Show and Tell

The Year in Review

Today is Saturday, December 31. New Years Eve Day. The last day of 2011. And what a year it's been. I thought I'd do something a little different today and do a year in review, encompassing all the different areas that I usually write about.

So — starting with the personal stuff. The year began with the search for the perfect wedding dress for Britt. Oh, how fun that was! In fact, the first half of the year was pretty well consumed with wedding preparations — besides the usual work and family related things.

Ken and I took our yearly trip to the Midwest in June, visiting some of his family at the Hayes family reunion in Illinois and some of both mine and Ken's in Indiana. It's always good to get out into the heartland and Ken and I are good traveling companions. We don't talk a whole lot, but there's something to be said for companionable silence. Don't you think?

Then, of course, we had the big event in Raleigh on July 30th — Britt & Kenneth's wedding.

  '

That snapshot was taken as the photographer was taking the official photos.

And here is one of me and Ken from the reception.

By that time it was apparent that something was seriously wrong with me, as I could barely walk, but it was still such a joyous occasion. And I'm happy that we carried on through it.

Of course, you probably know the rest. On August 1, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and spent the next six days in the hospital, where they determined that the tumor was inoperable. I had six weeks of radiation, which did not decrease the size of the tumor, but did provide me for an opportunity for a new haircut! By the time the pictures below were taken, I had lost my hair in a wide strip across the center of my head — ear to ear...

... and the steriods had been wreaking havoc on my weight. Since my dosage continues to be decreased, I'm hoping that my size will start decreasing, as well. And, speaking of the dosage decreasing, I think that tomorrow we're going to try going from 2mg a day to either 1 or 1.5 mg. As always, I'll appreciate your prayers for that. Those little pills got me through a rough time, but they're wicked and I'm ready to be done with them!

So — that's pretty much our 2011 in a nutshell. An interesting year, for sure, but not really a bad year. The Lord has definitely proven himself faithful to us through all the ups and down!

 

The last psalm in my Change Your Life Daily Bible is the perfect psalm for the end of this year, I think.

Psalm 150:1-6

"Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram's horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes. Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

We're singing the Lord's praises around here. May the new year find you singing His praises, too!

 

Yesterday I took a little time to check out a few of my favorite papercraft blogs and noticed that many of them had posted their favorite projects of 2011 (that they had made). So, I decided to follow suit. Here are 12 of my favorite crafty projects of the year.  

January — merci card

February — Go-To Sentiment Card for Make It Monday

March — Scripture Tag Book

April — Appreciation Card

May — Smile!

June — Everything Beautiful

July — Blessings

August — Tags for Wedding Guest Bags

September — For Our Mail Carrier

October — Hello, Little Baby!

November — Mug Filled with Thanks

December — Corn Casserole Recipe and Doily Recipe Card

I was planning to briefly say what I liked about each project, but we're going out to dinner with friends tonight and I should probably get cleaned up a bit. Maybe later tonight I'll drop in and edit the post. Or... maybe I won't. :)

Hope all is well with you and that your 2012 is filled with all the Lord's goodness and blessings. Sending you lots of love tonight! xxoo 

 

a new song... and... fa la la

Today is Friday, December 30. And I'm feeling much better today. Much, much better. Thanks for your prayers! :)

Since it's still December, I thought I'd show you one more Christmas-y thing... our mantel.

The Nativity scene, the stockings, and the trees are about the only Christmas decorations that we used this year. And, you know, it was pretty nice not to pull out all that other stuff. Well, we got it out of the attic but just left it all upstairs in Ken's office. I should probably go through the boxes and and get rid of some of the decor. But then I start thinking about potential grandchildren and how magical Christmas is with children and all the lighted, sparkly decorations and everything. I just don't know. I guess I'll wait another year to decide. :)

It's a little odd to see just three stockings on the mantel. Ken's mom made beautiful stitchery Christmas stockings for each of her grandchildren when they were newborns. I just love both of our kids' stockings and was a little sad to see Britt's go with her into her marriage. I hope she takes good care of it! ...just kidding, Britt, I know you will!... :) 

 

Well, here is a bit of scripture for today.

Psalm 149:1

"Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful."

