Show and Tell

remember...

me? Guess I took a little blogging break there. It's not that I had nothing to post. I still have things from Christmastime that haven't made it to the blog yet. I guess I've just not been too motivated... partly because every time I logged into Typepad to check my stats (yes, embarrassingly enough, I'm one of those) I got to read my number of posts:  500. My 500th post was the one that concluded my blog anniversary week. Pretty appropriate... and I just liked looking at that number. But it's time to move on... can't get to 1000 without first doing 501, can I? :)

So, hopefully you remember me, but did you also set aside time today to remember...

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the Savior's great love for us? His amazing love?

I got a little crazy on the inside of the card... using an embossing folder to kind of visually express the joy of the knowing Christ's love... His love that is so amazing. :)

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Journaling Lines, Wreath for All Seasons, Background Basics: Hearts, Mega Mixed Messages, Flower Fusion #2); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Going Gray, Chocolate Chip) and a couple miscellaneou scraps; ink is PTI (Vintage Cream) and SU (Early Espresso); also used a Corner Chomper, SU's Elegant Lines embossing folder and markers (Going Gray, Early Espresso) and PTI's Woodgrain impression plate and the smallest heart die.

We went to our church's Good Friday service today at noon. It's good to be reminded that Jesus willingly endured the cross to take on our sins (my sin!) so that we have the opportunity to believe in Him, live our earthly lives for Him, and then live with Him forever... to be reminded of His suffering (and His grace) by taking communion as a church body... to see so many people that we don't get to see often (and people that we've never seen before!) since our church has had four services for quite a few years now. (It's not like "the old days" when we had just two services so if someone wasn't in the service you attended you might see them between the two.)

We arrived on the early side (that's a Ken Hayes trait) and were fortunate enough to walk in with a couple who we used to see weekly, but with the church growing so much haven't seen in a long time. She's been fighting cancer for quite awhile now and has just decided to stop treatments. Hospice has been called. Yet, there she was... bravely, yet slowly, walking with her husband and a friend under an umbrella on this rainy day... going to church to worship her Lord, who, most likely, she will be seeing face-to-face very soon. She was wearing bright yellow and, although somewhat thin, was absolutely radiant. There is just something so beautiful and admirable about a person, secure in their faith, who is close to meeting Jesus. It's good to know the Lord.

I hope you've had a Good Friday with time to reflect on Jesus' sacrifice and your response to it. His desire is that all would know Him as their Savior. There is no better time than now. Have a blessed evening — and thanks for spending a bit of it here with me. See you again soon... for post #502. :)   

March Stamp Club

 
Yep, it's that day again. Stamp club day. The theme for March is Easter or spring.

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I whipped these out last night in a relatively short period of time. I was originally thinking of making a one layer card, but it was just too flat and plain to take to club. Cutting out the main image didn't take all that long. Probably the trickiest part was another last minute addition — the leaves stamped on the base. Positioning them just where I wanted them so that they poked out from behind the image proved to be challenging (but, fortunately, forgiving). I really wanted the roses to be "on top" of the frame, but the thought of trying to mask those, stamping each card the exact same way, was a little daunting — so I stamped the frame first and then masked it, putting the roses "underneath" instead, and I think it looks fine.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Baby Blossoms, Well Scripted); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is SU (Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz); also used SU's Framed Tulips embossing folder.

Well, I was at a preschool workshop all morning and need to leave the house now to make it to club on time. What a crazy day! I'm thinking that it'll be a good night to go out to dinner. :)

Thanks for coming by today! Tomorrow I plan to post a colorful and fun 50th birthday card. Hope you'll be able to make it back to take a peek. See you then!

Farewell Tour #3 -- The End

Finally, the last two stamps from All Year Cheer 1 have been used and I can officially say farewell to the stamps. Adios. Hasta la vista, baby. (To see the other cards I made with this set click on the Farewell Tour category in the right side bar.)

Nearly two months ago I promised to use a (retired) Stampin' Up Halloween set to make cards for other occasions. (The set I used for a Halloween card here.) And today, besides the farewell to these sentiments, I'm going to show you how I sometimes think outside of the box with holiday specific sets.

This first card is also for Clean and Simple Stamping's Fall-to Layout 114. Gotta knock these out when I can, you know. And I felt pretty lucky when I discovered that I could adapt the Christmas card that I had in mind to this week's sketch. That just doesn't happen every day.

 

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My card started out as a 4-1/4" square, but a little of the height got shaved off when I decided to use the border punch.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (All Year Cheer I, Pumpkin Patch, Shapes & Shadows); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (white); ink is SU (Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive) and Encore (Ultimate Metallic Silver); also used a Creative Memories metallic silver pen and an EK Success border punch.

Now, let's switch holidays — and turn the Christmas ornaments into Easter eggs. 

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Even the grass was made from one of the stamps that was originally designed to be a pumpkin. Still can't believe that Stampin' Up retired the Pumpkin Patch set after one short stint in a mini-catalog. What were they thinking?

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (All Year Cheer I, Pumpkin Patch); cardstock is SU (Bashful Blue, Gable Green) and Papertrey Ink (white); ink is SU (Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Lavender Lace, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette); ribbon is from Michael's; also used PTI's Large Scallop Border die, Sizzix Snowballs embossing folder, and Spellbinder's Nestabilities Label 4 die.

That's it for today. I've been trying to do too many things at once this morning — making cards, baking cookies, reading blogs, writing blog entries, cleaning, laundry... my self-diagnosed ADD is showing! Time to stop this craziness and focus on finishing one thing. So after this I think I'll focus on cookies. Of course. :)

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again soon!

Wrapping Up Easter

Thought I'd finish up Easter today. And, I have a feeling this will be long. Lots of Easter related randomness, shopping trevails, etc. I'll do the crafty stuff first since that's probably why most of you stopped by. Right?

First of all, we're all adults around here (at my house, I mean). So instead of Easter baskets this year, I did Easter bags. I had thought that I might decorate the basic kraft bags, but decided to just create tags for them instead. (OK — the truth is that I made the tags and ran out of time to decorate the bags... so me... grand plans that keep getting abbreviated as time marches on...)

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Brittany is our "adopted" daughter and regular Monday night company. Ian is our son. Now — don't get confused. Our daughter is also named Brittany, although she goes by Britt. Her boyfriend's name is Kenneth. My husband's name is Kenneth, too, but he goes by Ken. I made tags for all, even though Britt and Kenneth were not here for Easter. I figure we'll see them before too long and — hey! — jelly beans and chocolate keep, right?

I'm thinking that to keep this post a little shorter that I'll not do a full AND TELL supply list. I'll just include a few things you may be curious about. The tags were cut using the Cricut. Cartridges used were A Child's Year and Plantin School Book (Brittany's) and Winter Wonderland (Ian's).

I split a bag of jelly beans between the five Easter bags. I could've just put them in plastic eggs, but — no — I like to make work for myself. (Little tags are punched with Stampin' Up's Medium Jewelry Tag and stamped with a sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages.)

I got a late start on candy shopping this year. Everything was really picked over and lots of the stuff that I usually get was nowhere to be found. Which was probably OK. I figure that since we're all grown-ups now, we really like the higher priced candy better anyway. So I got a big bag of Lindt Lindor Truffles and another big bag of Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares — both premium assortments. Yum! That way, if I didn't use them all, they're useful for other little gifts in the days to come. Hey, I love it when I think ahead.

But, there are a couple of candies that are must haves for Easter. Black jelly beans for one. I hate 'em. Ken LOVES 'em. Had to find a bag of black jelly beans just for him. I looked everywhere on my list of places to go last Friday: Target. AC Moore. Hobby Lobby. CVS. Then I tried a couple stores that I really dislike going to: WalMart. K-Mart. Finally found a bag at K-Mart. (Maybe it's not such a bad store after all.)

I was also looking for a bag of Chicks & Rabbits. Everybody in my family hates 'em. I love 'em. Now, I know that they're essentially circus peanuts and you can get those year-round, but to me they're special. I'm not going to substitute a bag of circus peanuts. They have to be chicks & rabbits. I buy myself a bag every year at Easter. And I eat the whole bag myself (over a period of time, of course — not in one sitting!). So — none of the Friday stores had them. On Saturday I expanded my search to grocery stores: Bi-lo. Harris Teeter. I was ready to dispair. After all, that's eight stores. Apparently I'm not the only person in Charlotte who likes them. I'm not usually so persistent, but since there's a Rite-Aid right next to Harris Teeter, I popped in to check.

 
I'm sure the lady who was looking over the meager Easter candy selection wondered about me when I squealed and hugged the bag of Chicks & Rabbits to my chest. (You can probably see they've been opened now. I had to shake the contents down to the bottom so it still looks full. Yes, I've eaten a few. Quite a few.) 

