You So Have to Be Kidding!!!

What in the world. . . one day I'm posting pictures of lucious summer strawberries. The next, it's a Halloween card! Yikes! How can I be doing Halloween cards in August?!?! Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. Shhh! I'm having a Halloween party! Truly, I am! I say this every single year and for some reason, it just never seems to happen. So this year, I AM GOING TO DO IT!! Plus, now that you all have heard me say it. . . .I'll have make sure we party this year!!!

So, in an attempt to make sure the party really happens (and to give everyone a chance to get their costumes ready), I thought I'd better get a head start on invitations! This is the first of a bunch I'll be doing in the next week. Hope you all enjoy. . . .and if by chance you have a great, ghoulish recipe or food idea for the party, leave me a comment . . . I'll be forever grateful for your help!

Soldiers and Summertime

Hi all! So before I show you the card I've been working on, I have to show you today's bounty from our strawberry plants. . .when you look at the picture, you understand why the bounty is so small. . . .tiny, little, precious fingers that grab those berries the VERY second they are ripe! Don't these berries just look like summer to you?

And on to my latest endeavor in the world of cards! Susie over at Berkerblog is doing a contest for the soldiers in Iraq. You make a card and send it to her and after all the cards are entered into the contest, she'll send them along to a fabulous site called Angel Stampers For Soldiers. From there, the cards are sent to the amazing heroes who are fighting the war in Iraq. Cool! I'm so in! Anyway, here is my card. . . please join the fun and let them know that you care!

I am HYSTERICAL!!!!

Okay, one of two funniest things I have seen today! I went onto another card blog and Julie had this cool little sign on the side of her blog that said how much her blog was worth. Something like $53,000. Cool, thinks me! Let's try it out for What Nots and Whimsies! So I follow the link to find out what my little corner of the blogging world is worth. . . and voila! I find that after all the time it took to actually set this bugger up, post stuff, be adorable and witty for my 3 (count them 3!) subscribers, my blog is worth $0.00! How absolutely hysterical is that! I LOVE IT!!!!! Sometimes I think blogging is bit like being back in junior high. . . how many people visit me each day, who leaves comments, who loves me, who loves me not. . . get the picture? Anyway, apparently I really am the red-headed stepchild of the blogging world! Well, that's just fine. . . my imaginary friend Andy thinks I'm just A-OK!!!!! :-) Happiness and blessings to my 3 subscribers! Cheri


By the way, just another fun part of the blogging world: blog candy! Head on over to Lisa at Blessed a Latte and you can try to win too! Even if you don't win, she's got a fun blog to peruse. Hmmmm.... wonder how much her blog is worth?!?!?! :-)

I love it when a card comes together!

I am so excited! I needed to make a birthday card for my Mom and I thought I would use this adorable stamp set called Quilts Give Comfort. She's a quilting lady and for her birthday I wanted to get her a gift certificate to a quilting store. (Uh oh, just dawned on me that I better call her tonight and tell her not to look at my blog until after her birthday party! Tee hee!) Anyway, the stamp set has a variety of cute fallish stamps, so I thought I would use a color combo Mom loves: green, orange and yellow. Then, on top of all that, I find out that Splitcoaststampers is having a challenge to make an autumn card. So, all things just fell together in so many ways. . . and then the card just turns out stinkin' cute! I'm so thrilled! Enjoy!

Just me. . . giving thanks!

So did you try my little blessing challenge? You know. . . come up with a number of blessings equal to the day of the month. Today is the 22nd. Did you think of 22 things to be thankful for? For the sake of saving space (and not making you read for an hour) here's my top 3:

3. I am thankful for the rain that watered my garden, helped my raspberries (second crop this summer) get fat, fat, fat and gave me the chance to enjoy that "MMMM. . . .it just rained!" smell.

