hmmm....

When I last posted I had no idea of just how very topsy-turvy our lives would turn...

Life has not been the same... and it won't be the same... ever....

What does remain the same, however, are:

1. God's Faithfulness
2. God's Love
3. God's Care & Protection over us
4. God
.
.
.

The list could go on and on and on... but for now, I'm clinging to the promises and one day... we will once again sing because He will give the song in the night.

You see... my husband of 27 1/2 years passed away unexpectedly - there were complications during his surgery - when I gave him a kiss as he was wheeled into the surgical suite I never ever dreamed that it would be the last time that I would see him alive.

Life sure has a way of turning worlds upside down, but God... but for God it would all be so very meaningless... I'm so glad that my dear dear husband is worshiping his God in a place that knows no heartache or sorrow... and I'm so glad that God is here with us... it is what we look forward to celebrating in just a few short weeks... Emmanuel... God with us.

and until I see him again... I pray for God's peace to flood our home... our souls... our minds... for one day I too shall enter into His glorious Presence... be re-united with Florian and together we will bow down in worship...

shalom, my friends, peace be with you in the midst of whatever it is that you will face today.....

and a 2nd card today . . .

I found a few more challenges yesterday that I hoped to fit in to my day today.

Again, the challenge at S2G was to use the sentiment "thanks". Then I stumbled upon Stamp Scrap & Doodle Saturdays. They post challenges every Saturday and today's challenge was easy enough... they asked us to show them our "fall" cards. I had just picked up some great paper packs at the LSS yesterday so this was going to be a perfect opportunity to crack open the package and see what I could use. The sponsor at SSCS is Inktegrity so I popped over there to see what was happening and found yet another challenge!! Their Hump Day Inspiration #21 challenge was to use this sketch.

Incorporating all three challenges was fun! I used some brand new BasicGrey paper (Crude cardstock collection), and then an Inktegrity digital image. I'm still learning how to blend & shade with my copic markers so thought I'd use my Prismacolor pencils this time instead. I attempted to give the wheelbarrow a look of weathered wood... not sure I got it quite right though...

The ribbon was some Christmas ribbon that I found on sale today. It's a bit of an artichoke or avocado green which I thought was perfect for matching the fall colour scheme.

The sentiment was computer generated and punched out using Stampin Up's window punch.

All in all, I had fun tonight. It was a teeny bit of a sanity check after a full day of tackling a list of jobs that I hoped to have done before our lives get turned topsy-turvy this next week.

until next time,

another card . . ..

and another challenge...

This week on S2G, the challenge was simply to use the sentiment "Thanks" on a card.

I spent a bit of time at our LSS yesterday. It was enough to inspire me to give the challenge a try. It's all a hodgepodge of stuff from my stash with the exception of the stamped frame and some of the embellishments. Those were a few of the bargains I picked up yesterday in the clearance section of my LSS.

The oval is stamped in chocolate ink on vanilla cs; I cut out the inside using my x-acto knife; layered it on a scalloped rectangle (nestibilities). It's popped up over a small panel for the sentiment which is layered on the glitzy floral DP. The primas in the corner were one of the purchases I made - saw some that used pearls as centers so that's from where that inspiration came.

I'm not totally crazy about the card, but I needed to spend some time clearing my head of all that's been happening these last few days and this was the result. I think I'll try to spend some more time working on another idea or two tonight.

Until next time, may God hold you close... may you know His presence... may you enjoy His richest blessings....

and a 3rd and final attempt . . .

to incorporate chocolate into a card design.

I've come to the conclusion that brown is not a favourite colour of mine. I love what others can do with it, but me? not so much.

I like the clean & simple lines of this design. My first attempt was using Copic markers to colour the holly, but that failed miserably (the ink bled fiercely outside the lines) so I reprinted the design and pulled out my Prismacolour crayons. I liked this much much much better. The holly berries are coloured with the Spica Glitter pen - oh, I sure do love those markers!!

This may be the design that I actually use for my Christmas cards this year... still trying to decide on that though. If I do use this design, I will move the sentiment a bit - I feel it's currently sitting a little too much to the left.

I don't know that I'll get to much more cardmaking this week... we'll see about that too. In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful day/evening/night!!

blessings,

a second attempt. . .

in working with the color challenge on the stamping forum. For this attempt, I used white cardstock layered on a chocolate panel.

Then I changed the digital image:
- found a dingbat font that I could use for flourishes
- found a script font that I liked better (used it only for the "M")
- changed the colour of the sentiment & flourishes to red
- increased the opacity of the evergreen branches; they stand out a little more now

In using the white cardstock I didn't think the distressed edges looked all that great, so I kept the lines a little cleaner.

I managed to match the ribbon (SU baroque burgundy) & added a pop of colour with the gold ribbon & gold brads.

I like it a little better, but I'm still not sold. Any suggestions?

a challenge. . .

was issued this week on one of the forums that I frequent - to use chocolate. That could be as ink, paper, or.. the real deal.

In deciding not to bring that kind of temptation into our home I was left with paper & ink.

I spent some time browsing the galleries looking for colour combinations and decided on a Christmas theme, with brown & green. I had a design in mind and began looking for brushes to use in my photo editing program. My search was unsuccessful; I began to try to create my own. Fortunately, my daughter was home and showed me just how easy this was!!

My sentiment and all graphics are computer generated. After printing the main panel, I sponged the edges with chocolate ink. In my attempt to add distressing to the edges, I made a major oops. Like all good crafters know, when that happens you just add that to the design LOL

Ribbon purchased from the fabric store & dollar stores, a punched edge panel and a button from my MIL brought the finishing touch.

I'm still not sure I like it. Maybe it's because all the colours are muted? Maybe I need something a little different in the corner? I'm not sure. What do you think?

If I have time today after work and before getting ready for my daughter's family birthday dinner, I'll head back to my desk and see if I can create attempt #2.

in our home . . .

a Harry Potter fan is celebrating her birthday today.

I was able to download a free image a while ago from Bugaboo Stamps. Jodi has a complete set of Har Repotter digital images available for purchase. What fun for anyone who has been bitten by the Harry Potter bug LOL

Together with inspiration from this card, I created one with sage advice from the Gentle One for my daughter. I hope she likes it.

Used a bunch of copic markers (I have no idea which ones as I had them all out & didn't remember to take note of which ones I actually used... oops. )

Took the piece outside to burn the edges... my hands still smell of smoke!! Misted the top & bottom edges with water and, using a straw, curled the edges. The ribbon is from a wedding reception that I attended at the beginning of the month. The silver paper is actually just a piece of tin foil cut to size :-)

We won't actually celebrate her birthday as a family until Friday, but she will receive her gift (and card) from us tonight as the gift is time sensitive.

It's been too long . . .

since I've really taken a day to make cards.

Although yesterday was World Card Making Day, I didn't have opportunity to actually work on any cards or participate in any of the many challenges that were posted. However, one challenge on SCS Flybabies was to make a card that says, "Thank You" on it. What a great challenge!! and perfectly fitting for what I needed!!

In light of that, I worked on a card today - my Mom wanted a ThankYou card for friends who ... well, my folks were blessed by these friends in a remarkable way.

I spent most of yesterday evening looking for inspiration... and found Vintaged Serenity. The basic layout is CASEd, but I used a "thank you" collage in place of the serenity poem.


I also worked on a digital design that my folks can use as a "change of address" card. The postal system here has cards available, but they're really boring. I thought that this picture of an empty room was a great place to start. I assembled just this one card today.

Now that I know what supplies I need, they are all gathered & ready for me to take down to my folks. The plan is for me to leave tomorrow and spend the next few days there with them. I hope to have time in the evenings to assemble these - the goal is to have them all done before it's time for me to come back home.

It's been great to be back in my stamping space. I hope I can get there again before too long!!

it's been anything . . .

but peaceful these last few weeks/months....

and yet. In the midst of all that has been happening, there is a quiet peace that comes when we quiet ourselves and "be still".

Be still my frantic & panicked heart... and know. Know that God is God. That means He is still in control - always was and always will be - I can let go and allow His peace to flood over my soul...

I needed to make a sympathy card this week.

I thought this was a fitting verse to use - peace that comes to us in the midst of whatever is going on when we re-focus our thoughts.... and it fits with the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge!!

I haven't been very faithful in keeping up with the challenges each week, but when I happened to check the blog this week, I was surprised (pleasantly) to see that this card that I had just made fit so very well.

Thanks for allowing me to join the challenge and to take a few minutes to reflect... to allow His Peace to wash over me as I contemplated the challenge...

a new project...

that I've started is making Quiet Books for the young moms in our church. We've had quite the explosion of babies this spring and... well, I never know quite what to get them as baby gifts.

The other Sunday, I noticed that my friend had a version of a Quiet Book for her grand-daughter. It brought to mind the one that my aunts made for me when my children were little. As I pondered these random and seemingly unconnected thoughts, the lightbulb went on and I thought... "Why don't I bless these young moms in the same way that I was blessed by my aunts?"

A call to my sister... a visit to the fabric store where we found some fabulous deals... and the project was underway.

I've given 2 away and a 3rd is ready to be gifted this weekend...

the cover:

page 1:

pages 2-3:


pages 4-5:


pages 6-7:


pages 8-9:


pages 10-11:


page 12:

As I was working on these, my kids saw them and it brought back memories for them providing some really neat conversations of "back then" LOL

Again, thanks for stopping by.... and I wish for you a blessing-filled day!!

on a roll...

but then, I have no choice LOL

This morning, Florian had to go in to work to do some software upgrades so I took advantage of that and worked on a couple of cards. This easiest thing to do is to find something you like and make a few that are similar!!

So, in just a couple of hours, I made two baby cards. One will go with me to church tomorrow and the other is all ready for a baby shower next weekend!! It's a great feeling to have both made!!!

Both are very simple - an embossed front panel (Stickles on some of the embossed dots to add a little glitz & glamour), cut out a square for image to peek through (digital images, coloured with Copics & BIC MarkIts), and then finished off with a tiny bow. So easy!!

Thanks for stopping by - your visits (and comments) make me smile!

two cards. . .

to post today. I've not had as much time lately to work on these. I really really don't like that. I feel like every card now is so very last minute and I hate working under that kind of pressure.

This first card was for a "pre-baby shower" that I attended, along with my girls. It was for a friend of DD1. Although she hasn't had the baby yet, she was in need of quite a few items to get ready for the arrival of this precious little one. She is expecting to have a girl, so I took my chances and made my card pink!!

I found the image on the 'net but it needed quite a bit of cleaning up to make it workable. I love that I can do that with PSP. RicRac ribbon is from a local Dollar Store and the pearls are from my stash LOL.

Then this week I realized that Father's Day is just around the corner. My card needed to be mailed (or at least I thought so, but more on that later) so I spent the evening putting this together. Notice anything different about it?

no? well.... it doesn't have any pearls on it!!!! I popped it into the mail to get it on its way. Then I received an email from my sister.... "Have you mailed Dad's card yet? If not, I can take it with me when I head down tomorrow...." oops. It's already in the mail and... well, it'll get there probably next week :(

I still have 3 more cards to make this week - 2 more baby shower cards and a birthday card for my son. I'll have to get really creative with my time if I want to get them all made before Sunday!!

So, that's it for today. It was so nice of you to stop by :-)

back to reality. . .

