WSC32- The Little Things

I really like this image by Rubber Romance. I imagine this young woman sitting outside a quaint little cafe. It's mid-morning on a summer's day, a perfect 70 degrees outside.

She's sipping her favorite ginger-peach tea and scribbling in her sketch journal while waiting for three of her closest friends. They'll be enjoying a late brunch before heading off to visit several of their favorite stamping stores. ahhh...the "little things"!

Tonight, the "little things" are big fuzzy slipper socks, cozy over-sized hoodies, mugs of hot cocoa, someone to snuggle with and a good movie. The temperature has dropped almost 40 degrees in the last three hours and the wind is gusting at about 30 miles per hour. The weather man says we are in for wind chill temps of 30 below overnight and about 3 inches of snow.

We are all keeping our fingers crossed for a snow day tomorrow. ;) I'd love to spend the day hanging out with my kids, playing games, watching movies, baking cookies, stamping...more of those "little things" that bring so much joy!

Joining the Scripture Chicks

Recently, Lori posted that she will be sharing a scripture verse in a project each month, along with 4 of her friends, Angel, Jami, Nancy and Taylor. They are calling themselves the Scripture Chicks and Lori is encouraging others to join in. I'm a little late this month, but am definately going to be playing along.

I've been wanting to create a flip book for my desk at work with some of my favorite scripture verses. Although, I have Christian music on my computer's media player, I can't always listen to it and having God's word in view will be so uplifting.

I'm using 4x4 coaters that I purchased from eP. The paper is My Minds Eye and the flowers are Primas. I had a hard time deciding on which verse to start with...there are soooo many good ones. But January can be an emotionally challenging month for me and Matthew 11:28 is such a comfort. Jesus is always there, ready to carry my sadness and offer me peace. He's there for you too! If you like this verse, you can find it by Stampabilities. I picked mine up at Hobby Lobby several months ago.

Thanks again Lori for following God's leading and sharing such a wonderful idea!

Altered Clips

It's been such a busy week, but last night I had a chance to catch my breath and do a little stamping. After looking at my list of "want to dos", I decided to work on some desk clips for my co-workers. I work at a local elementary school as the Office Assistant. I really enjoy my job responsibilities and each day is different. My co-workers are such a great team to work with. Everyone is always willing to help each other. And I've just been wanting to make something for them.

About a year ago I bought these clips in the Target dollar spot to use at a stamping event to display project samples. Since I don't host events anymore, they've just been laying around. This SU! DP was perfect to dress them up and the accents were a perfect addition. (Beate sent them to me after one of her sketch challenges...Thanks Beate!)

I'm hoping to find a little time to stamp today as I need to make some birthday cards, but first I need to tackle some laundry. I hope you have a relaxing day! Thanks for stopping by!

WSC30- For Gram

My grandma is turning 76 this Sunday. She's the sweetest gram any girl could have. I remember when I was little I loved going places with her. Everyone thought I was her daughter and commented on how much we looked alike. I still love hanging out with her. She's an amazing lady.

My grandfather passed away 17 years ago and gram's been doing her own thing ever since. She never remarried. She retired and then continued to work part-time, first at the local newspaper and now at McDonald's. She gets together with her friends all the time to go to lunch or dinner or on short trips to Iowa to play the slots on the boats or to Branson. She loves to keep busy...bought a house with her youngest son and completely restored it. I'm not sure where she gets all of her energy. I just hope I'm as strong and spunky as she is when I'm her age.

On to the card...I used Beate's WSC30 for the layout. The paper is from Daisy D and the cardstock SU! The sentiments are SU! and PaperTrey and the embellishments came from my stash of goodies. ;) Thanks for stopping by! Have a terrific week!

WSC29- One of a Kind

Beate is back to blogging and sharing her Weekend Sketch Challenge. It's great to have her back! And it was just in time for me because I needed some inspiration for another birthday card.

This card is for my youngest son Jacob. He's 11 today! Jacob is such a delightful boy! He's always so happy and easygoing. We have a party planned for him next weekend, but this morning dad took him to breakfast and this evening he chose pizza for his birthday dinner.

Jacob's a big fan of Club Penguin, so I decided to use my Amuse Penguin and One of a Kind saying for his card. The colors are Taken with Teal, Always Artichoke, Baroque Burgundy and Chocolate Chip. I also used Basic Grey Figgy Pudding Glee paper. It's an awesome print for masculine cards.

Well, I'm off to work. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

SIMPLICITY

After visiting my blogging buddy, Angel's site this afternoon http://angelosity.blogspot.com/2008/01/focus.html, I started thinking about my word of the year. What should it be? So many words made their way into my mind, but the one that stood out the most was Simplicity.

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. ~ Charles Dudley Warner

In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. ~Hans Hofmann

From Wikipedia: Simplicity is the property, condition, or quality of being simple or un-combined. It often denotes beauty, purity or clarity. Simple things are usually easier to explain and understand than complicated ones. Simplicity can mean freedom from hardship, effort or confusion. It may also refer to a simple living lifestyle.

This year, I hope to take the saying "Less is more" to heart by embracing simplicity.

Love

Found some time to stamp today and decided to get started on my Valentine cards. This one features Basic Grey's Scarlet Letter paper, the Autumn Leaves Flourishes set and Close to My Heart True Love set. The LOVE is embossed with SU! Black EP and I couldn't help adding a pin with beads to the black organdy. Lovin' the pins! They are such an inexpensive, but pretty embellishment.

I'm so looking forward to Valentine's Day! Chris is taking me to see Les Miserable. We went to see it on New Year's Eve 1994 in Chicago. It was the first play we went to see together and remains my absolute favorite. I'll be prepared with lots of kleenex this time. ;)

Precious Gift!

My friend's Amy and Mark got the best Christmas gift! Their baby girl Maizie May arrived on Christmas eve. I finally got to meet her yesterday. Amy said she could just sit around all day holding her and I can see why. She's absolutely precious!

This is the card I made for them. I broke in my new Fancy Pants set, From the Garden with Whisper White ink. To dress it up, I used K&Company pearls, Prima & Close to my Heart flowers with Stickles added, organdy ribbon and a pin with beads. The saying was something I came across in my stash. It's amazing what you find, when you start organizing. ;)

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a super weekend!

Lucky Girl!

I've had an eye out for this Making Memories shelf unit for some time. I first saw it on Kimmie's blog. She said she found it at Michael's, so I went looking for it. Couldn't find it locally, so I started calling around. No luck finding it, so I gave up. That was 4 months ago.

A couple weeks before Christmas, I was in Michael's with my oldest son and there it was! At that point I couldn't justify the expense. Afterall, there was still Christmas shopping to do. That night, my son went home and put the bug in dad's ear and on Christmas morning the shelf was under the tree!

It's fantastic!!! I have a very limited space for stamping and this puts more of my favorite things within arms reach. My guys are so thoughtful! I'm such a lucky girl! :)

I've Been Tagged...

by my blogging buddy, Angel. She's incredibly sweet and has a terrific blog at www.angelosity.blogspot.com On to the 7 random facts about me...

1. My maiden name is Patti Cline. I spent most of my young life answering "no" to the question "Were you named after the singer, Patsy Cline?" I am actually named after my grandpa Pat, whose real name was Chester. Go figure!

2. When I was in high school, my best friend Nan and I were huge Duran-Duran fans. I was going to marry Simon and Nan was going to marry John and we were going to live next store to each other and.... (well, you get the picture). Nan is married (not to John) and lives in Canada. I live in Illinois and am married to the love of my life, Chris. Sorry Simon!

3. I really like going to the theatre...my favorite production is Les Miserable and my fabulous husband is taking me to see it again for Valentine's Day! I am such a lucky girl!

4. Although I don't have the best hand-eye coordination, I love playing Guitar Hero with my kids and could secretly get hooked on it.

5. I'm a dog lover. If we had the space, I would adopt several dog friends to hang out with our black lab, Jack. (a chocolate lab, a beagle and a golden retriever)

6. I'm an organization freak. I think there might be something to feng shui...I feel so much better when everything's in it's place. ;)

7.Galena, Illinois is one of my favorite places. It's a lovely little town in the hills of northwest Illinois. There are quaint shops and delightful restaurants and it feels cozy and comfortable there. Chris and I got married in Galena and I could easily retire there...opening a bed and breakfast with a big room for stamping and a stable with a couple of horses.

Tag to these 7 other bloggers...

1. Juli at http://www.stampinjewels.blogspot.com/

2. Julia at http://bellepapier.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

3. Laurie at http://justgivemestamps.typepad.com/my_weblog/

4. Christina at http://flowersandink.blogspot.com/

5. Beate at http://beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

6. Taylor at http://tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com/

7. Julie at http://paperpleasing.typepad.com/my_weblog/

The rules are simple, share 7 random facts about yourself and then tag 7 other bloggers. I'm off to finishing organizing my stamping stuff! :) Thanks for stopping by...and best wishes in the New Year!!!