Since being diagnosed with the brain tumor, I've only missed one Sunday worship service... and that was the day after coming home from the hospital. I feel so fortunate, because singing "praises in the assembly of the faithful" is very precious to me. What a joy to sing to the Lord along with the rest of the congregation.

And... I think it's important to note that I haven't missed a Sunday. The Lord has been so good to me. There have been times that it would've been easier to stay home. But... I just soldiered on and each Sunday was oh-so-glad that I went. Nothing like spending some time praising the Lord and listening to the pastor teach from God's Word to lift the spirits. I guess the message that I have for you is that even if you don't really feel like going to church — for whatever reason — just go ahead and force yourself to go if you're able. I'm fairly confident that you will feel better at the end of the service.  

 

This is the last of the Christmas gift card holders. In fact, it's the last of all the Christmas posts. And it's not even January 1 yet... way to go, Janelle! :)

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This time I didn't do any stamping on the inside of the card. Guess I was getting lazy. :)

 

 

 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Tag-its #8); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Confetti Cream); patterned paper is Making Memories (Noel: Green Snowflake Noel); ink is SU (Wild Wasabi, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, River Rock); also used PTI dies (Gift Card Greetings, Christmas Tree).

This afternoon Ken & I went on two walks of at least one mile each and I watched a lot of Property Brothers on TV. Ken doesn't share my enthusiasm for HGTV. Although, he tolerates it now and again. :) We remodeled our downstairs a few years ago which I thought was a lot of fun, but he found it quite stressful. And we used contractors for it. This year on January 1, we started remodeling one of the bathrooms upstairs by ourselves. And, much to Ken's dismay, I'm sure, we still haven't finished. I'm the one holding it up, though. I have this idea but don't really know how to articulate it or execute it — so that's got me kind of at a standstill. Gotta get on that. Time to find all those magazine clippings I've been collecting for a years.

Well, it is getting to be almost dinnertime, so I think I oughta get this posted. Thank you so much for all your prayers and good wishes when I was in a funk yesterday. They really helped, my spirits were lifted, and I'm so thankful for all of you! Hugs and kisses! xoxo

 

Give Praise to the Lord... and... Wine Bottle Tags

Today is Thursday, December 29. It's been kind of a blah day for me, so far. Which has kind of taken me by surprise because the last two days have really been pretty good. I've been in good spirits and felt mostly good. Today I've been tired and just a little crabby. I probably need to get out for a walk. That has helped in the past. 

Well, let's change the subject... Back in early December my sister-in-law Kris came to visit. We had a fabulous time together and a highlight was when we were invited to my friend Sara Gwynn's house for dinner. Sara Gwynn and Kristine had formed a strong bond earlier when Kris was seeking a way to get some champagne cupcakes from her home in California to our home in North Carolina. (The story is in the post here.)

It's about time that I posted some pictures of our time together, isn't it? Here is one of Sara Gwynn, Kris, and myself.

You can really see how tubby I've gotten to be. I'm gonna figure out how to work on that in the new year! 

Here's another photo of the three of us, but this time Sara Gwynn's husband, Doug, was included.

And, I need to post this one, too, so you can see that Ken was also with us. :)

And here's one of the reasons that I can't seem to lose weight...

Yep. I know way too many good bakers. :) (But, thanks, Sara Gwynn! We all had a fabulous time!) And, I'm so blessed with so many great friends!

 

Here is some scripture for today.

Psalm 148:1-2

"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise him from the skies! Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven!"

I have not really been having a very good day, as I mentioned above. But verses like this really help me to change my focus. It's easy for me to just think about me, me, me... and about my unfortunate lot in life (I say that with a bit of a smile...). But taking my focus off of me and praising the Lord instead, well, that makes a huge difference. He is to be praised. Afterall, He is the Lord who created the heavens and the earth... yet He still cares for little old me. What a wonderful thing that is! It's not a day to mope around and feel sorry for myself... it is a day to celebrate life and the God of creation! Won't you join me in the celebration? 

 

Well, let's switch gears from the gazillion Christmas gift card holders I've been posting and get to another type of gift. How about a way to dress up wine bottle gifts for the holidays? 

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Once again, I made two of this item. Since the patterned paper is two-sided, I cut one from each side... making tags that coordinated with each other. Which was especially nice since we were taking both bottles to our neighbor's house on Christmas Eve. 

