For The Roses

The scrappy little rose bushes are blooming in the back garden this week. I don't know how they've managed to survive the onslaught of thistle and strangling vines that grow there, but somehow they've made it this far. Not the prettiest rose in the world...probably a knock out rose, with no fragrance but a continual seasonal bloom.

I weed every week, but something tells me it will be a constant struggle to keep the weeds out and give the seeds I planted a chance to mature. Either that, or I will just have to hope that the weeds and flowers can learn to coexist, like one of those cheesy bumper stickers with all the world religion symbols. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with my garden!

I made this card last week, when Mom and I were playing in the craft studio!

{Today's Brew: Rose dies (Paper Smooches), sentiment (Paper Smooches), card stock and patterned paper (PTI), Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors}

Proclaim! (Bible Journaling With Paper Smooches)

Yesterday, I did a little bible journaling from my sermon notes on Sunday. Our church had a mission and ministry launch that day for 2016, and it seemed very appropriate that the sermon was from Luke 4, where Jesus announced and started his ministry.

Proclaim, proclaim, proclaim. The word appears three times in the scripture that Jesus reads in the temple from the scroll of Isaiah.

Pastor said something that really stuck with me. He said (and he may have been quoting from someone else here) "The church is not a purveyor of religious goods and services. The church is meant to go and proclaim the good news!"

From my notes:

God assigns each believer a powerful platform to proclaim the truth. (our homes, our jobs, our communities)

God's people proclaim the truth triumphantly!

It's extremely important how you live your life for the Lord.

Do I have a heart for the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed? God does! We must have a heart for them to carry on what Jesus started until he comes again.

Here are some of the products I used for this page. Wow, this one came together so easily. Three squirts of Distress Stain, some stamping, a little marker, and done. Alphadots from Paper Smooches is one of my all time favorite alphabet stamps. So easy to use, and perfectly imperfect every time.

Thanks for visiting the cafe today! I hope to make quite a few cards at this weekend's crafting event, so hopefully I will have more to show you next week.

Paper Smooches January Challenge: Four Colors

Hello, cafe friends! Today I have brewed up a sweet and simple card that's going to send you to the store for some awesome (and cheap!) crafting supplies.

I made this card for the Paper Smooches January challenge: use four colors on a card or creation. Here's a link to their site:

www.papersmooches.net

Here's my card:

Where, you may ask, did I find that awesome minty paper doily and pink washi tape? Target Dollar Spot! Isn't it sweet?

And where, you may ask, did I find that awesome vintage background paper? Well, I used a sheet from a Farmer's Almanac that I had saved for a while. (ahem! cough! cough! Four years?!)

So now when you are out running your Saturday errands, you can add these fun items to your shopping cart!

{Today's Brew: Needle Little Love stamp set (Paper Smooches), kraft card stock (PTI), Memories ink, COPIC markers, mint doily and pink washi tape (Target), DMC floss for stitching}

Lately, I find that I like my cards and other creations to be just a little imperfect. A little smudging outside the lines, slightly crooked stitching, imperfect fussy cutting. I think it adds that handmade and homey touch to the creation. It's kind of like the Amish women who make an imperfect stitch on their quilts to demonstrate that only God is perfect.

Thanks for visiting the cafe today!

Splattery and Doodly

I have a problem with flowers. I can never have enough of them.

Look in my closet. I bet three-quarters of my blouses have a flower print.

Jewelry? Flowers.

Home furnishings? Flowers.

And don't even get me started on my garden. Two hundred flower bulbs planted last fall? Sheesh. My parents obviously named me appropriately when they stuck a flower to me forever.

When it comes to flowers, I'm a firm believer that more is more.

Which is why I have a hard time passing up a flower stamp set. They are all so lovely, and each one beckons me "Come! Come and plant me in your garden of stamp sets!"

I've seen some really super cute doodly stamp sets lately, and I want them all. ALL, I tell you! But then that ugly F word pops into my head.

No, not that F word, silly. Frugal. That F word.

So yesterday, I looked at my stamp sets that I already own, the ones that I gloss over in my pursuit of the next great thing, and I asked myself "Can't I turn one of these into an awesome doodly stamp set?"

Yes I can!

I used the stamp set Bold Blooms from Paper Smooches. After I stamped the flowers and leaves, I went back with a fine point marker and got a little doodly. And then I got a little splattery. And finally, a little sparkly.

