

I only had two buttons in tempting turqoise so made do.

They are tied on with a snippet of linen thread.

It just doesn't get much better than this...
 ~ Mercy's Muses ~

Cindy Haffner ~ Cindy Haffner's Corner
Crystal Birr ~ The Messy Stamper

Jackie Pedro ~ The Scalloped Edge

Pam Varnell ~ The Stamping Addict

Julie Lacey ~ Stamps and Taxes!

Jessica Diedrich ~ The Whimsical Butterfly

Mercy Kerin ~ Lord Have Mercy {Queen Muse}
and our June Guest Muse . . .
Jessica Knutsen
from There She Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I really hope you'll consider playing along with the challenge this week!  For all the details and the challenges, please hop on over to Mercy & Stacey's blogs! 

Happy Stamping & Smiles 2 U!

Quote for Today ~
The essence of pleasure is spontaneity. ~Germaine Greer

{SSSC #74 & cQc #37} Two Challenges in One Today!

Happy Sunday, my Friends!

Today's card was created especially for two of my favorite challenges ~ Colour Q & Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!  

I love the photo with the Color Q colors and that gave me the inspiration to use a flower.  My card turned out darker than I wanted.  I wish I had used the lighter colors for the base.  Oh well, next time!  ;)

The stamp set ~ Because I Care ~ is a NEW one from the Stampin' Up! catalog to be released on July 1st!  I've colored the hydrangea in with the Stampin' Write cameo coral and ruby red markers and then clear embossed over the top.  It looks nice in real life, but very difficult to take a photo without glare.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a wonderful weekend!!

Quote for Today ~

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. ~Clarence Budington Kelland

Today's Thoughts ~

I can't help thinking about my dear and wonderful DAD today.  He was the BEST!

Sadly, he passed away in 1981 when he was only 51 years old.  He battled colon cancer with a strong faith and positive spirit, never giving up hope. 

"I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought of you yesterday, and will tomorrow, too. I think of you in silence, and make no outward show. For what it meant to lose you, only those who love you know. Remembering you is easy, I do it every day. It's the heartache of losing you, that will never go away." {I saw this on Vicki Burdick's Facebook post this morning and had to borrow it.}

Make Mine a Double!

Ice Cream, that is!  : )

WoW!  What a week it has been!  You may have heard that Nebraska had some major flooding this week and some areas of our state were especially hard hit.  The most tragic aspect of this week's floods was that a young man died when a railroad bridge collapsed.  Our hearts reach out to his family and we lift them up in our thoughts and prayers. 

The business where I work sustained very serious flood damage.  We've had to move out of our office building into a temporary facility until it can be cleaned up.  They have all the water pumped out and have been tearing out carpet, tile, sheetrock, etc.   Our maintenance crews have been working 24/7 to get the production plant fully operational by Monday.  In fact, one of our production teams was able to work today, so there is light at the end of the tunnel!   :)   {At the bottom of this post are a few photos I took Tuesday afternoon when we were sandbagging...before the serious flooding took place.  If you want to read more about our local floods, please visit the Norfolk Daily News website at  http://www.norfolkdailynews.com/ }

THANK YOU to those of you who emailed and expressed concern about our flooding.  I appreciate it!    : )

Now, on to the reason you came to visit me today . . . here is a happy little card with another one of the cutie pie Pure Innocence images!  Isn't she adorable? And wouldn't you just love to share that ice cream cone with her?!  

The base cardstock is Stampin' Up! Basic Gray and the designer paper is by Glitz Design. {Maya}.   I've used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge as my inspiration for the layout.  The photo below shows how I've finished the inside of the card.

It was a warm and sunny day when the flood waters started rising. These photos were taken Tuesday afternoon (6/15) and the flooding occured later in the evening.

This is our joist yard with one of the production buildings in the background.

A landscaped area in front of our office building. 

 It looks like a lake here, but it isn't supposed to be!

Working to fill sandbags for around the office and plant doors.

Such camaraderie and no real sense of urgency at this point in time.

My Mr. Wonderful went fishing with our son in South Dakota for Father's Day weekend so it's very quiet here.  Thanks so much for stopping by and for listening.  ; )    I hope to be back tomorrow to play along with the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.   Stay tuned! 

Happy Stamping!

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. ~Erma Bombeck

{MTSC #78} Because I Care Hydrangea

Hats off to Mercy Kerin of Lord Have Mercy fame for another FUN-tastic Tuesday Sketch Challenge!!