(Take a good look at those snowman faces. Does it look to you like they've been imbibing a little? Their smiles are just a little too goofy. :) Didn't think of that until just now, but it is a little funny, don't you think? I know... it doesn't take a whole lot to amuse me!) 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Banner Builder, Fillable Frames #8, Tag-its #8); cardstock is PTI (Vintage Cream); patterned paper is Basic Grey (Jovial: button nose); ink is SU (Pure Poppy) and Memento (Tuxedo Black); marker is SU (Basic Black); baker's twine is The Twinery (Mandarin); also used PTI dies (Double-Ended Banners, Wine Bottle Tag, Tag Sale #5).

Well, it looks like I may be finishing my post early again today. Yay for me! I've already been on one walk this afternoon, but since I'm posting early I think I'll be able to get another one in before it gets too cold and dark.

Thank you so very much for stopping by to visit with me... and for listening to my daily ups and downs. (I should probably say "my momentary ups and downs" because the downs are really pretty fleeting...) This is an interesting journey that I'm on and I'm so thankful that I have people who are willing to share it with me. So... I'm sending you big hugs of thanks and bushels of love!   

Sing praises... and... Yet still more gift card holders

Today is Wednesday, December 28. Yesterday's infusion was not so bad. In fact, we came home and took a walk instead of a nap. That's a first! And I didn't have a nap later either. I was a little nauseous around dinner time, but felt better after a poached egg on toast. Then we watched a movie we had DVRed — so I made it all day with no nap!

And today has been pretty good, too. I wasn't sure when I woke up at 3:00 a.m., but I was able to get back to sleep quickly and didn't wake up for good until after 5:00 (an acceptable time for me to get out of bed — before 5:00, not so much!). I started feeling a little puny around 8:00, but after a poached egg on toast (can you tell that's my cure-all?) was totally revived and have been going non-stop since then. Well, it's not like I've been super active, but I did do some blog commenting and some internet shopping. Gotta take advantage of at least a few of the after-Christmas sales, right? 

Here are a few pictures from around the house and neighborhood. 

We took a walk around the block when we got home after chemo yesterday. I was fascinated by the sky as we turned down our street. It had been raining a good part of the day but was beginning to clear. I love all the layers of color in the sky... the blue, the white, and the many shades of gray. It's so pretty to me. And, isn't that the most gorgeous blue — untouched by any photo-enhancing software, I might add. (Hope it looks as pretty on your screen as it does on mine!) 

When we got home from our walk, I noticed that the pansies on our front porch were looking especially lovely.

 And we get no credit for that. They must be thriving on neglect. Or else my friend Sara Gwynn has been lurking around my flower pots again. :)

And one more very unimportant photo, but I took it quite a while ago and just haven't posted it yet.

I call them my twinkle toes. :) Glittery green. Very pretty. (Thanks, Kelley!)

 

More words from the Psalms today.

Psalm 147:1

"Praise the Lord! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting!"

The Lord is so good to us... all the time. Even when life isn't rosy. But, right now, my life is pretty rosy. At least for someone with a brain tumor. I'm on my second day after my fifth infusion and I'm feeling pretty good. Not extraordinarily tired. Not sickly. Almost normal. Life is definitely good. And, as I think I said recently, I completely attribute this to the Lord and to your prayers for me. It is good to sing praises to our God — and I'm hoping you'll be praising Him along with me today. You can praise Him for His goodness to me, but also be sure to praise Him for His goodness in your life. As the psalmist said... "how delightful and how fitting!"

 

Well, can you stand a couple more gift card holders?

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This time I remembered that it is a good idea to put the to-from message on the front of the gift card holder. However, I forgot to pay attention to the way the pattern was going when I die cut the holders.

I'm sure you can see that the snowmen on the left-hand card are standing on their heads. Oh, well. I'm not too into redoing things, so I hope that Ian didn't mind that his snowmen were upside down. At least I learn from my mistakes. I got it right on the next card that I made. :)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (2008 Holiday Tag Collection, Tree Trimming Trio); printed paper is Crate Paper (Snow Day Collection: Frosty); ink is Stampin' Up (Real Red, Pool Party); also used SU's 1-3/8" circle punch and PTI dies (Double-ended Banners, Gift Card Greetings).

