Up, Up and Away............

...In my beautiful balloon.  One of my bucket list items is to ride in a hot air balloon.  Yes, you read that right!  I've wanted to do that ever since I can remember.  I know some of you are probably thinking I'm crazy, but it is on my list.  I used the cupcake punch along with a circle and the large oval punch to create the hot air balloon.  I "got fancy" and used lots of other punches as well on this card.  The pinking heart border punch, scallop ribbon punch, word window and the modern label punch as well.  You'll notice the top note die and the perfect polka dot embossing folder was used as well.

Until next time.......
Blessings,
Renee

Cake & Ice Cream

This was a fun card to make.  I love this cute Level 1 hostess set called Birthday Bakery.  I love coloring in the cakes/desserts.  You can get this set FREE with a $150 order.  The Cupcake Punch makes such great scoops of ice cream and the cherry on top too.  The cone was made using Crumb Cake cardstock and I ran it through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Renee

Flower Garden

I came across this video and just knew I had to give this a try.  The results are stunning.  Check out the video and then if you need to order any of the supplies to make this be sure to visit my stampin' store or contact me to order.

Blessings,

Renee



A Little More Strength & Hope

Wow, what a difference a day can make.  Yesterday it was 80º plus and today it's barely 60º.  Sort of is a little shock to the system.  I've got a couple more Strength and Hope cards to share today and tomorrow I will move onto something else.

Love to add that bling on this beautiful butterfly.  Butterfly blessings to you!

Renee



A Little Strength & Hope

I've got a busy day of doctor appointments with my aunt today so this is going to be short and sweet.  Here is one of the make and takes from my last workshop.

Have a great day!
Blessings,
Renee

Got ya covered!

Sorry about no post yesterday.  I got the cupcakes done and then I was "done."  Here is a quick card I made for a friend of the family who just had a breast reduction. (something I would love to have by the way).  I thought it might be a fun little find in her mailbox to help her celebrate.  The words were done with MDS and just printed and cut out of Very Vanilla cardstock run through my printer.  The top is made using the scallop circle punch and I added one of the satin roses (retired) for a little bling.  This is a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" card.  Hope she likes it.

Blessings,
Renee

Clipboard Thanks

Good evening!  It's been quite the day.  My uncle had his other cataract surgery today and as most hospital proceedures go it was an all day affair and by the time I did some errands for them and got home it was after 4:00 pm.  I left the house at 8:30 am.  I also took on a cupcake order for this weekend so I've been working on those 15 dozen since I got home along with another cake.  Why do I do these things?  Oh I know it's the money. *grin*

Anyway, here is a little thank you gift I made recently.

The lady who received it called me today and told me how much she liked it.  It's nothing too fancy, but it was fun and quick to make using our DSP.  Well that's it for me.  Time for a little more baking and then time to unwind.

Blessings,

Renee

Odds and Ends

I've got a few odds and ends for you today.  First off I want to share my beautiful hydrangea with you.  As I've told you before I love hydrangeas and I'm so excited that I have kept this one going since Easter.  Yes, you read that right, since Easter.  Almost 4 weeks!!!    I can't wait until the one I have outside starts to bloom.  I've had that for 3 years and so far, so good.  The one outside is purple.  My friend Patty Bennett isn't the only one who can grow flowers. hehe  If you've dropped by her blog before, you'll know she has the most magnificent rose garden.

 This is a cake I did last weekend.  A local piano teacher ordered this for her graduating seniors.

And last, but not least is a paper project.  I made gerber daisies using the Big Shot Daisy #2 die.  They turned out pretty good, but I will admit they were a little work.  I used a Watkin's vanilla bottle I had in my stash for the vase and some glass beads that I had rescued from being thrown away.  I think this is a pretty good recycle/reuse project, don't you?

Blessings,

Renee

A Loss in the Family

My sister and BIL had a loss in their family last week.  Their little Lollipop passed away.  Here she is when they first got her.  She was so tiny and just barely able to be away from her mama.

Here she is a few years later after they moved to Lake City.

Losing a pet is very hard.  I've been there and done that more times than I care to think about.  I'm glad that Stampin'Up! has 2 nice sets (one dog and the other cat) that has words for the loss of a pet.  They truly are a member of the family.  Here is the card I sent to Carin and Luke.

I used the Baby Wipe method to get the shading on the kitty.  Pretty cool huh?  Sorry for your loss Carin and Luke.  RIP Lolli.

Blessings,

Renee

Last week Frank's cousin's 30 yr. old daughter passed away from cancer.  Such a sweet girl who had been fighting cancer for some time.  My heart really goes out to the family.  Although I can't truly know what they are feeling, I do know that as a mother of two daughters (22 & 20), I can only imagine how my heart would be aching and breaking.  At least she is free of pain and no longer has to fight this battle.  She is with her Lord and Saviour and for that we can rejoice. 

This is the card that I sent to her mom and dad.  I love hydrangeas and even though this set (hostess) will be retiring come July 1, it will be one that will stay in my collection.  I used the Strength and Hope set to stamp the background.

If you'd like to earn this set for free, there is still time to earn it.  Just place a $150 order before tax and shipping and it is yours.  This order can be one order or combine orders or host a workshop.  Oh and you'll get $15 to spend in the catalog as well.

Hope you have a good Sunday.

Blessings,

Renee

Inlaid Embossing.....

Or at least that's what I call it.  I just love to glue pieces onto cardstock and then run the cardstock through the Square Lattice Embossing Folder and that is just what I did here.  I was playing with one of our new Triple Layer Punches and had these pieces leftover from my project and of course I couldn't just throw them away.  The centers are punched from the 3 flower punch and added afterwards.  I then added a simple thank you and it was done.  Have you tried the inlaid embossing?  If not why not give it a try and then post here with a link so I can see your creations or if you don't have a blog, then just email me the picture at ibecakes@airadv.net so I can see and maybe even post here, with your approval of course.

Blessings,

Renee



Stairstep Card

I know I've shown a variation of this stairstep card to you before, but I just had to share this one since it uses the DSP Beyond the Garden you'll find in the Summer Mini Catalog.  We'll I've got to go and get ready.  I'm heading to a Stampin'Up! workshop tonight I'm doing with my friend Pam.  Looking forward to a good time sharing with some of my favorite peeps tonight.  I'll show you tomorrow the make and takes.  Have a good evening.

Blessings,
Renee

Scooting Away

If you are reading this in the AM, that's what I'm doing, scooting away for the day.  Frank has his 6 month check up for his thyroid cancer check today so we are headed to the "Big City" as we call it here in the Thumb of Michigan.  What that means is we are headed to the Detroit area although it's not Detroit, but to us "Thumb Bodies", it's all Detroit.  LOL!  Actually it's West Bloomfield.  Didn't know you were going to get a vocab lesson of the Thumb today, did ya?  For all my Thumb readers, you totally understand what I said and the rest of you are going....huh?

This set is On the Grow and available in the Summer Mini catalog.  If you remember I used the flowers and vase from this set on the altered Altoid tin a week or so ago.  I used the ribbon punch around the scooter.  Not maybe very even, but it was my first attempt and I didn't want to waste all my watercoloring I'd done. *grin*

So that's it for today.  If you'd say a prayer that Frank's testing is all AOK and we'd have safe travels, we sure would appreciate it.

Blessings,

Renee

As Promised

I told you I'd be back and share some more new goodies from the Summer Mini catalog so without further ado....................

I used our new Triple Layber Punches on this card along with the leaves Sizzlet and the wing from the 2-step bird punch.  I heat embossed the words from the Happy Greetings with Very Vanilla ink and clear embossing powder.  Everything is from the Summer Mini Catalog.  You can view the catalog by clicking on the picture to the right.

