Another Sampling

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!!!

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

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....

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

Baby Blankets

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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