My Own Eye

Friends 24-7

2011-11-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

I've been on a mission to create (and actually send!) thank you notes. I have been having a ton of fun with Stampin' Up's "Friends 24-7" stamp set lately. Some of the general ideas are coming from Split Coast Stampers, a really great site for stamping ideas! Enjoy!

The Brightess Stars

2011-11-05T23:21:00.002-06:00

Months before December arrived a wonderful friend of mine purchased two tickets to
The Canadian Tenors.

Her husband is not exactly the type to listen to this genre of music without being forceably subjected.

I became the lucky recipient of the second ticket!

I was estatic! I could not wait!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE The Tenors!

With Granny and hubby's Grandma both sick and dying in the hospital, my days and thoughts were preoccupied and the concert snuck up on me quickly.

Just a couple days before the concert I had made my final trip to see Granny.

My heart was low and my spirit depressed.

And then I heard angels sing.....

As I cried my way through Hallejuah from the front row, I remembered that everything works out the way God intended it to. He knew I needed these bright stars in my life. He knew just the moment I would need them. He knew months before the concert that on this particular day my heart would need a lift. Praise God that these young men have followed their passion and gifting right to the place I needed them to be. Bless you, boys! Very much anticipating our next meeting!

Christmas Came

2011-11-05T22:49:00.001-06:00

Despite my broken heart, Christmas came.

Despite our family's pleas for me to come visit on Christmas Day,

I stayed home with my boy and built Lego.

When I wasn't building, I was breaking down.

It was the saddest Christmas on record for me

but being alone is just what I needed.

I needed to cry

and that's something I prefer to do with no witnesses.

I made these coasters for gifts for the men in our families. I LOVE THEM!

I still (as of Nov. 2011) have not finished my own set

but everytime I visit my parents I remark on how beauitful their set is! HAHAHAHA

Welcome Back

2011-11-03T22:21:00.025-06:00

Welcome back to my world. I have been missing for a very long time. Over a year, in fact. It's been a very challenging past 13 months for myself and my family. We have faced many trials, losses and disappointments along the way. But I know that my God carries us when we are weak. I've held on to a good deal of sadness this year and through my friends, my family, my church, and my creations I am processing and healing.

Not long after my last posting, both my Granny and my husband's Grandmother fell ill. Both left this world within three - four weeks. Two different women, two different backgrounds, two different illnesses, but ultimately, the same end.

Before I saw my Granny for the last time I stayed up most of the previous night creating a gift for her. She was always one to send a Christmas letter, a birthday card, a thanks for thinking of me call....Christmas was approaching and though I knew she was weak, I was hoping she would be able to pass on a few of these cards to those who helped her in her medical struggles. But that never happened. Her illness increasingly robbed her energy and her life. The cards were returned to me in the box, along with the pen and postage stamps I had included. I put the box in a drawer and didn't look at it again until just a week ago. My heart broke with the flood of memories.

...the love I poured into making the cards.

...how the box didn't turn out perfectly but I knew it was ok

because I never saw Granny as one to expect perfection,

just that you did the work in the first place.

...how I prayed that night for her to regain her strength,

to suddenly become well and be able to return home.

I knew what the prognosis was, but I also knew a miracle could take place. That miracle came as the release of her soul to Heaven on Dec. 24th. She was free at last. We were left to mourn.

I miss her daily. I hope that by taking these cards out of the drawer and eventually passing them on to my loved ones with my personal messages for them, that my love for them will be felt the way I felt my Granny's love for me when she last hugged me and told me how glad she was that I came; that she was afraid I wouldn't.

These aren't my best cards.

They are not near perfect.

None of us are and we probably shouldn't expect to be.

Just do the job anyway.

Love, Trina

(no idea why some of these insist on uploading sideways!!!)

Drumroll Please.....

2010-10-08T00:30:00.006-06:00

And finally my all-time FAVORITE card of the day! The vintage look is right up my alley and wouldn't you know......it has BLING!!! A very time-consuming card but it was worth every minute of pain-staking coloring!

