Share Your Summer!




Click on photo to enlarge

 

I haven't posted in about a month.  This was one of those occasional "down times" when I just needed to get inspired.  Whew, inspiration finally hit me today!  I love to share ideas as well as occasionally include an inspirational story here and there.  Sometimes a gal just has to wait until she feels that burst of creativity waiting to surface, and this has been just that time.



Petal Card Die (4 are used to make a box)



My inspiration hit me this morning and I once again want to share a couple of project ideas that you can make and share with your friends, family, neighbors, and especially those who are shut ins, in nursing homes, retirement apartments, etc.  One of my favorite places to volunteer is for CJCOHN (Churches Joint Council on Human Needs).  I am a volunteer case manager and today was my first day to add an additional assignment of a monthly delivery of groceries to senior citizens needing a little helping hand.  You cannot imagine how much it means to these folks to have someone show up at their door, with groceries, and a kind word.  It touched my heart so much that it woke up my inspiration to make a couple of projects that you can share with others.  You don't necessarily need to work through an organized group (which is also needed), but you can give some thought to those in your world who need that little "something something" to brighten their day. 

Anyway, here are a couple of project ideas.  I am planning a workshop (Whimsey Workshop) so if you are interested please send me a quick e-mail so I can get you on the list.  Then I'll look at a date when the majority can attend.  Of course there is no charge....my only request is that you make the items to share with others!  For those attending the workshop that I'm calling Share Your Summer, you can use the die cutter to make as many boxes as you can make in the two-hour time period.  These little boxes work up quickly.  I'll have an assortment of card stock and printed papers on hand for those attending the workshop.



Side view of boxes with handles



These little boxes are quite roomy: The"Princess" box has a necklace (perfect for a child or grandchild); the "Enjoy" box has some candies (nuggets) and the "Preserved Just For You" box has a small jar of homemade strawberry jelly. But.....you can use your imagination and put whatever you want inside. Some great summer items might be mini lotions, lip balms, etc. Or, for that girly-girl you could put in several nail polishes or lipsticks.

A little side note:  I haven't been on my blog for a few weeks so I decided to check out info on the countries where the blog is being followed.  I was so surprised to find that more viewers are coming from England, then next the United States, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia.  My last blog had viewers from France, Canada and Mexico...which is not included in this group on my new blog (don't know how to reach those old followers).    Anyway, feel free to share site info with anyone interested in projects that they can share with others.  After making the food deliveries today I am inspired to share just a little bit more with those who need a thoughtful little "something something".   Share The Summer and make someone feel special and loved!

Miniature Booklets

        

                                        



Click on photos to enlarge



Never underestimate smallish items.  They can become just as meaningful as larger, or full sized items.  I've kept a little bitty book, The Little Bible, since my childhood.  It has a verse from every book in the Bible, both old and new testaments....and it even has a few pictures!  It's size?  Only 1 1/2" x 2".  Just remember back to your childhood and I'm sure you also had a fascination with Tom Thumb, and other wee characters and things.

The projects I am posting are samples of table favors for each lady who will be attending our annual Prayer Brunch in a couple of weeks that my UMW circle is hosting.  This year's theme is Walking With Christ.  After thinking and thinking about how to tie the theme in with favors I decided to create a simple little miniature fold out booklet for each lady to be placed next to her luncheon plate. 

To make the project work up fast I typed verses about walking and following in Jesus' footsteps.  When making the little booklets be sure to print the verses onto good white cardstock, with a smooth finish (not rough or with a raggy texture).  Be sure that the verses on the backside will line up when the 'pages' are folded. 

I sized the project so that three 'booklets' could be made from one sheet of cardstock.  Before cutting them into booklets or strips, I sponged on colors that were in the flowers which would decorate the 'belly band' that would fit down over the booklet to keep it closed.  Notice that the sponging gives a soft muted misty background to the pages.  While sponging on the ink I was reminded of the beautiful colors that Monet used in his impressionistic paintings.  I can easily get lost in his paintings which make you feel as if you are in a beautiful garden. 

Yesterday I attended a workshop on Poverty and Hunger and I was so moved by the speaker that I plan to make a little booklet which includes sayings by Mother Teresa.  The speaker quoted Mother Teresa several times and as a token of appreciation I am going to make her a little booklet with some of the sayings inside.



Click on photo to enlarge



Anyway, I wanted to share this project because it is one that can easily be changed for any occasion. You can make a similar little booklet with scriptures of hope and healing to give to someone who is ill or you can adapt it to a whimsical theme for a birthday with all types of fun b-day sayings. Or, you can make a little Mother's Day booklet and put your own sentiments in each space or page. You can also stamp images on alternature pages or use small stamped images in the corners for extra adornment.

