More is More

Happy Monday!  I’m looking forward to a week of catching up and getting a lot done without many things scheduled on the calendar.  Don’t get me wrong – I love to be busy and have a full schedule most of the time, but right now I’m loving having an open calendar for a little while!

Today I want to share the third project we created at my class Friday night.  I had a blast at the class and I hope everyone else did as well.  That was the final meeting of my SU Club.  Bittersweet, but I’m ready to move on.  I will continue teaching monthly classes doing anything I want and using any products that strike my fancy!  How fun is that? As long as my customers have fun and love the projects, then I will feel successful!

This was the third card for class featuring SU dp Tea Party and Spellbinders Labels Nine.  The option above features the new TE set Easter Blessings.  I love this beautiful set – especially the wonderful sentiments.  The option below features SU On a Pedestal which is a fun set to play with – so many ways to combine the images.

Cardstock colors are Always Artichoke and Almost Amethyst.  Ribbon is So Saffron grosgrain.  We used a SU border punch on the Amethyst strip.  I love how the exact same card can go toward elegant or cute with just the change of the stamped image.

It’s supposed to be 80 degrees here today which is funny because I had the heater on just a couple of days ago.  Good day to run some errands so I’m off for a Costco run.  Thanks for stopping by – hope you have a great day!

Happy Friday!  I am looking forward to my stamp class tonight and I decided to use the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge for one of my class cards.

The designer paper on this card all comes from the 6×6 pad that’s available from SU as a SAB freebie with order.  I used Pretty in Pink and Bermuda Bay cardstock to coordinate with it.  I’ve been dying to make one of these scalloped poofy flowers ever since I saw one on Cindy Lawrence’s blog.  She linked over to a tutorial by Dawn McVey which makes it very easy.  I’m looking forward to teaching the girls how to make these in class tonight.

Let’s see what the rest of the Sketch Crew has come up with this week:

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great weekend!

I have a card to share this evening, but first I want to tell you a little more about my trip last weekend and just how sweet our Lord is!  This is a long post, but I hope it will encourage you if you have a few minutes to read.

My wonderful friend Lori had been trying to get me to commit to the Iowa trip for awhile, but honestly leading up to CHA I just couldn’t do it.  As soon as CHA was over I realized I needed to make a decision very soon.  Although I very much wanted to see the great friends who would be there, plus take the Copic class, plus see Taylor’s new place, I also had several things holding me back.  After the holidays and then CHA and then being sick for a week I felt like I couldn’t catch up and just needed a break.  And all of our tax info had to be gathered and mailed to our tax lady by the first week of March. Oh and there was the little issue of the TE release that week and having a newsletter done the day I was to leave. Plus I really just didn’t have the money for the airline ticket.  And then there was my anxiety about flying – which is much worse if I’m feeling overwhelmed in other ways like I was at the time – honestly that was the worst part.  And to make matters worse there was the big news at SCS that had me reeling for a few days.  So, I hemmed and hawed…should I go or not?

Finally I decided that I just need to really live life as it comes.  Who’s to say that there will be another chance?  It would all come down to whether or not I had enough miles on my credit card to cover the airline ticket.  I sat down one evening to nervously explore flight options and finally found something that could work.  I didn’t have quite enough points to cover the flight, but I figured I could handle the $30-40 that would be left after my miles.  So I called Capital One to find out how to redeem my points when they only cover part of the cost of a flight.  I was crestfallen when the nice gentleman told me that I would not be able to do that.  You have to have enough points to cover the whole transaction.  Oh.  I thought “well I guess I’m not going to Iowa afterall.”  Then he asked if he could place me on hold for a few minutes and I said sure.  I was on hold for quite awhile when he came back and quoted my points total as 5000 points higher than he had confirmed earlier.  What???  He said there was some sort of program upgrade a few months ago and I qualified for the additonal points so he had spoken with a supervisor and had them added to my account.  OH MY!  I immediately said “Lord, I guess you want me to go to Iowa!”  And with that I got busy and booked my flight. 

I’d like to say that I immediately trusted the Lord and his grace and guidance, but the truth is I had a little anxiety attack that evening and again the next morning.  The trip was only two weeks away!  What the heck was I thinking?  I’m not actually afraid of flying in the sense of safety or crashing or anything, but having suffered from panic disorder (over 15 years ago) I still have some trouble with the idea of being trapped anywhere I can’t leave or get away from, which leads to a fear of having a panic attack.  Related to that is my fear of getting airsick. I’m very susceptible to motion sickness and being naseous can trigger an anxiety attack in me as well.  I have flown successfully many times over the last several years – without incident – but these issues still crop up when I’m planning a trip.

