Happy New Year...

Hi there blogger followers!  I'm back.... I just looked at my last update and boy has it been a while, but that's how it goes sometimes.  I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas and that your 2015 is off to a great start.  I have news that I am so happy to share....I have joined Stampin' UP as a demonstrator.  I have be pondering this decision for a while and I decided that with the new year it was time to get off the fence and go for it.  I have been a customer of Stampin' UP for several years, they are a wonderful company with good quality products.  I am excited to see what will happen in this new venture.  As with anything new there's an adjustment period and that is where I find myself now. As you can see I've made a few changes to my blog, really just cleaned up a bit. Soon I hope to be posting some craft projects with my new Stampin' UP products. In the mean time I just want you all to know that Stampin' UP is having their annual "Sale-A-Bration" this means that anytime you place a $50 order you get to chose a free item from one of 10 items from this special "Sale-A-Bration" catalog.  You can find my online ordering site at www.skybowcreations.stampinup.net   I would love to be your demonstrator if you don't already have one.  For my local followers I hope to have a stamping workshop soon so you can come play with some of Stampin' Up's wonderful products. I should be getting my new demonstrator's kit soon and then I'll set the date.

For today I just thought I share a couple of cards that I have made since my last update. The first  2 cards were made with a Stampin' UP  products and the last 2 card are all Cricut.  The last picture is the ornament that all my Cricut Club gals made at our November Cricut Club meeting.

 

 Well I hope found some inspiration and  have enjoyed your time here in my corner of the web.  Please leave me a comment so I will know that you stopped by.  Happy New Year to all and Thanks....
God Bless,
Vickie

Happy Spring.....

Hi there blogger family, friends and followers.  So Spring I think may have arrived in Eastern Idaho just as scheduled on the calendar at least today it feels like spring!!!!  Low 50's, sunny and clear beautiful skies almost makes me forget the BLIZZARD we had on Monday and the fall winds that we had on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  Anyhow you didn't stop by to discuss the weather issues of Eastern Idaho so let me get on with things.  First I need to send out a great big THANKS to all my wonderful family and friends for your prayers for me and my darling but very sick husband who caught a major bad case of pneumonia the last week of February that got him admitted to our local hospital for 9 very long days.  He had a team of 4 doctors taking care of him and many wonderful nurses.  I am very pleased to report that he is improving daily and that he hopes to be back to work next week which is a long month for him to be off work (he's a work-o-alcoholic). He's a diabetic and was almost was in the ICU twice for kidney and O2 and blood sugar issues caused mostly because he refused to go be seen for a "little cold" for about a week so that by the time he finally agreed to be seen he was very sick and could have died before they could have helped him. I know I would not have made it through so many hard and scary days if it wasn't for all those prayers.  So THANKS from the bottom of my very grateful heart.....  If you are married take a moment right now to tell your spouse  just how much they mean to you because you never know when you won't have them around to be annoyed at/bothered by...

So now on to the craftiness of this blog.... since my husband has been home from the hospital I have been working on my March Cricut Club project and....wait for it CARDS, big surprise, not!!!  My Cricut Club gals will be making a cute Easter "RISEN" Banner but as that class meets this coming Sunday I will have to wait to share that to you all next time.  I can show you a few Thank you cards I sent to let people know just how much their prayers and support meant to me. The first card is a digital Sassy Cheryl stamp image that I colored using Tim Holtz Distress Inks like copic markers, I think they blended great and gave me a nice water colored effect. I sent this card to my youngest son who flew home from Omaha where he's attending Law School the night before his dad was discharged from the hospital and he was a huge help. The next one I made using my cuttlebug thanks embossing folder and a Stampin Up stamp and a new Stampin Up punch I just got. I sent this one to a dear friend who happens to be an amazing nurse that works at the hospital where my husband was being cared for. She helped me get the extra help my husband needed and was there to support me everyday. The third card was made using my Creative Cards Cricut cartridge and I sent it to the folks at my office who even though they had only met my husband once, called several times, sent me encouraging texts with their prayers & thoughts daily just to let me know how much they cared about the both of us. They also sent him a cute spring time flower arrangement, just what was needed on the day it arrived as it had snowed yet again that morning. I also made and sent a second "note of thanks" card to my sister in law & her husband.  They came all the way out from New Hampshire just to see my husband and they took me out to 3 special dinners while they where here. The last card is one that I hand stamped and then colored with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Twinkling H2O's for my granddaughter who was so worried about her Pap that I wanted her to know that her concern and prayers were very appreciated.

 Well that's about it for now. I hope you have enjoyed your time here.  Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the web.  Leave me a comment so I will know you where here.
 God Bless,
Vickie

  

MasterCrafter Challenge...