That mission accomplished, I decided that since we would be seeing Brittany and Ian on Easter Sunday that I would make some iced sugar cookies to add to their Easter bags.

Those are the leftovers (of which there are significantly fewer this morning).

These are the ones that I gave the "kids." (All the tags are stamped with images from Papertrey Ink's Tags for Spring and then punched with circle or scalloped circle punches.)

So, that's it for the crafty stuff. Pretty fun. Pretty cute. Pretty easy. Now for the randomness.

For a couple of weeks, Ken has been leaving the Belk department store ads just lying on top of the kitchen table. Usually he puts stuff away (I'm the leaver-outer). So, I decided that meant he thought I should go shopping. :) A new dress for Easter would be nice, don't you think? Of course, why buy just one when you can buy two. Never mind that the church we attend is very casual and I usually wear jeans. Never mind that I don't have that many dress wearing occasions. Never mind that I already have probably six or seven spring/summer dresses that fit. But, when you try on dresses and they fit and make you feel good, you should buy them, right? Especially if they're already 40% off and you have a 15% off coupon. That's how I came home with two new dresses.

Then, I needed shoes. So I went back to the store. I was looking for pink-ish strappy sandals with a medium heel. This is what I came home with.

Very pink. But definitely not a medium heel. Those are high. Probably too high and too pink for a 51 year old woman, but — hey — between the sale and a coupon they only cost me about $10. And, they're actually not uncomfortable. (Seriously, though. Do you think I'm too old for these?) 

Well, things expanded from there. Necklace. Earrings. Purse. I went crazy. I don't think Ken will be leaving ads laying around the house anymore. He's probably not even bringing them into the house. Straight to the recycling bin they go.

I mentioned that we would be seeing both Brittany (adopted daughter) and Ian (son) on Easter day. The only way to make that work would be going to eat at the restaurant where Ian is a server, Brick Top's at Specialty Shops on the Park. (Yes, we're not above paying good money to see our own son...) It was a beautiful Carolina day and he happened to be working the patio. They had reserved us a table in his section.

It was a lovely day. Unfortunately, the rest of the pictures we took aren't really all that lovely. But, I'll share anyway.

 
Apparently Ken can't hold the camera and smile at the same time. Doesn't his purple shirt look great, though? It was in his Easter bag — see, I wasn't only thinking of myself during my shopping spree!

And here's one of us with Ian that Brittany took.

 
Not great of any of us — but, oh, well! I guess it shows us as we are. I just want every picture taken of me to show me better than I am. Know what I mean? Younger. Thinner. Tanner. Nose smaller. Eyes bigger. Teeth whiter. Hair, well, better. (I really must do something about my hair...)

Thanks so much for stopping by. And bearing with me through all that. You're the best! See you tomorrow...

 

   

He Has Risen!

I wanted to make an Easter card that was not all bunnies and eggs. I wanted to make a card that reflected the TRUE meaning of Easter. I did. But I smeared the ink. But I'm going to share it anyway.

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No do overs, you know.

Now, let me put a spiritual spin on my mess of a card. God created us. He loves us. Smears and all. (And, I know that I have lots of "smears" and messes in my life. How about you?) He loves us so much that He sent Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life — even though he was tempted in every way. Now, there is no way that we would ever be able to live a perfect life. God knew that. So, in order for us to be redeemed, Jesus had to sacrifice himself. He died an excruciatingly painful death on the cross so that we could be saved. But that would have meant nothing if He hadn't risen from the grave. And He did. He has risen! Through belief in Him and His resurrection, we will live eternally with Him. And — at that time, we will have no more smears. We will be perfect, too. How great is that?! So — I am redeemed... and, hopefully, I've "redeemed" my card somewhat, too... 

I pray that your Resurrection Day has been full of God's blessings. Happy Easter!

AND TELL:  stamps are from Verve (Everlasting Life); cardstock base is Papertrey Ink white; patterned paper is My Mind's Eye (Confetti Collection); ink is PTI (True Black); ribbon is PTI (Berry Sorbet satin); green gemstones are from Kaiser; oval sticker is from Luxe Designs (Simple Labels Lime).

Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

A couple of weeks ago we had our March prayer breakfast for the staff at the preschool. The "fruit" in March was joy. We always pair joy with Easter. After all, is there a more joyous date in all the year?! And since Easter was early in April this year, joy became the March "fruit of the month."

