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Category Archives: Cardmaking
Challenged
Glass half full. Positivity. Optimism. Whatever you wanna call it — I have it, and usually in reserve. When I was a younger a friend would tease me by saying that even if I found myself in a hole in the ground, I would find a way to see the bright side. This is why it has taken so long for me to admit to myself that I am struggling with depression. I am still able to see good all around me, in ever day, I just have much less motivation and energy to take it all in. The good news: I’m surrounded my loved ones, I’m taking advantage of resources to help me through, and I know I just need to give myself the grace and patience to work my way through, and I WILL work my way through.
One of those “good” things around me came unexpectedly (as often is the case) in the form of a personal trainer at my gym. Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting, Personal Journey
Tagged cardmaking, challenge, Color Box, Crafting, Michaels, Papertrey Ink, Recollections, Unity Stamp Co.
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Birthday Love, Long Distance
Fun (or not so) facts:
* distance from Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Madras, India (MAA) is…8,969 miles / 14,434 kilometers
* time difference between LAX and MAA…13 1/2 hours
* last time hubby and I visited family in MAA…2008 (too long ago!)
* time it takes for a birthday card to reach MAA from LAX by mail…about a week
I’ll admit it…I. am. spoiled! In the late 90′s while living in Japan, if I wanted to communicate with family, I used a totally high-tech call back system and I called my family. If I wanted to instant message friends (and they were willing to meet me at odd hours), I plugged in my phone cable, punched in my modem passwords, waited for the dial-up to connect, and then, by golly, we chatted. This may sound old-school now, but at least I didn’t have to send word via pony express, hope that connections were properly made along the way so that weeks later my communication would, by God’s grace, reach its destination. But NOW…things are even better! We can skype, chat, and vonage our way into the homes of loved ones and not only are we able to exchange our words and thoughts, but we can show off those extra pounds we’ve put on, parade our latest look, and add emphasis with key facial expressions. Being as spoiled as I am, however, even our most modern technology does have its drawbacks. Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting, Technology
Tagged cardmaking, Color Box, Crafting, embossing, family, Hippity Hop Sketch Challenge, Ippity, Kimberly, Michaels, Papertrey Ink, Tim Holtz, Unity Stamp Co.
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My Rainy Valentine
I know, I know…Valentine’s Day was three days ago, however, hubby and I are celebrating this weekend, and what better way to keep the spirit of love alive than to extend the holiday just a wee bit.
As I’ve mentioned in past posts 2010 (and still continuing) has been quite rough on us. Fortunately, we’re not alone facing the meanness of life. We have our faith, we have our loved ones, and we have each other. Even with the challenges we’ve had so many moments of deep, rich laughter, and of course, over the silliest things. How cool is that!
When thinking about creating my Valentine’s valentine, a particular image and sentiment came to mind — Unity’s Rain or Shine. I love the sentiment, “through rain or shine, you’ll always be mine” — perfect! I used Get Sketchy’s GS#74 as my guiding inspiration for the layout, and knew that I wanted to use red, white, black, and yellow (hubby likes those classic colors) so that the card would have a clean and classic look. Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting, Mean Life, Personal Journey
Tagged Bella Blvd., cardmaking, Color Box, cool tool, Crafting, embossing, faith, family, Get Sketchy, Mean Life, Michaels, Palette, Papertrey Ink, stampamajig, Unity Stamp Co., versamark
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Welcome to Paradise!
One of my dear high school friends is moving. This is a good thing (for me). Over the past …many years since high school we have managed to spend only about two of those years in the same state. She has three children — each of them born in different states. I love when we visit. I hate when we say goodbye. But…she’s moving. She’s moving to Paradise. Really — that’s the name of her new home town.
This move puts her and her family (that sounds so grammatically awkward) almost exactly halfway between the home of her parents and the home of her in-laws. Great news for her in-laws, but sad for her parents who have had her a short road trip away. Sad for her to put more miles between people she loves dearly. Happy for her husband and a new opportunity. Bittersweet.
Change is hard. Here’s what I think change would look like on a recipe card: Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Personal Journey
Tagged cardmaking, Color Box, Crafting, Get Sketchy, Ippity, Michaels, My Mind's Eye, Palette, Papertrey Ink, Unity Stamp Co.
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Avoid Your Words, Please
Ahh…the memories…picking out the song. It’s a special day, you’ve waited for it all your life, and now time for the momentous first dance. Do you keep it traditional or spice it up with some silly? Do you take lessons to prepare for or decide organically “just go with it”? Whatever the decision, it’s almost a guarantee that in addition to choosing the dress another big decision hurdle will be choosing the song.
Here’s one that will be forever dear, but which didn’t quite make the cut… Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Personal Journey
Tagged faith, family, HHSC, Mean Life, Paper-Source, Papertrey Ink, sizzix, Unity Stamp Co., versamark
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Top 10 Cards in 2010
December 31st, New Year’s Eve — the time to reflect, to look back, to bid fond farewell, and then to look ahead and embrace the new.
2010 hasn’t been the kindest year. In fact, life has been downright mean. In response, I’ve been in survival mode, focused on seeking out the good, and thus AWOL from the blog. BUT…I’ve still been making cards, and still reading blogs — my therapy. Good medicine — eeking out creations card by card, and so gratifying to see them in one slideshow together. My cardmaking goal in 2010 was to send out only homemade cards for the various birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and other celebratory occasions. Did I meet it? You betcha! For 2011 — I hope to continue in the same, but to celebrate a few more, and to increase the cardmaking (maybe 5 a week?) — still some reflecting and goal-making to do. Will let you know the final decision.
For now…in following with the tradition of reflecting over the year, I present my top 10 card creations of 2010. Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting, Mean Life, Personal Journey
Tagged cardmaking, Crafting, Mean Life, personal journey
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Being a Grownup
Being a grownup means rousing oneself from a wonderful Sunday afternoon nap to get ready.
Being a grownup means not snoozing an additional 10 or 15 minutes while hubby starts preparing for guests.
Being a grownup means pitcing in to make the house “presentable”.
Being a grownup means saying “thank you” without being reminded by your mother. Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting, Mean Life, Personal Journey
Tagged cardmaking, Color Box, Crafting, design, Marvy, Mean Life, personal journey, Recollections, twine, Verve
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Growin’ Love for 60 Years and Counting
Some friends of ours left for Hawaii today to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of our friend’s parents. 60 years! Can you imagine? What a great model of love, respect, and commitment. In honor of such a wondrous event my husband and I thought it would be nice to send a card. I, of course, started it the night before, and therefore chose to keep it simple.
Being the lover of blossoms and all things blooms, and being that the couple live in Hawaii, it seemed only appropriate to use some bright colors and highlight some beautiful flowers. Out of the desire for a CAS (clean and simple) card, bright colors, and flowers came a sweet card celebrating what this couple has learned to do very well — grow love.
Happy Anniversary! To many more celebrations of your marriage. Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting
Tagged cardmaking, Color Box, Michaels, Studio G, Unity Stamp Company
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Birthday Wishes
New month, new calendar pages — fresh start — I love it! Not to mention the fabulous 75° sunny and breezy weather that we have been experiencing in Southern California. And what better way to celebrate all this new, new, new than by ringing in a BIRTHDAY! That’s right — today’s my dear sister-in-law begins another new year – Happy Birthday!
So in her honor I got to play with a new Unity stamp in my collection and make this cute little card (with input and guidance from my hubby, of course — truly it becomes a gift from both of us). And contrary to my recent bad behavior — I not only made the card, but also actually sent it in the mail! Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting
Tagged cardmaking, Color Box, Crafting, embossing, family, Inkadinkado, Kimberly, Marvy, Michaels, Provo Craft, Recollections, Stamp Stuff, Unity Stamp Co.
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Happy Anni-verve-sary!
Have I mentioned that I need structure? that I need deadlines? I do. It’s genetic. My mother, my brothers, and I have become masters in the art of procrastination. Not to say we’re not responsible or ambitious — we just get wrapped up in so many things at once that without structure, deadlines, some rules — we are overwhelmed and running in circles.
Fortunately, even in the world of papercrafting and cardmaking there are deadlines to be found. Continue reading
For Every Purpose Under Heaven
For every purpose under Heaven…there is a time!
I so often forget this. In a society that prizes productivity, and in a being that has learned to adapt very well (me), it is so easy for me to forget that taking the time to rest, time to be quiet, time to cry, time to throw away, time to quit searching, time to heal — that taking the time for each of these is incredibly important.
Interestingly enough, the first step that Bridges proposes (in Transitions: Making the Most of Life’s Changes) is: take your time! He writes, Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Mean Life, Personal Journey
Tagged cardmaking, faith, Mean Life, personal journey, Transitions by Bridges, well-being
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When Life Gets Mean…and the Go-to’s Are Gone
Let’s face — life can be downright mean. Life doesn’t discriminate, it just doles out the ugliness to any and all of us. Irregardless of who we are, who we were born to, what we believe in, how much money we make, what we look like, where we live, where we’re from, who we do or don’t work for — it does not matter. At some point we may experience grieving a loved one, losing a job, losing our home, losing our health, financial insecurity — you name it, and at one time or another we will experience the “meanness” of life in the form of unexpected changes or devastating discoveries.
Confession: life has been particularly mean to me over the past couple of months (yes, this is why I haven’t been writing). I won’t go into details now — maybe later — but I know that we all experience pain, loss, suffering; I know I’m not alone in this.
So, what do we do about it? How do we manage? Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Mean Life, Personal Journey
Tagged cardmaking, faith, Mean Life, personal journey, Transitions by Bridges, well-being
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My Two Dads
Reminiscent of the late 1980′s U.S. sitcom, I have been blessed with “My Two Dads”. My relationships with each are as different as they are. For the many reasons that makes them each unique, I wholeheartedly love them both, and am thankful to have them in my life. Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Cool Tool, Crafting, Technology
Tagged cardmaking, cool tool, Crafting, family, Technology
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Happy Day, Mom
It’s one of those days — like Father’s Day, birthdays, and Thanksgiving. A day to slow down, reflect, and appreciate. And I love living in a nation where we are encouraged with space in our calendars, and even space in our schedules to do just that — pause and be thankful. Yesterday, our family did just that. Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting, Personal Journey
Tagged cardmaking, Crafting, family, holidays, K & Company, Michaels, Paper-Source, peekaboo window, personal journey, Recollections
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He’s Goin’ the Distance
Today I had the distinct honor of participating on the Colloquium Committee for a colleague and friend. As part of concluding his Master’s program he was presenting on all that he has learned over the two years, his vision, and … Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting, education
Tagged 3D adhesive squares, cardmaking, Color Box, Crafting, embossing, occasions
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