~**Something a little different from J.Rae's Shabby Cottage Designs**~ Shrimp & Smoked Sausage Gumbo ~**

Shrimp & Smoked Sausage Gumbo

1 lb Smoked Sausage (cut & then quartered into small chunks)
1/2 stick butter (or 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil if you prefer)
1/4 C Flour
... 1 Medium Onion (chopped)
1 small bag baby carrots (chopped)
3-4 Stalks Celery (chopped)
4 C Chicken Broth
1/2 C Diced Green Chilies (to taste mild or spicy to preference)
1- 14oz Can Diced Tomatoes
1- Can Spicy Rotel or Diced Tomatoes w Green Chilies added
1-1/2 C Frozen Okra
1 Can Golden Hominy
1 lb frozen cooked medium shrimp
1-2 tsp Mrs Dash Seasoning
1 Tsp Black Pepper

In soup pot add butter, smoked sausage, brown slightly over medium heat, add flour to make a rue, add chicken broth, carrots, onion, Mrs Dash, pepper & celery bring to a boil and cook til veggies are softened. Add green chilies, diced tomatoes, rotel, and bring to a boil, simmer for about 10 minutes, then add okra, hominy, and shrimp, let simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Serve nice and hot!! You can spice this up more by using hotter peppers such as jalapeno, or adding a dash or two of hot sauce. You can also serve this over rice, but we eat it like a yummy hearty soup!

This is what the finished product looks like. It has the most incredible flavor. Just a touch of spice without being too hot. Once you have a bowl you want to go back for another. My hubby & I have been eating this at least once a week lately! Fantastic & I know you'll just love it so I just had to share!!

 

~***Here It Is Finally!! FREE GIVEAWAY TIME!!!***~

   Woooo Hooooo!! In celebration of having over 100 followers now I am doing a FREE GIVEAWAY!!!  All you have to do to be entered is be a follower, and leave a comment on this post. You get one entry for every comment you leave!!!  So if you're not already a follower, please hit the FOLLOW button on the right and leave a comment to be entered!!! Here is what I'm giving away, a sweet one of a kind handmade (by me) sweet Vintage Valentine Postcard Reproduction pillow. To Leave A Comment at the bottom of this post, it has a little blue "comments" click on that & it will bring up a little box for you to type in!!! The drawing will be held November 1st, 2011! I will notify the winner of the drawing via email and post it here on my blog!!!

Well here it is...my adorable Vintage Valentine Pillow! Handmade using a sweet little vintage cherub Valentine reproduction. I used the sweetest cotton fabrics in red and pinks and trimmed the pillow with grosgrain ribbons in coordinating colors. The back is made from a vintage while chenille and the fringe trim is from the same chenille. An adorable little accent piece to decorate around Valentines day, or if you love vintage Valentines like I do you can display it year round. It would also be a sweet accent for a romantic inspired boudoir or little girls room decor. So if you would like to have this sweet little one of a kind pillow just leave your comment on this post to be entered!!! Looking forward to hearing from you!!!

  

~~**Some New Freebies For You**~~

A lovely vintage print of a darling girl

Gorgeous Klein Roses

Beautiful Marie Antionette w Girl

Vintage Halloween Postcard Print

Harrison Fisher American Beauty

 

I hope you enjoy my selection of free images. Feel free to use them in any of your personal artwork, altered art, and you can also sell anything your create with the images. I only ask that you do not sell them as prints or fabric blocks as they are here...please alter them in some way before selling.  To save the images left click to enlarge the image, and then right click to "save as".

~*WoooooHoooooo!!! I Have Reached 100 Followers!!!*~

 Hello beautiful people!!! I am so happy to announce that I now have 100 followers!! HURRAY!!!  That means that I will be making something special and having a give-a-way!  Stay tuned for all the details on how to enter for a wonderful free gift to celebrate my 100 followers!!! Love you all and hope you will all take part in the give-a-way!!!

~***Some New Goodies For You***~

 So sorry that I have not been posting much...Life brings new things and challenges and things that take up our time. A lot of that though is new ways to serve the Lord...and for that I am so very grateful! God is good all the time...that is not just a catchy phrase....it is the truth!!! The Lord has been so good to me!!! I love Him so much, and I am so thankful for all that He has done, and thankful He called me out of the pit I was in!!!

