the paper plunge #9 and the card concept #23-visions of santa

hi there tracey, momma, friends old and new!

this week at the paper plunge, we are keeping it simple!  our theme is clean and simple...and as you know, i think this is a hard style for me!  here is what i came up with:

stamp set:  visions of santa

ink:  momento tuxedo black, real red, crumb cake

cardstock:  crumb cake, real red and santa & co. dsp

extras:  (retired)red satin ribbon, sponge

i also entered this card at the card concept for their #23 challenge using this theme.  i consider this a layered clean and simple card.

i know these dancing santas from the stamp set visions of santa are a little creepy to some, but i love them! these weird little dancing men bring a smile to my face every time!

i guess maybe my fussy cutting happened anyway while i wasn't looking...i used the technique of paper piecing to give this guy fancy pajamas and a 3-d beard.  so, although this is a simple card, i had to go and complicate it a bit anyway!  

i once read, "the most simple things can bring the most happiness".  i am going to remember that as we approach the holidays head on.  i am going to use those words as an anchor for enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season ahead.  baking cookies, making cards, cooking pierogies, buying/wrapping gifts...all of these things are simple joys for me, however, will sometimes cause stress...not this year!  they are all things that bring me happiness...i'm going to remember that!

thank you for stopping by today!

i appreciate you-

until next time,

peace be with you

leslie

the paper plunge #8...we are grateful for you!

hi tracey, momma and friends old and new!

at the paper plunge we are expressing our gratitude to those of you who have joined us for our first seven challenges...and are looking forward to what you will create this week-#8!

the theme for this week's challenge is 'giving thanks'...creating a card that shows gratitude.  whether it is a thanksgiving card or a thank you card is up to you.  here is what i created:

ink:  chocolate chip

stamp set:  lots of thanks, hardwood

cardstock:  chocolate chip, crushed curry, pear pizzazz, very vanilla, crumb cake

extras:  perfect polka dots ef, flower frenzy bigz, autumn designer washi tape, burlap, banners framelits, motley monster designer paper, crimper

pretty self explanatory, i guess.  

i also added this to the challenge at the paper players #222 for their challenge of gratitude as well!

when i began this blog, i promised i would be positive always...i lied-but bear with me. 

it was a really hard, emotional day...just some parenting junk that comes with having a learning disabled young man in the house.  boy, was i having a huge pity party for myself! as i was writing this post, i thought it would be appropriate for my quote to be one of gratitude, since that is the theme.  as i was searching for just the perfect one, i came across this quote from buddah...

"let us rise up and be grateful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we did get sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."  

that just made me chuckle.

although i am glad today is over, i am reminded quite simply, other people have it much worse than me.  i'll be fine.  dan will be fine.  i need to remember my life is good...everyday.

thank you for stopping by today-

i appreciate you.

peace be with you

p.s.  as a special education teacher, i have often shared a particular essay, written by emily pearl kingsley, a parent of a special needs child, with the parents in my class.  i thought it was time i read it again...

"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland."