h{art} Strings

So who does that, anyway?

Starts a blog and then ignores it for 5 months?  Even more surprising is that some of you are still checking it to see if I've posted!  You get gold stars for remaining hopeful!

Once again I am starting the New Year with every intent of posting more frequently and sharing bits of my life along with cool projects.  Right now I am busy getting things ready for my January workshops, and also creating swaps to take with me to Stampin' Up!'s Leadership Conference next week. 

At my team meeting in December, we had a gift exchange and I thought I would share with you the item I made.  This is a three-dimensional ball which can be used as an ornament, though I made it using Elegant Soiree designer paper so it could be left out after the holidays are over:

 

I gotta say that this was a bit of a time hog to make.  Each flower is actually made by folding five different squares of paper.  I will try to find the link for the pattern (where did I put that?).  E-mail me if you're dying to know and I'll find it.

Besides the holidays, we just celebrated Dan's 24th birthday.  So hard to believe!  He won't let me take a decent photo of him; he always rolls his eyes up into his head so he looks like a crazy person.  So instead here is Stella, who helped me make his birthday cake.  Isn't she adorable? 

 

How Do You Spell Relief?

This picture says it all:

It's been a wild few weeks of end-of-the-year activities and preparations for the "Big Day".  Congratulations, Keith - we couldn't be more proud of you! 

Sweetness

Don't you just love spring?  I love the newness - the fresh spring air, the budding trees.  We have a little newness in our lives, and before I share this project I want you to meet our sweet, sweet Stella:

 
She is . . . well, she's simply sweet!  Right now she is curled at my feet as I write this post.  I have a few funny things to tell you about Stella, but I'll save that for next week. 

I've been crazy busy the last couple of weeks preparing demonstrations and samples for my upline's "Spring Fling" demonstrator event which was held last Saturday.  One of the demonstrations I did was a flower - you can think of it as a magnolia or a rose - made from the Ornament Punch.  The punch was in Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Mini Catalog, but it's still available (item #116794, $15.95).  And if you don't own it yet, I promise you will NEED one after you see this!

Here are the finished samples: 

This sample above is made with Whisper White cardstock and brushed lightly with Pretty in Pink ink.  Can you see the shimmer?  I sprayed it with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (say that fast 3 times!) which will be available from the Summer Mini Catalog beginning May 1st.   It's much prettier in real life!  The next sample is Barely Banana cardstock, with a bit more sponging.  So sweet!!!

 Here are a few instructions on how to make these sweet, sweet flowers:

Punch petals from Whisper White cardstock using Ornament punch. I used 25 petals on each of my flowers.  Sponge each of your petals with Pretty in Pink ink.

Add a little bit of Sticky Strip to the back (un-sponged) side of each petal. The Sticky Strip should go only on the "hanger" part of the ornament.

Separate your petals into 4 stacks: 3 stacks of 8 petals, and 1 stack with a single petal. Now you are going to curl your petals.

Stack #1 - the first 8 petals should have a very slight curl. You can do this simply by wrapping around your finger.
Stack #2 - the second 8 petals need to be more curled, as in a "U" shape. I used a Stampin' Write Marker.
Stack #3 - the third 8 petals need to be more tightly curled, so that they begin to close in. I used a wood stylus and held it for a moment so that it would hold the curl.
Stack #4 - the last petal needs to be curled very tightly - try using a small watercolor brush or something of similar size.

Here's how your petals will look:

Now you are ready to begin assembling. Use a circle punched with the 1-3/4" Circle Punch. Using the LESS CURLED petals to begin with, adhere them around the outside edge of the circle (think "north-south-east-west").

Once you have done that layer, adhere the next 4 petals (you're still using the Stack #1). They should go in slightly and fill in between the first layer.

Continue adding layers, each one going in slightly and going from less curled petals to most curled petals. When you get to the last petal, it will be a bit of a squeeze to put it in place.

The petals on this sample relaxed quite a bit when I sprayed it with the Smooch, so keep that in mind if you decide to do the same thing.  

Enjoy!

Don't ya just hate it . . .

. . . when someone starts a blog and then doesn't post for ages?  And then finally posts and makes all kinds of excuses like

I've been sick.

Things have been really busy in my life.

My dog ate it.

So I'll spare the details and just say that my life got a bit complicated at the end of January and through February and I just honestly didn't have the heart to blog.  And it's amazing to me that so many of you have noticed and even still check my blog regularly.  I'm glad to say that I'm back on board.

Today, let me share with you a couple of fun purses I recently made for my hostesses:

I got the pattern from Becky Roberts, and absolutely love the way these turned out.  My hostesses loved receiving them, and I have a few more to give out this spring!  The two purses shown above were made with the Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Pack and the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt embellishments.  They are in the Occasions Mini Catalog and are available through April 30th. 

