Even as a child, I could never choose a favorite color when asked…. I like one color to wear, another to just look at, another to decorate my house with….. how do you choose which one of those is your ultimate favorite???
Favorite food???? Well – favorite for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert?????
Favorite book? Usually every book I am currently reading is my favorite….
Favorite season? Whichever one we are in!
Favorite holiday – well – that’s easy – CHRISTMAS!!!
Anyway – you see I have trouble choosing Favorites, but I LOVED this stamp from Neat and Tangled (the sentiment – the type font), and I figure I can send it to any one of my “favorites” – of which I am blessed to have a few 🙂
I do love black and white, and I just got this awesome SU Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon as a #FreebieFriday PRIZE from Linda Heller (thanks Linda!), and was dying to use it, so I created this card for The Paper Players Challenge #210.
Here is the sketch challenge Jaydee created:
I was so excited to be chosen as “A Cut Above” last week for my “Birthdays are for the Birds” card. How fun is that?!?!? 🙂 I get to post this little badge, and you would think I won an Emmy! (which I am watching while writing this, so excuse any typos as I switch back and forth… another thing I love – Award shows! )
So here is my card – may not have nailed the challenge – but I still kinda like it – – – just couldn’t decide which photo angle was my favorite…………
from the right……
or from the left ………?
You decide! I just can’t!
Thanks for checking in.
Just having some fun – – – at Life in Between.
Here is the sketch we were challenged to design from.
For my card, I started with some Navy and White SU DSP, embossed a “friendly” sentiment on vellum with gold embossing powder, colored a flower from SU Bloom with Hope with alcohol markers, then fussy cut and embellished with #WinkofStella and glued and stitched it all together for this fun friend card.
If you have a few moments, enjoy one of my all-time favorite versions of one of my all-time favorite songs 🙂
Hopefully she is much too busy to be bothered reading my little ole’ blog post (or she will see her wedding card!)
This card is my #FreebieFriday post for our #WheretheRubberHitstheRoad group, and I couldn’t be more excited for a Friday!
Tomorrow’s celebration will be followed by an overnight with some of our besties, Joyce and Rob, followed by the #ToughMudder Event on Sunday, where Jake and Nick are participating in a team with Nick’s best buddy, Jon and his sister, Kelly. Go Team McKinney/Randza!
#ToughMudder is a 10-12 mile (18-20 km) obstacle course designed to test all-around strength, stamina, teamwork, and mental grit. The idea of Tough Mudder is not to win, but to have a story to tell!
Check out this video:
Oh Boy! Eh? It sounds like a lot of fun (for us spectators!) and is for a great cause – the Wounded Warrior Project.
Hopefully, I will get some fun photos and have some good stories to tell, but until then, have a great weekend all!
CAS means “clean and simple” in the stamping and cardmaking world, so I thought I would give it a try with this card I made last week for Jackie and Matt’s wedding.
Clean and Simple can often be a challenge for me – I tend to want to over-embellish, but I think I kept this one pretty clean and simple 🙂 .
For my card-making/stamping escapades this week, I sure was stumped on a color challenge.
I have been enjoying participating in various card challenges as a way to expand my creativity. The challenges typically give you a sketched layout, an inspiration photo, a particular embellishment that must be used, or a grouping of 3 -4 colors to incorporate into your project.
So…. after feeling a little bit proud (woohoo! I’m easily excited) for being recognized as a “Cut Above” the past two weeks – last week for the Paper Players Challenge #207 Button Challenge (thanks Andrea!) and the week before in the Paper Players Challenge #206 Sketch Challenge (thanks Claire!), I just couldn’t figure out what to do with the Paper Players Color Challenge #208. I actually made three different cards three nights this week until I settled on the watercolor swallowtail card above to submit.
The challenge was to incorporate 4 colors into your project: Calypso Coral, Blushing Bride, Hello Honey, and Basic Gray. Here they are:
I was having trouble being creative with these colors.
This was my first attempt:
Didn’t love it….
Then I made this one:
Used the same colors…. different techniques….
Didn’t love it….
Almost gave up…
Then this one came to me:
Still the same colors…. Yet more different techniques….
As I look at all three, I see such a vast difference in all three despite the same four colors being used.
For the one I chose, I watercolored the inks on water color paper with a water brush starting with the blushing bride on top, then calypso coral, and finally hello honey. After it dried, I stamped the swallowtail on with Memento black ink, then outlined and shaded with some glittery dazzling effects. I then simply mounted that on the gray card stock, and then onto a white base. With all the glitz of the butterfly, I thought I should keep the rest muted and simple.
So now I have three cards I can use – all because I was seriously color challenged in this week’s color challenge. Thanks Nance!
Another little treasure from our trip to Hobby Lobby last weekend was this this little stamp set Janet found in the clearance rack. It “spoke” to both of us, and I had to have it. It reminds me of so many amazing women in my life. I wanted to list them – starting with Stella Star all the way through life, but I am afraid I would accidentally forget someone…
I wanted to show pictures, but again afraid I don’t have all that I would want to post and/or forget someone.
But I think this sentiment should really speak to ALL women.
Be your own kind of beautiful….
Know that there are many kinds of beauty…
Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and even senses….
Beauty can be visual or it can be something from the heart – the way someone makes you feel – maybe with the words they use – spoken or written…
Beauty can come from the way something or someone smells… like flowers or freshly baked bread or cookies or a favorite perfume…
Beauty can be the way something feels – like a tight hug from a friend, your favorite slippers or comforter, your favorite sweater, or the warmth of a kiss.
Know that you have the potential to leave BEAUTY wherever you go!
A Short and Random List of Just Some of the Things that make me HAPPY:
Lots of people in my home
The phone ringing at 7:03 am – and my Dad on the other end saying “Good Morning”
Marty’s laugh
Seeing my boys in love
Seven Deadly Zins Red Zinfandel
When my boss sends a reply email to a project I’ve done with a one word reply: “Perfect”
Mikey’s tail wagging and the greeting I get EVERY time I come home – even if I was only gone 10 minutes
Girlfriends – deep conversations and belly laughs
Sunshine and blue skies
Bombay & Tonic with lime and lots of ice on a hot evening
Sending a card to a friend “just because”
My first cup of coffee in the morning with sweet Italian cream
Text messages from Rob and Ella
Brady Bunch songs
The beach
Tight hugs
Smiles from strangers
Christmas music
The smell of Apricot Nut Bread – Grandma’s recipe
Baking cookies for friends and family
Thursday date night to John’s Bar
Finding and giving just the perfect gift
Allowing myself to get lost in a good book
Marty snoring – because that means he is there beside me
People saying “Love ya”
You can NEVER have too much happy – right?!
So I had fun making this card for Mojo Monday Challenge #357 and using this Stampinup Yippee-Skippee Stamp sentiment: “You Can Never have Too Much Happy,” which I heat embossed with white on Blackberry Bliss cardstock.
This is the sketch we were to follow:
I used some Park Lane DSP, some more of the new In Colors: Hello Honey and Tangelo Twist with some classic Old Olive, and stamped and cut out the flower and leaf from SU Flower Patch. I embellished with a few of my homemade faux enamel dots, and the finishing touch was a spritz of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (which I picked up on our brief shopping trip to Hobby Lobby this weekend). Fun!
I love how the light catches the Shimmer mist, but it was hard to capture in a photograph. I can’t wait to share this with someone and hopefully make them happy.
HELLLLOOOO Friday! Always happy to see you! And especially this Friday, because tomorrow is Girlfriend Camp (GFC) with a few of my favorite “girls” coming to the house. I guess thinking of GFC got me in a crafty mood (though I probably should have been cleaning or cooking for the girls this week!) I thought a sunny hello with a yellow and orange SU Blended Blossom and a denim bow was fun, and liked how this card turned out.
Since I was feeling “crafty” – I have a “Three-fer” this week on my usual Friday card posting.
This card was a fun new technique to try for my stamping and crafting friends. I first sponged some pink and blue and brown on whisper white card stock. Then I chose a fun chevron embossing folder, which I spritzed with water (on the side that does not have the print of the name on it), pressed my sponged paper in – ink against water – briefly – then dried to give this fun effect. I then layered it on with complimentary colored card stock, added my favorite “Hello” stamp from my StampinUp “Hi There” set by inking with Versamark and then embossing in gold. Finished it off with a bow of soft twine and a couple sparkly sequins.
