Sorry I didn't get anything posted yesterday. I'm diligently working on the cards for the Ronald McDonald House and I wanted to do some packaging of the door prizes; however, the door prizes may not have pretty packaging, but they will still be there! The best laid plans.....
Yesterday, I took a moment to read the Times Recorder and there was an article on the front page about a new organization in Muskingum County called Young Lives. I fervently believe in their mission -- to assist young teen mothers. These moms have chosen the much harder route -- keeping and raising their own chldren, when the option is one I don't even want to consider. I know that their lives will be forever changed, but there are people who want to help and they have founded, or are in the process of founding, Young Lives. If you didn't get a chance to read the article, I urge you to look it up. Young Lives will be a support type organization for these teen moms and I would like to help them succeed. I've offered my services for their crafting needs -- teaching scrapbooking and card making, and perhaps hand crafted gifts. But for now, they are doing their first fund raiser on Sunday, and of course, I won't be able to attend as I am coordinating the Ronald McDonald House card event, so worthwhile in and of itself.
As a result, I'm donating some stamps, some scrapbooking materials and some cards that I was able to do very quickly (VERY QUICKLY!) yesterday. I haven't had an opportunity to show you the Decor Element Stencils and used them for the gift bag because I'm so far behind myself. No, it isn't a real WOW at this point, but it's a start and unfortunately, this is how it will leave the house. At least it isn't a plain bag and it's free for their auction. When you are trying to make money, free is always good!
I love to use Kraft bags because you can use a myriad of colors to dress them up! Here, I've used the Christmas Ornaments Decor Stencils and I've just inked them using a sponge and my ink pad. I used Night of Navy, Baroque Burgundy, and Handsome Hunter to ink the ornament. I used the embellishment stencil on the Night of Navy ornament with my Platinum or Silver Shimmer Paint and used the same stencil with a gold reinker for the Handsome Hunter ornament. I used the Champagne Frost Shimmer Paint (which is almost too opaque) on the Baroque Burgundy ornament. I used my piercing tool to punch a hole on the side of each ornament and then threaded gold and silver cord through and around. I had to tie a knot on the inside of the bag and then pull it around to the outside so I could tie a bow. Trust me, I wasn't going to quit until I got the look I was trying to achieve, but my fingers just aren't functioning as they should be and it took some real effort. However, I wasn't going to be defeated! Once I tied the bows, I used more of the same cording to tie around the bow on the outside and just took it up and over the top of the bag to make it appear that the ornaments are hanging. If I had the time, I would first have tried to stamp some evergreen stamps on the outside to make this appear that these ornaments were hanging amidst the tree branches. However, my time is limited and I just wanted to have a prettier than blank bag. I also used my shimmer spray to make the bag shimmer, spraying it all over on all sides. Here is a better picture of the cards I included.
This dormant set, Branch Out has quickly become my favorite with the omission embossing technique because it is quick, easy and pretty. I used Soft Suede as a base, stamped the tree in Soft Suede and used Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango as my leaves. I stamped the boots on the envelopes and tied all my cards together with a Soft Suede Polka Dotted ribbon.
The stamp set was an old Hostess set that I didn't use a lot. Now, I'm glad I still had it because of the sentiments involved in the set. It is titled Happiness Always and one of the sentiments says "Be all that you dream to be." I truly believe these young women are going to face some hurdles and I trust that the Godly women who will be guiding them are going to be "real" but will give them the heart they will need to keep striving to meet all of their dreams. God can make all things for good and we know that from His Word because He said so. I love being Andy's mom and can't imagine not having him in my world. I hope these young women will have an opportunity to enjoy motherhood while they face the setbacks and hurdles that are sure to come their way. I just know that if they stick in, trust in God and believe that He will help them through this, they will be blessed for giving their children a chance to be born and to fulfill their purpose on this earth!
God's blessings to you today!
Comments