Jacques Fab Celebration Candy

Here is a quote from a very talented card maker who is celebrating some blog milestones and giving away some great candy to a lucky winner.

"I am celebrating my 6 month Blog Anniversary and I am so happy and humbled that I have had more than 58,000 visits and have more than 340 Followers!! Thank you so much to each of you!!! So I would like to give you an opportunity to win a Holiday Package from me which you see below!!! " http://jacquesmagnolias.blogspot.com/

SIMPLE AND ELEGANT

My card for this challenge (from a few weeks ago and I don't even remember who's challenge it was) is a simple black and white with red as an accent. I used a solid fleur de lis stamp by Hampton Arts, stamped in versa mark and sprinkled with red tinsel embossing powder. I then took a clear stamp set of fleur de lis that has three different fleurs and each is in three different sizes. It came from Hobby Lobby and was a bargain for sure. Using Momento ink, I stamped different fleurs around making my own black and white CS. I used the SU ticket punch on the corners of this CS and matted in black only but I made it almost 1/4" wide. I added the shiny flat dots at the corners (but they don't show up! Grrr) I stamped "You're the best" with a red tinsel line under "best" and matted in black and popped it up. I didn't use any ribbons, or other embellishments or multi layers of matting because I wanted to keep it simple. LESS IS MORE (and cheaper too!) Inside it says "When I count my blessings, I count you twice" and it is from Stampabilities 2004. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by.

RESTING

Because our lives are hurried most days, it is good to relax and have down time, when we let go of our worries, cares, and responsibilities. Trying to find time is often difficult. Finding TAG time (Time Alone with God) is a struggle, too. We hear of those really good Christians who get up early to pray and read the Word to "set the sails for their day". This would be ideal as this act of faith bathes the whole day with the Spirit. We are fresh and rested and our hearts can "hear" the leading of the Holy Spirit better than when we are at the end of our day and maybe at the end of our rope. Our worries weigh us down more in the evening, and it is harder to muster up the Hope we have in Jesus. When we give Him the "leftovers" of our time, and maybe none at all, we are robbing Him of our friendship and we rob ourselves of His presence. We are not offering Him the "first fruits" of our time. We would get up early to get the kids to school, to make a flight, to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving, etc. Yet having a sustained intimate relationship with our Lord is so hard for us to accomplish. I struggle with it and I know others do too. "I know to do right and doeth it not."

We are called to "rest in Jesus" which gives us peace as only He can give. So I encourage all to find/make time to be with the Creator, the one who sustains us, provides for us, and who loves us more than we will ever know or understand.

My little card is a Penny Black Hedgie stamp. (I apologize for the out-of-focus image. I will try to redo that!) I painted this one using my Twinkling H2O's. In side it says "Have a wonderful day!" and that is my prayer for you, that you be blessed by God.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

YIKES! Little did I know that to do a blog, I would need to learn a "foreign" language...computer language! I know what I want to do and how I want my blog to look, operate, etc but I can't seem to put it into words my DH can understand to be able to accomplish my goals. He is my computer expert and learns how "to do" in order to teach me. He is easily frustrated when I don't describe what I want in language he can understand. : ) I know I should be the one doing the doing, but I am technically/mechanically challenged and when taught, need to do it a few times before I "know how" and if I don't keep doing it on a regular basis, I forget a little. Well, OK, a lot! Lately it seems I have done nothing but learn about how to work on my blog and I NEED to get back to creating cards which is a lot more fun anyway. Anyone out there have similar difficulties?

BEGIN AGAIN

We all are on our own personal "treadmill of life". We make choices that impact our future choices and the direction our life will take. THIS is a very scary thought for the young if they were smart enough TO EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! (And some are.) But most just go through their lives making choices and never consider what the future will bring them BECAUSE of their choices. Recently I have met some young girls who have had several children but the fathers have not stayed around. The young mothers are trying to do the best they can but have little life experience or education/training to be able to earn a living or to raise their kids. They still are in the process of learning who they are as women and often make immature decisions and are reckless. They don't understand how necessary personal discipline is to us all and they have made messes out of their days with no end in sight for the future. No wonder teen and young adult suicides are at or near the top of the list. Most do not know Jesus personally to have a hope in Him and what He can do in their lives.

Where are their parents? Where are the adults who help mentor and guide them spiritually, physically, emotionally? Have we fallen so far away from being good parents to our children as God intended us to be? Did we miss out on providing them with strong morals and character so that when they do make a few bad decisions, their whole life isn't ruined in the process, and perpetuated into the future in their childrens lives?

I believe everyday IS a new beginning for each one of us. We can choose to be different and choose goals that will move us in a better direction than where we have been. We don't have to wallow in our messes. Our HOPE is in the Lord Jesus and He alone can cleanse us, help us find a new direction and help us to become the person He intended when we were created. How wonderful to know He is always there, always able, and always truthful in what His Word tells us to do. No one comes to the Father but through Jesus. He will never let us down and He is forever our friend! What a blessing to know Him no matter what condition we find ourselves. We are to be "imitators of God". Ephesians 5

PRINCESS COMPUTER CAFE

We are back in Oshkosh at our condo and had the grand daughters for a day-and-a-half Sat-Sun. A good time was had by all and I sleep like a rock after catching up. A WIN-WIN situation as I see it. I like to keep occupied. Of course I didn't do much stamping, but we had a super time out at Perkins (Pancakes for supper is always fun anytime!), and we watched a couple of Disney movies and went to Sunday School and church on Sunday. When their mom and dad (our son) came to pick them up, we all had a big bowl of home made chicken noodle soup which warmed our tummies, some sides and pumpkin pie for dessert. Here is a picture of our two grand daughters dressed up in their princess dresses playing on our two small, kid friendly netbook computers. We have a Winnie the Pooh soft ware on there and they both can practice their numbers and do the shapes and games. I guess you could call it our Princess Computer Cafe. LOL! They sure have fun learning and it is a joy to see what they can do. Emma at 4 1/2 years is the most comfortable but Matti (3 1/2 years)likes the games and is learning too. Can you imagine how comfortable they will be with computers and the technology of the future. It blows this old lady away just thinking about it.

FALL HOUSE MOUSE

My card is a House Mouse fall image. These little critters are having so much fun and I thought it would make a great birthday card. I colored the image with SU markers (I don't have Copics YET!)I mounted the image a little off center on purpose. I used Umber and red CS for mounting. I fussy-cut the top row of mice out because I didn't like the look of white sky. I am not sure I like the red "sky" but it is as it is.

I used three colors of embossing powder on the leaves ( Zing copper glitter finish, red Embossing Tinsel, and Goddess Gold Embossing powder by Antique Gold) I also embossed the little word "Celebrate" in the red. The sparkle of the embossing powder does not show up in the picture as well as in real life. I wrapped a piece of orange/red (it has two colors) sheer ribbon around before mounting and tied a bow. I added a shiny gold leaf brad to the saying and popped it up by the bow. Inside I stamped "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in red using a wood mounted stamp but it has no name at all on it. So I have no clue.

The mice are coated with Fun Flocking in brown and feel so real. I guess that is why I have such a huge collection of House Mouse stamps. Their antics are so cute and make me smile every time I see them. I brought over some Christmas-themed House Mouse stamps with me this trip to the condo, so be looking for some of them in the next few months.