Well, I think I'm going to finish the blog post early again today. Yay for me! It sure helps to not be going to work and to have a bunch of crafty blog entries ready to go. That'll all end in a few days, though, so be preparing yourself for some late day posts. :)

I so appreciate your visits to my blog and all your words of encouragement and support. And mostly for your prayers. It has been a great week so far... I'm extremely blessed. Hope your week is stellar, as well! Big, squeezy hugs coming your way! :) 

Joyful... and... Still More Gift Card Holders

Today is Tuesday, December 27. It's an infusion day.

First of all, though, how about a picture from the neighborhood. The way this family uses Christmas lights in their house is just so interesting.

They hang different colored icicle lights across their ceiling over and over again, back and forth, wall to wall... a glorious curtain of colored light. So pretty, I think. (Although, I'd probably never have the guts to do it across my living room.)

 

Back in the Psalms today.

Psalm 146:5, 8b

"But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.... The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly."

I'm hooked up to an IV that is currently flushing saline through my system before they start a steriod and an anti-nausea medicine. Then they'll do another saline flush. Then the Avastin. Then it'll be more saline. Then CPT-11. Then more saline. And by about 2:30 or 3:00 I'll be done and on my way home.

But, you know what? I might have a lot of depressing medical stuff going on right now, but it does not affect my joy. Or my hope. God is my helper. He lifts me up. I'm so grateful for His love for me! And I'm expecting this day to be a great one. :) 

 

Hope you're not tired of gift card holders yet, because here are a couple more.

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I made two different gift card holders... again using the same basic layout and style for both, just with different stamps and dies. This particular die is long enough to wrap around to the back side of the gift card holder — so that's what I did. And then added a little decorative element on that folded over section with coordinating stamps/paper.

The to/from stamp from the set was used on the inside. Which, in retrospect, was not that great of an idea (putting that important information on the inside)... but, oh, well. :) 

 

 

 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Half & Half, Daily Designs, Fillable Frames #9, Tag-its #9, Tag-its #8); cardstock is PTI (Vintage Cream, Rustic White); patterned paper is October Afternoon (Very Merry: Wrap the Presents) and Jellibean Soup (Christmas Chestnut Soup: whole cloves); ink is from Stampin' Up (Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake) and Memento (Tuxedo Black); also used PTI dies (Gift Card Greetings, Half & Half).

So, I'm getting this done a little early today. Surprising what one can accomplish when you're hooked up to IV's for a few hours (and put your mind to it). :) I have quite a few more Christmas projects to post over the next few days. And then I'm going to have to start making stuff again so I have something to show you. Besides, my fingers are getting a little itchy to create something.

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit and for all your prayers. Your prayers are most appreciated — and we believe in their power! Sending you love and hugs today! xxoo  

He hears and rescues... and... More Gift Card Holders

Today is Monday, December 26. We had a fabulous Christmas. How about you?

I thought I'd show you some of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions. The ones that involve the food variety, anyway.

For quite a few years now, we've spent both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our neighbors to the left. And this is their tradition for Christmas Eve...

mmmm! Crab legs flown in from the Pacific Northwest... where our neighbors and I are all from. I didn't grow up in a crab leg eating family, but I'm happy to have been adopted into one. :) They're so yummy. Especially dipped in melted butter and lemon juice. 

For Christmas Day I actually made something that I've served for years on Christmas morning (and I found some of our Christmas plates, too!).

Little ham and swiss sandwiches with a poppy seed, mustard, and butter spread. Actually, I couldn't find the recipe that I usually use, so I resorted to the internet and found something close. And, I usually use a Pampered Chef recipe for cinnamon rolls, but this year just bought some frozen sweet rolls at the grocery store. It wasn't quite the same, but close enough that if Ken or Ian noticed they didn't say anything.

Ian was pretty wiped out from his weeks working in St. Louis (he didn't get home until Saturday afternoon) so he slept all morning — but by the time we got home from church he was up and ready to open presents.

Here he's inspecting the contents of his stocking while Ken looks on. This was the first time that Ian was the only "child" at our house on Christmas and I must say that he quite enjoyed it. At one point he kind of looked around and said with much joy, "So this is what it's like to be an only child!" Haha! Yep. That 25 year old kid likes to be the center of attention!

