Happy Birthday to My Hubby!!

I’m about two days late posting this, but I have a good excuse… I really do! I was creating this new blog! *grin* I wanted a fresh new start since I have been doing a lot more crafting and posting my kreations, and the old blog is more fun stuff, family and fotos,

So as I was looking through some of the challenges I subscribe to, it all started to come together in my mind how to make my hubby’s birthday card. I started with a sketch from CraftyCatz, (which I missed because I din’t have the blog done in time to post and link it), and then I found the Ribbon CarouselChallenge that required ‘the Fabric of Our Lives"’, so I cut up a pair of jeans my son was throwing away. I had already decided to use a lacy looking die cut from my Silhouette machine’s stash of files, so I put one of Sliekje’s adorable little hedgehog digi stamp on it, which helped me meet the Animals challenge at Ladybug Crafts Ink and the Lil Critter challenge at Papertake Weekly . It IS a birthday card even though it doesn’t say Happy Birthday on it… I was following the My Time To Craft challenge, “L… is for_”. And by the time I finished trying to ‘fix’ the sentiment so it would easily show up on the printed paper, it qualified for Kaboodle Doodle’s ‘Lots of Layers’ challenge! And to top it all off, I'm entering it in the Anything Goes Challenge at The Paper Shelter which has the most beautiful digi stamps! (I want a job there!)

Thank you, Abba, for my wonderful hubby!

Welcome to my brand new blog!

Lord, I dedicate this blog to You. You are the One Who gave me the imagination, talent and kreativity to do what I do, and I want to give You all the glory and honor for it.
I ask that You would bless this blog and all things that I post here. Father, I am depending on You for new ideas, confident decisions and accuracy.
I will do my very best in all that I create; If I win challenges, I praise You. If I lose challenges, I praise You. I love You, Abba!
Love,
Your Daughter,
KittyJo

A Card for Alisha

"And I say unto you, Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Luke 11:9-10

How simple is that? Jesus said that if we ask, it will be given to us. Just... ask. It doesn't always seem that easy because a lot of times we pray for things and it seems nothing happens. But this scripture has really been true in our lives lately. I asked God, and He has given many times over in the last few weeks! I am so grateful to Him for His blessings!!
I am also thankful for my two best friends, whose birthdays are two days apart, two days after my hubby's birthday. I have three cards to be making over the next few days... well, two after this one. Odd that I would start with the last birthday instead of the first one! LOL
Today's card was made for Alisha, my wonderful friend and mentor. She and I have traveled the roads together many times, talking about in the Lord and growing in Him, hanging out together, playing Hand & Foot, and so much more. I so appreciate her wisdom and anointing as much as her friendship. She is a true friend.. she will quickly set me right back in the Word when I get off track and start in with the stinkin' thinkin', and I do the same for her. I am so grateful that Father has placed her in my life!

For this card, I used an image from Laurie Furnell's Heart & Soul CD that I purchased at PCcrafter.com. The evergreen leaves are a Martha Stwart punch, the pinecones are a rubber stamp from Stampin' Up!, and the leaves along the bottom are some punches and various cutting files from my Silhouette Cutting Machine. I colored them with my Sugarloaf markers and then added water with a Q-tip to blend the colors.
The wreath and topiaries, as shown in the enlargement below, are enhanced by using a product called FlowerSoft. I was really happy with how they turned out looking so real!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Card Makin' Mamas Use Punches
The Friday Mashup  Autumn project using shades of Yellow & Orange
Card Patterns Giving credit for a great sketch!
Pile It On The Colors of Fall
Critter Sketch Challenge Photo Inspiration
Our Daily Bread designs Fall Colors
PaperPlay Challenges Punches & Dies
And if I had finished it in time, I would have entered it in the Stampin' Sisters In Christ Challenge that ended last night asking for a door and a scripture. :(

My Little Octabox

Now that all the mistakes are out of the way (see previous post), here is the finished octabox!
I know it's not December yet, or even snow weather, but I used a Christmas paper anyway. It's mid-September and I always get Christmasy around this time of year. So I have been playing Christmas music all day (driving my family nuts with it) and thinking about what kind of other Christmas things I can make.

The box is one I designed for a contest many years ago when I was in the Computer_Crafts Yahoo Group. The paper is from Hobby Lobby. I'm not fond of pink and lime for Christmas colors, but other than the little designs resembling snowflakes, it would be hard to tell it even is a Christmas paper. The trim around the edges were made with Martha Stewart's Snowflake punch and a bow punch I picked up a long time ago. I don't remember the brand. I created the adornment on the top from 'doilies' cut with my Silhouette, another snowflake punch, some buttons and a bit of embroidery thread. To top it all off and add some bling, I used Wet & Wild glitter nail polish to all of the snowflakes on the edge of the did and then to the whole lacy embellishment on the top. I just wish it would have shown up better in the photo.
I am entering this fun little box in several challenges,

Pile It On

Creative Craft Challenge

Catch the Bug Challenge

Double whammy 'Duh'_ on me! LOL

Ok... so I'm gonna tell on myself here. Years ago, I designed an octagon box template and this morning I decided to redraw it in Silhouette Studio. It worked great, so I sent it through the machine to be cut. While the machine was running, I went back and looked at it again in Studio and suddenly realized that I had totally forgotten to adjust the cut lines! So the machine was cutting every single line, even the fold lines! My box was no longer gonna be a box, just two flat octagons and a bunch of square and triangle pieces. So I waited for the machine to stop (while my BFF and my daughter laughed at with me). Finally the machine gets done and I pull out the cutting mat with the cardstock on it that would have been my box. But there is no box! There are not even 2 octagons and a bunch of squares and triangles cut out! There was NOTHING! Just a clean blank sheet of cardstock. It was then that I realized that I had forgotten to put the blade back in this morning! ROFL I had taken it out to see if there was something wrong with it when after 3 cuts, it still wouln't cut all the way through the sheet of cardstock on a print & cut I did. (Never did figure that one out; unless it was because I was using a new, super-sticky cutting mat.)The moral of the story: For those of you who have a Silhouette cutting machine, there are some things you should know. The first of which is this: The blade has to be IN the machine for it to work! LOLBTW... I eventually did get the box finished!