Missing You Emporium card

Tonight I worked on valentine goody bags for the middle schoolers that I teach writing to once a week. I purchased mini brown sacks from Target and used Floral Tapestry paper for the girls and the new Stardust for the boys. I also used the following stamp sets: Memory Labels (c1290), February Word Puzzle (D1269) and Sweet Talk (D1063)

I also made a "missing you" card last night (after I said I was going to bed... :-) ) I got the basic idea from the CTMH Originals book. The paper is from the Emorium pack and uses vineyard berry, sweet leaf and crystal blue. The center flower is from the Life Is stamp set (B1215). The dragonfly and butterfly are contraband :-) I think that the CTMH sparkles are the best on the market!

Well, we have a trip to the science and history museum tomorrow morning, with our homeschool co op group so I'm off to get some sleep.

Have a wonderful Wednesday,

Marie with a :-)

Thank You card

The coffee that Scott left for me was cold this morning - REALLY cold - by the time I stumbled out of bed, so I am going to force myself to call it a night a little earlier tonight and spare you any Marie ramblings.

Here's a card made from scraps that I had left over after making Alyssa's book. They aren't CTMH papers; I've been trying to use up my pre-CTMH stash and figure by the year 2032 I will possibly have accomplished that :-) Anyway, while I was working on it, I was thinking what "happy" colors these seem to be.

Have a happy day,

Marie with a :-)

the Tell-Tale Chair

The Tell-Tale chair is what I secretly call it. My husband bought it for me several years ago. It's a wonderfully relaxing massage chair that takes up a small corner of our bedroom. But it is really more than a chair; it's a speedometer that tells me at what pace my life is going. Currently it reads: slow down before you see those flashing red lights behind you! When daily activities are at a normal pace, my chair is empty and just waiting for me to take a few moments to enjoy it's soothing effects. All too often, however, it is yelling at me to slow down and get my priorities straight. Right now, in fact, it is covered with discarded clothes, hangers, clean laundry that didn't manage to get put away, a book or two and who knows what else. It's a visable reminder to me, that I need to let go of a few unnecessary activites, put the laundry away and enjoy some relaxation time!

I have another "project" in the works so not much else to post. I did make another card with scraps from the Life Delights paper pack. May it remind you that it doesn't matter at what speed your life is going... the wonderful peace of the Lord is available to you .

In the words of the psalmist, "The Lord bless you and keep you,"
Marie with a :-)

So blessed

The past year has brought many challenges to the Isom Clan. Financial challenges, heart-breaking family challenges, career challenges...really the list is pretty extensive. Yet there has been no doubt that through it all, we have been so blessed.

2008 began with some good news...Kyle returned home safely after a year spent in the crux of action in downtown Baghdad. We rejoiced, but at the same time, we were a little anxious over the loss of a job for Scott. In January, he had quit his job with the company that he had spent the previous ten years with, because he had another job lined up. That job fell through, and we were faced with the realization that "it ain't easy" finding a new job when you're in your late forties. We weren't too concerned, however, because Scott was due to receive a large sum of money from his former company. After being out of work for nearly two months, Scott decided to pursue a career he had always thought he might enjoy - he became an electrical apprentice. We knew beforehand that the pay wouldn't carry us through and made the grieveous mistake of relying on credit cards until his anticipated monies came in July. It was quite shocking when July rolled around and Scott was told he had to wait another twelve months to receive his funds! We hadn't quite recovered from that shock, when we learned that a very dear, very close family member had tried to commit suicide. Still reeling, Scott took on a second job to tide us over, and it was a huge adjustment for our family to have him working 60 hour weeks. We learned of other heart-breaking family issues. We got notified that we owed a large sum of back taxes, that we were totally unaware of. We changed church memberships. Our second oldest son lost his job when the division of the company he worked for shut down. The list goes on and on. Yet through all of it, we have been blessed beyond measure. We have had our faith tested and found stronger than ever. Our marriage has been strengthened. We drew closer to family members. We learned that laughter and special family moments are indeed priceless...and they don't cost a thing :-) . We have enjoyed the fellowship of precious friends and church family.We are under incredible Bible teaching. Scott has managed to keep not one, but two jobs during these turbulent economic times and has built a good name for himself. Our health has been good. And somehow, our bills have always been paid. It has been a year of challenges, indeed. Yet through it all, we have been so blessed!

The So blessed card was made with the CTMH Life Delights paper pack, the CTMH stamp set Treasures of the Heart (C1271), and CTMH buttons and brads.

Blessings,

Marie with a :-)

The last photos show some of my greatest blessings: Silly boys and beautiful girls :-)

The Secret Project (Donna's book)

Today is a very special friend's 50th birthday and to honor that, I made a book titled "Celebrating 50: 50 things we love about Donna." A group of us are going to lunch today and I will give it to her then. There are a lot of pictures and I hope they post in the correct order - I'm new to this blogging business so I haven't quite figured out how to have pictures in the correct order. When I move them around, it makes it so you can't click on them to enlarge. Which I wanted to remind you...if you click on the pictures you will be able to see them full size and can read the quotes. What a precious friend Donna is!
The paper that I used was CTMH's Amore.
Wishing you a day of love, laughter and friendships,
Marie with a :-)

PS The next two posts are pages out of order-should have been pages 1 thru 5 and then 6 thru 10 but somehow I didn't post them that way!