Grand Day

    We stay way too busy for our own good...... I do not get to spend the time with Jeremy and his family that I would like too. They recently bought a new house..new to them... and they are so excited. I decided we were going to carve out time for a visit before the calendar filled up. We went over the long Labor day week end and what a treat that was. The house is simply amazing. It is a great floor plan with lots of room. I am thrilled that they are going to have space to spread out  as the kids get older ( I tried and I do not have the ability to stop time I am sad to say). I enjoyed getting to spend relaxed time with all of them and even got to watch the first Auburn game of the season! Yep, it was a glorious trip.
  They have a small park directly next to their house. It is very secluded and not used a lot so it is wonderful to get to have it to ourselves. I walked over with the kids and we played and swang away the afternoon. Does it get any better than that?
  Unfortunately I did not get any really good pictures but decided the day was too wonderful not to document, so poor pictures it is. I love that I have a picture or two to remember my time with these 3 special ones. I encourage you to save and document even when the picture is not perfect. Often, it is the memory that counts not the amazing photography.
  So here is the layout

 The papers are all from the Lori Whitlock Summer Bliss collection.
Also the alphas for the title and journaling along with most of the word stickers are from that collection.
Twine is maya road
Splatter stamp is from the Stampin Up Gorgeous Grunge set...(one of my favorites!)
The flip flops are jollee's boutique
The "family" sticker comes from jillibean soup
The embellishments are MME cut & paste.
 I used sketch #113 at My Scraps and More 

 And here it is

  I want to sincerely thank you for spending a portion of your day with me. I know that each of us get to choose how we spend out time and I truly value yours. I encourage you to spend a portion of today making good memories, because tomorrow will be here too soon.
  Thank you
Brenda

Coffee and Forgiveness

    I saw this post on facebook this morning.....

 I had never seen this acrostic before but,  I immediately  knew that I needed a new coffee mug today! So I spent a few minutes playing with MTC to get the file the way I wanted it, Then a quick trip to the dollar store. I couldn't decide between a mug and  travel mug so bought them both, after all it is the dollar store!

 This is the outcome

I look forward to using them and showing them off! I do not usually use items that broadcast my faith but just could not resist this one. Love the message so much and it holds COFFEE! I am also thinking gifts for pastor appreciation week?? I am truly happy that I dug the vinyl out today I had forgotten how much fun I have playing with it. Hope you will give it a try.

  Thank you so much for stopping by my little blog. I hope today you will walk in total forgiveness as it is offered.
Brenda

A star of a birthday!

  My precious grandson Neal has always been challenged in the conforming category. He started school the beginning of August. We have all been very pleased with how well he has done. He is truly trying so hard.Today is Adrienne's birthday and he brought home The Star Student award. Happy Birthday Mom! Of course a picture was taken and It made facebook...thus Grandma swiped it and a layout followed. Yes I had to dig the papers out of the mountain on my desk but no time like the present and I am so happy to have been back in the craft cave for me. Yes I have mountains of pictures but I love nothing better than the day of layouts!
    So I began with a little blog surfing for inspiration. I liked the September sketch at Stick It Down
I have been saving the last snips and scraps of the Boy Crazy collection from Echo Park. I have loved working with this collection but am also proud to have used it all up.This is the sketch

And here is my take!

 

I just saw the You Rule the School Challenge at Paper Issues. Think I will go ahead and link this one up!

 Don't you just love that smile. He is so very proud of himself!  It makes my heart so happy to see him trying so hard!
  I used MTC to create the title and to cut the pencils from a file that was in the MTC gallery. Everything else was just stash raiding. I need to do more of that lol.

 Thank you so much for coming by to visit. I am so happy to be able to share again!
  May today be filled with much happiness and joy.
Brenda

Flutter by birthday blog!!!!

  Danni is having a birthday and we are all here to help her celebrate!  She has set up this flutter by blog hop with all things butterflies and faeries just like during her wonderful Flutter By Wednesdays!  I am so very thankful that she included me in this hop.I really needed the push to create and share. I have been so very busy and have good intentions of sharing.... but........
   I realized the other day that I needed a birthday card for my daughter. She has had a pretty rough summer and I wanted to do something special for her. So a butterfly box card fit the bill. She is my butterfly rising from a very dark cocoon. She brings brightness and light everywhere she goes! I am so very proud of her!
   Danni is giving away 2  gift certificates to 2 lucky commenters. You have until Monday September 7th to leave a comment and be in the running for the prizes!

  So here is my card.yes it has a butterfly or two!!

 I use a cut file from svgcuts. I have the best luck with their 3 d files. I find that they are well laid out and their instructions walk me through the details. I had to color and draw a lot more than I am comfortable with, but I can honestly say I was not unhappy with the results. Adrienne loved it and that made it worth the effort. Thank you so much for hopping by.
  Now Hop on over to Ashleys blog for more fluttering fun.... and don't forget to wish Danni a Happy Birthday!
 Thank you so much for stopping by.
Brenda