More Cards

2010-10-08T00:18:00.003-06:00

These are among the last of the cards we made with Dorothy of Stampin' Up. Again, all beautiful and can't believe these are handstamped and homemade! Way to go in choosing cards for us to create!

Another Sampling

2010-10-05T11:15:00.004-06:00

Here's a few more cards we made at the Stampin' Up 20/20 day. Aren't they gorgeous?!?!?!?!?!

This tree one was a really cool technique (which I did wrong!) where we used the stamp covered in glue to adhere our glitter! So cool!

The fireplace one was really cool in that we used Irridecent Ice embossing powder to cover the image so it's all sparkly and beautiful!

Again, Irridecent Ice was used on the blue snowflake card. I love love love the color combo and have put this stamp set on my Christmas Wish List. I NEED this stamp set!!!!

The dove was amazingly simple to do but is one of the most beautiful cards we did. It is a simple resist technique....stamp image with VersaMark on glossy paper, heat emboss with white powder, then sponge the blue ink on....simple, simple, simple!

Have a great day everyone! I will post the rest of the cards in a day or two. Until then.....

Christmas Cards Already!!!

2010-10-05T00:17:00.004-06:00

This past weekend I joined some of my family and friends to create Christmas cards. It's really a pleasure to get this out of the way in October because as the season crashes down upon us the last thing I want to do is be trying to create last minute cards!

This is just a sneak peak of the 20 cards we created. Each card was not too difficult but definately made the class worth going to! And every card is so beautiful I don't want to part with them! hehehehee....Thank you to our Stampin' Up consultant, Dorothy! I will post more cards tomorrow.

The angel has a shimmer over her...so pretty!!!!

Kittens are one of my favorite things, so you know I just love this card!

I love the vintage look of the card on the right... this entire card (exept the wording) was created with one stamp. Very cool! Yes, I am ordering it! :D

My Thoughts

2010-10-05T00:10:00.003-06:00

I don't like the fact that I need sympathy cards, but I do, so I am trying to make a few ahead so I am not caught attending a service with no card in hand. These are created using Stampin' Up stamps and paper. Love love love the Stampin' Up papers! VERY nice to stamp on. :D

Here I Go Again....

2010-09-27T22:44:00.002-06:00

A couple more cards to add to the pile. Actually, one of these is going postal tomorrow!

Baby Blankets

2010-09-27T22:39:00.004-06:00

Many of my friends had babies this summer and since I love making baby blankets so much I spent some time crocheting these gems for the new little ones. I really love the way they turned out!

New Cards

2010-09-24T14:05:00.004-06:00

Here are my newest creations! I know it's been a long while, but now that the weather is getting cooler maybe I will get back into the scrap room! Thanks for popping by!

Ski Trip 2005

2010-04-13T14:31:00.005-06:00

I went to a weekend crop a few weeks ago and managed to get 12 layouts done! I was very excited as I have been in a creative funk for quite some time now. Here are a couple of my faves from that weekend!

Challenge #5 at Dirty Scraps

2010-04-13T14:22:00.003-06:00

I created "When I Grow Up" for Dirty Scraps Challenge #5. I am way too late to post it there but it's here for everyone to see!

Journaling: When I was growing up I was encouraged to be anything I wanted to be. I dreamed of being Prime Minister, a policitian or a lawyer so I could change our world. I never dreamed I'd grow up to be stressed, over-exerted, extremely depressed. I never longed to be angry, bitter or resentful. But through years of fighting for recovery I learned to fight for what matters. I learned to be a better mom, wife, friend. I am building a business in helping others to see hope. I volunteer at Celebrate Recovery. I am happy.

Cards Galore!!!

2010-03-30T23:52:00.006-06:00

I went to a cardmaking day a couple weeks ago where we created 20 cards in 8 hours! What a day! Thanks to Dorothy of Stampin' Up for pre-cutting and designing these awesome cards for us to make! Take a look:

To Be Seen

2010-03-07T16:46:00.004-07:00

Today I FINALLY created my FIRST layout of 2010! Pretty sad considering I usually have about 30 done by March! This one was inspired by Challenge #4 over at Dirty Scraps. http://dirtscraps.blogspot.com The challenge is to focus on how others see you.

My journaling reads: I volunteer as a small group leader at Celebrate Recovery, a Christian-based 12-step program. This is a serious role. Sometimes I forget how serious it is. We deal with all kinds of people in Recovery. Alcoholics, sex addicts, drug addicts, co-dependants and depressed to name a few. There are others who struggle with eating disorders, over-spending, over-achieving, people-pleasing, anger, rejection, loneliness, divorce, loss and hopelessness.

I can hardly believe that God is using me to reach out to these people. We are all so different. Many of these ladies I would never have had the opportunity to get to know in any other aspect of my life. But here we all are, every Friday night, sharing our hearts, our hurts, our habits and our hang-ups with each other. We support one another and in the common bond of great hurts we have developed a love one another.

I am so proud of these ladies for taking steps to improve their lives, their marriages, their situations. It took me a lot of years of sliding down a slippery slope before I decided to dry my tears and climb back up. I know the courage and the fear each of these ladies possess. I've been there.

I often get comments on how God is using me to minister to these ladies, how well I can relate to them or how gentle I am with their hearts. I am only being me. And I certainly am not doing it alone. I pray constantly that God will give me the words, the strength, the understanding, to help these ladies feel welcome and open to share. I know from my own experience that sharing my pain is a huge part of what healed me, so I pray that I can encourage them, give them hope and show them there is healing in the path they are now on if they choose to have it.

I am so humbled by the knowledge of God and the spiritual connection some of these ladies have. I am humbled by their strength to come forward and share their deepest secrets with me. I am humbled that they look up to me in any way. I just don't feel I am one they should be looking up to. But I do know that I would not trade this experience for anything. It has made me always ask myself, "what might that person be going through" and has helped me to stop passing judgement on what I don't know. And I have gotten to know and love some wonderfully strong women! For that I am grateful. - March 06, 2010

Belated Valentines!!!

2010-02-18T12:32:00.005-07:00

I figured that come February I would finally get back to scrapping, but here it is with only a week left in the month and I haven't touched my stuff yet again.....just too busy lately! I need a crop to inspire me!

I DID, however, manage to create a Valentine's Heart Wreath....late, but at least I did it! I got the idea from http://flowerpatchfarmgirl.blogspot.com/. It was very simple and took little time and I made it from a book that I found at the Take-it-or-Leave-it.

Log Your Memories

2010-01-27T12:44:00.003-07:00

I came across this book online before Christmas and I got really excited because I scrapbook chronologically and I am, right now, about 4 years behind! When I saw Kristen Rutten's Log Your Memory book, I knew it was the perfect thing for me!!!! Based on the idea of a daytimer, this book helps you record your daily memories for scrapping later. You can write down what photos you took, what events happened, how you felt, etc. Also, it has great little photo ideas, memory joggers and scrapping ideas!!!

I highly recommend this to anyone who has trouble remembering any details or importance of the photos you took by the time you scrap them!

http://stores.lulu.com/logyourmemory

First Creations of 2010

2010-01-12T12:29:00.004-07:00

Good day everyone! Here are my first creations for 2010. I LOVE to crochet baby blankets and lucky me has a dear friend who just had a baby girl! This is the first time I knew the sex of the baby when I started the blanket and I really enjoyed making a PINK blanet. :D

This is the card I made to go with it. Didn't turn out the way it looked in my head, but oh well....it's still pretty cute! Have a great day!

Dirty Girl

2010-01-07T16:26:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I became a Dirty Girl! LOL This is not as bad as it sounds!!! I just subscribed to a new challenge blog called Dirty Scraps. I am very excited about the idea behind this blog and wanted to share it with you all!

Check out Dirty Scraps blog here:

http://dirtyscraps.blogspot.com/

52 Pick Me Up

2010-01-05T19:40:00.007-07:00

Happy New Year everyone! Glad to be back to regularly scheduled programming. I seem to be way more productive now than I was prior to Christmas, so for that, I am grateful.

