Yes, another card!

Well, I don't think I've stamped this much in years! But, Kristina Werner's blog has really inspired me. Here is another challenge she gave us. She found a picture of a bedroom in the Pier 1 catalog. The colors were pink, orange, purple, white, and black. My camera doesn't really do the colors justice. It's hard to tell, but the "for you" is on a strip of Pumpkin Pie. The ribbon is magenta organdy. The card base is Pixie Pink. Anyway, I think it's much prettier in person. The card template is a copy of her Make a Card Monday video. She does such a great job!

In other news...we got a new piano this weekend. It's so beautiful! We got a really good deal on a baby grand...it was once our church's piano. Zack has been taking for 7 years now...and the others are all following, so we gave away the old one and are so thrilled with the new one. I've been playing it too. What a blessing!

What else? The concrete for our garage was poured on Saturday. With all the rain, I've had the fun job of sweeping mud every hour :-( Not much else right now.

Sleepin' and Stampin'

After the flooding rains comes the glorious sun!! We've been enjoying some time off this week from our structured homeschool schedule. We've been working on our Young Author books, doing some projects around the house, and just taking it easy. What a treat to not have to do any driving! And, I've come to the conclusion that I can sleep just about any time of the day. I love sleep. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and wonder if I'll be able to take a nap that day :-) Isn't that pathetic? I really like to take a nap when it's raining and thundering. Why is that? Even though I love to take naps, I don't get to do it very often...but this week it was rainy AND it was spring break...so I've gotten to take 2! And, I've gotten to do some stamping as well. If you like paper crafts, and haven't checked out Kristina Werner's blog, you should. She gave out another color challenge and I gave it a go. I really had a hard time with these colors. The first card uses the Build a Brad for the center and says "Your Special Day". I think it's ok. On the second card, you probably can't see the glitter centers in the middle of the 2 small flowers. I think it's simple and pretty. Let me know what you think.

Send a Card Sunday

After reading Wendy's blog, and talking about creativity, I thought I'd share one of my brief opportunities to do something creative. I make cards. I tend to go through phases of frenzy card making...and then a little lull with hardly any card making. Anyway, about a year ago, my hubby came to my stampin' table and asked me what I was doing. Actually, his exact words were, "What in the world IS all this?" I explained that this was all my card making paraphernalia... "No," he said. "What is all THIS?" he said, pointing to my huge stash of completed cards. So, I explained that when I make a card, I tend to put a little piece of my little heart and a smidge of my little ole' soul into it. And, sometimes, when I'm done making someone a card, I decide that person really isn't "card-worthy" and I end up buying a card and saving my little piece of my heart and my little ole' soul. "They won't really appreciate the effort and love," I think. Therefore, I end up with quite a stash of beautiful (at least, beautiful to me) cards. Well, my hubby doesn't really understand the "little heart and little ole' soul" story. So he puts forth a mandate! "Don't make any more cards until you send some!" says he. Then he spews forth this little piece of wisdom... "The people that are the least card-worthy are probably the people that need your cards the most." Ok, ok. When he's right, he's right. And, he's the one paying for my stuff. So, being the retentive person that I am, I make a plan. On Sundays, when I'm TRYING to do the resting thing, and I'm considering my upcoming week and planning menus, etc... I pick, write, and address a card that I will mail the next day. Now, I've only been doing this for a month or so, and I am finding that it's actually getting easier to release my cards. And, it's really kind of fun to try to think of someone that may just need a little piece of my heart :-)


Here's the recipe... Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip. Ink: Whisper White, Basic Brown, Versamark. Stamps: French Script, Wonderful Words, Always. Other stuff: Heat and Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Ribbon (retired). I got this color combo off of Kristina Werner's lovely website www.kwernerdesign.com

A Gift From My Angel

Last night something wonderful happened. Sometimes, on the weekend, I tend to "veg out" a little. Whether it's watching a movie till midnight, or playing games on the computer...it's something I do to just do nothing... Anyway, everyone was in bed and I was sitting on the couch with my laptop when my eye caught movement on the stairs. My littlest angel was up. As he came towards me, I asked him, "Hey buddy, what's up?" He didn't answer. He just plopped down next to me. I could tell he was disoriented, so I just put my arm around him and he laid his head on me. He fell asleep almost immediately. I sat there for a while with this perfect little person asleep on me. That hasn't happened for a while. I breathed in his "Saturday night bath" cleanliness... As he fell asleep, I could feel his little body relax and get heavier. It was lovely. I tear up even as I think about it. I'm not sure what woke him up because he doesn't remember coming downstairs. Maybe it was my light he saw and he just went towards it. Whatever made him do it, I was glad I got the chance and soak him in for a while. Kisses and hugs are very common around our house, but those days of holding a little one until they fall asleep, well, they just don't happen much around here anymore. It was a gift...

