Ripple in still waters...

This was the song that we played at our wedding while we lighted the unity candle. Most people just thought it was a cute country song, loads of people there didn't listen to the Grateful Dead. They were more my band, but because of the way they experimented, it made them his band too.

Here are the lyrics (as told by Lyrics007)
If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music
Would you hold it near as it were your own?

It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung
I don't know, don't really care
Let there be songs to fill the air

(Chorus)

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full may it be again
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of men

There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone

(Chorus)

You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall you fall alone
If you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home 


And here is why I am sharing this with you. Some of you already know, but loads of you lovely online friends don't. My husband, the man I wanted to share my whole life with finished his life three weeks ago yesterday. He shared his whole life with me and I wasn't ready for it to be over, I totally shut down for a few days, but I can't do that very long. I have an incredibly strong support system that is here for me and praying for me and lifting me up and helping me to live. 


I didn't understand why no one would let me be alone those first few days, until the first day I was alone. But I am ok. I am having good days as well as bad and that is ok too. I just wanted to share, because that's what I do. 


I would ask from each and everyone of you lovely readers to send up a prayer, not just for me, but the whole family. I can't imagine how it would feel to lose a grandchild or a son. Those are things I don't have. I have lost other people who I was close to: granparents, great aunts and uncles, an infant great nephew but this hurts more. 


Hugs,
Charity

I have a lot this year!

Happy Thanksgiving week to all my peeps here in the states! This year I have a lot to be Thankful for. As Thanksgiving is my favorite week, it is a special honor to be posting for the Vintage Heartfelt Designs Team this week!

I am so thankful to have my hands and my mind, my family (which at home consists of dh, 1 loving Kayla dog and 2 "special" kitties) who understands that I need to make a huge mess with inks, paints, and glue.

This tag was cut from a manilla file folder using the Tim Holtz Tag die and then I used his distress inks in some of my favorite colors and spritzed the life out of this tag with glimmer mist. Then I drew from some fall foliage I had lying around (um "silk" foliage in this case). I then used a scrap of sheer orange fabric and a stick pin that I made to embellish this Thankful tag. I hope you enjoyed my tag today and remember to hop over and check out Dee's blog (she's our fearless leader). I wish you all a happy week and hope that you all have plenty to give thanks for!

Christmas Gift Tag Swap

I'm hosting a Christmas Gift Tag Swap over at LSH and I have all of Group 1 in....LOVE them!!!

Day 2 of the Banners for kids blog hop lineup!

 So in case you were just catching up on your bloggys today, here is the lineup for day two. Be sure to hop along and win some candy!!!

1. Ellen ♥ CardMonkey - http://cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com
2. Michelle - http://peanutbutterandjellydesigns.blogspot.com/
3. Carol Carlson - http://cardstockscissorsandglue.blogspot.com/
4. Debbie Trevenen - http://debbiescrafttime.blogspot.com/
5. Linda Simpson - http://lindasimpsoncraftypieceofheaven.blogspot.com/
6. Rachelle - http://creationsbyrachelle.blogspot.com
7. Jamie - http://craftygirl21.blogspot.com/
8. Jess - http://www.KinderStampO.com
9. Sandra - http://www.365daysofcricut.blogspot.com
10. Cher- http://www.cherevansstudio.blogspot.com
11. Lori - http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com
12. Dena - http://missdjones.blogspot.com
13. Sandie - http://sandieshores.blogspot.com
14. Alina - http://neverstopscrapping.blogspot.com
15. Lisa L - http://craftylam.blogspot.com
16. Janet S - http://ladyluvbug.blogspot.com
17. Beckie - http://justbcreativecrazy.blogspot.com

Christmas is for Kids Banner Hop! Welcome Hoppers!!!

Welcome to my blog! Thanks so much for coming by, if you came here from Pam at Scrapbook Flair then you have come to the right place, if not... just go back and start at the beginning over at Ellen's.

We are all geared up for the hop today because we have made holiday banners for special needs children, ages newborn to 21 who reside at Pediatric Specialty Care which is a group home for medically-fragile, technologically-dependent children in Bucks County, PA. I am honored to be a part of this hop and encourage you to visit every last stop both today and tomorrow (I'll be posting tomorrow's links for you then).

