Just wanted to say "Thank you" to those of you that have been praying for John and I. It breaks my heart to say that he passed away on May 20th. I still can't believe he is gone. I feel so empty without him. I won't go into details about the way he battled this horrible disease, but I will say he gave it his best shot in fighting it. The doctors gave him 3 months and I was blessed to have him in my life for another 6 months.
I am back in South Carolina and thankfully back to work. It is the only thing that keeps me going. I hope to get my mojo back for paper crafting soon, but right now I just can't seem to be able to concentrate on the simple things.

Thanks again,
Hugs,

Mary

I'm still here...

To those of you who may be wondering why I have not been around...John was diagnosed with a very rare type of stomach cancer that is untreatable. Life has been like a roller coaster ride for the past 6 months...with good days and bad. We moved back to Ohio so that he could be closer to his family, he has been through so much in the past 6 weeks...he had a stent put in his esophugus, a J-tube for feeding and chemo treatments. The chemo we have already stopped. He ended up in Hospice a week after his first treatment. They have been a blessing to us...they actually got his pain under control with a morphine drip and we are able to enjoy each others company again. The type of cancer he has is called Linitus Plastica (or plastic stomach) it had already spread to his esophugus and outside lining of his stomach before he even knew there was anything wrong. The symptoms he had were just like acid reflux. Please pray for his comfort & continued strength....we are treasuring each and every moment we have together.

Mary

Snuggly Wuggly Baby Blanket

 Hi my bloggie friends. I've been busy scrapping, but can't share right now what I'm making. They are all Christmas gifts for family, LOL But I can share with you this baby blanket I made for JC's Nephew. I made this using Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly yarn. I have been crocheting since I was ohh about 12, and this was quite challenging to say the least. It has so many different types of stitches, but it was worth it in the end.

Thanks for stopping by!
Mary

Card Tricks

Here are a few cards I made for a class I am teaching at Michaels.

Supplies:

Bazzill Cardstock

Inkadinkado Clear Stamp set

Recollections Bling

Stampendous Embossing Powder

Staz On Ink

Martha Stewart Border Punch

Celebrate It Ribbon

Recollections Glitter paper ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary

Beachy Star Mini Album

Check out this fun mini album I made yesterday! Super easy and so adorable when done. I still have to add pictures and emellishments to the inside.

Thanks for looking!
Mary

Sweet Baby Girl

Isn't she just as cute as a button? I just love this picture of Myah and her baby doll. For this layout I used paper from "Grandmas Kitchen Collection & scraps of Bazzil Cardstock. The banner was made from a stamp set I won on Citrus Tree Studio. Yep, I made a banner layout Kristie! LOL

Thanks for stopping by!
Mary

Hi my blogger friends.......

Hi my sweet blogger friends...I finally have time to blog again. :) Hope y'all haven't forgotten me.  We have had a house full of company and things are finally getting back to normal again. It was great seeing all the kids, but whew..they tuckered me out. LOL

 I also have been working at our local Michael's store as their Scrapbook Teacher. I'm having a blast, but haven't had a lot of time to devote to my personal scrapping. I did however submit a couple of layouts and a card to Scrapbook News & Reviews and all of them were choosen for there upcoming issue. Super excited about that!

Here are a few new pictures that I have taken lately. Hope ya enjoy!

 These are pictures of a beautiful church we visited while in Savannah, Georgia.

  I love this picture of the gator..he looks like he was posing for the camera!

 Gorgeous Sunset at Harbor Town, South Carolina.

 The moth is a Luna Moth and is hardly ever seen, so I consider myself lucky to have gotten this picture.

   The White Egret I caught him fishing just outside our condo...I have been wanting to capture a picture like this forever.


Thanks for stopping by!
Mary

Prima Altered Book...

Just a lil something I made for my Mother-in-law for Mother's Day! I started with a very old book I found at the library. I tore out the center pages, then starting at the beginning of the book, I glued the pages together and did the same at the back of the book. I then curled the edges and sprayed the entire book with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Coffee Shop. After it was dry I covered the outside of the book with Prima papers and added the touches to the inside of the book.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary



Quick Fire Challenge card...

I made this card in less than 20 minutes for the "Quick Fire Challenge" over at Citrus Tree Studio. Totally love how it turned out. The challenge was to use a photo on a card.

Supplies used:
Bazzill Cardstock
Staz on Ink - Jet Balck
Michaels Dollar Stamp

Thanks for stopping by!
Mary

White With 1 Challenge....

I'm so loving these challenges over at White With 1. It's amazing once you start going through your stash how much of a certain color you have. This weeks challenge was to use White... with Orange & Scallops.  To get the painted look in the background. I took wax paper and trimmed it to the size I wanted, then crinkled it up and applied a lite coat of white paint to it. I then applied light pressure to the paper once it was on the paper and carefully lifted it off. I totally love how it looks. I also used the leftover wax paper for the scallops...I thought it reflected the look of the drangonflies wings.

The quote says:

If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.

 Vincent Van Gogh

Happy Crafting!
Mary

Pop-Up Mother's Day Card

Today I tried something new!! I made my first Pop-Up Card. I always thought they were difficult to make, but they really are not.

Front of card

 

Inside of card

                                                                           

Close up

Another close up

                                                             

Side View

                                                                     
Supplies Used:

Bazzill Cardstock

Kaiser Craft Paper

K& Company Die cuts

Offray Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Crafting!

Mary

I {heart} Challenges...

I have been busy the past few days working on some Sketch Challenges. The first one is a layout I created for " White With 1 " April Challenge. For this challenge we were to create a layout using White + Olive +Twine. The photo of Myah was a little blurry when I recieved it from my SIL, so I took it into Picasa and put a glow on it so the focus was put back on Myah and not the blurriness. I love how it turned out.

Supplies used:

Bazzill Cardstock

Making Memories paint

Foof-a-la Buttons

Rub-ons/ Flowers/ Lace from my stash

This next layout I did for Week #4  April Challenge over at CITRUS TREE STUDIO. Citrus Tree is such a FUN, ACTIVE site with a bunch of FRIENDLY ladies and I have been having a blast getting to know everyone there. The pictures are ones that I took of Ajay when we were on vacation in Ohio last August. I just love how I captured his curiosity when he discovered rocks.

Supplies used:

Prima Clear Stamp - Brick

Inkadinkadoo- Flourishes dots Clear Stamp

We are Memory Keepers -eyelets

Tim Holtz - metals

Lil Davis Designs- Canvas phrases

Crafters Square - hemp cord

Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Walnut & Tea Dye

Staz On Ink-Timber Brown

Tsukineko - Walnut Ink Stain Spritz

Bazzill Cardstock

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Crafting!

Mary

Coming soon to Kitchen Keepsake.....

Kitchen Keepsake is cookbooking at its finest! Come and find your creative culinary muse!

The designers have cooked up some fun challenges, games, and prizes!
All challenges will be posted on Friday, April 29th and will be due on May 4th.
OH! And some of the prizes you'll be playing for?

                               

We hope you'll join us in the kitchen and get those creative juices flowing!

Here is a Recipe layout that I cooked up for Janets Sketch challenge. I thought the crocheting around the edges would look awesome..but I didn't realize how long it would take and how tedious it would be, but I'm happy I gave it a try.

Happy Scrapping!
Mary

Prima Bird House

Here is a lil bird house I made yesterday. I have had the template forever and thaught I would give it a try. It's suppose to be a lil gift box, but I went ahead and glued the top down so that I could hang it.

Happy crafting!

Mary

Splish Splash...

This is a layout I did over the weekend for the Spotted Canary April Challenge. I tried to capture the water sprays by using glossy accents and diamond dust, it didn't turn out quite like I wanted it. Ajay was so cute that day....he was a lil scared at first, but with some coaxing from his Dad he was off and running. When it was time to go.....he was like no way! LOL

Happy Scrapping!
Mary

I won!! I won!!

I know it's rather silly to be so excited, but that's just me when I win anything. LOL My layout below was choosen as the winner of the April Challenge #2 over at Citrus Tree Studio. I still can't believe it. This is what I won:

I also won a RAK for the Photo Scavenger Hunt & Melonie's Red-Robin Challenge during their Spring Crop. Can you say double..triple excited..LOL

I won this stamp set for the Red-Robin:

Happy Crafting!
Mary

Giggles, Curls, Ribbons & Bows.....

This is a layout I created for two Challenges. The "Sketch Challenge"  from Sassy Lil Sketchhes  and the "April Challenge #2" from Citrus Tree Studio. The challenge at Citrus Tree Studio was to use misting on your page. Here I used three different colors to get this look.
Jenn... I even sewed on my layout. LOL.Thanks for the tips on your blog.

Supplies used:

Basic Grey- Kioshi Water Lily

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist- Bazzill Navajo

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Bazzill Parakeet

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Coffee Shop

DMC Floss

Bazzill Basics Cardstock

Martha Stewart Punch

Foof-a-la Buttons

Thanks for looking!
Mary

To "Dye" for Challenge...

 April is my month to host the challenge at "Kitchen Keepsakes" and so with  Easter just around the corner I thought  it would be fun to do a challenge  with an Easter theme, but with a little twist. When I think of Easter traditions, the first thing that comes to mind is coloring eggs..I thought why not do a challenge using dyes.

Your favorite inks, mists, paints etc…

Use your creativity to make a great Easter-themed Recipe page using one or more of the above ingredients. Grab a cup  and join us in the Kitchen for this months challenge. Janet has also posted a very cool sketch for y'all to try as well.

Here is my example using Alcohol inks and Microscope slides:

Happy Crafting!
Mary

Heaven Sent....

I saw this sketch from Creative Scrappers that sisters Jennifer & Susan used in their "Sister's Challenge" and I knew I wanted to use it as well. I decided to opt out of the normal baby blue colors you usually see and go for the more softer look. It was another layout outside of my usual scrapping style, but I am pleased with the way it turned out.

I used the following supplies:
Bazzill Basics paper
Recollections Paper
Colorbok Paper
Heidi Grace Chipboard letters
Cricut Cart- Plantin Schoolbook
Martha Stewart Punch
Fancy Pants - Buttons

Happy Crafting!
Mary