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I asked the construction guys here on my blog if I could pull aside the dust sheet and make a quick post.
Yesterday was a sad day. I wept. Just wept. I can't imagine, I mean I CANNOT. My mind wouldn't allow me to enter that arena for the fear it might not be able to find its way back. To think that some parents will now live in that place is almost more than another mother can bear.
The only thing I could think to do was pray. Pray for the little souls that they are comforted now in the arms of God and that their fear has been erased. Pray that the parents can somehow find their way through this agony and come out the other side, the same people on the outside but with different, jaggedly dissected and haphazardly reassembled hearts inside. Pray for the people who might be delusionally thinking this would be a good way to get the attention THEY want, that divine intervention or fate or reality or sudden mental clarity will convince them that creating pain does not erase their own. It's all I can do.
Right now many of us are tearing around trying to find the perfect gift, make cookies, wrap everything, pack to go to Grandma's house..............and then there are those families for whom this time will be everything they can do to just make it through. I don't believe any of us should forsake our own joy at this time but I just ask that when you have a moment, please send a prayer, a thought, a wish - whatever you espouse - to the heavens for the families for whom this may never again be a time of happy ancticipation.
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Had to pull aside a plastic sheet from the renovation work and just let you know that there is a FABULOUS Online Extravaganza starting Monday, November 19th with tons of things up to 50% off. Please note that the first two offerings below are date specific.
I will be placing orders as they come in - not holding them - and will place one last order Wednesday, November 28th at 9 pm (I always have a few people who call at the last minute!). There are lots of items on this list that are perfect for holiday gifts - for you or someone else! - and to make holiday projects. In order to make sure that you get your things as fast as possible, for any order over $125 I will pay the $20 surcharge for your to get your items with two day shipping! You just pay what you would have anyway and enjoy the expedited picking and shipping!
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I am behind the scenes tidying, updating, creating and getting this blog back into shape! Stay tuned and watch for the reveal soon!
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Recently I had the great fortune to reconnect with a friend from middle school, quite by accident. What a happy accident! Here's a blog post I wrote about my experience on my local interest blog.
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Today we saw the play “Reflections of a Rock Lobster” put on by the Boston Children’s Theater in Boston. The play is about the real life experience of gay high school student Aaron Fricke. During the play we learn that Aaron is funny, sweet, gets excellent grades, cares about his fellow students, doesn’t hate, loves his family and is ... gay. Aaron’s struggle with whether or not to come out to the public as a gay man is palpable and when he finally does, as one might expect, he experiences both acceptance and rejection, both from places expected and surprising. Despite having been relentlessly bullied in high school, Aaron sued the Cumberland (Rhode Island) High School to be permitted to bring his (male) date to the senior prom. Did I mention this took place in 1980, over 30 years ago?
Aaron won his lawsuit – one of the first of its kind – and attended the prom with his date, albeit under heavy “security”. The principal of the school, Richard Lynch, under instruction from the judge that Aaron and his date be protected from the sort of overt physical attacks that took place all of Aaron’s days while at school, attempted to segregate and isolate Aaron and his date from the other students. I won’t give away the ending, but suffice it to say it was eye opening and triumphant.
Now some of you may know that I am from Cumberland, Rhode Island. And I was friends with Aaron in middle school; good friends. Aaron was – is – uproariously funny, witty, kind, gentle, loving, smart (SO smart!) and is now a full time activist and advocate. I caught wind of “Reflections of a Rock Lobster” on Facebook, of all places, and ended up engaged in a little tiff with a producer of a well known local television program when I felt he had mischaracterized Aaron. (The producer apologized.) That led to Aaron and I reconnecting and I was overjoyed yesterday when I was able to give him a great big hug and tell him in person how proud I am of his accomplishments.
So that’s the back-story. Here’s the REAL reason for this post. When I told my 14 year old son last week about the play we would be attending, he said “Wait, didn’t this happen 30 years ago?” When I said yes, he thought for a minute and then, almost ruefully, said “Wow, there hasn’t been all that progress since then, has there?”
That, folks, is a bleeding shame. That we haven’t broadened our tolerance, our acceptance of the gay population is tragic. I mean, literally tragic. Tyler Clementi. Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover. Jamey Rodemeyer. Asher Brown. Seth Walsh. Justin Aarber. Jacob Rogers. All committed suicide after being bullied to the point where they felt taking their own lives was the only solution to resolving their pain. And, dear God, Matthew Shepard. Offered a ride home by two humanimals, Shepard was instead driven to a remote area, robbed, pistol whipped, tortured, tied to a fence and left to die. Why? Because he was gay. Only that.
In 30 years we have progressed so little. Only eight states recognize marriages between persons of the same sex. It’s still OK to call someone a “fag” or a “faggot” as a pejorative. Why isn’t that as bad as calling someone the “n” word? What is it about homosexuality that threatens so many people? Guess what folks? Homosexuality has been around as long as we have ALL been around. Show me where being gay has caused any historical dysfunction. Has posed a threat to humanity. Where treating gay men and women with respect and tolerance has somehow diminished YOUR life. You can’t, can you?
Now I know this post may incite some comments from people who disagree with what I am going to say next but opinions are like armpits; everyone has one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks. This is NOT an opinion; this is a fact. People who are gay do NOT CHOOSE to be so. They are born that way, just as are people who have brown eyes, blond hair, freckles ... there’s no choice in the matter. So why the intolerance? And why is it that a 14 year old kid can see the shameful lag in progression of acceptance but our gay brothers and sisters are still fighting for basic rights?
I am looking forward to spending some time this week with an old friend who is funny, sweet, accomplished, a published author, cares about his fellow humans, doesn’t hate, loves his family and is ... oh yeah ... gay.
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I know St. Patrick's Day isn't for another two weeks but I wanted you to see this so if you are dying to make your own cards to send to your friends you will have time to get your goodies. Check out this little fellow -
And here are a couple of close ups -
And here's one of the wheelbarrow -
Now can you tell where the little guy came from? Look closely.....imagine him with a tall pointy hat.....YES! He's the gnome from the adorable Gnome Sweet Gnome set in the Occasions Mini Catalog! Isn't he the CUTEST? And do you see that golden glimmer paper? Do we HAVE golden glimmer paper? Not technically, no, but by sponging any color onto the SILVER glimmer paper, you can have any color sparkly paper you want! GENIUS! (And no, I didn't come up with it so I am not bragging.)
Yes, this card has a lot of fussy cutting but sometimes that's a fun thing to do in front of the TV or when you are chatting over a cup of coffee. And you can make a little leprechaun couple if you want, with a little leprechaun baby! SQUEEE!
Do you send cards for St. Patty's Day? Will you now?
Supply List
Wild Wasabi Cardstock, Item #108641
Whisper White Cardstock, Item #100730
Early Espresso Cardstock, Item #119686
Early Espresso Classic Ink, Item #119670
Wild Wasabi Classic Ink, Item #109014
Bashful Blue Classic Ink, Item #105209
More Mustard Classic Ink, Item #103162
Certainly Celery Classic Ink, Item #105217
Wild Wasabi Stampin' Write Marker, Item #120975
Blush Blossom Stampin' Write Marker, Item #100037
Cajun Craze Stampin' Write Marker, Item #119678
More Mustard Stampin' Write Marker, Item #100076
Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker, Item #119680
Sahara Sand Stampin' Write Marker, Item #105105
Crumb Cake Stampin' Write Marker, Item #120967
Silver Glimmer Paper, Item #124005
Modern Label Punch, Item #119849
Circle Punch from Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Item #118309
Lots of Tags Sizzlet, Item #114508
Big Shot, Item #113439
1/2" Circle Punch, Item #119869
Gnome Sweet Gnome, Item #126535
Pear Pizzazz Pleated Satin Ribbon, Item #122568
Paper Snips, Item #103579
Teeny Tiny Wishes, Item #115370
SNAIL Adhesive, Item #104332
Stampin' Dimensionals, Item #104430
Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Item #110755
Stamping Sponges, Item #101610
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I have always wondered why it is that we have to make up one day every four years and I figured I couldn't be the only person curious about that. So here's the dealio.....
A complete revolution around the sun takes us approximately 365 days PLUS six hours. So every four years we have an extra day that we have to account for. Why this occurs in February is explained here courtesy of Wikipedia: "The leap day was introduced as part of theJulian reform. The day following the Terminalia (February 23) was doubled, forming the "bis sextum"—literally 'double sixth', since February 24 was 'the sixth day before the Kalends of March' using Roman inclusive counting (March 1 was the 'first day'). Although exceptions exist, the first day of the bis sextum (February 24) was usually regarded as the intercalated or "bissextile" day since the third century. February 29 came to be regarded as the leap day when the Roman system of numbering days was replaced by sequential numbering in the late Middle Ages." Phew.......
February 29 occurs in most years that are evenly divisible by 4, such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Years that are evenly divisible by 100 do not contain a leap day, with the exception of years that are evenly divisible by 400, which do contain a leap day. Double Phew!
Some famous people who were born on Leap Day are Jimmy Dorsey, Ja Rule, Tony Robbins, Alex Rocco, Dinah Shore, Antonio Sabato and Dennis Farina. I wonder if they celebrate their birthdays on the 28th or March 1st in non-leap years? I know if MY birthday was on Leap Day I would be having ONE HECKUVA party every four years!
I actually DO know someone who has a Leap Day birthday so I am sending him a special card. I figure if you only get to celebrate for real once every four years or so you deserve all the cards you can get!
Do you know any one who has a Leap Day birthday?