So for the details on my banner: I used Cosmo Cricket's Odds and Ends 6x6 paper pack and the Tutorial from Theresa Collins at MyCraftChannel to  "create" my banner pieces. (and to stitch them together, it just photographed much nicer before the putting together...)

The letters are American Crafts Thickers in the font Umbrella that I painted with a purplely acrylic paint then covered with crystal colored stickles. The snowmen are from a TPC studio stamp set that I purchased last year, but I have seen them re-released this year in a rubber cling mount set rather than acrylic like mine.  The little creamy snowflakes are hand-cut from the paper collection and the ink used to outline the pieces is from a Colorbox petal box of chalk ink (I didn't get the stickers on the petals so I could know my colors...I've had them forever)

I kept having ideas for really vintagy girly banners, but I wanted to make something that would work for anyone, especially a boy, which I thought might like some slightly glittered snowy elements, but still something a little boyish. Comments are welcomed everyone, and don't forget to go on over to  Jessica next. Enjoy the hop!

Here's the full line up for today! 

1. Ellen ♥ CardMonkey - http://cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com
2. Ashley - http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com
3. Lori at http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com
4. Susan - http://susanascorner.blogspot.com/
5. Shawnee - http://www.blessedonthebrightside.com
6. Bobbi Jo http://sweetsassydiva.com
7. Gina - http://californiascrappin-gcinderella21.blogspot.com/
8. Donna Lee - http://ottersln.blogspot.com/
9. Nancy - http://blog.fancywithnancy.com
10. Pam - http://pammejo-scrapbookflair.blogspot.com/
11. Charity - http://scrapfaire.blogspot.com
12. Jessica - http://thecreativestamperspot.blogspot.com/
13. Denise - http://vintageheartfeltdesigns.blogspot.com
14. Edwina - http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com
15. Jennifer - http://craftycardgallery.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween 2011!!!

Oh happy sugar comas today! I am so excited thinking about how it will be to go to work decked out in my halloweeny scrubs with my special hat on! I'll def take a pic to keep you posted, but in the meantime I got in several swaps last week and thought you might like to share with me so here goes:

So I bid you farewell for now, I'm trying to get this autopost thingy down pat and hope (I'm crossing my fingers) that it starts working for now... Ok so I know I've user-errored it in the past LOL! But there will be some more minis to come, I'm inspired to make one for us... we did some halloweeny stuff last weekend that I want to document so stay tuned... (and be careful, you can go into a sugar coma if you aren't careful).

More Fall/Halloween Projects

So I have been swapping stuff like mad this month and here are a few more things I have made:

Halloween ATCs

A recycled T-shirt necklace (I do not know what happened to the first part of the video:

A Halloween Mini that I made to swap:

And my Tussie-Mussie that I made for my swap at LSH (it was a thankful/thanksgiving themed Tussie-Mussie swap)

Thanks for watching, and if you have any questions, let me know...

Reporting on my first class!

Ok, so I gave you possibly the worst sneaky ever of my mini class ever. So sorry about that. I think I finally have the scheduling thing down for blogger and I've fixed my camera so hopefully no more bad posting LOL! Here are photos of the mini all the way through:

I'm really happy with how it turned out. Everyone personalized their book and tags, I gave them plenty more embellishments to do that with. I just love the ephemera that I found wandering around online and everyone who took the class felt the exact same way. I love this die cut set from Accucut. I'm not sure what it's called, but it is available for me to use at my LSS and I love using their diecut center!

TFL!

Charity

Fall into Minis!

So I'm very excited to be posting today as a Vintage Heartfelt Designs team member. Today's project was to be fall themed, and that's my favorite time of year. My project for today is a sneak of my very first class, a Thanksgiving/Fall themed Mini!

Stay tuned until tomorrow for a peek through this awesome little book!

Teaching!

