True Story - A Short Walk to the Edge of Life

 It all started when Scott Hubbartt went for a walk in the high Peruvian puna (plateau) in the high desert region of the Andes Mountains.  Only the hardiest of living things can survive in its barren, dry, windswept, and rocky terrain.  Scott’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law were not excited about the walk he planned and would start the next day.  “But they had come to expect some impulsive, even crazy ideas” from Scott, so they only advised him to use a guide.  Tia Clara, his wife’s aunt, warned Scott to take a guide.   And Scott’s wife Carito cautioned him, “. . . please be careful, and please use a guide.”  Even the locals warned him that no one goes that way because it is too dangerous

 Scott admitted that sometimes he was a poor listener and that these were some of those times.  He was completely confident in his ability to walk in the mountains and even camp overnight if need be.  He was an Air Force combat veteran and had training in survival skills.  It would be just a walk in the park.  But it wasn’t!

Supposedly, this trek was to be only a five to eight hour walk, but Scott soon found himself hopelessly lost.  It turned into a five-day nightmare bringing Scott to a desperate and near-death experience.

I was astounded by the number of things that Scott experienced:  loss of his glasses, compasses that no longer worked properly, thirst, hunger, his skin, clothes, and shoes being torn up from the cactus needles and rocky terrain, exhaustion, attempting to eat an ant in the hope of finding a small food source but instead his tongue felt like it had been set on fire, it swelled and protruded from his mouth, a very close encounter with a snake, realizing that he was totally alone and totally lost, and so much more.  It was only when Scott finally came to the realization that he was not able to do anything to save himself and to completely place his faith and fate in God’s hands, even if it meant his death, that his circumstances began to change.

This true story of a man’s courageous struggle -- physically, mentally, and spiritually – really touched me and I believe it will touch you also.  Scott believes that he was spared only by the direct intervention of God and that it made a forever change in his life.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Sending a Hug in Blue, Green, & Purple


 
After spending a "pleasant" morning with my dental hygienist, it seemed a good idea to relax in front of my computer and do another post to the blog.  Actually, it's always pleasant to visit Lona.  She's a delightful woman and I love her entertaining chit chat.  I believe she even understands my guttural responses. 

So here is what I have for you today.  I saw a card very similar to this one made by Michelle Woerner.  The cheerful and bright colors captivated me and I knew I just had to make one.  There were only a few card details, so I decided to write up some directions for future reference and now I'll share those with you so you can make the card, too.

 Directions
1.  Top fold an 11” x 5 ½” piece of card stock.

2.    Cut a 2”x6” strip of patterned paper.  Attach at an angle.  Trim sides.

3.    On the die cut label, use a dots stencil to sponge ink on it, starting in the upper left   corner, gradually fading the color as you move down.

4.    Stamp sentiment on the right side of the label about 1/3 of the way down from the top.

5.    Edge the label with a Wink of Stella clear glimmer brush.

6.    Lay label aside to dry.

7.    Curl ends of petals, then layer the lighter shade flower onto the darker shade flower.

8.    Next, layer the two smaller flowers onto the large flower, brush smallest flower with Wink of Stella clear glimmer brush, and finish off with a pearl in the center.

9.    Using a 10” piece of ribbon, tie a small bow.

10.Using a 15” piece of twine, tie a large bow.

     Final Assembly

1.    Attach the label slightly off center towards the right and glue the ribbon bow on the right side of the label.

2.     On the left side of the label, glue the twine bow in place with the flower on top.

3.     Glue on the leaves and the flourish.

Tools:

Punch:  EK Success Swirl Flourish Punch

Dies:  Cheery Lynn Designs Large Leaves #2

              Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Two

                  Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Florals  



Fluttering Butterflies

What a beautiful day outside! 
I could hardly bring myself inside but for the fact that I needed to be out of the sun for a while and cool off.  So while I'm having an iced drink and dropping my body temperature, I'll share a couple of cards that I taught in my class this week.    They are basically the same except for the color selection of the butterflies for each card.

 

These are clean and simple cards, but still have a touch of elegance to them, and are really fun to make.  I think it must be the butterfly effect.  I love, love, love butterflies - can't resist them.  Really, it's almost as bad as my craving for chocolate! 

 

So, here are a few card details in case you would like to make one.  Have fun!

 

Black CS - 5 1/2x 4 1/4  -  cut one

White CS 4 12 x 3 12   -  cut two, one for outside & inside

Gold glossy CS

Various colors of pattern paper

 

Dies:  Technique Tuesday "Hello"; QuicKutz "Nesting Ovals"

 

Punches:  Several sizes of Martha Stewart Butterflies or whatever brand you have;

All Night Media "Small Butterfly"

 

Add a butterfly to the inside of the card on the white paper.

 

 Uhmm, time to go check my flower garden for butterflies. 'Bye for now!

Embossing on Patterned Paper

Hello again!

Are you ready to try something different?  Let me share with you some of the fun things that have been going on around here.

During card making with some of my friends this afternoon, the card pictured is one of the cards we made.  I cased the basic idea from Jennifer McQuire, but made a few changes in the layout.  Three tips that I learned from Jennifer are:  (1) to distress both edges of each strip; (2) emboss an image on patterned card stock; and (3) to outline the embossed image with a grey Copic marker which made the white image stand out a bit more.

While browsing at Craft Warehouse last week, I discovered foam sheets with a self-adhesive backing.  How cool is that!  I die cut the "hello" from a black sheet of it.  Just loved the result!  Now it's my new favorite thing.  The foam cuts very nicely and provided a nice dimensional word.  Now it's your turn and all the information you need is included below.  Have fun!

Finished Card Size:  4 ¼ x 5 ½ top folded.

Cut:   white card stock for card - 11 x 4 ¼

          small piece of white card stock - 5 ½ x 3
          2 solid color strips – 5 ½ x ¼
          1 patterned card stock - 5 ½ x ½
          2 strips -  use different patterned card stock for each one- 5½ x ½
          1 strip with pattern different from first 2 – 5 ½ x 1

All strips should be of coordinating colors.

 Die Cut:  the word “Hello” from black self-adhesive foam sheet.  Alternatively, you can use regular black card stock and glue the word onto the card.  (Technique Tuesday die)

1.              Score and fold your card, and set aside.

2.              Use distress ink on the sides of all strips.  For the colors of the card stock that I chose, I used Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers and Shabby Shutters.

3.               Now we will work on the strip of white card stock.  Use adhesive along all sides and then several times on the body of the strip.

4.              Begin layering the strips according to the card sample or make your own design.

5.              Be sure to snuggle them up tight against one another.

6.              Using adhesive, diagonally layer the striped piece to the card

7.              Trim the excess off both sides of the card.

8.              The next step is to emboss the flower stamp over the patterned strips.

9.              Be sure to use an Embossing Buddy first in order to keep excess embossing powder from sticking to the card stock.

10.          After embossing with white embossing powder, use a tiny brush to remove any powder that may be left on the piece.

11.          To make the white flower stand out a little more, lightly trace around it using a grey Copic marker.  I used #N1, neutral grey.

12.          Last step – peel the backing off the word and stick onto the striped piece, then glue 3 black sequins under the word. (Doodlebug Designs sequins pack)

The Magic of Red Dragonflies!

Hello stamping friends,

Finally, I had time to make a screen card.  I've been ogling them on Pinterest and Face Book and YouTube, so at last I got organized and made one, and now I want to share it with you.

This color combination is one of my favorites.  It's easy on the eyes and seems restful to me, even with the red dragonflies.  

The measurements are:  Card:  11" x 6 1/2"; Panels:  4 1/2" x 2 1/2"

 1.  Cut the black card stock to size.

 2.  Use a decorative border punch across the top.

 3.  Score the black card stock at 2 3/4", 5 1/2", and 8 1/4".

 4.  Punch the legs using the Stampin' Up label punch.

 5.  Score across the top of the card just below the punched border, about 1/8", then

      score across again below the first score line.

 6.  Score across the bottom of the card just above the punched legs, about 1/8", then

      score again above that score line.

 7.  Fold your card - mountain, valley, mountain.

 8.  Cut the panels from decorative scrapbook paper or card stock.

 9.  Layer the panels in place, centering between the upper and lower score lines.

 10.  Next, add the flowers and words.  I glued them on using Aleene's Tacky Glue,

        fast drying glue pen.

 11.  Finally, punch the bow and dragonflies from red card stock and glue in place.

The card was much easier to make than I anticipated.  Once I decided on the color combination and decorative paper, and finished with all of the die cutting, the card went together in about 10-15 minutes.  Now go have fun and make one for yourself!



Dies Used:

Impression Obsession Hollyhocks

Memory Box Fresh Daisies

Memory Box Meadow Rue

Sizzix Sizzlits Happy Birthday

Punches:

McGill Bow and Tiny Dragonfly

Image not available Photos not available for this variation        Stampin' Up Label Punch

Martha Stewart Bubble Bath