{Today's Brew: Bold Blooms (Paper Smooches), sentiment from Folkal Points (Paper Smooches), stitched die (Lawn Fawn), card stock and ink (PTI), amuse twinkle rhinestones, Glimmer Mist, Prismacolor marker}

Thanks for visiting the cafe today!

PS Anything Goes Challenge: A Good Egg

This week, the Paper Smooches Challenge is Anything Goes!

                                            http://papersmoochessparks.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow is my baby's birthday. Twelve years old. How did that decade go by so quickly? Waaah!

Samuel is quite a character. He comes home every day with funny stories about the life of a middle schooler. Recently, he decided to program his ipod to wake him up with special messages each morning. On Sunday's, it will tell Sam "Be A Good Egg For Jesus!"

That cracks me up!

So I made him a good egg card for his big day!

{Today's Brew: stamps from Paper Smooches, picket fence die, gingham papers, copic markers, googly eyes, twine}

I decided to hang the sentiment from the fence in a sign fashion.

And just because it looked like fun, I added googly eyes.

We're planning on beginning the birthday festivities bright and early with a visit to one of our favorite restaurants for breakfast. This card, with its gingham sunrise, will be a great way to start the day.

Last year, when we took the boys to Disney, Sam attempted to impress one of the young French men working at the crepe stand in Epcot.

"J'aime le petit dejeuner!" Sam told him. Translation = I love breakfast!

"Hey, it's the most important meal of the day!" I told the young crepe maker, and he laughed.

It's going to be a great day to be twelve, filled with presents and food and fun outings and family and love.

Blessings, cafe friends!

When Craft Supplies Expire

Today's topic is a touchy one for most crafters. Eventually, most crafters come to the realization that some craft supplies do have a shelf life.

Take, for example, those fancy edged scissors you bought more than a dozen years ago. They made them look so easy to use, but when you tried, you could never get a straight edge. And they never cut clean, always leaving little bits of uncut card stock. At some point, it dawns on you that those fancy edged scissors take up a lot of room in your craft space and you never ever ever use them.

The scissors have expired.

I would tell you to give them to the preschool class at church, but honestly, they will probably frustrate those tiny little hands as much as they frustrated you.

Why do we hate to get rid of things? Because we spent good money on them, dag nabbit! And we like to think that we are making an investment. Kind of like those Longaberger baskets you purchased more than fifteen years ago that the demonstrator told you would increase in value one day, except now you see people practically giving them away at garage sales.

Yeah. It's just like that.

Today's case in point. Embossing pads and powders.

I had this great idea to do an emboss resist watercolor technique today. Honestly, I'm not a person that embosses a whole lot because it's messy and hot and little bits of powder fly everywhere and then you have to clean the goo off your stamps and...

...you get the idea.

My friend, Nikki, is the queen of embossing. Her cards are veritable works of art. Me? Mine come out looking like a melted crayon disaster.

Today, I grabbed my Top Boss pad, reinker, and Stampin Up clear embossing powder and gave the technique a whirl.

What happened? The Top Boss that's supposed to fade away to no color didn't, and the embossing powder was lumpy and clumpy and didn't adhere worth a darn.

Could it be that those supplies are now fifteen years old and have exceeded their shelf life?

Yes, yes it could be.

I tossed them in the trash and remembered my nice juicy Versamark pad. I gave it a try using a different embossing powder, and voila!

Just the look I was going for!

I washed over the embossed images with my Kuretake Gansi Tambi watercolors, and oohed and aahed over the results.

{Today's Brew: stamps from Paper Smooches, PTI card stock, Versamark ink pad, Kuretake watercolors}

A simply beautiful birthday card for a simply beautiful woman...my Mom!

My Mom is the sweetest woman on the planet. When other women half her age say "I can't lead a bible study or plan a women's retreat! That's too hard! I don't know my Bible that well!", my mother says "Oh for pete's sake, I'll do it!" And at the age of 82 to boot!

After my Dad died, my Mom and her good friend, Donna, organized the widows from church and formed a group they called "Good Griefers". Every month they go to dinners, plays, ball games. Their fellowship means they don't have to spend their days alone.