I enjoyed a fabulous weekend in Vancouver. My husband and I trekked all over the water front on Saturday ending up at Murchies Tea & Coffee. That is my all-time-most-favourite place!! It was wonderful to sit for a spell and enjoy a cuppa while giving our feet a rest. We logged just about 8 miles that day!!

But now it's back to reality. We have yet another funeral to attend today. I got up early to make this card. I took my inspiration from several cards that I saw in the SCS gallery. I'm loving my copic markers (the few that I own)! The image is a digital one that I found; the sentiment is computer-generated (surprise surprise) LOL I would do things a little differently next time, but generally it's OK.

Cardstock is GinaK's Pure Luxury white - I love the weight of this paper!! Satin ribbon from a local fabric store; pearls .... what can I say? I have just "a few" left from making wedding invitations - they have quickly become my embellishment of choice!! I think they add a touch of elegance - so I love to use them whenever & however I can!! I used exactly 6 so I could participate in KWEDs challenge to use six of something (it could be anything, as long as there were 6 of them).

So, that's it for this time around. Thanks again for stopping by.

blessings,

on a cheerier note...

my future DIL has a birthday next week!! Making a card for her was a delight as it (1) gave me a reprieve from the sympathy cards that I had been making lately and (2) it gave me such joy to think about her and pray for her as I was making the card. I hope her birthday is a day full of blessing!

I had given some thought to the design and then as I was surfing the web (for something totally unrelated), I stumbled across this JustRite Friday Challenge. The sketch was perfect. In fact, it was very close to the ideas that I already had in mind for the card.

I have only the Damask Borders Monogram stamping kit from JustRite, but with a little creativity, I managed to add a computer generated birthday sentiment to the stamped border. Pearls accent the scallops as well as add interest to the black ribbon; buttons tied around the ribbons anchor the sentiment panel.

It really was fun to see everything come together so very quickly for this card. Maybe because I had already created one that was very similar?! LOL In any case, I hope she likes it.

Well, that's it for today. Again, thanks for stopping by.

blessings,

two sympathy cards...

to make this week. It seems that it is generally agreed that these are, hands-down, the hardest cards to make.

This first card was for a neighbour whose husband passed away last week. Not knowing whether or not they have any kind of faith in God, I wanted to be careful. At the same time, I didn't want to hide my faith.

As a result I created the sentiment on the computer using my graphics editing software. I left the inside blank so I could write a personal message to her, expressing our sympathies and giving quiet evidence of our faith.

Then today we heard that a co-worker from our early career days had passed away. Just two years older than me, he died in his sleep. The funeral is scheduled for Monday. Because I won't have time this weekend to work on any card making, I knew I needed to get that done today as well.

DP is from Little Yellow Bicycle; stamps are Hero Arts flourishes and Autumn Leaves (rhonna farrer). I love how the buttons anchor the computer generated sentiment. And of course, there's not a card these days that doesn't get some kind of pearl treatment from me!!!

Thanks for coming by today... I wish for you a blessing-filled day!!

two cards. . .

to share today.

Robert Green Ingersolls once said, "In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing". A friend of mine had an adaptation of this in her signature line this week. It read, "In the nighttime of despair, hope sees a star".

I have been thinking lately about "the dark night of the soul" and as I read the quote, it caught my attention. As I read it, I asked myself, "If hope sees a star, what is it that would find, or hear, or perhaps even sing, a song?"

She challenged me to try to make a card using her quote. I wasn't at home at all yesterday, but during the night I had plenty of time to ponder.

StampTV had two challenges this week (sketch, colour) that helped me form some ideas and this afternoon, while I had a few hours, I took to my stamping area to see whether I could actually create something that even closely resembled what I envisioned.

The result? a black, grey (fitting colour for despair, don't you think?) and white card (you can't really see it, but I used some handmade paper for the top white panel), a trail of stars, slowly getting larger as they cascade towards the bottom of the sentiment, reaching their destination as the result of that hope.

