THE GOOD AND THE BAD

HELLO to all my followers. At last count there are about 6 of you, and that number has probably dwindled since I have been away from my blog and haven't posted anything for awhile. I do apologize if you missed me. But I just can't seem to find anything good to write about recently, so I haven't. Not that my life is falling apart or anything. I am the kind of person who LIKES to share positive happy things on here, and the norovirus we caught while eating at a Mexican restaurant and has kept me down 5 days this week was not a happy occasion. Also I didn't think you would want to hear about the leaky porch roof where the ice dam that was under all the snow up there kept the melt off and rain from going down the roof to the gutter and instead it is creeping into the porch through seams and holes in the boards on the ceiling and I need to do "bucket brigade" twice a day. GRRRR! And all this happening while Beth came to visit and I couldn't prepare the meals I had bought food for and we had to cancel our card class because this flu virus could be contagious for a week. Bill had this virus first and I caught it from him. So far Beth has not caught it, and I pray she got out of town quick enough not to get it.

AND then there are the dreary, cloudy, foggy days we have been having lately. I think the weather man said 6 so far and 4 more expected and more rain forecast for Weds. YUCK! And I didn't even feel like making cards...so you know I am sick!

But my spirits are renewed. I finally got my hair washed and set, and there are birds singing outside, and lots of squirrel and bird activity at the feeders, and I know spring is not far away and the rain is good for the earth, plants, animals and people. GOD does a marvelous job of keeping everything going and giving us what we need, when we need it, and delievers it through people we least expect. We are such selfish individuals, wanting what we want, when we want it and how we want it, and we often tell God HOW to do HIS job of being our provider. No wonder we make GOD angry and HE just lets us go ahead and do our own thing and HE stays out of it, and we have to bear the consequences and it usually is not fun or pretty. So much of what we think and do is under our own power. How much better the world would be if we would let GOD coordinate our lives and everyone else's would fit all together. That would bring about much more peace in the world for sure.

I am determined to "give THANKS" even in my present situation. I have been given much and need to share it with others less fortunate. "I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me". Philipians 4:13 I have to remember "It isn't about ME!" We are HIS creation and all of life is about HIM, HIS WILL, HIS PURPOSES! We must remember that and join HIM in HIS WORK. "THANK YOU FATHER, for even these times in my life. Help me to have the wisdom and courage to change and you will have the GLORY because I can't do it alone."

The two cards pictured are pretty simple. I made them a month apart. The first one was made for my friend Jim ( a high school homeroom buddy), who graciously gives me a ride to and from the SA airport to my mom's house every three months. He saves me $75 each way and I am so thankful. I tried to make his card masculine by keeping it simple and graphic looking. I used a Whimsical clear alphabet set for the lettering and I turned the first purple mat under the word "you" at an angle to the darker purple under it and popped the whole thing up and put a little clear jewel in the "O" of you. I did the corners with the SU ticket punch.

The second card is much more feminine with two butterflies punched with the Martha Stewart large monarch. I punched one out of the graphic paper and was going to do the second the same, but couldn't do it without folding the paper. So you can see the turquoise mat under the top one and I punched the second out of another piece of the graphic, reinforced each large butterfly by punching two out of plain card stock and gluing the colorful paper butterfly over the plain one which gave them lots of body and popped them both up. The tiny butterflies are left over from the Marths Stewart butterflies border. I stamped the "THANK YOU" with a small clear Stampendous "typewriter" set and then matted with turquoise CS and stacked them at the bottom right. I kept the corners simple using the corner rounder, then diamond Stickles over the monarchs to give them some pizazz. I think I like the butterflies best. They make me smile and we all need to keep smiling. Thanks for stopping by.