Here are a few vintage images for you to save and use in your very own masterpieces!!! Hope you enjoy them, and I would love to see photos of your creations..email them to jraeburk@gmail.com. Please leave a comment for me if you save the images. I love to hear from those of you that are finding them useful! Many many blessings to you and yours!

PNG Image Victorian Lady

Sweet Little Girl w Broken Dolly

Mother and Child

Vintage Baby Greeting Card

Carriage Silhouette 

~*~Jesus-He Is My Everything~*~

 In the Bible, He is known as the Shield. The Rock. The Vine. The Potter. The Prince of Peace. The Light of the World. Hope. The Horn of Salvation. Father. The King of Kings. The Way. The Truth. The Life. The Comforter. The Counselor. The Great Shepherd. The Eternal God. The Everlasting Father. And much more...thank you, Lord, for being our EVERYTHING. ♥

   It's all about Him! I have lived through a lot of things in my life that I can look back and know, that even though I was not walking with Him at the time, He brought me through unharmed. My life is so much better now that I have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is nothing like it! It's truly a beautiful thing!!

Feel free to save these prints and use them for your personal projects. I use them for making pillows for gifts, in my Sunday School class projects etc! Hope you have a truly blessed day!

***~In Honor Of Easter...Some Free Images For You~***

Beautiful Vintage Easter Postcard

Vintage Easter Chicky Postcard

Adorable vintage Easter Illustration

Gorgeous vintage Easter Postcard

Adorable Chickies Vintage Easter Postcard

Hope you enjoy these images in honor of Easter, and what our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ did for us! He died on the cross to save us from our sins, and he rose again to be ever present in our lives! He lives!!! Rejoice Rejoice!!! For He lives!!
Just left click on the images to enlarge them, and then right click to "save as". Please leave me a comment if you save the images just because I like to know you find them useful. I only ask that you do not reproduce them as they are for resale as prints, digital downloads, or fabric blocks. But feel free to use them in your own altered art creations for resale.
  I would love love love to share anything that you may create with my followers..so please email me photos of your creations to jraeburk@gmail.com with a brief description that I can include here on my blog! Hope you enjoy the images...have a blessed Easter!!!

~~*How Cheerleaders For Jesus Came About*~~

This is the logo I designed for our Ladies Group "Cheerleaders for Jesus"!

 One night at church our precious Pastor's wife Teresa, who is also my aunt, was leading our praise and worship testimonies and singing. She was so joy enthusiastic and filled with pep and joy overflowing. The way she was moving her arms reminded me of a cheerleader.
  In our little church we are all encouraged and allowed to speak up when God puts something on our hearts to do so. So I spoke up and said...you're a cheerleader for Jesus!!! It all blossomed from there.     
   Now previous to this we ladies had met one time for a luncheon and had decided it was something we would do once a month for fellowship and a wonderful time in the Lord. So it all came together that we would start a ladies group called "Cheerleaders For Jesus", meet once a month for lunch in the fellowship hall, after lunch we make handcrafted items, to use in these lovely gift baskets that will be taken to someone who is sick, shut in, hurting emotionally, or wherever God sends us. We also include other items like little cookies, crackers, lotions and pretties in the baskets.
   So far we have made pretty Christian inspirational bookmarks, refrigerator magnets and little sachet cupcakes from vintage chenille. Since I am the one in the group that loves to do the crafty things and I have an abundance of crafting supplies and ideas, I have been blessed to be the leader of the crafting portion of the meetings. Right down my alley!!! I love love love it, and have been so truly blessed to see some of the ladies "come out of their shells".
  There is an amazing older lady in the group, she is a beautiful spirit that always fills us with such joy to be around her. Watching her make the crafts is a heartwarming experience as you can see the sparkle in her eyes, and she reminds me of a sweet child just learning to do something wonderful!!!
Here are some photos of us girls and the recipients of the baskets that we cheerleaders make and deliver to these precious people!

