Softpencil Studios Day...

It's hard to believe that I used to blog as much as I did since I never have the time now. I do miss it and I miss the friends I had as well.  I guess as they say, "life changes."

Here is my creation for Softpencil Studios this week. I used one of Elizabeth's spring images. As it gets cold in my area, I needed to see a little warmth. I am soooo not a winter person.

I used the Charming Flowers image. When I looked at it this morning, I wished I had added a thin piece of ribbon and a tiny bow at the bottom. 

Remember Elizabeth is closing her on line store on November 30th so you'll want to get your images by then. You will still be able to find her clear stamps at Latina Crafter. 

Hope you have a blessed day!! Hugs!

Softpencil creation and news!

I am one seriously bad blogger. It's ok with me though because I am spending time with my family and that is so important.

I do have a new Softpencil Studios creation for you this week. I have some very sad news though -  Elizabeth has decided to close her on line digi shop on November 30th.  Lucky for all of us her clear stamps will still be available through Latina Crafters and some of her digi images will be turned into clear stamps!! :-)

Elizabeth did create a few new winter images and so I'm using one today. This is called - Looking for My Friend. It was fun adding the sparkles using sparkly fluff and stickles.

Remember to head over to Softpencil Studios and get any images you've been putting off purchasing!! 

Have a blessed week!! 

It's me again...

OK I knew it had been a while since I posted, but honestly not that long. I guess I just haven't felt very inspired lately - creatively or about blogging. It also doesn't help that Kendra and Nat keep me hopping from activity to activity!! :-)

I did want to share a couple projects I made using one of Elizabeth's Softpencil Studios Halloween Images -

This first one is a little treat bag I made using my Cameo Silhouette. (Love that machine!!) The image is called Molly in Halloween! 

The second project is a card I made using Amy in Halloween.

Have to say, I am not much of a Halloween card making gal but using Elizabeth's images has inspired me. I have even used that inspiration to put up a few Halloween decorations in my house.

I really hope everyone is doing well!! If you are still stopping by, thanks!!

Have a blessed week!!

Softpencil Tuesday - Halloween!!!

In case you hadn't guessed ... life is currently kicking my butt!! Sorry I missed last week's post I just couldn't get it done. I am so grateful for Elizabeth's kind and understanding heart. You can find so many wonderful images at her Softpencil Studios store.

But I was able to use this adorable Amy in Halloween this week.  

Remember Softpencil Studios has a Facebook page where you can see everyone's beautiful creations. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Hope you are having a great week!!

Stickers are here!!!

Softpencil Studios' new Halloween images are available in stickers!! I love them so much!! They work really well and sure make it easy to finish a card!!

Here's my card for this week -

Sorry to be so short today but I am wiped out and all I can say is that life is busy right now!!

Hugs to all!!!

A BIRTHDAY HOP FOR ALETHA!!!!

This is a very special weekend!! One of my very best friends and the one of the sweetest ladies I know is having a birthday. So in honor of this special day, another dear friend Kristy arranged a surprise Birthday blog hop!! Aletha is so special we had to have the hop last for 2 days!! 

Aletha’s Birthday blog roll: 

KristyLee 

Christine 

Sugar 

Anita  

Patti  

Susan Salyer  

Jen 

Sandy

Melissa  

Ike  

Julia  

Rhonda 

Tracey
Suzi 

Aletha

Here's the card I made for her!! I used the Angie Girl set from Ippity, it just seemed like the right choice. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAR FRIEND!!!

As a birthday present to all the hoppers, yet another great friend Tracey Malnofski who owns The Stamping Boutique  is giving all hoppers one of Aletha's favorite images for free. This one is called Fairy Aletha.

This is actually one in a line of fairy stamps that Tracey has in her Enchantment Line!! 

IMAGE REMOVED

Be sure to hop through and leave Aletha a  birthday message on her blog!!

And for you my dear friend Aletha -

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! MAY IT BE A DAY OVERFLOWING WITH LOVE AND JOY!!!

New Softpencil Studios Images!!!

Welcome to Softpencil Studios new image release!! Elizabeth has created some fun images for the upcoming Halloween season. I will be showcasing a different new image for the next few weeks. There are stickers on there way too which will be fun to play with!! :-)

It was so much fun to finally have some time to create!!! I have missed it so much and hope that I can continuing to find time for it more often!! Still not sure I'll find time to blog about it but that's OK as long as I can get some projects done!!

For this week's card I used 2 images - Michu Flying on a Broomstick and Little Bat.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the tree, cat and gravestone. I just love that machine!! I use it so much more than I ever used my Cricut!!

