Unplanned absence

I had no plans to stop blogging for this long, but for various reasons I have not been able to do much with cardmaking - part of the reason being sheer boredom with my cards: I feel very much in a rut. Added to that, my wonderful cutter is broken, and I am awaiting a part that hopefully will fix it. So, I'm taking this time to organize my stamp room, which is in serious need of it! Actually, it's somewhat organized, but upkeep has fallen by the wayside, and I don't really have all the room I need, so it's time to get aggressive in prioritizing space. In this old photo, I still had homeschooling books in the room (see bottom left), and since then I've gotten a bind-it-all, a cuttlebug, more discontinued wallpaper sample books (huge space eaters!), and various small additions that add up; ink pads, paper packs, etc. Added to that, several small boxes of cards and journals from the closing of the store at which I sold them.

So, I'll be back when my cutter is repaired and my room is clean and organized. :-) I may pop in for the occasional challenge, but steady posting may not be until the end of July.

The Community of Faith - Salt challenge

I haven't managed to participate in a challenge at the Salt/Faith blog in awhile; I've missed it!

This is the current Salt Challenge:
For the next challenge I (Lythan) wanted something that followed in some way from the last one - the work of the Holy Spirit. So I have chosen to focus on one element of the Spirit's work - the community of faith. In Acts 2:42-47 Luke describes the amazing first congregation and how they share their lives together totally. It is quite something to try and live up to. How do we become Acts 2 communities today?

I also thought about Matthew 18:20 (where two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of them). Being a Minister I feel I have to point out that this reading is not just a reminder of Jesus being with us when there are just a few of us there, but that the context is actually when people are falling out and how to deal with it - but that is part of being a community of faith too.

Community of faith could be a church, a group, your family, your area. You may want to focus on the highs or lows of trying to be the people together that Jesus has called us to be. I'll leave it to you and the Spirit to mull over as you create.

I chose to post this card, with the focus on serving those in our faith communities. I've been blessed to be part of a church body that is strong in this area. In a culture that trains us to think "It's all about me," to look for churches that will best meet our desires, it's easy to forget that we are called to be servants, to seek to be a blessing, not just receive blessing. :-)

Blog Candy winner

Well, I was a little surprised that not many participated, but only one person can win. :-) Congratulations, Amber!

Here is Amber's beautiful photo card:


I hope you'll have lots of fun with everything! Please e-mail me your mailing information, and I'll get your stuff out to you next week.

Last day to try for Blog Candy!

I've only got a couple of entries so far, so the competition is very small! Click HERE to be taken to the Blog Candy Challenge post!

Ephesians 5:1,2

This is a card I made for my son while in Navy bootcamp. With little, if any, time for Bible reading, I wanted to at least offer a scripture on a card. However, I received a letter from him just as I finished it that the spot he had to keep his mail was getting too full, so he needed thin. :-) So, it still is here, even though he's now in A school, and has lots of space. Now that he has computer, letter writing, on both sides, had definitely fallen by the wayside. I think I'm going to work on that, lol!

Scrapling in blue

I was introduced to this mini card idea a couple of months ago. As I save all my reasonably sized scraps and strips of cardstock and paper, it's a great idea for me. I made this for someone to whom I was returning an item I had really needed. It wasn't something a thank you card was necessary for, it was just a way to make her know I appreciate her. :-)

Roses & Cream

My daughter, Susie, bought me a beautiful cream colored rose. There's been some conflict in our relationships, so this was very meaningful to me. I wanted to make a card for her with cream roses, but as she hasn't found a job yet, so is home a great deal, it was difficult to make a really nice card, the risk of discovery hung over me the whole time, lol! The camera could not pick up the cream I chalked into the gold-embossed roses; it was more subtle than I wanted it to be.

Denim Thank you

I absolutely love this cardstock. It's called Denim Laid, and it really does make one think of denim. :-)

I rarely make a card with no stamping at all, but I decided I liked the look of the card without any.

Quickie Notebook cover

A couple of weeks ago there was a request on the navyformoms website to send packages to corpsmen on a hospital-type ship where moral was low. I was given the name of a female corpsman. It was a lot of fun filling up her box. I decided to cover this little notebook, intending just to find some nice wallpaper for both covers. It was, after all, a small notebook, with cheap perforated paper, not meant for something to journal in or keep. But, I got carried away, lol! I hope she enjoys it!

Good bye, Isaac

It was a sad weekend for us as we had to put our dog, Isaac, to sleep. I mentioned here just a week and a half ago that he'd been diagnosed with cancer, but the impression was that we'd still have him for maybe a couple of months. He seemed to improve for a few days with the meds and protein, but then he nose-dived, and it was time to say goodbye. I refer to myself as a "dog liker," not a "dog lover", but this has been surprisingly hard. I didn't realize how much of my routine was set around Isaac. I'm almost always home, so this is definitely going to take getting used to. I'm grateful we had such a wonderful pet. :-)

I confess I won't miss the dog hair, the accidents on the carpet, feeling guilty when we went out of town (Isaac was not one of those dogs that one could take anywhere), and untangling him when he got his chain wrapped around something in the middle of winter. But I'll miss his constant delight in my presence (mothers of little ones won't understand that as much as mothers of teens/young adults will, lol!), his lovely placid nature, his ecstasy over "cat sightings" (real, or false alarms from his family), his happiness at family bonfires. Thanks, Lord, for a great doggie!