For Keeps Sake 2016 Fall Retreat

Twice a year, I host a scrapbooking retreat at a very remote church camp just outside Batesburg, SC.  The Moody-Gunter Center has provided so many wonderful memories for my group of ladies over the past five plus years!  The Hilton Resort - it is not... but with the kitchen staff and the leadership of the Christian Director, Rev. Pullen, the serene surroundings enhance the down time so many of us need in today's busy life styles.

At the center of the camp, the newly added kitchen and meeting facility overlooks the pond and fountain.  A wonderful walking track surrounds the pond with two beautiful wooden bridges crossing the water's incoming and outgoing points.

The scrapping area, is a large gym with everyone having their own six foot table and lots of floor room to spread out.  Everyone looks forward to packing the car fully knowing they will have lots of room on this retreat.

A few work in progress  and of course...lots of sorting!

Inspired by one of my card groups, Addicted to Card Making

the Saturday afternoon project was and Envelope filled with the same items.  Each person had to create a tag, card, or page using all or part of each item (envelope with grace be with you was optional) and they were allowed to add a base and two additional items.  This is what they were given.

The results were amazing as each person's creation was so very different, just as God created us different, allows us to see thing differently and blesses us with different styles and talents.

Each year I design our surprise T-shifts; and again this year our Hot Pink Elephant shirts were made by B&L Sports in Batesburg, SC.  

The goodie boxes were packed to overflowing with tags, pearls, charms, elephants and prayers.  

I had a couple of great  helpers this year also. Many thanks to Cassondra at Infinity Engraving for donating the chipboard elephants and to Lori of Lori's Lovely Paper Crafts for donating the charms and pearls!

 

And most of all ~ Thanks to the director and his lovely wife who take such loving care of us while we are with them.  Hats off to them for always ensuring our weekend is a wonderful memory!

We all had a blast!

Many of you have inquired about attending this retreat, 

so here are a few details for your consideration.  

Although it is a private invitation, I am always open to new friends who would like to join my group.  We are a Christian based group and this retreat is specifically set up to be stress free, drama free, and relaxing.  The location truly provides for a time of reflection of your blessings and opportunities to worship our Lord.  

The dates for 2017 are: 

Spring ~ March 10-12 and Fall ~ Sept 22-24.

Rates are dependent on the room you choose and number/room.  ($170 to $250)  Rates include your room, 7 meals, t shirt 

and your table space.   

Rooms are limited and are booked by first paid reservations 

which begin about 2 months prior to each event. 

If you would like to be on the email distribution for more details, please let me know by responding here or through a private message on Facebook. (Pamela J. Duncan)

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam

Washi Tape Challenge from ATCM

I was excited to see the card challenge for 

Washi Tape on 

Addicted to Card Making

as I seem to have lots of designs and forget to use it.

Once I got started then it seemed that every card 

I started to make, I picked up another

roll of washi tape!

But this is my final card, one

that can be used generically for many of

life's events and 

even adapted to a scrapbooking page.

This easy design is just several rows of dark tapes

to make my road or hill;

a cute VW stamp colored in pencils;

the sentiment and a little 

bit of ladder ribbon to finish it off. 

So the next time you are stuck on a card design,

pull out the washi tape!  The results are endless.

{Note: This card design is available for sale on

Not Just Scraps.}

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam 

All Blue ~ Wish You Were Here

Ever found a card on Pinterest and know it's 

what you want to make...

only to click on it and there are

NO instructions?

That was the case for this double fold, 

double backed card design

that I selected for my ALL BLUE for one

of the September card swaps on 

Addicted to Card Making. 

Didn't take too long to figure out the fold, 

but a little trial and error to get the back 

of the second fold matching and in 

proper alignment.  

Once the white embossed paper was secured,

I inked the background with SU Pacfic Point.

Multiple balloons were die cut and 

also inked with the same shade,

along with the Wish You Were Here

sentiment tag.

Another great design that lots of different

sentiments could be used for and 

it's the perfect size for a legal envelope

for mailing.  

{Note: This card will be available for ordering 

in September on Not Just Scraps.}

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam

Dirt Bike Action Wobbles

This is one of those random shots

that I wish I had taken....

The boy's Mom is always close by when 

they ride and really captures some great action shots.

So for my grandson's (the one on the left) 

9th birthday card, I wanted an 

"action dirt bike or 4 wheeler card". 

Knowing some time back I'd purchased some

'action wobbles'...the search began...

You know when you move, you can't find anything 

for years!

Have you ever tried these?

But first, the background was done  by stamping a 

'dotted' stamp several times in the center, 

then a diagonal stripe stamp across to make the

image of the road.  A distressing block was used to 

soften the background with the same 

SU Bermuda Bay ink.  

My image of the dirt bike wasn't quite big 

enough to cover the disc so I added an

hand cut explosion to the back of the image.

The Wobbles have peal off sticky backs on

both sides, so it is amazing how easy they are

to add to the card base and then add the image 

to the top for a perfect action piece.  

A little bling and a couple of chipboard tags 

were added to complete the card.

Sure hope he likes it - He's one special little guy

with so much potential in life ahead of him. 

{Note: This is an original card design, not for sale.}

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam 

Oh Boy ~ What a Cute Card!

For my Addicted to Card Making 

Anything Goes Challenge 

I made this cute Oh Boy card.

The Stampin Up Bow maker punch was used

to make the red bow which really makes it pop!

Tiny strips of paper are used for the 'thread' 

in the buttons, which is a little secret to make sure it

always matches your paper!

Thin navy ribbon was used

with gold ribbon slides for the suspenders.

It's a great card idea for a Boy's birthday, 

a new baby boy or many other events.

