Show and Tell

The Storms of Life... and... March Stamp Club

Today is Sunday, March 4. I feel like I haven't blogged in awhile. Probably because it takes me so l-o-n-g. I'm very slow. It's unbelievable. Maybe I was always a little slow, but just lately it's just ridiculous. I have to type things so many times to get them right.  So I may become a once or twice a week kind of blogger. It's a change and I'm sorry about that. 

Britt and Kenneth (our daughter and son-in-law) were here this weekend. It's always good to see them, of course. Britt went to stamp club with me on Saturday and then we all went out for dinner at a local restaurant called Trio. Ian joined us, too. Wow. The whole family together. That doesn't happen very often!

Of course, we didn't think to take a picture until the next day when Ian was gone and Britt and Kenneth were leaving to go back to Raleigh. Maybe someday we'll think to get a photo of the five us.

 

For today:

Proverbs 10:25

"When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation."

I'm thankful that my foundation is lasting, because the storms of life have definitely come my way. It's difficult to even put a blog post together due to errors in typing and having to search the keybord for what I need. Not all the time, but often enough that it is very annoying.

I just had a melt down due to all the above, so you can pray for me and for Ken. It's very hard on the both of us.  Probably more for him because it's out of his control  — and we all know how guys like to fix things. Thank you for your prayers for us. And to the Lord for being with us in the storms of life.

 

Saturday was stamp club and the theme was Easter or Spring. 

SHOW 

'
You now how I'm the queen of the simple. This is another simple, easy, fast card. Just a couple layers and we're done.

AND TELL:  stamp are Stampin' Up (Sweet Floral, Well Scripted); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Rustic White); ink is SU (Wild Wasabi, Wisteria Wonder); twine is from SU (hemp); also used SU Sizzlets (Lots of Tags Label 3). 

I've been meaning to tell you about how I liked the Hunger Games series. I liked the first and second books. I hated the third. Until I read the the epilogue. Having closure, I guess, is important to me. :)

That's really it. It's taken me hours, but all the tears are worth it to me. I love the contact with you, hearing about your days, and the chance to let you know how best to pray for us. (By the way, we have a scan on Tuesday with the results on Wednesday.) Hugs and prayers to you!

He Hears... and... You're Just My Type

Today is Tuesday, February 14. Valentine's Day! Hope you're having a great day full of love. :)

We're planning to go out to dinner with friends tonight. I threw up this morning, ate breakfast, took a nap... hopefully there's no more little incidences because I'd really like to have a nice evening. And I definitely don't want to throw up in pulic. That would be icky. (It's bad enough that I seem to be talking about it all the time!)

 

Here is some scripture for today.

Psalm 34:17

"The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles."

Do you get sick of me choosing "rescue" verses? I just can't help it. They seem to speak to me these days. I'm hoping that they'll say something to you, too.   

 

Since today is Valentine's Day, you know I needed to make a card for my sweetie! 

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Those little hearts are from a separate stamp set than the typewriter, but the design could support a little something extra. There was some text under the hearts that I didn't want in the design, so I covered them with scotch tape, inked my design, removed the tape and stamped the hearts. Voila!  

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (You're My Type, Sprinkled Expressions, Noteworthy), cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is SU (Real Red, Regal Rose); also used SU punch (1/16" circle).

 

Thought I'd show you a picture of one of my "Valentines".

Yep, my human Valentine. This is our son, Ian, holding his new dog, Dash. Cute, huh? Both Ian and Dash. :) Dash is (they suspect) part chihuahua and part dachshund. I think his face has kind of an old soul type of look. He's pretty cute, but I'm hoping that Ian's in it for the long-haul . We definitely don't need a new dog!

And while this girl enjoys the company, I don't think she'd be into the day-in and day-out of having a puppy around either. She likes to lounge way too much to have a hyper little dog around all the time.

Well, that's all for today. I hope to be back tomorrow. And I hope you have had/are having a very special Valentine's Day! Love and hugs to you!