Another important tradition of ours is decorating gingerbread cookies on Christmas Eve.

Actually, it's important to me. I'm probably the only one who really cares. And I may be the only one who really likes iced gingerbread cookies, so I probably eat the whole batch. And then spend weeks working them off. This year, it may be months. But I love the cookies so much and since I only eat them at Christmas, it's worth it to me. Actually, I'm just kind of impressed that I made a few of our holiday favorites all by myself... a variation of our traditional breakfast, hot cider, the gingerbread cookies, and some delicious chocolate marshmallow cookies that we all love. Not the amount that I've made in years past, but very good, I think, for someone who hasn't cooked since before Britt's wedding at the end of July!

 

Here is some scripture for today from the Psalms.

Psalm 145:17-19

"The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them."

As I'm on the eve of another chemo treatment, I finding myself a little nervous — yet grateful for the Lord's kindness to me. So far each infusion has been slightly worse than the one before, but nothing too terrible. And I kind of wonder if each has been a little worse because they told me that's how it would be. So, I sort of wish that I didn't know anything about the treatment so that maybe I would just go, have it, and then go on with my life as normal. So much of fighting this disease is mental, I think. Because of this, I try to be positive and stay busy. Staying busy seems to help me a lot. That and praying. :)

I'm thankful for the Lord's kindness. For His closeness to me. That He hears me when I call. That He grants my desires and hears my cries for help. That He rescues me. I'm so grateful that God is on my side!

 

Here is another set of gift card holders using PTI's Gift Card Greetings die. 

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I made three gift card holders using the same layout with different papers. The great thing about using patterned paper is that the prints on each side of the paper generally coordinate, making it really easy to make a great looking gift card holders. (The picture that I took of the inside of the holders showed the VISA number of one card, so it didn't seem like a good idea to post the picture I took of the inside of the cards... sorry!)

However, here is one (not using the patterned paper) that shows the PTI stamp I used on the inside flaps. It's a perfect fit!

 

 

 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Candy Cane Christmas, Tiny Tags, Tree Trimming Trio); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Real Red) and PTI (Stampers Select White, Vintage Cream); patterned paper is October Afternoon (Very Merry: Write the Cards and Fill the Stockings); ink is SU (Real Red, Craft White) and PTI (True Black, Dark Chocolate); baker's twine is The Twinery (Cappuccino); also used PTI dies (Gift Card Greetings, Double-Ended Banners) and SU punch (1-3/8" circle).

Do you remember last week when I showed you how our amaryliss has been been growing? Well, here it is yesterday:

It's almost blooming... probably just another day or two. Can't wait to have it cheering up our home!

I guess that's all for tonight. Thank you so much for all the Christmas wishes you sent to us. And for those neighbors and friends who brought us goodies — which we are really enjoying! Thank you also for all the prayers as we go into another treatment session. We really, really appreciate your attention to our situation! Sending you lots of love and hugs! 

Merry Christmas From Our House to Yours

Merry Christmas 2011 from the Hayes/Freeman Family!

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Verve (Poinsettia Christmas); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Going Grey).

Hope you're having/had a wonderful Christmas and we'll see you after the holiday!

Happy Holidays Mat Stack 3

Today is Friday, December 23. Wow. So close to Christmas. I'm planning to get Ken to take me to the grocery store today. It just seems like we need a few of our usual Christmas treats, so I'm going to get the ingredients and see if I can still cook. How hard can it be, right? I just have to read and follow directions... :)

I've had these pictures in the queue for a long time and if I don't share them soon, there will be no point so here they are... photos of Christmas artwork from the preschool. You know how I love preschool art!

From 2A:

The young two's sponged green paint on precut trees and added a yellow star to complete the look.

3B:

Glittery handprint angels. What parent doesn't love to receive artwork featuring their child's handprint? Add a string through the top of these and you have an ornament to use through the years. It won't be long until you'll be marveling at how small your child's hand once was.

4C:

I have two projects to show from this class...

Some construction paper trees, cut out and decorated in 4 year old style.

And then a special craft that required perseverence...

to get all the stuffing in the sock so that baby Jesus was nice and plump...