2. I am thankful that my little boy is SLOWLY acclimating himself to the idea of going to school in a couple weeks. He may be doing better than his mama is at this point! :-)

1. I am thankful for how darn excited my dad is that he is now the proud owner of a 1926 Ford Model T truck. Engine turns over, 3 tires hold their air and it is "pre-cursor" to the automatic transmission (yikes) but oh what fun he'll have riding in a parade with his grandsons some day!

And now I'll leave you with a little eye candy: a little "Give Thanks" card. Hope you enjoy it and the happiness that comes as you tally up your blessings today! C

I'm a real person!!!!

Okay, I was real before, but now I have a real business card! Amy over at Heartfelt Greetings is having a contest and you get to design your own business card. FUN!!!! I decided to keep it light. . . .like my blog title: What Nots and Whimsies. Sounds chipper and fun, doesn't it? But then I threw a little twist in. Do do do doo (sing along with me). Flock! Fun Flock! I remember when I was a little kid, I thought the fuzzy on cards and books was the coolest thing. . . and now I know how to do it! So, on my card, you'll see the turqoise flowers are flocked and then there is (of course) a little bling in the form of glitter sprayed over the whole card! And the great thing is-- the flock stays on even when it's thrown in your purse ( I know, I tried!). Okay, enough chatting! Here's my card! Enjoy, and blessings to you today! C

Butterfly Kisses!

It's time to bust out the new In Colors from Stampin' Up! Isn't this paper pretty? And can you imagine I found PERFECTLY matching ribbon at Big Lots?!?! Cool beans! Anyway, this card is for a dear lady who encourages me, sends me comic strips that only a mother can appreciate and prays for me often. What a lucky girl I am to have gotten her as a bonus when I married my husband. . . .she's his aunt! So, off we go to enjoy our sunny day. .. blessings to you!

My Prayer for Today

Have you had one of these mornings. . . Today I woke up, not just on the wrong side of the bed, but maybe on the wrong side of the world. My patience was tanked. I was tired. Grumpy. My beautiful, adorable, angelic munchkins were bickering, non-stop chattering, being entirely too energetic. I caught myself praying "Okay, God, just get me through today!" WHAT?!?!?!?!? Get me through today? What if today is the last day of my life and I JUST GOT THROUGH IT? Talk about bringing me to a screeching halt! Thankfully I was not driving at the moment. . . we would have caused a bit of a problem! Anyway, it dawns on me that today is the only today I have and my little timer (think Days of our Lives and hum the tune with me!) is never going to refill. I so do not want to just get through a day! I want to own the day, conquer the day, make this day be the best day yet! So here's my NEW prayer: "God, today belongs to you! Let's make it ROCK!" And that's my prayer for you today too! Make it amazing! Blessings to you! C

Coffee and Good Friends

It doesn't get much better than good friends and a cup of coffee, does it? We spent the weekend with some really good friends of ours. . . they live in Southern Oregon which is only 2 hours away, but we haven't been down there since last September. What's up with that? Anyway, we had a delightful time and since Karyn is a coffee girl, I thought I'd send a coffee thank you her way.

I thought you might also enjoy seeing the beautiful scenery we enjoyed on our latest camping foray. Let me tell you, Southern Oregon has a gorgeous beauty all it's own! We played in the river, picked fresh peaches and corn and were really, super duper lazy! What a treat!

My list of Blessings!

So I thought I would post my list of blessings and while I was getting ready to do that, another WONDERFUL blessing happened. . .
1. I am so thankful that I DID NOT BURN MY HOUSE DOWN WHILE I WAS BLOGGING MY LIST OF BLESSINGS!!!! (Happy, laughing and smiling!!) :-) I forgot I had put noodles on to cook for my munchkin and while I typed, they burned! Smoke billowing. . . :-)
2. I am so thankful for the gorgeous sunshine with a hint of breeze to keep it from getting too hot.
3. I am so thankful for the scrumptious, fresh potatoes my boys and I dug from our garden and had for dinner.
4. I am so thankful for my boys giggles while I spray them with the hose as they jump on the trampoline.
5. I am so thankful for a garden where I can pull ripe tomatoes and peas right off the plants and munch them!
6. I am so thankful for the pastor at West Salem Foursquare Church. . . he has such love,compassion and wisdom.
7. I am thankful that my brother is almost done with camp and will get a rest.
8. I am still thankful that my sister-in-law got to come stay with us. What a blessing!
9. I am thankful for my husband's Aunt Julie and Uncle Tom. They are amazing examples of the kind of family we want to have.
10. I am so thankful for my inky fingers!

Breaking out of the mold!

So last night I was so tired I just wanted to crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head and catch up on my beauty sleep. I so knew that was NEVER going to work though! Ever have one of those times when you just HAVE TO MAKE A CARD?!?!?!?! Or doing something creative. . . . get your fingers inky. . . . . play with your new stamps or embellishments? That was me last night! So I started out with a butterfly from my new Papertrey Ink set and I inked it up in pastels, grabbed a beautiful pastel background, pastel cardstock, pastel, pastel, pastel. . . Ewww! I was not(really, really not) in a pastel mood! That's how I ended up with this cool B/W background paper from DCWV, wide, bright red grosgrain ribbon and a BLACK butterfly! :-) I like it! It is so not pastel, don't you agree?!?! Anyway, don't know if you can see the little silver charm by the polka dot bow- it says "Thank you".

Hope you enjoy the card. . . .enjoy your weekend. . . enjoy God's infinite blessings in your life! And if you're seeing more trials and troubles than blessings today, try this little trick: Each day of the month, take time to think of a number of blessings equal to the day of the month. Today is August 10th, so come up with 10 things you are thankful for! Have fun!

Christmas in August!

Hi all! So I came across this fun little blog called Shabby Chick Junk and find that Lisa is putting up a Christmas challenge to use your stash of Christmas paper in a non-Christmas card. Fun, thinks me! So I dig out my pile (and I do mean pile, as in BIG, BIG pile of Christmas paper) to pick a paper to craft with. Did I mention that the pile is really big? :-) My stash comes from finding Christmas paper 90% off at Michaels after Christmas last year. I bought these big slabs (three of them, because if one is good, three is better!!!!) and then promptly put them away for the next C'mas season. Much to my delight, the slabs are just stuffed with argyle papers in all different colorings! Happy me! I love argyle! So, I picked the blue and green one that is suppose to coordinate with snowflakes and used it with my brand new Green Thumb stamp set from Papertrey Ink. What a super fun card this was to make! So, my thanks to Lisa for the challenge, and while I'm at it, I've got to give a shout out to Papertrey Ink. I FINALLY ordered a couple stamp sets from them and much to my delight, they came super fast and wrapped in tissue with a thank you note from Nichole, Jane and Julie. How's that for awesome service along with some really great stamps! Anyway, enjoy the card and enjoy your day! Blessings to you!

Another thought for the day. .. .

I've been doing alot of thinking lately on God's goodness to me. I mean, how awesome is it that He never (NEVER!) gives up on me! Me! That grouchy, snappy, impatient, unkind me. His mercies to me are new every morning. . . the tank of His patience and love for me, even in my unlovable state, never, ever runs out. How astounding it is that He even loved me in the first place, but to never stop, despite everything, is truly amazing grace! I hope you are touched by His love and grace today! Blessings to you!

I've been in a mood!

Hi all! I've been in the mood to make cards lately! Well, I've also been in the mood to use some of the stamp sets I've bought and not inked yet! How else can I justify buying new stamps?!?!?! :-) (You know exactly what I mean, don't you?!!) Anyway, here's this week's color challenge over at SCS: Close to Coca, Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue. And here is my first inking of my new set Polka Dot Posies. .. how totally adorable are these stamps?!? Hope you enjoy!