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Tag Archives: Michaels
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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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
2 Comments
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 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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A Wrapper’s Delight
In my messiest (and of course, most creative) days the dining table, coffee table, and even sometimes the tarp on the floor are covered in crafty supplies. If you’re picturing inks, decorative papers, punches, and rubber and clear stamps you’re right. But there’s more. Even before delighting in making handmade sentiments I have been a beader. So in addition to said supplies, one might also find eye pins, head pins, various pliers, crystal beads, glass beads, precious metal findings, and more. If I was to define myself as a crafter, I would probably first identity myself by my beading, then my cardmaking, and then my crocheting (although it’s been about a year since I’ve crocheted anything). Ironically, though, my Etsy shop displays some of my jewelry, while thus far in the blog, I’ve only shared my cards. In the spirit of sharing some of my latest work and to even things out a bit, I give you “Wrapper’s Delight”. Continue reading
Posted in Beading Jewelry, Crafting, Personal Journey
Tagged beading, Crafting, Michaels, well-being, wire-wrapping
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Oh yeah, Baby!
As promised, I have the pics from some recent baby shower cards that I made. With both of these I was experimenting with somehow incorporating wraphia in the card design. For the Baby Shower Buggy card I chose a plaid … Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting
Tagged cardmaking, Color Box, Crafting, embossing, Fiskars, K & Company, Kimberly, Marvy, McGill, Michaels, pop dots, Recollections, Stamp Stuff
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Gift! For me or for them?
Two of my aunts have birthdays this month, so in honor of the occasions I thought I’d take the opportunity to flex my cardmaking skills. For these cards I tried out using peekaboo windows, masking, and my new watercolor colored … Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting
Tagged cardmaking, Color Box, Crafting, Fiskars, Joann's, K & Company, Kimberly, Marvy, masking, McGill, Michaels, Paper-Source, peekaboo window, pop dots, Recollections, Stampendous, stickles, Target, well-being
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Free to follow!
One of the many blessings of unemployment (and believe me, there are some) is the freedom to move through my day as I like. Knowing that I need structure, I build it in, but within that, the direction of each … Continue reading
Posted in Cardmaking, Crafting
Tagged cardmaking, Color Box, Crafting, embossing, Fiskars, Joann's, Kimberly, Marvy, masking, Michaels, Paper-Source, pop dots, Recollections, Stamp Stuff, unemployment
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Do you have a bug in your yard?
In the Michaels Make-It-Take-It (MITI) spirit I joined a gathering of families and eager children to make my clay pot ladybug. The place: Michaels. The price: less than $1 for each piece (or less than $2 for one complete ladybug … Continue reading
Posted in Crafting, Low-Cost Activities
Tagged Crafting, Low-Cost Activities, Michaels, well-being
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Is this what fishing is like for men?
I’m a huge fan of local and low-cost activities. Even more than that, I’m a huge fan of crafting. So, when both come together in the form of a Michaels’ Make-It-Take-It event, I’m there! Michaels hosts different events for those … Continue reading
Posted in Beading Jewelry, Crafting, Low-Cost Activities
Tagged beading, Crafting, Low-Cost Activities, Michaels, well-being
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