Out Of My Comfort Zone

Just wanted to let you know I've been creating, I just can't tell you about my projects yet.

You see, I've been invited to be a guest designer for a company that provides products for cardmaking (sorry, that's all I can say right now), and their products and the methods are a very new thing for me.

But I'm having so much fun stepping slightly out of my comfort zone and changing my way of thinking about the products I use in my cards!

As soon as I'm given the go-ahead (presumably a few short weeks from now) I will let you in on all the details! Until then, these pictures of some of the tools and goodies from my stash that I'm using are all I can share with you!

Have a wonderful day filled with all God's richest blessings, my friends! Becky

How to: Making Perfectly Perfect Small Bows

September, 2010 ~ UPDATE!  As I keep track of visitors to my blog, I find there is a large number of people who find this post by googling (or using some search engine) to find instructions on making small bows.  I would truly appreciate it if you would leave me a comment and let me know whether or not you find this post helpful and why.  I truly appreciate your visiting, come back soon, Becky

                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been making greeting cards for years. In fact my first cards were quite crudely made using clipart images and printed on my very first clunky old PC and printer more than ten years ago. But it's only been in the last year or so that I've become pretty much obsessed with making pretty greeting cards for family and friends. Of course the home computers and crafty products available have come a long way since then, too!

On February 14, 2008 (yes, Valentines day) I was home alone, worrying about my husband who was out of state dealing with his sister's illness and eventual death - alone - or at least without me! That day I stumbled across the wonderland called Scrapbook.com, and fell in love! I found out there were other crazies like me who were addicted to papercrafting and the products you used to make those crafts. As I began posting pictures of my cards, a common theme seemed to arise . . . "How do you make your beautiful small bows???"

Like many of you I always had trouble making pretty small bows for cards and other craft projects. Then one day I developed this simple method using templates, and haven't looked back. I posted these instructions on my 'blog' on Scrapbook.com on February 23, 2008, and hope you find them helpful.


Step One - The Templates



As you can see, I make them from whatever I have handy! One is from the back of an old card someone sent me, another is from a cracker box, and yet another is made from a Kleenex box. I write BACK on one side of each one, and that reminds me to work from that side so the bow is pretty.

Step 2 - Wrapping the Ribbon


I wrap the ribbon of choice onto the top part of the template. I usually do either 1, 3 or 5 times, because odd #'s somehow look prettier. When I finish wrapping, I drop the tiniest of drops of glue (I prefer FabricTac) on the center so that the end of the ribbon is stationary, then cut the bow away from the ribbon card.
Step 3 - Tying the Ribbon

Here I cut a length of ribbon, slide the base of the bow down to the bottom of the template, and tie a single knot. Then I put one more tiny drop of glue, tie one more single knot, and arrange the tails the way I want them.
Step 4 - Nice and Straight

As soon as I put on that last drop of glue, I straighten the tails, and tuck them under the ends of the template and let them dry straight. Usually I cut the angles in the tails while it's in this position - I find it's easier this way.
Step 5 - The Finished Product

After that last drop of glue has dried, I slide the bow off the template, fluff the layers of the bow, and it's ready to be added to my card or whatever project I'm working on.
Once again, Ihope you find this easy tutorial helpful. If you do, or if you don't, please leave me a comment and let me know! Thank you for visiting today, and may you have a joyful day! Becky

A Day of Rest, and Faith!

Today is the first day in almost a month that I've actually been able stay at home, rest, relax and refuel from all the things that have been going on with my dad and his health issues lately. I began the day by filling the birdfeeders on my deck, ate breakfast, checked e-mails and read up on my blogs, then decided to make a card. About faith!





I don't talk about it much on here, but I am a born again Christian who puts her faith in a God who loves her beyond measure, and wants what's best for her. That doesn't mean I'm perfect, or that my life is perfect - in fact, both of those couldn't be farther from the truth, but I 'AM' forgiven for those imperfections.



Anyway, faith was on my mind today, so created this card to share with you. I hope you think it's as pretty as I do!


The picture makes the base cardstock look gray, but it's actually a soft sage-y green. The brown patterned paper is from Websters Pages. The picture of the song thrush and her young are from an old book I bought on eBay.





The ribbon and buttons are all from my stash, as are the ribbon rose and the brass safety pin it is attached to for safe keeping. The gold wreath is from an old Anna Griffin kit.

The stitching around the picture and used to make the ruffly velvet ribbon are all done by machine. The pearls and topaz colored stones are from K&Company.


The verse that will go inside comes from my heart:

"Faith is many things. It is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It can move mountains, or it can move a stone, or it can move a hard heart to jelly. Faith is the thing within us all that helps us to hope, and dream, and rejoice in our knowledge that God is in control. Faith is what keeps us pushing through each day, looking for the good, and enduring the bad. Faith is a gift and a joy. Today I am praying for you, that you will keep the faith, and push through this hard time."






And that is my prayer and hope for you today, my friends! That you will keep pushing through, finding the good, and keeping the faith! Wishing you all God's blessings, Becky




Bits and pieces:

• Bazzill Cardstock
• Websters Pages 'Reflections of Nature - Bee Balm'
• K&Company Adhesive Gems
• Ribbon, buttons, ribbon rose from my stash (velvet ribbon stitched on machine and gathered by hand)
• Machine Stitching
• Metal wreath from Anna Griffin kit
• Picture of song thrush from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden

Tag You're It - Circles and Swirls Challenge

Well, I think the exhaustion and stress of the last three weeks finally caught up with me, and last night I just could NOT sleep! I finally got up around 3 am and shut myself away in my studio and started looking for a challenge I could sink my teeth into. And I found it with the new 'Tag You're It' challenge of making a tag with circles and swirls - I LOVE circles and swirls!