Blessings,

Renee 

One More Out to Sea

I hope all you mothers had a wonderful Mother's Day!  I know mine was pretty good.  We had church, out to eat lunch and then a 3 hour nap. Ahhh!  That was great!  I got a beautiful pot of geraniums to sit by our back door from my daughters and a scrapbooking tote from my hubby.  So dinner out, flowers, a scrapbooking tote and a 3 hr. nap. What more could a mom ask for.  Oh and 2 beautiful daughters, but that goes without saying. *wink*

I have one last Out to Sea card to show you and then I will be showing you some other things this week.

Father's Day will be next so I thought I'd shaer this nice masculine card with you.  I am really liking this set and it's so easy to use.  Add some of SU's new Bakers Twine and you've got a good combo.

I'm now off to help my aunt today.  Please pray for her as she is dealing with some medication issues and we really need her to be taking her pills at the right time.  Pray for me as well that I can make the right decisions regarding her care and that I can get her to understand that it really is what is best for her.  It' so hard to see a family member age and not be "themselves" any longer.  Especially a family member that you remember taking care of you when you were little and now the roles are reversed.  I have such a soft heart that this is just about killing me.  Sorry didn't mean to be a down, but I do feel comfortable sharing with you all.  Each of you that stop by are a special blessing to me.

Have a wonderful day!  It's suppose to hit 70º here today.  I will my best to share more this week from the stamping world.

Blessings,
Renee

Finally!!!

Ok, so what do you think of my new blog header.  I uploaded it the other night, but it still wasn't sized just right and I was a little frustrated and just had to walk away.  Well since Frank went to bed already I thought I'd come back to it and see if I could resize it and get it right.  Finally it worked!!!  YAY!  Might not be a big deal to some, but it certainly made me feel better.

I made this header using Stampin'Up!'s My Digital Studio.  I love all the neat things you can make with MDS.  See the Summer Mini Catalog for more info on MDS.

Blessings,
Renee

Made My Day

Well it's been a couple of hectic days with my aunt again.  They have now found a thickening on her stomach and not sure if it's related to the cancer that she had surgery for a couple of months ago or not.  We are praying it's not.  I hadn't checked my email since Sunday which is a very rare happening for me, but when I did, I have to say that I received 3 posts to my blog that just made my day.  They were from Barbara (emptynestmom over at SCS).  Her kind words just touched my heart and of course made me cry.  Imagine that!  I was touched not just about my ideas, but that she said she could see a sweet spirit in me.  In me?  Really?  Especially with all that has been going on in my life as of late?  I'm thankful that the Lord is allowing me to show a sweet spirit even though many times I'm not feeling the sweetest or the most worthy of being told so.  Thanks Barbara, your words have meant more to me than you can imagine.  You inspire me to leave more comments on the blogs I visit.  We just never know what that blogger is going through and how much our kind comments and words can mean to them.  I challenge my blog readers to do it more often too on the blogs they find or visit.  Do a RAK (random act of kindness)  It will make you feel good and the person that you are commenting to as well.

Here is another card using the set The Open Sea.

 And this card is for my friend Vicki who had emergency gallbladder surgery on Monday.  I had mine out so I guess she wanted to follow suit.  Only makes sense since when we get card making and scrapbooking supplies we both have to get them.  *wink*  The owl on this card is not SU, but is a Sizzix die that Vicki gave me a couple of weeks ago.  She had got herself one and had to get me one too.  She's so thoughtful like that.  Thanks Vicki and get better quick so we can get together soon to stamp.

Well that's it for today.  Hope you've had a good day and have an enjoyable evening.  Remember it's Survivor night!  Yay!

Blessings,

Renee

Scrapbooking Time

As you know, Saturday I went and did a little scrapbooking for myself and really had a nice relaxing and enjoyable day.  I even finished Lindsay's Senior picture album.  This one is for myself since I had already finished hers a couple of weeks ago.  This one went much faster.  Here are a few of the pages.

I used the new embossing folder from the Summer Mini on this page.

 Everything but the words are Stampin'Up! on these two.

Want to learn more about scrapbooking?  Contact me and we can set up a time to get together to scrap.  I would love to show you how.

Blessings,

Renee