Summer is in full swing!

.....And around here that means a lot of long, hot days! We have been baling hay... and straw...and milking...and feeding more animals...and mowing grass...and hanging laundry....and eating supper at 10 pm! It is very cool to sleep at night though, so we sleep really good, just not very long! I wouldn't trade my life with anyone I know and I'm not complaining.

The fenced pen in my front yard has some 'teenage' chickens in it that are starting to look a little silly. They have feathers all over their legs and are getting scraggly looking and gangly. One of our rat terriers, Chester, (otherwise known as Houdini!), got out one night and into the fence and killed all the ducks. I was very angry and Jonathan cried because they were his ducks. Chester is looking for a new home now where there aren't any ducks or chickens.


My card for today is another sympathy card. I love the 'Thoughts and Prayers' set and it makes wonderful sympathy cards. Here is my creation in Certainly Celery, Basic Black, and embossed in white. Enjoy and have a great day!

Bethany

Birthday cards for Beth Redding

Today I will post the birthday cards I made for Beth Redding as a prize. I have 4 kids with strep throat (???not diagnosed yet???) so I am keeping this post short today. I hope everyone is having a great day. The sun finally shone here for the afternoon, so I did laundry and hung it out. Now Heidi, my 5 yr old, and I are going to make quilt cards for a swap. They are a lot of fun and she loves to help me. Maybe I can sign her up as a demo under me when she is old enough.:)

So long for now!

Bethany

Hi again! I thought I'd post a few Sympathy cards that I made as a prize for Beth Redding. I haven't heard that she received the package yet, so I hope I am not ruining her surprise. I also made her Birthday cards, but I will post them another day. I don't know why, but I really enjoy making sympathy cards. (Shannon do you like these? I wasn't sure if they are simple enough.) The praying hands are not SU but I think they are similar. I stamped them on watercolor paper and used aquapainters to color them. The mat was just rubbed over my Pacific Point stamp pad. The top left card is made with Refuge & Strength. I borrowed this set from my friend Lara. Thank you! I should really give it back now. The tin was decorated with Walk in the Park DSP and the Big Shot Birds n Blooms die. The middle one is embossed on vellum cardstock and colored with Stampin' Write markers. Yellow is my favorite color and So Saffron is the perfect shade. I got a new roll of ribbon before it is sold out of the last chance list. One more~ using Eggplant, Black, and the Upsy Daisy stamp set. I really like this set and it may become my new favorite. I kind of CASEd this one from my upline, Rebekah Jensen, at a workshop a while ago.



Well we are off to meet with Bethany Baker and her family at Cherry Crest Farm today. They are from Texas and have come to PA for a vacation. I have been writing to her for about 12 years and we are finally going to meet today! I will try to take pictures and post them. MAYBE I will even get some printed out and put them on a scrapbook page.......there's an idea! Have a great day!



Bethany

On a sad note......

I got sad news tonight~ Hannah Garman passed away. I have been following her blog for almost a year now. She was a 5 yr old girl who had brain tumors. Her mother died from cancer about 3 years ago and left 3 kids and a husband. Hannah was told last fall that she had about 8 weeks to live. She was asked to be flower girl in a cousin's wedding but probably wouldn't be able to because the wedding wasn't till this spring. Her wish was for people to send her Christmas cards~ so the news media and radio DJ's took the idea around the world! She received boxes full of cards for months. Several thousand were delivered. Lititz, PA hosted a convoy of over 80 emergency vehicles one night and delivered many more to her. She has had it rough, but made it to be flower girl about 2 weeks ago. Tonight she went home with Jesus. I never met this little girl, but her story has touched me so much. I am crying as I write this post. If anyone wants to send her family an encouraging note of sympathy I will post their address.

Darin L Garman
704 Orchard Rd
Lititz, PA 17543-8801

Thank you all and goodnight!

Bethany

Why does my web address say "keeneyfarm"???????

