Where is the sun??

This card came out just like

I imagined it would.  I'm really happy

with it!  I might make another

one in different colours.  I 

actually hate the colour orange, but

what I grabbed out of my scrap

box for the embossed part went 

well with orange.  Of course, now that

I think of it, it probably would have

gone just as well with kraft paper

but I don't think I have any card

blanks cut in that paper and am

too lazy to cut any more blanks 

when I have a bunch cut!

I'm wondering if I'm going to get

the lawn cut today either.  It's

pretty soggy out.  It must have

rained again last night.  It was

supposed to get warm and sunny

today, I thought.  Maybe later.  I

don't have any gas anyway, but

I need some for the car so

I'll do it all together.

I went to the food pantry yesterday

and brought them some rubber

band bracelets.  I love making

them and watching tv.  It's soothing

and mindless.  The lady I give

them to says the kids just love

them.  They use them for

incentives to learn Bible verses,

etc.  They also sent some to

Mexico for kids there.  I'm

not sure if they are being 

sponsored  by the church or what. 

It makes me feel like I'm doing

something that matters...This blog

is so boring.  :-/

new fold for card

I thought this was so cool

I had to try it right away.  I'm

not sure I like the shaker part,

but all in all I think it turned

out pretty well.

The inside of the card opens backwards

from the usual way.  Isn't that clever?

I may have to make more of those!

I love finding unusual folds.  Some

of them are way too complicated 

for me, but when an easy one like

this comes along I'm pretty happy!

It's supposed to be nice tomorrow

and I have GOT to get out and mow

the lawn, aka the field.  It's been

raining so much.  Yesterday was

nice but I knew Cody, Pam and

I were going out to dinner and

I didn't feel like mowing and then

having to shower all over again.

My hair is such a pain in the neck

to get straightened.  Why God

blessed me (and my poor kids)

with this horrendous curly hair

is beyond me.  I've been

trying to straighten it since I

was a kid.  The nice thing then

was that it was thicker so it

pulled out some of the curl and was

more wavy than anything.  Now

that I'm older it's much thinner than

it used to be and when it is wet I

look like Shirley Temple.  It's very

aggravating.  Everyone says,

"You don't know how lucky you

are to have curly hair."  I

hate it. But it's just one of

my crosses to bear.  There

are so many.....

Happy Birthday, Cody!

Cody is trying to teach me to take

a selfie in this picture.  I still

haven't mastered it. I can't believe

my "baby" is 29 today!  That's

the age I was when he was born.

Where do the years go?

He's turned out to be a wonderful

man, one that I am very proud of!

Another criss cross card.  They are so

easy and fun to make and I like

that they are different than a 

traditional card.  It actually came out

exactly how I envisioned it which

is usually NOT the case.

Listen for the whisper

No doubt in my mind that I was

where I was supposed to be

yesterday morning.  A young

man from Haiti gave his 

testimony yesterday in church.

What he said was a word 

from God directed to me.  It

was so surprising that it brought

tears to my eyes.  Something I

have been struggling with for

months suddenly came into

focus as God said to me:

"let it go and move on".

I do not want to move on.

I do not want to let it go.

But I also want to trust that

God has my best interests

in mind and that I need to trust

Him.  So I told him I would try.

That's all I can do.   I still wish

things could have been different,

but apparently that's not what God

wants.  He put me where I needed to

be a year ago and now it's time 

to move on.  It's sometimes

so hard to do what God wants

us to do.

This is a criss-cross card.

It will fit in a standard envelope,

but doesn't open like an ordinary

card.  Instead, the insert comes out

as shown in the lower picture.

I have so much of this barnwood

paper that I thought was so cool

when I bought it and now I'm really

bored with it.   I thought I'd better try

to use some of it.  The packs I buy

have LOTS of paper.  I'm

constantly buying more because

I either get bored with it or don't have

what I want.  You would think

that wouldn't be a problem since

I pretty much own a craft store, but

believe it or not, two thirds of the

time when I want to make a card

I don't have the right color! 

It's another rainy day and that

 means still no lawnmowing!

