We're back!

Sorry that the photo is so small. It is not a photo that I took. I got it from an online gallery of Myrtle Beach photos. We only spent about 45 minutes on the oceanfront and I did not take my camera. Barry and I went to Myrtle Beach ALONE! We stayed at the River Oaks Golf Resort in a nice 2 BR condo. We were in a gated community so it was quiet and off season meant very few other people. We had the heated pool to ourselves which was nice too. It was a much needed break after the year we have had with the loss of 3 of our parents. Of course, the quiet is over. The boys are making so much noise in the living room right now!
All of our Christmas decor came down today too. How about y'all? Have you packed away the lights and stuff?
Tomorrow is Barron's birthday. He will be 10. He wants a bowling party tomorrow night.
Craft on!!!

You gotta see this. It's my favorite new Christmas video. Enjoy.



My MIL's funeral was today. All went well. Our church prepared sooo much food for us all week. There are over 130 of us. My MIL and FIL had 12 children. All 12 made it home before she passed away. Both of my in-laws would have loved having all 12 together since we rarely enjoy that. Sooo many grand and great grandchildren were also able to attend. We really packed out the church. It was a beautiful service.
I will get back to posting cards in a few days. I am going to get started on New Year's cards. With my MIL's illness and death, I only got out about 15 or so Christmas cards. Sorry family and friends. I know you understand.
UPS brought my new Cricut a couple of days ago. The boys insisted on wrapping it even though I know what they got me. I am counting down to opening that box! I am also getting my motor rebuilt in my Durango for Christmas. I was afraid it was a lost cause and I love my Durango. My husband has been talking about trading it for a couple of months. Now I get to keep it. Yippee.
Check back for New Year's cards since I blew making enough Christmas cards. Thanks for all of the well wishes this past week,food,cards and flowers.(poor live plants that were sent to us-I am no green thumb)

Throw some snow around!

Wanna toss some snowballs but you live in an area where it does not snow? Go toss a few here http://www.chunkideas.com/snowball/
If you can make out what he says when you hit the windows, please let me know. It think its not English.
Going to wrap presents while the boys are at school! Have a wonderful day.

My MIL passed away peacefully yesterday after a tough decision to remove the life support. She was 76 and it was her wedding anniversary to my husband's dad. We lost him in 2006. Christmas will certainly not be the same for my family this year. A wonderful comfort to us is that Leroy was waiting for Marcella and that they are together again.

While we are mourning the loss of our friend, others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil. ~John Taylor

A sad day around here.

The family has decided to take my mother-in-law off of life support today. I feel like the weather today. I know we need the rain but did we have to get it this weekend?

Sheetload of Cards

I recently found a great website while looking for card ideas. I am entered to win 16 packages of stamps and you can be entered to win too. Go there quick to get the details on how to enter.... www.sheetload.blogspot.com

I am pretty pleased with this card. It is SU So Saffron base with a small strip of Always Artichoke. The designer paper is a Debbie Mumm double sided Christmas print that I picked up at Scrapbook Creations in Spartanburg, SC. The burgundy and gold ribbon is just a Wal-Mart roll of ribbon I've had awhile. The sentiment is from Martha Stewart's Joy collection and is stamped in SU Old Olive. I punched 3 of the 5 Petal Flowers in So Saffron and attached them with a brad and a pop dot. (I have the card propped up on a piece of Night of Navy for a backdrop)Sorry for the glare. I will practice more on my photography as soon as I am caught up on my crafting! LOL The colors really look great together with the designer paper.
I realized that a couple of people on my mailing list for Christmas cards had seen my mass produced card so I thought I better create a couple of special cards for them. I am putting this one in the mail tomorrow.
My husband's mom is still not doing well. She has been in ICU for a week now. Her white blood cell count is low and dropping everyday. They did a bone marrow test yesterday. We are waiting for results. If you pray, pray for her.(and us) We lost his Dad in 2006 and my Daddy this past June. We are absolutely not ready for another loss of a beloved family member.
Thanks for looking at my blog today. Come back again. I am steady working on things.

Oh my gosh! We went to the Grove Park Inn today/tonight to see the gingerbread houses from The Food Network's 2007 Gingerbread House Competition. This is held every year in Asheville, NC at the Grove Park Inn in November and the houses are on display until just after New Year's Day. Anyone can tour the display on Monday thru Thursday and it's FREE. Everything on the boards are edible. The displays are amazing. This is the house that I wanted to move into but it's only about a foot and a half tall. I have 132 photos. We took our boys last year and we all loved it. This year we were also able to take our grandchildren. (I know I am soooo young to have grands)There are also about 100 Christmas trees on display throughout the Inn as they also host a Christmas tree decorating contest. The one below was called A Copper Christmas.


Can you see the sky out the window behind that gorgeous tree? It was such a beautiful night to be on the top of a mountain. Is that Santa in his sleigh? Nope, just a couple of helpers, Adam and Jack.

Thanks for reading again today! Come back for more cards and travels.

I believe this card turned out perfect. It is SU Rose Red base with a Paper Studio background. It has a small rectangle of black bling paper attached with pop dots for dimension and the sentiment is one I typed into Word and printed on a mystery piece of cardstock with Dark Red ink color. I cut out one diploma from the background and attached it with pop dots to give another dimension.
Getting braver! See y'all next time.

I really like this card that I am sending up north to my SIL and her family. They got a huge snowstorm and we'd like a little snow in SC!

Two different layout made with SU cardstock in Real Red and Whisper White with designer paper by Paper Studio. Both sentiments are from the Martha Stewart Joy clear stamp set. The ribbon is from Make It Christmas that I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

I got my blog candy from Debbie in the mail today. Gotta play with some of that later tonight.
I am working on a graduation card for my wonderful and ever so intelligent niece, Holly who will be graduating from college on the 14th of this month. I am very pleased with how it's looking! Come back to see it tomorrow.
Thanks for visiting!

I bought some great snowflake glasses at Dollar Tree today. One for each member of my family. I was excited about such festive glasses for winter for $1.

When we got home and I unwrapped the glasses, they were wrapped in 6 sheets of color coordinated sheer paper. A bonus!

Here is the make-n-take that we made yesterday at Scrapbook Creations. The Bling paper really glares in photos! I liked the nontraditional colors. The JOY! were QuicKuts die cuts and the rhinestones were extra bling. I think these colors would make a good NEW BABY card since I know 4 pregnant ladies. And I am NOT drinking the water!

I got a replacement card reader from Radio Shack. It seems to be working great. I still have a couple more cards to post but I will do that tomorrow. Soooo come on back tomorrow!

Adam is proud of the tree that he helped Barry and Barron put up and decorate. There is madness in the stringing of the lights that can not be seen in this photo. IRL the lights are zig zagged all over the tree. That would drive my mom nuts! Her wires don't show and the all white lights are in perfect rows. The boys had a ball putting all of our ornaments on the tree. We have way too many!
Notice my Snoopy stocking holder in the background. We had two of those when I was in 9th grade--one for me and one for my teen years boyfriend. I shook him and kept the Snoopies. Now they belong to my sons! I should look into what they are worth since they are dated Hallmark stocking holders! I could be rich since we also have 2 Elves from the same year(1979)You see one of them as well.
Oh, well! I had some cards to upload but my new card reader just started melting while in my usb port so I had to abort or die in a devastating home fire while trying to post to my blog. Not a happy holiday headline! Good thing I have my receipt! And my home since this could have caused quite a bit of trouble had I not been home. Hint to all: don't buy an XD Card Reader-Writer made by Digital Concepts sold at Radio Shack!
And..... a reminder to give to your local fire department this Christmas. Firefighters go into buildings without sprinkler systems all over this country and some never make it out. All public buildings should have sprinkler systems installed no matter when they were built.
Come back later. I will upload the cards when I get back from Radio Shack Thursday!
Have a blessed day.

I WON BLOG CANDY FROM DEBBIE HARRIS AT STUDIO BEE CREATIONS! Please check out her blog in my blog roll . Yippee! This is quite a bit of loot. Thanks Debbie. I am looking forward to meeting you at Strossner's some day!

Here's my sweet Adam. He always "sneaks" on Barry's spot in the bed and man is he a bed hog!

Your Elf Name Is...

Freckles Tinsel Toes

What's" Your Elf Name?

How do they know I have freckles to name me that? Go get your Elf name and come right back!