This hope that can be ours as we relinquish our fears and feelings of despair. Hope that sees the star as it shines & beckons us to recognize the Creator. Hope that results in song - a soul-song - coming to us in the darkness of despair - a song that we sing as our winter turns to spring.

This second card is for the Stampin' Sister in Christ challenge this week - to use the colours brown, blue and white. I wanted a card to give to a close friend of mine who has encouraged me... who has challenged me to hear the song - to allow the ice of winter to melt - to embrace the spring - to sing my soul-song. I found a neat tutorial on how to make your own background (you can read it here). Again, I designed the sentiment using PaintShopPro; the background uses the allegro embossing folder (CB). Having sanded the cardstock to get the blue to show through, it ended up with a really weathered feel - quite appropriate considering that's just how I feel when I have forgotten the words to the song in my heart.

So there you have it. Two very different cards that come from some of the thinking I've been doing this week.

blessings,

oh it's rather frightful...

outside today... another winter storm warning... snow... wind warning in effect with northwesterly winds gusting to 100km/h...

but inside it's been pleasant and warm... A great day to snuggle up with a good read... or to take some "me time"...

I chose the latter.

The Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge for this week was to "use the talents you have been given to create a card or project that is knit together (stitched- faux or real)." Sentimental Sundays' challenge was "for someone special".

Today is the birthday of a special friend - one who came into our lives about 26 years ago - one who, together with his wife, has walked alongside us through the good times and the not-so-good. He loves the Oregon Coast so with that in mind I found a picture that I could use a focal point. A few layers/scraps of paper I had... a bit of zigzag stitching to hold the scraps in place... inspiration from others.... paper piercing... and this is the final result. The birthday sentiment was computer generated and cut out using my label nestibilities.

I hope that in spite of the weather, he will enjoy a great day as his family surrounds him with warmth and love.

Happy Birthday, Murray!!

a little too late..

to qualify for the Stampin' Sister in Christ challenge for the week (to use flowers on a card), but it does qualify for Sentimental Sunday's Bloomin' Gorgeous challenge.

I had been contemplating this card all week. The ladies from my church were hosting a wedding shower for my son's fiancee. I knew I needed a card - to incorporate flowers was easy. I just didn't get a chance to get to my stamping until late Saturday.

We had spent all day working on the invitations; everyone had left; my husband went to bed and I headed down to my stamping area. I had a design in mind - all I needed was to put the pieces together.

The vine/flowers is a free image from clker.com. After colouring it (I used my BIC MarkIts), I cut out the ovals (nestibilities) and then went searching for a suitable sentiment. I found the quote online and using my photo editing software, I designed the sentiment to fit inside the oval. My dear son came into the office just at this point, so together we chose the fonts and placement. Thanks C - you have a great eye for design!

To give it a little more pizazz, I pulled out the leftover pearls from the day's activities and then added the green ribbon as a final touch.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

blessings,

thoughts of blessing ...

I found myself thinking some more about the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge for this week and found my thoughts turning toward a few more Scripture verses.

Jesus promises that we won't have peace in this world... that's not a very wonderful thought to put into a card... can you imagine making a card for a friend... "Oh and by the way, things aren't necessarily going to get better. Jesus said He didn't come to bring peace, but to bring a sword (Matthew 10:34)"

And yet, Jesus came as the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and in Isaiah 26:3 we read, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you". And again in John 14:27 we read, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

What wonderful promises that we have been given! Contemplating some of those thoughts, I found my way back to the beginning of the Old Testament, to the book of Numbers, where God instructs Moses in how Aaron is to bless the people of Israel. I cherish these verses:

"The LORD bless you
and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."

That inspired me to try another card. I created the sentiment in Word using various fonts. I love the vintage look these days so attempted to bring that into the card as well using lace that I found in my sewing basket, ribbon, primas and buttons from my stash. The DP is K&Company that I picked up at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago.

Thanks for stopping by and may the Lord bless you today!