Once again, I had little cards prepared for them to add to their collections. If you are new to my blog, you can see the folder to hold them and the other cards here, here, here, here, here, and here.

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After taking the picture I wrote the scripture reference Romans 15:13 on the card. The verse reads: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Tags for Spring, Fresh Alphabet); flat card is from a stationery store that was going out of business; ink is from Stampin' Up (Pale Plum, Perfect Plum).

Thought I'd share a few photos of what preschool life was like last week.

Most of the older classes had some sort of Easter egg hunt. Of course, hiding places for 2, 3, and 4 year olds are not too hidden.

 
Doesn't it look like those plants sprouted plastic eggs? And the next photo cracks me up.

Can you see the eggs stuck in the hedge? I don't know why I think that's so funny, but it makes me laugh when I look at it. Maybe I'm just weird.

I've been out doing some last minute Easter shopping today and now I'll be doing some last minute Easter crafting. :)

Thanks so much for dropping in for awhile. I look forward to seeing you again soon! Next week is my blog's one year anniversary and I have a few special things planned that I think you'll not want to miss. Be sure to come back — and, have a blessed Resurrection Day!

Easter Blessings

When I was cleaning up my craft room Sunday afternoon, I rediscovered my Cricut. And, as I said in my previous post, I discovered Betsy Veldman's die-cutting challenges, too. This is my second post for today (scroll down for the first). There will probably be a couple more, too, so keep checking back!  

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This card was for the paper piecing die-cuts challenge. You can see that I cut the bunny pieces from a couple different papers. Cute, huh? But — hmmm — I just reread the challenge and maybe I was supposed to do it in more of a patchwork style. Oh, well. It should still work for the Moxie Fab paper piecing challenge. Don't think I'll have time to try the patchworking tonight, so this will have to do. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Background Basics Text Style and Tags for Spring); cardstock is PTI (Vintage Cream, Spring Moss, Lemon Tart) and Stampin' Up (Going Grey); patterned paper is PTI (Bitty Box Basics in Lemon Tart and Bitty Dot Basics in Sweet Blush); ink is PTI (Tea Dye Camomile, Sweet Blush) and Stampin' Up (Going Grey); also used Stampin' Up's Floral Fusion Sizzlit die, Winter Woodland and Storybook Cricut Cartridges, a Marvy scallop oval punch (the yellow one), and adhesive pearls from my stash.

OK — that's post number two for the day. Two more to go. Maybe I'll be more chatty on the last one.

Thanks for stopping by. Come again soon! 

Easter Wishes

Earlier this week I mentioned that you should be on the look-out for cards made with some little leaves punched from scraps. Well, today's the day.

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Of course, I also recently said that I wasn't planning on making any more Easter cards. Changed my mind. (That is a woman's perogative, right?) I decided it would be nice to have some easy-to-mail cards that celebrated Jesus' resurrection. These are about as easy and as mailable as it gets. So far I've made three more, too. (You can click to make them bigger...)

Remember that if I stamp something and don't care for the way it turned out, I just punch shapes out of it. Several of these little leaves show that, but it's quite obvious on the last card. I thought the little touches of purple on those cream colored "trees" looked a bit funky and fun to use.

And, you may recognize the layout. It's from Clean and Simple Stamping (FTL 81) and I also used it on several cards here.

AND TELL:  stamp is from Papertrey Ink (Mega Mixed Messages); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White) and assorted scraps; ink is PTI (True Black); also used a Martha Stewart punch. 

Today the photographers finished the playground photo shoot. It didn't start raining until they'd just wrapped up the last classes. Whew. But — we had a "sibling shoot" (that sounds rather unfriendly, doesn't it?) scheduled for this afternoon where the parents could bring all their children to get group pictures taken and that got rained out. So we'll try it again next week. Surely March 18 will be a beautiful day.

One final picture in closing. It's really for Kelley, who ends each of her blog entries with "Peace and Love". Saw this little shirt and it made me think of her. :) Wish I could show you the whole little face that goes along with the shirt (which says "Love & Peace", in case you can't read it) — she has blue eyes that will make your heart melt. But, boy, is she hard to photograph! Each time she see you taking her picture she rushes the camera (thus the blurriness) — the only thing that stopped her here was the gate across the classroom doorway. Such a cutie, though — and the way she lights up when she sees me is definitely one of the perks of my job!

