Diffusers & Cyber Week!

I am so happy to tell you that this is Cyber Week at Spark Naturals (sparknaturals.com)! On top of great deals, use coupon Berry when checking out to get an additional 10% off your order.

Why Spark Naturals? "What separates Spark Naturals is our variety of top quality products and our competitive pricing.  Each oil, whether it is a component of a blend or a pure essential oil, is selected from the best geographic area in the world to cultivate and grow that particular plant or tree. Spark Naturals’ Essential Oil product line is made up of oils from just about every corner of the world. For instance, our lavender comes from France, our Eucalyptus from Australia, our Lemon oil is sourced from Italy, and our Wild Orange is harvested in the Dominican Republic – to name just a few. Spark Naturals oils are the purest Essential Oils available, because we carefully and strategically source them.  Luxury products found at our prices are rare in the marketplace. We purchase each oil in large quantities to ensure lower pricing. Our exclusive agreements with the farmers, distilleries and cold press houses mean a cheaper, higher quality raw material." There is a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee with your order. To read more, go to Spark Naturals and read about the company.

My favorite diffuser, the Zaq Mirage Diffuser, is on sale for $55.80 (original $62.80), during Cyber Week at sparknaturals.com and now would be the perfect opportunity to try diffusing Essential Oils (EOs).

 "ZAQ mirage activates your senses to soothe and invigorate your mind, body, and spirit. With LiteMist technology ZAQ break up the blending of essential (or fragrant) oil and water into mist of micro-particles and disperses them into the air. Benefit from the aromatherapy of the oils, and the ionizing and humidifying effect of the water vapor. No heating or burning means the properties of the oil are not broken down. Low energy use. No heating or burning means the properties of the oil are not broken down.Low energy use. Safe auto off when water runs out. "

 

Thanks to this diffuser and the EO blend Shield, my household has not had our annual dose of sinus or upper respiratory problems. I use this blend every night and cannot imagine my life without it. I was diagnosed with a lung disease, Chronic Beryllium Disease, in 2004, and since that time, I have had so much trouble with asthma, sleep deprivation, upper respiratory, etc. I truly feel that the EOs are improving my health. I have been able to stop taking some of my prescription medications and hope to get off all of them with the help of EOs and a healthy diet and exercise.

 

Shield EO Blend:  "Spark Naturals is pleased to present this ancient blend based upon legend. The legend has its roots in 15th century England during the time of the great plague. Grave robbers thieves developed their own blend of Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Lemon, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary to protect them while robbing the plague victims. This potent blend only contains the essential oils and no carrier oil."

This oil can diffused or used topically (it can also be consumed although I haven't tried that yet). I put the EO in a roller ball with a carrier oil (I love the Hemp Oil) and roll on the bottom of my feet and cover with socks when I feel any symptoms and so far, I feel it has prevented my getting sick.

You can find all of the products that I have mentioned above on Spark Naturals website (sparknaturals.com). Don't forget to use the coupon Berry for an additional 10% off.



Essential Oils are Changing my Life - Black Pepper for Cold and Raynaud's

I have been researching and using essential oils (EO) for some time with wonderful results! I have bought several diffusers for my home and my husband's office and we have avoided our yearly upper respiratory problems. I will share information on that soon. A new topic I'm discovering is Raynaud's syndrome and how Black Pepper EO can help!

Definition:

Raynaud's (ray-NOHZ) disease causes some areas of your body — such as your fingers and toes — to feel numb and cold in response to cold temperatures or stress. In Raynaud's disease, smaller arteries that supply blood to your skin narrow, limiting blood circulation to affected areas (vasospasm).

Women are more likely than men to have Raynaud's disease, also known as Raynaud or Raynaud's phenomenon or syndrome. It appears to be more common in people who live in colder climates.

Black pepper with carrier oil can also be rubbed on feet and hands before going out in the cold...skiing, working, shoveling snow, etc.

If you have cold feet at night, poor circulation or have been diagnosed with Raynaud's disease, Black Pepper EO, along with a carrier oil or salve can change your life for the better. My husband got off his Calcium Channel Blocker (with side effects- not for heart conditions but for circulation- Raynaud's). This has been amazing and now he is a true believer in EO's. Now, before you quit taking any prescription medication, talk to your doctor. But in the meanwhile, you can check this out!