So now it's your turn.  Have some fun and make up a little 'booklet' to give someone.  Because there will probably be about 75 in attendance at our prayer brunch I made the Walking With Christ booklets small, but I'll probably adjust the size up a little for the Mother Teresa booklet.

If you would like further information, just send me an e-mail or give me a call and I'll be glad to share more details.  I'm still working on a make up date for some of you who could not attend the last workshop who requested a make up session.  In addition, I am working up some ideas for additional projects. 

I'm trying to get caught up on my projects because I've been falling behind.  But last week I had a sports injury (ha ha....me with a sports injury?).  I added weight training to my regimin and injured one of my legs, so today I start physical therapy and it'll be 'light duty' for the leg for awhile....hence I'm now going to get caught up on my projects.

I'll get back with you on a future workshop as well as the make up date for the spring workshop.

Have a nice day!  And be sure to make someone a little booklet.  It may just end up being a little treasure that they will keep, just as I have kept The Little Bible all these years!

Just Humor Me



Laughing with a mouthful of 
food can cause the dreaded 
"food up your nose" syndrome. 



Most of you who follow my blog know me personally through papercrafting and other creative endeavors.  You also know that I encourage everyone to share their talents and crafts with others.  There's nothing like that smile that comes from someone's face when they see you are sharing a small bit of yourself and that you took the time to say "I care about you". 

It's also important that we include some humor into our lives and pass it on to others.  I began feeling a little under the weather yesterday (fever, aches, chills and all that stuff) and so today I thought there was no better day than today when I was feeling yucky than to sit down and read the book "Laugh Your Way to Grace" by Rev. Susan Sparks.  My church's UMW circle just started a reading program and purchased some recommended books.  I gave myself a goal of reading one of these books each month until they run out and then I'll move over to the church's libary to continue reading from that collection. 

"Laugh Your Way to Grace" is one of the best books I've read and I wanted to share how special it is with you, so that you in turn will read or purchase a copy.  Each and every page is full of wit and wisdom and of course for some quirky reason I've always been drawn to analogies and this book is full of them.  The author began her career as a trial lawyer and then gave it up to travel the world to find herself.  She found that every culture has included humor  into their lifestyles and also their religious beliefs.  After reading this book it finally all came together for me....God has a sense of humor!!!!  That explains why he made men and women so different, why some people are left brained and some right brained and for some reason they often end up together.  I so enjoy a good belly laugh.  My dad didn't nickname me the 'gigglebox' for nothing...I earned that title!  It's good for the soul and what better day to read this book than today when I was feeling puny and when I would have to forego my ritual of my daily walking in the park.  Laughter is good medicine.

After completing her travels, the author went back to school and became an ordained minister.  She is now the senior pastor of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church in NYC.  She is the recipient of an award from Intersections International for her interfaith work to promote justice, reconciliation and peace among diverse communities.  You can read more about her at www.susansparks.com 

Some of the Chapter titles and subtitles are: Humor and Holiness are Not Oxymorons; Eating Dessert on the Titanic (The Opportunity for Joy is Now); We're All Hell's Angels (Using Humor to See Past Our Differences); Burping in the Pulpit (Rediscovering a Fresh Spiritual Practice Through the Eyes of a Child); And God Smote Them with Hemmorhoids, etc. etc. 

Some of my favorite people in this world are the ones who make me laugh, who maybe have a quirkiness about them (as I do also).  Yes, God does have a sense of humor and it's important that we embrace it, enjoy it and share it with others. 

When I look back to some of my friends who have passed away, or people I had previously worked with I always remember the funny and quirky things about them that set them apart.  Time and again I came upon funny or unusual situations when I had to make a snap decision and try to handle it with care and sometimes humor.  One such case was when I was the HR Director at the rehabilitation center where I worked for many years.  We had just hired a young-ish aged man to work in job placement (where he would be calling upon business leaders to find job opportunities for our blind and visually impaired students).  His first day on the job he came to my office to complete his employment paperwork (insurance, withholding forms, etc.).  When he was leaving my office I couldn't help but notice that he had a long piece of toilet paper about 15 inches long, hanging up and out from his pants at the waistband.  He had said he was going straight from my office to visit with a prospective employer so I knew it was important that I handle the t.p. situation quickly....without knowing him well enough in how to tell him that he had a "t.p. tail" waving behind him.  It was quite comical and resembled a flag waving as he walked by.  Anyway, he was a fast walker and was already down the hall and almost out of the building by the time I caught up with him!  What could have been an embarassing moment for both him and myself turned out to be a bonding moment after he laughed and said "Well, no one can say I don't follow through with my paperwork!"  Not only did his response turn the moment into a lighthearted situation, but from then on we joked back and forth with quips about the importance of leaving a paper trail, etc. etc.  And who says God doesn't have a sense of humor! 

