Handmade Easter Cards for Children

Easter is just a few weeks away so I thought I'd share some cute handmade Easter cards I made for my grandchildren.  All my cards were made using cute felt, foam, or stickers found in the seasonal aisle of any craft store.

I always search Pinterest for ideas before beginning a new project.  All three of my cards were "cased" from another card, but they always turn out looking very different because I use different supplies and bring in some of own ideas.  This first card was cased from THIS ONE.

To make this card, I first cut a 5x5 square out of a dark Kraft paper card stock.  Then I cut smaller, scalloped squares out of a lighter Kraft paper, then I cut lavender squares;  using a Cuttlebug machine and Spellbinder's Nestabilities.  After all the squares were glued together, I just glued on all my pretty felt stickers.  The sentiment and little chick were stamped on a separate piece of white card stock, colored in, cut out, and glued to the lavender square.  Finally I added some sequins for more bling.

My next card is my favorite of the three.  I just really love the CAS layout with the embossed white card stock background.  I cased this card HERE.

This card was the easiest of the three,  I simply glued all the felt stickers to the embossed white panel base, then added a sentiment banner and more sequins.   I cut the banner using an MFT die, and then I stamped and colored in the sentiment right on the banner.

For my last card, I created a background by gluing an assortment of foam eggs onto Kraft paper.  I got the idea from THIS CARD.    I bordered the Kraft background with Robins Egg card stock.  Next I added a scalloped oval and I glued a felt bunny to the oval adding sequins for embellishment.

The sentiment banner was cut with an MFT die and I stamped and colored in the sentiment directly onto the banner.  For a final touch, I added a pink ribbon and felt flower.

 I had so much fun making these cards, and I can't wait to give them to my grandchildren.

Next week I'll be back with a video showing you what I put into my grandchildren's Easter baskets this year.  Last years video was such a huge hit, I decided to do another one this year.  Apparently everyone is looking for ideas of what to put in their children's baskets.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Styling Spots and Dots with Ageless Style

Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women of all ages.   Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme.  This month's theme is "Spots and Dots" and was picked by Mireille.

Yes, Monday is the first day of spring, but we are still buried under snow here in Wisconsin.  The snow just won't stop falling!  I feel like I'm trapped inside a snow globe and can't get out!  When Mireille picked "Spots and Dots" for this month,  I looked in my closet and the only thing I had were some leopard print flats and a summer polka dot dress:  both completely inappropriate for this kind of weather.  So I decided to use a little creative license and show you this cute, cuddly "new to me" sweater that has something that looks more like "splats" than "spots" or "dots".  

I bought the sweater last year at an end of winter sale, but I never showed it on my blog till today.   It's the perfect Wisconsin sweater:  long, thick, and super warm and cozy.

Because it's so long, I can wear it with leggings, and for footwear I chose ankle boots...perfect to wear on snow covered sidewalks.

 

There's a debate in my house over whether these are snowflakes or flowers.  I think they are flowers, or "splats".  ha ha!  Whatever you want to call them, I sure do love them!

I purchased my sweater at JCPenney.  I couldn't find this pattern anymore, but they have a very similar one HERE, and on clearance for only $8.99. You can't beat that price!.  It's the same exact sweater, just a different pattern.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my "splats" or "spots" or "dots", whatever you want to call them.

Now be sure to check out how the rest of the ladies in the group are styling their "Spots and Dots" and be sure to link up with us as well.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Amy ~ Amy’s Creative Pursuits

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Bo ~ Bo's Bodacious Blog

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Joanna ~ My Slice of Life

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Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style

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Leslie ~ Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After

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Marsha~ Marsha in the Middle

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Mireille ~ Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom

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Rosemary ~ Distinctly Southern Style

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Handmade Combination Retirement and Birthday Card

One of our dearest and longest friends had a combination 60th birthday and retirement party.  They said "No gifts please.  Just the presence of your company" in their invitation, but I at least wanted to give a card.  The question is, when an event is two separate things at once, how do you create a card?  Most cards are either birthday exclusive or retirement exclusive.  Now, I could have given two separate cards, but I decided to create one card celebrating both milestones.

I started by searching my craft room for appropriate stamps.  Nothing.  So then I turned to the Internet and googled "Free Happy Retirement Images to color" and I found this one.   I thought it was perfect for the occasion because I knew the recipient hopes to be a "Snow Bird" plus I saw the sun in the image the perfect spot to stamp "Happy Birthday".

To make the card, I printed the image onto card stock sizing it down to fit an A2 sized card.  I then colored the image in with Copic Markers and stamped "Happy 60th Birthday &" on the sun.

Then I just glued the image onto a card base.  Easy Peasy and perfect for the occasion. 

 Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Creative Bible Journaling - January Pages

Come along with me each month as I journal my way through the Bible.  I'm not artistic at all, so you won't see beautiful illustrations and calligraphy, but what you will see is what I gleaned from the scriptures every day and how I creatively journaled what I have learned in the margins of my Inspire Bible.

I really did a lot of Bible Journaling pages last month.  The winter months are perfect for spending a lot of time in God's word!  I did a whopping 22 pages!  Because I have so many pages to show you,  I'm gonna make my commentary on each page very brief and let the page speak for itself.

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All but this page are in the book of Job.  I must have forgotten it in last month's Bible Journaling post.

This is a page of the last chapter of 1 Samuel.  I used my "Enduring Hope" ephemera  to illustrate some thoughts and notes I had on this chapter.  1 Samuel 31 is the end of the King Saul's reign and shows how God started to clear the way for David to become the next king.  It also shows how God always has "mighty warriors" waiting in the wings to carry out his will.