Spring Fever

I feel a little tickle here and there...and I groan inside. I try to fight it, but I feel it getting stronger and stronger. No, it isn't the latest flu bug that everyone has been experiencing. It's spring fever! It goes like this...

As I walk into our bedroom to put away laundry, I think to myself, "I should really move the furniture in this room! And, I really need to clean up the little nook that leads to our balcony. Oh! And wouldn't it be nice to put a little 2 cup coffee maker with a little basket of hot chocolate right next to the chaise on the balcony! Oh! Oh! And, wouldn't it be great to put a basket with all my favorite magazines that I don't get a chance to read, and of course I could have my Bible there too!!"

No! Resist! It's not time yet! So...I head back downstairs and I pass the dining room. As I look at my dining room, I think to myself, "I really need to recover those dining room chairs. Oh! Wouldn't it be cute to SEW some chair covers? Oh! Oh! I could sew a different set for EACH SEASON!! Then, I could change them out 4 times a year!!"

Then I come to my senses. I DON'T SEW!! What am I thinking? I can only sew patterns that require no curves!

So, I go back to the laundry room, and I think to myself, "These cabinets really need shelf paper. Why don't I just pull out all the stuff in all these cabinets and give them a really good cleaning?" Of course, we're still trying to get schoolwork done, and I have people coming over for dinner. I resist and move on. Yes, in my excitement to finally be in our new home, I was too impatient to go get more shelf paper when I ran out. I thought I'd just get it the next time I was at WM and would install it the next week. That was 5 years ago! Oh well...who cares?

Then, I'm putting some of the kids' books away and I happen to look down at the carpet in front of the fireplace. We have a huge rug in front of the fireplace and I begin to think... "I wonder what the carpet looks like under this rug.
OH. MY. GOSH! The carpet under the rug is a nice cream with grey flecks. The carpet in the rest of the room is grey. UGH!!! Time to clean the carpets. I must resist! I just don't have time! So, I put the rug back down. The outline of the rug is so stark, it looks like the last piece of a puzzle.

And what about the garden! It's taken me 30-some years to finally come to the conclusion...I HATE TO GARDEN!! I like being IN a garden, LOOKING at a garden, eating food FROM a garden, getting flowers FROM a garden...but I don't like weeding, sweating, bending over, getting my nails dirty... well, you get the idea. But, every year I get the urge to plant and I have grand ideas for a beautiful, lush oasis of flowers, shrubbery, butterflies, and birds. Well, this year is no different. I was actually looking at a seed catalog the other night!

What's wrong with me? I don't usually get so itchy for spring. Everything is so gray...I just want some color. I was reading my friend Wendy's blog and she was talking about creativity and our need for beauty. I agree with her. I think God put in us ladies a desire for peaceful loveliness. My hubby couldn't care less about the cute, little towels in the powder room, or the pretty pillows on the bed, or the romantic lampshade that gives such a nice glow on a cold evening. I really like the little touches. Well, I feel like things are in a rut. I want to change things up...everything feels cramped, and dingy, and stuffy. I want to make things feel new and...springy! So, I'm trying to resist. I just don't have the time right now, and I know my feelings are caused as much by the weather as anything. I try not to leave unfinished projects all around because they make me feel guilty. So, I started a "Peaceful Loveliness" list. Maybe I can do something during spring break and then save the rest for summer. People often ask me if we school year-round. Are you kidding? I need the break. We do fun stuff, and we always are reading, but nothing structured. I love to make my list, check it twice, then have the adrenaline high of crossing off stuff. I love that! So, I'm trying to keep from getting too distracted. Come quickly spring!!