Today I want to express my gratitude for many things; the one that most closely concerns you, my blog friends, is that I'm grateful for so many of you who bless me daily with your visits and encouraging words. I realize that it takes time, and that time is an invaluable resource. Thank you, from my heart! The rest of my post is more personal than usual--just a ramble-warning here. I think I'll post my card details next, and then continue on the subject of gratitude.
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Product Details:
Stamps: Brayton Paper Crafting Font Ensemble by Just Rite Stampers
Cardstock: Chocolate Malt Double Mates by World Win Papers; shimmery vanilla
Ink: I didn't have an ink color that was just right for this cardstock color, so I inked my letters first with Black Versamagic, and then applied the Jumbo Java Versamagic on top of the black (on the rubber) to get a darker, more neutral brown; Antique Linen Distress ink
Tools: Spellbinders Curved Rectangle die, Martha Stewart Lace Edge Punch, Sakura Stardust Pen (I colored the embossed pattern with the stardust pen), sewing machine; two Cuttlebug A-2 Embossing folders (The dark cardstock is embossed with a script background, though I wasn't capturing it in the light. I think the other one may be called birds and vines--something like that!)
Accessories: buttons from buttonsgalore.com; kraft taffeta from Stampin' Up
Thanks for visiting, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
The rest below is a ramble, purely unrelated to stamping, but very much related to gratitude, in case you want to keep reading.
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Though it may sound cliche, I am truly thankful for my family. I was married in my early thirties--later than most of my friends. I had a fulfilling teaching job and ministry opportunities, and a little part of me didn't really expect to get married. I often told people who asked, seeming to think that singleness was a fate worse than death, that I had a house, and that I knew how to change a tire and change my oil. What on earth did I need a husband for? I'm grateful that God blessed me with a kind, hard-working, steady-as-a-rock husband. I told him the first time he called me that I hoped he wasn't wife-shopping, because I definitely wasn't husband-hunting. Then we were married six months later. . . I'm also thankful for our son; children are indeed "a gift from the Lord," and I peek around the corner into his bedroom every night after he's asleep, still in absolute amazement that we were blessed with him.
I'm thankful for my parents and sister, as well as my husband's family, all of whom are a great blessing in our lives. (Thanks for teaching me to change my oil, Daddy, so I could wait all those years for Rick!) I am grateful for the many people who have invested in my life over the years, generally with far more patience and grace than I deserved. Finally, I am grateful for a Heavenly Father Who "daily loadeth us with benefits," redeems us, and forgives us again and again.
Thank you for indulging me in a ramble as well, dear reader! Happy Thanksgiving to you and those whom you love.
