Saturday, March 31, 2012

Affection...


God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:8

I made a birthday card for a Dear Friend this week to go with a gift for her.  The Gift was a fragrance set named ‘Affection’ and the packaging was in Burgundy and Silver.  I used those colors in making a Cascade Card, the pattern of which I saw on a new-to-me blog last week.  (Laura has an excellent tutorial and measurements here - ) Here is the card I made very quickly - It was fun to work on a new-to-me shape, which can be decorated in ever so many ways.  I’d love to see Your interpretation of it!




My Friend, Patti, is also a Military Mom, as I am.  Her son is in the Army and is currently deployed to the same country as my son.  She has formed an organization, Military-Families.org, to help and encourage - with Affection - those of us who wait at home for our Loved Ones to serve our country and then come back to us. 

While waiting, we meet twice a month to share and encourage each other as parents.  We had a Military Families Appreciation Day for the public back in the Fall and another is scheduled for the end of next September.  It’s a fun day for all ages with food, entertainment and relaxation! 

We have a Special Evening planned for any ‘local’ Military Spouses on May 11, also - an evening of Pampering and Appreciation for all they do here on the ‘homefront.’  We’ll have a wonderful catered buffet, manicures and pedicures done by Cosmetology students, makeovers from MARY KAY Consultants, a Scrapbooking ‘Make and Take’ by ‘Yours Truly’ and another Military Mom, massages, a few appropriate vendors and some Surprises.  It will be a lovely, relaxing time for all!

Monday, March 19, 2012

In the Spring...

 
       Behold! The winter is past;
   the rains are over and gone.
 Flowers appear on the earth;
   the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
   is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2:11,12


The March Assignments for the ‘Create, Share & Inspire’ site - for which I do those things - were to make the following projects.  I’ll share the two projects I’ve made - one a Layout - one a Card -

The requirements for the Layout/Mini Group were:  Use a Spring theme, journaling, a picture and a creative title.  The requirements for the Card Making Inspiration Group were:  Use a Spring theme, pastel colors of greens, blues, yellows and include a stickpin or dangle charm.  I decided to use the same color scheme for both projects, with a few changes so that they look quite different. 

Here is the Layout - with Comments on what I did to follow:








I used coordinated papers from s.e.i., and although it’s supposed to be for Babies, I changed it up and by adding a few touches, I made it ‘more elegant.’ 

            *  For the title and journaling I used a few lines of a very long, well-known poem, “Locksley Hall,” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson:  

                        “In the Spring a livelier Iris changes on the burnish’d dove; 
                          In the Spring a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love.”

            *  I used the light green as the base piece, with the light blue and yellow as accents and elements.  I used my stitching tool from WeRMemoryKeepers  and faux-stitched around the edge with gray marker pen.

            *  I punched around the edge of a piece of Translucent paper with a Martha Stewart set of lacy punches.  I smudged around the edge with light green chalk ink.

            *  I cut a circle of the light yellow, punched around the edge with a Fiskars Circle Border  punch, embossed it in my Cuttlebug, then smudged it with several chalk inks in grey, beige and pearl.

             *  I used a picture of two young people which I have in an original copy of a 1901 ‘Delineator’ women’s magazine that I found in an Antique Store last year.  I’ve made scans of many of the wonderful photos in it and will use them on future projects!  I scanned the page, then in PSE 8 I changed the color to ‘true’ B/W, then changed the Saturation and Lightness until I found the shade of blue I wanted to print it in.

            *  I cut a circle frame with flourishes and its shadow in two shades of gray.  I added jewels from Recollections.  I matted these with the light blue shade of paper that I’d ripped the edge of and smudged with gray chalk ink.

            * Across the bottom, I put a piece of the light yellow that I’d punched with an EK Success punch.  I then wrinkled it and smudged it with the gray, beige and pearl chalk inks.

            *  I cut the leaf flourishes out of green/white print paper with my Cricut/SCAL2.  I made the larger yellow flower from ribbon.  I sprayed it and the smaller flowers ($ Store) with Opalescent spritz and added jewels and pearls from Recollections to them and to the flourishes. 

            *  I used the ‘negative space’ cut from the circle frame as the journaling piece and printed the poem selection on it.

            *  I printed the title on the light yellow paper, cut it with a 2’ circle punch and smudged it with the chalk inks. 


Here is the Springtime Card I made, with Comments on it following:





            *  I used dark brown cardstock for the card base, so that the pastels would show and it would coordinate with the nest twigs.

            *  I used the same punch for the yellow trim at the bottom.  (By the way, I saved all of the tiny ‘lily-shaped’ pieces from punching and you’ll see them in future projects…as Easter is coming soon!)

            *  I used the same punch on the white trim at the top that I’d used on the Translucent paper for the layout.

            *  I pleated a strip of the green/white paper for the middle section.

            *  I covered the ‘seam’ with green grosgrain ribbon and added a bow.