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Do you love color? Do you love seeing new color combinations? Do you like to take scraps of papers and mix them up to see what you can come up with?
I love color, too. And one of the things I like to check out occasionally are the color trends through the Pantone website and lately I have noticed a very interesting thing........Stampin' Up! is completely on trend with each season's colors! Take a look at the Fall/Winter 2012 colors that came out of Fashion Week this spring -
I added the names of the colors I thought were the closest Stampin' Up! matches. Isn't it great that Stampin' Up! is able to mix In Colors with always colors and be so current? And the fact that you can stay within one Stampin' Up! color grouping and not go wrong, yet still be able to mix Brights with Neutrals and Neutrals with In Colors, and so on, is remarkable. Other companies use different shades, hues and tints within each color family, making it tricky to "cross pollinate". Not with Stampin' Up!! And now that you can see that Stampin' Up! IS one of the cutting edge leaders in papercrafting trends, you can rest assured knowing you are part of one of the best crafting bets out there!
What your favorite color combination?
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One thing I get a lot of requests for (that I can do something about right now) is to bring back Friday Fab in Five. This is where I show you something fabulous that will take you five minutes or less, on a Friday, natch.
So today, this is what I have to offer. Check out this simple, pretty card.....
See that Pacific Point Baker's Twine? Wait a minute! Pacific Point Baker's Twine? We have that? Well not premade but with plain white baker's twine and our Stampin' Write markers, you can have any color baker's twine you want! It's so easy to do!
Just wrap some plain white Baker's Twine around a marker or, as I did here, around a blender pen.
Then you just take the color marker you want and draw some stripes on it like so...
If you want the stripes to be angled like they are on our colored baker's twine, just draw your stripes on an angle. I was looking for a more "spotted" look so I did straight lines. And Voila! Custom colored baker's twine!
Supply List
Pacific Point Cardstock, Item #111350
Whisper White Cardstock, Item #100730
Fabulous Florets Stamp Set, Item #123025
Loving Thoughts, Item #125843
Wild Wasabi Classic Ink Pad, Item #109014
Bashful Blue Classic Ink Pad, Item #105209
Pacific Point Classic Ink Pad, Item #111837
Bashful Blue Satin Ribbon, Item #124325
White Baker's Twine, Item #124262
Pacific Point Stampin' Write Market, Item #120968
Paper Snips, Item #103579
Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Item #110755
Stampin' Dimensionals, Item #104430
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Remember this card?
Well the uber talented and totally sweet Patty Bennett, one of Stampin' Up!'s finest, saw it on a business email loop we both belong to and very kindly asked if she could create a video tutorial showing how it was done. Well, how could I say no? And I am so glad I said yes because Patty's video is outstanding. Check it out!
Thanks Patty for creating this video! Now, who wants to make some stained glass cards?
Supply List
Designer Cuts Cards & Envelopes, Item #125414
Vellum Cardstock, Item #101856
Stampin' Write Markers, Assorted, pages 176 - 180
Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon, Item #117289
Lucky Limeade 1/8" Organdy Ribbon, FREE with Item #127279 from Sale-A-Bration
SNAIL Adhesive, Item #104332
Very Vanilla Cardstock, Item #101650
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I don't know about where you are but here in Massachusetts today was freakishly beautiful and it made me think I could get just a teensy whiff of spring in the air. I just HAD to do something springy today so I made this for you
This card came together so quickly. It is made from some leftover pieces from another butterfly card I was working on and when I decided that these parts didn't work with those parts, a new card was born when I saw them lying there together on my desk.
All I had to do to take those pretty butterflies from "Aww" to "OOH!" was to spread a thin layer of liquid glue over them and when dry, sprinkle them with our superfine Dazzling Diamonds glitter. See how the light refracts off the glitter? You won't see such tiny points of light and such sparkle with the regular craft store glitter. It's just not fine enough to reflect the light the same way. Plus who can resist some "Dazzling Diamonds"?
Enjoy!
Supply List
Lucky Limeade Cardstock, Item #122926
Regal Rose Cardstock, Item #105130
Basic Gray Cardstock, Item #121044
Very Vanilla Cardstock, Item #101650
First Edition Specialty Paper, Item #121878
Pretty Postage Stamp Set, Item #123097
Postage Stamp Punch, Item #122344
Regal Rose Stampin' Write Marker, Item #105108
Lucky Limeade Stampin' Write Marker, Item #123002
Basic Gray Classic Ink Pad, Item #109120
Mutipurpose Liquid Glue, Item #110755
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Item #102023
Victoria Crochet Trim, Item #118481
Stampin' Dimensionals, Item #104430
SNAIL, Item #104332
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Click the button above you will be brought to my classes and events page.
Let me show you all the cool things you can do with My Digital Studio. It's easy, it's fun, it's cost effective and you can do it anywhere you can bring a computer!