Hi there blogger friends and followers.  Today I am sharing the project I made to enter into Sarah Hamer Designs MasterCrafter Challenge.  I was one of the lucky 100 to get in on the free package of craft goodies from Sarah aka the Pink Cricut. The link up for this challenge starts tomorrow as does the voting and it lasts for only one week, so if you like my project please go to Sarah blog at www.pinkcricut.com and vote for me so I can win one of the prizes. I bet your are wondering what came in the box, right???  There was a mouse cutter, which cuts ribbon really well. It had a 4x6 DCWV Rockstar paper stack, several lime green rhinestones,  2 buttons,  a cloth bag and a small "forever" sentiment stamp from Pink Cricut stamps.  I used my Flower Shoppe Cricut cartridge to cut all the flowers. I attached the flowers I made from the DCWV paper to the provided cloth bag and to a store bought barrette clip that I purchased at my local craft store for $1. I attached the buttons provided to the flowers on the bag and then attached some of the rhinestones to the buttons.  I used the forever sentiment stamp on a tag along with another stamp. I used Tim Holtz distress ink in broken china and tea dye to color the bag and edges of the tag and flowers. The rest of the items to make this project came from my stash.  So without further ado here are the pictures of my project.

  

 I am very pleased with how the project turned out, it has a nice vintage look and I think it makes a great gift set. I will be including this in my granddaughters Christmas clothes package. She has very long thick blonde hair that she loves to where in a ponytail so I think this barrette will look very pretty in her hair. Now I just have to find an outfit that it will go with.  This should not be to hard as she loves the colors that are in this paper.  

I hope you have enjoyed your time here at my little corner of the web. Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment so I know you stopped by.

God Bless,

Vickie    

Long time no update...

Hi there blogger friends and family.  Sorry that it has been so long since my last update.  I was job hunting and renovating my home so I did not have much time to update my blog.
God totally blessed me with a new job in Idaho Falls; no more long commutes, Praise the Lord!!! It's a part time nursing job, leaving me plenty of time to craft:-), in an outpatient wound care clinic (I love wound care).
Just prior to starting my new job I decided to finally update my kitchen, this was about 15 years overdue. A two day project took a week but it looks Fantastic!!! A dear friend came over to help me remove tacky pink early 80's floral wallpaper that was hermetically sealed to the walls & paint. It took two days  just to remove all the wallpaper & prime the walls.  Her sweet husband came by to see if a cabinet that had been over a lower cabinet blocking off the kitchen could be moved and within a couple of hours the cabinet was off the ceiling and placed on a wall and the difference in my kitchen was amazing!!!  Here are a few of pictures of the new look in the kitchen.

It still needs a new light over the table as the one that is there now is still pretty 80's and of course I need to get a set of cabinets to be placed under the ones that got moved to the wall, I need a new dishwasher, new counter tops and sink, but all that will have to wait a while as I have company coming next week. I think it looks so nice the way it is now though.

I have managed to get a bit of crafting done recently.  As I mentioned above I have company coming soon to help me celebrate my 55th birthday. My darling husband is hosting a Birthday BBQ, so he asked me to do the invites. I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of that too. I cut the pocket from the Camping Critters Cricut cartridge and the tag was cut using the Bags, Tags, Boxes & More Cricut cartridge. I just cut out a single layer of white cardstock & adhered the patterned paper to it before I distressed both with Tim Holtz tea dye ink.  The pocket is from a denim colored cardstock and the red check on the top of the tag is on the reverse side of the patterned paper on the card base. Everything attached is also distressed using Tim's tea dye ink.  I use some twill and lace from my stash. It was pretty easy to put together. I am going to be linking this to Sarah Hamer's Tuesday Link up Party. I have a link button on the right side my blog so please take a minute and go see what other crafty folks are up to. 

The middle of June my precious granddaughter came up for a visit.  As she is now nine I thought it was time to get her started on scrapbooking so I gave her an album and a box of scrapbooking supplies. I have just completed a cute little card to send to her with a few new little goodies for her box that I picked up on sale for 50 cents at Walmart. Here is that card. I used the Everyday Paper Dolls Cricut cartridge and some paper and ribbon from my stash.

Well that's it for now. I hope you are inspired and have enjoyed your visit.  Thanks for taking time to stop by my corner of the web.

God Bless,
Vickie

Just a little something...

Hi blogger friends, family & followers!  I have just a quick post today.  On June 10th not only will my darling husband and I celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary but my youngest nephew will graduate from High School.  Where does the time go???  He lives in New Hampshire and we wanted to attend his graduation, but the cost of airfare and all the other expenses was too much this year.  I made him a card that I am sharing today and I have linked it to Cardz TV and at Sarah Hammers Designs. I have links to both sites on the sides of my blog so please go check them out.

The card was a bit bigger than my standard A2 size so I made a envelope to fit the card too. I used Everyday Paper Dolls and Lacy Labels Cricut cartridges, white and black cardstock, a scrap of patterned paper from my stash, Tim Holtz distressed ink in Pumice Stone and ribbon. His school colors are red and white so I used the red as an accent color.  

