Jonah Time!!

Whoo hoo! This Thursday I am leaving for my bi-annual scrapbooking retreat at Camp Jonah!

3 days and 3 nights of glorious paper crafting bliss! An 8 foot table all to myself, home cooked meals, amazing women all in a beautiful Christian atmosphere. I'm telling you ladies ~ there is NOTHING better!! This will be my 5th retreat and I am so excited. This (I believe) will also be the biggest scrapbooking retreat ~ 60 ladies attending! SA WEET!!

Our theme this fall is Blessings. Beki Duke has put together three devotionals, one for each morning and what a beautiful perspective they will bring us. Yes, I got to have a peek at them already! ;) I love how it's not about what kinds of blessings we have been given like material things, but rather how God uses our circumstances to bless us. And what a blessing it is to TRUST in Him. Love it!

I am so excited to see all the familiar faces again and lots of new ones to meet. It is gonna be another beautiful retreat!

Here is a peek at something all of the ladies and staffies will be getting this weekend!


Hee hee hee! Camp Jonah here I come! ;)

Oh I just think this card is scrumptious! I was reminded of that word on Sesame Street recently. Gotta love having kids! ;) Anyway, I think that word describes this card wonderfully! This houndstooth paper is SU from the Night and Day paper pack, and it's being discontinued so hurry quick to get yours! The ribbon I just have in my stash and don't remember where I got it from. The large butterfly is from PaperTreyInk, one of their dies. And the small butterfly is from the Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment stamp is from SU from Sincere Salutations.


Thanks for checking in today! Blessings to you!

St. Patrick's Pots of Gold

I just wanted to share these very fun little 'Pots of Gold' I gave out to my boys' teachers and all my neighbors.

These are so sweet and lots of fun to make. I painted a 3" terra cotta pot with black craft paint and then did a 2nd coat with a metallic black to give it a bit of a shine. Don't you think the Leprechauns pots of gold have some shine to them? I think they must. ;)


Then I hot glued some random different green ribbons to the rim and added a button shamrock and a little tag that I created with The Print Shop.


Inside is some gold shredded paper filler and 3 gold hershey's nuggets and a chocolate gold coin. Are you aware that it is darn HARD to find those silly gold coin candies!!?? I went to 8 stores not to mention, the dozen that I looked at on line to find them! That is a little obsessed I know, but the pots HAD to have gold coins!! ;)


I wrapped them up in cellophane a tied them with a sweet Irish Blessing that I found online. My kiddo's had a lot of fun handing these out to their teachers and knocking on ALL the (18) neighbor's doors to wish them Happy St. Patrick's Day. That's the best part. It's so fun for me to make these little goodies and then it's so fun to surprise people and give them a little something that they totally didn't expect!


Thanks for checking in with me today and May God bless you and fill your home and heart with gladness and cheer! ;)

Oh ~ I'll be posting my April class soon so keep checking back!

January Blessings On Paper

We are making these 4 beautiful and fun greeting cards! All supplies are from the new Stampin Up! Occasions Mini Catalog that just started on January 4th! So many fun new collections to sample! I love the chocolate set! ha ha ha!

The cost is $8 and everything will be supplied there for you! If you haven't signed up yet, please send me an email and let me know if you're coming!

This card is made using the Bold Blossom stamp set. The butterfly and blossoms are so adorable. Although you may get tired of me by the end of the evening making you cut these all out by hand! ;) And the so saffron taffeta ribbon, yummy. ;)

Same with this one. I also added a glitter brad, lovely. And I used the Designer Buttons ~ Subtles collection. Oh these are amazing!

This is the Eat Chocolate stamp set. Too fun! I also added some liquid glass to the chocolates to make them look even yummy-er and I sprayed the Rose Red card stock (after embossing) with some homemade glitter spritz. I love that effect.

And this card just makes me laugh. It is SO me. lol! I am a list person and a chocolate person and having 3 young kiddo's sometimes this is how I feel. ;)

This Friday night class will be so much fun. I absolutely LOVE all my ladies that attend. See ya Friday!

By Jove ~ I think I've got it!

The new name for my craft space... wait for it, wait for it... "My Happy Place!" What do ya think?! It IS my happy place! It's where I do so many things that I love; craft, create, teach, look at my computer, talk on the phone, hide from my kids...oops you didn't read that last part. Ha! ;)

I feel so blessed to finally have a room of my own to create in. Being able to spread out and work on multiple projects at a time, it's awesome!

This week I'll be posting some new journals and cards (hopefully) on my Etsy site. And here on my blog I'll be sharing pics of the Blessings On Paper January class cards we'll be making. All with fun new product from the new Occasions Mini that is just starting on January 4th!

Also there are only a couple more days to still order from the Holiday Mini Catalog! So if you've been waiting for your Christmas money to buy something special ~ don't wait any longer! ;) You can check that out on my Stampin Up! website at ABCandE.stampinup.net. Just click on Shop Now in the top right hand corner and then Holiday Mini on the left hand column. So many fun and beautiful things! Also don't forget about the Filled with Love promotion. You can read more about that in the post below.

Hope you all had a VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS!! I know I did. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family to share the holidays with. Blessings to you and don't forget to check back with me this week for more pics and updates!

Happy 2nd Birthday Dalaina!

I can hardly believe my sweet little (and I do mean PEANUT) baby girl is two today! What joy she has brought to our family. Adding a little girl has changed the dynamics of our family in ways we could never have imagined. And what a little package of personality she is! She is funny and sweet and loving and tough. She likes pretty dresses and digging in the dirt. She is talking so much earlier than our boys did and it is hilarious the things she says. Her sweet little whispery voice is like a little bit of magic.

Both of her big brothers adore her and they have so much fun together as long as she isn't turning off the DVD player in the middle of their favorite movie! Dalaina, I am so blessed to be your Mommy. I wouldn't trade you for anything! Hug!