The Lord is a Guard... and... thank you doily

Today is Monday, February 13. Today I've made a couple of cards and have taken a mile and a half walk. That doesn't sound like much, does it? Of course, there were other things in there like lunch and a couple snacks. And lots of HGTV. I suppose if I cut out the distraction of the TV I could have gotten a lot more done. On the other hand, I am slower these days than I used to be (and I was pretty slow before the tumor!). I guess it's probably not bad to go a little slow now, though. The main task around here needs be trying to get well!

I also went to Curves which is always fun. Especially when people that I know are there. And today there were quite a few. Having someone to talk to as you go around the circuit makes it all go faster. And makes it more fun, too.

Another plus for the day is that when I got home from Curves I made dinner! Poor Ken has been the chief chef for over 6 months now and I think the most I've done is pour myself some cereal, make myself a sandwich, and heat us up a frozen pizza. Ken really doesn't let me do much (what a guy!), but I feel like once in awhile I should at least try to do a thing or two. So — I made spaghetti for dinner, along with a tossed salad and garlic bread. Nothing too complicated. But then just when I got everything on the table I ran (well... walked quickly) to the bathroom and threw up. Weird. Then I went back to the kitchen and ate dinner. Very weird. It was quite a strange thing. Hopefully dinner will stay down. I feel like it will. Is it possible to throw up because you're hungry? 

 

Here is today's scripture.

Psalm 34:6-7

"In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who all who fear him."

I don't think I probably need to expound a whole lot on these verses. Or on why I chose them. Of course, I want to be saved from my troubles. And sometimes I have felt desperate. But, the angel of the Lord is my guard and he does surround and defend me. What's not to love about that?  

 

Thought I'd take a break from making so many Valentine cards and show you a thank you card. 

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Can you tell that I got tired of punching out the little pieces from the doily die? Haha! Whatever possessed me to purchase such a high maintenence supply? haha (I do like the look of it, though.)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Sweet Floral, Four Frames); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Rustic White) and Stampin' Up (Cameo Coral); ink is SU (Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand); ribbon is PTI (White Silk 1/4"); also used SU punch (Decorative Label) and SU die (Paper Doily).

That's all until tomorrow. Hope to see you then. Thanks for visiting and I'm sending you hugs!

Strength & Peace... and... February Stamp Club

Today is Sunday, February 5. Super Bowl Sunday. Woohoo! Although I'm not really a Giants or a Patriots fan. However, Ken's boss is a huge Patriots fan so I decided to make them "my" team for the game. Plus, my DBF (dear blog friend) lives up in the Boston area, so it just seems right. :)

The other day when we were coming back from a walk, we saw there was a little something on our front porch.

 Can you see it in the center of our front doorway? Here is what it was...

Isn't that a really pretty hydrangea? It was left on our doorstep by two former preschool moms (one of them also worked at the school for a few years). Anyway, it's been years since they were at our school. Their girls are probably in high school by now. It's really sweet that they went out of their way to bring something by the house. (Thanks, Kelly and Kelly! The plant is really lovely!) 

I thought that I could give you an update on the hair situation. The good news? My hair is starting to grow back. The bad news? It mainly seems to be growing back in the center of head... back to front. Crazy. And you think it sounds weird? You should see it.

Is that not just about the ugliest hair style you've ever seen? haha! Actually, as I look at the photo, I can see that the sides may be getting a little fuzzy. I can't tell if that huge and deep scar on the right is growing hair or if hair is just covering it. Not that it matters. But I am hopeful that maybe in a few weeks I'll have hair down the sides. I'll keep you posted. :)

 

More words from the Psalms today.

Psalm 29:11

"The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace."

You know, I've been in a pretty dire situation for over 6 months now. But, for the most part, this has been a time of peace for me. So, I can testify that the Lord does bless His people with peace. And that He does give them strength. Praise the Lord!  

 

Yesterday was stamp club and the theme was a gift item. This is my least favorite of all the themes we have done. It seems as though everyone else in the club is really good at this and makes really great and complicated projects. And then there's simple ol' me. Making bookmarks. Not much of a gift item, but it will have to do.