{This card design will be available for ordering

on Not Just Scraps in September. }

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam 

ATCM Girly Girl Weekend Challenge

Although this was a challenge card for 

Addicted to Card Making several weeks ago,

I wanted to do quick share today to all my 

Girly Girlfriends!

You've had a long, hard week.

You've played many roles.

Although you may not be told often,

YOU are loved by many.

I hope this weekend you are able to find time

for YOU!

You deserve to be Pampered!

{This card design will be available for ordering

on Not Just Scraps in September.}

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam

Teddy Bear Challenge ~ Koala T Crafts

This morning I'm sharing the cute little

card I created for last weekend's  card

challenge on Koala T Crafts, 

for a Teddy Bear with a Ribbon. 

If you look closely you can see that the teddy bear

is actually a separate stamp.  I had planned on 

just using him and the cute tag...

If All Else Fails~

Hug Your Teddy

but found it just to be 'plain'.  

So back to the box of stamps in search of

"Transportation" for this little fellow!

Red Rider Wagon - Perfect

Well, almost perfect till I stamped with my black

ink pad that was purchased 'used' and obviously

had been refilled with purple ink!

No worries - this teddy can ride in a wagon with 

purple wheels.... 

After using my DIY bow maker for his perfect

blue bow, I carefully cut a slit right at the 

stamp line on the wagon, just wide enough 

to slide him partially into the wagon.

Then I added a large foam square under his

head to keep him sitting up and looking damper!

Background was then filled in with SU 

Bashful Blue, applied with a distressing block.

Multi-colored crochet thread was used for the 

finishing touch after adding the sentiment.

Now he's all ready to be sent to someone having a 

bad day and needing a little encouraging.

{This card design will be available for ordering

on Not Just Scraps beginning in September.}

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam 

ATCM Book Marker Challenge

Our September Challenge host, Tara, 

added a little twist to our 

Addicted to Card Making Envelope Challenge 

this time by instructing us to make a 

book marker rather than a card.

This is what each person received for the challenge. 

We had to use some of everything, and we were 

allowed to add up to two things. 

What would you do with these supplies? 

That's the best part about this monthly challenge,

everyone sees the supplies differently and 

it is always amazing to see the different 

photos at the end of the month.

For mine, I decided to layer the white and brown

pieces and snip the top corners to make a bird house.

The circle paper gave me perfect holes for 

the little stripped birds to sit by.  

Then I added my stamp

You are an Answer to Prayer!

just before the silk leaf and 

the word Thanks. 

The finishing touch was a little

Rusty Brown inking around the edge.

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam 

ATCM Bless You ~ Hidden Slider Card

Today I wanted to share one of the cards

I recently made for a card swap on

Addicted to Card Making, 

that I had to use an angel.  

The stamped image was colored with copic markers and 

then I added a yellow card stock background to give

her stability knowing I was going to put large 

pop dots under her.  The lavender and aqua dots  are

Nuvo Crystal drops and the background die

is part of a Heartfelt Creations die.

My La-La Land Angel stamp was rather large

so I decided a slider card would 

give me additional room for the sentiment.

Off to Youtube to refresh my memory and get

a few dimensions for keeping the 

sentiment hidden in a slider card.  

If you've ever searched Youtube, you know there are

hundreds of videos on each technique and 

some presenters just seem to like to hear themselves

talk and talk ... 

So I was tickled when one of the first ones that popped

up on the results was my friend Jenn Evers 

and her Easy Slide Card Tutorial. 

Jenn always gives clear written dimensions that allow

you to pause the video and make your notes. THUMBS UP!

It's easy to alter the location of the hidden part

once you lay out your larger piece.  Then you can determine

where you need to cut the slit and position the 

slider and pull tap card.

It takes a little while to get everything in the right

place, but the end result is worth the effort.

{NOTE:  This card design will be available for 

ordering in September on Not Just Scraps.}

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam 

Celebrating Our Labor

In honor of Labor Day, one of the card challenges for the 

weekend was to make a card about a career.  It could

be your own career or that of a family member.

I elected to make my card reflective of

my career as a Photographer. 

For this card base, 

I selected the aqua card stock that matched

the SU ink, Bermuda Bay. 

The white background is dry embossed using 

a Darice camera background folder, 

then high-lighted using

matching Quote Quotes ink.    

Wooden camera embellishment on the bottom right, 

has a flat back pearl glued inside the lens area.  

I couldn't find any ribbon, string or 

twine to match the other inked pieces, so I pulled the thin

white cotton 'rope' through the ink pad several times. 

The tag is punched out using the Creative Memories tag punch.

Capture Every Moment just seems like the perfect 

title or sentiment for this card reflecting that ...

I do what I love and love what I do

and try diligently to capture every moment.  

May all your days be full things you love to do! 

{Note:  This card will be available for Sale during September

on my facebook site, Not Just Scraps.}

Thanks for stopping by ~ Pam 

Elvis ~ I Believe in the Man in the Sky

Today's card is another La-La Land Co. stamp

which is the cutest Elvis impersonator yet! 

For this one I wanted to use one of 

Elvis' songs for the tag,

and I really wanted it to be religious

as this was going to be used for a get well card.

Our good friend Google is 

wonderful to help with searches for song

titles and lyrics as well as Bible Gateway

for scripture references.

With both the image and the tag being

a bit large, I used an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of

red card stock and made my own card

base 4 1/4" square.  

Yellow matting is from the scrap box and

the ribbon is crochet thread.  The tag is 

attached with a matching yellow star. 

I'd like to challenge you in your card making to 

search for a song or scripture to add to your 

creation.  And check out La-La Land Craft stamps too!

{Note: This card design will be available for ordering 

on Not Just Scraps in September.}

Thank you for stopping by ~ Pam