I took a couple pictures of artwork outside of 4D, too:

The children printed a nativity scene on their construction paper stockings. Since we're a Christian school, the artwork is supposed to reflect that — or at least not feature Santa Claus.

Also from 4D was a wall of candy canes along with the history of the candy (the legend of the candy cane can be found in several places on the internet — here is one). Besides the spirtual and Christmas value of this project, it also required the preschoolers to make stripes (creating an A-B pattern)... which is not a natural thing for preschoolers to do with paint. They're more into solidly colored objects (and with lots of different colors is the best). This project requires a lot of self-control for a preschooler to accomplish!

And, finally, a couple of projects from the TK class.

Love these mangers.

And this activity required a lot of working together:

The TK teacher does this with her class every year — and every year the tree is completely unique. The children take the classroom blocks and make an outline of a tree shape on the floor, including a trunk or a tree stand or whatever the class envisions would be holding up the tree. Then they use little half-round marbles to create ornaments for the tree. It's fun to see how the children work together and work out compromises as they go. Such a great activity — and the kids always love it! 

And here is one more item from preschool. It was hanging on the weekday school door right after Thanksgiving:

Beautiful, isn't it? It took me a while to realize that with all the gray and silver and with the message of "Hope" that it was in honor of me. It brought tears to my eyes. Don't I work with the best group of people in the whole wide world? (Sure do love y'all!)

 

For our Bible passage, we're back in the Psalms again today.

Psalm 142:1-2

"I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord's mercy. I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles. When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn...."

I've been there... crying out to Lord... pleading for His mercy... pouring out my troubles and complaints. But you know, even though I have a brain tumor and things may not look particularly rosy for me, I feel pretty good right now. And I'm so very grateful for that!

Do I still put my requests for healing out there to the Lord? Oh, yes. Although, sadly, maybe not as fervently when I'm feeling pretty good. But, God created us, so I think He understands how we are. And, I probably don't need to constantly remind Him that I'd like to be healed. I've voiced that. And He knows my heart and my desires.

So, I'm going to carry on with my life... preparing for Christmas, going on walks to try to make by body stronger (and, hopefully, slimmer!), blogging, along with all the stuff that I need to do and lots of the stuff that I like to do.   

 

Here's a rather uniquely shaped Christmas card.

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It's easy to make with two layers of cardstock and a die cutting machine (I have a Cuttlebug). I used the Layerz Mat Stack 3 die to make a card by positioning the left edge of the die slightly beyond the fold. Very easy and made a pretty cute card, don't you think? 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Mat Stack 3 Collection, 2008 Holiday Tag Collection, Everyday Classics); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Riding Hood Red, Ruby Red) and PTI (Rustic White); patterned paper is Jillibean Soup (Christmas Chestnut Soup: whole cloves); ink is SU (Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red); rhinestones are PTI (Black); also used PTI dies (Mat Stack 3, Mega Mat Stack 3, Layerz Mat Stack 3) and SU punch (scallop edge).

 

In going through my photos, I've found a few that I think I forgot to post — so I'll share one of them tonight. 

Remember when I bought the glass globes at Pottery Barn as a birthday present to me? That was back in October and they've been on our dining room sideboard since then. But we snazzed them up a little more for the holidays by putting strands of Christmas lights inside...

Pretty, aren't they? I was too afraid to put the lights inside them... I figured I was too unsteady and would break something. So, when Britt & Kenneth were in town earlier this month, Britt did it for me. (Thanks, Britt!)

That's all for tonight. We're heading to a neighbor's house for their family Christmas celebration tonight. We're both original owners of our houses — and our children grew up together, so we have a lot of history together. We even went on a cruise together when our children were young. Now our oldest kids are married. Crazy how time goes on, isn't it. 