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I guess one thing you can say about this project is that it's fast and easy! A little die cutting, a bit of stamping, tie on a button with some ribbon, and you're basically done. 

I used one of the Stampin' Up tags dies to make the bookmarks. They're a little shorter than a standard bookmark, but I think they'll work. I mean, when I was reading a lot I would just grab whatever was nearby to use as a bookmark — a little scrap of paper, a Kleenex, a post-it note... whatever. They all seemed to work OK, so I'm pretty confident these short bookmarks will work, too. (I sure hope so since I gave away quite a few of this size to people who were bringing us food back in the fall!)

As is usual for me to do for stamp club projects, I stamped and signed the back of each bookmark. I think it's a nice touch. Just wish I remembered to do it all the time for every project. (And I think I've written that before... you'd think I'd remember to do it!)   

 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Hello Doily, Delicate Doilies); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Stamper's Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (More Mustard, Elegant Eggplant, Bravo Burgandy, Night of Navy); buttons are PTI (Royal Velvet); ribbon is  PTI (1/4" silk); also used Copics (Y38 Honey) and a Stampin' Up die (Two Tags).

Oh. I thought I should mention one more thing. I really appreciate all the emails to check and see if everything is OK with me. It is good to be loved! But, I feel kind of bad that people are spending time worrying about me and checking on me. So, how about if I don't post you can assume that everything is good. If something is not right and I don't post, you'll hear from Ken or Britt. Will that work? But, I do really appreciate all your prayers for health and healing... so you can keep those up. :)

That's all for Super Bowl night. :) Hope you enjoy the game (if you're a Super Bowl watcher) and that your team does well (just not well enough to beat the Patriots this time... haha!). I'll try to catch up with you before Wednesday (my next infusion day). Love to you! 

My Strength... and... Kindness Matters

Today is Friday, January 20. Sorry that I've been AWOL for the last few days. Just stuff going on that I'll update you on later. Nothing like building a little anticipation, right? And, don't worry... it's nothing bad. Only good stuff. :)

Thought I'd show you one photo from the week past...

Me and my "I love my ducks" shirt went back to Curves! Whew! It's a lot harder than it used to be — usually you go around the circuit twice and I've just been going around once this week — but it's good to do some specific exercising. I'm slow, but I'm doing something — so that's good. I started back on Monday when Kris was still in Charlotte with us and we met Sara Gwynn for a workout... and then, since we weren't quite ready to go our separate ways, we walked across the parking lot to Dunkin Donuts. haha! In our defense, though, on the way back we walked around the perimeter of the shopping center which is a much longer walk. That's gotta count for something! :)

 

Wow. I already wrote this section, I thought, but it has disappeared... so guess I'll do it again. :) The scripture that I chose to use today is from the Psalms.

Psalm 18:1-3

"I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worth of praise, and he saved me from my enemies."

The Lord is MY strength, MY rock, MY fortress, MY savior, MY protector, MY shield, MY place of safety. He saves me from my enemies. He is so worth of praise! And, when I call in Him, He answers and He saves me. What could be better than that? I know! The fact that He will be all that to you, too. :)

 

 

The cards I'm going to share today are almost too basic and too plain to post. But I've always had this thing about sharing everything... the good, the bad, and the ugly. So — here they are.

SHOW

The card was too easy to make just one and call it quits. So I made three. I just changed up the colors, but used the same stamps and the same formula... darker color for the butterflies and lighter shade of the same color for the words. 

Nothing special about the cards, but there is about the words. Kindness certainly does matter... so these will be going into our stash of thank you cards that I really need to start giving out. I've said it before... we have been so, SO blessed!

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Kindness Matters); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Rustic White); ink is SU (Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue).

I don't know that I have anything else to say right now. But... I should be able to be back tomorrow. I'll "see" you then. Hugs to you!! 

Give freely... and... January Stamp Club

Today is Saturday, January 15. I'm kind of at a loss as to what to write about today. And you know that's not normal for me! While I may be pretty quiet in real life, I'm usually downright chatty on the blog!