She gardens, she crafts, and she cooks and bakes as if she still has seven kids living at home. Twenty one grand children and over a dozen great grandchildren...this is one busy lady!

I'm so proud to call this beautiful woman my mother!

I love you, Mom! Happy Birthday!

PS Sparks June Designer Drafts Challenge: The Post About Laundry

This is a post about laundry.

After all, it's Monday, a perfect day to tackle those loads of summer beach and pool towels!

I am a nut about laundry. My family knows it. I know it. I just love to clean the family clothes, towels, and linens. Put in something smelly and dirty. Take out something fresh and clean. Magic!

This weekend, we bought a new, slightly used gas dryer from a sweet lady on Craigslist. We had to buy a dryer because at our last house, we had only electric dryer hook up. And at the house before that, we had gas dryer hook up. So yes, we are right back to where we started, and now on our third Whirlpool Cabrio dryer. Sheesh!

I am back in my element, washing clothes and towels like nobody's business. Now, at last, it feels like home!

I made this card for the PS Sparks challenge at Paper Smooches!

www.papersmoochesstamps.com

Here's my card!

{Today's Brew: stamps from Paper Smooches, Versafine Onyx ink, Ranger Distress Spray inks, MME enaml dots, PTI card stock}

Here's the thing about using spray inks on a one-layer card. You will get a little overspray and mess in places you least expect it, like the back of your card. That's okay! We shall call it art.

I'm sending this one to my son, John, who moved into his own apartment this month. John landed a great job straight out of college, and he's beginning his big adult adventure in Fishers, Indiana. New job, swanky new apartment. I'm one proud mama!

Speaking of laundry, I have a really important tip for all of you folks who have HE, or High Efficiency washers and dryers. I was a regular user of liquid detergents and fabric softeners, and I cleaned my machine regularly with products like Affresh. And still, I would end up with gunky deposits on my clean clothes. At first, I thought it was little bits of leaves and yard debris that had not washed off. But no. It was just gunk. Nasty, yucky gunk.

And then we had a house inspection, and the inspector gave me some really important information regarding HE machines. Liquid detergents and fabric softeners will gunk up your machine, and gunk up all the mechanisms that help it run efficiently. Powder, he said. Only powder detergents.

So I went home and gave it a shot. But first, I cleaned my machine with a Tide washing machine cleaner. And then I grabbed paper towels to wipe down every crack and crevice inside the machine. In the detergent and fabric softener and bleach slots. In the basin. Under the lid. It was amazing how disgusting it was. Gunk everywhere! So I ran another cycle of hot water with a few cups of baking soda and white vinegar thrown in. And again, I cleaned and removed more gunk. I did this wiping down process until there was no more gunk to be had anywhere.

And then I switched to this:

Now Tide and the other makers will continue to try to tell us that liquid is the way to go for HE, but do not believe it. I now use powder detergent AND dryer sheets when needed. No more liquid fabric softener.

I cannot begin to tell you how much better my machine runs now! No more gunky deposits, no bad mildew smell. Just clean every time.

My sister, who had the same problems, switched as well. She's getting the same great results every time.

So there you have it! A card AND clean clothes for your Monday! Blessings, cafe friends!

PS Anything Goes: That's Nuts!

I needed a fun birthday card today, something that expresses the sentiment "You're 60? Impossible!" Naturally, I went for the fall leaves and acorns!

I made this for the Paper Smooches Anything Goes Challenge!

I did a little paper piecing on the acorn, then used the leaf die to make a negative image on the polka paper. Another leaf for the top, and there it is!

I stamped the sentiment with Paper Smooches Alphadots, which is probably my favorite alphabet set of all time. So simple, and you never have to worry about lining up...it just works, magically, every time.

{Today's Brew: Falling For You (Paper Smooches), Alphadots (PS), PS leaf die, Simple Stories Harvest Lanes papers, PTI card stock, SU woodgrain embossing folder, button twine, Prisma markers}

And while I was photographing this card on my sidewalk, I looked around...fall leaves everywhere! Sorry, sisters, the calendar may say end of summer, but the trees don't lie!

Autumn...coming soon to a town near you!

All The Other Kids...

If you are a mom, you've probably had a conversation similar to this one at some point in your parenting adventure.

"Mom. Seriously. Every other kid has one! Why can't I have a (fill in blank here) too?"