Of course, the problem is that

when it finally dries out it's

going to be a hay field.

At least I'll be able to see 

where I'm mowing.  Most of the

yard is lush, but in the front you

have to look for the tire tracks

to see where you've been.  I've tried

putting down new seed but I

pretty much kill anything that

is green.....

 

Soggy Sunday

I want to state clearly that I 

am not complaining.  Two things

are good about a soggy day:

it's not snowing and I don't

have to mow the lawn!  I don't

mind mowing, but I'm not

going to cry about not being

able to do it either!

This card was made with some

feathers that a friend sent me.  The green

is home made glimmer mist which

actually came out well.  You can't

really see the glimmer on the picture,

but in "real life" it shimmers in the

light.  I used perfect pearls to make

it.  I was skeptical at first, and it seemed

like a pain in the neck, but I was

surprised at how well it turned out!

 

I'm going to church in Waterloo again

today.  It's about half an hour away,

but I enjoy watching my teacher sign

the service.  There aren't any Deaf

people at the moment, but since it

is advertised in the paper as

being interpreted, you never know

when a Deaf person might be sitting

in the back.  I mean, it's not

like they wear a sign saying,

"I'm Deaf".  So it's interesting

and I learn quite a bit because I'm

still not very good at "receptive"

which just means I don't understand

a lot of what is signed to me.  But

being able to hear and see at the

same time is helpful.

Finally!

I got exactly what I wanted for

my mother's day card!  Since

I'm seeing her later in the day

I will just deliver it.  It's a little 

bulky with the flowers, and besides,

it's nice to hand deliver.

Card, inside and envelope.

Deaf chat was OK.  A man I know,

who also stuck by my side at Deaf world,

was there.  We call him "French Dave"

to differentiate from another Dave.

I don't remember his last name, 

but it is French (obviously).

He's so nice.  I stuck close to Pam 

and just observed.  I thought they

would consider that rude, but they

don't.  After some of them had left

I went and sat by him and He and

I chatted in sign, the things that

I knew.  Practice is practice, I guess.

I did speak to one of the leaders

of Deaf world for just a moment and

told him I had been there.  He understood

me and told me his name and I told him

mine.  I also introduced myself to a

young friend of Pam's.  Pam interprets for

kids in school and she was one of Pam's

former students.  It was interesting.

There was a group of students there

from one of the local high schools

that offer a sign class.  These teens'

hands are just flying like crazy.  It

was a little intimidating.  But they were

also very nice.  One of them, a senior,

spoke with me for a few minutes-

not in sign, just speaking.  She's so

good.  I wish I could take that class!  I

wish I was young enough to be in HS

again!  Well, maybe not.  It wasn't the

best of experiences.  I might go

again next month if someone I know

is there.  I leave you now with

another picture of Lili as she was

thinking about eating the phone....

 

 

 

 

Deaf chat

I've never been to one of 

these before.  I don't know

how many people go and how

many are deaf, or hearing.

I don't feel in the least prepared,

I don't feel I know enough to 

communicate with a deaf person.

But I guess there comes a point

where you just have to jump in,

hope you do OK and learn

something in the process (hopefully)

So I will go tonight.  My teacher,

Pam, says she will not leave my

side.  I hope she doesn't!  I'm really

nervous, but she says it won't

be as bad as I think it will be.

I suppose that anticipation of 

something is worse than the

real thing as a general rule.  You

tend to build things up in your

mind-at least I do-and it never

turns out like you had envisioned

it.  So everyone say a little prayer

that I don't make a fool out of

myself and remember enough

to have a basic conversation

with someone.

I like this one a little better than

yesterday's but still not what

I want.  The problem is, I don't

know what I want.  That is a

problem.  I hate it when I

get restless like this.

Plus, Dianne went on a short

little vacation and as usual

my muse tagged along.  I'm

not sure why she feels the need

to follow Dianne rather than

stay here with me where I need

her.  I think it's kind of selfish.

After all, She leaves me to

try to think of cards all by

myself!  I think I need to

trade her in on a new muse....