Keep Praying for Diane

Just found out that the liver Diane was supposed to get wasn't good.  Very disappointing for her and her family.  Please keep praying that they get the one she needs soon.

Prayers for Diane

My blog-friend, Diane (ddnjoys2stamp) has finally received word that she will be getting a liver transplant!  She has been waiting for a loooooong time for this, and I'm so thrilled for her that she will soon be in much better health.  Please pray for her as she is on her way to London, Ontario, to have the surgery.  From what I understand, her niece, Shannon, will be updating us on Diane's blog.  I'm sure many of you are familiar with Diane - she is an avid crafter, blogger and encourager.  She is just an amazing person, and I'm so happy for her!

Alex Has Blog Candy!

I've been following Alex's blog (California Stampin') almost since I started blogging.  She is a wonderfully creative Stampin' Up! demonstrator from California, and she is one of the most generous, kind people I have come across.  Well, she is being generous once again with some seriously amazing blog candy to celebrate 100 000 hits.  If you haven't visited her blog, make sure you do - not only for the chance to win, but to check out her gorgeous creations and congratulate her!  I get a lot of inspiration from her, both for my paper crafting and for being a good person.

Click here to check out her blog candy offerings!

Congratulations, Alex, on all your hits - very well -deserved!  Thank you for inspiring us all with your creative, generous spirit. 

Blessings,

Check Out Alex's New Stamp and Scrap Blog!

My good blog friend, Alex (California Stampin'), has started a new challenge blog called Stamp and Scrap that combines stamping and scrapbooking (two of my favourite things!). They are currently looking for design team members and people to participate in their challenges. Make sure you check out their blog! I know I can't wait to see what they come up with!

Blog Award!

I'm so flattered and honoured that Corie nominated me for this award! If you haven't already checked out Corie's blog, make sure you head over there. She is an amazingly talented lady!

Following is the translation of the Portuguese words and the rules for the award: “This blog award invests and believes in proximity -(creating friendships)!” [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proxy]. These are the other words to be included with the award: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these awards are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these bloggers! Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who must choose 8 more and include this written text into the body of their award. Here are my 8 Ladies:

1. Alex - California Stampin'
2. Diane - ddnjoys2stamp
3. Shannon - Tyrymom Stamps Alot
4. Denise - Stamping Vacation
5. Heather - {Witty Title Here}
6. Lee - My Reality... All Good
7. Barb - Barb's Card Creations
8. Shannon - Live, Love, Laugh and STAMP

These are ladies whose blogs I've been visiting for a long time, and whom I consider friends even though we've never met! There are so many more that I could nominate - check out my Blogroll on the right! All of the ladies whose blogs I visit are so warm and friendly, which is why I visit them!

Thank you, Corie, for nominating me! And thank you all for visiting!

Blessings to you,

Thank You, Denise!

Denise at Stamping Vacation sent me this fabulous RAK for her Pick Three Challenge! The blog candy was just supposed to be the stamps, but she threw in some CB'd cardstock and some Bella images (I love them!). Plus, look at the amazing card she made as well. Isn't that cute? I love the bright summery colours! Denise has her current Pick Three Challenge up right now, so check it out! It's lots of fun.

Thank you so much, Denise! I can't wait to use all this stuff!

Blessings to you,

Bella Fun!

Yay! I finally got a chance to use one of the Bella images that BlueMoon sent to me! I thought this image needed some fun colours, so I started with some Bali Breeze designer paper. I coloured in the image with my Stampin' Write markers, then stamped around it with the dots from Life's a Breeze. I accented it with some grosgrain ribbon and Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware. The sentiment is stamped from Everyday Flexible Phrases and punched with my small oval punch. Here's the quick recipe:

Paper: Bali Breeze, Purely Pomegranate, Tempting Turquoise
Stamps: shopabellas, Everyday Flexible Phrases
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie, Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Barely Banana
Embellishments: Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware, Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Thanks for stopping in today, and thanks again, BlueMoon! I love these images!

Blessings to you,

Another Swap Card

This is the second card I made for Alex's swap this month. I really wanted to use the Die Cut blooms, and the Summer Picnic designer paper matched perfectly! So I basically chose my paper colours from those (Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Bashful Blue). I curled the petals of the flowers a bit to give them some dimension. Then I used a mini glue dot to stick a Bashful Blue button in the center after tying some linen thread through it. I just love these colours together - I would never have thought of combining these colours, but they work so well in the Summer Picnic paper.

By the way, a huge congratulations to Alex, who has recently been accepted on two design teams (Sketches by Tamara and Stamp Something - both of which I just subscribed to and added to my blogroll!). What a talented lady! I feel so privileged to have gotten to know her here in Blogland. If you haven't already checked out her blog, make sure you head over to California Stampin'.

Diane Nominated Me!

I'm so flattered that Diane (ddnjoys2stamp) nominated me for this award. She's the one who always cheers me up with her encouraging comments! What a lovely lady. Thank you for this honor!

I want to pass on the nomination to all of you who visit my blog and leave me nice comments. I know I'm not the most consistent blogger out there, but it's always nice to know someone is looking! So consider yourself nominated if you visit my blog and enjoy what you see. Blessings to you!

Tagged and Nominated!

Amy tagged me with this one where you list a fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. My mom actually had considered naming me Pansy, but she chose Shannon Nadine. I have such an Irish name, but not a drop of Irish in me!

Anyway, here goes:

N - Never late (at least I try!). My dad taught me that it is inconsiderate to keep people waiting, and he was always so irritated if I (or someone else) was late that I now always make a point of trying to arrive a few minutes early so as not to be rude.
A - Always tired! I feel like I haven't gotten enough sleep since my first son was born almost four years ago! I'm a night person, so I stay up until all hours, but then I like to sleep in late when I can, but with two little boys who are up early, I almost never get the opportunity!
D - Deeply spiritual. I have a personal relationship with Jesus and I love getting to know Him more through the Bible and prayer.
I - Independent - I like to do my own thing and be by myself a lot. I need alone time or I get really grouchy!
N -Nice (at least I hope people think I'm a nice person!)
E - Enthusiastic - when I get excited about something, I go all the way with it (Stampin' Up! anyone?)

Then, Corie nominated me for this Excellent Blogger Award! I'm so flattered.

I know a lot of you have been nominated for this (and deservedly so)! I will pass this award on to some people who have been really encouraging to me, both with their amazing work on their blogs and with their nice comments. Please check out these ladies' blogs because they are wonderful - both their work and the ladies themselves. I'm always so blown away by how nice the stamping blog community is!

Amy, for being such an inspirational, creative, encouraging person.
Diane, for being so positive and encouraging (she was the first person to subscribe to my blog!).
Teri, for all your help and inspiration. You are such a generous person.
Lee (a new blog friend) who is so positive and nice.

There are so many more people who inspire me, so please consider yourself nominated if you haven't been already.

A Great Mail Day!

Don't you just love it when you get goodies in the mail!? Yesterday, I was thrilled to receive some creations from two very talented ladies whose blogs I stalk whenever I get a chance!

Teri sent this blog candy that I won from her awhile back. The Canadian postal system is so slow that it took awhile to get here! Thank you so much for sending the stamps, photo book and adorable card, Teri!
Here's the inside of the photo book Teri made:
Then Corie sent this criss-cross card! I was so happy to receive this! She posted a ton of criss-cross cards on her blog after Christmas, and I was just drooling over them! Thank you so much, Corie!

Make sure you check out these ladies' blogs! They are so talented (and super nice as well)!

I've Been Tagged!

Thank you for all your kind, encouraging words. It sounds like the flu has been striking a lot of people! I hope everyone gets healthy soon.

I was tagged by Amy, so here goes!

Five things I was doing ten years ago:

1. Teaching kindergarten in Drayton Valley, Alberta
2. Living in a horribly old two-bedroom apartment with my new DH (we were married in 1997)!
3. Surviving on my half-time salary while my DH went to school (amazingly, God provided)
4. Saving up to buy a car (we still drove our cars from high school!)
5. Exercising every day (because I actually had time to!)
   

Five things on my to-do list today:

1. CLEAN the house (since I've been sick for two weeks, I haven't done much!)
   
2. Prepare for Bible study tonight.
   
3. Cook supper
4. Do some blogging
   
5. Go to bed early!

Five things I will do when I'm a millionaire:

1. Pay off our house and debts
2. Give money to charity
3. Take a nice holiday with my family
4. Invest in the future
5. Buy a bigger house with a nice craft room!
   

Five things I'll never wear again:

1. Leg warmers
2. Big back-combed bangs!
3. a bikini
4. crop tops
5. fluorescent colours
   

Five of my favourite toys:

1. my stamping stuff
2. my computer
3. my DVD player
4. my piano
5. did I say my stamping stuff?
   

Five banes of my existence:

1. whiny children
2. housework
3. migraine headaches
4. getting up early
5. noisy neighbours (late at night when you're trying to sleep and their teenagers are partying in the backyard even though it's snowing and really cold out and they're REALLY loud!)
   

Five more people to tag:

1. Barb
2. Shelley
   
3. Alex
4. Diane
5. Candace
   

Wow! I've Been Featured!

I'm so flattered and honoured - Candace at Crazy for Papercrafts has featured me on her blog this week. You can check out her amazing altered paint can, along with her very nice words about my blog here. Candace has some fantastic projects on her blog, so make sure you check them out!