Whiff of Joy

Sympathy cards are hard, don't you think? I made this card a week or so ago for a friend who recently lost her mother. I just wanted her to know I was thinking about her and this little image from Whiff of Joy's Guardian Angel collections works perfectly . I got her from 7KidsCollegeFund

The sentiment is from a retired TAC set and the paper is Basic Grey, but I forget which collection. One thing I did learn from the CFH Blog Hop (and yes, I will stop talking about it eventually, but not yet!) was that people like details, especially people new to this hobby. I know I have been very lazy about providing card details and I will try to do better. No promises, though - sometimes I just don't remember where I got stuff and sometimes (if I'm honest) I'm just too lazy to list them all.

Cards For Heroes

Thank you all so much for supporting the CFH bloghop and for all the kind comments left here. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when I signed up to join in. It was my first blog hop and I found out about it at the very last minute (hence I was the second to last blog on the hop) made my card on Saturday morning and posted it just before the deadline, then went off to a BBQ and came back to a bunch of comments! And then a bunch more....

I visited every blog on the hop and commented on them all! Along the way I found lots of new friends (you know who you are!!), moving stories from those who have lost loved ones and fabulous art work. I can't think of a better way to spend my weekend -

I've started on my promised pledge of cards to CFH........

What do you think? Because of the number I am making, I wanted to keep them simple, a style I struggle with but I kind of like these.

I also went through my card stash, card fronts and swaps, and repurposed quite a few of them so I currently have about 50 cards ready to go. Cards For Heroes are currently running a summer challenge which I have linked in my new 3rd column (she said casually)

How do you like the new look for the blog? I've been wanting a 3 column design for a while now and if I had known how many visitors I was going to have this weekend, I would have tidied and decorated before then, rather than late on Monday night! I got the template from Smitten Designs . Next on the "to do' list is to work out how to make a cute header - mine is kind of boring really - but I have a few more cards to make before that happens.

Oh, and in other news, the rain is finally slowing here. Work on the Ark can be abandoned for now It has still rained every day, but now it's only for an hour or so instead of all day.

Taking a moment to remember

**** Scroll down for the Cards For Heroes Blog Hop post ****

I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.

Freedom Is Not Free - Kelly Strong

Cards for Heroes Memorial Day Blog Hop

If you've landed here as part of the Cards For Heroes Memorial Day Blog Hop, welcome!! If you landed here by chance and you've never heard of Cards for Heroes, check out the website for details of the blog hop and all the great prizes/blog candy here.

Cards For Heroes is a cause near and dear to my heart since our family was a military family for over 14 years, so I am particularly happy to join in and pay tribute to the men and women of our armed forces. The instructions for joining in the blog hop suggested including a story about your own military hero. There are countless acts of selfless bravery performed by our military all over the world every day and I'm certain that there will many inspirational pieces in the entries of my fellow bloggers but I chose to dedicate my entry to all the military spouses out there who also serve. It's kind of long, but once you're done reading, please continue on to Dawns' blog. You are in for a treat - she does fabulous work and her coloring skills are amazing! Thanks for your support of the Cards For Heroes Blog Hop!

When God Created the Military Spouse

When the Lord was creating the military spouse, He ran into His 6th day of overtime. An angel appeared and said "You're having a lot of trouble with this one. What's wrong with the standard model?"

The Lord replied, " Have you seen the specs on this order? It has to be completely independant, possess the qualities of both mother and father during deployments, be a perfect host to 4 or 40, handle emergencies without an instruction manual, move 10 times in 17 years to different locations all over the world, have the patience of a saint while waiting for its mate to come home and have six pairs of hands"

The angel shook her head slowly and said " Six pairs of hands? No way." The Lord answered, "Don't worry, we will make other military spouses to help. Besides, it's not the hands that are causing the problem, it's the heart. It must swell with pride, sustain the ache of numerous separations while remaining true, beat soundly even when it feels too tired to do so, be large enough to say " I understand" when it doesn't, and say "I love you" regardless."

"Lord, " said the angel, gently touching His sleeve, "Go to bed. You can finish it tomorrow." "I can't, " said the Lord. "I'm so close to creating something unique. Already it can heal itself when sick, on a moment's notice it will willingly embrace and feed total strangers who have been stranded during a PCS move and it can wave goodbye to its spouse from a pier, runway or depot and understand why it's important that they leave, even while it breaks"

The angel circled the model of the military spouse very slowly. 'It's too soft", she sighed.

"It may look soft , " the Lord replied. " but it has the strength of a lion. You cannot imagine what it can endure."

Finally the anget bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "There's a leak, " she said. 'I told you that you were trying to put too much in to this model." "It's not a leak," said the Lord. "it's a tear" "What's it for?" asked the angel. " It's for joy, sadness, pain, loneliness and pride." "You're a genius" said the angel.

