The kindness of strangers...

I am still amazed at the kindness of strangers. I know that in the world I would like to live that people should be kind and helpful, however that is not always the case.

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Today I pay tribute to some kind strangers who came to our assistance last evening. It is no secret that we have constant car troubles. The Blazer is at Kenny's mechanic friends home and the To-bomb is irrepairable. At the moment we are using my Mom's Lumina. Last evening we drove the L to Johnstown to pick up parts for the Blazer. Come out to the L, and it will not start. Just CLICK & nothing. The nice guys from the parts store try jumping the battery, that doesn't work.

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Another customer (Jim) sees our distress and offers to help us change the starter right there in the parking lot. The men conference and determine that is indeed the starter. New starter is purchased, and Jim and Ken get to work changing it. Thanks to Cal and the other employee for loaning a jack and keeping the lot lights on & not letting us in the dark and going home before they got it done. I know they had a long and busy day with all the Thunder stuff going on in town.

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I got to visit with Jim's fiancee, Tracy while they worked. We chatted, she is pregnant. We shared pictures on the cell phone and camera. Nice couple. Kind caring people. Good samaritans in a sometimes unkind, uncaring world. Their child will be fortunate to have them as parents.

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Take care!

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P.S. Still two spots left for the Summer Swap! Sign up you won't be disappointed!

Summer SWAP anyone???

Anyone interested in a Summer Card Swap?



5 spots available (actually 4 since I plan to participate.)
Sign up soon, only two spots remain!
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Each person makes 10 cards, 5 each of 2 different designs.
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Please use materials that you would like to receive.
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Please put a sentiment inside the card.
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Include an envelope for your cards (decorated would be nice!)
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Give the back of your card your mark.
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No Vendor Requirement, anything goes! I know I will be dazzled and amazed with your talents as always!
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Sign up for a spot by June 30.
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Cards due to me by July 25, I will mail back to you promptly after receiving all cards.
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Please send your cards in a zipper bag to be sure it all stays dry.
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Include an addressed return envelope with the same amount of postage it took to mail your cards, plus a few extra stamps (loose so they can be returned to you if they are not needed.)
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PRIZES!!!! A little something *special* will be included for the first cards received! I will also choose MY FAVORITE CARD from the swap and send a special prize for it!
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Let a comment on this blog post to sign up for your spot!
Take care!

1. Me!
2. Sharon
3. Babs
4. ?
5. ?

This is probably one of the most used $1 set of acrylic stamps I own. I love the little sunshiney smiley face and the "you are my sunshine" sentiment. I have been on an orange-y ribbon buying spree lately too. I guess it is all the warm and sunny days. Love the orange-yellow-green together too!

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Hope you are staying cool and having a good summer. Bible school went well. We had 22 kids, which is a good crowd for us. The program is this evening.
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Take care!

Best Wishes

The photo doesn't do this card justice. The greens and blues are much more vibrant to the eye. All materials and stamps are SU! This was made at a workshop a few weeks ago.

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Bible school is going well. We have about 20 kiddos and we are having a great week!

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Sorry to be so short today, but I have plenty to do around this place!

Take care!

Insides first

This is the last of the graduation cards... going in the mail this week. I often forget to show the inside of my cards, but I did remember this time. The stamped image inside this card was made using three acrylic stamps together on a single block. I do like to mix up my stamps and see how many different looks I can get!

I am on vacation from Wally-work this week for our church Bible school. I am the crafty lady. It has been a great year for crafts, usually I have to find crafts for us to do because the ones that come with the curriculum are cheesey or cheap quality (but expensive) kits that you have to buy. Not this year, the ideas in the book are excellent, fun and easy. They are made of common inexpensive items and the kids seem to love the projects!

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Take care!

Megan's Card

My cousin Megan's Graduation party is this afternoon. Hope the weather holds out for us! Can't wait to visit with some family and friends and eat some good food!

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Gotta run and get my beer bread out of the oven!
Take care!

Beautiful Butterfly

This card showed me some new techniques... first the wheel, which is what the purple image is done with. The other technique was gradation, I believe, and that was used on the butterfly image. We colored the stamp in two colors, huffed and blended the edges of the colors with a sponge. Pretty neat!

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One more day (night) of work and then it is NINE days of vacation... Porchville is the destination for this one. I have some house cleaning to do and of course it is Bible School week and I am the Crafty Lady!

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Kenny made the trip to Pittsburgh yesterday to file the custody paperwork for T. T has told us that he really would like to live and go to school here. Please keep a good thought for us. We have a court date and are just praying that things work out for T. He will be so upset if he has to return to the city at the end of the summer.

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Take care!

Flower Pot Notes

This adorable project was one that we made on Sunday at the card workshop I went to with Sharon, my BS2. The decorated pot has 4 3x3 notecards and a pen in the flower pot. Too cute! I know the stamps used are Stampin' UP! but I don't know what the name is.

I am on the flower pot kick today since yesterday I finally got around to planting the 3 flats of flowers that have been on my porch for a month now. Honestly there is still an entire flat of violas to plant but I ran out of pots/planters. My DH is going to get some lumber and make me some more box planters.
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My nephews and T helped with the planting, I will have to get the pics off the camera and onto the blog soon.
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Glad it is raining today. The veggie garden needed it!
Take Care!

Another FUN wedding!!

I just want to say first of all that I love hunky weddings and I had a combo redneck-hunky wedding myself. I do not think that hunky is a bad or negative thing and I really enjoy a good hunky wedding! People who did not grow up in this part of the country are normally clueless about these traditions, so read on learn.

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For those of you who don't know what a good hunky wedding is let me give some examples... one of the ladies who was preparing the food for this wedding said her son calls it a Chicki-Piggy-Rigi wedding... LOL! ( Chicken, Pigs in the blanket, & Rigatoni are practically always on the menu and occasionally there is also Ham on the menu.) When DH & were planning our wedding he wanted input on two things... the type of beer we were serving and the food, every other decision was mine to make. We had Coors Light and MGD and ham, pigs and rigs and I wanted chicken, too.

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There is usually some tapping (or banging) on the tables that lets the newlyweds know that you would like to see them kiss. My DH hated this and still finds it quite annoying when we attend weddings. I think it is rather fun and harmless.

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Other necessary components of a good hunky wedding include the chicken dance, polka music, and cookies. Probably the biggest indicator that you are at a hunky wedding is a specific polka, the Bridal Polka, where the guests line up drop some $$ in a satin bag or apron worn by the Maid of Honor give the Bride a spin or two and then down a shot and get a piece of napkin wrapped wedding cake to enjoy for breakfast the next morning. There are tales that if you are a single woman you should sleep with the cake under your pillow and you will dream of your future husband.... interesting theory that I never personally tested out. After all the guests dance with the Bride they form a circle around her and try to keep the Groom from getting to her. Usually fun, a bit crowded and as long as it doesn't go on for too long not so bad.

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I was the cake decorator for the above wedding cake from the wonderful wedding this past weekend. I want to let the wonderful hunky ladies who made the delicious food we had that they were just too much fun and that I loved their presentation!

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I think I covered the major points of a good hunky wedding. Let a comment to remind me if I forgot something! Take care!

Itty Bitty Fork Bows!

I found the BEST TUTORIAL for making these teeny tiny bows... so get out your forks! LOL! I have always had an old butter knife in my scrap tool bag, and now right beside it is a fork. Probably should put a spoon in there too just for good measure! LOL!

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Seriously, they are super simple to make and you can learn how to make yours by clicking the link below!

Stampin' with Di

One warning, making these bows is addictive, so have plenty of ribbon on hand when you start!

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Take care!

Weddings and Anniversaries...

We have a couple more weddings this summer as well as an anniversary party, so I crafted a couple cards for those occasions as well. I was having a rather PINK day when I sat down to make these. I have been LOVING my new scallop eyelet border punch from Stampin' UP! Really pretty and super easy to use!

I have a bunch of stickers in my stash that I tend to forget about. These wedding bells are an old favorite of mine. I believe that this one is Mrs. Grossman's Lasercut/mirror image.

This is a finished wedding cake card. The stickles just finish it off so nicely. I did this to the other card like this, just after I scanned it, because I was in a hurry and it needed time to dry. Didn't want to smear wet stickles on my scanner!
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On the homefront.... Travis arrives today for the summer....look out! I am prepared to be eaten out of house and home! First order of business upon arrival though is attending Hunter's Safety course. It FINALLY worked out that he would be here early enough on a Friday to get to the class. This boy has been itching to go hunting for two years now, so thank goodness he will finally be able to hunt!

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Take care!

more grad cards

Made these for my mom, she needed several so I made 2 tall and 2 wide of this design. The stamped image on the front is made from two separate stamps, the achievement stamp is wood mounted $1 from JoAnn's I think and the cap is from a $1 acrylic set. I used my "homemade" pattern paper in a "generic" Shade High School Class of 2009 design. Ribbon was from my immense stash. (I am such a ribbon Ho!)

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Life has been happening here as well. Some good, some bad, some sad. I finished a six day work stretch. The hot water heater broke and needed replaced, the car broke down and I was stranded on a road with HEAVY big truck traffic, my 9 month old niece and no cell phone service. I am not sure if I had announced on here that I was to be an Auntie again, but sadly that is not to be. My brother's baby was born very early and died the same day and we are heartsick about that. So, how about some good.. we are still going on our trip to North Carolina next month to visit with DH's family. This will be the first that Travis will have visited this Grandpa since we was a very tiny baby. Looking forward to relaxing and enjoying a good time.

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Hope to post up some projects from a workshop that I attended on Sunday with my BS2, Sharon. We had a great time and made some too cute things!

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Take care!

Hey!

My apologies for being a total blogging slacker!

I have been crafting though, so check back, I have lots of cards to post!