It's Day Three...

....... and we have another wonderful sponsor today in the form of The Stamping Boutique,

 I'm Tracey Malnofski, the artist and owner of The Stamping Boutique. My team and I are very happy to sponsor 2 Sketches 4 You. My store has been open since September 2009.I am currently a stamp artist for UnityStampCo. and I've worked for InStyleStamps, Squigglefly, and TheDigiShack in the past. I'm a professional artist and an active member of the Artist' Guild in my community. I have quite a busy household with a husband, 3 teenagers, 5 mini-dachshunds and an Appaloosa mare. It's noisy, but I love them all. I'm truly blessed.

"The Stamping Boutique" is dedicated to quality products and original artwork. We not only provide wonderful digital images in our store, but also several lines of red rubber images. Our designers are chosen for their character and personality,as well as, their beautiful designs. We work hard to give you our very best. Thank you so much for having us as your sponsor this week.

Today's host is Michelle, so pop over, leave her some Christmas Cheer and you may be the lucky winner.

The winner from Day 1 winning  a S10 voucher from Di's Digi Downloads is #1 Penny.  Congratulations Penny, drop me an email at cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk and I'll pass your details onto the sponsor.

The winner from Day 2 winning a $10 voucher from Meljens is Rose.  Congratulations Rose, drop me an email at cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk and I'll pass your details onto the sponsor.

It's Day Two ...

... and we have another wonderful sponsor today in the form of Meljen's Designs,

Meljen's Designs (http://meljensdesigns.com) is a digital stamp company owned and illustrated by Melissa Jenkins. She illustrates whimsical, fun digital images inspired by her kids and family. The Meljen's Designs store officially launched on April 1 and it is steadily growing. The new store offers instant downloads, organized categories, and a search feature. We have new releases along with a new challenge every Thursday, freebies every Mondays and a monthly Guest Designer at the Meljen's Designs Blog (http://meljensdesignsdt.blogspot.com/). Please visit the store to find more of Melissa's wonderful images!

Today's host is Shirley, so pop over, leave her some Christmas Cheer and you may be the lucky winner.

Winners and Top 3 (challenges 21 - 24)

So I'm back with a round up of winners and top 3 for Challenges 21 through to 24.

Challenge 21
The winner of the 4 digis from Kenny K is #40 - Nikki.  Congratulations, Nikki, take a look at Kenny K's site and let me know what your choice is on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk

The Top 3 chosen by the Design Team are:

#6 - Marrianne MW

#26 - Lorraine A

#48 - Trish Munro

Congratulations to you all, grab the top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

Challenge 22
The winner of the Letraset Flexmarkers is #15 - Lindyloo.  Congratulations, Lindyloo, email your address over to cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk and I'll post your prize out.

The Top 3 chosen by the Design Team are:

#2 - Petra

#6 - Kimbo

#7 - coops

Congratulations to you all, grab the top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

Challenge 23
The winner of the £10 voucher from My Mum's Craft Shop is # 54 - Anne H. Congratlations, Anne, please email me on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk and I'll pass your details on to the sponsor.

The Top 3 chosen by the Design Team are:

#5 - Marrianne H

#18 - Mirre

#101 - Debbie S

Congratulations to you all, grab the top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

Challenge 24
The winner of 3 digis from Scribbled Kidz is #32 - Tracey Boley.  Congratulations, Tracey,  take a look at Scribbled Kidz blog and let me know what your choice is on cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk

The Top 3 chosen by the Design Team are:

#5 - Sheila

#16 - Trollkatta

#29 - Brook

Congratulations to you all, grab the top 3 badge from our sidebar and add it to your own.

So there we are, all caught up.  Don't forget that we have our special Christmas Event going on.  From now until 14 December we will have a prize a day to give away.  Check here each day to find out which team member is hosting the giveaway.

It's Christmas ...

...or very nearly.  Some of you may know that we traditionally take a break from our challenges at this time of year and celebrate our Anniversary.  This year we are three years old and it's nice to see that there are still a number of original Design Team members still here.  We must eb doing something right, eh?

I'd like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all our followers, challenge participants and sponsors.  Without either element our efforts would be futile.  And speaking of effort, I'm hugely thankful for the efforts of all members of the design team.  They truly work as a team supporting each other in difficult times, welcoming new members and making sure I keep on my toes.  Thanks guys.

So what do we have planned?  Well, each day (from now until 14th Dec) a different team member will post a quick and easy Christmas Card or Project.  You'll need to check here to see who's turn it is.  Each day has a different sponsor and a prize up for grabs.  Visit the correct blog, leave a comment and check back in a couple of days to see if you're a winner.  Easy peasy.

Today's prize is sponsored by Di's Digi Downloads and if you pop over to Patricia's blog you'll see a fab card and prize.

I have been drawing since a child and studied graphics at College many years ago, I now work as a Medical photographer part time but my love was always drawing. I started cardmaking about 4yrs ago when I bought my daughter a cardmaking kit which we did together, but I’m afraid I got the bug! My daughter preferred scrapbooking. I then started looking online at other blogs and this then became my passion and I loved sharing my cards with likeminded people.

I love stamping and loved finding images, but sometimes I could not find what I wanted so I started to draw myself.

This then has become my second addiction and I have never looked back, I love thinking of new images, and its just fabulous to see others take them and make them into beautiful works of art. Long may it continue!

So pop over to Pat's blog right now and leave her some Christmas Cheer, remember you have to be in it to win it!

Unbroken Circle ~ An Update

Our family circle is once again unbroken ~
Austin is home!

After six days in the hospital, 
he is home. 

