The Paper Players Challenge

I love paper challenges and was drawn to this sketch on the Paper Players Blog here.

This is the sketch

And this is my card, using distress inks, the Hydrangea stamp from Hero Arts and some patterned paper.
In fact the card doesn't look small, but it measures 12x9cm. Sometimes, I prefer the smaller cards to the big ones. I am also adding to this to 'Anything goes" in the Simon Says Stamp weekly challenge here.

Life has settled down a bit more now. I know that David is doing o.k. and that with time he will settle down and accept his new life style. I still feel I need to find my place.
Thanks for your visit, I really appreciate you all!
 Jacqueline

Winner Give-away and Tuesday Trigger share

Happy Thanksgiving to all the lovely American ladies who visit my blog! We do not celebrate this here in France, which I think we should! Yesterday I went to visit David to make some puzzles with him and Friday I get to pick him up early in the afternoon. I am soooo looking forward to it, makes me happy. He was doing o.k. but I still feel I have to fill up his battery to let him go again on Monday for a week, until the following Friday.

Without further ado, Random Org gave me nr.6 - I skipped over Barb as she didn't want to be entered and came to LAURA JANE - congratulations!! I also want to send Janet L something as she was the official nr.6, but I decided beforehand I would skip those that didn't want to be entered because I didn't do that the last time around.... oh dear, does it sound complicated? So I would love to receive your address Janet L to send you a card.

This week's Tuesday Trigger is so inspiring and challenging. I decided on a CAS design using the Starburst Lace stamp from Hero Arts. I popped up the butterfly which is punched out, for dimension.

Thanks once again to Cath from the Moxie Fab World who challenges us on a regular basis! The challenge can be found here.

Jacqueline

A little celebration give-away!

The lovely Cath asked me to be a Moxie Fabber a while ago.. I was so excited! So for those who are interested, it was featured on the Moxie Fab World blog yesterday and here is the link. I'm celebrating with a little give away, courtesy of Hero Arts, who kindly let me keep some stamps, which I had received twice!

I think its a good thing to celebrate when we can - there are still so many good things in life, so many blessings that come along our paths.

This card will be accompanying the Stamp Set Floral Blossoms which is pictured below. Just leave me a comment if you would like to be in the drawing. The card is made on a journaling card using punched out squares from projects not used.

Thanks to everyone who was so kind as to leave me such lovely comments on my interview; I was overwhelmed yesterday. I also want to thank everyone who has been leaving me such encouraging feedback over David, it has helped just to talk about it and sharing with you.

God bless!
Jacqueline

Christmas cards for Scrambles

Yes, there were tears in the car yesterday. David started tearing up and I started...
I am so happy to have him home so that I can pamper and love him to bits. He seems to drink it all in. When he went to bed last night, he started looking all around him, just remembering his room, his cupboard, his springy warm water-bed. He was snoring in no time! Care-ladies can't take the place of a mum and I've noticed that it may take quite some time before David finds his rhythm. Apparently he won't take off his shoes, as if to say, I want to go home. Even in the evenings, he sits with his shoes on and they have difficulty getting him into bed... I am going to be phoning and calling in more often I think.

Today is a 24 hour scramble day on the Hero Arts Flickr Gallery. Different volunteers take it in turn to  host a 45 minute card-making time with a special theme. So, as it includes all time periods, I was able to take part.

This was for the theme 'Use a tag on your card'. I was going so quickly because I had to go shopping that the C on the Christmas wasn't complete. This is a HA sentiment.
I found these window cards very cheaply at the ALDI. I used the front of a 6x6 Christmas pad which I have kept for ages and adhered it to the back. Then I picked out a small tag and adhered a small snowflake and two branches which were die cuts from Betty (thanks Betty) to make a snow flower arrangement.

This is a card for my son to give to his girlfriend this Christmas. Cecilia's challenge was "All that glitters is not gold, or silver". The card had to glitter but not with silver or gold.

And this photo was taken this week Thursday. The weather was so warm that my daughter in law with her two friends, took my crafting supplies outside to play with them! Can't imagine that now, we have had to light the fire today!

Have a lovely weekend!
Jacqueline

Thank You and a Collage card

THANK YOU all so much for your uplifting comments on my last post about David. It helped me so much! The crafting community has once again proven to be a source of encouragement and positivity and it makes me so thankful for this outlet!

Although I am much better than last week my inspiration levels are very low and I'm not feeling like crafting. I miss David coming home every day at 5:45, cuddling him, feeding him and waking him up for school in the mornings. There is such a quietness in the air although he never spoke!

Here he is on Monday morning after spending his first weekend at home, we were getting ready to take him back again. His dad praying for him for the week.

And I made some cupcakes... this one is for David

So, I do have one card to share that was made as a case of my crafting friend Susanne's card. A layered college card, using Scrap basket bits and pieces. Love that when a card comes together.

Jacqueline

David

I have had such a difficult week. Last Monday 07/11 was the day that David, our son of 22 years, went to his new Home. Having become an adult he had to leave his School in Carcassonne to enter into a new structure in his life. That meant, no bus that would pick him up and bring him home every day. That meant that I would be bound to the house even more and even have to take him to work with me. The fact that he is severely handicapped in that he is deaf and mute as well as having Down Syndrome and autistic behavior patterns, made my task even heavier. Our lives revolved around David, he was my first thought in the morning and my last at night. If we wanted to do something or go somewhere our first thought had to be... and David?? When we really needed a break our sons would step in and look after him, but they had to look after a grown man who couldn't even go to the toilet on his own, someone had to be there to help him.

 David, with his dad in the mornings.. sometimes he had tears in his eyes but we never knew why...

He was admitted into a beautiful new Center for handicapped people, having his own room with en suite bathroom and lovely ladies who look after him day and night. Of course he will have to adapt, just like us, and it made me feel guilty, but I had the conviction deep down inside from God that it was the right step to take. I have looked after him for 22 years! A big empty space came to the surface in his absence, and he had only been gone for four days... I will have to deal with it slowly and surely, asking the Lord to fill in that space. The blessing in all of this is that he is not too far away - yesterday I picked him up for the weekend, and he will return again on Monday morning. We hope to have him with us in the weekends just seeing how it goes. He was looking good and had a smile on his face! I think he can handle more than I think he can! He is the second son to leave the nest and we feel like we are in a transition period - a twilight zone. Having left the old state of things we are waiting for what the future will bring, the Plans the Lord may have for us.

Our prayer is still every day for him:  
The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)
The memories I will treasure of him

Life is not always how we want it, but it is very important to stay thankful to God and to see the blessings amidst the sorrows. He has promised that ALL THINGS WILL WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSES! Rom.8:28
There are many people who are suffering in the world at the moment and I am thinking of those who lost their homes in Sandy - then I feel that my suffering is so small compared to what other people have to go through in life. I want to remain a thankful woman and count my blessings daily, giving thanks to God who is a Helper in times of need!

 I am going to share a card for the blog challenge on the blog I just recently discovered (thanks Ross!) and the topic this week was being thankful!! Here is the link.
Thanks for listening!
God bless,
Jacqueline

Distress inks and creating dimension

Just a little card to share with you today.

 I have found that stamping with distress inks over a distressed background can be very effective, but if you stamp the inked stamp twice without reinking it creates a shadow effect which gives depth. I hope this card shows you that.
Stamps used are the Leaf Sprig from Stampendous and a sentiment from Versus Rubber stamps.
I am joining the Word Art Wednesday Challenge with this card. The link is here.

Thats all for today!
Jacqueline

P.S. Love that the blogs can be interactive! Here's wat Susanne from Canada had to say about the Pumpkin Soup recipe:
Hi Jacqueline :) I lovvve your patchwork pumpkin and Betty's pumpkin too!! Gorgeous! Guess what I'm doing right now ... it's very late, but after I saw your Potimarron Soup recipe .. I just had to go to the kitchen .. yup .. I'm busy making potimarron soup. Now I didn't know that is what you call these little squash-like pumpkins but I always get them from the farmer in the Fall. I have made a similar soup using a cooking-pumpkin but I really prefer the taste of these potimarron .. it's more full bodied is the only way I can describe it. I've been loving all of your beautiful cards that I've been seeing. Sending you a hug,Susanne

Jacqueline, I made a huge pot of the potimarron soup late last night .. it is sooo good!! Love the addition of the apples!! I had family come over today, everyone loved the soup and had second helpings. It's all gone!!! I will have to make some more tomorrow so that I will have it during the week! Thanks so much for sharing Jacqueline .. there is always so many wonderful things on your blog. I love your quote from CS Lewis. sending hugs, Susanne 

Pumpkin

Pumpkins remind me of a beautiful fruit or vegetable that lends itself to delicious cooking! My friend, Betty, who visited me this summer was so kind as to send me a paper pumpkin, as well as a template so that I could make my own.

This is Betty's gorgeous pumpkin card:

and this is the pumpkin I made, which has always been my wish, to make it patchwork!

Thank you Betty!

Now onto a lovely recipe for Pumpkin soup. Only I don't use this kind of pumpkin but a POTIMARRON, which is part of the pumpkin family but much smaller and it has a different shape. I can buy them at our supermarket and this is what they look like. As you can see I also have some black tomatoes and I just love Red peppers too!

In most recipes the Potimarron has to be peeled and cut up into slices. Well I don't do that because it takes too long and mostly this vegetable is quite hard to cut through. So, I cut it in half and remove all the seeds, wash it and put it into a pressure cooker for about 15 minutes, peel and all. When it is soft, the skin can be removed quite easily and thrown away.

Recipe:
1 Potimarron of about 1kg
2 onions
2 apples
1 tablespoon of brown suger
Nutmug
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 or 2 chicken broth cubes
Cream
Pepper

Peel onions and slice.  Peel apples, slice in four, take out the core, cut into pieces.  Put olive oil into a high pan and when hot, fry the onions for three minutes. Add the apple and the sugar and fry together for another five minutes on medium heat stirring all the time. Add nutmeg, cinnamon and crumble the chicken broth cubes into the soup. Add the Potimarron which has already been peeled and cooked to the pan and add some water so that it isn't too thick. Add according to the consistency you like, but it must remain thick. Cook on a very low heat for a good five minutes. Then, either with a wand mixer or another type of Kitchen machine, puree it all together.
Add more of the above spices according to the taste you like. After serving the soup, add some cream to the top.
This is what it should look like:

If you do make it, which can be done just as well with pumpkins, please tell me.

Have a lovely weekend!
Jacqueline
ps - I had to translate this recipe from Dutch to English, so I hope it makes sense.