On a sad note....but on a happy note!!

To All Of My Sweet Friends Here:

I wanted you all to know that my beloved Mom passed away yesterday, Sunday morning, after a very long battle in her later years. She lived 81 years and enriched my life each of my days. Many of you have asked where I get my inspiration and my desire to share of myself...and in one word that is MOM. I wanted to share the tribute I have written for her service which will be on Wednesday. Perhaps this will give you a tiny glimpse into who I want to be like when I grow up...smiles!!

A Tribute to our Mom and Sister
Martha Kate Maxwell Lancaster

Not only have we lost the the best mom and sister, but we have lost our best friend. But let us not dwell on the loss, but rather on our good fortune in having you as long as we did! We appreciate the many lessons you inculcated in us and hopefully we can continue to live up to your every expectation. Mom, we celebrate you and the tremendous influence you have had on us.

Your obituary calls you MOM and you have epitomized that loving and caring word to not only us but to so many of the people whose lives you have touched. Throughout the years you became MOM to so many people…even the staff at the Life Care Center knew you as MOM.

You taught us to care for those less fortunate than we are and to share our talents and worldly goods with those who come into our lives that they may be made richer by our example. We recognize your care and concern for the downtrodden and those in distress and hopefully we will remember the responsibility you have left with us. You taught us that whatever we have becomes much more important and beautiful when it is shared with others. Your generosity will always be sweet in our memory. Who else takes homemade apple butter, cakes, pies, etc to their doctor’s appointments and to their salesladies at Penney‘s???

You always charged us to be responsible, honest citizens, knowing the difference between right and wrong, with much more concern for others than ourselves. Hopefully we all exemplify that teaching. Your credo was do for others without any demands or expectations that others do for us. You taught us that no matter what misfortunes befall us, that there are always those less fortunate. Let us never forget that!

You shared yourself in so many ways with everyone one you came in contact with! Your wonderful culinary delights, your hand-crafted jewelry, your crocheted items, your hand painted clothing, your flowers….For you, giving was ALWAYS paramount to receiving! Your love for humanity and the deep feelings you had for shut-ins and those without much love in their lives was so apparent in your everyday life and practice.

Your love of life and certainly the unconditional love you had for your family can never be surpassed. No matter if what we did was right or wrong we knew that Mom would always be there for us, and help us through any rough patches that we might experience!

Mom, you have been the strength of our family and there is not another mom anywhere who has been loved and respected as much as you have! But we also know the love and respect you always showered on us.

No matter how much you suffered, you always had a smile for all to see so that their lives would be made much richer by being around you. You never complained but rather concerned yourself with how you might help others. Let us be ever mindful of that suffering you experienced and the way you always handled it with dignity and grace and a love and concern for others.

The calling card that you handed out to all of those who crossed your path perhaps says it all because it is truly how you lived your life…


This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I see fit. I can waste it or use it for good and be of service to others. But what I do with this day is important because I have exchanged a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever, leaving something I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, not loss; good, not evil; success, not failure; so that I won’t regret the price I paid for it.
Kate Lancaster

Mom, now that you fly with the angels on high, watching over all of us, tapping us on the shoulder from time to time when we need it, know that we will always honor, cherish, love and respect our memory of you! You are precious in our memory!!

Jacque, Stan and Jane

Her obituary is HERE.

And now on a happy note...I have pre-posted for tomorrow and Wednesday so I hope you will come see what's in store for you...and I will draw the winner of my last SWEET STUFF tomorrow also. Sending big hugs your way!

SUNDAY SENSATIONS from Magnolia-licious

Happy Sunday and Welcome to SUNDAY SENSATIONS from Magnolia-licious for another opportunity to win a fabulous prize being offered by Diana at Magnolia-licious. Thank you so much for helping us to spread the word to all of your blogging and crafting friends about this marvelous surprise each Sunday! I'm sure you know that Magnolia-licious has the largest on-line selection in all of North America for Magnolia stamps...and of course is the home of MAGNOLIA MINI WORLD!!!

Remember that Diana has come up with a new way for you to get an even better deal by shopping at her shop!!!!!....Magnolia-licious is now giving an additional 8% discount on orders over $50.00. You simply use the code benefit8 and the system will automatically deduct the 8% from your total order. That means that with the 2% Store Credit and the new 8% discount, you will be receiving a 10% bonus!! Isn't that a wonderful treat!!!! Of course there is always FREE SHIPPING for orders over $75.00 shipping to the US and Canada!



The cutie that Diana is offering this week is the absolutely darling regular size #3032-Watercan Tilda shown above!!! She is just so cute and sweet, ready to do some gardening! I know you would love to give her a new home!! This could be your lucky week!!!!

In order to be eligible for this wonderful prize, all you need to do to enter the drawing is leave a link to your blog below at the little BLUE FROGGY. If you don't have a blog, please leave your email address in a comment!! There are NO other requirements or rules and you do not need to be a follower or even put information on your blog about the opportunity if you don’t want to. Of course, we will always appreciate it greatly if you would help us spread the word by placing the SUNDAY SENSATIONS logo on your personal blog so that other Maggie Lovers will know about the opportunity!! Thank you!!

Remember the closing for SUNDAY SENSATIONS from Magnolia-licious is at midnight EST each Tuesday and the winner is announced on Wednesday! Please be sure to check back on Wednesday to see if you are the lucky winner of this absolutely darling Tilda stamp!!

NEWS...NEWS...NEWS!!! World Card Making Day at LOTV!!!

Since Saturday, October 1st is World Card Making Day, LOTV is celebrating with a fun giveaway with a twist at the LOTV Ideas to Inspire Blog!!

There are THREE wonderful prizes up for grabs!

The First prize is THREE Lili of the Valley stamps of your choice...AND, if you make a new card especially for this fun give-away, another TWO stamps will be added to the pot so you could win any FIVE Lili of the Valley stamps of your choice!!

Two runners-up will each win TWO Lili of the Valley stamps of their choice.

So what are you waiting for? Get busy girlies, you could win a fab prize! The draw runs from today through to Friday 8th October and the winners will be announced shortly after the draw closes.

Please spread the word on your blogs so everyone can join in the fun!! And hurry on over to LOTV Ideas to Inspire for all of the details!!

Sitting Pretty at Just Magnolia and hÄnglar & stÄnglar Challenge and SWEET STUFF!!!!

Happy Friday everyone!! I hope you have had a marvelous week and are all prepared for a great weekend! It has been so beautiful in these mountains and fall is just right around the corner for sure!!

Today is our new challenge at the Just Magnolia and hÄnglar & stÄnglar Challenge and I would love for you to join in with us this week. We are honored with a magnificent sketch from the lovely Jane who is hosting this week. We can't wait to see you there with your lovely creations!! There are two fabulous prizes this week: one from The Ribbon Girl and one from 7 Kids College Fund for two lucky participants!! We would love for you to have a peek at all of the magnificent DT Sample cards/projects over at the Just Magnolia and hÄnglar & stÄnglar Challenge...so come on over!!!

For my card I used Bazzill for the base and for all double matting, the DP is from the Life in the Country Paper Pad by Maja Design, and all background panels have been machine stitched. The image I used is Tilda With Daffodil from Magnolia-licious and although she is not available at the moment, her MINI counterpart is available. She was stamped on Cryogen White and colored with Copics and Promarkers and is resting on double die cuts from MFT dies. You can also see that instead of the daffodil, I added an aster daisy to match the floral treatment...smiles!!!! For the horizontal I used a 1" organza ribbon with double flat bow. The floral treatment is all by Wild Orchid Crafts: 1 3/8" Trellis Rose, White Lilies, and Aster Daisies resting on MS punched branches. The front was finished with WOC Self Adhesive Pearls. Hey, have you noticed that WOC has a new face!!!! Now US customers will see the information in US dollars and measurements are in the American system. Yippppeeeee!!!



For the inside of my card I used the same papers and basic design as the front. That gorgeous heart of hearts charm is from the WOC Mixed Heart Charms collection.

SWEET STUFF!!!! Just a little thank you to all of my FOLLOWERS, I have found a couple of things that you might like!! Please leave a comment before Sunday, October 2 at midnight EST and we will let Mr Random.org decide who the winner is! Those who have received my SWEET STUFFS know that I always throw some more sweeties in so....GOOD LUCK, one and all!!!!


1 - Paris Night Doohickey Die Set
1 - Tilda with Big Ribbon from the You Are So Special Collection

Thank you so much for dropping by today and I hope you will want to come by for a visit often!! It is always such a joy to know that you were here! Have a great weekend and I will be back real soon!! And Sunday there is another wonderful surprise at SUNDAY SENSATIONS!!! Until the next time, I send big hugs for YOU!!!

WINNER at SUNDAY SENSATIONS from Magnolia-licious

Happy Wednesday everyone!! This week we had a total of 294 participants for the SUNDAY SENSATIONS from Magnolia-licious--265 with Mr. Froggy and 29 by comment or email! This exciting event is generously sponsored by Diana at the Magnolia-licious shop who will have another surprise for some lucky participant each and every Sunday right here!

The WINNER of the darling little Witch Tilda with Pumpkins from Magnolia-licious has been selected by random.org and is.....

173. Shazza


Congratulations, Shazza !!! And thank you for showing the SUNDAY SENSATIONS blinkie on your blog--we appreciate that so much!! Please contact me before this Friday morning at 8 AM EST so that we can make arrangements to get your Sunday Sensations Surprise to you right away!!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who is helping to spread the word about this wonderful weekly giveaway!! Best wishes to each of you for a magnificent week!!! See you back here on Sunday to share the next SUNDAY SENSATIONS from MAGNOLIA-LICIOUS and I know you will love it!!