One of THOSE Days

I made this card for Patti's husband, today's hero!

We had some transmission work done on my car and today it broke down on my way to school. I couldn't get the car back home, so I parked it and walked home. I was trying to figure out how to call a cab, but then I quickly called Patti's husband who was home today and asked him to take me to school. I felt kind of dumb, but I missed so many classes getting ready for last week's event, and with only three weeks until final exams, I couldn't miss a class today.

One thing that is challenging about law school is that for almost all classes, your entire grade is based on the final exam! Exams are about three hours long, almost always essay, and really taxing. The only thing I can imagine is worse than writing a law school exam is being a professor and having to read 50 answers...can you imagine?

So Chris rescued me; I made it to my classes; and it was up to my husband, Mark, to deal with the car.

This was a very, very quick card. I mounted the five circles using Creative Memories' double circle punch. I love that it makes the circles just the right size to fit into my small Xyron. I also used these really cute stamps from Stampendous that I bought from Eclectic Paperie.

I hope that my car gets on the road tomorrow, which would make Mark Wednesday's hero...

Authenticity

Last year was a really challenging year for me. It was the end of my first year of law school, and my husband, girls and I had been through so many changes. I learned some challenging news about my childhood, and both my nephew and my mom were diagnosed and treated for cancer. Whew, it was tough. But all God needs is faith the size of a mustard seed...some days I had no more, but I kept pressing forward.

As the holidays passed and the new year began, I decided that my New Year's Resolution was to live a life of authenticity. I decided to live openly and just as I am (quirks and cynicism, imperfections and inconsistencies, blemishes and all). That’s very difficult for a perfectionist like me, but there is such freedom in presenting yourself “as is” with no warranty, neither expressed nor implied!

Although I didn’t articulate it until now, my word for the year is “authenticity” – living life without pretense.

I doubt I am alone in this pursuit of authenticity and I would hazard a guess that I am right on schedule, as I turned 36 last December. I think that there’s a reason the Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years before they entered the Promised Land. I think it takes 40 years of wandering in our own power before we relent and let God lead.

I’m almost to the Promised Land, and day-by-day I give a little more of the reigns to God. Praise Him for only requiring the faith of a mustard seed!

AJ's Card

My friend Andrea (AJ) and I are both graduate assistants at the law school, and we are in the process of putting on a huge gala fund raising event on April 11. AJ is a 3L (third year) law student and this is her big HURRAH, and I am her assistant.

I am so excited for her and proud of her. She has worked so hard for this event and also in getting through law school. She is in her mid-20's and is beautiful both on the inside and out. She aspires to be a prosecutor (state's attorney) and really has a passion for prosecuting criminals. She is also a very loving and supportive wife to Craig, who seems to adore her too.


So I made this card for AJ in celebration of getting through this event. The image is Nay from Rubber Romance (who reminds me of AJ) and the text is from Stampin Up. I used a lot of glitter, including on her eyeshadow, and I also added big square sparkles for a lot of BLING!

I have been enjoying the images of women. They really highlight the many kinds of women we are on different days. I especially love those that bring out the Diva in all of us. I can't think of a more perfect day than lounging around eating chocolates! (Right now, I'd be satisfied to lounge around without the chocolate, wouldn't you?)

WSC37 Gardening Pleasures

I made this card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I'm a couple of weeks behind, but I'm on the "better late than never" plan for life.

I used Stampin Up's Gardening Pleasures stamps. It is an old set, copyright 2001. I doubt it is still in the catalog and it is not my typical style, but it seemed to work perfectly with this sketch. I cut out birdhouse (straw hat) and used pop dots to give it a little depth.

No matter how I tried I just could not get a good image of this card. Must be my eyes, they are so tired from reading. Law school is filled with hours upon hours of reading. Don't get me wrong, I love to read, but after reading legal writing for hours on end, even reading notes from my girls' school can be challenging.

Last summer, I was at Barnes and Noble looking for a good summer read. I was picking up book after book, looking at the back for the summary. I realized after my 5th or 6th inspection that I was merely "looking" at the summary, not "reading" it! I decided not to buy a book at all; I left with a couple of magazines instead.

Tomorrow I will upload a card I made for my friend AJ. It so cute!

Mother-in-Law

My mother-in-law, Annette, came to stay with us this week to take care of our girls while they are on Spring Break. I am so grateful that she is here. In addition to taking care of the girls, she has been cooking all week (and making desserts)!

She is very pleasant to visit with; she doesn't mind just hanging out with us, reading, and watching movies.

So today I made her this card. It was a quick card but I really love the way it turned out. It was my first attempt at paper piecing and I think I love this technique.

I used Babs from Rubber Romance, that I bought unmounted from Etsy, and colored with Stampin Up pink passion. I used a glue pen and glitter on the bubbles and a piece of pink printed paper for the background and the paper piecing. I love the way it coordinates. I finished it off by gluing to the bottom a crazy boa that I found at Michaels.

Babs reminds me of Anette because she always takes bubble baths at home. I love bubble baths myself, but rarely get the chance to take one (mostly because I don't want to share a tub with my girls). Annette takes baths almost every day and she even manages to read in the tub!

I'll be sad when Annette goes home for many reasons, but very selfishly I'll miss her because I'll have to cook instead of stamp!

Becky's Card

I made this card for my friend Becky. She was my partner in a law school competition called Moot Court. It was a lot of work for no school credit and we had to drag each other through. We knew we didn't win an award, so I made her this card instead.

I didn't keep track of my supplies very well, but I used this wonderful stamp from Stamping Bella, called billboardabella. I also used the flowers from Stampin Up's pretties kit. I added glitter to the flowers for a little sparkle.

If you're interested in a little law school humor, check out this video. Disclaimer, it is a little edgy, but funny nonethless.

A Confession

I actually started this blog because I felt like a voyeur. I anonymously spent hours peeking into the windows of all of the crafty bloggers, taking inspiration, but not sharing anything. I decided to throw open my curtains and add my creative thoughts into the mix.