The rest of my pages are all in the book of Job.  This is a page I created in response to how we should treat our hurting brothers and sisters in Christ, instead of how sadly Job's "friends" treated him.

In Job 17 I was reminded of how our prayers don't get answered in our own timeline and that we have to "worship in the wait".   The victory will come in endurance.

On my next page I just hand wrote some notes from the Enduring Word Bible Commentary that really resonated with me.

Job begged his friends to have mercy on him during this difficult time.  I used sticker outlines to write the main thought "have mercy" and then I added some notes on a ticket die.  

This is probably the most famous verse in the book of Job, there's even an amazing Christian song by Nicole C. Mullen based on this verse.

In Job 21,  Job asks his friends to "Listen closely". so I built a page around listening to suffering Christians and then hand wrote a verse from James 1:9 about being "quick to listen".

Even though Job's friends were judgemental and not very kind, they did have some awesome things to say about God, like this verse:

Another beautiful verse about God.

Even though Job got depressed and questioned where God was in all this, he never sinned against Him.

Here I used ephemera from my "Illustrated Faith" kit "Enduring Hope" to illustrate how God's Word is wisdom, which is manna for our souls.

For this page I took a statement Job made about his previous life and added some personal notes about how when we help others, we are blessed.

For me, most of the book of Job is about him wanting answers from God, but never really getting them.  In my own life, I often feel frustrated when prayers go unanswered.  But then I am reminded that there is a never not an answer to prayer but it's either 1) Yes, 2) No, or 3) Not yet, or "I have something else in mind for you".

This is a page I created after reading a commentary on Job 31.

More of Job wanting answers, of which he repents of in Chapter 42.

A beautiful verse on God the creator.

Oh, I struggle so much with wickedness and evil being done in the word and not seeing justice.  But Job 34:21 reminds me that God does see everything.  I then made a checklist of things to fully surrender over to God that really make me fume!

Hebrews 12:4-11 explains that sometimes God disciplines us through adversity so that we can share in His holiness.  We may not always understand why troubles come our way, but one thing we can always ask ourselves is "What can I learn from this situation?"

One of the most incredible things to me about the book of Job is that it is the oldest book in the Bible yet has modern scientific statements in it.  I mean how did they know about how it rains in 37:27?  

A pretty page for a pretty verse!  Often when I'm down and out, just getting out in nature and seeing all of God's handiwork cheers me up!

I love this verse because I really feel that when there are issues or problems in my life that the Bible doesn't have a clear answer for,   the Holy Spirit gives us guidance.

 I hope you enjoyed my very long Bible Journaling post this month.  Next month, will not be so lengthy, I promise.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Hiking Parfrey's Glen in Winter

Every year my husband and I like to take a little weekend trip not too far away to celebrate Valentines Day.  Last year we went winter hiking at a golf course in Black River Falls and we also did a beautiful snow shoe trail in the Black River Forest.  This year we went to Parfrey's Glen in the Wisconsin Dells area.

The last time we hiked Parfrey's Glen was in the summer of 2012 when we still had kids at home!  It looks really different in the summer than in the winter, and it is a little more challenging to hike because of the snow and ice.  I think I enjoyed the beauty of Parfrey's Glen more in the summer than in the winter because you can see all the ferns and moss, but it was still fun to view it in winter too.  If you'd like to see what Parfrey's Glen looks like in summer, go to THIS POST.

The trail starts out nice and level through a forest.

Very quickly you will come upon a babbling brook and from then on will be following it all the way till the end of the trail.

You know you've officially arrived in Parfrey's Glen when you start seeing huge rock formations.

Here's where you need to be careful.  In some spots the snow/ice is covering the water and you could be walking right on top of water and not even know it.  It's not deep, but you sure don't want to break through the ice and get a soaking foot in the freezing cold.

You have to step on rocks to cross the river several times, and those rocks are slippery in winter.  Be sure to wear footwear that grips well and bring walking sticks if you can.  I put my walking sticks right in the water to stabilize myself as I stepped on the rocks.

It is only 0.8 miles to the end of the path that leads to Parfrey's Glen.  From there you are not allowed to go any further, and frankly, it's kinda tough as you really have to rock scramble if you want to see the small waterfall.

At its uppermost part the glen reaches a depth of 100 feet.  The walls are sandstone embedded with pebbles and boulders of granite. 

Parfrey's Glen is Wisconsin's Number One snow shoe trail.  I however would not recommend wearing snow shoes here because of all the rock scrambling.  No one on the trail had snow shoes on, so how this trail earned that title I have no idea.  However, it is a nice winter hike!

Sorry that I'm in most of the photos, but it was Valentine's Day weekend and I think hubby was a little enamored with me.  I do think however that having a person inside the photos gives you perspective of the size of the glen walls.

This is as far as I went as the trail was sheer ice at this point and lots of rock scrambling.  My poles were useless here as the spokes couldn't poke through the hard ice.  Hubby went a little further to hunt for the waterfall, but he said it wasn't much to see as it was only a few feet high.

Even though it was a beautiful day, this was the only hike we took.  I've been having issues with my leg and we didn't want to push it.  I had hoped to start physical therapy this week, but now we have a winter storm coming so I may have to cancel.  Bummer!  I've been waiting weeks to see a physical therapist.

There's a large outlet mall in the Wisconsin Dells so after our hike we grabbed some lunch and did some shopping.  Hubby was thrilled.  JK!  This picture was posed!  I didn't buy much:  just this cool new frying pan and a couple of Under Armor hiking tops.  Oh, we did go downtown to get some fudge and that was incredible!

 Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!