I know I've already mentioned the Teach Like a Rock Star Class, but I wanted to just let you all know how much I'm enjoying it. I love listening to the teachers every morning and following along. My confidence has grown in such leaps and bounds that I finally bit the bullet, I mean if you just wait around forever for someone to ask you to do something you want to do, you could be waiting a long, long time. So when I went to crop a couple of weeks ago and finished my halloween mini, and my lovely friends were looking at it, then someone asked when I was going to teach a class, I just set a date LOL! This Saturday is Scrap Pink at Eclectica and I'm going to teach a Thanksgiving/Fall themed mini there. Wow! Can you believe it? I hope this is the first of many classes! My goals are very straightforward...
1.This project must be finishable (the crop is 12 hours but my plan is to have this complete asap so we can work on other stuff). One of my friends will not be able to attend so I'm sending her her kit with complete instructions.
2. We must have fun.
3. Everyone should LOVE the project. (I mean, people gave me money for this class with the project sight unseen, and just based on them liking the stuff they've already seen me do.) (Talk about getting a healthy dose of ego)

I've had some moments of panic (um... like trying to find the "perfect paper" in this time frame) and finally started really kitting the class last night. I think it's going to be AWESOME!

Hugs and wish me luck!

Posting for the Breast Cancer Awareness Blog Hop (my stop)!

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  Hello everyone and welcome to the Breast Cancer Awareness blog hop!! We want to spread the news about this deadly disease that could be cured if it is diagnosed in time. I know that each and everyone of us has been touched by someone with cancer or has had it themselves. Please invite your family and friends to participate in the hop. Losing a family member, friend or even our pets is very difficult. I hope you all hop through this journey with us. 

  
  

  If you just arrived from Brynn's blog, you are at the right place. 

  
  

  If you have just come to check out my blog this morning, the hop begins over at Vintage Heartfelt Designs she has a bag of goodies as well as a gift certificate to give away today, and others have prizes on their blogs as well, so get to hopping! At the end of the hop, be sure to go let Dee know which project you liked the most. To be eligible to win, you must comment and become a follower of each blog in the hop. If you are already a follower, please mention that in the comment. 

  
  

  Our assignment was to make something Pink for this hop and here's my project:

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  The mask is decoupaged with vintage music paper that I dyed pink with Glimmermist in SWAK and Vintage Pink (no real science about it, I just misted it until it  was the color I liked). I used Making Memories Glitter to line the eyes and some lace that was white but I sprayed it with Maya Mist until it was black and stuck some bling and feathers around to finish it off. The flower started as a white Prima but then I used the same combo of Glimmermists as well as some of the Silver Metal mixative by Ranger to bring in some silver. Those are the giant Bazzil Blings.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Now for the best part, this is a sponsored blog hop (yes, that means prizes...(Holla!)!

  
  

  Our first sponsor is Jillian Vance who's favorite color is pink and who will be offering a set of her stamps.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

    Our second sponsor is Micelle from Cloud 9. She is offering a $20.00 gift certificate to use on her site.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Your next stop along this hop is over at VinDeeLoo enjoy your hop and don't forget to comment.

  
  

  In case you get lost, or are just starting, here's the lineup:

  
  

  1. Denise - http://vintageheartfeltdesigns.blogspot.com/

  2. Kari - http://purplefuntastickcreations.wordpress.com/

  3. Faith - http://faithfulecreations.com

  4. Haidee- http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/

  5. Becky - http://beckscricards.blogspot.com

  6. Bunny - http://bunnyrunswithscissors.blogspot.com/

  7. Jillian - http://princessandthepaper.blogspot.com/

  8. Amy Jo - http://lv2scrapandfibrofacts.blogspot.com

  9. Gill  - http://creationsbygillm.blogspot.com

  10. Jennifer -http://craftycardgallery.blogspot.com/

  11. Paula D http://www.scrapyourworld1.blogspot.com 

  12. Tonya Wilson- http://creativeaddictiontopaper.blogspot.com/

  13. Debbie Trevenen  http://debbiescrafttime.blogspot.com/

  14. Carol Carlson http://cardstockscissorsandglue.blogspot.com/

  15. Pam Bray  http://pammejo-scrapbookflair.blogspot.com/

  16. Linda Simpson  http://lindasimpsoncraftypieceofheaven.blogspot.com/

  17. Linda Jover  http://lindaspinkcraftroom.com

  18. Michelle Peak  http://queenofmycraftroom.blogspot.com/

  19. Ellen Jarvis  http://www.cardmonkey-business.blogspot.com

  20. Jearise  http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com/

  21. Brynn  http:// www.flairandfrillscreativity.blogspot.com

  22. Charity Donaldson http://scrapfaire.blogspot.com (YOU ARE HERE)

  
  

  23. VinDeeLoo (Denise Lewis) http://vindeeloosthisnthat.blogspot.com

  24. Jamie http://craftygirl21.blogspot.com/

  25. Donna Lee http://ottersln.blogspot.com/

  26. Rachelle Larsen- http://creationsbyrachelle.blogspot.com

  27. Kristy Asche - http://scraptasticalkreations.blogspot.com 

  28. Sylvia- www.bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com

  29. Cathy http://deesdesignsfrommyheart.blogspot.com

  30. Sandra www.365daysofcricut.blogspot.com

  
  

  
  

  I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you, if you haven't already please get your pet or all future pets spayed and neutered. Spaying decreases your female pet's chance of developing mammary tumors (among other things)(as well as neutering will pretty much wipe out the chance your male will get testicular cancer). In case you are new here, I work at an animal hospital so I'm not just a spouting fanatic, I see it everyday. The saddest conditions are the ones that could have been prevented.
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Evidence that I'm getting Happy Mail LOL!

So I filmed a couple of quick yt vids today that I'm gonna share. The first is of the box I received from my Pizza Box swap partner from LSH. She's from Canada and we mailed boxes to each other on Monday...and I already got it, AWESOME!!

The second happy mail was my tags back from the Artsy Addicts Swap!

I am so happy you stopped by to watch what I've been up to! Be sure and come back tomorrow for the blog hop!

Craft a Little, Craft a LOT!

So I have been crafting away. I love swapping with the folks over at LSH and most of my projects this month have been for swaps lately (and sadly I forgot to photograph somethings I really wanted to share, but I'll share those when they come back)! I actually committed to almost too many and I'm going to have to be very careful not to do so many in the future LOL (as I have been working more at my day job). 

I made this Tussie Mussie for my goddaughter Alana. I think she'll like it, it has kitties on the paper, and some bling hanging from the end.

This is my first 6x6 card. It was really fun to make, and this image came from Tiddly Inks. I just love her images! I have tried coloring some of the vampire images, but haven't really colored an image that I am happy with except for this awesome coffin. I included this card in a swap that I did.

These are some journalling spots that I made to swap. I'm really most proud of the birdcage spots. I also really, really like the spot made with the Lawn Fawn stamp shaped like a polaroid.

I had never really concentrated on making journalling spots before. I think that if it's something you haven't tried, it might really help you out. I like to do projects like this (small ones that aren't for anything specific) if I'm having trouble getting inspired. I also like to spend those times when I need to be creative, but it's not coming on practicing my coloring or just making embellishments like handmade flowers that I know I will use in the future.

What do you do when you have some time when you need to create, but you just can't find a project that inspires?

hugs,

Charity

Ever want to teach crafts?

I have wanted to teach (like in a class, not sitting trying to complete my projects and then spend my night teaching how I made that first embellishment on a LO that is now not going to be finished at the crop). I love teaching people how to do new things. In fact, I have done "make and takes" with my group of scrap buddies that went really well, but we did our samples and then we cropped.
Anyways, I have been interested in the teaching thing for a while and not really sure how to pursue it so I was super excited to see the announcement on FB about the "Teach Crafts Like a Rock Star" come out.
One of the awesome instructors is having a giveaway, so if you are interested, you should sign up. You can't go wrong signing up early, they'll refund your money if you win.
Just thought I'd share (um and increase my chances to win...). I hope to see you there!

Hugs

Set your Calendar....October 1st!

That is the date of the Breast Cancer Awareness Blog Hop. This will be my first official hop with the Vintage Heartfelt Designs DT and I'm SO EXCITED!!! There will be loads of prizes for you to win and some awesome inspiration! I can't wait.... so don't be late. Put this date on whatever form of calendar that you use...and get ready to hop, hop, hop!

Tweaked and mailed.

I tweaked the Mask I was working on for the LSH swap, and then sent it out.

I also worked on some holiday goodies for the godchildren. This is the first actual Tussie-Mussie I have made. I am hosting a swap at LSH for Thankful themed Tussie-Mussies and decided to make some Halloweeny ones for some special people.

Here is the video of me putting this one together:

Also, if you'd like to see the mask I received from the swap, I made an opening video:

Isn't that just wonderful. I'm definately going to be making some more masks myself and that one is SUPER inspiring!!!

Let me know what you think of my recent projects.

More to come,

Hugs!

Exciting week, exciting news!

Ok, so this has been an exciting week at work, I am getting to work as a technician (animal nurse) and that is so exciting to me. I'm happy to be off work today because we have stuff to do around here, but there is an exciting case going on with a pet and I'm just dying to see how it turns out. Anyway... I have been crafting. Rather a lot as of late. I'm getting lots of swaps and things ready to go. I have been making flowers:

I had a little of this material left over and I made some flowers for an online friend who makes the cutest vids with her dh. She has the cutest blog as well where she sells awesome trims and charms...check it out.

I also got inspired to try my hand at paper piecing and have been practicing my copic skills. They aren't where I want them yet, but practice makes perfect, right?

I have another card that I could NOT get a decent pic of, but I'm gonna share it anyways because I think you get the gist, and I liked it...

Other than that I just cleared my messy table

Guess I should have taken an "after", huh?

Oh, and the MOST exciting thing, I was asked to join a design team!!! Can you believe it??? I am the newest member of Vintage Heartfelt Designs. So why don't you hop on over to that blog and give them a shoutout saying Charity sent you!

Thanks so much for all your support everyone!

Hugs!!

Labor of Love

Ok, so I was working on swaps all weekend and we had some TERRIBLE rainy blah stuff yesterday so I don't have photos today but I did take a bad photo of the favorite thing I finished this weekend... are you ready for this:

Seriously, wish I could keep this, I added a couple of things after this photo and will take some better pics as soon as I get a chance, I want to show you everything!

Right now you need to have a great Tuesday after the Holiday...Crossing my own fingers!

Seriously folks, it's Monday and I did something.

Ok, so I am in a swap at LSH (I really REALLY love the swaps there). And this swap is making journalling spots. It's awesome mainly because it's swapping with a small group and because I haven't really made just journalling spots before. Here's my first attempt:

I also finished up some tags for an Artsy Addicts swap. I forgot to film the ones I sent in to swap, but I still had to finish mine so that motivated me to go ahead and finish it!

Sorry the audio's a bit poor here but I am up past my bedtime finishing up and recording. Wish me luck staying alert at work tomorrow ( or just wish me extra cups of coffee LOL!)

Thanks for dropping by!

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

Thanks to Random.org the winner of the My Memories Suite giveaway is:

Number 6

lydbug said...

Hi. Awesome lo. I've been looking for a divi software to try.
Thanks for the giveaway..

Lydbug1@gmail.com

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

CONGRATULATIONS!

So Lydbug I'm sending your gmail to Liz at MMS who will send you your download info. Don't forget if you weren't the winner you can still get the big discount found in this post!  (btw sorry about drawing on the 29th instead of the 28th, I learned to wax a car yesterday and then was out for the count LOL)

Mini Swap with Deanna at LSH!

WARNING: this post is photo H-E-A-V-Y

So I was in another mini swap at LSH. Here is the mini that I sent to my partner (beware, I got a new tool and it "rocks" and so I talk about it quite a bit).

This is the mini I received:

The construction on this is amazing, I kept trying to figure out what kind of album it was...she made this out of chipboard, envelopes and masking tape...awesome!

Now for some still shots: (This is the full album, but I didn't pull out tags and stuff)

The next two are more detailed of the front cover: