Stamp Give Away 4000th Visitor Celebration

In celebration of my 4000'th visitor, I am giving away this Martha Stewart Bird Stamp set. It is my way of celebrating you. I will pick a winner on August 30'th which has no significance whatsoever.

All you have to do to win is leave your comment and on 8/30, I will let Mr. Fred randomly pick a name on that date.

Cards for Heros

I have been making cards to send to Cards for Heroes and thought I would share one of them with you. If you have extra cards hidden in your stash, you might want to check out Cards For Heroes. You send them the cards and they send them to the PX's so our soldiers can send them back to family and friends.

It's a great way to purge your stash and help those who help us.

Children's Candy Bag-Home Coming Sunday

This past Sunday was Home Coming Sunday at our church. It was a wonderful service and was followed by a pot-luck luncheon. I didn't want to make the usual brownies or three-bean salad but decided to make candy bags for the children. I had the stamp, the paper and the bags...all that was needed was the candy which was purchased at K-Mart because they have a great assortment. I stamped a cardboard box because we are notorious for forgetting to bring home the baking dish or the serving spoon.

I chose Mark 10:14 as the scripture for the bags and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Especially the "big" kids.

Home Made Calendar

Make a Smilebox calendar

This is what I have been doing for the past few weeks. I made these for the daughters of the woman whose home we are renting (she passed away last August). It was fun to do but I calculated the cost of printing at home or sending to Office Max to be printed and bound and chose Office Max. I also made a couple of cards this week end and will be posting them soon. Happy Sunday to all!

I Miss Winter!

It's been 95 degrees for at least two weeks now. I have a new computer which is fantastic, but my program discs for the camera and printer are somewhere in the moving van way behind some very heavy boxes. I've been digging in there but 95 degrees in a square metal box on wheels is not the ideal place to be digging. Maybe this week.

Until then, we will keep trying.

Thank a Soldier Card -- Flag Day 6/14

Monday is Flag Day a little remembered day but I remember it because its my sister's birthday. I'ts always good to thank a soldier for protecting our nation. If you don't know a soldier you can go to your local post office and they post a list of local men and women who are serving our country and would like some correspondence items for the PX.

I made this card and will goto the post office and thank a soldier.

Blog Candy Winners!

Congratulations to the four lovely ladies who will be getting a Hampton Art Stamp. Just send me your address and it will be mailed out to you. You can e-mail me at Ponie9@comcast.net for privacy.

New York Stamp: Cre8tive Crafter

London Stamp: Sondrina

Paris Stamp: Agus

Rome: KapnCon

I think it really happened...Vacation!

My husband and I just returned from a 10-day trip to Florida.  We stayed two nights at Amelia Island and you can still park the truck on the beach.  Now we are back to sign the closing papers on our house and move into the rental home while we look for a permanent home.  I'm pretty sure we went away but after two minutes home, we remembered all the things we still have to do.  It was great but ....back to reality.

Free Blog Candy! Hampton Art Stamps Give-away

Paris Diva (Red)

New York Diva (blue)

London Diva (Yellow)

Rome Diva (black)

These stamps  are by Hampton Art.   I couldn't resit them when I saw them.

To win one of these stamps,  all you have to do is):

 1. post a link on your website back to mine:  http://thepaperhandmaiden.blogspot.com

 and

 2.)  leave  a comment and vote for your favorite stamp.   (If you don't have a website, just leave your first name and your email address). 

There will be four winners, one from each stamp voted for.

These stamps measure 3  1/2inches  x 5 inches and are brand new from Hampton Art Stamps.  

Because we are in the middle of moving and 10 days in Florida, the Giveaway will be June 1st and four winners will be drawn from the final number of entries.*

*(I am not creating a blog list, this is for my own sharing pleasure and to  meet and greet stamping friends.).

Cast your vote for:

1. London Diva (yellow outfit)

2. Paris Diva (red outfit)

3. Rome Diva (black outfit)

4. New York Diva (blue outfit)

Art Therapy - Paper Take Weekly

In the middle of painting, packing, cleaning, moving furniture and preparing one house while leaving another, it was time for some Art Therapy!  This weeks Paper Take Weekly challenge was stripes andspots.  It is not as easy as it sounds.  If it were a fashion spread, it would be like a bad golfing outfit.  When making a card stripes and spots are fun and, the possibilities are endless.  

I appreciate taking time out to have a little fun and enjoyed making this card. So I had to unpack a couple of boxes to find my art supplies, it was well worth the distraction.  Visit http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/ for some creative ideas.

Pastel Card - Paper Take Weekly

This weeks Paper Take Weekly challenge was using pastel colors for a card. I embossed a few sea shells, added some paper lace and that was it. Visit http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com for some inspiration with pastels.

Paper Take Weekly-Circles and Ribbon

My husband and I have sold our home in Virginia and are moving back to N.E. We have until the end of May to find jobs and rent to buy a home or rent a home here for a few months and sock some down payment money away because our mortgage will be paid off. I still had to stop everything and participate in this weeks Paper Take Weekly because its fun.

Paper Take Weekly: this week circles and ribbon. I did this quickly in between packing boxes and packing linen (linen sounds exotic doesn't it? what I mean is sheets. I wish someone would invent the fitted sheet folding gizmo and yes I would pay $19.95 for it.)

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/

From my stash, a half circle.

Another Furniture Restoration Project

In the process of cleaning out the basement and getting ready to move, I discovered this old wooden cabinet. I should have taken a "before" picture. It was dusty and the paint was yellowed with age. My husband had car radios, crank shafts and a couple of windshield motors sitting on the shelves.


I took it outside (outside mister!) and repainted it. Shined up the chrome and put the hardware back on it. The inside back wall was already stained a warm cherry red. The glass is missing but I found some great fabric and made a couple of cafe curtains that fit the period of this piece. Oho, its so cute.

Paper Take Weeky-Letters Mingle Friends

This week's challenge was especially challenging. Here is my submission. Go to http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/ and check out

Paper Take Weekly Fruit Theme

This week theme at http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/ is fruitful creation. Very fun...here's a cherry of a card I made this morning in between packing to move to ? (don't know yet) and doing laundry. Lots of creativity fruitfully multiplying on Paper Take Weekly blog. Go visit and see what's new.

Thinking of You Card-Paper Take Weekly Challenge

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/ Paper Take Weekly Challeng...Because it is a busy week, I went ahead and made this card for someone special who is getting well by the day. I found this pattern on line gave it a try. The background of the card was stamped before applying the cut out pieces. I don't have a Cricket but I have scissors. (I just don't run with them.)

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/

Paper Take Weekly

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/

This week's challenge at Paper Take Weekly is using orange, pink and brown. Here is my submission. I was thinking polka dots, but I don't have polka dots...

Paper Take Weekly

Here is my submission for Paper Take Weekly http://papertakeweeklychallenge.blogspot.com

--it's great when they give you a pattern to follow. Go on over to Paper Take Weeky and see what lovely submissions some very creative women have submitted.

Pie Chest Stamping Cabinet

Thanks Dear!

I made this thank you card for my husband using a stamp set and paper from J&K that I got for Christmas. The French Hen is adorable....

My husband so graciously let me convert this old pie chest cabinet into a stamping cabinet. I keep my stamps, inks, and tools in the top half. Paper and embellishments in the bottom half.
The pie chest has a shelf which conveniently slides out for a work space area. The cafe curtain covers my space when all things are put away. Its functional, has a purpose and easily accessible.

Grampa's Valentine's

For Madison:

My husband wanted to send Valentine's too his two grand-daughters so I came up with these two cards. He really liked them and shed a few tears over Taylor's card because she is growing up so fast. (going on 15 years old)...:

For Taylor:

Free Vintage Valentine's Day Cards

Go on over to http://tipnut.com/ and download these adorable Valentines' Vintage Cards. There are more--they are too cute! That is a great web site. Leave a comment and let me know if you like them. I will post more free-bees as I find them. Enjoy!

Reverse Negative Card

I found the instructions for this card in Creative Stampers Sampler magazine. Is simple and fun to do. Just cut out two pieces of paper one in the color of your background and the other one in your application piece. Stamp them both then cut the darker color in half and attach it to the lighter color. Embellish as you wish. I don't have white ink so I used my white embossing powder and it came out just fine but not as defined as it could be.

Now I am going to get to work on some Valentine's Day cards. I feel the love already.

PurpleFower Card

There are a couple of birthdays next week so I reached into my card "stash" and selected this one. It was so enjoyable to make because is all stamps. Stamps I purchased on E-bay. They are Stamping Up stamps. The card stock was purchased at Joann's at their sale with the stripes already on them and the ribbon was on sale too. I really enjoyed using the flowers and the leaves. Happy Birthday to Michelle and Linda!

Witnessing Packet

I have this witnessing kit posted on my http://thepaperhandmaiden.blogspot.com/ but I especially wanted to put it on this one. I was asked to speak to the teenagers about sharing the Gospel and their faith.

It was interesting because before you can share the Gospel ,you actually have to know what the Gospel is and asking them to tell you what the Gospel is and what it means to them is a good indicator of t. This kit is great because its easy to make and can be made for all age levels. The contests were purchased at the Christian Book Store, but if you have a computer you can print out your own contents.

I'm Back!

Finally, happily, Mr. Dell has come home. When you live in the boonies, you don't realize how much you rely on Mr. Dell for communication. The top picture is not a forest fire, but the sunset last week. It looks like a blaze out of control. The birthday card is from my daughter-in-law and I love the simple elegance of it. I did have a happy birthday --but another birthday that puts me somehwere around the speed limit, made me think of sunsets.

My Second Award!

My computer should break more often. I am encouraged that no one has forgotten me! Thanks again, I am really thrilled!

There will be some serious nominating when the Dell comes home!

My First Blog Award!

I was pleasantly surprised to receive my first blog award. How nice to be encouraged in your craft. Since my computer has malfunctioned, it was hard to post anything. The good news is that it is now fixed and on its way back to me. Shirley is such an encourager and leaves the most complimentary messages. I nominate her has Best Motivator!

You can visit her amazing blog at http://cardartetc.blogspot.com. You can learn a lot.

Computer Withdrawal

My computer is in the "repair lab" but I managed to make it to the library where all things are free except you cannot upload any photographs. So in the meantime, while I go through photo-withdrawal..I haven't abandoned I just can't show.

It's amazing how much time and effort one spends on their blogs...You know all is a well when the next post you see is a picture of me hugging my lap top --ahhhh...who knew you could be so attached to such an inanimate object...

Homemade Apron

Here are two of my favorite gifts for Christmas. My talented daughter-in-law made me this great apron. The picture doesn't do the colors justice but it is absolutely beautiful and a lot of thought and work went into it.

I also received from J&K a photo-scanner and print shop. I had my first crack at it when my husband went off to work--I know that they know a photo-scanner can be a dangerous thing in my hands but that's how much they love me, they bought it for me anyway!!!! Have a great rest of the "Holidays". In honor of their gift, they are my first photo-shop crop and print!