Happy Fourth of July

Ok so it is a little early. But I feel somewhat festive after seeing lots of other blog's nice 4th crafts and decorations. I am a major slacker as a blogger and crafter this year. Of course my husband is facing open heart surgery in one week and life is very strange right now.

I barely survived Vacation Bible school and was home for one hour before hubby and I went to the hospital for his chest pains. He is doing ok now but the surgery looms and takes over most of my thoughts. Still it is the Fourth of July weekend and we plan to have a great time.

Here are some of my VBS crafts and some cards I have made lately. The sheep holds coins or secrets and is made from a film canister. There were more cool crafts but I don't have pics now.

Hope everyone has a great 4th!

Surgery and Rainbows

Well for the first time since I was five years old I had surgery(on May 16th). I came home the same day and have been laying around since. It is not that much fun to have to lay around.
We had a bad storm a couple of days ago and this fabulous rainbow afterwards. After the tornadoes that swept through here a couple of weeks ago I am glad to be reminded of God's protection and how little our damage was compared to others in the county.

In crafting news here is my Mother's day card for my Mom, a get well card and a card for my daughter. I haven't made anything since the surgery but hope to get back to work soon. Vacation bible school has sneaked up on me again and I am getting ready for the big push and panic before it starts.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Secret Garden Tag Swap

I visited my daughter in Central North Carolina for 3 days this week. I had a great time. I got to visit 2 different Mighty Dollar Stores where they have all different kinds of clear stamps and scrapbook embellishments that are only $1. I got about 5 stamp sets. a lot of sets of Jolee's dimensional stickers and lots of glitter glue all at $1 each. I love a good bargain!!
Monday I finally got my tags mailed for the Secret Garden Swap. I never asked if it was supposed to be about the book or just any secret garden so I went with the book because it has always been one of my favorites. Here are my tags. I love tags swaps and always promised myself that when I get them I will display them by hanging a long ribbon and clothes pin each one to it like a garland. This time I am really going to do that. Hope everyone has a great week!

A Joyous Easter to All

It feels like Springtime is really here today. And tomorrow is Easter. No snow covered Easter egg hunts this year. I am waiting for my only granddaughter(3 yrs old) to come and dye eggs with me. Next year there will be 3 but I don't think the new ones will be dying eggs! I love Easter. The day we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and the beginning of a new world. What a great blessing it is. I have not made much stuff this Easter. Just a sign and one card. Too much going on in my life right now. But I did find a new tablecloth in the closet,(forgot to look in the bag of stuff my mother gave me last year) and decorated my table. So Happy Easter and have a great holiday.

Iris Spring

Here in Greeneville, Tennessee we have an Iris Festival every year. At the theater where I work we have an art display that is all Irises so I have been seeing Iris's a lot. I needed to make cards for the women in my bible study group so thought that Irises would be a good theme. I stamped a stack of Irises and colored them with my watercolor markers and blender pen. It has taken me forever to make the cards but now they are finished. I should be making Easter cards. Here are my Iris cards. HOpe everyone is having a lovely spring!

Spring is Here!

Yes it is Spring here in NorthEast Tennessee. There were many days of lovely warm weather with a bright blue sky and everything was blooming. Now of course we have had 4 days of solid gray skies and cold -- but that is what Spring is all about here. I am not discouraged. I love spring even when it gets cold again. I went to a large Scrapbooking Store in Pigeon Forge yesterday and was there just in time to get to make a card in a free demo. It was fun and I love the card. It is the one with the daffodils. Then I got a new stamp set with the little girl and the cat from Flower Soft. I made the purple card with it and just love the set. NOw I am thinking of Easter and all kinds of spring crafts. I would like to say I took the lovely sunrise pictures from our front yard but I have to admit i would never be up that early. My husband took it them as he went to raise his flag.
I'm off to make more cards. Next week I am starting to clean my craft room for real!! Have a great week!

A Tribute

I haven't been able to post for awhile as just too much had been going on in my life. I did want to pay tribute to a dear friend of mine.

ON February 28th, 2011 my friend Pat Phillips went home to be with the Lord. She has been a great friend to me even though she was 30 years older than me. She has been such an inspiration to me. When I was in my 20's she taught me that it was ok to love dolls even when you were an adult. She encouraged me to make my first soft sculpture doll and even made a kimono for it. She always encouraged me and was so complimentary of stuff I made even though she was a true artist herself. She had been very discouraged that she couldn't sew, paint, or draw much anymore since a stroke a few years ago but did get to make Valentine Paperdolls with us when I was in Florida about a week before she died. She has been a true mentor to me and I just wanted to say thank you to her. I will miss her always.

This is a card I made for my Mom but it reminds me of Pat too.