I plan to order a copy of this book to add it to my personal library.  I hope you will take time to read the book and most importantly, to share God's gift of laughter and humor with your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc.  And of course, it's very important that we remember those who are shut-in, ill and/or are not around other people.  Your humor may just be the best medicine you can give to others.

Have a beautiful day.

 

Easter and Spring Projects



Tab pulled out to show pop up



Sorry that I'm behind on posting projects on the blog.  We spent a few days at Pensacola Beach and well, I'm just now getting back into my groove.

Our Do Me A Favor workshop is just around the corner....Saturday, March 16.  The workshop is filling up, so if you have not sent me an e-mail please let me know that you will be attending.  We will begin at 12 noon and all projects should be finished no later than 4 p.m. (maybe sooner).  Projects are being shown on this post.

Here are two pop up cards....one for Easter and one with a spring/garden theme. But, you can use the same pop up pattern and technique to make a birthday card, get well, or even a cute baby card. These are very versatile patterns that can be adapted to so many occasions.



Opened card showing popped up flowers





Front of garden card





These toppers are decorated with dimensional flowers



Medium bag with topper for baby gift





One of the projects is what I call a bag topper. This topper can be adapted to fit different sized gift bags and you can change the color and theme according to your gift giving needs. I recently made up 17 of the Easter bags for our UMW circle to give to shut-ins and those who we keep on our prayer list and I feel this little topper is just right to share with you in the workshop. I'm also posting a photo of a larger topper for a baby boy's gift. And, you can make the toppers up ahead of time and have them ready to slip down over the bag handles when you need a quick bag.   The Easter bags are filled with assorted Easter candies.

In this post I'm showing what I call "the perfect little box". It is entirely handmade and embellished to fit whatever the season or occasion when you need that special little box, or trinket box, to hold anything from pre-made wrapped chocolates and candies, to jewelry pieces, or even something as simple as an emergency sewing kit. And, the box is a gift in itself. It's just perfect for giving those special small-ish items such as baby booties and/or small family heirlooms or keepsakes. And how cute to make this trinket box for mother's day (or daughter's day) and give a special little keepsake/heirloom.



Front view of box (below)

 

Top of box




Another box with handmade flower

Patterns and instructions will be shared at the upcoming workshop. 

As always, have a beautiful day!

Love is Patient - The Little Green Cottage



In honor of Valentine's Day I'm sharing this true story about how I learned the importance of being patient.  I still struggle with patience, but I use this situation as a reminder that Love is Patient, Love is Kind.

A couple of weeks back we had some severe weather, with high winds.   When I let Buster the circus dog out, I thought he might just blow away...right off the deck.  The high wind reminded me of a day about 12 years ago when we had been getting weather warnings of possible tornadoes.  It was a good day to clean out the basement where we could feel somewhat protected.  We kept stepping outside and noticing how black the sky was.  Little did we know that it was more than a dark sky, it was a tornado wall, very wide which was ripping through just south of here heading toward Little Rock.

The next morning we were in church when someone from the church office took a note up to the pastor to read.  He announced that a couple from our church had been killed in the tornado that had swept through.  It took my breath away because that couple were members in my Sunday School class.  It was announced that Nan's son had survived the tornado because he was visiting at a friend's home when the tornado hit. 

But let's step back a couple of weeks in time.  Our pastor had been encouraging members to share their talents with others and someone approached me to teach some basic painting techniques and projects and I agreed to do so.  The second or third project was a simple cottage with only a few details, but just enough to give some practice on layering, shading and highlighting.  Nan had signed up to take the classes and I spent most of the classtime by her side because she was having such difficulty.  I went home and complained to my husband that I thought Nan might have a learning disability because every instruction was done backwards and it was taking away time from the others by my staying at her side the whole time.  I got a good lecture from him...he was a high school teacher and he told me I needed to learn patience, which is true that I did.  He also said, "You'll never know how much these classes may mean to someone so if they are happy with their project, then you should be also."  Truer words were never spoken!

Anyway, after the tornado, our Sunday School class chipped in and purchased new clothing for Nan's son, who was now staying with her best friend.  Another class member and I took the clothes to her home.  After a few minutes, Nan's good friend looked at me (a light bulb moment) and said, "Oh you're Linda Steele who was teaching Nan how to paint!"  She asked that we wait a minute and she left the room.  She returned holding that "Little Green Cottage" that Nan had just painted, and which had tried my patience.  She said that Nan loved the painting classes and that just a day or so before Nan gave it to her and that it now was her most treasurered possession because it was given to her from Nan only days before her death. 

I felt so ashamed that I had been impatient and frustrated.  My husband was right...but I did find out how much the classes meant, instead of "you may never know".

