The Sweetest thing

Hi everyone!! Hope your week is going GREAT! It's been a slow start, but we are preparing for some icy stormy kind of weather here, so there's always the hope of a snow day....of course here in NY we are also having state exams this week, so the hope is tiny....yet tiny hopes birth great things, do they not?

So, a few bits of news to share! First, I am happy to find out that the Friendship challenge card I posted on Clear Artistic Stamps in February was chosen a winner. That's nice, right? The stampers on that forum are so WONDERFULLY FUN! And I love to play with Belinda's images...so pretty! And my name was also randomly chosen on the SBS sister's February challenge sketch (Suzann's)...another nice thing...and the sisters on that forum are AMAZINGLY FUN!! (and my most loyal readers...thank you sistahs!) How sweet is THAT?

Also, I have decided to join a ministry team to Mozambique this summer to help build a church and present some children's ministry with puppets and drama (that's Kim Marie! always with the drama...LOL!) We will start saving money (it'll cost over $2500. So, less spending $ on stamps!) and praying for the people we will work and minister with and getting (GULP!) shots....the ikkiest part! Better than getting malaria, though! And I am going alone (with the team) this time, my hubby will be home with my girll This is my first trip to a country that speaks a language I do not! That part will be strange, but ministry is always exciting....mostly because I know I am in smack dab in the middle of God's will and that is an AMAZING place to be! And so sweet!

And, we learned today that my girl is being scouted for her sport of choice, soccer, by a few colleges...how exciting is THAT?? She is an amazing center midfielder...or maybe left midfielder...what do I know? Anyway, I do know she's very blessed to be gifted on the field. This is so thrilling! And so sweet!

And my son is coming home from college for Easter weekend...I cherish his visits even more knowing that in May, he will graduate and become very busy with living and working, etc. He will probably have little time for his momma! sniffle, sniffle. I am excited for his next chapter in the adventure of life, though. He will be a mechanical engineer...something to be proud of! He is so sweet!

But what is the sweetest thing? Let me tell you...the love of
God and knowing His will for your life...that is ALL sweet! God is my refuge and my shelter. He is my joy and my comfort. He is my all in all...everywhere, all the time, forever! Yahweh, you are my rock and my anchor! In you will I live and breathe and have my very being! I thank my God for all of you!

Oh, hey, I do actually have a few cards to share with you today....you are all soooo patient to have read through all of this :) On the other hand, it is a blog, so I expect you probably expected some blah, blah, blahging, right? LOL!

These cards are using my newest "stuff" from Papertrey ink....Nichole came out with this BEAUTIFUL paper, ink, ribbon and designer paper that ALL MATCH!! She even calls it the Perfect Match Color Collection! Even the stamp set, Everyday Blessings, that's just been released matches the DP! I've been just dying to try it all out! Here are my cards! (I also used the Aqua mist paper on my Tilda card posted this week!)

The first card uses the Aqua mist card stock and ink and Spring Moss twill and ink for the edges of the cardstock. The flowers are SU Close as a Memory (one of my top 5 fav SU sets) and the scripture is from PTI's Everyday blessings set. This stamp set has wonderful sentiments and a beautiful filigree cross...check it out! I had a heck of a time with lighting, so the picture doesn't fully do the card justice. The Everyday blessings paper is WONDERFUL, too! In fact the PIF's I sent out have samples of it....(sneak peek to my SBS sisters who are getting one!)


The second card also uses PTI's Aqua mist CS exclusively. I inked the base card with Aqua mist ink and then used SU Eastern Elegance rub ons on a separate piece of the CS so I could distress the edges....PTI's CS distresses like a dream! There are no stamped images on this card! I added the aqua mist wide grosgrain ribbon and a brad....funny thing...when I added the brad, it "caught" a thread in the ribbon and made a neat indent that I really really liked! The coloring on this card is closer to the Aqua mist CS color in real life...but the ink color is closer to the first card...so you decide ;) I liked both cards a lot! I gave the first one to a friend at work as a sympathy card. I will mail the other one to my MIL, who is struggling to recover from surgery....she needs a lift!

Wow...I think this is my longest post ever! Oh and one more thing! I mentioned that my friend Holly tagged me this week...well, here's the deal:

I'm supposed to tell you 7 random facts about me, and then turn around and tag some others.

1. I love the color green because when my sisters and I (four girls)were young, it seemed more often than not, we would all get the same gift from people, but in different colors...and my gifts were always green, Kelly was yellow, Kris purple, and Kori, blue. Imagine if you can, a girl's slip with green smiley faces on it! That was one of my favorites :)

2. I was going to be a journalist, but didn't like the competitiveness of the profession. I was a reporter on our high school newpaper, but there was this girl who kept 'fighting' to get more bylines than me...no thanks! I just wanted to write! Now I teach kids to write...more fun!

3. I decided as a teen that I would never marry a guy in the military (my uncle was career army and we never got to see him!)...and then my boyfriend joined the Navy! We married two years later! He didn't stay in beyond his time, so it was short-lived, but not fun for me!

4. My son is named after Geoffrey Chaucer, the 'father' of English literature. I wanted him to be named Rodian after the character in Crime and Punishment, but my DH refused me! That's okay...my son IS such a Geoffrey (pronounced Jaw-free).

5. I had moved 23 times by the time I was 23. Long story! Needless to say I have lived in only two places in the last 20 years.

6. I waited 6 years between my two kids so that they could be only children for a time. With a brother and four sisters close in age, I always wanted more time alone :)

7. My grandma, Arietta, raised me for awhile when I was growing up. She was very important to me and I think of her quite often. Our birthdays are about two weeks apart and that had always been a connection for us. She passed away on my birthday years ago. I am sure God has made her a guardian angel for me. My daughter's middle name is after her and I am so glad she was alive when my girl was born. She was so proud!

Who to tag next? Let me think on it!
Enjoy the week.....pray for a snow day!!!
Kim