Big Changes!

I can hardly believe it's been almost FIVE YEARS since I've posted on this blog! I would say that time flies, but much of the past five years have felt like slogging through thick mud. I have been on a journey that was hard, but enlightening, and while I'm relieved that the worst of those days are behind me, I'm also grateful for them. 

So...What happened?

• I went from living and loving my awesome crafty life, to
• being in so much pain I literally wanted to die, to
• reconnecting with God, to
• a total and complete miraculous healing, to
• downsizing everything in my life and
• moving to a smaller house in another town, then
• publishing my first book (a lifelong dream for me).

And, yes, I did have to give up that beautiful library and amazing craft room. I still occasionally quilt and create books and boxes, but I don't have the supplies or the space for the papercrafting that I used to enjoy, so no more cardmaking for me.

Anyway...

My book, Faith Storm: Salvation to Relationship, came out of my experiences over the past few years, and is available in paperback at Amazon.com. 

I also have a new website (https://cheryllea.com), and I wanted to personally invite you to visit my new blog home where I share my thoughts on life, from a perspective of renewed faith.

   Life: In Progress | On Purpose | Toward God

I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss papercrafting and the sweet, sweet community that I was a part of for so long. I still check in to see what you all are up to, and your creations always bring me joy with their beauty and creativity. Thank you for continuing to share your amazing talents with the world.

My life has taken me in another direction, but I am content and happy to be where I have landed. 

I hope you'll visit me soon!

Love to you all,

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I've been Liebstered!

Hello Friends! First things first...thank you soooo much for your concern and well wishes for me and my family during our recent storm. Happily, I can report that we made it through unscathed! And, for those of you in the areas that were hit more directly by that huge swath of nature's fury, I hope you were safe through it all, too.

***

Late this afternoon, I saw that I had a nice surprise in my comments. Dotty A honored me with an award--a Liebster Award! I had seen this on blogs, but never knew what it was. Well, if you're wondering, too, here's the scoop:

This award is for bloggers with less than 200 followers, to bring attention to your blog, and increase your following! So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award on to five worthy bloggers. Please stop by to visit them, and become a Follower.

Here are the Rules:

1. Show you're thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. (Thank you, Dotty!)

2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the supportive people out there in Blog Land!

5. Finally and the best rule of all..........have fun and spread the love!

The five blogs I have chosen are listed below. Click on over to their beautiful sites, look around and don't forget to become a Follower.

Maria at Maria's Merry Makings

Marie at Ink'd Wings

Shannon at Enchanted Ladybug Creations

Sue at Card Therapy

Theresa at My Sassy Cards

Thanks for stopping by, and if you're not a Follower yet, I'd love to have you join me!

~Hugs,

 

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New Look, Spooky Tree, and a Gizmo Thing

Hello Friends! I hope you had a great weekend (here in the U.S., it may still be a weekend for you for the Labor Day holiday, so continue to enjoy)! I haven't posted anything in a couple of days because I spent the weekend changing the look of my blog and also celebrating my 12th anniversary with my husband.  

When I first began my blog, I designed my background and banner myself, and I was really pleased with it. I still liked how it looked, but lately it had started to feel a little crowded with all the stuff that was on it, and I wanted to widen my posting area anyway, so I decided this was a great time to make a change. When I'm visiting other blogs, my favorites, esthetically, are the ones that have "calmer" backgrounds. My new look is moderately calm. ;)  I hope you like the "new me."

My husband and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary this past weekend. We had dinner at the Atlanta Fish Market. If you're in the Atlanta area and haven't been there, it is quite a treat. Thanks for your suggestions on which anniversary card I should give him. I went with the leafy card and he loved it. I showed him all three cards and he said he liked the leafy card best because it was more masculine, but he also liked the grungier card, which is actually my personal favorite.

I talk about making cards all the time, and in one of those conversations I must have mentioned to my husband that I might want to eventually get a Copic airbrush system. Apparently, he was paying attention because he tried to find one at Michael's. He said he described it to them as something that paints and has brushes on it and costs $99. He said no one knew what he was talking about. I don't think I'd have known from that description, either. :D  Well, he finally gave up and when I opened my anniversary card, this fell out:

I was very touched, and I almost don't want to spend the money. I'd like to keep it just like it is. But, of course, I will spend it. I wouldn't want him to think I didn't appreciate the gift! ;~D

Now, on to my card. I was going to make another Christmas card, but since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I'd try my hand at a "spooky" card. I used the September Sketch For You to Try and played the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #133 Bingo challenge, using the center vertical row of piercing, pearls, and ribbon. I like how it turned out--a kind of "grown- up" Halloween card.

I stamped the tree with Staz-On ink, then sponged Vintage Photo, Wild Honey, and Faded Jeans inks around it. I used Pumice Stone ink around the inside edge of the circle and Black Soot on the outside edge of the paper. I typed "Happy Halloween" in Word, printed a mirror image onto a transparency and rubbed it onto the tag. The pearls started out as a coppery brown color, but I colored them with a black Copic.

I love the blue and gold strip on the inside of the card. It's the same paper as on the front of the card, but the gold looks metallic here. 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!

 

Stamps: Haunted Tree (Inkadinkadoo)
Paper: Plentiful-digital paper & Dinner Party-digital paper (Shabby Princess); Vintage Wallpaper-digital paper (Lost and Taken); Best of K&Co; Darice; Recollections
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Staz-on; Copic markers
Dies: Std Circles Lg; Nested Lacey Pennants; Curved Rectangles (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Bird Call embossing folder (Cuttlebug); ribbon (Joann); pearls-colored with Copic marker (Studio 112); Corner Chomper; piercing tool; sentiment created in computer, printed on transparency and rubbed on
Size: A2 (4.25" 5.5")

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Post Number One

Hello, friends! I'm so excited to be writing my first blog post. For awhile there I didn't think it was ever going to happen because I got so wrapped up in my background and banner. If I'd known what all was involved, I might have passed on designing them myself, but it's over (for a little while, anyway, *wink, wink*), and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Plus, as an added benefit, I learned a little bit about HTML and can make small tweaks here and there. I didn't want my background to be too busy, but at the same time, I wanted it to be interesting to look at. What do you think? Did I hit my mark?

Now, that the technical part of blogging is behind me, I've got to get back to making cards. Three or four days without ink-stained fingers and glue in my hair is almost more than I can stand. I'll be posting photos of my creations soon.

Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon!