Don't Waste Your Life

This post is a not craft-related, but needs to be written. Thank you for letting me share my heart.
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Steve Jobs, his life and death, has been in everybody's mind today, and surely for many days thereafter. He was a visionary and his life-changing creations have defined how we must live today. As a designer myself, I admire his passion for creativity, not just his heart for technology. Here's a link to his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University that is worth a read:

"Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." 

~Steve Jobs: Don't Waste Your Life

In light of not wasting your life, here's a quote from one of my favorite authors:

“Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion....You get one pass at life. That’s all. Only one. And the lasting measure of that life is Jesus Christ.” ~ John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life (click on the link for a free download of the book)

And from Jonathan Edwards' famous resolutions:

#7.Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
#17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

May I live every day with death in mind, not to be morbid, but so I will count every moment I have in this life (as a wife, mom, artist, friend, daughter, and the many roles God has blessed me with), for something bigger than myself. And that something is Jesus Christ. 

Merry Christmas to You

Today's card is one of 5 being featured on the SRM blog today. I used We've Got Your Sticker "Merry" along with We've Got Your Sticker PLUS "Merry" stickers. The papers are scraps by Cosmo Cricket. I die cut the Christmas tree stickers with Spellbinders circles and Fleur de lis Motifs dies.

You can see the other 4 cards I made on the SRM blog.

Wish

Today's card is for Card Patterns sketch this week. This is such a fun layout and I hope you will play long with us. Our sponsor is Paper Make up stamps which provided the dandelion image below. The papers are Webster's Pages.

Card set and Winners!

I am sorry for being late with the winner of my WCMD giveaway. My husband is on a business trip and life just seems to get busier when I'm a solo parent, even for just a few days. It's a good reminder for me to  pray for and extend my help to those single moms out there who work hard to keep their home and provide for their family every day. You all have my admiration and prayers.

Before the winner, I want to show you the rest of the cards in the set that I mentioned yesterday. I used Fruity for You and Just Sayin' sets on these. A few ladies commented on the paper pieced pear, but these were actually not. They were simply colored with Copics. The papers are October Afternoon. The strip border is die cut with Spellbinders' Floral Doily Accents.

And because I'm late in posting the winner, I decided to give away a copy of my Telegram set as well. I used it on my shabby card yesterday. Now the winner of my Just Sayin' set, via random.org, is...

#43 Anonymous (s_huston@***.com)

And the winner of the Telegram sets is...

#3 Ashley Nguyen Newell.

Please email me, via tab above, to claim your prizes. Thank you all for entering and joining in last weekend's festivities.

WCMD, TCM, Birthday and Giveaway!

I'm so glad you could join me today with so many festivities going on. First, today is

World Cardmaking Day 

and it's just a great excuse opportunity to spend a whole day making cards. Don't you just love this holiday? :)

Today is also October release day for The Craft's Meow. Please visit the The Craft's Meow blog for the order of the hop. My new set, Fruity for You, is a pun-ful of stylized images of my favorite P fruits: papayas, pears and plums. I made this shabby chic anniversary/wedding card using one of the pears and sentiment. I also made made a simple collage on one of the papers using the Telegram set.

The papers are scraps of Webster's Pages. I love the little banner with the sentiment on it using a Maya Road pin.

Finally, today is a big day in our home because our oldest is turning 12, our last year before we have a teen in the house. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to that! I love seeing my kids learn and grow socially, spiritually and mentally (though not so much physically...don't you just wish sometimes they'd stay little just a little while longer?) and the teen years will show much of that. Happy birthday to my big girl. I just love her and thank God for her every day!

Here's a cutesy birthday card using Fruity for You. The papers are all October Afternoon. The strip border is die cut with Spellbinders' Floral Doily Accents. It's part of a card set. I will show you the rest in a future post.

Now, how about a giveaway? To celebrate all the above festivities, I am giving away a copy of my The Craft's Meow's Just Sayin' set. Just leave me a comment below and I will pick a winner and post it tomorrow! Now, hop on over to Sarah Martina Parker's blog to continue on with the TCM festivities! And don't forget that the TCM blog has their own giveaway (including Fruity for You) and sale info! 

Here are the stamp sets I used, Fruity for You and Just Sayin' sets: