a nice surprise :)

Thank you Shelly for your blog award :) How sweet! Now I'm supposed to tell 7 things about myself...hmmm....
1)music is a huge part of my life- either listening to it & singing along all day, or playing it occasionally on the praise team at church. I just love music.
2)I collect kaleidoscopes :)
3)I love the beach (like you, Shelly!) The smell of ocean air, the sandpipers running together, shells, whatever! I don't know how birds can fly or run so closely together without crashing into each other. Oh wait- of course I know- it's because God created them that way!
4)I love anything purple. Pretty much.
5)I'm a Gleek! ( That means I watch Glee, for you *civilians* :)
6)I also like to make bead bracelets & necklaces. Nothing fancy, just stringing them along :)
7)I married my *high school sweetheart* ( rival high schools....but whatever!) and I have two awesome & amazing young adults whom I am so very proud of...or does it show? heheheh)

and now I'm supposed to pass it on: in no particular order of inspiration...
The Colour Purple
lifelovepaper
Mama Dina's Stamperia
Joy in a Jar

The list goes on....every blog inspires me to some degree- especially to try to be a better blogger myself!

Thanks again Shelly ><>

mahalo hoaloha :)

I made this for a friend who just came home from the *trip of a lifetime* to Hawaii with her daughter-of course the tsunami warning was something they hadn't planned on! But everything else was awesome. She brought me back a beautiful bowl made of Kamani wood. I love it :) Back to the card: the clear stamps are Hero Arts- bg paper from my scrap drawer, and I just just hand wrote the word. Aloha ><>

oh my.

This is one of those *it seemed like a good idea when I thought of it* cards....not sure I like the finished product tho'. It's a mash up of many companies- Inkadinkado for the 'inchies'- SU for the butterflies & punch- and finally on the inside-

another new Heart & Soul image. I loved this ribbon and thought it would tie the whole thing together- it didn't photograph well. Very busy indeed! ><>

more new stamps

Here's another new one from Heart & Soul. The background paper was a *major score* from the *last chance* Goodwill ( everything is just dumped into big bins- you sort through it and pay by the pound!) It's actually from an old quilting magazine- I just ripped out the pages I wanted to keep when I got home:) And that new EK success badge punch is my new favorite toy :) purple goodness through and through! May God Bless your day ><>

happy birthday Jackie !

I made this special card for a very special young woman- one of the most compassionate, kindest, funniest, loving, caring, talented, *sold-out-to-Jesus* ladie's I know...who just happens to be my lovely *baby girl*...and who is also a little bummed out at becoming an *un teenager*. I couldn't be any prouder to be her mom- my heart is full :) Oh yeah- about the card: I just punched some squares out of scraps, and the image is SU. ><>

Lenten *mobile*

This is the new *spinny thing* in the center of our Sanctuary- purples, blacks, brownish-purples...all symbolizing repentance, sin, and the journey to Calvary throughout the Lenten Season. The warm air currents make it move slightly - it's something I really enjoy visually at our church ><>

new stamps! new stamps!

Thanks to my amazing *web woman* Cyndy the new Heart & Soul stamps are all on the website now :) Here's one of the flower ones- we are having a dry day today with some sun peeking through- it's starting to feel like Spring! Yay! Verse is an older H & S too ><>

so sad.

I've really been trying to think of something *profound* to say about the events in Japan....because it can't just be ignored...but *profound* isn't coming...so I'll have to settle for *heartfelt*. My heart is just broken for the Japanese people and all they are going through. My prayer is that God would reveal Himself to them in a Mighty way- that the Holy Spirit's Presence would be undeniably felt in that country! That He would make the paths straight for relief efforts, that many souls would be won through the love and compassion of Christians helping out, and that something *good* would come from all of the tragedy- as only God can do ><>

a penny for your thoughts...oy :)

Another in a series of time wasting projects I seem to be into...experimented with different colors of yarn this time- I like the gold. Don't look too closely- things are a little crookedy here and there ><>

any excuse for chocolate...apparently

If I have any Irish blood in me at all...it's just a few drops waaaayyyy removed....but I still have fun being Irish for a day! Just another reason to pass out chocolate to my friends :) Took another trip to the scrap drawer for most of this- printed the sentiment on the computer. I love this ribbon I've been hoarding for a few years!

Ash Wednesday

"From dust we came...to dust we shall return" I LOVE the Lenten season! ( and not because purple is the *official* color :) And not because our church has awesome soup suppers before the midweek service (ok, ya got me there.) It's a soup smorgasborg <3. But I love the chance to intentionally focus on walking to the cross with my Reedemer and Savior. For years I *gave something up* for Lent- you know- did without something for six weeks that I normally enjoyed, and when I thought about that thing I was doing without, I would think about Jesus. As I've gotten older (not necessarily wiser or more mature:) I've come to the astounding realization that NOTHING I could ever give up would even be light years close to what Jesus gave up for me! Plus, was I giving it up for the right reason anyway? While I'm sure Jesus appreciated my *good intentions* and loves me anyway, He probably wished that my heart was in the right place. So, really long story short: My focus during Lent is not what I can give up, but what HE GAVE UP FOR ME- HIS VERY LIFE BLOOD. This card sits on my desk as a daily reminder to be thankful- especially during Lent :) I used the 'grass' Fiskars texture plate because it reminds me of thorns. Images are Heart & Soul. May God bless your 40 days of walking with Him to Calvary. ><>

More New Stamps!

Here's a *sneaky peek* at one of the new floral images from Heart & Soul- they won't be up on the website just yet...but they're worth the wait (IMHO* :) Seriously, I am the lousiest 'colorer'...but you can imagine how much better it would turn out in your hands :) I even tried Dina's amazing technique of cutting around the petals and 'popping' them out with foam tape- I like it, but it doesn't show very well in the photo. A little Flower Soft in the middle helps. The verse is SU- made this for a church sister who just had some extensive hand surgery- sort of a 'get well/speedy recovery' verse inside. Bedeeebedeeettthat'salllfolks ><>
*In my humble opinion :)

gratitude...pass it on :)

I made this for some friends who hosted our *small group Bible study fellowship event* ( say THAT 3X fast!) They have built a PIZZA OVEN outside and let me tell you...once you've had a rock fired pizza you'll never be the same :) Words are from Heart & Soul..kinda hard to see all the punches going on...I added a little glitter in the center of the flower. Some of my very favorite background paper too. Mama Mia! ><>

Music Updated :)

So...I think it's been forever ago since I *tweaked* my song playlist.....so I've added quite a few more of my favorites :) Hope you enjoy listening.....did you know that you can *minimize* my blog (when you're done reading it, of course! hahahaha) and the music will still play while you're looking at other things ? :) just a hint! And it only becomes slightly annoying if something else has music playing too- kind of a *mashup* - if you're a *Gleek* like me, you'll get that :) Jammin' for Jesus ><>
PS- if you scroll down to the end of the page you can actually see the songlist- if there's a song you want to hear you can 'click' on it and it should play :) How fun is that ?????