A mystrey, Humble pie and WOYWW #203

A very short post for me, it has been a very busy week!  My dear Husband had surgery on Monday and he he doing great and will hopefully have more voice in a few days.  But to my work desk...
Something big will be arriving at my house in a few short hours.  It is a something I had never really expected to have and said I really didn't want because I didn't think I was clever enough to use for the dollars it costs ( which is why I am baking the humble pie)..  Well The flood had its benefits, I was able to claim some of my quilting supplies and scrap booking materials. I was also able to pick what I wanted to replace it.  Even Steve got in on this and HE found the terrific storage system to house it in! So I have a few hints as to what will be arriving in about 5 hours and 43 minutes!  I already have the first 12 parts and have started playing and I love it!!

This post is a little like the "I spy Game"

 

 

I had to relocate a few things, to make room

 

 

 

The spot for the arrivals on my Work Desk:

 

 

Can anyone guess what is coming?

 

I hope you all have  a great day!!  Thanks for stopping by and to continue the hop go here to Lovely Julias's Blog:http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

 

Ginny M

What A week and WOYWW# 202

 

 

Yep, this weekend our basement flooded!  Our water filtration canister burst, and within an hour we had 2+ feet of water! 
Because of that, and the ensuing clean up, I haven't had to much on my work desk this week!
I am very happy to report my stampy stuff was not in the basement!  I did have some scrapbooking things and quilty things down there for storage, fortunately that can all be replaced!

I grabbed my button box before it sank, for some reason I had one of those shipping air pillows in the bottom of it!  I poured the buttons after the were washed and dried in to this vintage orange juice pitcher, which I have been storing flowers in!!  I don't buy flowers like Primas, they are lovely but I find I have great luck using dismantled silk flowers from stems.  They are affordable and look great sitting on my counter work desk.  I try to only use very thin buttons and I mix them up with paper buttons to keep things mailable!  Looking at this pitcher of buttons is so cheery, especially in the when the morning  sun is shinning throught them!

Starting a set of birthday cards

Looking for the right butterfly!

Just a brief stop here today!  For much more exciting looks at desks around the world, go here: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to Julia Dunnit's bloggy heaven! Thanks for stopping by and
Have a great day!
Ginny M

Reverse camera

I'm getting ready to hit the road for the day, but I wanted to put up my new cards for the card shop and write a word or two for the blog.  I also wanted a really great picture to post, so I thought well I'll photo my colored pencils because that is what I want to play with and blog about when I get home - my new watercolor pencils and my old prisma colors. 
 I was distracted from that when I hit the reverse camera button on my camera/phone.  Ugh!!  My new Nexus Android does this all the time, instead of sliding over to up load the photo, it slides over to reverse the camera to reveal not the picture but me!  Of course it is always with a mouth open , doublechin (did I even say that) up the nose angle!!  Honestly I am one of those people that don't care to have my picture taken and when this happens it is always the same response - a grunt!!  This morning it made me think, we are such complex beings, so much of us is revealed in the image of our faces portray, even so, much can remain hidden.  
While The beauty of my face primed out a couple of decades ago, the beauty of my life becomes more radiant ( in all of our cases I  hope ) we become as we age more who we are and more who we want to be. I think this is true in all of our lives, this revealing. Because I am a Christian I live to please God, simply and joyfully.  I am far from perfect and if you would like to know my flaws, I will tell you about them, because I am full of them.  When you live to please god, you become free from these flaws one step at a time,  this is what the love of God does for us.  He frees us from sin and disgrace, so that we can be who he designed us to be, free and  filled with his Love and Grace!

Here are the pencils:

Here is truth;
Ac 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being.

Here is not the reverse shot:




I'm not to fond of those shots!!

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by! I have new cards up today, check the what is new page!
Ginny M

WWOYW#201 and when more multiplies

It's that day again when we can grab a cuppa and blog hop around the world checking out crafters work spaces!  The Blog Starts here at The awesome Ms. Dunnit's blog in the UK http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/  Enjoy!!
It would seem spring is under way!  Two beautiful days this week, out walking with only a sweater, I  can't remember a winter lasting so long and now that it is past it seems like it was here and gone in a flash!!
On my work desk today, a mish mosh of stuff to get done.  I like to finish one project before I start another, when I quilt , I never have ufo's around!  With card making I am not so successful, I have about 1/2 dozen projects started. 

I have new this stack of card stock I can't wait to cut into!

 

wonderful colors!

                                                                and a new set of stamps

 

 

But before I do that I have a bunch of card stock that I need to get scored and folded and off my work desk!

 

each of these bins is holding organized card parts:

 

 

here's a look into them:

 

All this stuff is ready and waiting and I want to get this done! So I can go on to the next projects!

Now I realize I could just forget about them and move along  to the next project, but I have this fear in the back of my head that if I get into a habit of starting projects and not finishing them, I will just turn into a craft hoarder!  I know they make medicine for this, But i would rather spend the money on stampy stuff than medicine, besides I am rather fond of my particular kind of OCD!

 

 

I wanted to give you all this blog link, if you are into organizing your craft space you will totally love this blog!!   http://craftstorageideas.com/

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Ginny M

More is More

I know the saying is "More is Less" and that  can be true, but that was never said by a crafter! Today, or I should say yesterday was a quiet restful day for Steve and I .  Steve had drill this weekend , and after last weeks sad events, we were both exhausted.  Not the worn out kind of exhausted, but the kind that is remedied by a good night sleep and a day of peace and relaxation.  Relaxation for us today was  lunch out, a trip to the craft store,  yard work and card work. 

 I Only bought a few things and each stamp I purchased (4) Steve picked out!

While we were walking through the mall Steve asked me if I wanted to stop at the Hallmark store, I looked at him kinda funny ; he said "for Ideas"! 

I have so many ideas I close my eyes and see card parts!

 

My new favorite tool has to be these snips, which I bought today.

 

These are the "Non-Stick"  kind and since I cut miles of double sided tape every day, I thought it would be a good idea, My snips are so regularly coated with adhesives from the tape I rarely have one that isn't gooped up.  Now all my other scissors are cleaned and sharpened and no more goop!

 

 

I wanted to challenge myself a little bit and work with colors I don't normally use .  So I purchased this 6x6 pad from Hobby Lobby, if was 50% off so I thought this wouldn't be a big risk as far as $$ goes.  The colors and prints are not something I gravitate towards, but since I am making cards for sale I really need to push myself to try things that other people will like..  I thought I'd just use this whole pad this afternoon and knock out dozens of cards. In the real world I made  12 cards using 10 sheets of the paper.

 

 

Why did I think that I'd use the whole pad? I'm not really sure, must have something to do with the half a pot of coffee I drank this afternoon before I started!  But here are the cards I did make:

 

Two of these, part of the beauty of this card is the paper and weight, it looks better in person and feels really nice in your hand!

 

 

Two of these

 

 

5x6

 

My favorite of the cards made!

 

 

And a batch of sympathy cards

 

.

 

My favorite cards today were the scripture cards.  When I make these I am blessed because I am using the "Word"  not just a lovely sentiment, but  the Living Word Of God and that word heals , delivers, gives hope, encourages and brings peace.  In the Things of God, more is also more.  There is so much abundance of the love of God, is just can't be depleted!  If you could use a little peace or hope in your life, I encourage you to find a bible, open the gospel of St. John and begin to read it asking The Lord to make himself know to you.  You will discover your best friend, your redeemer and your creator. It says 'In Him was light and that light was the life of men' He wants to dispel every darkness in your life and bring you into His Marvelous Love! 

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Ginny M

Where did the card factory go?

Well I had made a tutorial the other day on a Faux Letterpress process.  I have no idea what happened to the photographs other than I was having a Nexus 4g problem and it looks like only half my photos are in the camera.  But since I have to make another batch I will do a redo for the blog too.

I made these three cards for an Oriental Arts Swap

 

The last card was supposed to be # 2 of 2.  Then I reread the instructions, it had to be two trees for a set of stamps.  Oh well, Now I have another one for my card box!  I used Washi and Stickles on the cards.  I try to keep my cards mail-able so you won't see a lot of dimension.

 

Beautiful day here in western MA, Lots of running around to do. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Ginny M

A thought about legacy

 I've been making my new "Thursday" Cards to put up in my card shop and a card making post.  The post is almost done but not quite and I am looking high and low for one of my new cards and it seems to have vanished.  While I was doing this I noticed I was feeling more rushed and stressed by the minute.  It was then I decided that the post can wait till the morning.

 

There are things more important than cards.

 

My last post was about my Mother-in-law Nancy Maxam passing from this life to life eternal.  This post is about Legacy, hers, mine and yours.  At Nancy's wake, over 400 people showed up, the town population is only around 2400! Nancy was a mom and grand mother not only to her brood but to about half the town and I don't think she even knew it! She wasn't a politician or a town dignitary, she was a CNA that worked 3rd shift at the nursing home for 37 years.  She wasn't on any boards, committee or consuls.  She did however, plan, direct, correct, guide, lead and provide for her family and hundreds of others during the course of her adult life.                                                         

 

She Loved. 

 

When I walked into St Mary's Church where her funeral service was held, I thought of the young woman at 20, a new bride walking out with her new husband, and into their now  married life.  I thought of the young mother bringing each of her four baby sons into the church to be baptized, to first Communions, to their marriages and their children's baptisms and first Communions.

 

I thought of the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of sports games she cheered for , the school plays and recitals she never missed for her multi-generational brood. 

I am pretty convinced she had no idea on that day in June of 1961 what her life as a small town girl  would become and the legacy she would leave.

 

But do any of us ever know? Do we know the love in our hearts that grows and then multiplies over and over again, how it blesses, strengthens  and encourages?  I don't think we do.

I felt encouraged this weekend to love more, to listen more, to help more. I want to be a better wife, mother, sister, daughter, a better friend. There are so many rich things in life we can share with the people we love.  The Bible says "of these three, Faith , Hope and Love, the greatest is love."  I can have faith for you, but it doesn't help you.  I can have hope for you , and still it will not bless you.  But If I love you especially if you aren't lovable, it can change your world.  Not because of me, but because of Love, the greatest of all things, in this world and in the world of the eternal.

 

Thank you Nancy (Mom), it was a joy to be a part of your life.  Thank you for raising Steve to be the best husband a woman could ask for.

 

Rest in peace until we meet again.

 

Ginny M

New cards are on the "Whats New" page!!