Today is stamp club and the theme is love/Valentine's... stuff like that. So, before I show you the card (and share the scripture) I thought I'd share some really cute cornbread hearts that we received from some neighbors.

Aren't they great? Cute and tasty. Can't beat that combination! (Thanks, Cheryl and Jerry!)

 

Today's scripture is from the New Testament.

Matthew 10:8b

"'Give as freely as you have received.'"

Hmm. Sounds like my cornbread story and this passage were meant to be together. Isn't that funny how often God works that out? :)

We have been so humbled by all the kindnesses that have been shown to us over the past 5 or so months. I mean, truly overwhelmed. When we cut the gravy train off (haha!) at the beginning of December and started fending for ourselves, we really realized what a blessing those months of food deliveries had been. But there is something very satisfying about taking care of yourself, too... you know?

We so appreciate all the weeks of people bringing us food and loving on us in such a tangible (and tasty!) way. But we realized that, not only was it time for us to take care of ourselves, it was time for us to look for opportunities to help others, too. It is so easy to get all wrapped up in our own stuff — and, really, providing meals for people has never been my thing -- but I think that is mostly about laziness and selfishness... not really qualities I want to be know for! 

So — I do hereby vow to pay attention to those around me and their needs... not just my own. :) And I just so happen to know someone who is scheduled for serious surgery in the next few days. Sounds like a golden opportunity to me.

 

Today was stamp club and, as usual, it was fun, fun, fun! As I mentioned, the theme today was love or Valentine's Day... 

SHOW

and I'm a bit partial to red, pink, hearts, and all that girly stuff. But I'm not so good at vintage type designs, so this stamp set works well for me. A little more contemporary. I designed this card with kind of a peek-a-boo feature, so that you would get a little preview of the inside of the card when the card is closed. Kind of a fun feature.

And, as usual, I finished the card off with with an image and my initials. Isn't that a pretty cute image?

 

 

 

 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Valentine Defined, Bella Toile, Amazing to Zany); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is SU (Melon Mambo) and PTI (True Black); seam binding is SU (1/2" rose red); also used items from SU (Heart-to-Heart Punch, Sizzlets Lots of Tags Labels 2, Stampin' Write Rose Red Marker).

I took a few pictures at Stamp Club today and thought I'd share them with you.

Since my sister-in-law Kris was back in town, she got to go to stamp club with me — and get personal instruction from our Stampin' Up demonstrator, Judy, and one of our club members, Kelley (who is also my pedicurist... :) ) Isn't that room great? Judy's upline lets us meet in her club house. So fun!

This was the spread we had today. Needless to say, no one left hungry!

And here is one of the walls in the club house. 

No shortage of inspiration around here! (Hi, Kathy! :) )

Well, that's more than enough for one day. And, besides, it's 10:00 at night now. Time to get ready for bed so that I'll be refreshed for church tomorrow. Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. We so appreciate hearing from you! Sending you big hugs! 

 

He answered... and... Furry Folk Winter

Here is a teaser for my November stamp club project. The theme was winter/snow. Since I was late getting my cards done, I finished them all in time for our December meeting. And now I'm late getting them posted. So me. Anyway, the full card description will be down below.

Today is Wednesday, December 14. And I'm having trouble getting started on this post. Just not very motivated tonight. Sorry about that. Although, if history holds true, I'll perk up and keep writing, writing, and writing some more.

Today was the first of the 3 and 4 year old Christmas programs at the weekday school.

They were well prepared and did fabulously. I remember years where kids were vacating the platform right and left... so when kids stay and even sing, I consider it a successful year. And, sing they did this year. This was the first time that I had seen this program and I could understand nearly every word the kids sang. The music teacher sure did a great job preparing them. If you are interested, for the past several years we have done Karyn Henley musicals which can be found on her website here. They're great for young children and really get the Christmas message in their hearts.

 

Some scripture for today.

Jonah 2:2a

"'...I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me....'"

This was prayed by Jonah when he was in the belly of the great fish. And, you probably know the rest of the story. God did save him from the big fish... and Jonah wasn't exactly thankful. But, what I'm focusing on tonight is that God saved Jonah out of his trouble. That Jonah cried out to the Lord and He answered. And you may remember how I am attracted to stories about God saving people out of their difficulties. They inspire me and give me hope. So, once again, I'm left feeling hopeful for my situation. God is oh, so good to me!

 

The theme for our November stamp club meeting, as I mentioned above, was winter/snow. I had fun with this one.  

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For some reason I was very attracted to the Furry Folk stamp set when it first came out. And I've used it quite a bit. Especially considering that I don't usually go for cutesy animal sets. But I do love all the little animals in this collection — and those trees. Love those trees. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Snow Burst, Furry Folk, Very Versatile); cardstock is SU (Not Quite Navy) and Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is SU (White) and Memento (Tuxedo Black); baker's twine is Divine Twine (oyster).

 

Well, I think that's it for tonight. Oh, except for this picture from chemo yesterday...

Another celebration for someone finishing chemo... this time with bubbles. Very fun, huh?

And that's it for tonight. This time, for real. :) Tomorrow is one more preschool program, Friday is the staff party, and then we're on break until January 2. Thank you so much for stopping by and spending some time here with me. I really enjoy our time together. Hugs to you!   

Live!... and... Delicate Doilies Recipe Card

Today is Sunday, December 11. And what you see above is a teaser for what's (way) below. Yesterday was stamp club and I like to give a little preview of the project that I made to swap at the beginning of my stamp club post. Gotta keep you intrigued. Can't have you cutting out early, you know? :)

We had a precious time of worship at church today. We don't normally have a choir, but over the past few weeks the worship ministry has put together a choir of volunteers from the congregation and it was just such a blessing to worship with a diverse group and different musical styles. I just love my church!

On the medical front, I thought I'd let you know that we decreased the steroids by one more milligram today. So starting today, I'm only take 2mg. I took one this morning around breakfast time and will probably take the other while we're watching The Amazing Race tonight. So far, so good. I definitely can tell that I "need" something (probably more psychological), but I haven't gotten all wacky yet so I'm thinking that this is going to go well and that pretty soon I'll be able to completely stop taking them. Considering that at the beginning of this journey I was taking 16mg a day, this is very good. 

 

So, let's go right into some scripture. These are the verses that jumped out at me today. They're not all consecutive, but they are all of the same theme.

Amos 5:4b, 6a, 14a, 15a, 24

"'Come back to me and live!... Come back to the Lord and live!... Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live!... Hate what is evil and love what is good;... I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.'"

From these words in the Old Testament it's pretty clear that the Lord desires for us to be close to Him. He longs for a relationship with us and that relationship will give us life.

In order for us to get the most from our relationship with the Lord He exhorts us to hate what is evil, love what is good, and live righteously. As far as hating evil, it may be significant to note that He doesn't say to hate those who do evil... He says to hate the evil. I've heard people say to hate the sin, but love the sinner. I think that can be pretty difficult at times, but this is how we show people God's love... by loving them when they are not very lovable to us. Most people will eventually respond to love and kindness, so as Believers we need to make sure we are consistently displaying those attributes in our lives — then as people respond to God's love, a flood of righteous living will spread across our land. And how cool would that be?

 

 

So yesterday was the Christmas party of the Stampin' Up club that I'm a part of. Oh, my. What fun! Our swap for December is recipe cards — and then we each make our item and bring it to share. I've given you this recipe on the blog before and we make this dish regularly at our house, but I've never made a recipe card for it. Seemed like it was high time to do so.  

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This casserole has been part of our Thanksgiving Day meal for years... ever since some friends brought it to share with us one holiday when they were in town for a soccer tournament that their son was playing in. So — we've had it every Thanksgiving since then. We also usually take it to a neighbor's 4th of July party. And to just about any other carry-in meals that come up. It's so easy to make and so yummy that it's the perfect dish for just about any occasion.

