Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Squeeze-A-Palooza Card Challenge #5

I just found out about a St. Patrick's Day card challenge that the nice folks over at Fresh Squeeze Stamps is sponsoring.  There is only a little over 2 days left in the challenge so I got my craft on this afternoon.....BIG TIME!!! 

Here is the card that I'm entering in the challenge -



I would appreciate your voting for my entry.  You can access the Fresh Squeezed challenge here.  Just scroll down to the end of their challenge blog post to see the entries.  Looks like I'll be entry #7! 
Click on the word "like" under my entry to vote for me!  Thank you........thank you very much :o)

Supplies used:

green cardstock - Stampin' Up
happy st. patrick's day stamp - Stampin' Up Teeny Tiny Wishes collection
yellow cardstock - Bazzill Basics
March "subway" stamp - Fresh Squeezed Stamps Subway Series: Spring
"clover" (mini heart punch!  isn't that brilliant?  just punch out 4 hearts!) - Stampin' Up Small Heart Punch
clover stems - Stampin' Up Reason to Smile collection (retired)
green twine - Nutscene Garden Twine  (Williams Sonoma carries this)
green button - stash
yellow/green/white baker's twine - My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland collection

So.....run (don't walk) to the Fresh Squeezed Challenge and get your vote on!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

A Lifetime of Happiness

Going to a wedding today!!!! 

A sweet couple that we've known for several years is getting married this afternoon.  Don't you just love weddings???  Here's the card I made for them wishing them a "lifetime of love & laughter".

 
 
My inspiration for this card was this picture posted by Moxie Fab World for their Tuesday Trigger card challenge (yes, I'm entering this card in their challenge!).
 
 
 
 
Don't  you just *love* the colors? 
 
 
Supplies used:
 
white card stock
blue paper - Authentique 6x6 Bundle Collection:  Journey (I *love* this collection)
heart stamp - Stampin' Up "Paisley Prints" (I also love anything paisley!)
flower embellishment - Stampin' Up Dahlia Assortment
Stampin' Up Classic Stampin' Pad in Primrose Petals
 
Enought said!  Time to get ready for that wedding!  In less than 3 hours Hannah & Michael will be NEWLY-weds!  Congrats to them!!!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

All Things Bookish - 2012


Have I mentioned that I love to read???

And that I love books???

I am actually on a book buying "diet" - notice I did not say "fast".  If you have had opportunity to visit my home, you would agree that I have quite a few books (and when you add in those belonging to my husband, well........). 

Anyway, for a number of years I have frequented several local library used book sales on a regular basis and usually left those sales with a bag (or two) FULL of wonderful books. 

Several weeks ago I realized that if I did not slow down on book buying I would have to:
  • Buy a library to house all my books;
  • Read continuously for 3,249 years in order to read everything;
  • Install steel beams in our house to hold the weight of my ever increasing collection;
  • Stop feeding the cats because the cat food budget was spent at book sales;
  • Stop feeding my husband because the husband food budget was spent at book sales;
  • Stop eating chocolate because the chocolate budget was spent at book sales!
HOLD ON!!!!! I can't stop eating chocolate! 

So, the only thing to do was to put myself on a book sale diet.  I can happily report that I have not been to a library book sale in several months and I can now even read about these sales without hyperventilating and salivating excessively!

Again, notice I said "diet" and not "fast".  I may still buy a book (notice I said "a" book instead of a "bag" of books) every now and then.  In fact, I was in Goodwill last week and found a Rick Bragg book that I have never run across before - a compilation of his newstories.  So, I bought - let me also mention that it was priced with a blue tag and all blue tags were 50% off last week!  Bingo! 

How long will my book diet last?  Good question!  Maybe when I start seeing some available space on my bookshelves? 

I'm not a book hoarder (I don't think).  Once I have read a book, it usually 1) gets passed on to a friend to enjoy; 2) gets sold on Ebay; 3) goes *back* to Goodwill; or 4) stays in my library if it is a book/author that I want to read again at some point.   Here is my guess on that breakdown:
     #1 given to a friend - 35%
     #2 sold on Ebay - 15%
     #3 donated back to Goodwill - 15%
     #4 kept in my "library" - 35%

I do keep track of the books that I read througout the year.  When I finish a book, I make note of the title and author on my calendar.  I have kept a "Books Read" journal for about 20 years which I try to update on an annual basis using the information noted on my calendar.  I also keep track of books electronically.  I was using Shelfari but have just recently switched over to Goodreads.  I like the electronic version especially for keeping a list of books "to read". 

Here is the list of books that I finished reading in 2012.  You'll find a variety of subjects/genres on this list.  One genre that I totally neglect is poetry.  Maybe this year I will read through some of my poetry books (I know I have Emily Dickinson, Robert Browning, Robert Frost and *many* more).
So, here goes........

  • Forgotten Bookmarks:  A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages by Michael Popek
  • C. H. Spurgeon - Beside Still Waters:  Words of Comfort for the Soul, Roy H. Clarke, Ed.
  • The Cross of Christ by John R. W. Stott
  • A Separate Peace by John Knowles
  • Tending Your Garden: Wisdom for Keepers at Home by Denise Sproul
  • Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris
  • Wise Counsel: John Newton's Letters to John Ryland, Jr., Grant Gordon, Ed.
  • Lives of Mothers & Daughters: Growing Up with Alice Munro by Sheila Munro
  • Life as a Vapor: 31 Meditations for Your Faith by John Piper
  • Gardening Letters to My Daughter by Anne Scott-James
  • Blue Hills and Shoofly Pie by Ann Hark
  • Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles
  • The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl
  • Life with Mother by Clarence Day
  • Carrot Cake Murder by JoAnne Fluke
  • The Winter Garden by Johanna Verweerd
  • Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper
  • A Small Country Living Goes On by Jeanine McMullen
  • Thrumpton Hall: A Memoir of Life in my Father's House by Miranda Seymour
  • The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship by Jeffrey Zaslow
  • The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
  • Letters to Anna: The Civil War Through the Eyes and Heart of a Solier by James R. Knight
  • Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
  • An Unknown Woman by Alice Koller
  • Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
  • Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
  • Seabiscuit: An American Ledgend by Laura Hillenbrand
  • A Gift from Brittany: A Memoir of Love and Loss in the French Countryside by Marjorie Price
  • The Law of Kindness: Serving with Heart and Hands by Mary Beeke
  • Letters In a Woodpile: Essays from NPR All Things Considered Commentator by Ed Cullen
  • Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King
  • A Guide to Writer's Homes in New England by Miriam Levine
  • Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
My favorite?  Without a doubt...."Seabiscuit"!  I also enjoyed "A Small Country Living Goes On", "The Cross of Christ", "Gardening Letters to my Daughter", and "A Separate Peace".

Which ones did I finish only because I hate to NOT finish a book?  "Library: An Unquiet History", and "An Unknown Woman".  And had I not visited Florence, Italy last year and seen the Duomo, "Brunelleschi's Dome" would have been a difficult book for me to finish.

How am I doing in 2013?  With five weeks under my belt, I think I have finished 5 or 6 books, three of which were probably started at the end of 2012.  Without further ado I better bring this post to a close and head to my favorite reading nook!