So the next Sunday in church the Lord addressed my issues head on.  Pastor Jeff has been preaching through the book of Mark and he came to Chapter 6:30-56 and specifically vs 45-52 spoke to me.  This is the story of Jesus walking on the water which I’ve read and heard many times, but of course there is always something new to learn.  Pastor Jeff pointed out that in v.45 Jesus told the disciples when and where to go and then they encountered a struggle with the wind and waves.  Was Jesus surprised when He looked out and saw them struggling?  Did He think “Oops – guess I shouldn’t have sent them out there.”?  Of course not!  He told them when and where to go and He knew what they would encounter and He walked out to them and calmed the sea.  They did not encounter difficulty because Jesus made a mistake, but rather this was an incredible chance for them to see Jesus’ glorious nature.

Well as soon as I heard this I just kept saying to myself “He told you when and where to go!” as I felt I had very clear direction from Him on this trip.  So from then on when I would think about the flight I would say “He told you when and where to go.  So it’s really up to Him.” I had a lot more peace about the trip and the flights after that.

My sweet friend Lisa took me to the airport the morning of my flight.  She understands my anxiety issues quite well and she presented me with an envelope for the flight. It contained some wonderful Bible verses decorated with stamping!  🙂  When I got on the flight I got out those verses and read them while listiening to some praise music on my iPhone.  I changed planes in Denver.  Both flights were uneventful and I was thrilled to see Taylor at the aiport.  I had such a wonderful time on this trip and I just kept thanking God for the opportunity to have such a great experience and for telling me “when and where to go.”

Sunday Sharon and I had flights departing Des Moines within just a few minutes of each other.  Sharon had a direct flight to Texas, while I had a little over an hour layover in Denver before heading to LAX.  We stopped at Archiver’s on our way to the aiport – my first time ever in an Archiver’s – and we were just too busy to even think about checking flights.  When we got to the airport we discovered that both of our flights were delayed by an hour.  No big deal except…there was a good chance I would not make my connection in Denver.  Not only that, but there was only one other flight that night from Denver to LA and it was full.  I was facing the very real possibility of being stuck in Denver overnight with pretty much nothing as I had checked my suitcase with everything in it.  All I had with me was some magazines, a book and a few snack items.  Now this is the type of thing that could freak me out a bit, but I immediately thought “Lord you told me when and where to go and you are not surprised by this” and I remained quite calm.

I met a lady named Judy who needed to make the same connection as me, except she would then be flying from LAX to Australia and missing this flight would delay her by more than 24 hours.  We made a pact that whoever could get to the gate first would make them hold the plane for the other…assuming either of us could get there.  We wouldn’t know until just before we landed just how tight the connection would be.  The gate agent moved my seat up to Row 8 from Row 33 so I’d have a better chance of getting off and running.  I calmly looked through a stamping magazine and listened to more praise music.  You’ve probably heard the saying “the safest place to be is in the center fo God’s will.”  I’ve always thought of that as a more *big picture* thing, but on that plan I had the peace of knowing I was where He had placed me.

As we were getting ready to land the flight attendant was giving gate info for all connecting flights and there were several.  For the 5 of us trying to make the LA flight we had about 20 minutes from the time the plane stopped until the next flight was to take off.  Judy and I went running down the terminal.  Running?  Am I crazy?  I don’t run when I’m in good shape and I’m NOT in shape at all right now.  I had to stop and walk gasping for air as Judy kept running.  When I arrived at the gate she was standing there and said she was determined she would make sure they held the plane for me.  How awesome is that?

I got settled in my seat, so happy to be on the flight (how ironic is that?  happy to be on a plane?  me? LOL!), and I watched Julie/Julia on my iPhone.  (That movie was really good!  Did you know you can rent movies on your phone?  Thanks Lori for that awesome tip!)  The flight was smooth, except for just a few minutes of slight turbulance, and honestly what I had anticpated to feel like a very long flight went by quite quickly.  No it wasn’t dramatic and miraculous like when Jesus walked on the water to meet the disciples, but He knew the struggle I would encounter and met me there just the same.  And I am oh so thankful!  I know this was a long story, but it was a really big deal to me and I thought it might be encouraging to someone out there to realize that Jesus doesn’t say “oops!” and He’s always ready to meet you in whatever struggle you may encounter  – large or small.

And now on to my card.  This is one of the cards we’ll be making in my class tomorrow night.  Everyone will make 2 of these – 1 to keep and 1 to donate to the Dragonfly Card Drive (get details here.)

Stamps:  Dragonfly from TE Discover Your Wings, sentiment from TE Faith & Hope, plus SU Medallion

Cardstock: Kraft, Black, Plae Plum

Ink: Pale Plum Classic, Perfect Plum Craft, Memento Black

Other: SU Kraft Tafetta ribbon, Marvy Circle Punches, SU border punch, SU embssing folder, Hologram embossing powder, dimensionals

This card was inspired by a combination of two cards – one from a magazine and one I saw on the blog of Monika Davis (fellow TE Sketch Crew member.)  I’m really happy with how it turned out. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and if you made it through reading my entire novel of a post special thanks for hanging out with me!  I’ll be back in the morning with  a card for the TE sketch Challenge.

Oh my heavens!  I had so much FUN on my trip to Iowa!  Unfortunately I was having so much fun just living in the moment that I hardly took any photos!  Here we are in the entry to the Taylored Expressions Store.  Isn’t that mural so cool?  I’m with Sankari, Sharon, Taylor and Lori.  Talk about kids in a candy store – wow!  I got to stay with Taylor and Jon and they were such wonderful hosts – I felt truly spoiled.

And guess what people???  I am FINALLY Copic Certified!!  See the litte badge in my sidebar?  I have proof!  LOL!  Lori and Sharon team taught the class and it was great!  I’m looking forward to teaching more classes involving coloring with Copic markers.

On Friday afternoon, before Sankari or Sharon arrived, Lori and Taylor and I had a couple of hours to just hang out in Taylor’s stamp room.  We ended up all using the same paper line for our cards – Basic Grey Green at Heart – with three very different stamp sets.  I thought the results were so fun that I wanted for us to all post our creations today – a little Triple Take – so you can see how you can go in such different directions with one 6×6 pad of paper.  Green at Heart was my CHA favorite and I was so excited when I saw that Taylor had received it and had it available in the store along with some of the coordinating embellishments!

I made my card with the new set Favorite Peeps.  This is my very favorite image from the new release and I couldn’t wait to ink it up!  The image was cut and framed with Nesties Labels 11.  I used a Martha Steward fence border punch, some Tiny Twinkles and KaiserCraft pearls and check out that Basic Grey Bloomer that coordinates with the Green at Heart paper!  It is layered felt and a button and it’s self-adhesive!!

Here are all three cards:

Taylor used the bunny from Sweet Spring and Lori used the new Easter Blessings.  I apologize that the photo is not the best.  Taylor takes such amazing photos in her set up, but her camera battery was dead and we wanted this photo at the last minute so I used my camera and I obviously had no idea how to use her light box set up.  Be sure to hop over their blogs to see their individual photos.

Taylor at Taylored Expressions and Lori at Make a Difference.

Can you believe that I forgot to take any pictures of the snow?  D’oh!!!!  It was the first time I had ever seen in person lawns covered in snow.   i was just so happy to be with these sweet friends!  There’s nothing like *chick time*, kwim?  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to get back to more regular creating and blogging soon.  I have a stamp class at my house this Friday evening and I currently have one spot open…wanna come?

Happy Friday!  If all has gone according to plan, I’m in Iowa as this post publishes.  Today is a big day at Taylored Expressions…it’s release day with 3 new stamp sets, 2 Key Ingredients kits and more new products…and it’s also the 1st Anniversary of the Whimsical Wishes line of stamps at TE by Nancy McKinney…and of course Taylor has a sketch for us!  You’ll need to hop over to Taylor’s blog to get all the info, but one of the fun things TE has going for the celebration is the 2 original WW stamp sets, Branching Out and Branching Out Coordinates, are on sale for 25% off this weekend only.  These 2 sets happen to be my all time favorites from TE so I jumped at the chance to use them on my sketch sample today.

I just love building little scenes with these sets!  Paper I used is SU Pink Flamingo.  The big metal brad thingy is retired SU.  Oh and I flipped the sketch on it’s side.

There’s going to be so much creative goodness to look at today…I hope you have a nice hot cup of coffee.  Once you get to Taylor’s blog you’ll get links for all of the Baker’s Dozen.  In the meantime let’s check out what the Sketch Crew has come up with this week.

Hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow I will be much more skilled in the use of my Copic markers!  Anybody in SoCal interested in some beginning Copic classes?  *grin*

Have a great weekend!

Sorry for the absence this week.  I’m getting ready to fly to Iowa tomorrow to take the Copic Certification class and to have some *chick time* with some wonderful friends.  I didn’t know I was going for sure until less than 2 weeks ago so it’s been busy – especially since we have a release at Taylored Expressions on Friday…after I get to Iowa!  I hope you’re checking out the TE sneak peeks – they started today and will continue tomorrow and then more samples and the release on Friday morning.  I had hoped to get something stamped to share today, but it was all I could do to get my card ready for the sketch on Friday.  I hope you’ll stop back by then.  I’m flying out tomorrow.  Should be an awesome time there if I don’t freeze by butt off!  I bought the very last pair of gloves out of the clearance bin at Sears today!

Reminder to all of you in SoCal…I have a stamp class coming up next Friday the 12th.  I have just a couple of open spots.  Let me know if you’d like to come!