Back last fall I won a bunch of My Minds Eye (MME) "Tres Jolie - Je Taime" papers as a door prize at my local scrapbooking store (LSS) when they had a "Scrap Pink" event to raise money for breast cancer research. I'd never been able to figure out what to do with these - until the wee hours this morning. And I think it's adorable!

I'm sorry it's so hard to see, but as you can tell, it's a clear acrylic tag. The base is a frame from the MME goodies I won, as is the 'CUTE' tag which has los of swirlies and flourishes, as requested by Dawn who posted this week's challenge.

The circles are used to make a pretty flower. I cut the circles using all but the very smalliest of the basic circles (small) set from Spellbinders Nestabilities. Then I spritzed the paper with water in a spray bottle and wrinkled and crunched them up. The large brad is from Heidi Swapp.

The lace at the top is some my mom bought at a yard sale ages ago and gave to me. The ribbon at bottom is just a tiny piece I saved from an old scrapbooking kit. The fibers are Lion Brand yarn 'Fun Fur Prints' in Confetti that I bought a Dollar Tree.

Bits and Pieces:

• My Minds Eye Tres Jolie Je T'aime Cute Line of papers - Cute Floral Stripe/Rose Papier and Tiny Dots/Dark Rose Papier
• My Minds Eye Tres Jolie Je T'aime Cute Frame
• My Minds Eye Tres Jolie Je T'aime Cute Tag
• Heidi Swapp Big Brad
• Lion Brand Yarn - Fun Fur Prints - Confetti
• lace and ribbon from stash

Thanks for visiting, and come back soon! Becky

Okay, I see a trend here!

My dad is back in the hospital. We spent 6+ hours in ER yesterday. That was our 3rd visit to ER in 16 days. You can read more about it here. Becky

Arty Girls Challenge Blog #73

I made a card today.

That may not sound very surprising to you, but it's the first card I've made in several weeks, and you know what?

IT FELT GOOD!!!

Being a caregiver for elderly parents, plus wife and homemaker doesn't leave a lot of time for doing things you want to do. Creating for me is a necessity, and I've made a few small things with needle and thread these last few weeks, but I really wanted to make a card!

And this week's challenge from those Arty Girls was just the ticket! The theme this week is 'wire', and I took it literally and ran with it!

* Please excuse the photo quality - it's a rainy, cloudy day here, so I had to take them inside!

Products:

• Bazzill Cardstock
• Jenni Bowlin 'Vintage Red Bookprint' paper
• Jenni Bowlin 'Vintage Red Tiny Dot' paper
• 24 gauge copper wire
• vintage buttons, threaded with wire
• butterfly from K&Company Wild Saffron Tag Pad
• stitches machine sewn
• tag cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities 'classic circle small'
• flower petals cut freehand

Now it's off to the kitchen, to create in a different way. Think I'll make a blueberry cake and then get dinner going. Have a blessed day! Becky

Updates can be found . . .

For updates on my dad, please keep checking in HERE on my other blog. Thanks for prayers and good thoughts, they are all appreciated more than you can know. Becky

From DR to ER!!!

We barely got my dad into the car - with help of my nephew - and had to get the nurses to help us get him into a wheelchair and into the Dr. office. They took a look at him and called an ambulance to bring him across the street to the hospital. We've been here in ER since about 2:30. They have told us:

He had a 102 + fever, and it's down to 99 or thereabouts
He has an infection, but labs aren't in yet so we don't know what or where
He is sound asleep, snoring like a freight train, and that's good
The dr's are looking at his charts and will be in soon to talk to us

When is soon? We had no lunch - again - and my mom is exhausted. So am I for that matter. But we'll be here as long as necessary. Because that's what you do.

Thanks to all of you who have left comments and good thoughts for us. You have no idea how much they mean! (And Sue, I'm honored to be your first blog comment - thank you!)

I'll keep you posted. Thanks again, Becky

Reasons and Excuses

Just a quick note to let you know I haven't disappeared again, my time is just taken up with more important things.

My dad has been in bad health for years, and has had everything from prostate cancer, heart attacks, triple heart bypass, aorta bypass, diabetes and on and on. Both my parents are now 78 y/o and with my dad's declining health, they need me more and more. I have one brother who is useless (actually worse than useless, but we won't go there!) and so I am IT when it comes to helping them. I do have two wonderful aunts (my mom's older sister and my dad's youngest sister) who help out with running errands and taking my dad for blood work, etc., but they (my parents) count on me to be at all Dr. appointments, etc.

My dad is having kidney problems now, damage caused by drugs he has been taking to help keep fluid from building up around his heart. Chronic congestive heart failure is another of his medical problems. So, yesterday we were at his primary Dr.'s office from about 10:35 AM until 5:05 PM, trying to find out why he's been feeling so poorly the last few days. One thing - his kidney function has declined in just two weeks, so today we are back out to visit his kidney specialist.

So, these are my reasons for not posting much right now. Hopefully we can get him straightened out for a while, until the next time - and there will be a next time. Those 'next times' are getting closer and closer together, though. If you are a praying person, I would truly appreciate your prayers for my parents and myself. Being caregiver to failing elderly parents is the hardest job I've ever encountered! And thank you so much for continuing to read and visit, even though I'm not doing very much right now!

Blessings, Becky

Websters Pages Giveaway!!!

Hi Folks! I'm a HUGE fan of Websters Pages products, and to celebrate their new line, they are hosting a giveaway - a set of the whole new collection "Magical Wishes". You can find them AND leave a comment to win HERE. Good luck! Becky