Sweetie Pie #3 - Doing Nothing With You

Hello Again My Friends and welcome to installment #3 of my Quick and Simple Sweetie Pie cards for my girls.

Darling daughter #3 and I happen to enjoy bird-watching together and can't wait to go out again in the Spring.  Now I will admit that in all of our hours spent traipsing the fields and brush, there have been several occasions when we saw nothing more interesting than a sparrow.  Yet the time spent together was - and is - gold.

I remember one of the first times we spent on an outing, when we came up relatively empty-handed (empty-binoculared?).  Yet DD#3 put her hand into mine as we walked, smiled up at me and told me that it was the best day ever - and she'd rather spend that time with me and see nothing, than not have our time together.

Do you know, even when I am working on the computer and she is reading, she usually comes and settles herself beside me (and I mean *right* beside me!) - because being "together doing nothing" is better than being apart.

So this card - just a simple card with some birds and branches and my own little Sweetie Pie - says it all.  And being able to pull the silver thread out of the Silver Baker's Twine and wrap it around the card means I could add just enough sparkle to match the sparkle in DD#3's eyes and smile!

Just so you know, despite the fact that the Sweetie Pie images are all girls, I actually have a Sweetie Pie card for my son!  And my darling hubby too!  You'll have to check back tomorrow to see installments #4 and #5 in my Love-My-Family Sweetie Pie series!!

Sweetie Pie stamp set #136849

In the meantime, I hope you've had a wonderful weekend.  I certainly have. 
God Bless you all,    ~Cynthia   <><

Product List
Stamp : Serene Silhouettes Clear-Mount Stamp Set [127324] , From My Heart [132007], Sweetie Pie Photopolymer Stamp Set [136849]
Ink : Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad [131179] , Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] , Versamark Pad [102283] , Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad [126986]
Card Stock : Island Indigo 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock [122923] , Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]
Tools & Adhesive : Stamping Sponges [101610]
Punch : 1-3/4 Inch Scallop Circle Punch [119854] , 1-3/8 Inch Circle Punch [119860] , Extra-Large Oval Punch [119859] , Decorative Label Punch [120907]
Accessory : Black Stampin' Emboss Powder [109133] , Silver Baker's Twine [132976]
Big Shot : Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die [119976]

Thankful Thursday - From My (Golden) Heart

Hello Dear Friends

Another Thankful Thursday and I have LOTS to be thankful for - as always!  But today I am going to focus on something from the past.  You see, for reasons that are not important here, today I was remembering some fantastic sister demos that I met a year and a half ago in Salt Lake City at my first (and so far, only) Stampin' Up! Convention.

I was at Convention with 5000 women from all over North America - yet I was alone. 
My upline did not attend Convention. 
I was new and really didn't know very many people. 
And I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed. 

When I registered at the Convention Awards desk, I found out that I had achieved a fantastic honour - a phenomenal honour - Founders' Circle - but there I was, standing alone, without friends or family.  I didn't really have anyone to share my excitement with.  And it was awkward and lonely, to say the least.  Enter two wildly generous and uber-friendly SU! demonstrators from western Canada.  "Strangers' - yes.  But not for long.  These women instantly took me under their wing and told me I needed a hug (and they were right!).  Minutes after introducing ourselves, it was as if we were old friends!  And then later at the Awards Night itself, they let me tag along with their entire group and dance with joy and abandon.

Lauren and Rebecca -- and Cheryl, Fran, Heidi and Leanne......I am not certain you know just how grateful I am for the way you took me under your wing?!?  And since then, although we have not been geographically close, I have gotten to keep in touch via facebook - I've watched your lives unfold and shared in some ups and downs with you.

If I could hug each of you now to say Thank You, I would.  But in the absence of geographical closeness, let me just say Thank You From the Bottom of My Heart, for blessing my life with your smiles and support and encouragement.

Moving on to today's card then:
I love letting gold vellum and gold sequins do all the heavy lifting to add "oomph" to a card.  Pretty wonderful the way you can use adhesive behind the little gold hearts to glue down the vellum, without unsightly adhesive marks, right?  And that bit of gold foil showing from behind the gold-embossed sentiment - just enough to be classy without being overpowering.  



Did you know that this stamp set (From My Heart) is on sale this week for 25% off?  It is a wonderful set and it has never, ever before been offered for such a phenomenal price!  if you want to order it while it is such a deal, go online, or contact me.  You won't be sorry!

I hope all of you take time today to think of all those random and sporadic chance encounters that bless you - Go ahead, be thankful for them!  Be thankful for those strangers who instantly become close friends.  The kind that are meant to be cherished and remembered and appreciated.  If only from a distance......

God Bless you all.
Have a wonderful weekend,    ~Cynthia     <><

• From My Heart
• Gold Foil Sheets
• Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum
• Gold Sequin Trim
• Versamark Pad
• Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Stampin' Dimensionals
• Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive
• Circles Collection Framelits Dies
• Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies
• Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
• Heat Tool

Thankful Thursday - Thankful For Founder's Circle and....

I can tell you this friends - no one is more blessed than I am right now!!

I enjoyed myself immensely at Founder's Circle last week.  I was pampered and treated like royalty.  I met and made friends with some remarkable and truly wonderful ladies.  Then I returned home to be reminded of how much I am loved and appreciated by my husband and children. 
And then I held a few successive club nights and had the opportunity to share my creative passion with customers (aka FRIENDS) - who also let me share with them my joys and stories about Founder's Circle!  I am blessed.  Truly and overwhelmingly blessed!

Life is so very good.  And I am thankful!  So here is my Thankful Thursday card for today.  Each of my club members will receive one of these with their September orders because I am truly thankful for each and every one of them!  I would not have achieved Founder's Circle, Rising Star or Fiji without them.  And even without the awards and achievements - my life would be just a little bit poorer without each and every one of them.

Supply List
Stamps - From My Heart
Paper - Whisper White, Midnight Muse
Ink - Midnight Muse
Big Shot -  Window Frame Collection Framelits
Tools and Accessories - Paper Piercing Pack Essentials, Paper Piercer, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

One of my favourite things about this card is the wonderful effect you can achieve with the piercing tool.

Notice the piercing around the Midnight Muse piece, and also the base white card?  What an inexpensive way to add an interesting and attractive accent to a card.

Well - I have about 50 of these cards to make so I am going to get started on that now.  (I told you - I have a LOT of reasons to be thankful!).  In the meantime, may you each be blessed to recognize the many things for which you should be thankful!

God Bless you all,      ~Cynthia    <><