On a completely personal note, we were very sad to lose our little Jackson - our 8-month old black lab - to kidney failure in February.  He was beautiful, delightful, impish, affectionate, and had been the center of our family since joining us in early August.  Tomorrow we are headed to Eastern Washington to meet and pick up Stella, Jackson's baby sister from a new litter.  We are excited and at the same time (speaking for myself) feeling just a little melancholy and missing Jackson.  It's simply one of those times in life where sadness eventually unfolds into joy.  I am really looking forward to holding Stella and all of those sweet puppy kisses.  I'll post pictures of her when we return, but tonight I just want to remember:

Aldebaran Action Jackson

Trimming the Tree

We've had our tree in the house for a few days, and I am finally trimming it tonight.  It's been an amazing week.  Last Sunday, I was invited to sing as a soloist at a local Messiah Sing.  (If you don't know what  Messiah Sing is, it is a concert of Handel's Messiah - including the famous Hallelujah Chorus - where the audience is encouraged to participate on the chorus parts.)  It was held at the local LDS church, and it was professional and inspirational in every sense of the word.  When I went to rehearse the day before, I was impressed with the sound of the all-volunteer orchestra.  At the concert, I was even more impressed at how well attended it was - well over 500 people at my best guess.  As the other soloists started to sing, I wondered why in the world I had been invited.  But rather than get nervous, I simply said a prayer of thanks that I had been considered to be in this same group.  They had a wall of visuals behind us as we sang - slides of Christ from infancy to resurrection, of the Holy Lands and other beautiful images - and I couldn't help but sneek a glace from time to time for inspiration.  I was very happy with how I performed (which, for those of you who know I am my own worst critic, is a very hard thing for me to say).

So the week has slipped by, and tonight I was home alone and decided to tackle the tree.  As I unwrapped each ornament, I was reminded of Christmases past.  Each ornament has its own story - some were hand crafted by someone we love, or given to us from their travels across the world.  Some ornaments John and I have purchased to commemorate the year (we purchase a dated ornament every year, plus a dated ornament for each of the boys).  I also have several ornaments I made as a child.  I shed a few tears as I placed those on the tree and remembered my father and Christmas time growing up.  Today is the second anniversary of his passing and I miss him immensely. 

The first thing I place in our tree each year is a birds nest.  There's a story behind the nest.  In 1993, my father had a stroke just before Thanksgiving.  My boys were young - just shy of their 2nd and 7th birthdays.  Had it not been for them, I probably would not have bothered decorating that year.  I was so very worried about my dad, and I tried to visit him in the hospital on my lunch hour every day.  Christmas just seemed one more thing to worry about.  Well, we did go and cut a tree from a local tree farm, and when we were stringing lights on it, I found a bird's nest in the branches.  That nest was a poignant reminder to me of the gift of Hope and Love that came to us that first Christmas.  God sent his Perfect Son to us so that we might have Everlasting Life.  So I kept the nest and it is placed in the branches every year as a reminder of God's love for each one of us.

I have more music to prepare for the coming two weeks, and in between Christmas activities and Dan's 23rd birthday, I will start working on swaps for Stampin' Up!'s upcoming Leadership Conference.  Somehow, I'm sure that it will all get done and I'll look forward to some Phoenix sunshine the first week of January!

Giving Thanks

I realize that Thanksgiving was over a week ago, but I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of the things we created for our Thanksgiving table.  My sister, Bobbie, and I had seen some great quick and easy ideas while we were at Stampin' Up!'s convention last summer.  So the weekend before Thanksgiving, we got together in Bobbie's craft room along with my nieces, Melinda and Kelsie, to create a centerpiece, napkin holders, and placecards.  We had a fun evening laughing and giving Melinda a hard time for tearing too much paper!  Spending time together is no doubt the biggest reason why I love papercrafting, scrapbooking and stamping - I'm happy to do it alone, but it's better done with friends and family!

Here are a few photos of what we managed to create. 

The last photo is of Melinda's husband, Brandon, who decided to fry a turkey this year.  I'd never had fried turkey before and - mmmmmmm! - it was wonderful!  We let Brandon know that he now has an assigned job every holiday!
 

Oh me, oh My Digital Studio!

I have been working on several card samples from the new Holiday Mini Catalog, and had every intent of posting them two days ago.  But the Man in Brown (the UPS guy, who is one of my favorite people!) showed up to deliver my copy of Stampin' Up!'s new My Digital Studio (tm).  This will be available for customers to purchase on October 1st, but demonstrators can pre-order their copies in September. 

Now, I really am a paper and glue kind of gal, and didn't know at first how I felt about getting into the digital papercrafting and scrapbooking world.  But once I saw this at convention, I KNEW I had to have it!  (Not just wanted it, but HAD to have it!).  While I love the process of traditional scrapbooking, it is something that often takes a bit more time and space that I have, and so projects get put off.  And, so, well I'm something like 20 years behind on my scrapbooking.  (OK, confess it!  You are too!)

So when my new MDS arrived on Thursday, I immediately went to work and within 3 hours I had completed an 18-page 12x12 scrapbook.  What?!  Yes, 18 pages in 3 hours!  Now, I can't show you THAT book because it is a surprise for a friend . . . but I have created a few other sample pages like this one:

I made this 8x8 page for a frame that I bought recently, and my intent was to change out the scrapbook pages frequently to display what's up in our family.  Obviously, Jackson (aka El Diablo) was the August highlight.  (Sidenote:  Isn't he adorable?  But don't let those puppy-dog eyes fool you!  And please ignore the dandelions in my yard - I am!) 

This page took me about 45 minutes, and that includes time I spent with the learning curve, experimenting with some layout things, and figuring out how to print it on my own printer.  Of course for the 12x12 pages and also projects like calendars, bound scrapbooks, etc., I will be able to use the printer contracted by Stampin' Up! But how cool is this?  I am so stoked!  I'm like a scrapbooking madwoman! 

I really would like to get back to MDS and work on some more projects, but right now it's pretty easy to get sucked into it for hours - kind of like a good book that you just can't put down.  Instead, I gotta head to the kitchen now to deal with a bunch of produce that needs to get into the freezer.  I hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend!

Puppy love . . .

It's nice to know that people are actually looking at my blog.  I know that you are, because many of you have commented on the fact that I haven't posted in . . . well, forever.  There are lots of things to show you, including swaps I have been working on for convention.  But that will have to wait just a little bit because first there is someone I would like you to meet:

This is Jackson.  You just can't get any cuter than this!  He is 8 weeks old and came to live with us yesterday.  Dan "gave" him to John as a gift last Christmas.  But if truth were told, I think he really is Dan's dog.  First order of business was to cool off in the water (actually an old boat that we've used as a wading pool for years).  Then it was time to meet Kyle . . . 

 That went OK.  Kyle could care less (he may change his mind as Jack decides he wants to play).  Jackson, on the other hand started off by barking at Kyle.  Then he decided later on to get closer . . . and it looks like everything will be fine.  Jackson also met Daisy, who is much closer to his own size.  That could get interesting since he wants to play, and Daisy is far too old for that! 

Anyway, no doubt you'll be hearing Jackson stories in the days to come.  I only have today with him, then I'm off in the morning for Salt Lake City for Stampin' Up!'s convention.  Bobbie, Rhonda and I are driving . . . and I can't wait! 

Saying Farewell

 A few days ago, we said farewell to my niece, Kim, who is headed to Mundri, southern Sudan, where she will serve as a missionary among the Moru for the next five years.  This area of east Africa is politically unstable and so needless to say it was hard to see her go.  But Kim is a strong young woman, convicted in her faith, and excited about this stage of her life.  Her desire is to share the Gospel with primary teachers and show them how faith in Jesus Christ can transform their life and the lives of their students.  Kim will put her teaching experience to work as she trains these local teachers, most of whom have very little education themselves.  It seems such a short time that she has been home, but it has been over a year since she returned from her missionary service in Uganda.  Please join us in daily prayers for Kim and her service, that she may be held safely in God's hand and that He will use her for His purpose.  If you want to know more about Kim, I'd encourage you to follow her blog at:  www.weneedrealhope.blogspot.com.

Wearing a button shirt . . .

It's been a busy weekend with Stampin' Up!'s regional event in Seattle - more on that later.  But first, please indulge me in a "mom" moment.

When Keith was a little boy, he refused to wear buttons.  Buttons were out, and if you tried to put one on him, he would pitch a tantrum.  He would check to make sure the fastener on his pants was a snap, not a button.  No button shirts.  No button jackets or sweaters.  And when I would take him for walks around the neighborhood, he would check to see if I had buttons on MY clothes and he would refuse to hold my hand on that particular side.  We never understood how this began, however we actually found it to be quite amusing and had many laughs over his phobia.  He finally submitted to the buttons when he discovered he could not move from Tiger Cubs to Cub Scouts unless he agreed to wear the blue uniform with the buttons.

This weekend, he wore a grown-up button shirt:

 

He and his date, Sydney, went to the prom at her high school.  Aren't they adorable?  And so very, very grown up.  I have to admit, though, that it's moments like these that make me miss the little boy who refused to wear buttons.