            *  I found the bird’s nest online a long time ago.  I actually changed the color of the original in my PSE 8 program to be brown twigs and light blue eggs.  I printed it and then lightly ‘greened’ the leaves with colored pencil.  I cut it with an oval template and mounted it on the blue/white paper frame cut on my Cricut/SCAL2.  (I was surprised that my ‘printed blue eggs’ matched the blue paper so well!!)

            *  I made a mini-stickpin from a quilting pin (!) - the head of which I covered with silver glitter glue - then added a tiny organza yellow rose, spritzed with gold, and a silver butterfly which I then put  in the bow.

            *  I added a small yellow title tag that I made with my scalloped circle punch and then trimmed with my scallop scissors.  I added a gem.

            *  I printed the verse I decided to use (see above) on the light yellow paper and cut it to fit inside - waiting for a brief note and signature…

What things and what colors do YOU think of ‘in the Spring’??  Share with us!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

A Cup of Comfort -

 
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3,4
  
Several years ago after being hospitalized herself, a Dear Friend of mine decided that she would dedicate her life to comforting seriously ill children with a stuffed toy dog which she designed.  She has continued to work very hard to make this dream a reality. 
OwieBowWowie and Friends provides gifts of comfort in the form of a specifically designed collection of therapy plush toys to be the trusted friend of a hospitalized child. Each OwieBowWowie™  is offered as a Two-Fur-One. When you sponsor one, your purchase is given to a child who is hospitalized with an illness or injury and another is given to a hospitalized child in a developing country.  If you or someone you know would like to make a donation or be involved with her organization, you can go to the website and find out more of the details.  ( www.OwieBowWowie.net )









I know that the first things that my friend, Gina, does each morning are to grab a cup of coffee and her Bible to have her Devotions and then she writes her daily blog post, ‘Appointments with God.’  She has recently been going through some perplexing times and I decided to send her a Cup of Comfort, so to speak, and use Owie as the main ingredient in her ‘coffee.’  I’m sharing this card with you all today, in hopes of introducing you to Gina and her wonderful work.

Here are photos of the completed card.







I used an .svg file I acquired from the Internet for the mug-shaped cup, which I cut out of Kraft paper with my Cricut/SCAL2 program.  I used discontinued wallpaper for the mug and leaves, cut with my Cricut/SCAL2 program.  The flowers are from Dollar Store ‘picks.’  The jewels are from Recollections.  The puppy file which I altered a bit to resemble Owie is from:   (www.TreasureBoxDesigns.com)  The inside of the mug and the oval for the verse are parchment cardstock, edges smudged with brown ink.  The card fits an A-1 envelope.

I enjoyed making it and she enjoyed receiving it - Now it’s Your Turn to share some Comfort!  What do You do for friends who are going through perplexing times?

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Helen of FROG...

You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

Psalm 59:17



It’s been an extremely busy week as I have been involved with the ‘100 Comments on Your Blog’ Event, sponsored by Blogelina.  A few hundred bloggers were assigned to ‘Visit and Comment’ on over 100 other blogs between March 1 and 8 - to learn from, network with and encourage each other.  It’s been a lot to keep up with - along with other things this week - but I have truly enjoyed and appreciated the experience and having made many new Online Friends across America! 



I look forward to continuing with more of my Projects that I have been working on and to sharing them with you as I complete them -



A Dear Friend of mine, Helen, has recently moved her Marriage and Family Therapy practice to a new office.  I was visiting her there, helping her arrange furniture and wall hangings when I noticed a ceramic from sitting on the floor under a potted plant I was moving.  She explained that it was her Mascot, of sorts, as a friend of hers had offered it with the acrostic:  Fully Rely On God - FROG!



I decided to make her an ‘office-warming’ Shutter card, using the colors and style of her office furniture…and the Frog.  Here is what I designed and gave her this week.  The sentiment is, "WELCOME to Your New Pad!"  The acrostic is on the bottom right pane.  The background papers are discontinued wallpapers.  I cut the frog ( KadoodleBugDesigns), the sentiment mat and the leaves on my Cricut/SCAL and used the positive and negative of that cut.  The borders were done with punches.  I dyed the flower with stamp ink and then spritzed with copper spray.  The gems are from Recollections.  After giving it to her, she thanked me and said she’d put it on a shelf in her office!  *smile*



The front - card closed

The card - lying flat

The card - standing open




I have a Tutorial that I made last year to make a Shutter Card that fits in an A-1 envelope (4 ¼ x 5 ½”).  I merely adjusted this one to be a bit longer - to fit a business-size envelope.  I can offer those measurements, also.  If you’re interested, just eMail me with your request and I’ll send  it to you -



Do let me know if there’s anything I can do for You or someone You know -  I have just finished a couple of large orders for Digital Photo Restorations and am working on another one currently ( a Marriage Certificate from 1920!).



On to my next Project!  Thanks for stopping by!