And, we are thankful.
Each day is a gift.

Once off the antibiotics and settled into a new
heart medicine regime,
Austin progressively began recovering.
Thank you so much for praying!  
He is much better now than he was prior to his hospital stay.

He, however, is lighter...
not really what we wanted, but it is what it is! 
Time, and the Lord's healing Hand upon him
should take care of that.  
Perhaps a little home cooking will help too?  :)

Surgery is still slated for the 4th.

We wait.  And, we pray.

The pacemaker is not where our hope lies.

Our hope lies in our Great God.

And, we know that He does all things well.

Even when those things are not our first pick.

Or, even our second or third pick!

Whatever the Lord gives, 
He gives out of a heart of love.

Perfect love.  

We rest in the knowledge 
that our times are in His hands.
And, He orders our steps.
And, His ways are much higher than ours.

How blessed we are!

Trials of life draw us closer to Him.
They reveal more of His Wonderful Nature to us.
We are sustained by the will of His Power.
That actually is the case always.
It just seems to become all the more
precious at times like these.

Thank you for praying!
We are thankful for each one of you.

May the LORD bless you all!
In HIS Love,
Camille

Roller Coaster ~ An Update

It feels a little like we've been riding

a  Roller Coaster.

Up and down, and whipped back up again,

only to come crashing back down!

It's certainly been an interesting journey,

and we do not have all the answers.

The specialists don't either.

It's a little confusing and difficult to untangle.

Austin was admitted for heart failure 

management and to prep his body for surgery.

While in ICU Austin's temp was up a little.

(It was HOT in there).

Due to Austin's physical condition, 

it was decided to give a potent IV antibiotic.

An infection could be fatal to Austin at this time.

It was a reasonable thing to do.

However, the culture that they took

at the time the antibiotics were started came back negative.

The IV antibiotics were stopped as soon as that news was received.

But, they had already rendered their nasty side effects.

Crohn's is now in a full-on flare.

He seemed to be well managed on that front on admission.

Austin is now more sick than he was last week.

Two sets of specialists are continually assessing Austin ~

Cardiologists and Gastroenterologists.

Please pray that they both would have insight and wisdom

to know what to do for Austin.

Please pray that we would have wisdom to

pursue the right course of treatment for our precious son.

Please pray that God would continue to have HIS

way in this whirlwind.

HE is Good.  Always.

Thank you so much!

We appreciate each and every one of you!

With Love,
Camille

Reindeer, Reading, and...Pugs?

It's the most wonderful time of year!  I have been unusually "Christmasy" this year--I think I went into Christmas mode a few weeks ago.  Not that I'm a scrooge or anything, but each year I get so overwhelmed with all the things that have to be done to prepare, that I end up feeling kind of sad and stressed out!  This year, I am determined NOT to stress over the holiday I love the most!  

So, I got a "little bit" of a head start.  We decorated our house for Christmas last week.  We also have watched Elf!  I had already shopped for most of my gifts before Black Friday.  {What, what!?}  I have wrapped up my daughter's Christmas books in anticipation of doing a Christmas picture book countdown each night!  I have even already read The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren--as a reminder to myself to keep the true meaning and purpose of Christmas first in my mind as the holiday planning gets underway.  

I also want to bring the magic of Christmas alive for my students!  It is so fun teaching the little ones at this time of year, because they have the best stories to tell about their elves.  And they love writing letters to Santa and making their lists.  It is also amazing that a simple reminder that "Santa Claus is coming to Town" will straighten up behavior!  They all seem to have a little sparkle in their eye when we come to school in our PJ's for Polar Express Day!  Their excitement is contagious, and it is such a blessing to be around.  That said, we have FOUR weeks from now until our Christmas break.  This is going to be a l-o-n-g stretch, especially with 20 very excited kiddos!  

So, what to do to keep learning fun and engaging for four weeks?  Well, next week, we will have some

silly reindeer fun with ABC order, and a fun reindeer craftivity from my Reindeer Games packet...

The week after next, we are beginning our Christmas Around the World journey!  I can't wait to take this class aboard Christmas Airlines! (This unit will take 2-3 weeks--I am planning on spending around 2 days visiting each country!)    *This year I have added a supplement pack to my Christmas Around the World Scrapbook!  It is a FREE download, and provides a planning calendar, parent letters to send home, and craft templates!  Please go download if you purchased my scrapbook last year!  It has helped me to be super organized this year!*

I have been working on this packet since this summer, and finally finished it this weekend!  We are learning all about short vowel u next week, and "Pugsley the Pug" is going to join in the phonics fun.  This packet has 9 activities for literacy stations or small group review--so, basically, next week, we are going to have a classroom full of reindeer and pugs.  It's not strange AT ALL!  HA!   

All of these and everything in my TpT store will be on SALE Monday and Tuesday! Yay!  Who doesn't love a sale!?

Here are a few of my newest creations that you may want to check out during the big sale!

The Reading Briefcase is packed with everything you'll need to get your students reading at home.  It comes with a detailed parent guide to help parents motivate their kids to read. 

The Holiday Feast Shopping List has students practicing common core skills--adding 3 numbers and adding money.  They will have fun shopping for holiday food items on their shopping lists!

I love to draw, and I am excited to share my second packet of Clip Art--"Funky Trees"!  They are perfect to add to classroom creations and newsletters!  :)

I will send my Funky Trees Clip Art to the first 5 followers to comment on this post!  

{Because I love y'all, and I love blog comments!  Comments make the blogging world go 'round!!!}

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Smug-Pugs-A-Short-Vowel-U-Activity-Pack