Lessons Learned from a Week of Mondays

Last week was, well, pretty crappy.  Errr...pukey.  VERY pukey.  Started on Sunday afternoon with a houseful of kiddos feeling so ill they were completely disinterested in SuperBowl snacks.  (Crazy, right?)  *sigh*  The week just "got better" from there...and even Friday brought little relief. (Though my attitude was much improved just by virtue of Fridayness.)

The good news is that I had the opportunity to prepare for half-times at Saturday's Upward Basketball games.  I got a little tired of listening to myself whine.  (OK, a LOT!)  So I decided to see if I could tie a week of Mondays to Valentine's Day and the Universe's Ultimate Valentine.  Rather, I tuned into some major Divine prodding...and this is the result, which I shared (in random iterations) during half-times on this last Saturday.   I was incredibly blessed by the opportunity to share these thoughts with the Upward families.  After a few requests for the write-up, I thought I'd share here on my blog:
 

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…anyone know what Tuesday is??  (Valentine’s Day)

Anyone here hoping for one of those BIG mushy, flowery cards cut in the shape of a heart?  Maybe some flowers?  A box of chocolates?  A stuffed animal?  Got big plans for a romantic night out?

No plans?  Going through a dry spell or a loss? 

Well, I’m not trying to be a wet blanket here, but, well, get ready for disappointment.  What if the card isn’t mushy enough? The flowers wilty the chocolates all those weird nutty ones?  What if you are alone? What if the stuffed animal isn’t big & fluffy enough? 

Don’t worry!!  No need to turn into a Valentine's Day Protester…you’ve got a chance to get to know the best Valentine EVER.  You could even say the Universe's Ultimate Valentine!!  In the Psalms, we are told:  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him (Psalm 103:11). 

I don’t know about you, but I have no CLUE exactly how high the heavens are above the earth, so I’m just going with “that’s a really long way.”  And let's assume that I've accepted the reality of God's love for me. But I'm a people.  And people need reassurance sometimes. So, just how do I know?  How does He show it?  (I'm hearing that song from the movie "Enchanted" in my head right now!)  Just ask Him!!!…later in the Psalms, we find out that David did just that!  In Psalm 143:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Have you ever had one of THOSE weeks?  The kind where you muddle through, praying for Friday?   Well, long about Monday #3, I got pretty sick of wallowing in myself. So, I went looking for encouragement this week and I found it in a rather odd place—the book of Lamentations.  YUP, Lamentations!! (Okay, I'll admit that I usually skip that one--right up there with Leviticus!)

Lam 3:32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.

Lam 3:22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

So there you go… God’s love is there even in a week of Mondays—and sometimes easier to spot because we need to be LOOKING for it actively.  No great big stuffed up bears fell from the sky into my arms, no M & Ms rained down on me, but rather small, unexpected moments brought Him to mind.  A few examples from my week, in retrospect:

•   a 7 year old beastie who thanked me for cleaning up her puke (no, really!)  
•   a surprise latte delivered straight to my desk by a thoughtful co-worker
•  the *right* song playing on the radio at just the right time (Check out "Lift Me Up" by The Afters--GREAT song!!)
•   a brilliant, clear 4am star filled sky and a lovely bright crescent moon on my way to work
•   a 16 year old joining in a family Veggie Tales sing-a-long when she thought we weren’t looking
•   And my favorite…a random conversation with my children about WHY God made a bazillion kinds of flowers instead of just one.  (I LOVE this idea!)  Think about it...He loved us soooo much that he gave us a HUGE variety of flowers, trees, what have you, knowing that, like him, we would enjoy variety.  WOW!

 Here’s what else I’ve learned this week.  God’s greatest gift of love is the Cross, true.   That kind of amazing event doesn’t happen every day…but the demonstrations of His enduring love DO! It’s not just hearts & flowers that romance us to His side.  We have His love letter—the Bible—and we have each other.

So, Upward families…a challenge for you—be on the lookout.   What Valentines did God send YOU this week? 

Everything Wendy Vecchi: Making Art Challenge #26

This week Making Art Challenge #26 rolled around on Everything Wendy Vecchi...and List Hostess extraordinaire Lori challenged us to create a Studio 490esque project based on Page 27 of Wendy Vecchi's Making Art Book #2.  Rough guidelines were to use polka dots, a face and, of course, at least one Studio 490 stamp.

Inspiration struck when I received my package from the wonderful gals over at Absolutely Everything which included a sampler package of Wendy's Clearly For Art.  I decided to try to play with it a bit for this project...learned a few things!  (Um...this stuff gets hot.  So does the air coming out of a heating tool.  So do the tweezers or clamps you use to hold your Clearly for Art embellishment.)  I have a lot more to learn about this fun medium...in the meantime, I like the flowers. ;-)  Also tried a different--for me--color palette than my usual blues & greens, and I think I'll have to try these colors more often.

EVW MAC #26: Face & Polka Dots

Lacking possession of a Wendy face, I had to go a different route.  Luckily, I benefited from a recent stash sale by Susan K, a  fellow Wendy Vecchian.  I started with a Studio 490 Art Parts ATC, thinking I would crop the face quite a bit, but when I saw the whole face together, I just had to leave her the way she was. ;-)  (She did lose a bit of her mouth...but the eyes were the key feature here anyway!)  The lady on the base is stamped on a background of Dried Marigold, Antique Paper, Scattered Straw and a wee bit of Pumice Stone.  Script background is from Hero Arts stamped in Pumice Stone.  My gal is stamped in Frayed Burlap.

Wings are more Art Parts, stained with Fired Brick.  I softened the color a wee bit with some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink on top. To make the flowers, I used a couple of different Wendy stamps on Clearly for Art and grunge paper.  Orange floral bits are punched from the same background as the framed sentiment.  The grunge paper flower is stained & inked with Fired Brick & Dried Marigold. 

Sentiment is Wendy's, stamped in black archival.  I wanted to punch up the color a little--was hoping to pull more of the orange tone from the base--so the sentiment background is Wild Honey, Dried Marigold and Scattered Straw.  Frame is another Art Part, stained in multiple layers of Dried Marigold.  Polka Dots on sentiment background are in Frayed Burlap; on the frame in Vintage Photo.  I put a layer of Rock Candy Distress Stickles on the grunge flower, wings and the small frame to give 'em some sparkle.

Artful charm is from Tim Holtz.  Random other stuff from my stash.

Thoughts?  Tips?  Suggestions?  For TRUE inspiration, join the fun with the talented ladies at Everything Wendy Vecchi ...Challenge #27 should kick off on Wednesday morning!

Catching Up: Everything Wendy Vecchi MAC #25

I've been behind the 8 ball for a few weeks....in my house, this is how we know that school started again!!...jumped into the Making Art Challenge #25 over at Everything Wendy Vecchi, but didn't finish it before the challenge time was up.  But since I went to all the effort to finish it up, I'm gonna inflict it on you, despite my tardiness!! hee hee hee

The challenge was to create a tag using only one or two of Wendy's Studio 490 stamp sets.  Since I had a crazy idea to do a tag that told a little story, I picked Gentleman's Art and Residential Art.   Tried my hand stamping onto an Art Part, too.

EWV MAC #25

 I started with a manilla tag, stamping a Stamping Up background stamp called "Ticking" in Scattered Straw, embossed with clear.  Inked it up with Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters.  The gentleman is one of Wendy's Art Parts; he's inked up with Distress Stain in Story Skies.  I stamped the coordinating stamp on top of him in Black Soot, then embossed with black Zing powder.  Helpful tip...make sure you are stamping the right side of the guy!!  (That whole spatial relationships thing still eludes me!)

A few Creative Memories punchies--flowers & heart--and some thread from my stash make up the bouquet.  Journaling ticket is from Tim Holtz; edged Pumice Stone. Last touch?  A few dots of black Enamel Accents and....VOILA!!

Never guess it took me so long to finish this simple project...but packing 5 lunches is really time consuming!! LOL!!

We've moved on to Making Art Challenge #26 (post to follow soon!) and Challenge #27 will begin on Wednesday this week.  But do check out the fun by clicking here:  Everything Wendy Vecchi.

Everything Wendy Vecchi...MAC #22

This week's challenge from Lori at Everything Wendy Vecchi is from Wendy's first book, page 15.  We needed to make a card using two similar border strips and a scalloped edge.  Use of at least one Wendy Studio 490 stamp goes without saying, of course!  I learned three valuable "whoops!" type lessons with this project...

Keeping with my plan to learn some new techniques and try working with new materials this week, I made my base from a piece of grunge paper, something I'm still trying to figure out. I used Peeled Paint distress stain to ink it up...I really wanted a nice brightish color.    (Sidenote...cannot seem to get a decent picture of the colors here...in real life, the greens are nice and bright, offset by nice light, medium & dark blues. *sigh*) Once it was dry, I spritzed it with a little Faded Jeans. Rounded the corners on the left edge; used a Martha Stewart scallop punch to create the required scallop edge.  Okay, not so creative, but well...


EWV MAC #22

I used two coordinating pieces of Making Memories paper--a light blue gingham print and a bright green stripe--for my borders.  Stamped 'em with Wendy's polka dot and splatter background stamps in CTMH Outdoor Denim. On the blue gingham, I topped it off with some Pumice Stone just for fun.  'tude Lady was stamped on grunge, inked in Outdoor Denim and embossed with clear.  Lesson Learned #1...If you are going to cut out your image, do it BEFORE you emboss!!

Lesson Learned #2...heating grunge makes it curl, which makes it even weirder when you've already attached regular paper that doesn't curl.  Harder to flatten, too.  How did I learn this?  I stamped & embossed Wendy's sentiment (and my little twist--there's a question mark under the flower petals) AFTER I had the border strips attached.  Also added part of another Wendy sentiment in Peeled Paint along the right edge..."Attitude.:

The crown to go with the royal sentiment is a bit of grunge board from Tim Holtz's random die cut package.  First attempt, I inked it in Outdoor Denim, then embossed with both clear and diamond sparkle powders.  Lesson Learned #3...apparently, you CAN over emboss.  You'll note that the crown now bears a coating of Stickles in Tiara. ;-) 

Rayon seam binding dipped in Peeled Paint and Faded Denim stains makes my card a tag.  Flowers & buttons are from my stash.  Needed a wee bit "more" so my Peeled Paint distress stickles came in handy for some dotty fun.

Join the fun yourself and check out the talented contributions of fellow Wendy Vecchians by clicking here.

PS:  Lesson Learned that I Should Have Already Known...when used to cover up embossing mistakes, stickles take a REALLY long time to dry!!  But I have a nice sparkley thumb now...

Simon Says...Stamp & Show us some Tim Holtz

The talented folk over at Simon Says Stamp & Show asked us to show them a Tim Holtz technique.  I pulled out my personal copy of A Compendium of Curiosities and perused the volume on a quest to find something new and fun to try.  Settled on a couple of new—to me—techniques:  Rusted Grunge (page 45) and Double Distress (page 40).  Here goes:

Simon Says Stamp & Show Us some TIM HOLTZ

My base is a piece of grunge paper inked in Vintage Velvet and Peeled Paint.  After it dried, I ran it through my Texture Boutique with a Postcard texture fade (also from THE Tim)  Next,  the Double Distress technique calls for you to take a coordinating color and rub the pad direct over the raised areas.  I used Forest Moss for that step.  Next, you take a darker color—I used Black Soot—and wipe the pad directly on your nonstick mat.  Face down, swipe the embossed item across the darker ink.    I like the results…the second step only hits the highest points and really highlights the texture of the design.  That Tim Holtz is a smart guy!

The Rusted Grunge bit is the bookplate in the upper right corner.  Originally, it was a grunge board bit from Tim’s assortment of pre-cut designs.  Embossing ink, Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder and a few swipes of Vintage Photo Distress Ink later…and there we go! Years of rust in a few short minutes.

The photo, clock face, ticket & 27 are from Tim’s Lost & Found Idea-ology sticker book.  Sentiment is also Tim’s, as are the foliage leaves and paper clip.  Crackle Accents helped age those up a bit.  Flowers, brads, rhinestones & charm are from my stash.

Ended up mounting the whole thing on a piece of cardstock that I inked up in the same colors—Vintage Velvet and Peeled Paint.  I like how the white cardstock took the ink differently from the grunge, but sets it all off well.

This was a great learning experience…thanks Simon Says Stamp& Show!