I live on a dairy farm! I am going to share some cute pictures from that farm tonight. We just tried to hatch ducks and chicks in an incubator.......the result 2 chicks! So we ordered some through the mail. Now we have 10 Black and Blue Swedish ducks, 26 "feather-legged" bantams, and 12 Auracaunas (sp?) I have a wonderfully handy brother who hasn't got a regular job right now. So he came over and built me a big fenced pen for them all! Thank you Jared! Love you! We also have some baby goats who are very naughty and always somewhere they shouldn't be! They are adorable though. I don't think I have pictures of any cows right now, but maybe I can post some another time. We took the baby ducks to my parent's house and left them swim in the goldfish pond last week. They had a blast but got tired out quickly. That was their first time swimming. Well, I am headed to bed. Good-night all!
Bethany

Patriotic Cards for Sgt Kimberlee Ice & her "boys"

Sgt Kimberlee Ice is an SU demo who was deployed to the Middle East. She and her "boys" are over there serving our country so we can continue to have the freedoms we enjoy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Kimberlee and company! Anyway, Kimberlee's mom thought it would be a great idea to make cards and get kits together and send over for them to create for their families at home in the States. Great idea Donna! I did some July 4th cards and sent them out. Here are a few........

Bethany

I'm finally back!

My printer quit feeding paper so I hooked up a different one........and it seems it is not compatible with my camera. I tried so many times to upload pictures and save them, then they just disappear! It was very frustrating! Anyway.......I finally have the pictures of Grampa's Birthday card and my nephew's. They are not SU products, in fact the John Deere is a sticker. My dad gave me the Model A stamp. Hope you like them. I will be posting a few more tonight under different titles. Enjoy!

Bethany

And the winner is.......

Today is the day promised to reveal the winner of the blog candy and Random.org decreed that it is..................Susan Hackney!!!!!! Congratulations Susan! Email me: bethanykeeney@hotmail.com to give me a shipping address.

I have a lot to do today so I will be back again later!
Bethany

Sherrill Graff hired us to be her LNS Sample Makers! ~ Complete list

Here is the complete list of people hired by Sherrill Graff to make samples for her to take to convention. Be sure to check out each blog in your free time to see the lovely work they all do. Maybe you will be inspired! I will be back later today with pictures from Grampa's Birthday card.

1.Gretchen Barron gbarron56@comcast.net http://gretchenbarron.typepad.com/ 2. Barbara Dondero barbaradondero@gmail.com http://barbsstampingspot.blogspot.com/ 3.Tammy Fite stampinmama@comcast.net http://www.stampwithtammy.com/ 4. Judy Jackson JudyStamper@verizon.net 5. Mary Brown mary@stampercamper.com http://stampercamper.com/ 6.Sarah Wills sarahwills@austin.rr.com http://sarahsinkspot.blogspot.com/ 7.Selene Kempton e.selene@verizon.net http://stampinfunwithselene.blogspot.com/ 8.Virginia Killmore vkillmore@gmail.com http://virginias-website.blogspot.com/ 9. Elizabeth Sloman sloman4100@bellsouth.net http://www.mamastamper.com/ 10.Marisol Gutierrez atouchof_sol@yahoo.com http://atouchofsol.blogspot.com/ 11. Dawn Bullock Dbullock28@comcast.net http://www.stampincreations.blogspot.com/ 12.Sandi MacIver sandi_maciver@comcast.net http://www.sandimaciver.com/sandi_maciver/ 13.Stephanie Sullins stephenandsteph@earthlink.net http://owlwhimsy.blogspot.com/ 14.Susan Shields blestmomof6@cox.net http://createdwithlovebysusan.blogspot.com/ 15. Rebekah "Becky" Jensen becky@stampthat.com http://www.stampthat.com/ 16. Heidi Michel heartfeltblessings@gmail.com http://www.heartfeltblessings.blogspot.com/ 17. Barb Slaughter stamper0910@yahoo.com blog in progress 18. Lisa Milliron uniquedesignsbylisa@windstream.net http://www.uniquedesignsbylisa.typepad.com/ 19 Connie Babbert iluvstamping@columbus.rr.com http://inkspiredtreasures.com/20 Nancy Dawson nancy@centralva.net http://creativewishes.blogspot.com/21 Bethany Keeney bethanykeeney@hotmail.com http://keeneyfarm.blogspot.com/22 Kirsten Brown stampinsilly@gmail.com http://imstampinsilly.blogspot.com/23. Mary Jo Price-Williams technostamper@roadrunner.com http://technostamper.blogspot.com/
24. Elizabeth Hurst stampwithelizabeth@gmail.com http://www.animalscraps.blogspot.com/

Have a great day!
Bethany

Another Retiring Set

I really liked this set when I saw it. It is so fancy and elegant looking! This card was made over a year ago for a friend's birthday. Again, I copied Andrea Walford, and stamped the image 3 times, cut each layer out and used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop it up. Oh, and LOTS of Dazzling Diamonds to make it sparkle. I really do like glittery stuff! The DSP is retired, too. I hope you all enjoy.

