Sad times

Unfortunately, lately I've been needed far too many of these types of cards. I'm not alone, one of the participants in my Stamp-a-Stack said we needed to do sympathy cards next time. Are we just at that age? Maybe, but sadly, I've been losing friends from my own age on through their 80's in the last year.

Amid the sadness and loss, I try to think about what my friends and family meant to me. In the last year, I've lost three people who taught me a great deal that I use every day to make my life more enjoyable and more productive. My aunt, who passed away in December, spent countless hours during my childhood teaching me - or trying to as I wasn't the most patient student - how to cook, sew, quilt and do other crafts. I even learned to make baskets out of pine needles under her eye. She loved crafts and created decorative and useful items throughout her life. One of the ministers commented on it during her funeral. He said, "She always gave everything away to others. She didn't keep things for herself." He was absolutely right and I'd never noticed that before. She gave of her time and her talents to make other people's worlds more beautiful.

A friend who lived well into her '80's passed away last summer. Nan taught me to crochet when I was in the 6th grade and for years I went to her house weekly to learn new patterns. She taught so many others, too. Crafts were also a valuable part of her life. At her funeral I learned how much she gave of herself to the care and education of others and I marveled at the packed church. While she didn't have any children of her own, she had a large extended family. But many in the church were not relatives and came to the service on the beautiful 4th of July weekend to pay tribute to a woman who inspired them.

What really made me think about all this more was this past weekend we lost a former boss of mine and a friend. Plato didn't teach me to make things; he taught me about building relationships. His thriving business sold and installed a product yet he believed it was all about people. He had a passion for his business and it showed in everything he did. He took care of his employees and had a chivalry that we often joke is extinct. Even though I grew up in a family business, worked for many years a Fortune 500 subsidiary, and have run my own businesses, I apply the lessons I learned from him daily.

I can only hope that these fine people gained a little something from their relationship with me as well. And thinking about what their lives meant to me reminds me of the importance of sharing our knowledge and our concern with others.

Maybe I do need to make more sympathy cards but what I really need to do is send more "Thinking of You" cards.

Searching for Beauty

I had hoped to come back from Florida and post a great shot of the Space Shuttle Discovery's night launch on Wednesday evening. We were in Florida at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, but the launch had to be delayed. Of course we were disappointed but the safety of the astronauts is paramount. A fuel leak was discovered and they scrapped the launch just hours before it was scheduled. We did get to complete our tour of the space center and decided not to stay in Florida until Sunday when the next target date is. I hated I couldn't make Lenny's dream of seeing a launch come true.

This was an unusual trip for us. We seldom have a scheduled event as the focus of our trips, much less one that required great flexibility (Apparently,8 different launch dates in a month is my flexibility limit.) We typically pick a place, a good time of the year for traveling to that location, and make plans from there. We seek out places of natural beauty, usually national or state parks and we both enjoy museums. Lenny prefers science or history museums and I like the arts, particularly decorative arts or American art. I got to see both of my favorites on this trip. I'm pictured here in front of an early 19th century desk at the Lightener Museum in St. Augustine. This may be the first museum where we were allowed to take photos! Mr. Lightener published a magazine called Hobbies in Chicago in the early part of the 2oth century. He was a collector and because of his magazine had many collecting passions. During the searly days of the depression, he bought many items for pennies on the dollar. He purchased an old hotel building that had gone into bankruptcy during the depression to house his collection and donated the entire thing to the city of St. Augustine. It is astounding the array of items he collected. Glass, porcelean, furniture, cigar bands, musical instruments. We had a fun morning exploring museum contents housed on the floors of the building which was used for the hotel spa - one that would rival any fancy spa today.

The other museum we visited was the Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park (Orlando). Housing the largest collection of Tiffany's work, both glass and paintings, it was a stunning tour. If you are ever in Orlando, it is more than worth an hour or two. Plus Winter Park houses quaint little shops amid its tree lined residential streets.

The photo at the top is from the Washington Oaks State Park along the Atlantic coast north of Daytona. It is one of 3 we visited. Ravine Gardens' focus is azaleas which were in full bloom.

Florida is better known for racing, sunbathing and theme parks. And we've certainly done more than our share of theme parks over the years. But true beauty is easy to find too. (And a good deal cheaper than Disney).

Petal Pizzazz - Act 1, Scene 2

Petal Pizzazz from Stampin' Up! is definitely one of my favorite sets. We made this card in my Birthday Stamp-a-Stack this week. At a Stamp-a-Stack you make 10 cards - 2 each of 5 different designs. The cost includes all the card materials and envelopes. It is a great way to explore stamping and also go home with a bunch of cards.

This card also featured the new Fifth Avenue Floral set to stamp the whisper white ink on the gray paper. Using an open design like these flowers to stamp white on a dark color creates a unique backdrop for the flowers and leaves. Stamp the same flowers with darker colors on a light background to simulate your own custom pattern paper.

I'll have more Stamp-a-Stacks coming up so visit again for an upcoming class schedule or e-mail me at lynnelisa@bellsouth.net.

ingredients all by Stampin' Up!: stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Petal Pizzazz and All Holidays for greeting
Colors: Whisper white, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray
Paper: Basic Gray and Kiwi Kiss
Ribbon: Baja Breeze striped grosgrain and black/white 3/16" gingham.
Button: From Button Bouquet. For the Stamp-a-Stack we stamped a Kiwi Kiss design from Little flowers and punched it with the 1/2" circle punch for the center in place of the button.

