A fun new find & a challenge

I told y'all a few days ago about going this past weekend to the Stamp Scrap Art Tour in Columbia, SC and one of my new finds is a company called Repeat Impressions.  I went bonkers for their "Flip" card stamp sets.  These are stamps sets made for Waterfall cards which are not just cute and easy to make, but people in general love to receive them because they're fun.  Here are the 2 sets I got & I plan to get at least one more. 

Last night I was checking out their website and Facebook page and found their blog also The House that Stamps Built.   They have a couple of challenges going on and I wanted to join in so the card below is for their What if Wednesday Sketch Challenge- F812.  The only problem was that it has to be posted by 5:00 today.  That gave me 2 hours to get home from work, get the card made and post this (which will probably be the longest/hardest part of the process with my old dinosaur of a computer.) 

I spent the day yesterday cutting and mounting the 2 sets I bought so as soon as I can get some cards whipped up with them I'll put 'em up.   OOoo!, 4:40, only 20 mins. left, so bye for now. 

Helping Heal the Hurt

In my last post I told you about a special project I was involved in that had to do with a tragedy that has fallen on our quite little town.  Actually, it is a tragedy that unbelievably struck us not once, but twice in a 6 week period.  Two of our city police officers have been shot and killed in the line of duty.  Both of these officers grew up here in Aiken and both of them, as well as their families were and are very much loved and highly thought of in this community.

The loss of one was almost incomprehensible but then to have it happen again just 6 weeks later was a shock that still has us reeling and that no one can quite believe.  
The outpouring of love and support from the community, while it can do little to ease the pain that these families and fellow law enforcement colleagues are feeling, will hopefully give them at least a feeling of encouragement and a small acknowledgement of how much we appreciate their sacrifices.

There have been numerous fundraisers and benefits held in the past few weeks with more planned in the coming weeks, but the one activity I was able to be a part of was thru my church and we called it "Buckets of Hope".  Last week, all 155 employees of the Aiken Department of Public Safety received a 5 gallon bucket STUFFED to the rim with all kinds of things donated by the people and businesses of the surrounding area.   We also have collected cards for each of the 155,  and these will be delivered this coming week as a kind of follow-up, just to let them know we are still thinking of them, praying for them, and appreciate what they do.  From what I understand, the overall favorite item in the buckets (& there was some good stuff in there let me tell you) but the one thing we kept hearing comments on were the notes and letters written by children that were included, so while our cards may not measure up to the kids' cards & letters, hopefully they will convey the message all the same. 

 

If you have someone in your family that is in law enforcement or any branch of our armed forces, please give them a hug for me if you can and tell them I said THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, and a hug and thank you to you too.

Can I come sleep over at your house --

Cause I don't want to sleep in the doghouse tonight!

I was so bad today.  I went to a Stamp/ Scrap Art Tour show in Columbia, SC and had a blast, but I did way too much damage too.  I was kidding about having to sleep in the doghouse because my sweet hubby doesn't say a word about my buying craft supplies, but the guilt when I go overboard like today is what eats me up, (at least until I start playing with all my new stuff.) 

My haul for today

I got a friend of mine to go with me to the show and as soon as we walk up to the doors to go in, she recognizes a lady who lives just down the street from her, Carol was the lady's name.  Well Carol is a card-maker too, and she expressed just what I've been whining about for a year and half now, "There is no one around me that makes cards or at least I can't find them if they're out there," and here we are in the same town!  She gave me her blog name and I'm going to check it out as soon as I finish this post.  I'm so excited to find a fellow card-maker right here in Aiken and get this, this is the second one in 2 weeks!  So my wish of finding some local craft buddies may be finally coming true at long last, plus, I am in the beginning stages of starting a new card-making/paper crafting group at my church.  More about that later.

I haven't been on here in a while but I have been crafting.  If you can stick with this post (it's gonna be a little bit long 'cause I've got a lot of lost time to make up for) but if you can stick with it, I need some input on a project below.  We'll get to that in a minute.  

Here we go.

vinyl on glass wall hanging for my daughter (an idea she found on Pinterest--go figure)

Yarn wreath I saw on Pinterest, but I made mine small so it can be a candle ring

*What I can't decide is whether to put tiny flowers in it or small Easter Eggs, or both.  What do you think?

Of course I've been making cards, below are just a few.  I've actually been working on a special project that I'll tell you about later because it deserves a special post of it's own.  It has to do with a horrible tragedy that struck our little town and about our community showing appreciation to our public safety department employees.

(Waiting for some bronze brads to finish embellishing these two.)

I made several Valentine's cards but who wants to see those now- (nobody.)  I just wanted to show this one because it uses a digi I got from Cre8tive Hands.  She puts out some really cute free digis.  Check her out.

Birthday card for one of the nephews (the only little one left in the family.)  I think this penguin is "Dexter" by Bugaboo if you know or if I"m wrong please tell me.

 

 

I CAN NOT wait to show you some of the things I got today in more detail- that is if you want to see them.  I'll be posting them over the next couple of days.  I got some new "things" to try out which always excites me, so I hope you'll come back soon.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Wishing you 

Sunshine and Smiles

Love and Laughter