Our Pastor's beautiful wife Teresa

Beautiful Cheerleader for Jesus, Sister Sheila

 

Precious Cheerleader for Jesus, Sister Betty

Cheerleaders for Jesus, & my sweet daughter in law and her mother, (l) Sister Rachel, (r) Sister Kathy! In the background is Sister Sandra!!!

                     Recipients of the Cheerleaders for Jesus gift baskets:

This precious lady has cancer and is mainly homebound.

These beautiful people are a Pastor and his wife. He is in his 90's and still preaching God's word when he feels well enough to do so. He has been very ill lately suffering with heart failure. She has back injuries and other ailments that prevent her from getting around very well.

~*~Time for some more FREEBIES for you!!!*~*

 Hello there all of my wonderful and faithful followers!! It's time for some more free images for you! I am so pleased that I am now only 14 beautiful people away from having 100 followers! When I reach 100 I will do a FREE give-a-way of one of my one of a kind creations! HURRAY!!!
  To save the images just click on them to enlarge, and then right click to "save as". I only ask that you do not reproduce the images in their original form to resale as prints, fabric blocks, or digital images. But, please feel free to use them and print them as many times as you like for your own creations or altered art for resale. Thank you so much! I appreciate each and every one of you!! ENJOY!!!

Sir John Tenniel Alice In Wonderland Illustration

Beautiful Vintage Painting Mother & Daughter

Harrison Fisher American Beauty

Sweet Vintage Postcard Print Bunny Baby In a Hat Box

Beautiful Vintage Colorized Photo Boy & Girl

I hope you enjoy and are able to use some of these free vintage prints in your very own creations! I would love to see your & share your work here on my blog , so please email me any photos of the things you make with my free prints to jraeburk@gmail.com with a brief description. If you item is for sale I will advertise that for free for you!!!
Also if you save the images please leave me a comment!! I would love to know that you find the images useful in your own artwork and creations! Thanks so very much!! I pray you all have a truly blessed day!!!

**~Happy Springtime Freebies For You!!!~**

  My goodness it's a lovely spring day here in Paragould, Arkansas!!! The sun is out, the sky is a beautiful blue, the trees are budding and some have beautiful white blossoms on them. the birds are singing a pretty tune, & it's supposed to reach a wonderful 78 degrees today!!! Woooooo Hoooooo thank you Lord for the springtime!!!
  In honor of this beautiful spring day that God has made, I am going to give you some very spring like free images today! I hope you can use them to create beautiful things!!! Just click on the images to enlarge, and then click to save to your files!!! Enjoy!!

Precious Barker Fairies

Bessie Pease Gutmann

Frances Brundage Calendar Print

Vintage Easter Postcard

Mabel Rollins Harris Print

   I hope you can find many wonderful uses for these beautiful vintage prints. I only ask that you do not resell them as prints or fabric blocks or for sale in any digital form such as collage sheets etc. Please save them and use them as many times as you wish in your projects like altered art, pillows ,quilts, sachets etc for resale or personal use. 
  I would love to see your creations so email photos with a brief description and I will include blog posts featuring your wonderful items. My email is jraeburk@gmail.com. If you save the images I would love it if you could leave me a comment! Hope you have a wonderfully blessed day!!!

*~*Free Images For You*~*

Thank you so much to my sweet followers! I appreciate each and every one of you! I am only 22 beautiful people away from reaching 100 followers, and when I do I will have a giveaway featuring one of my handmade creations.
Today I have a variety of images for you to enjoy and use in your lovely handmade creations. I only ask that you do not use them to sell as prints, fabric blocks, or digital downloads. Feel free to use them in your handmade items for resale..
To save the images left click to enlarge, and then right click to "save.

18th century french bed.

 

 

Beautiful Birds & Roses

Pretty Art Deco Lady

Pretty Sepia Flapper Era

Sweet Colorized Antique Photo Easter Girl

 

I hope you enjoy the freebies! Please remember to leave me a comment if you save the images. I just love to know who's stoppin' by for a peak! If you make anything using the images I would love to see your work and display here on my blog! 
Just email a brief description and photos of your creations to jraeburk@gmail.com!
Hope you have a beautifully blessed day!!!