 This lovely stamp set ~ Because I Care ~ will be available as a Level 1 Hostess set when the NEW Stampin' Up! Catalog debuts on July 1st.

 ~ Mercy's Muses ~

Cindy Haffner ~ Cindy Haffner's Corner
Crystal Birr ~ The Messy Stamper

Jackie Pedro ~ The Scalloped Edge

Pam Varnell ~ The Stamping Addict

Julie Lacey ~ Stamps and Taxes!

Jessica Diedrich ~ The Whimsical Butterfly

Mercy Kerin ~ Lord Have Mercy {Queen Muse}
and our June Guest Muse . . .
Jessica Knutsen
from There She Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I really hope you'll consider playing along with the challenge this week!  For all the details, please hop on over to Mercy's blog! 

Happy Stamping & Smiles 2 U!

Did You Know?
In general the hydrangea stands for friendship, devotion, and understanding. The hydrangea has medicinal purposes; Native Americans used the root as a diuretic and detoxifier. The bark of the hydrangea was used to ease muscle sprains and burns. It is still used today in alternative medicine as a tonic herb. The hydrangea plant blooms in the summer and the fall. Hydrangeas should be planted in areas that receive morning sun and afternoon shade. These blooms are available in white, pink, blue, and purple.

{SSSC #73} Because I Care . . .

Happy Sunny Sunday from cloudy & rainy Nebraska!  I'm certainly glad we were able to get the lawn mowed yesterday when there was a window of opportunity, because we've had nothing but rain, rain, and more rain this weekend. 

Today I've just been doing some laundry and catching up on reading some of my favorite blogs.  I have so many I follow anymore that I don't always get time to comment like I want to!   There are some super creative gals out there and I am always inspired by what I find!

This card was created especially for Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #73.  I always love her sketches and especially when they give me an excuse to use my large circle punches! 

I've used one of the NEW Stampin' Up! colors ~ Marina Mist ~ as the base for this card.  The designer paper is from Basic Grey - Lemonade and I've layered and stitched it onto Pumpkin Pie cardstock.  The sentiment on the inside is from a Stampin' Up! set by the same name ~ Because I Care.

Thanks so much for dropping by!  Happy Stamping!

When you're happy, I'm happy. When you're sad, I'm sad. When you're lonely, call me! ~Author Unknown

{CTD #96} I'm Pulling For You!

Happy Happy Weekend, My Friends!  :)  

I had just a few minutes to stamp it up before heading off to run some errands this morning.  This card was made especially for the COLOR THROWDOWN Challenge #96.   Often times, their color combos make me want to turn around and run, but this week I pulled out a sheet of each color cardstock and liked what I saw! 

I've used the pumpkin pie cardstock as the base and layered on the so saffron and a scrap of coordinating designer paper.   This adorable little Pure Innocence cutie pie is from My Favorite Things ~ "A Cart Full of Friends".   I couldn't resist her. 

The inside sentiment is from a NEW Stampin' Up! Hostess Set - Occasional Quotes and seemed oh so appropriate.  You can click on the photos for a larger image, but if you still can't read, it says "Sometimes you just need to know that someone really cares. {That someone is me.}"

I better run.  More later!!  ENJOY your weekend & Happy Stamping!

{MTSC77} Happy Everything!

 It's Tuesday and time for Mercy's Marvelous Sketch Challenge!

Once again, I saw that circle in the layout and went for the big Bazzill paper flowers in my stash.  Once I selected the flowers, I had to find a coordinating designer pap  This one is from a Basic Grey (Lemonade) 6 x 6 paper pad.  The base cardstock is Baja Breeze and I've stamped it with the Linen background stamp and distressed the edges with Versafine Vintage Sepia.  The designer paper is layered and stitched onto Purely Pomegranate cardstock.  The big button is stitched on with linen thread.

You are ALL encouraged to play along with the challenge this week! Simply create a card or scrapbook layout using the sketch above and link your creation on Mercy's blog.  Please use the keyword MTSC77 when uploading to a public gallery.

Now, hop on over and see what

Mercy's Muses have created...

Cindy Haffner ~ Cindy Haffner's Corner

Jackie Pedro ~ The Scalloped Edge

Pam Varnell ~ The Stamping Addict

Julie Lacey ~ Stamps and Taxes!

Jessica Diedrich ~ The Whimsical Butterfly

Mercy Kerin ~ Lord Have Mercy {Queen Muse}
and our June Guest Muse . . .
Jessica Knutsen
from There She Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you'll check out the sketch challenge and play along with us!

Happy Stamping & Smiles 2 U!

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. ~Margaret Young