Be sure to stop by the other DT gals' blogs and leave them some love. I saw a few previews and let me tell you their work is awesome!! You can also come by the Facebook page and see all the latest news and happenings

I really appreciate you stopping by today!! Many blessings and hugs!!

It's Softpencil Studios time....

Yes, I know I have become a very bad blogger. Real life has just been so busy that there isn't much time to be on my computer. In all honesty, I think that is a good thing.  I haven't had much crafting time either which does make me a bit sad.

We are all back to school and starting to slowly settle into our routines. Maybe once we do that I'll have a bit more time to craft and write.

Anyhow, here is my Softpencil Studios card for this week. Elizabeth has designed this adorable little "Sweet Mermaid" image. 

You can find her here along with all of Elizabeth's fabulous digi images. I am so blessed to be part of such a wonderful team and to be able to share such cute images.  Be sure to check out the other DT gals blogs to see what they have done this week. You should also swing by the Softpencil Studios Facebook page and say hello as well.

Have a blessed week my friends!!

Softpencil Tuesday New Release

Happy Tuesday!!! Sorry I missed last week but it's been so crazy getting myself and the girls ready for school. Today is my official first day and tomorrow the student's come. My girls start tomorrow too!! I think we are all a little nervous.

In honor of back to school Elizabeth at Softpencil Studios created this fun little image - School Bus.  I created a box. While posting the pictures, I realized you may not be able to tell it's a box. I used the A Box is A Box template from My Time Made Easy. I'm filling the box with candy and giving to our Educational Aides who help out with copying, monitoring study halls and so much more!!! 

I used my Silhoutte Cameo to cut out this saying for the top.

I hope you enjoyed my little project! Be sure to check out the other DT members blogs and the Softpencil Studios Facebook Page.

I'm guessing it will be even more quiet here than it has been - if that's even possible. Once we get settled into our new routines, I am really hoping to find some time to fatihbook and work on my Project Life album as well. 

As always thanks for stopping by!! Hope all is well in your world!!! Blessings and Hugs!!!

Yep another Softpencil Studios Tuesday is here...

Yet another week has passed and I haven't done much blogging!! Of course we've been trying to cram in as much as possible before school begins in 2 weeks!! Trip to the pool, to the beach, back to school shopping! Yikes!!

We also spent 2 nights per Natalie's begging at Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky last week. I have to tell you it felt like a week to me. It's tough keeping up with that girl. At least Kendra is OK with a bit of down time once in awhile. We really did have a lot of fun!! 

Here's my Softpencil Studios creation and one more from Natalie as well. We've had a blast crafting with me lately. I used my 3rd Sunny image - Sunny on a Cupcake

Here's Nat's work!! As you can see she loves art!! ;-) 

Don't forget to check out the creations from the rest of the DT by visiting their blogs listed in my sidebar. You will also find them on the Softpencil Studios Facebook page!! :-)

I'm not sure how much crafting I'll be doing over the next few weeks as I get geared up for going back to work. We have lots of changes happening - new schedule, new principal, and I'm trying a new Language Arts management system.  I'm looking forward to this coming year though because I needed to shake things up in my classroom a bit - my teaching was getting stale!! So please forgive me if I don't make it by your blog to leave you some love!!

I am so grateful to each of you who follow my blog!! 

Have a blessed day!! Hugs!!

Softpencil Studios Sunny Creation

Happy Tuesday all!! I hope your week has started off well. So far so good here!! Only 3 weeks and it will be back to reality - school starts. We are enjoying this time!!

Time to share another card using Sunny from Softpencil Studios . Here's my creation this week I used - Sunny and a Butterfly. I just love how that little butterfly is flying by. It reminds me of a beautiful summer day. 

I used the Tayolored Expressions Key Ingredients kit from May 2011 for all the papers.  

I also wanted to share another creation by Natalie - she spend at whole afternoon crafting with me a week or so ago. Of course she had to use the same images I was. :-) She modeled mult-colored Sunny after her stuffed animal - Rainbow Bunny

I love that she stepped outside the box and didn't worry about making Sunny look like a "real" bunny. She just enjoyed the process!!  I think I could learn from that. 

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges - 

Dream Valley - Summer

One Stitch at A Time - Use a Digi

Pile it On - Cute as can be (BTW - Softpencil is the sponsor)

The Crafty Pad - Things with Wings

As always, I am grateful for you stopping by today!! 

Blessings and Hugs

Happy Birthday Kendra!!!

I can't believe that 11 years ago my life changed in so many amazing and wonderful ways!! My dear daughter Kendra was born. She is becoming a beautiful young lady. My girl is so accepting, understanding and forgiving of others. I love how she does not pass judgment on others. It is just one of her many wonderful qualities.

