Showing posts with label valentines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label valentines. Show all posts

CAST Shop of the Week: HolidayConfections

Take a look at the CAST Shop of the Week, HolidayConfections. Ann's shop is full of luscious treats, many of which have a holiday theme.  There are many Easter confections to choose from as well as bridal, sports, nature and other themes. 

Chocolate Crosses - Religious Candy - Religious Chocolate



Please note that the only way to be featured as the CAST Shop of the Week is to tag your shop items "castteam" on Etsy and to not hide your teams in your Etsy profile. You will also have to have at least 12 items to feature. Those are the ways that I find great CAST shops to feature each week. 

CAST Members: If you have a minute or two, please feel free to favorite ♥ this shop or promote it on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or other social media.  Thanks!

by Sue of SueRunyonDesigns
12:32 PM | Category: , , , , , , , , , | 4 comments

CAST Shop of the Week: MyPrairieCreations

Meet Darlene of MyPrairieCreations. Darlene is from Kansas and her prairie life influences her work.  In her shop you can quilted ornaments for various holidays and occasions from the upcoming St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Christmas and Valentine's Day.  I know you'll enjoy browsing her lovely shop.



St. Patrick's Shamrock Quilted Ball Kimekomi Clover Green Ornament and Gold






Please note that the only way to be featured as the CAST Shop of the Week is to tag your shop items "castteam" on Etsy and to not hide your teams in your Etsy profile. You will also have to have at least 12 items to feature. Those are the ways that I find great CAST shops to feature each week. 

CAST Members: If you have a minute or two, please feel free to favorite ♥ this shop or promote it on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or other social media.  Thanks!

by Sue of SueRunyonDesigns
7:48 AM | Category: , , , , , , , , , | 7 comments

Created for Love
by Phyllis Ducey
pfdoriginalartworks

Soul mate pendant by pureoxfaith
"this sweet sterling heart is stamped "soul mate" . ..there is a tiny sterling cross that hangs with it representing the owner of the soul."

(I don't normally include what the seller writes about their item but this was so beautiful I wanted to make sure you understood the meaning of the pendant.)


Oh my! It is 10:00 pm Sunday night and I just realized a little bit ago that it is the 2nd Monday of the month which means I need to do my monthly blog post. I have not been online hardly at all this week but all week I have been itching to write. I just did not know what to write about. Even this afternoon I was restless but still could not think of what to write. But I have been praying about it.

The day you will be reading this is Valentines day and I know many singles are cringing inside at the loneliness that they are feeling. Personally, I think it is all a bunch of unimportant hype (and I am married 39 years to an awesome man but the V-day has no significance to that love). Love is either there or not. For us who know Christ personally, it is always there! He is our Lord, lover, confidant, rock, salvation... the beginning and end of all we are and all we need.

This week I turned 60! Who would have ever thought I could get that old? The strange thing (I know many of you my age and older would agree) that inside I feel much younger. I remember when I first started to get to know my Lord. Some people have a sudden life changing experience but I did not. My Lord was patient and courted me. He allowed me the grace to slowly discover the wonder of who He is and how He could become a part of me. I was particularly slow and it took almost 13 years to fully grasp that my life was all about Him... but He was patient and waited.

I was so afraid that over the years I would drift away never to return but I learned how to draw closer. When I drifted I found myself restless but when I worked to be closer to Him, I found peace. He taught me to count the victories and forgive myself the failures. That was big for me. Every time I stumbled I would tell myself that I was not a true Christian and could never be after all I kept messing up!
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
1 John 4:16-18
Jesus taught me to look at the times I did right. Once I began focusing on my victories and forgiving my failures I began growing by leaps and bounds in my faith. I understood grace and God's great love. Truly as much as I love my husband, children and grandchildren... none of that would have any value without my love for my God.

So if you are a person who cringes over the dreaded V-day... ignore the advertisements of worldly love.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
1 John 4:4-5
Take a few minutes to enjoy the greatest gift you could receive for any day. Enjoy the love of Christ and allow His grace to seep deep into the depth of who you are so that you may realize how special you are to Him. He created you for a reason and He knows your struggles and will guide you through them. He wants you to be who you are because He created you to be His.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
Psalm 139:13-18

WOW... what a great gift of Love! And that Love message is not just for one day a year but for every minute of every day!

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When I started writing all I knew was I was itching to write... So I scratched that itch and hope it blesses you as much as it did me!
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I am blessed to be a part of the CAST Team and always in awe of the wonderful talent that each one of us possesses. Please take a minute to check out these great shops!















Giant paper clip by SomCreations


















Pendant by GBMBdesigns










11:19 PM | Category: , , , , | 10 comments

February Recipe of the Month by sammysgrammy
by Rita of sammysgrammy



the FRANCES cookie

This is a "reissue" of a recipe I shared with you about a year ago. It's wonderful tasting, and easy to prepare and, depending upon how your dress it, can be quite a ***sTaR***. It's making a reappearance because of Valentines Day coming up soon, plus I just made a batch of heart shaped ones and will probably make a couple more before Valentines Day 2011 rolls around.

For those of you who didn't see it the first time, it's named after my Mother's next-door neighbor, who gave me the recipe. She was a wonderful baker and her house always smelled like something wonderful was happening there.

For the FRANCES cookie you'll need:


  1. 1 cup of room temperature margarine (2 sticks)

  2. 1 & 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

  3. 1 whole egg plus 2 egg yolks at room temperature

  4. 3 cups of AP flour

  5. 1/2 tsp. of baking powder

  6. 1/2 tsp. of salt

  7. 1 &1/2 tsp. vanilla

Put dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) into a bowl and whisk together to combine thoroughly. In another bowl, cream together margarine and sugar with electric beater. Add eggs and vanilla to creamed sugar/margarine.

Add the dry ingredients in thirds to the wet ingredients, incorporating each addition of the dry ingredients. Depending on the power of your beater, you may need to mix the final flour addition in by hand. Knead this dough either in the bowl or on a floured counter top, into a silky, smooth ball.

I divide the dough ball with a pastry scraper into workable portions. Pat the dough portion (on your lightly floured counter) into a flat, pancake shape about 1/8 to 1/4" thick. Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter. Remove the shapes from the counter with your scraper and onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet about 3/4" apart. Gather up the unused dough and pat it out again. You may need to get another portion from the dough ball to make it the right size to pat out. The great thing about this cookie dough is: it does NOT need to be refrigerated, it can be used immediately and you can pat it out over and over again. Bake for 7-9 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven.

Cool completely before glazing.

Glaze: note: I use the same parchment I used for baking as a table protection while glazing. Put 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar into a small, deep bowl. Gradually add hot water by the tbsp. to the sugar, beating vigorously with a wire whisk. Optional: add flavoring to this - i.e., lemon, orange, almond, or vanilla. You'll want the glaze to have the consistency of melted chocolate or gravy . Apply to cookies using a pastry brush. While the glaze is wet, sprinkle with colored sugar or nonpareils.

Pass around to your family, the neighbors, or bring to work (so you won't eat them all yourself)

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For several days now I've been singing the scripture, "I will love the Lord with all of my heart, I will love the Lord with all of my soul, I will love the Lord with all of my strength............" I've been waking up with that song permeating my consciousness. Years ago we sang it in "rounds" . One would start, "I will love the Lord with all of my heart", then while they continued on to the next verse ("I will love the Lord with all of my soul") the second group would sing the song from the beginning......and so on. What the Lord heard was the entire scripture sung at the same time.

This verse, Matthew 22:37, was Jesus' response to a lawyer (one well versed in the Mosaic Law) who asked Him, "which is the greatest commandment in the law?" Jesus' answer was " you shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" NKJV

When we sing that song or make that confession - "I love the Lord with all my heart", we are in effect, saying, with all my being, with everything in me.

The heart is a very powerful symbol. It is the core/center of our being, both physically, emotionally and spiritually.

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Fellow castteam-mates shops where you can find wonderful heart/valentine/love related items....

cupcake toppers by

http://www.cardsbycarla.etsy.com/




Red and orange heart pendant by:
http://www.blogger.com/www.helixelement.etsy.com



Heart trimmed boxers by: dogbarks

http://www.dogbarks.etsy.com





coke heart earrings by wildappledesign

http://www.wildappledesign.etsy.com




heart puzzle by newcreatioNZ

http://www.newcreationz.etsy.com


7:00 AM | Category: , , , , , , , | 8 comments