Hope you've had a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll "see" you tomorrow!   

Staff Meeting?

Already? That's what I was thinking as I was preparing for this morning's preschool staff meeting. Then one of the teachers walked into the room for our monthly meeting and said, "It seems like we were just here!" Guess we were all thinking the same thing. I said, "Yeah, who schedules these things anyway?" (Haha, that would be me — a feeble attempt at humor for our 8:30 meeting.)

As I've done all year, there was a little "in your seat" doorprize.

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This time a simple set of tags — two for Easter and two for birthdays. Good for tying on gift bags, wrapped packages, Easter baskets, etc. and possibly reusing on scrapbook pages. Since I was working on a tight time schedule (these meetings seem to have a way of sneaking up on me), I just looked at the debris in my craft room and pulled out the mostly already cut components and put them together.

I packaged them together in a glassine bag. Just a bow. No time for something fancier.

So — here's a tip for you. If you make tags and have a particular style you like (for instance, I really like this tag shape from Cricut's Plantin Schoolbook cartridge), why not cut a sheet of them at a time? Then when you need a tag (which always seems to be at the last minute for me), you at least have a base cut and the embellishing can be quickly accomplished. (These tags are 4" long, in case you were wondering.)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Well Scripted) and Papertrey Ink (Polka Dot Basics II, Background Basics Retro); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue, Real Red) and PTI (white); printed paper is from Making Memories (and is very old); ink is from Stampin' Up (Basic Gray, Bashful Blue, Classic White) and PTI (Melon Berry); buttons are from PTI (Melon Berry, Pure Poppy, Spring Rain); hemp is from Stampin' Up (Natural); also used Stampin' Up's Lots of Tags Label 2 die and Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge for the Cricut.

I'm trying to think of something interesting from my day to tell you and am comin' up with nothin'. Work. Dentist. Curves. Home. That's about it. And now we're watching my favorite show of the week: The Biggest Loser. Don't ask me why. I can't explain it. I love that show.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope to meet you back here again tomorrow. See you then!

Easter Card

 
My first Easter card of the year. I don't know. Maybe my only. We'll have to see.

Today is the monthly meeting of the Stamp Club and Card Swap that I'm a part of. Our theme is Easter or Spring, thus the Easter card. I don't know about you, but I am REALLY ready for Spring to arrive. Today it's sunny and supposed to be in the 50's so that's a start.

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I knew that I was going to use this particular sentiment stamp on the card, so that was my starting point. I was originally going to punch it out with the wide oval punch, but I don't own it and when I couldn't find one to borrow my friend and co-worker Sheri suggested the label die, which I do own. It was perfect — so much better than my original thought. (Thanks, Sheri!)

The clear-embossed medallion reminds me of a sunrise — and then, combined with the sentiment, should take the mind to the Son rising. Just a little Easter symbolism for you.

The placement of the rhinestones was inspired by Heather P. Love her cards!

I actually made two versions of this card. The second version came about because I ran out of ribbon. Oops. I had another oops, too. I usually make 12 cards (even though we don't have 12 members anymore), but somehow I only cut, stamped, and embossed 11 yellow pieces of cardstock. So 11 cards it is. Three with flowers like the one below and the rest with ribbon and rhinestones. Which do you like best? The second is definitely easier to mail.

 
And, oh, don't mind the spotty embossing. I contaminated my embossing powder and am apparently not picky enough and too cheap to replace it. Live and learn.

And, here's the back of today's card. I don't often pull out a different stamp set or use such a big stamp for my little signature spot, but this one was just crying out to be used. And the squeaky wheel gets the grease, you know.  

AND TELL: stamps are from Stampin' Up (Medallion, Well Scripted, Festive Four); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (white) and Stampin' Up (Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Gable Green, Pink Pirouette); ink is Stampin' Up (Craft White, Basic Gray, Bashful Blue) and VersaMark;

ribbon is PTI (Spring Moss grosgrain); clear rhinestones are from Kaiser; embossing powder is Stampendous (detail clear); eyelets are Stampin' Up (Small Flowers white); also used Stampin' Up's Lots of Tags Label 2 Sizzlit and 1/2" circle punch, a Creative Memories corner rounder, and pinking shears.

I think that's going to be it for today. Time to decide what I'm going to order from Stampin' Up this month and get ready to go to Club.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you're seeing signs of spring wherever you are, too! Have a happy Saturday. See you soon.