 The best way I have found to apply this oil:

1 roller ball

Carrier Oil such as Hemp Oil, Jajoba Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Black Pepper - I only use pure EO and I use Spark Naturals (sparknaturals.com - use coupon Berry for 10% off). Remember to wash hands before rubbing eyes or nose!

I fill the roller ball at about 4 parts carrier oil to 1 part black pepper. You can adjust if you want, but this oil is a hot oil and needs to be diluted with carrier oil. The Black Pepper may seem pricey ~$55 per 15 oz bottle. however, it is well worth it to not have to take a prescription or use heating blanket! This will go quite a long way. Be careful to not get in your eyes...hence roller bottle! We are going on 1 month with the 15 oz bottle and it is still a little over half full...remember he uses liberally twice per day.

Rub on at night before bed and cover feet with socks. I no longer need heating blanket on bottom of bed! Yay! Because the Pepper is so pure, it will smell very strong. No worry about the smell after you put socks on...all you will discover is warm feet and also soft heels!

Remember to use coupon Berry for an additional 10% off at sparknaturals.com! Black Pepper is on sale now for $49.25!

Make It Monday #131 - Striped Embossing

For this Make it Monday Challenge, I made a card on Classic Kraft paper and used a wooden stamp that I have to make the splatter pattern for the background using Classic Kraft ink. I really love the technique of striped embossing and I think it would really have popped better if I had bigger sentiment images to stamp with (on my wish list). I used a stamp and die from Autumn Abundance and used Copic markers to fill in the image. I placed the smaller piece of Classic Kraft onto a white card base. I think it turned out cute!

Spring 2013

Well, it is Spring again and thanks to my son, I got some new pecan mulch in my flower beds and planted some beautiful flowers in my grandfather's old wheelbarrow. I'll show you a few pictures of the work in progress and keep you posted on how the plants work out! I think they are beautiful.

 

 

Easter Card 2

This is the second card I made for the Papertrey Ink challenge. This card was also used blending copic inks (still hoping Papertrey dye ink pads will soon be available to order...). I used white cardstock from Papertrey Ink, a Flourishes stamp and Cuttlebug embossing folder. Love this one too!

Easter Card 1

I worked on some Easter cards and I absolutely love the way they turned out. I worked on blending colors for the background for a Papertrey Ink challenge. I used copic markers because I do not have a lot of inks yet. I'm hoping that the dye inks will soon be in stock at Papertrey so that I can order. I used a stamp set from Flourishes. I used the white cardstock from Papertrey Ink and I used emblossing pads from Cuddlebug.
This is the first card...

Another cute Christmas gift! I love this cork holder!! I'm trying out some of my new calligraphy skills that I learned from my book LISA ENGLEBERT , "Modern Calligraphy and Hand Lettering" using chalk! I love chalk art and calligraphy. It is so relaxing...

Loving my Kitchen!

I absolutely love my Christmas present from my children this year! I was hoping for gift cards, and they bought the chandelier themselves! This is fromPottery Barn and I could just picture it right where it was lovingly installed by my husband. I just stand there in the dark with the light cascading off of the crystals! It reminds me of a Christmas tree! If you get a light of any kind from Pottery Barn, I highly recommend that you buy the light bulbs from them also....Amazing... What do you think? Thank you Ryan, Shay and Devin!

 

Looking forward to spring!

 

 

 

 

Today, I am snowed in and looking at some pictures of my spring flower garden... Oh my....I can't wait for the blooms to be back. This was the biggest blizzard since the 1800s! Amazing that in the Texas Panhandle, the weather can be 70 one day and a blizzard arrives the next! Can't wait for those beuatiful flowers to start peeking through!

Last Spring...

Valentines for Boo

I made my little Boo a Valentine treat and decorated the bag with stamps and tried some of the calligraphy that I have been practicing. It isn't the best; however, I think it turned out ok...practice, practice. I bought the Pilot Pen (Parallel) to learn calligraphy techniques and it works really well.  Learning calligraphy and stamping techniques has been a much needed therapy. I can't work for long due to my illness; however, it really is refreshing and takes my mind off worry. Being a grandmother has been such a joy and it is so fun to make my little man fun little things for the holidays.

This is the finished product...

This is the calligraphy that I have been practicing...

