shelter

I strive to be One4Joy daily even though I am not blogging that JOY daily!  But today I had to get in the grove, oops, groove with this card for a double challenge. Thursdays Ways to Use It and the Sketch Challenge from Wednesday over at SCS.  I love to think about the different kinds of friendship...hold that thought, it's time to run a carpool...be back

heart to home

Today's Inspiration Challenge on SCS was one  that touched my heart in many different ways!  I'm missing the physical presence of Sam, even though we text and talk frequently.  I'll drop my card in the mail to him this afternoon along with the monthly payment to the university!  Just to remind him home is where the heart is...

These colors, so popular now, remind me of my home growing up, along with the oranges that were our high school color.  They look edgy and modern, though I look at them and think childhood!  We have a new vintage store in town...it's ultra hip and happening and what's there, avocado, gold and oranges along with mushrooms, owls, those glass clusters of grapes in any color but purple, and teak furniture, pole lamps, and bark cloth.  My DH and I strolled down memory lane there last week.  It's fun seeing the next generation get excited about discovering treasures, the newest antiques...

How about you, are you inspired by the throwback colors?

laughter

I love to discover peoples' laugh patterns...from giggles, to snickers, to hew-haws...we are unique! I tend to store up my laughter and erupt in belly laughs so hard tears pour from my eyes.  One gal at work laughs at every breath and it is infectious!  But what are the health benefits?  

A hearty laugh can help reduce stress, lower blood pressure, activate the immune system, improve brain functioning, connect you to others, and make you feel good.  These are a few I found on helpguide.org.  And belly laughs are internal jogging for your body!  I'll be doing more of those, I tell you!  So the next time something strikes your funny bone, I hope you'll laugh more, louder and longer!

My challenge card today celebrates this very idea!  Have a happy day.

inward beauty

I'll never forget the first time I saw this stamp at my lss. Several years ago, one of the owners was suggesting it to someone who chose not to buy.  I  had to bring her home last week during the going out of business sale.  I love her face. Wrinkles and all.  That face reminds me to go beyond appearances and look to the heart.  I find myself in this position now...I've noticed my face looking older, that mature look.  I look in the mirror and think who is that woman...I 'm still used to seeing a girl.  I haven't fallen in love with what I see in the mirror, YET.  Haven't embraced HER yet.  I know I will, it's just a matter of time...

I think of my Mom who wears her wrinkles with a twinkle in her eye...I wanna be like that!  I see my dear mother-in-law, who is so elegant and always so coiffured with the polish of a makeup artist, beautiful...I wanna be like that too!  I want to feel I've a right to all those wrinkles I can just see lying in wait at the edge of tomorrow on my FACE!  I want to embrace this new era with joyfulness...I'll have to have a to be continued...I've got to see how to grow into this new woman!  

I'll check back with you and please do the same!

If you want to link back to this on SCS, here tis

artists

I don't know about you, but I've never considered myself an artist.  That title was reserved for the painterly types...living and dead.  My friend, Kathleen is an art teacher and I certainly consider her an artist.  She buys those tubes of pigment that you squirt on a palette and real horsehair brushes.  Nope, I'm a crafter, not an artist...but I think I wanta be and then just now I look up the meaning in my online dictionary and lo and behold...I think I qualify!   Dictionary definitions

Wiktionary defines the noun 'artist' (Singular: artist; Plural: artists) as follows:

1. A person who creates art.
2. A person who creates art as an occupation.
3. A person who is skilled at some activity

So, Kyle was right...we ARE all ARTISTS even if we don't know how to draw....or paint with real paints!

Hope you get to spend lots of time today doing what you love...I know I'm gonna nurture the artist in me and my DS!

u SHINE

I have to link this card I received recently from my friend, AMY (thanks very much)...it is gorgeous and inspired me to search out ANOTHER chandelier to keep our lil' friendly competition going!  Today's uploadfor SCS was the result.  I can't believe I found another image and a single clear stamp no less from Heidi Swapp. I stamped it with Galaxy Gold and embossed with Platinum powder.   I love the slightly tarnished look...how about you?

I'm sending this to my oldest son whom I took back to university this week.  And while it was much easier this time (and still only 100 miles from home)...the emptiness is profound...our youngest son was just commenting to me, how much he missed his big bro.  I didn't cry this time...not even on the drive home...I am so thrilled for him, it's just meant for him to be at this school during this time of his life! So I suppose you could say my heart was overflowing with contentment...knowing that all we have put into his life is bearing fruit away from us.  And that he calls on Friday night about 10:30, just having gotten back from church...a very cool rocking Jesus loving body of young adults that choose to spend Friday nights in worship and fellowship. He said,  "Mom, you will love John Mark's message....(I usually listen to podcasts on Mondays) and he spent a good 5 minutes filling me in on what had struck him."  Yep, it is contentment and a grateful heart.

Now I just hope he learns that you can always make do and even scrabble an "U" into a 'N'.  Shine bright, Sam! 

serenity

I'm sitting here in the very middle of the night feeling the serenity of my house. Tomorrow, or rather today~~~my boys arrive home from camp and it will be dirty clothes and stories and packing up for college all in the same evening!  So for now, even though I should be sleeping, I'm soaking in the serenity that being alone and creating never fails to bring to me.

My card for the sketch challenge over on SCS is filled with all the visuals that come to mind when I think on serenity.  Water, sky, and land in the country.  I've enjoyed some simply amazing sunsets recently where the golden light of the setting sun shines through the clouds and you can almost see heaven. I have a small water feature out my front kitchen window that catches the sky reflected every now and then...and that takes my breath away!  Everywhere I turn is an opportunity to bathe my senses in beauty...a salve for whatever lies ahead!

I know this week is going to bring tears as we take our oldest son back to university and away from us...but I am sure he's seeing those same skies and waters and gathering serenity for his weeks ahead.  How about you?  Have you paused lately and seen a masterpiece?