Sam has been hammering me this year for a smart phone. A smart phone, for pete's sake! I just got an iphone this past Christmas, and before that, I'd used my stupid phone for over five years.

Sam's older brothers were always the last in their social circles to have cell phones, for a number of reasons. For starters, they cost money. LOTS of money. And the plans to keep them active? Even more money. Second, why would they need a phone if every one of their friends already has one? If it was really an emergency, there would be no shortage of nearby phones to contact someone. Third, the kids were almost always with us, or at a home that had a land line. Who were they going to need to call?

Sixteen. It was a right of passage age for my oldest sons. And when you start something with the oldest child, it typically becomes tradition and sets precedent for the younger children as well.

But sixteen! That's five years and three months from now for Sam!

Sam: "Mom. Seriously. Every other kid in my class has one."

Me: "Really? Okay. I want to line up all the kids in your class, and then I will ask every other one. You. Not you. You. Not you."

Sorry. Not buying it.

And then I got a call from a class mom, inviting Sam to a birthday sleepover. She informed me that he'd already had his birthday a while back, and this was his chance to celebrate with friends. And by the way, he got a smart phone for his tenth birthday.

Ugh.

I'll never hear the end of it!

I made this card for his birthday sleepover celebration. It seemed appropriate.

{Today's Brew: Teen Routine (Paper Smooches), PTI card stock, versafine ink and prisma markers, Lawn Fawn papers, staples from Making Memories}

I don't know where you fall in the "staples" camp, but it seems to be an item that paper crafters either love or hate. I decided these banners just need a little something, and I think the staples did the trick.

Today, I will celebrate just a few more years of pre-pubescent naivete. Today, I will not rush to be like all the other moms. I will celebrate this moment before every day becomes this day:

Unplugged, and loving every moment of it.

Conquering Fear

I used to have a fear of bridges.

The kind of fear that makes you close your eyes and keep 'em closed whenever you cross one. Of course, this makes it kinda difficult to drive over bridges with one's eyes closed.

It turns out there's a name for this fear. Gephyrophobia. The fear of crossing bridges.

I used to suffer from gephyrophobia every summer when we lived in Michigan. That's because my husband insisted that there was no vacation spot worth visiting if it wasn't in the Upper Peninsula. The UP, as we Michiganders like to call it. And to reach the UP, you have to cross this:

The Mackinaw Bridge, gateway to the Upper Peninsula, bisecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The stories of this bridge are plentiful. Yugos (remember that car?) have been known to blow over that bridge on windy days and sink in the frigid waters below. And winter? Ice? Don't even go there!

The bridge just goes on and on and on...

Are we over yet?

On one of our family vacations, when our oldest sons were just seven and four, we had to cross back over this bridge on a foggy day. FOG!

At the time, I considered moving to the Upper Peninsula permanently. Just sell our house remotely, by telephone, and never ever ever have to cross the bridge again.

I shut my eyes and kept them shut. Tightly shut!

And then my son, Luke, piped in from the back seat. "Dad? What would happen if the van blew off the bridge and landed in the water?"

Aaack!

That's when his younger brother chimed in.

"Yuke!" he said, because he had a funny accent at the time and that's what he called his brother. "Yuke! Don't you know that Mom's afwaid of the bwidges!"

We still laugh about this story almost fifteen years later!

But a funny thing has happened recently. I'm not nearly as afraid of crossing bridges as I once was.

Perhaps it's because I have to cross the Glass City bridge every time I visit family in Michigan.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's because we moved to a city with this skyline full of bridges at every turn!

I think I am learning to conquer my fear.

You hear that, bridges? I am not afraid of you anymore!

Eek! Okay, maybe we can just be fair weather friends.

I purchased two things last year as soon as we moved to Pittsburgh. One, this stamp set from Paper Smooches, and two, this bridge die from Memory Box. Put the two together and you've got the Pittsburgh skyline, right down to the cloud cover!

I made this card for the Anything Goes challenge at Paper Smooches! (click on the logo on the left sidebar for more info!). The city skyline stamps are, in fact, straight, but I curved them on the clear block to make it look more like the hills of Pennsylvania.

{Today's Brew: Metropolis stamp set (Paper Smooches), Memory Box bridge die, Memory Box stencil, PTI card stock and inks, Prisma markers}

Thanks for visiting the cafe today!