Following My Heart ... Right Back To Sheer Joy!!!

Hi there!  Sorry it's been so long, but I sure hope to be doing this more often from now on!  With hubby at home most of the time now, our travel schedule, an elderly mother who needs me, and my desire to craft ALL.THE.TIME!, blogging just tends to take a back seat.  That said, I do have another, new, endeavor. 

For some time now I have wanted to form a new group in our area for a 'place' for women in our area to gather, chat, share, learn, and craft together!  Building friendships and relationships that will go beyond the group's confines is important to me!  So, one of the local craft stores is allowing us to use their classroom on Fridays ... for free ... and I have been advertising by word of mouth, Facebook and a local online newspaper.  I had great responses, and we had our first gathering yesterday.

It was a phenomenal success!  I had hoped and prayed for two people to join me.  Three and I would have been over the moon happy ... but we had more!  Five ladies joined me yesterday for some fun, fellowship and crafty fun.  It was amazing!  And we now have dates on the store's calendar through April.  The best part of this?  I walked away with five new friends, at least one or two that I can see becoming close friendships.  I feel so blessed that God has blessed this new endeavor!

Anyway, most of my time yesterday was spent talking to people, answering questions about my work, and walking people through the store and showing them where they should start on paper crafting, and I loved it!  But I did get back to my first love ... card making ... for the first time in a long time, and it was wonderful!  I made one card completely and started another, then this morning when I couldn't sleep I finished that one and made another.  It was bliss!  Card making is my first love, and I haven't made a card in months ... maybe over a year, and it felt so good to get back to doing what I love so much!

First up is 'It'll Be Okay' ...

Of course this is a Mabel Lucie Atwell image .... my favorites ... as are all three of the cards today.  I just love this little image, and have wanted to use it in a card for a long time.  Here are the 'ingredients' in the card:

• Card blank - Recollections from Michaels
• Background paper - Black Stripes - Recollections from Michaels
• Ribbon - May Arts
• White Eyelet - stash, could be from anywhere!
• Button - stash, could be from anywhere!
• Stickles - Black Diamond, Platinum, Diamond and Christmas Red
• Ink Pad for edging - Stampabilities Pigment Ink from Hobby Lobby - Brown
• Ink Pad for sentiment inside - Stampabilities Pigment Ink from Hobby Lobby . Black
• Sentiment stamp from 'Trust God' set from Stampin' Up  It says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Close up of ribbon and trim ...

Next up is 'Baby Boy' ...

 Here are the ingredients:

• Card Blank - Recollections from Michaels
• Background Paper - Light Blue and White Stripes - Recollections from Michaels
• Dark Blue Cardstock -Recollections from Michaels (no color name)
• Red Cardstock - Bazzill 'Card Shoppe' Cardstock
• Ribbon and Button - stash
• Stickles:  Waterfall, Diamond, Patina
• Sticker - SRM Press

Close up on ribbon ...

 And last, is 'Best Friends' ...

 

 Here are the ingredients:

• Card Base - Recollections from Michaels
• Background paper - Bold Yellow Stripe - Recollections from Michaels
• Dark Green Cardstock - 'Greenbrier' from Bazzill
• Trim is by Hug Snug Seam Binding
• Vintage Button from my stash
• Stickles:  Black Diamond, Patina, Icicles

And that is my first three cards in a long, long time!  If you are looking for the images, simply go to Pinterest and search for "Mabel Lucie Atwell Images" and you will find quite a few of them!  I save them to my computer using Picasa software and that makes it easy to organize and do minor edits to the images.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit today ... It really feels good to be making cards again!  Come back soon, Becky

Beginning again ... and again ... settling into retirement!

Hey there!  I know it has been a LONG time ... almost six months ... but the holidays are now over and my hubby has been retired for four months and we have traveled a LOT in that amount of time!  As soon as he retired we headed to Tennessee where we camped for 22 days at two separate state parks, one near Nashville and one on the Mississippi River in the far NW corner of the state.  Then, about 3 weeks after returning from that trip we spent 18 days in Florida, camping at two different state parks, ending with 11 days at our favorite beachy place, St. Joseph's Peninsula State Park.  Then came the holidays, and we decided on 12/21 to leave on 12/27 for a week in Florida, where we 'thought' it would be warmer!  Well, it was warmer, but not a lot, but we truly enjoyed our week after Christmas to just relax and have some fun.  Our next trip will be in 38 days when we will return to Topsail Hill State Park (where we were last week) for another week around Valentines Day.

But now we are home, and I am settling into a routine after having my husband home all the time, and have once again find myself following my heart and doing lots of paper crafts.  I made a box for a friend of mine for Christmas.  It is just a 4x4x4 inch box that holds a small accordion style mini album, but the fun part is that I made the box from scratch rather than buying a paper mache' box as I would have done in the past.  Here are a few pictures ...

Front of Box

One side of box ... to show you the pleated paper that I used to decorate the box.

Top of Box ... knob is from Hobby Lobby

Picture of the small accordion mini album, resting inside the box.

Close up of mini accordion album ... note the 'belt' that holds the book together.

Sorry it's blurry, but this is the 'belt' that holds the mini album together.

Side One of the mini album.

My friend loved the box ... in fact, she loved it so much that she ordered two from me for her two daughters-in-law!  I'll share pictures of those soon ... just need to upload the pics off of my camera!

Thanks for visiting today!  Blessings, Becky


Products for box:

• Chipboard:  Assorted sources, including cereal, cracker and tissue boxes!
• Adhesives:  Scor-Tape, Beacon 3 in 1 Craft Glue, Scotch ATG adhesive
• Papers:  The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby) 12 x 12 Kirby Teesdale Studio Stack
• Knob:  Hobby Lobby  Pink Ceramic Knob with Beaded Edge
• Ink for Edging:  Stampabilities Brown Pigment Ink Pad ... Hobby Lobby
• Kraft Card Stock:  Hobby Lobby The Paper Studio 
• Feet for Box:  Tim Holtz
• Buttons:  Buttons Galore and More
• Ribbons and Trims:  Assorted, some vintage from my collection

Sharing ... Life Changes ... Transitions ... Priorities!

Hi there!  I know it has been a while since I posted, and I make no apologies for that.  But I do want to explain.  My husband and I are in a huge state of transition these days.  We will celebrate our 29th anniversary in a couple of weeks, but long before he had 'me', my sweet hubby had a job ... and he has been with the same company, in the same job, for almost 42 years!  The job has changed, technologically speaking, and the company has changed hands a few times, but it's basically the same job at the same company for 42 years ... and that's a lot!

But in just a few weeks he will be rolling up his last set of blue prints, shutting down his computer, and retiring.  It's going to be a HUGE adjustment for him, but he is ready, and it is time!  So, we've been busily getting our ducks in a row so we would be prepared and knowledgeable about all the decisions we need to make.

We have also taken a step that is so exciting for us!  We love camping, and have camped for many years, sometimes in tents, and sometimes in campers.  For the last 10 or so years we have camped in our pop-up camper, but with my neck and shoulder issues, it's gotten harder and harder to do the work necessary for putting it up and taking it down.  We sold it a while back, and then took a big step ... we went to our favorite RV dealership and picked out 'the one'!  Well, we already knew which one we wanted, but we went to the dealership and talked to them about getting the one we wanted.

There was a small glitch (salesman made us a promise the company couldn't keep) but the company came through and helped us make our dream of owning a new camper a reality.  And because of the little snafu, they let us order the camper we wanted, with upgrades, at no extra charge.  So, instead of getting the standard hickory cabinets, we got the solid cherry cabinets, and we got to pick from the new line of upholstery.  They put the order in around the first week of June, and we just found out it should be in their lot in a couple of weeks! 

(Explanation:  The company that makes these campers doesn't just make up a ton and hope they sell, they take orders and then when they have enough to fill up a week or two of making that model, they will make that model and ship them out.)

We have an appointment to go visit them and go through the 2 hour orientation and then take the camper home with us very soon, and I am ecstatic!  This camper is almost 25' long, has two drop down beds, one at each end (this is called an expandable trailer) and two slide outs, with a very cool island in the kitchen.  It truly is my dream camper, which is a good thing, because we'll be paying for it for a long time!

And I am transitioning creatively, too.  I haven't made a card or a scrapbook in MONTHS, and now spend most of my time playing with Gelatos, Inktense pencils, my Gelli plate, etc.  I am learning new things and enjoying that very much.  For the first time I truly feel as if I am becoming an artist, a lifelong dream for me!

We are so looking forward to this new phase in our lives, even though we know there will be bumps in the road.  I mean, that's just life, isn't it!   Blessings,

Becky