Vintage Easter Children Real Photos :)

And here are some of the vintage Easter photo images I touched up a bit that I spoke of in an earlier post :)

Kreative Blogger Award :)

A big thank you to Cris at at Mommy's Midwest Mountain Folk Art for giving me this award, it is truly appreciated :)

I am to list the 7 things I love and then 7 other people who I think deserve this award:
1) Spending Time with My Family & Friends
2) Having Time to Myself to Create
3) Diet Pepsi
4) Hiking
5) Daisies
6) The Sound of Children Laughing

7) Thunderstorms

There are several bloggers whose work I adore who are very deserving of this award as well, though some of them have tag-free blogs which I am considering doing myself.

Now on to the 7 people (in no particular order) I selected who deserve this award. These are all blogs that I visit regularly and whose work always makes me smile. :
Tonya at Olde Country Creations
Missy at Plain Worker Primitives
Melissa at LilyBean's Paperie
Shelley at Kissing Fish Primitives
Brenda at Rusty Creek Primitives
Sanja at ArTick
Betty at Pinkglitterfae Art

Friends & Family

I "played" with a couple vintage photos again. So fun! Feel free to use these images in your blogs, websites, creations, etc., but again please do not include in image sheets or CD's for resale.

My Newest Prim Doll has Arrived!

Shelley at Kissing Fish Primitives http://kissingfishprimitives.blogspot.com/ does the most wonderful work! When I saw this extreme prim doll, Nissa, posted on her blog I just "had" to have her. I feel so lucky, because this one of a kind doll is just the sort of prim I love!!

And look at the beautiful handcrafted thank you card! My goodness, so exquisite! You really can't see the detail in this scan, but it is beautiful. Thanks so much Shelley!!

St. Patrick's Day Vintage Image Freebies

I can't help but want to keep posting today . . I've got some cute vintage Easter photos that I've reworked a bit that I am planning to post soon, but for now I'll share these vintage St. Pat's postcard images, since it's just a li'l over a week away.

The sun is shining and my workday is nearly finished. Off to parent teacher conferences tonight. Hope everyone's enjoying their day.

Beautiful Handmade Quilt Giveaway

Brenda is having a wonderful giveaway! Just look at this beautiful quilt!!! http://mylittleannies.blogspot.com/2009/03/annie-quilt-givaway.html

New Moon

Drool . . .

A Few Things I Made Today

I ended up with less time than I thought to work on my crafts this weekend. And, I barely found time to post here quickly, but wanted to say I haven't forgotten about the giveaway I had said I would post this weekend. I just have ran out of time (must be the time change . . . I'll blame it on that anyway). . . and still want to get everything together for it. Actually, I had three of my nieces spend the night and were here all day as well so it was a full, busy house. So check back later this week and my giveaway will be posted soon. I need to go tuck Abbie in to bed and get to bed myself. Sweet Dreams! :)

I Found Some Time to Work On My Altered Art! :)

I found some time after Jacob went to bed this evening to work on my altered art while the girls were gone to bible school.

More Vintage Li'l Girl Photos

Ohh do I ever enjoy touching up vintage photos :)

Playing with Pictures

I've been playing around with a few vintage photos, trying out some new photo editing programs, so thought I'd share a few of them here.

My weekends have been so busy, as are the weeks between work and home. Tonight we have a family fun night at school for Dr. Suess's birthday - how fun! I hope it is :)

I'm hoping to find time to be creative this upcoming weekend and post a giveaway then as well.

Old World Primitives Giveaway

Stephanie of Old World Primitives is having a blog-o-versary giveaway. Look at all the goodies she's giving away! To enter, click here: http://www.primitive-folk-art.com/2009/02/25/one-year-blogiversary-giveaway/

Sepia/Cream/Beige Toned Ephemera

Primitive Sampler

Here is one of the samplers in my collection . . I especially love this one. Sorry for the flash glare.

Found the Right Size Frames

I really need to find a better way to photograph these though . . they do look better in person.

Time Worn Interiors Giveaway!

Theresa of Time Worn Interiors is having a wonderful 100th post giveaway. Take a peek! I love it! You can enter here if you'd like: http://cottagegardens-theresa-smith.blogspot.com/2009/02/100-post-giveaway.html

I too have recently reached my 100th post! WOW! I'm hoping to get something together and will hold a giveaway soon as well, so check back for your chance to win some goodies.

Children Playing

I've been so busy between work and my family, that I haven't had time lately to create anything new. Hopefully I can dedicate some time to doing so this weekend. In the meantime, here are some more cute vintage images I'd like to share.

A Strange Match Up

It was not your usual Friday night football game. In November 2008, Grapevine Faith Christian School, a 9-time state championship team, was playing Gainesville State School, a maximum security correctional facility for boys 12 to 19.

At Gainesville, the boys who are juniors and seniors in the facility have to earn the right to play football. Their ability to play is based on the fact that they have served half their sentence, they have no behavioral incidents and they have good grades. They have no cheerleaders and zero fans sit in the stands each game.

“We discovered when we were reassigned to a new district, that our week 10 game was Gainesville State School. Immediately, we looked at this as a ministry opportunity as soon as we saw it,” said Coach Kris Hogan, athletic director for Grapevine Faith Christian School.

Grapevine Faith has a reputation in the community for winning numerous state championships in the last four years. They have a big following and lots of parental involvement. Kris decided to send an email to all of the parents in the school.

“I told them that we had was an opportunity. I wanted to send a message to these Gainesville kids that they are just as important and valuable as any other kid on planet earth. We wanted to show them that Jesus loves them and we loved them,” Coach Hogan said. “And I wanted to affirm their good choices for them having earned the right to play football.”

It would be the first time the two teams played each other. Gainesville State played other high school football teams in other districts, but no one ever cheered for them. So Coach Hogan asked the Grapevine parents to sit on the opposing side so the Gainesville team would have fans.

“In the case of the Gainesville kids, some don’t even know their parents,” Coach Hogan said. “And if they did, they couldn’t come because technically they are incarcerated. These kids have never had anyone cheer for them.”

Coach Hogan printed off a roster.

“We cheered for them by name,” he said. “We divided our cheerleaders in half and formed a 40-yard ‘spirit’ line. We treated them like it was their home game.”

Normally, people look at the Gainesville kids as criminals. This time, the Gainesville kids saw love, and were filled with gratitude.

“They had no idea what to do. They sprinted through the spirit line and were pumped up. They acted like they just played in the Super Bowl because people were loving on them,” Coach Hogan said. Even though Faith beat Gainesville 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave their head coach, Mark Williams, a sideline squirt of Gatorade, just as if he had won the state championship.

After the game, each boy was escorted back to their bus under the watch of 12 uniformed police officers. Each were handed a bag for the ride home: a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player. The Gainesville coach grabbed Coach Hogan by the shoulders.

“You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know,” he said.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing everyone a beautiful, loving, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Sweet Cupcakes

I found a wonderful tutorial on how to make "fake" cupcakes! So sweet! I hope to try it myself soon. You can check it out here: http://web.me.com/em_reiman/sugarandmeringue/how_to_fake_cupcakes.html#10