I received a couple of odd phone calls in the days and week following that.  One was from a woman who lived in West Memphis, miles and miles from here.  The caller said she found a torn piece from a deposit slip with Nan's name on it and my phone number and she couldn't stop thinking about it until she found out if the name on the deposit slip had been in the tornado.  I told her that Nan and her husband had been killed in the tornado.  I remembered back that I had offered to give Nan some one-on-one instructions and she had written my name and phone number on one of her deposit slips.  It had traveled across the state in the tornado and landed in this woman's yard....and she called me out of concern, seeing that the paper traveled from so far away.

I still look back and think about Nan and the "Little Green Cottage".  It reminds me that the Bible says Love is Patient, Love is Kind.  You may, or may not, know how much you touch someone's life, but share love and be patient with one another anyway.  You may just find out later there was a purpose to be included in that person's life.  We just do not know what awaits behind the next door.  It just takes patience and understanding.

Have a nice day today....remember love is patient, love is kind.

Getting Ready for Love

I'm posting a few more sample Valentines which will be available at the Amore-a-Palooza make and take workshop.  Details are listed on the last blog post.  

Some of these sample Valentines are the Ooh la la French Valentines and some are the Funny Little Valentines using images and sayings for the young and those who are young at heart. 

Click on the photos to enlarge them. 

And then there's one sample of a Country French note card which can be used for many different occasions.  All these embellishments and more will be available at the workshop.

Those who have already signed up have been sharing with me some of their favorite looks so I'll be sure to have plenty of those elements.  If you have not signed up and wish to do so, please let me know so I can be sure to concentrate on the elements you are drawn to.

The next post will be a story about Love is Patient, Love is Kind.  It will not be what you might be expecting, but I can assure you it is a true story about how we can learn to be more patient and kind to one another. 

Have a nice day! 



Announcing....Amore-a-Palooza!





Unforgettable (song titles) creation station


What is the Amore-a-Palooza?  Well, it's a make and take Love Extravaganza, just in time for Valentine's Day.  This will be similar to the Christmas make-and-take two years back that was so much fun.  At the time everyone asked when the next make-and-take would be.  Well, it will be on Saturday, January 26.  Beginning at 12 noon I will have some finger sandwiches and a light lunch...a good time to visit with old papercrafter friends or meet new ones! That's also a good time to get a sneak peak at the various creation stations and decide where you want to start. Then at 1 p.m. everyone can get started piecing and creating their Valentines or other projects. For this workshop everyone can make 10 projects and spend as much or as little time in putting them together...some work faster than others and some may not want to make 10 projects. But, if you want to make 10 projects, and if you have not finished by 4 p.m. (3 hours of creating) then you can do layouts for the remaining projects and take the embellishments home to finish them there.



Creation Station - Old Song Titles (Unforgettable)

At each station there will be card fronts and card bases along with lots and lots of embellishments, just waiting to be be layered and popped onto the card.  Easy Peasy!!!! Quick and Easy!!!

And, if you don't need or want that many Valentines, then you can choose instead to make some Country French cards that you can use for all occasions.  You'll notice from the Country French sample pictures that many of the same embellishments are used on those cards as with the Ooh La La Valentines, but the colors will be deep reds, blues,  tans and browns for the Country French embellishments.

For me Valentine's Day is a fun, fun, fun occasion!  I used to make and give Valentine's to the employees where I worked.  It eventually became a tradition and everyone there started trading Valentines, just like when we were kids at school! Valentine's Day is not just for romance....it's also a time to say "you are special" or "so glad you are in my life" to children, grandchildren,  friends, co-workers, club members, or to take to nursing home residents.

There will be a $15 workshop fee which covers all materials.  ALL proceeds will be going to the Bryant Boys and Girls Club.  I'll be furnishing all embellishments so every penny will go to that worthwhile organization.

The creation stations are as follows:(1) My Funny Little Valentine (for the young at heart), (2) Unforgettable (that's what you are) which are Valentines using song titles that we remember well, (3) French Ooh La La Valentines and (4) Country French all occasion cards.



My Funny Little Valentine 
Creation Station

In this post I am including some sample pictures....as always they are just samples (lots more). You can use the cards as a guideline but I think once you sit down and start playing with the embellishments you may find some combinations you like just as well...or even better.  I always encourage everyone to get those creative juices going and don't be afraid to just sit down and go wild with different combinations.

 

My Funny Little Valentine
 Creation Station



 
PLEASE SEND ME AN E-MAIL TO LET ME KNOW TO PUT YOUR NAME ON THE LIST.  ALTHOUGH I AM JUST NOW FORMALLY ANNOUNCING THE WORKSHOP, THERE ARE ALREADY A FEW SIGNED UP.  My e-mail is whimseyworkshop@sbcglobal.net



French Ooh La La Valentine creation station



French Ooh La La Valentine creation station



Country French station



Country French station



Unforgettable (song titles)