It's My Blogiversary!!!! +A Give Away!!! + A Good News Minute!!!

Wow!!! How fast can a year go by? Super fast!! I can't believe it has been a whole year since I started this cardmaking and blog adventure! It has been so fun and I have met so many wonderful and kind people!! Thank you all so much for being so kind and supportive. I am doing a giveaway of scrap goodies to celebrate so leave a comment here telling me what you love about blogging and how long you have been doing it and I'll put your name in for the prize package. I promise the prize package will be filled with lots of goodies, so leave a comment (anytime between now and Monday) and tell your friends to come join the celebration. It is also my 99th blog post, so to commemorate my 100th post coming up I am going to donate $100 towards hygiene kits to help relief efforts around the world, including Haiti. The ladies in my church are putting these kits together and I will buy supplies with the $100. Now this is where YOU can help. For every 5 people who comment on my blog between now and my 100th post (which will be Monday) I will donate $5 more dollars (which will make one complete kit). This is an easy way you can help...just leave a comment...so please tell your friends.
Now for my good news minute...my very sweet, mega talented friend Pam Callaghan has asked me to be a featured artist on her blog: Ideas for Scrapbookers
I created the card here for this and have another project there and a post, so I would love it if you could bounce over there and take a look. You'll want to browse while you are there...major great ideas!!
Thanks for celebrating with me!!!
Hugs,
Cheryl

2Sketches4You Laura#44 + A Loving Memory

OK...yes it is still pink and red, but there are a few other colors this time, too. lol! I just can't get enough of Valentines. There is just something about being able to express your love for someone combined with doing something you love to do that makes me oh so happy! Now add in one of Laura's fabulous sketches and a great sponsor in JustRite Stamps and that makes me one VERY happy camper. Now I am going to indulge myself a little and take time to express a little love and tribute to my brother. He passed away a week ago today. Through a series of everyone thinking everyone else had told me about it...I managed not to find out about his passing until Friday afternoon. Since my dad is 90 I'm giving him a pass about not letting me know. (We'll overlook the fact that even at 80 or 70 or 60 this might still have occured) At any rate, I'm so very thankful I was able to make the funeral that was at 10:00 am on Saturday. We literally just threw some things and a suitcase and headed off for California Friday afternoon and spent the night there so we could be ready for the funeral on Saturday morning. It was great to see my family again and a little sad to think that the last time I had seen some of them was at the last funeral. This is too often the case. I want to make it a priority to keep in better touch with everyone. Now I would like to share my favorite memory of my brother. He was 21 years older than I am, so we did not grow up in the same household. He was married by the time I came along. In some respects he was more like an uncle to me than a brother. My favorite memory is of him playing the piano. He was genius at it. Our mom was happiest when he was sitting down playing the piano for her. My mom's favorite song was the theme song from Dr. Zhivago (Lara's theme). For my mom's birthday one year he taught his daughter to play this song for her. I remember going to my brother's house and my neice sitting down at the piano and playing and tears streaming down my mom's face. Well, enough of that...but do me a favor and go hug a loved one today...make a Valentine or in some way express your love to someone you are close to. Speaking of which, I am soooooooooo excited for Karen Pedersen who has her son coming home from his two year mission tomorrow!!! She hasn't seen him for two years and I can bet there will be some hugging and expressing of love going on in that household!! I'm so excited for you and your family Karen!!!

Bee Mine *2Sketches 4 You* Kazan #44*

I hope you all aren't too sick of the red and the pink yet! I tried to warn you that I LOVE Valentine's Day! I just couldn't resist doing another Valentine when I had the opportunity to work with that little bee stamp from Starving Artistamps, our sponsor at 2 Sketches 4 You this week. I'm so loving their stamps. I'm also loving Kazan's sketch and even more Kazan's card! oh wow! I almost dropped out of my chair when I saw it. I'm still trying to figure out how she did it. Holy Moly does that girl have talent! You really need to hop on over to 2 Sketches 4 You if you haven't already and see Kazan's card and all the other fabulous card's by my fellow oh so talented DT members. I always genuinely like my cards and then when I see the cards made by Laura and Kazan and the other DT members I just say...oh! sigh! I hope you have a week that is sweeter than sweet! Love and Hugs, Cheryl

Sankari's Sketch 2Sketches4You

I just loved this fabulous sketch by the ohhhhhhhh so talented Sankari at 2 Sketches 4 You! I am so happy I had the time to do it. Check it out and try your hand at it.

Love Is In The Air!! *2Sketches4You* Laura#43

Do you all love making Valentines as much as I do?! I love Valentine's Day!! There is just something about hearts and glue and doilies and pink and red that brings me back to happy childhood memories. Making those homemade Valentines in elementary school along with the little handcrafted bag to hold all the great cards your classmates had created, too. It was one of the two parties we had each year in elementary school. One for Christmas and one for Valentine's Day. We each got a couple of heart shaped sugar cookies and a little carton of icecream...the kind of ate with the little wooden paddle that was supposed to be a spoon. Oh the memories!! Join us this week at 2 Sketches 4 You and create a few memories of your own with Laura's great sketch. The sponsor this week is the Cutting Cafe. I have had the pleasure of working with their product a few times and LOVE them!! They have an array of cute Valentine's goodies and lots of other goodies, too for that matter. Go check them out. You won't be disappointed!
Love and hugs to you! Cheryl

Baby's First Birthday!!! 2S4Y Kazan's sketch!

This past week was my little granddaughter, Kylee's, first birthday! I was sooooooooo happy that she got to spend it with us! She is quite possibly, in this grandmother's opinion, the cutest little thing EVER!! Soooooo, along with the card the card I made for her, I wanted to show you all a few pictures of Miss Kylee Cutie, herself. The card was made with Kazan's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You this week and using the fun and adorable little girl digital stamp from InStyle Stamps, this week's sponsor. I just flipped the sketch to make it. I hope you want to play along. Laura and Kazan are amazing week in and week out with their wonderful sketches and the sponsors are always perfectly Fantabulous!!