Today is my Grampa's birthday, so I will take the kids and we'll all meet up at my mom's and have birthday cake for him. Tomorrow I will post a picture of the card I made for him. My nephew is turning 4 today so I'll post his card, too. Have a great day!

Bethany

Going, going, going, almost gone!

Today I'm going to share several cards made with the retiring set "Heartfelt Thanks". It is my favorite set right now and I am sad to see it go. But, I want you to see a few things you can do with it, so you don't miss out on getting it before it's gone. It is so versatile. On Friday, I will be showing off Father's Day cards. If any of you have made any, email them to me (bethanykeeney@hotmail.com) and I'll add them to my page. Happy Sunday!

Bethany

BABIES, BABIES, BABIES!

Well, I just became Aunt Beth for the 3rd time in a month~ and they are ALL girls! Brooklyn Mae, Lindsay Mae, and Clarrissa Irene all arrived safely and very healthy. I will post pics in a couple days (when I have some). Since it seems like babies are the theme right now, here are 3 pictures of cards I have done recently for babies. Some are retired SU and some are generic paper, embellishments, etc. I hope you like them! Bethany

As promised..........

I'm back with a scrapbook page!

After his wife of 50+ years died in June of 2002, my Grampa was lonely. In May of 2005, he got remarried to his sister-in-law whose husband had passed away in 1990. They are like teens and so romantic. It is sweet to watch how they snuggle and whisper together! She has Alzheimer's and just turned 8o, so her mind is not very sharp and she gets frustrated. Kids and pictures are always a big hit with her though. I made them an 8x8 scrapbook about 2 years ago, and I add pages here and there. They love it! This is my next submission.

I also fulfilled the Late Night Stampers challenge~ Embossing! I used Tea Party DSP, Basic Black CS, and Pink Pirouette CS. The swirly from Baroque Motifs is embossed in white, and the sentiment from "Best Yet" stamp set on the tag is embossed in black. The hearts are punched with the "Love you Much" punch, and I added a "Pretties" layered flower and filigree brad. The "Top Note" die was used to give the photo some spice. There are tiny rhinestone brads around the frame of the journal entry.

Let me know what you think! I am really enjoying all the comments you are leaving. Now, today I must get the patriotic cards out to Kimberlee who is in the Middle East with her "boys". She is an SU demo and is on active duty, so we are sending her LOTS of cards and card kits for her group to make and send home to their families. (Her mother's idea, aren't mother's so sweet?) If you want to get involved, leave me a comment and I'll send you the info.

Have a great day!

Bethany

Thank you Heather Wright-Porto & Blog Candy!

You did a great job! The best part........... it didn't take me any time at all. HeHeHe! I have figured out a few things today and it really is pretty simple.

The next card I am showing you is made from my favorite stamp set~ Heartfelt Thanks. I changed it up later though and turned it into a wedding card. This is my version of "shabby-chic". Hope you like it!

As a 'Grand-opening' celebration for my blog, I am offering a scallop-edge punch to one lucky person who leaves a comment on this post. Share the link with your friends and be sure to leave me your email address so I can get in touch with you. I will announce the winner next Thursday, June 11th. And, the first 5 people who use the button on the side-bar to place an order from the 'Last-Chance' list, will receive a special gift from me. Thank you all! Tomorrow I will have a scrapbook page for you.

Bethany

Sooooooooo Excited!!!!!

I was hired by Sherrill Graff to create 20 sample cards!!!!! I am so excited! My cards are going to convention! I will probably never get there, but my artwork is going. I may not sleep tonight........that is so cool! My direct upline, Rebekah Jensen, and another team member, Heidi Michael, both got a spot too. Here is the card that won her approval. It scored 8.5 out of 10. I CASE'd this from Andrea Walford. Enough bragging now.......Goodnight!

Bethany