Beautiful Nature-Lover!

My neice, Julia is the most beautiful, sweet, and curious little 5 year-old EVER! (I’m not biased either!)  But, much as my sister-in-law has wanted her to be really “girly,” Julia would prefer to roll in the mud than take a yummy bubble bath!  Here she is with her new little “friend,” a tiny lizard she found in the back yard!

All of the element in this layout are from a new line by Chatterbox, except for the yellow cardstock (Bazzill, of course!) and the ribbon (CTMH).

Every time I go to visit Julia and her mommy and daddy, I take along all of the layots I’ve done of her, all in an album (or 2!) and present it as a…present!  They’d love it if all I did was slap a photo on a sheet of cardstock and added a sticker, which isn’t too far from what I do! LOL!

I hope all of my sweet friends out there have an awesome weekend!

Love,

Cindy

Christmas Tag Challenge!

Every week at ChristianCrafters, we have a new and really fun challenege!  This week’s challenge is hosted by Pam from our Design Team. She is SOOOO talented!

She gave us a recipe:

Two different patterned papers (NO CHRISTMAS PAPER!), one  handmade embellishment, and a sentiment

Here’s Pam’s sample for us:

And here’s my attempt!:

Why don’t you try out this recipe?  It’s ‘YUMMY!”  I’d love to see what you all come up with!

And feel free to join us any tie at http://ccrafters.informe.comforum !!!!  ALL ARE WELCOME!

Love,

Cindy

A gift from my friend Aimee! (aimeeinohio.blogspot.com)

Thanks, Aimee!  Best gift I’ve gotten all year!

I AM PASSING ON THIS “KREATIVE BLOGGER” GIFT to some of MY FAVORITE BLOGGERS!  Let’s keep this going! If you are visiting because of my post, right click on the AWARD ABOVE and put it on YOUR BLOG!  Then list your favorite Bloggers, and do the same, GET IT?!

NOW, HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE BLOGS!

myspotofsunshine.blogspot.com (Marlene)

lifeofascrappertoccara.blogspot.com (Toccara)

divine-morning-creations.blogspot.com (DeVonne)

lifesongkreations.blogspot.com (Karla)

cajunstampingqueen.blogspot.com (Kelli)

randomponderingincanada.blogspot.com (Colleen)

scrapbygladys.blogspot.com (Gladys)

THANKS FOR YOUR INSPIRATION, FRIENDS!

I WANT MY MOMMY!

My son and I both have an AWFUL case of what I think is the flu.  High fevers, chills, aches and pain, headache…no congestion, cough or sore throats, so we’ll just keep pouring downthose clear liquids.

Since my husband is out of town, I’m tending to each and every one of my son’s needs, but who’s going to take care of ME?! LOL!  I want my mommy!

If you are reading this, please take pity on me and send some homemade chicken soup, a bottle of extra-strength Tylenol, and some die t ginger ale?  Thanks so much! I really would appreciate it!  I’ve heard there are special containers that keep hot things hot, and cold things cold, and they re to be used ot send by bloggers to other bloggers when they get the flu! Pretty cool, huh?!?!

Gotta run.  Josh needs some TLC!

7 Things You Didn’t Know….

My friend Aimee inspired me on her blog this afternoon with her post including “Seven things you didn’t know about me!”  I thought it was fun, so I’ll tell if you will! (Hope you don’t mind, Aimee!)

Here are 7 things YOU didn’t know about ME:

• I drink about 1/2  a case of Diet Pepsi every day (yikes!)
• I’m terribly claustrophobic!
• I got in trouble for refusing to participate in Arts & Crafts at summer camp one year!
• I took classes at 3 different universities to finish my bachelors degree!  Penn State (freshman year), Boston University (3 years) and every 2 summers at Villanova!
• I started playing the piano when I was 3, majored in Piano Performance in college, and never stopped!
• I’m a volunteer psychotherapist at a rescue mission for disadvantaged women and children on Saturdays.
• The picture in this post was taken by ME~~ when I’m REALLY REALLY bored, I hold the camera facing myself, and snap away!  No, I’m not egotistical, just silly!   OH COME ON~~ You’ve done it too! LOL!

OK,  your turn.  Is there something I don’t  know about YOU?  DO TELL!

Too ill to live, too strong to die

Our church family is in the midst of losing a little 3 year old wonder, Gavin Owens, who was born with a severe illness, and hasn’t had one single “typical childhood” day in his little life.  His parents, Karen and Adam, were Worship Leaders at our church, Morning Star Fellowship in Bechtelsville, PA, but couldn’t continue in that role, with a one year old sweetheart of a daughter, and then a medically fragile newborn.

We have all been praying for Gavin and his family, and as recently as this morning, our church sponsored a breakfast and lunch fund-raiser for Gavin, for a new home for the Owens Family, that is handicapped-accessible.   But Gavin won’t ever walk through the threshold of the newly renovated home.  He is taking his last breaths as I write this, as I just read on Karen’s blog post from 2 hours ago.

They took him off his ventilator early in the morning, but he continued to fight for breath.  Even now that they have discontinued fluids, and his oxygen levels are too low for him to really sustain himself, he continues to fight.  The family has all said their goodbyes and made peace.  They are waiting desperately for Gavin to go home to be with Jesus, but he won’t let go.