I like how it turned out and I hope he does too.
 
            Congratulations Ryan and God Bless you!!!

Thanks for taking time to stop by my little corner of the web today.

God Bless,
Vickie 

Looking for a new job...

Hi blogger followers, friends & family.  As some of you know my part time position was changed last Tuesday to a full time position.  This means my job at State Hospital South no longer exists. To continue working at State Hospital South I would have to re-apply for the same job I already had, only now it would mean working full time, plus I had no guarantee I'd be rehired, my 3+ years experience at the job as a part time employee would not be counted when my supervisor decided who to hire and if I got "lucky" enough to get re-hired I would get a  major cut in pay. Talk about some bad news!!!  After hearing this and talking with my supervisor, I did not feel as though I'd get the job even if I did  apply for it.  So I cried, I was upset and angry, then I got worried because I like everyone else have bills to pay, then I had a long talk with my darling husband, then I prayed (I should have done this first) and then I did some thinking and I decided to quit my job last Friday.  You know what I learned through all this?  First, that GOD is in control of EVERYTHING!!!  Second, GOD is so good because he had already prepared me for this major change in my life, only I did not realize what was going on at the time I was being prepared.  And third that I know GOD will provide for all my needs.  I have decided to stop worrying, as it's not going to help, to trust GOD and get on with my life.   I have said all this to let you all know that I am excited about what GOD will be doing in my future!!!  I am looking for a new job, but LPN jobs are not as plentiful as they used to be. Your prayers for a new job that GOD wants me to have would be appreciated.

Anyway as this is supposed to be my creative sharing place... I had best get on with the sharing.  Right, so today I have the gift I made for my Mom in Law for Mother's day to share with you.  It was also my Cricut Club's April project.  It is my version of a Steampunk Mini Album. I used my Cricut to cut the pages of  book and a few of the embellishments on the pages. There are also buttons, feathers, and of course ribbon, well lots of ribbon really.  I am not a big fan of the "Steampunk" look, but I think this came out pretty good.  It actually has 8 pages, but I thought these 3 pictures are enough to share on a blog.  My Cricut club members liked it. For my Mom-in-Law I put pictures of her 4  grown children into it so it was personalized which she loved and that's what really matters. I will be linking this post to Sarah Hammer Designs Tuesday's link up party . I have added a button to the right side of my blog so please take a moment and go see all the creative people there too. 

Hope you all enjoy!!! Thanks for your prayers, sweet comments (I just love hearing from you) and stopping by my little corner of the web.

God Bless

Vickie

Gifts...

Hi blogger friends, followers & family. So I recently went to a women's retreat run by my church.  I was able to donate a small gift that was given away as a door prize. I had a good time and I pray that the lady who won the gift will be blessed.  I am sharing the cards I made for that gift. Some part of each card was made using my Cricut.I will be linking these on  Sarah Hammer Designs (aka Pink Cricut) blog on the Tuesday Link up Party, check it out there are lots of wonderful crafts shared there. 

Well I hope you all enjoy!!!  Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the web.

God Bless,
Vickie

Changes & Challenges...

Hi blogger friends and family.  This past few months have been filled with many changes and challenges.  One of them is learning to say goodbye to a parent.  As many of you may remember I mentioned that my Dad had been sick and then went home to be with the Lord on the first of February.  While I was not living close,he lived in the Phoenix area, his death still left a hole in my everyday life and I do miss not being able to talk with him every Friday on my way home from work.  A dear friend's dad has been sick and died just about two weeks ago and she, like I, has a family member that causes pain on top of the pain you already have from the change in life, so to help  I made a card for her to let her know that I am thinking about her and understand a bit of what she is going through.  I hope that she is comforted by my card.
I found my inspiration at the Sizzix blog. As I did not own most of the items used in the Sizzix card, I had to adapt my card to use the items I do own.  First I used my Stampin Up & Tim Holtz embossing folders with my Cuttlebug on the cardstock. Then I distressed the cardstock with Tim Holtz distress ink in many colors to help bring out the bricks and Vintage Photo ink to bring out the flowers from the embossing folders. Next I stamped my focal image onto the brick embossed cardstock. The stamp is by Inkadinkado.  I used Tim Holtz distress inks to color the stamped image along with some Twinkling H2O paints to add the glimmer to several areas of the stamped image. I used my Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge to cut out the shape of the focal image. My sentiment tag is made with a Spellbinders label die that I modified to fit the space I had on the card.  I added flower soft, pearls and ribbon to give the card a 3D effect but since I will be mailing it to my friend it can't be too thick as the US Postal Service doesn't understand handmade cards.

Anyway here's the card, I hope you enjoy and that you are inspired to tell others that you too care about them. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the web.
God Bless,
Vickie