For those wondering, my parents are doing well. There are still broken bones to heal, but for the most part they are feeling much better and the insurance claim is moving along.

I see that I have a couple followers now! YAY! Thank you for supporting me. :)

Today I want to talk about something called 52 Pick Me Up.

This was an idea that I originally heard about from Andrea Wiebe.

Her blog can be found here: http://ajourneysofar.blogspot.com/

The idea behind 52 Pick Me Up is to challenge yourself. Set a goal. As you are achieving your goal, reward yourself by scrapping a little momento or reminder each week, hence, 52 cards will be created throughout the year.

My goal in 2009 was just to live and not take life too seriously. As I learned more about myself I worked on my Pick Me Up cards, and though I fell behind and never did finish 52 of them, I am going to start again in 2010 and continue on to hopefully complete my set!

Here are some of my favorite lessons from 2009:

Christmas Day 2009

2009-12-25T23:11:00.006-07:00

We opened gifts yesterday because hubby had to work today. But today I baked my heart out to help out my family. My parents were in a car accident on Christmas Eve and lost all the baking my mom had done. So today I took on the task of replacing the lost treats. I made toffee squares (our family's all-time favorite, but I forgot to take a photo of!) and shortbread. I had made the chocolate covered cherries and peanut butter cups a few days ago and I also made fudge today that hubby took to work to give to his coworkers. Then just as the baking was finishing I whipped up Caramel Apple Porkchops and Lemon Butter Pasta for Christmas supper. Aren't I a good wife??? :D

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Blessings and peace to you and your family.

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

2009-12-24T12:23:00.006-07:00

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! We celebrated our little family's Christmas this morning as we will be quite busy the next few days. Santa was very good to all of us. :D

I saw this on the internet this morning and just had to share it with you all! I love this paper wreath and think I will try to make one...maybe several in different themes....Easter, Summer, Fall..... Oh, how I love paper!!! I've included the link to the tutorial on how to make this in case you are interested yourself!

http://theredthreadblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/paper-christmas-wreath-tutorial.html

A Few Christmas Items

2009-12-16T21:01:00.007-07:00

I made a few gift bags this year for the teachers and the bus driver. I put homemade jams and jellies in the bags. The tags are made with stamps and heat embossing. The "Merry Christmas" is stamped and then heat embossed on some and glittered on others.

Here is a small sampling of the cards I made this Christmas season. Enjoy!

I really love that deer stamp that I got from Stampin' Up!!! :)

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

2009-12-13T21:45:00.001-07:00

I completed the following versions of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas. (http://www.timholtz.typepad.com/) I had to improvise A LOT as I have only a few of the products required, but I think the final results aren't too shabby. Have a look:

Day 1

I ended up using a resist technique on the snowman as I discovered

that I don't have any black embossing powder. What's up with that???

Day 2

Day 3

Apparently I don't have an evergreen tree stamp either....oh well....

this tree worked fine.

Day 4

This tag has glitter on the star and the tree but it's hard to see in the photo.

Day 5

Again, no evergreen tree stamp....I see I need to make a purchase

in the new year! ;)

Day 6

So far, this is the favorite of the ones I have created.

Though I again had to improvise on products, it turned out rather

vintage and I really love that!

Probably the coolest thing about this is that Tim used a stamp for the truck.

I had a stamp but mine was miniture and facing the wrong way. So I stamped it in black archival ink.

I photocopied and enlarged it to the size I wanted.

Then I cut it out and temporarily adhered it to cardstock.

I cut it out, flipped it over, covered the cardstock in black archival ink,

let that dry, covered it in Versamark, then heat embossed clear powder on it.

Voila!

More tags to come as I complete them.......

Welcome

2009-12-08T01:24:00.000-07:00

Today I did the thing I said I would never do.....I started a blog.

I want a place to share my artwork with friends, family and followers, so here I am!!! Enjoy!