Gavin, please stop fighting and go and be at peace with God.

To follow Gavin’s final moments, you can go to:  http://www.gavinowens.com

Love,

Cindy

UPDATE: Gavin went home to be with the Lord at 10:43 PM on Sunday 11/8/09

My Family’s “Mission Statement”–A Challenge for You!

I was so inspired by my friends, Debbie & Darryl, who made up a certificate of sorts, with their family “Mission Statement” on it.  They are a wonderful couple with terrific grown children, and they wish to set high standards for the things that happen in their home–and they live them out daily as well!

So, I went ahead and talked with my husband and son about what they want OUR lives to look like: what do WE want people to see and feel when they come into our home?  Here’s what we came up with:

Ours has a lot to do with our faith, but that doesn’t mean yours has to!  Just think about your family’s values, hopes, dreams!  What kind of legacy do you want to leave for the next generation?  A little twist:  try to put something on there that you’d LIKE to achieve, but aren’t quite there yet.

I hope you’ll join me in this fun and thought-provoking family project!  How about this weekend?  It’ll give you something to suggest when your    8 year-old says, “I’m BOOORED, MOM!  THERE’S NEVER ANYTHING TO DO AROUND HERE!”

Link me up in your Comment!   I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Oh, and I wouldn’t be ME if there wasn’t a generous RAK in this for the winner (which will be a random drawing– I can’t place qualitative value on your family!)

HAVE FUN, FRIENDS!

Love,

Cindy

Getting Organized….

“WHAT A MESS!” I exclaimed, each of the last 500 million times I walked into my office-turned craft-room. It has been time to get organized for years, nad as often as I’ve arranged and rearranged, bought new shelving, purged my stash, bought pretty baskets. built up vertically, put thing under and over other things…IT IS TIME TO GET SERIOUS!

I have always admired the white storage cubes they have at Michael’s for under $30.  Usually their on sale, or I have a coupon of some kind, so I dont’ think they’re unreasonably priced, when I calculated how many I would need, and then did the math, it was impossible!  But yesterday, after losing 8 little inchies under a pile of paper th tweas stacked on topof my rotary paper trimmer, on a ngle on top of some magazines… I BROKE DOWN!

I threw on a pair of jeans and an oversized T-shirt I bought at the Michael W. Smith concert last Saturday night (awesome!) and off I went to the craft store.  Armed (with money) and dangerous, I headed down to the aisle I know so well; the one that beckons me each and every time I go in that store, the one with the elusive white cubes that would change my life!  There wee so amyn to choose from!  THe basic cube was the same, but then you could get one shelf and a large drawer wth it, or vertical slots on the left, with shelves on the right, carousels, magnetic boards on the sides…you name it, I could choose it.  And at 30% off, I could choose three.  There was a pamphlet by the display that showed different configurations of these coveted cubes that made up an entire room of storage loveliness, but I used restraint!

Here is the result of  2 days of cleaning off of a table to accommodate the three cubes that took me 5 hours to put together:

I guess I’m happy with this so far!  I really should have taken a “before” shot so you would be more impressed… It had really become a nightmare!

Today I ahve the “day off,” sort-of… I do have a 10 page paper due Saturday night (yikes, that’s tomorrow!) but the festivities of turning this room I sit in into a haven for this crafter, student, reader, prayer-warrior, and insomniac mom will contninue today!  I’ll keep you “posted.”

And before I get started, I’ll take some “before” shots!

See you later!

Inspired by my puppy!

Since my 1 year-old dachschund puppy, Felix, is my inspiration for this new blog, I thought it only fair to give him a “cover-shot!”

How peaceful is he? I am learning that I have a LOT to learn from this little guy!  He is happy to wake up in the morning to a little snuggle, take a brief walk outside, then take a nap.  Repeat.

When I come home, whether I’ve been gone all day or 15 minutes, he greets me with yelps of joy and a tail that wags about 120 times per minute!  And nothing pleases him more than a little piece of cheese, followed by some affection, after which he burrows under our covers and sleeps peacefully through the night.

I sometimes look at him as he quietly rests, curled up on my old bathrobe that he chewed a few holes in, and I think, ‘He doesn’t have a care in the world.  We take good care of him, but even when things don’t go his way, all he needs is a little touch from me or my husband or son, and he’s giving us the world’s biggest, wettest kisses, and all is well.

While I don’t want to go around licking every face in sight, I do want to learn how to relax, enjoy the little things, and move on after things don’t quite go my way.

Do you have a favorite pet?  Tell me about him/her?  Dog, cat, bunny, snake…! Doesn’t matter!  Let’s share our favorite pet stories, especially if you have learned something from the little guy!

Entering into grace,

Cindy

COME BE A PART OF CHRISTIAN-CRAFTERS!!

We are having a BLAST, using our God-given talent of creativity on a NEW FORUM, founded by my dear friend DeVonne M. and me.  We have really unique weekly Challenges, Daily Inspiration, even a weekly Bible Study!  We will be having another DT Call in January!
If you are into crafts, and want to draw nearer to God this year, come and join us!  You do NOT have to be “religious” or anything, just maybe seekign out the Truth.  We do everyting with ntegrity and love!

Please come check us out to see what we’re up to!

http://ccrafters.informe.com/forum

CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE!!!