Anyway, thank you so much for dropping in for a little visit tonight and for checking up on us. We really appreciate all your love and support! Sending you hugs!!

upraised hands... and... happy happy joy tag

Today is Thursday, December 22. After a break of a few days, I'm going to try to get back into blogging. I've missed you! :) But we did have a great time in Raleigh with Britt & Kenneth. The last time that I was there they hadn't moved into their house, so it was fun to see it in all its holiday glory.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures until after they had each left for work, so all you get are house pictures. If you look very closely at the photo above, you may notice a touch of orange at the right side of the porch. Yes... pumpkins. Too bad I didn't notice them earlier... because they could really use three little Santa hats to make their holiday display compete. :)

Since we're showing Christmas decorations here, did I ever show you our tree when it was all decorated and lit? Well, here it is:

 Check out the angel on top. It's kind of ugly, I think, but it's packed with meaning. First of all, I made it. It was our first Christmas and the fabric used to make the angel was mostly from our wedding... the angel's body was from the dresses my bridesmaids wore, her head was from my dress, and I'm not sure about all the rest right now, but I know that most, if not all, of the angel was made from pieces of our wedding. So it may be ugly with an early 1980's look, but it is quite meaningful to me. And to my kids... well, it's Christmas.

And since we're also (kind of) talking about our short trip to Raleigh, I thought I'd show you the radio display that I noticed on our way home.

I just love it when God shows up in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. How perfect that we were listening to Elton John sing about stepping into Christ. :) Isn't that what Christmas... really, what our lives... should all be about? Stepping into Christ? For once the radio display cut off at just the right letter.

 

So, let's step into Christ right now. Well, actually, we're going to go into the Old Testament... but the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament and vice versa, right? :) Anyway, here is the scripture I chose for today.

Psalm 141:1-2

"O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help! Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering."

You've gotta love the psalms. They are filled with constant reminders to stay in touch with the Lord... to not hesitate to cry out to Him when you are in need... to pray and to praise.

Thank You, Lord, for hearing me when I call. For listening to me. For accepting me, even with all my faults.

I'm so thankful that I have a Saviour who cares about the details of my life! And He cares about your details, too. Share them with Him and listen to Him speak to you... He desires a relationship. Raise your hands to Him. Call out to Him... He loves you so!  

 

You may remember my crazy rule about using all new supplies at least once before purchasing anything else (from the same company... that's a new part of the rule. :) ) So, I have quite a few Papertrey Ink items that I haven't used yet — and one is the Tag-its #10 set which is birthday themed... however, I used it here to make a Christmas tag. Gotta love the versatility of PTI stamps!

SHOW

I also used the alphabet dies for the first time. Check two things off the list! :)

You can probably tell from the photo to the left that I don't get too crazy with bows on my packages. I'd like to but when it comes right down to it, I usually run out of time — so I let the tag do the job. And I think that's OK. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Tag-its #10); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White) and Stampin' Up (Real Red); ink is SU (Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Daffodil Delight); baker's twine is Divine Twine (Green Apple); ribbon is from my stash; also used PTI dies (Block Alphabet Collection and Tag Sale #2).

One more thing from our short time in Raleigh that I want to share. Since we don't have an Archivers in Charlotte, I usually try to make visiting the Raleigh store a priority when I'm in town. Like I need more stuff. But... it's just too hard to resist when you're nearby. And, you do know that Valentine's Day is coming up, right?

So do I. And now I have a stash of new stuff that will be great for Valentine projects. So, pretty soon all the Christmas stuff will be packed away to make room for the hearts and red and pink. How fun! 

That will be all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your day! (Oh, Ken tells me that I haven't given you a medical update for awhile. I guess I don't really feel like there is much to report. But thinking about it now, I guess I didn't tell you about how my love-hate relationship with steroids is currently going. Increasing the steroids back up to 2mg a day was a good thing, I guess. I've felt better... more normal — whatever that means. And it definitely helped me enjoy the trip to Raleigh. So all is good. We'll stay at this dose through Christmas, I think. Then I suppose we'll take a look at how things are going and make a decision on what to do next. What an adventure! Thanks for caring... and, most of all, thanks for your prayers!)  

What's going on here...

Today has not been the best day. I think I mentioned yesterday that we were going down on the steroids. And yesterday was OK, but today has been rough. We determined that it may be a good idea to go back up to the previous dose... so hopefully tomorrow will be better. Especially because tomorrow we are planning to drive to Raleigh for some time with Britt and Kenneth. That'll be the longest trip by far that I've been on since this whole adventure began (about a 3 hour drive).

So, you can pray for the little trip we'll be taking and for the steroid reduction. I'd sure love to have a bit of a normal life during this holiday season!

It may be a couple days before I post again, so don't worry if you don't hear from us for awhile... OK? We'll be back in touch soon. Sending you big love and big hugs!