The BFF of all colors

I’ve been working this afternoon on pulling together some companion fabrics for a master bedroom. My client has narrowed her fabric choices to two beautiful fabrics in the blue/green and mocha families. One of her fabrics is more blue and one, more green. So all the companion fabrics go with one or the other but not both. Choosing one ensemble over the other is going to be a tough decision.

As I was working with these colors I got to thinking about how the shade of green we are considering in one fabric has been popular several times over the last 15 years or so. Blue is really coming back now and not just the Robin’s Egg blue of the last few years. All shades of blue are showing up in bedding and fabrics. I recently received a clothing catalog with a great deal of navy and other shades of blue. What makes colors work again and not make us go “Eew, I don’t want ___ color, I had that years ago”? Well, sometimes we do say that. But I think the trick is what the color is paired with. The green we are considering was paired with burgundy and darker greens in the early 90’s. Blues used to be paired with mauve or, as in my first apartment, peach. Brown is the BFF for every color today. Pair anything with brown and it looks warm, sophisticated, fresh, comfortable, whatever you want it to be.

Another thing about brown is how it works as an architectural accent. A few years ago we might put a black wrought iron light fixture in a house and maybe a black fireplace screen and they looked great. Nice neutral, not too heavy. Today, we have wrought iron banisters, light fixtures, and wall decorations. The accent color we choose for these items has to support our other colors and not overpower. Brown often fits that bill. Plus you can paint one or more walls brown. Try that with black or gray.

Black may be coming back but I don’t see brown going away for a long time. (Maybe I’d better look a little harder for the perfect brown handbag.)

Cute Easter Basket

I've been going on and on about how much I love making cards and scrapbook pages using Stampin' Up! stuff. If you would like to try this fun hobby for yourself, a great way is to host a workshop. At a workshop you and your guests get to make at least two items. I demo a few things beforehand so you can see how stamping works. The cute little basket above is one of my demo items for March workshops. Hostesses get to keep all items I make during the demo. I adapted this little basket from an idea from Stampin' Up! and combined it with one I saw in the most recent issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. magazine. It was obvious from the magazine photo that they had hand cut the holes for the ribbon but Stampin' Up! sells a neat little punch that punches both ribbon holes at once making this a very fast as well as adorable project.

All the materials for the basket are Stampin' Up! and many are from the Sale-a-bration catalog. During February and March, for every $50 a hostess or workshop guest spends, they get to choose one of the free stamp sets, the paper pack, or the ribbon bundle from the Sale-a-bration catalog. There are other special perks for hostesses this month as well as the regular stuff a hostess can earn.

If you live in NC foothills and would like to invite a few friends over for a fun evening, e-mail me at lynnelisa@bellsouth.net. I can customize what I demo to your and your guests tastes.

My personal feelings about home parties is that people should come if the product interest them and only buy if they know they are going to get a good benefit from the products. It is my job to explain what Stampin' Up! offers but I'm definitely a low key salesperson. For me, it is all about crafting, creating and having fun.

Basket ingredients: Stamps: Dots and Punches from 2009 Sale-a-Bration
Ink: So Celery, Bashful Blue
Paper: Double sided pattern paper from 2009 Sale-a-Bration, So Celery Cardstock
Ribbon: So Celery from 2009 Sale-a-Bration ribbon bundle

Caught!

Oops! Note to self: When I make a card for my husband, put it away! My dear hubby came upstairs a couple of days ago and I was showing him some cards I'd made for a Birthday Stamp-a-Stack this week. He pointed behind them at this card and said, "I really like Kindred Spirits." What he didn't know was it was supposed to be for our anniversary. Oh, well, that is months away so I'll have to make something else. What are the odds he would pick out the one card out of about 8 on my worktable made for him? Just a coincidence or are we really Kindred Spirits (Ok, that's corny but true)?

Anyway, this is also my chipboard challenge effort for the week. I used a Stampin' Up! chipboard frame and glued pearls in the little holes normally used for brads. The frame was inked in Ballet Blue and sponged with a little Whisper White. The real feature of this card is the emboss relief technique with pastels in a variety of the blue and green shades. This technique produced dramatic results quickly.

Ingredients: Stampin Set: Kindred Spirits by Stampin' Up!
Inks: Ballet Blue, Whisper White, a variety of Stampin' Pastels
Ribbon: Unknown source

Loads of Love

"Loads of Love" is a Stampin' Up! set that has been around for awhile but it is new to me. I often choose flowers and more formal sets over the cuter sets. When I get something like this though I just love it. I know a lot of men in my life will enjoy the cards I can make with this little truck stamp. The accessories stamps that go with it make it a true all occasion set.

The card above uses colors from Kristina Werner's color challenge: Chocolate chip, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Brocade Blue and Old Olive. This is my first effort at one of her challenges and I enjoyed making the card. Many of the colors would be standard choices for Loads of Love, but I wouldn't have thought to throw in Pumpkin Pie with the red color.

Snow Idiots

Yes, that's me and we have snow! Lenny and I took a walk through the woods this afternoon after I finally found my snow boots. I haven't needed them in 5 or 6 years. I certainly needed them today as it was more mud and cold wind than snow going through the woods to my parents house where we delivered freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

It's been a great day starting with making some fun cards I'll have posted tomorrow. After lunch I baked cookies with Lenny's help stirring up the dough (and eatting up the crumbs). We enjoyed watching the big white flakes coming down. While there isn't that much yet, we are expecting more tonight.