I wanted to share a layout I finally finished from a few years ago of her and her dad. The paper is from the Summer Soiree line at Faithfully Yours. I am a huge fan of FY since the papers and embelllishments are Christian themed which can be a struggle to find. They make it very easy to include my faith in my scrapbooks!!

Allan and Kendra were heading out to a Girl Scout Me and My Guy dance. When I look at this picture, I really see just how much she has grown up. The one thing that definitely has not changed is her love for our family!!

Faithfully Yours has a lot of wonderful resources for both the beginning and advanced Faithbooker. There are a lot of great ideas of how to include your faith in your day to day scrapping as well. You can also sign up to receive her weekly ezine and daily blog posts. I hope you'll stop over and check it out.

I have really started back into my scrapping again and am enjoying it so much. I'll be posting more of my layouts along with my other projects. 

As always, thanks so much for coming by!! Many Blessings and Hugs!!

Another New Image from Softpencil!!

Time for another fun new image from Softpencil Studios!! Elizabeth created a few new Sunny images and each one is more adorable than the one before. 

For my card this week I used Sunny in a Pile of Pots!! The shaped card is a template from The Cutting Cafe. I just thought they were the perfect match

I had a blast creating this one because my 7yr. old Natalie sat beside me working with the same images I was. Here's her version of Sunny in a Pile of Pots

You'll be seeing a few more her creations over the next few weeks! :-)

Be sure to check out all the other DT girls blogs which are listed on my side bar. Also be sure to like the Softpencil Studios page on Facebook.

I really appreciate you stopping by!! Have a great day!

Blessings and Hugs,

Softpencil Tuesday with a new image!!

Hello my friends!! I am running a bit behind this week. I guess I'm just having too much fun with my girls or is it that I'm spending too much time breaking up the bickering matches?? Honestly it hasn't been bad at all the past few days!! 

Here's my Softpencil Studios creation for this week using the new Ratiny's Dad image. Are these two not adorable??

Rumor has it that some more new images are on their way as well!! Yippeee!!! I love new images!! 

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT gals creations as they are listed on my side bar. You can also visit the Softpencil Studios page on Facebook as well.

Sorry to be short but the oldest just woke up.  Hope everyone has a fabulous day!!

Blessings and Hugs!!

GHWI Challenge #23 Still Happening...

Welcome to a new week!!! Today I have a little inspiration to share for the GHWI Challenge #23 - Christmas in July with a Tag. We are only half way through the month so there is still lots of time for you to play along in the challenge.  Remember all you have to do is create a project, card, ATC any piece of art with a Christmas theme and has a tag!!I 

I decided to get a jump on my Christmas gifts and created a little box this week.I wanted it to be simple since I usually end up making 20-30 of these types of gifts for my co-workers. I cut the box using my Cameo which of course I LOVE!!! I have such a hard time when I'm crafting somewhere besides my craft room and I can't take it with me. 

I used 2 sets in the creation of this little gift - Warm Wishes and Gingham Christmas Greetings!! 

As you can see below the snowflakes with I heat embossed in silver came from the Warm Wishes set that can be found here.

Then I used the Gingham Christmas Greetings for my little tag which you can find here.

Remember these sets can be found on Aletha's sales blog or through Unity but be sure to choose to Aletha as your Ippity Chick!!

I also wanted to invite you to join The GHWI Customer blog hop on August 10-12. We are going to be celebrating Aletha as our awesome Ippity chick!!! The requirements are as follows -

1. To create a project using your favorite {ippity} stamp set. You only need to create one project for the hop.

2. Have it posted on your blog by Friday August 10^th at 8AM EST

3. Include information about and a link to Aletha’s {ippity} sales blog

And if you can't be part of the hop, we sure hope you'll do some hopping along the trail. There will prizes to win along the trail.

Sign ups will close by Friday August 3^rd.  If you are interested in joining the fun then please email me (Melissa Czapor) with GHWI August Blog Hop in the subject line. My email ismelissac1966@gmail.com

As always remember if you haven't joined the Facebook group and GHWI group at The Crafter's Cafe, you are missing lots more inspiration!!

I'd also like to enter this project in the following challenges - 

One Stitch at A Time - Anything Goes

Robyn's Fetish - Christmas in July

That Craft Place - Anything Goes

As always I am so grateful that you stopped by today!! I hope you have a fabulous week!!

Blessings and Hugs,

Melissa 

Sharing my Softpencil Studios Creation

Can somebody please tell me where the weeks are going? I feel like summer just started and yet it's almost half over. Of course I haven't done nearly half of what I planned. At least the weather has cooled down a bit!