Watercolor Card

I love watercolor! I am excited about the new stamps from Papertrey Ink that incorporate the look of watercolor without all of the mess of watercolor. My card for today's contest is made with Papertrey white cardstock and True black cardstock. I used a water brush to brush in the color to the background and in the stamps. I hope you like it!

Color Inspiration Challenge

Today's Papertrey Ink challenge was to use one of six color combinations to create a card. I tried my hardest to match the colors. I used Copic Sketchers to color in my Fancy Folk Art stamp. The colors closely resembled Raspberry Fizz, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise and New Leaf. I got as close as I could to the Hawaiin Shores for my card base; however, the color is not as blue as I would have liked. I love the card though!

Sketch Contest

Today's Papertrey Ink challenge was to pick from a choice of sketches and design a card. I chose Sketch 4. I used True Black Card stock and used The Sweet Life stamp set. I know you may be thinking that I use the same stamps a lot; however, it is required that at least one Papertrey Ink supply is used and I only have two stamp sets and 2 paper packs. Hopefully I will win and buy some more of the beautiful stamps and supplies!

It's a Wrap Challenge

Today, the Papertrey Ink challenge is to make a gift tag or wrap that was inspired by Pinterest. I have a folder on Pinterest titled Gift Wrap & Accessories and there is a pin from Better Homes and Gardens on decorating wine bottles. I used True Black paper from Papertrey and used a simple I Love You sentiment with a few buttons. I now have a Valentines Day gift ready for my love!

New Card for Papertrey Contest

For today's challenge, we were to use a stamp from "Year of  Flowers." Since I am a new customer, I did not have any of those stamps; however, you could also enter with a note explaining what your favorite flower is and why. My favorite flower stamp is the Marigold. I have many childhood memoried of marigolds in my grandfather's flower garden.

I made a card at any rate with a flower that I love...roses. I love the colors. I used Truly Black cardstock with "The Sweet Life" stamp set. I added a vellum embellishment. I am going to enter this card in the Design Team Favorites Inspiration for Papertrey Ink.

Second Card

This card was made using a patterned piece of paper as the base and a piece of white cardstock stamped with roses from "The Sweet Life Stamp Set" in colors that coordinated with the downloadable sentiment "Happy Birthday to You" designed by Dawn McVey.

Cute Card

 

This card was made for a contest from Papertrey Ink in celebration of their 6 year anniversay! There are contests through the 15th of February. This card was made using Ocean Tide paper as the card base. I used Copic markers to color in the girl with flowers stamp that I used. The cut-out was designed by an artist from Papertrey Ink, Lexi Daly.

 

 

 

 



Second Pillow Box

The second Pillow Box that I made using the "Fancy Folk Art" stamp and die set. I used Copic markers R81, R83, and R85 for the flowers and YG21, YG23, and YG25 for the leaves. I used my Cricut to cut a piece of white card stock and a second smaller using True Black paper. I used foam dots to lift the die cut and stamp from the cut circles. Under the circles, I tied a sheer black ribbon below my embellishment. I then used a stamp from the same set for the sentiment. I love the way this one turned out as well!

Pillow Boxes

I recently started experimenting with Copic Marker and stamping with stamps from Papertrey Ink. On the Papertry Ink blog, there is a project shared each week called "Make It Monday." This Monday there  was a tutorial on making Pillow Boxes. Since I have just recently started learning more about stamping, I decided to make a couple of Pillow Boxes to enter for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate. To submit an entry, you have to use at least one item from Papertrey. I made my first Papertrey order a couple of weeks ago and ordered a new January release called the "Fancy Folk Art" stamp set along with the dies to match. I also ordered some some paper (Perfect Paper) in True Black and Ocean Tide. All of the items were of the best quality and I can't wait to learn more and add to my collection!

The first Pillow Box that I made is a medium size and I used the True Black card stock. I put a clear emboss using a technique I learned from the video featuring Ashley Cannon Newell. I do not have the die set for any of the boxes, so I downloaded a pattern to use. I will definately be ordering a die for boxes! I thought the paper looked too elegant to add anything but a ribbon!

Shay's Bridal

Well, I finally had one of my daughter's bridal pictures taken by Wil McCarley. I used a Groupon for a comapny called Picture It On Canvas and it turned out beautifully! I couldn't be more pleased. I hope she loves it...she is a beautiful daughter and was a beautiful bride.