Looking at her somberly, the Lord replied "I didn't put it there"

** edited to add** As I make my way around this blog hop I found one lady who pledged for every comment she recieved, she would make a card for CFH. I love that idea and plan to do the same - comment away everyone!!!

Wet, windy Wednesday

It has been raining here in "sunny" Florida for 3 days straight - with no end in sight. If you took a look at a map of our state right now, you would see what I mean ........

Yuck!! It truly makes me want to curl up in bed with a good book but instead I have to go out and earn a living. And, inspired by these delightful lades, maybe squeeze in a cup of coffee with a friend, although I'll have to go find me a hat. Don't they just make you smile? They are "Coffee Girls" by Leere Aldrich for Stampavie.
Hope your hump day is brighter and sunnier than mine promises to be.

Rain stopped play....

I am planning a two week vacation at the beginning of June. In some countries, a two week vacation isn't that big a deal, but here in the US it's almost unheard of and it requires a certain amount of planning to make sure the day job is all taken care of during my LONG absence, so I have been scurrying around like a mad creature trying to fit everything in. It hasn't left much time for crafting, blogging or anything else actually, but on Sunday I did find some time to make a card for the newest addition to an old friends family. Then I took the picture, edited it and stopped to make dinner, planning to blog, blurf and generally catch up with everyone after that. There was my mistake! During the hour I did dinner, the Florida weather stepped in and a storm of great severity rolled over us. Fellow Floridians will know that severe thunderstorms can fry computers so I switched them all off and played Tetris on the Wii instead. My DH and I used to LOVE Tetris so when I got an e-mail from Nintendo letting me know "Tetris Party" was available for download, you know I was all over that. Apparently you can also play a balance board version of it - haven't tried it yet but it sounds very interesting don't you think?

Why I Should Never Browse in Craft Stores...

...........there is not one thing in this picture that I need - apart from the yellow punch, which is what I went in to the store for to begin with. Of course, I have the complete set (including the scallops) of Nestie circles, but sometimes I can't be bothered with all the hassle of dragging them out and running them through the bug just for a wee circle and I wanted a small one for the center of the flowers that I was making. So I stopped at Michaels. Now I know not everyone has a good experience at M's but I have to say my local one is great and pretty much always has at least some of the latest and greatest items that the SCS threads are buzzing about. Which is not always a good thing because I went in for a $5 punch and came out $45 poorer! Of course it's all justifiable! The ribbon was on sale, and there is no such thing as too much ribbon, right? Or too much paper? And what is better than BG paper? Nothing, apart from BG paper on sale!
And how can anyone resist birthday sentiments? You always need them, right? And again, if they are on sale? It would take a stronger woman than me....
Then there is the bling, which wasn't on sale, but was a steal anyhow - and the ribbon flowers? A must have , because i just love the way the European girls use them with lace and such on their projects. No, I didn't buy any lace, but only because there was none to be had in the whole store.... which probably means a visit to that other big craft place very soon. I have NO willpower....

Sugar Bowl Challenge # 10

I love my Gorjuss Girls, so it wasn't much a stretch for me to create this card for the Sugar Bowl challenge. I really enjoy the sketch challenges and although I find some of them more "challenging" than others, I like this layout a lot and will use it again. The extra challenge was to use buttons somewhere in the card, so I popped a sunny yellow one in there to help the flower pop. I like the way this card turned out!

Have a great week!

Spring Cleaning

In keeping with tradition, I've had a good old clean out this week and have come up with a box of rubbah which needs a new home. Some of it is more loved than others, all of it is available for viewing in the slideshow to your right. I know the pictures in the sidebar are kind of off to one side, but they are fine when you click on it - and when you click on it, you can see the prices too!

Prices do not include shipping and are negotiable - if you see something you love and you don't think the price is fair, let me know.

Home again

............and despite the comments requesting pictures, I have none! I saw nothing of DisneyWorld apart from passing through the gates to the Magic Kingdom on my way to check in, but I knew that before I left. Perhaps I should have mentioned my company was hosting the seminar? No spare time to visit with Mickey, although the Disney staff were wonderful as usual. It's a great place to have a seminar, that's for sure.

I haven't had a minute since I got back - well, no time to make cards - but I did manage to squeeze in a performance of 'Wicked" and then dinner with my DH.

Loved it!! I have the book and just never really got in to it, but the musical rocked! I highly recommend it. The lady who played Glinda the Good really stole the show for me. Good times!

And continuing my Netflix reviews, my favorite of the week had to be "Miss Potter" - a lovely, gentle movie about the life of Beatrix Potter of Peter Rabbit fame. Very soothing (and starring the fabulously talented, very easy on the eye, Ewan McGregor ) and a million miles away from the rush and stress of modern day life. Hmmnn, could my recent revived love for bygone times be a result of the stress which is ongoing in my life right now? hard to say, but the possibility does allow me to share that charming smiley with you, so surely it needs to be considered........