Here's my Softpencil Studios card for today. I used the Charming Flowers digi image. It might be hard to see but I used stickles to sparkle up her wings!!

I know this is short but the girls have been keeping me really busy which hasn't left a lot of blogging time! Be sure to head over and check out the rest of Elizabeth's images!! She has so many cute ones I think you'll want them all!!

I would like to enter this in the following challenges -

Sweet Spot Sketch - Sketch

Fashionsista Challenge - Winged Things

Blessings and Hugs!!

Softpencil Studios Sharing

Just stopping by to share another Softpencil Studios creation.  You can find this and many other of Elizabeth's wonderful images in her store.  You can buy her adorable products in lots of different formats - digi images, clear stamps, and even stickers. 

I used an old digi image that is now part of the wonderful Cupcakes Collection sticker set. 

You can find the sticker set here.

If you're on Facebook, be sure to stop by the Softpencil Studios Facebook page and like it!! You can find the latest news. News like the fact that Elizabeth just joined DigiStamp Friends. 

As always, thank so much for stopping!!

Blessings and hugs,

Sassy Studio Designs Relay - Final Entry

The new Get Hippity with Ippity challenge post can be found here.

Happy Monday my friends!! The final image we received in the fun Sassy Studio Designs Sassy in the City Relay was Carrie!! Thank goodness we had an extra day to make our creation!! The theme was to include either New York City or Paris on the project. I used my cameo to cut the NYC skyline.  Here's my final entry -

I really want to thank the gals at Sassy Studio Designs for the fun I've had playing on the relay!! Not to mention receiving all these wonderful images for free!! They are certainly one very generous group of ladies!! 

Thanks for stopping by!! 

Blessings and Hugs,

TIme for a new challenge at Get Hippity With Ippity...

The monthly challenge for July starts today at the Get Hippity with Ippity Blog!! We are on Challenge #23 and this one is to make a Christmas project that includes a tag.  You can create anything from a card to an ATC to a Scrapbook LO. Whatever is your style works great as long as it is Christmas themed and includes a tag. 

Here's the card I made for a little inspiration

I used one of my favorite Christmas Sets - Gingham Christmas Greetings

The papers are all from one of the first kits I ever purchased from Taylored Expressions which happened to be a Christmas Kit.  And now, I am a monthly Key Ingredients subscriber!! :-) The inks are all from Close To My Heart and the tag I made myself. 

If you are looking for an Ippity Chick please head over to Aletha's sales blog. She has awesome customer service. If you are ordering from the Unity site and plan on adding some ippity to your cart then be sure to pick Aletha as your Ippity chick.

Don't forget the groups at The Crafter's Cafe and Facebook where we do lots of wonderful sharing of all kinds of ippity and Unity projects!!

I hope you will stop on over at the GHWI blog and join the fun this month. You have from now until the last day of the month which happens to be July 31st. 

Thanks so much for coming by and looking!! I hope you have a fabulous week.

Many Blessings and Hugs,

A few thoughts....

Nothing crafty for today, but I have been wanting to share a bit of my Faith Journey here on my blog. 

I set a goal at the beginning of the year that I would have quiet time EVERY morning with the Lord. It was not just going to be reading a devotional or a scripture verse but to write a reflection as well. I know that for me if I don't sit and write out the thoughts then I don't really think about it. For the most part, I have reached that goal. I am finding God is reaching out to me and teaching me so much during this time spent reading and studying His Word. However, He has also shown me that it's not just about reading and learning His Word but about living it. 

The other day this was the Bible verse in my Daily Devotional Reading - 

 Philippians 2:13

 "For it is God who works in you to will and act according to good purpose.

I use the Life Application NIV version of the Bible which has helped me to not only better understand scripture but to also put it in context. I read through the notes on this verse which basically stated that I need to submit completely to God and allow Him to work in me to make the changes that HE wants made.

Here was my reflection on this verse -

Many times in my life with many things(spiritual, physical, and mental) i have been good at reading and learning about what I should do and change. I have done that so often in my walk with God and still do. I have come to realize that I take in all these shoulds and try make all these changes at once. This of course leads me to being overwhelmed and then I give up and do nothing but find something new to read and learn about only making the situation ,worse. This morning God told me to work on one area and only one area at a time. For today He told me to be gentle and kind in my tone of voice and words that I say to others. So that's 

what I am going to do!!!

The best part of the whole day was at night, when I realized that God had been right there with me all day. He helped me to speak to others in my life with kind and gentle words all day. I know for some that may come naturally but I know one of my personal struggles is with being short-tempered. It is something I will continue to work on letting God create the change in me!!

Thanks for coming by!! I hope to find time to share more of my journey!!

Many Blessings and Hugs,