A Defining Moment

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A Defining Moment:  A point at which the essential nature or character

of a person, group, etc.,  is revealed or identified.

This photo taken many, many years ago by a high-school yearbook photographer

captures a defining moment for me.  It reveals the essence of who I am. 

I was a senior in high school - only 16 years old at the time and barely broke

100 pounds on the scale.  I had just been accepted into one of the nation's best

engineering schools which had started accepting female applicants only a couple

of years before (thank you Title 9).  I wanted to take in the fun of senior year. 

I left my musical instruments and dawned a flag for the school color guard. 

I challenged the school board to allow me to take Machine Shop so that

I could be better prepared for college engineering classes. 

I was the first female student to work a lathe in that school.

I'll never forget the (male) instructor's face when I came to class

this day and started working on my project.

I had no idea that this photo was taken until yearbook came out.

It is one of my favorite photos - it gets me.



To my loving parents -

Thank you for always encouraging me to be all that I can be,

For always reminding me to never let anyone stand in

the way of my dreams and passion, 

And for being great examples of God's shining light.

Wishing all of you find your defining moment and in that moment be blessed by Our Lord's grace,

Only A Fool Argues With The Cook

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How many cookbooks are too many

for one household to own?

Seven?

Twenty-two?



Fifty-three?



Oh and don't forget these ...



Ninety - four.

Yes, ninety-four cookbooks are too many

cookbooks for one household to own.

(Must remember to tell friends and family not

to buy us any more cookbooks - unless they

personally authored and signed it just for me.)

Peter Walsh, author of It's All Too Much

suggests using post-it notes to help sort through

which cookbooks to keep and which cookbooks to move on.

I got Post-it notes.

Over the next year, I will judiciously sort through

the cookbooks.  Post-it notes will flag any recipes

that I want to keep.  If less than ten recipes are flagged,

the recipes will be scanned using NeatReceipts

and the cookbook moved on for someone else to

love and treasure. 

My Goal:  To keep only twelve cookbooks.

Wish me luck!

Link Ups:  

Princess Wishes for Mackenzie

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Someone has a birthday coming up soon.

Our littlest princess, Mackenzie.

For Mackenzie's birthday card inspiration came from

this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge.

The challenge was to emboss an element on a card.

It's been a long time since I used embossing and

it was fun to pull out my old supplies.

For this card, I used tangerine Chalk ink and then

sprinkled clear embossing powder over the ink.

A few seconds under the gun and

presto ... chango ...

an embossed medallion.

 Princess wishes for Mackenzie soon to

be sent on their way!

Papertrey Ink Products: Tiny Treats Birthday Stamp Set and Vintage Buttons

Wishing a girl who's a princess, a birthday that makes all your sweet dreams come true - With magical moments, surprises and laughter, and smiles in your heart to keep ever after!

Sending Loving Thoughts

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You may have noticed that a new gadget was added

to the sidebar to keep count of the number of

handcrafted cards made for charity.

The two primary charities to which cards are donated are

Send Love Today

and

Operation Write Home.

Through Send Love Today each crafter is paired with

an individual fighting brain cancer and cards are sent

every week over a two month period.  A new pair is

assigned every two months.  It's a great way

to help directly influence someone's day.

Through Operation Write Home cards are sent in bulk

to a handler who sorts and organizes the cards and

then forwards them to active military personnel so that

our heroes can stay in touch with loved ones at home.



As you can see I'm about one-fourth of the way

to meeting my goal for the year.  I'm always

looking for sources of inspiration. 

CR84FN Color Challenge always provides a

source of color inspiration.

This week's color challenge: to use the colors

kraft, green and brown.



Here's what I came up with. 

Illustration from the Graphic's Fairy.

This card is similar to one I made last week (here),

but how different it looks with these colors.

I made another with less detail for Send Love Today.

Please consider joining one or both of these organizations, and put a smile on someone's face!

Evening Inspiration

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It's a calm and gentle evening here

in the Pacific Northwest.

A nice ending to a beautiful day.

The birds are singing their songs.

I wonder where the cayote lies.

Sometimes he beds in the brush near the apple tree.

Maggie is taking in all of the evening news

on the island as she sniffs the air.

The sun gently warms my toes as it too takes to bed.

I sip a cup of warm tea and think about

a design for this week's Get Sketchy Challenge.

Something with aqua blue - the color of the sky to the north.

Something with a bird like the one singing in the tree.

Something for Easter perhaps.

An Easter treasure from The Graphics Fairy.
Isn't she wonderful?!

Pull some lace from my sewing basket ...

And some felt and a button too ...

A piece of paper from my scrap binder ...

Need something round  - a doily - yes that will do nicely ...

Clip Clip ... Snip Snip ...

A little glue here and here and there ...

Taa Daa ....

May the glory and the promise of this joyous time of year

Bring peace and happiness to you

and those you hold most dear,

And may Christ, Our Risen Saviour,

always be there by your side

To bless you most abundantly

and be your loving guide.

Linking Up To: Razamataz - Outdoor Photo Challenge   and

    



Sending More Love

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The Graphics Fairy

I just love the Graphics Fairy! 

Every day she leaves little vintage treasures

for you and me to find.

Here are a couple of pretties that I found

in her treasure chest.

I used them to create little notes for

my Send Love Today assignment.

Spring is in the air ...

I added a little bit of feathery yarn from my
stash to enhance the features of the bird's nest.
Sending My Prayers was graphically added to the image
using Powerpoint.  Image found here.

A bird does not sing because it has an answer.

It sings because it has a song.

Linking Up To: 

 

Make It Monday Challenge

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Taking a break from Spring Cleaning fun ...

This week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday Challenge was

to make a card using the ink blending technique.

Background Paper: Papertrey Ink Royal Velvet Cardstock and
Egg Hunt Patterned Paper
Ink Blending: Papertrey Ink Vintage Duo Ink

Similar card using different color scheme.

A sweet pair -  one for my Send Love Today assignment and

one for Operation Write Home.

4/7/11 Update:   Linking up to Totally Hues Challenge #5