I'm kinda of diggin' the stamping that I did on this card. I really like the neutral colors and the design. My original plan was to embellish some of the lace images with buttons, twine, and silk ribbon, but when I started playing around with the idea it just wasn't working for me. And, I'm glad. Because I really like the simplicity of what I ended up with. And it won't be all bumpy in someone's recipe card file. :)   

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Delicate Doilies); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream); ink is SU (Crumb Cake, River Rock, Sahara Sand).

Would you like to see the other dishes from Stamp Club?

These are Kelley's (White Chili) and Kathy's (Deviled Egg Dip). 

 Then we have Rita's (Buffalo Chicken Dip) and Judy's (Queso Enchildas).

Then we have Sheri's (Creamy Pumpkin Mousse) and mine (Grandma's Company Corn). 

And finally Cherie's two desserts (The Best Canadian Butter Tart and Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle).

And, I'll tell you, everything was as delicious as it looks. After dinner we moved to Judy's beautiful living room...

and exchanged gifts. We each bring, as Judy says, "the best $5 stamp you can find".  We wrap our offerings up, they're numbered, and we draw numbers to determine which gift we get. (Hopefully, that makes sense.) In coming days I'll show you the gift bags that I made for Kris and my exchange stamps.

And here is our whole group...

 Well, our whole group minus Kris who took the picture. It was such a fun evening with tons of laughter... just the way a holiday gathering should be.

Well, I think that will have to be it for tonight. Thanks so much for stopping for a visit. I love hearing from you and will look forward to talking with you again tomorrow. Sending you lots of love!

Christmas Letter

Today is Thursday, December 8. It's been a pretty full day. After work and lunch, I spent some time formatting the computer-generated text for the recipe cards that I'll take to our Stamp Club meeting this Saturday. Now that I have that done, I'll need to stamp and embellish them. Then, I still haven't made my November cards, plus there are a couple other little stamp club related projects that have to be done — and time is running short. Sure hope I can get it all done!

Kris and I also took a walk. It's been a very nice day here, so we stopped a few times to talk to neighbors who happened to be outside enjoying the weather. When we got home I grabbed my camera because I just had to take a picture...

Our neighbors still have a pumpkin on their front porch, so I just had to bring it into the proper season. :) However, we just got a call from our neighbor and their 1 year old baby was hospitalized with pneumonia today. I hope that the Santa pumpkin makes them smile and isn't construed as a jab on their lack of outdoor Christmas decorations. (Our prayers are with you Rob, Teri, and, especially, little Robby!) 

 

This is the scripture that impressed me today.

Jude 1:20-22

"But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God's love.

"And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives."

Here is what I took away from these verses. As Christians we are to encourage each other and pray for each other. We are also to show mercy to people whose faith may be weaker than ours and bring those who may be going down a slippery slope back into alignment with Christ. What we have to be careful of, though, is that in our efforts to relate to those engaged in blatant sin we don't fall into sin ourselves. Which brings us back to where we started... it's important for Believers to build each other up, to pray powerfully, and to wait on the Lord. Doing those things is how we stay safely in His will and keep our lives from becoming contaminated.

 

Now it is time to get on with something marginally crafty.

Ken is the driving force behind our Christmas card sending. And he has been for years. I'm usually the one who selects a picture and prepares the photo card and he writes the first pass of our yearly update letter. Then I do a little proofreading and... well... maybe I change a thing or two. :) This year was pretty much the same as always. He just had a little more to do with the card than usual.

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I ordered this stamp set specifically to make Christmas cards. But then the thought of creating the number of cards that we were sending out seemed a little daunting... so instead of cards I just decided to stamp the images onto our Christmas letter. Then I had all kinds of trouble getting clear images with the sentiment stamp and finally decided that it wasn't worth it... so most of the letters we sent just have the image, and look like this one:

Which I think is OK. I'm just sorry for the people at the beginning of the alphabet who got some pretty crummy looking Christmas letters from us. I should've done them over, but you may remember how I am... I don't redo things. I just make do. But, I do feel badly about that first group of cards. I hope those who received them will give me some grace. :) (Please??)  

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Come to Bethlehem); ink is SU (More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler).

Well, here it is... almost midnight. I think I should head to bed... I don't want to get overly tired. And I hope to do some Christmas shopping tomorrow afternoon, so I really need to get some sleep!

