THREE WONDERFUL WORDS TO HEAR

First, please let me indulge: Happy Birthday Sheri!
Sheri (Stampin Sher) is a very old friend (no, not in age, but in the number of years I have known her - shame on you!) and a wonderful person! She is that special person who involved me in rubber stamping some twenty odd years ago!

Here is a picture of a card I made for our deployed heroes. I made quite a few of the same card to send to Operation Write Home (operationwritehome.net). It is a very easy card to make, as you can see, and I used my favorite sentiment! What can be better than to have someone who you treasure and miss to say "I love you!"


I recently purchased this Just-Rite stamp (there are four in the set) and have really enjoyed coloring with my Copic Markers.

I hope you enjoy. Please do leave a comment - I very much enjoy reading them!


Stamps: Beautiful Blossoms (Just Rite)
Paper: Life's Journey (K&Company) Cranberry Tart (Gina K),
Ink: R24, R29, R59, RV25, YG93, YG95 (Copic), Baroque Burgundy (Stampin Up)
Accessories: Ribbon - Simply Sheer ME Burgundy (Offray), Brass Nail Heads (my stash)

GOT KUSUDAMA?

I have been seeing the Japanese art of paper folding called Kusudama quite a bit lately. The word Kusudama is taken from two Japanese words kusuri which means Medicine and tama which means Ball or Medicine Ball. Originally the medicine balls were sewed or woven together and used for incense or herbs. They may or may not have some sort of decoration hanging from the bottom.


I almost always try something like this when I see it. It is my passion for paper I guess. This is the first one I did. I have done one other one, but gave it to my neighbor Paul across the street who is Korean and does origami as a hobby. We trade gifts of our paper art with each other - the last being a large, graceful origami swan he had given to me. I do find these very relaxing to make and think they will make great gifts!

My next step is to order some red foil paper to see if these might be great Christmas gifts. I will let you know how that turns out when the paper arrives. Each Kusudama takes 63 square pieces of paper. The one in the picture is made from simple, green copy paper cut to 3x3 inch squares with pearls in the center of each flower. The larger the square the larger the Kusudama. Putting Kusudama in any search engine on the internet will give you quite a number of videos and/or instructions with pictures to make one. There are also many different flower styles that can be used which changes the look of the "Medicine Ball."

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you would like to leave any feedback or have questions, please leave me a comment. Blessings,

IT IS A SIMPLE NOTECARD . . .

I was thinking this morning that this is a simple and quick notecard for those of us who make them, but it may end up being something so special to the person receiving it. I think this came out of reading the April 15th post in the OWH Homefront Blog (http://www.owhhomefrontblog.org) which in part read, "One thing we do know is that twice, we've received a note from a family member, telling us that one of our cards was the final piece of communication they had with their loved one's handwriting." Anyone who has lost someone they love, can relate so well to this statement! I keep my Dad's keys from 1978 in the stamping drawer on my desk that I go into most often.

And this is a very simple notecard. It is a new image (for me) that came from The Digi Shack. I very much like digital stamps - they are so versatile because they can be sized to precisely fit the your die cut or the area of your design you want to place it in. The only minor drawback is if you want to put the image on a die-cut - then you must print it first and then cut it out, which is a much more labor intensive process than stamping a die cut with my stamp positioning tool - the Stamp-a-ma-jig. If you have never seen one, Stamp TV (http://stamptv.ning.com/video/how-to-use-it-the-stampamajig) has a really great tutorial by Gina K which will allow you to see the many benefits of using one.

I don't have a card recipe for you today, because I made this from odds n ends, i.e., the olive green paper is leftover from my daughter's wedding, and I have had the corner "Peel Offs" for so long who knows where I got them.

Blessings on your day. I'm off to take care of the day's "must do" activities so I can get back to stamping for my heros!

ARE YOU A "MODERN DAY ROSIE THE RIVETER"?

I hope as I write this blog entry that all who read it will feel in their heart the "spirit" of what I am writing. My husband, Chuck, and I take care of his Mom who was born in 1916 (she will be 94 in June)! In talking to her about what life was like during World War II, I found out that while Pop (her husband of 70 years when he passed away) was overseas fighting, she was an honest to goodness "Rosie the Riveter"! She felt that it was important, that it was her duty, to do what could be done to support the war effort, her husband, and all the soldiers who were giving their lives for freedom and our way of life! Some things do not change no matter how much time passes - today we are at war and there are still soldiers who are giving their lives to protect our way of life!

I know realistically I can't be a Rosie the Riveter the way Mom was, so I asked myself what I could do to make a real difference in this war and in the lives of those who are fighting! My answer was making cards for Operation Write Home. It doesn't have to be something so big it is worthy of the national news - it just has to make a difference in one person's life. About six weeks after I had sent my first cards to OWH, I received an email from a hero in Afghanistan thanking me for my card (my name and email were on the back). He explained that his wife was having their first child in about three weeks and how much it meant to him to have a beautiful card to send to her since he would not be present for the delivery. I can only imagine how she might treasure the card that came from her husband - maybe she might keep it so that when her child asked about where Daddy was when he/she was born, Mom would go to that treasure box that every woman has, and remove the card for her child to see. I have not received any communication from a soldier or family member since. I think I was just intended to have the realization that, yes, it does matter and it does make a difference!

Perhaps the person that will receive the most joy is the card-maker herself. I know I have received enjoyment and made new friends by participating in ways that I am able with OWH.

I hope that you might make a few minutes to make a few cards between now and May 10th to enter for the Make Somebody's Day Challenge! Oh, that we all might receive joy (and blog candy) from being a "Modern Day Rosie the Riveter". Just click on the icon above and to the right for all the details. Wishing you all blessings,

CASED CARD FROM CAROL L

Here is a card I cased from Carol L (http://ourlittleinspirations.blogspot.com/) who also designed our Stars and Stamps Sketch Challenge this week. This was a fun card to make and they are a part of my 232 cards challenge cards from the Spring Break Blog Hop! I was pleased with how it turned out and the picture doesn't do it justice!


I was able to give the card a little sparkle by using Copic's At You Spica "Twinkling Like Stars" in the flower centers. The paper is from a new paper pack I just purchased - Kioshi by Basic Grey. I liked every sheet in the paper pack (which is unusual for me!).

Blessings and thanks for stopping by!

Paper: Kioshi (Basic Grey), Mellow Moss (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Mellow Moss (Stampin' Up)
Accessories: Ribbon - Mellow Moss (Stampin' Up); Lattice Borderabilities (Spellbinders); Half Pearls (Bulk from Ebay)

Birthday Card for a Friend

Welcome to a new day! I am vertical and able to take nourishment - that means it is a wonderful day full of surprises. Here is a card I made for a girlfriend's birthday. It is made using Flower Soft which I love, but is not at all practical for using on OWH cards. By the time it went to see Sandy in Washington, was shipped to far off places where our deployed heroes are, and then back to some far off destination in the states, it would be road-kill! Or should I say mail-kill! But it really does offer a lot of beauty and dimension for someone who is close enough to hand deliver the card to.


I wish you joy in your day, time for making cards, and lots of supplies to stimulate your creativity. Blessings,

A Grey and Burgundy Father's Day Greeting

A splendid spring day to you all! I hope the flowers are blooming both in your hearts and in your yards! Here is a quick and simple Father's Day card I made a couple of weeks ago. The design originated from the beautiful silk ribbon I found it in a closeout bin at Joann Fabric and was able to purchase a spool of 100 yards for less than $2.00. What a steal!


I have completed half of the challenge cards from our Spring Break blog hop now! And what I realize is that my surgery for a total hip replacement is scheduled for May 28 which means I will still be in the hospital when the Memorial Day Blog Hop takes place! But - I have a plan. I will have the post ready before I leave for the hospital and then I'll have a laptop to use in the hospital! Fortunately, it is a brand new facility and has WiFi in all the patient rooms. I don't think the tray table will provide enough room to stamp so what would I do with myself (although images ready to color and my Copics should work)? Please note: I do already know I am crazy! But can you think of a better, more pleasant and fun way of passing the time in a hospital bed than blog hopping the OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop? I know I can't!

Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Stampin' Up
Paper: DP is Designer Basics (Wal-Mart), GinaK
Ink: Baroque Burgundy (SU) Cool Grey #1 (Copic)

He Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!

Happy Easter to one and all.