Spent my day with my best bud, Shannon. Today is her birthday so we enjoyed a Cracker Barrel breakfast and then HOURS in Hobby Lobby. Got all my goodies spread out on my bed right now. It will take me hours to come up with one card. Barron is singing in the Christmas program tonight at his school. Isn't is nice that our school still recognize Christmas for what it is? It seems all stores have taken Christmas out of their sales ads. They are all calling it "Holiday" sales. I got news for them: WE are celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ in our home. You can't take Christ out of OUR Christmas! So, I will be posting Christmas cards later this week. Stay tuned.

Here is a card that I put together a few days ago. I used Real Red SU cardstock for the base. The DP is from a Holiday Slab from Michaels as is the white cardstock. The stamped image and sentiment are from Martha Stewart's Joy stamp set. You can catch a glimmer atop the tree and that is just a rhinestone. A simple card to make but you would not believe how long it took me to assemble it. I played with the layout and changed it many times over. One down and many more to go!

Thanks for reading my blog today. Come back again. I will be working on some cards this week. I should get at least 2 more put together. No design confidence but I am working on it!

http://members.soundclick.com/smcearls

If you want to hear an angel sing, go to my soundclick site and listen to my precious daughter-in-law sing There Will Be Peace which she recorded on Simon Daum's album Steadfast. She is working on some new music to add to her website which is www.lindsaybennett.com She has been such a delightful addition to our family. Of course, that darling granddaughter, Journey is too.

Hope those links work as I am still learning to do this!

Thanksgiving Centerpieces

Look at my cute little Pilgrims and Indians that my darling hubby bought me for our table yesterday. This is not how they were displayed. I put them all together for the photo. They have the cutest little faces. Wish you could see them IRL. We had a party building full of people and tons of great food. We are truly grateful for all of our blessings.

Why those songs?

If you have not noticed, there is quite a variety of music in my playlist. I like all music except rap (sorry to my boys). I just don't like it! The first few songs are reminders to myself. My husband is a treasure to me. He loves me endlessly and unconditionally. I love him with all that I am. Then there's the Micahel Jackson oldie. I know what he is but it's the words of that song that get me. We have lost some dear friends and family members way too soon. This song reminds me that me have no promise for tomorrow. Enjoy the time you have and let those you love know how much you love them. Over the years we have lost premature grandchildren, my best friends 12 year old son, my wonderful father in law and my daughter's 23 year old friend way too soon. This past year, my daddy's death was a life changing loss. He was the love of my mom's life even though they divorced when I was about 11. He was not a faithful husband and not a constant in our lives. Many years passed that we did not speak to our daddy. When we did begin to spend time together again, he was a good daddy and a great Paw paw Mac to my boys. I think about how different not only our lives could have been if he had been faithful to our mother but how many peoples lives would have been different. So if you are married, be faithful. Honor your vows for yourself, your spouse, your children, your in laws, your granchildren, your siblings, your nieces and nephews and friends that you and your spouse share. Divorce is like dropping a pebble in a lake. The ripples go on for years though not just moments. I would love to have those years back with my daddy. And then the tributary songs for the brave soldiers who have fought for our freedoms for hundreds of years. I love being American. I love the opportuniues that we have here. I am thankful for their sacrifice and they are all HEROES in my eyes. Never forget our Veterans! Then some more gushy loves songs that have been my favorites over the years. I am so lucky to have everyone that I have in my life. Even that person who pulls out in front of me and drives soooo slow and makes me late. God put them there to hinder my voyage for a reason. Quite possibly to save my life. Think of the lives that were saved on 911 because they were running late and did not make their flights or make it to work on time! I love my life! I love my Savior and I am still searching for my favorite hymns for my playlist. So check back and see what they are. Gotta take the boys to school and sneak away for breakfast with my best buds, Shannon and Pam! Off to IHOP. Have a wondeful day and make someone else's day wonderful while you are at it!

My first post

OK. I am finally doing it. I am addicted to so many blogs and so many elements on everyone else's blogs that I have to try it too. By trial and error, I am adding some elements that I have seen on other blogs. Bear with me while I play around. I sold my first item on ebay today and that sort of gave me the confidence to try this too! Yeah me!
I will learn to upload photos so I can post those of my crafts and family too. I am very excited.