I so appreciate you stopping by for a little visit. The plan is that I'll be back here tomorrow, so I'll see you then. Sending you big hugs and prayers for a wonderful day! :)

happy thanksgiving

Today is Wednesday, November 23. The day before Thanksgiving. The cards above are a little teaser of my November stamp club cards which are included in this post. Just to keep you craft-oriented folks interested. :) 

Ken's sister Janis, his mom, and I left the house this morning around 10:00 and went to the mall to do a little shopping.

Yep. That's the three of us. :) My mission was flat shoes with a peep toe that will show off my next pedicure. We finally found some at a department store and they were on sale... and then rang up even lower than the sale price. That's always a pleasant surprise, isn't it?

On the way to finding the shoes, though, I got distracted by a sale in Anthropology. Love that store! Love their clothes... but not so much for me right now on my newly chubby body. I did get quite a few little stocking stuffer types of Christmas gifts, though, and this...

 beautiful rug. It was 50% off of the orignal price and then an extra 25% off that, so I had to snatch it up, right? I think it will really liven up our foyer and provide a cheery welcome for guests.

 

Now, how about some convicting scripture? At least, it was convicting for me.

Psalm 119:36-37

"GIve me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things and give me life through your word."

OK. These were not the verses that I was originally planning to post today. But I read them again and — probably in light of my trip to the mall — was a bit convicted. Talk about a place that can skew your values and make you feel like you need a lot of stuff that you really don't need at all. I saw a beautiful fireplace screen (and, of course, wanted it)... but when I looked at the price tag it was $1,295. That is a bit excessive, I think. Or at least hard (well, impossible) for me to justify. (Although, I must admit to trying to figure out if I can get a similar look with some large crystal Christmas ornaments and a good glue.)

I think it's OK that I like to have nice things... as long as I am also tithing, paying my bills on time, and caring for those in need. And, aren't we all aware that there are so many people in this world who are in need? The contents of your mailbox may look like ours — full of letters from ministries and worthy causes who depend on donations to continue doing their good works. It can be a bit overwhelming at times. We obviously can't support every single need that is presented to us, but I believe that God pricks each persons heart for specific things and that if respond to His promptings every need will be met.

So, Lord, turn my eyes from worthless things. Give me an eternal perspective and show me how to live for You. I want to be useful for You!  

 

These are my stamp club cards for November. The theme was Thankfulness or Thank You cards... so I made Thanksgiving cards. I didn't get them finished before our meeting, so I'll distribute them at our December gathering. I think that'll be OK. :) 

SHOW

I couldn't decide... should I knot the twine through the button or should I tie it in a bow? So I did some of each... and I'll let our stamp club members decide which they like better.

I don't usually send Thanksgiving cards, but this year I'm using these cards as the welcome cards for those who are staying at our house for the holiday — Ken's mom, his sisters Janis and Lynne, brother-in-law Michael, and Britt & Kenneth. They'll each have a card on their nightstand or bed when they arrive. It's just what I do. :) 

One more thing that I try to remember to do on my stamp club cards is to stamp a small coordinating image on the back cover of the card and sign it with the year and my initials. Just an extra little touch. And, since most of our club members do something similar, it helps all of us remember who made what.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Array of Sunshine, Thankful For); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Rustic White) and Stampin' Up (So Saffron, Ruby Red); SU marker (Riding Hood Red); ink is SU (Riding Hood Red, More Mustard) and Versamark; buttons are PTI (Scarlet Jewel); twine is PTI (Rustic Jute); also used SU's Square Lattice embossing folder and scallop border punch, EK Success Dotted Scallop edger punch, Creative Memories corner rounder, and Perfect Pearls in gold. 

Well, I had more that I was going to post but it'll have to wait for another day. My goodness. It's after 10:00 p.m. Definitely time to finish things up and get ready for bed!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I am planning to post tomorrow, but it'll be a day full of family, food, and fun — as I hope yours will be, too! — so we'll just have to see. Hugs and love to you!