This third one was totally just winged out of trying some new stamps. I got the Stampinup What’s Your Line and Just Sayin sets, so just started goofing around here. I stamped some of the random shapes in Crisp Cantaloupe, Pear Pizazz and Crumb Cake inks (are you hungry now?) on SU Watercolor paper (I have to say – I was trying to just use some cheaper stuff I had and can’t believe the difference in quality!). I then spritzed it all with water and put some coarse sea salt on top while it dried. I then embossed the Hey There in Gold on translucent parchment and again embellished with some soft twine – the thinner this time and gold sequins with a dab of crystal effects. Layered it up and even put a strip of the water color paper on the inside. I kind like it. It is a softer style.
Just for fun – which one do you like best? No right answer – just curious…
Today is a very special Anniversary… A day that brings back floods of memories… floods of emotions…. reflections on time missed… but celebration of time and love shared… from here on…
You see – Today is a Father-Daughter Anniversary. Today is the 4 year anniversary of my reunion with my Dad (my “birth father”).
And I thought it deserved a special anniversary card to send to Dad to help us cherish the day.
So you might think that sounds a bit odd…. Father and Daughter Anniversary???
Well – I’m going to share a kinda big chunk and pretty personal part of my heart today. So – if you’re not into that or not interested, you may just want to skip this blog.
So here goes…
On July 17, 2010, I was reunited with my Dad (my “birth father” Dad so as not to be confused with another great man in my life that I also call Dad – I know – a bit confusing – and on top of that both of their names are John!).
It was a day neither of us will ever forget.
The reason(s) for our separation for 39 years is really not the point or purpose of this story, nor do I feel appropriate to share, but the joy in our reunion is the focus here…. And oh what JOY we have shared.
For our second Christmas together again in 2012, I presented Dad with a book I wrote for him.
I called it, “The Journey Back to Daddy’s Girl.” The book is a celebration of our initial exchange of emails leading up to our reunion that covers the course of only a few short weeks, but close to 70 pages of exchanges. It chronicles how we discovered each other again – an adult daughter close to 50 years old – and an even more adult father – close to 70 years old who last saw each other when the little girl was 9 years old and the Daddy was just barely past 30.
We (well mostly I) asked each other questions (sometimes difficult ones) and our exchanges evolved from closings with “John (BF)” to “Love you, Dad”s.
Let me share the “Introduction” with you here.
———-
“Once upon a time, there was a little girl. Jodi had a Mom and a Dad and a little brother.
Life was good, until one day when Daddy left. Then Jodi just got to visit with Daddy on the weekends, until a day came when Mom introduced Jodi and her brother to a new Dad, and told her she would not be seeing her other Daddy any more.
Jodi lived a good life. Her new Dad and Mom took good care of her and her brother and her new baby sister, but Jodi always felt something was missing.
She thought of her first Dad throughout her life.
She dreamed of bumping into him on the street… their eyes would lock, and they would immediately recognize each other. Dad would tell her he loved her and missed her and was so proud of the woman she had become…..
Sometimes dreams do come true…”
———-
Marty (for those new here – the hubster), was instrumental in helping me find my Dad.
It is so much more incredibly easier than imaginable with the internet and people search software these days.
Marty has known for years – probably before I even realized – that there was a part of me missing – that there were unanswered questions – that there was a dad out there that I needed – and who needed me. He has asked me over the years about it – ever since we started dating when I was a mere 16 year old high school girl and he was a “mature” 20-year old “man.” (That story is a whole blog post for another day). When Marty realized my yearning had grown so strong, and my need was so great, he was the one that took the step to reach out for me, and the resulting reply is etched in my mind and on my heart forever:
“Hi Jodi – Yes. I am your “Birth Father.” It was an answer to prayer hearing from you. I hope that you and John are both fine. To this day, I regret the worst decision I have ever made. I was talked into doing something, but I had my own mind. At the time, I thought I was doing the best thing for your two. Can you ever forgive me?”
And so began my Journey back to Daddy’s Girl.
And now we celebrate four wonderful years of being a reunited father and daughter, which began on July 17, 2010 when my Dad showed up to my house with a huge bouquet of flowers, a face that looked exactly like mine (and resembles Tom Jones I think only to me 🙂 ), immediately telling me he loved me, and he missed me, that I was beautiful (only to him I’m sure 🙂 ),and he was so proud of me. You see – he wanted to fulfill my dream… He wanted our reunion to be the wonderful event I had dreamed about over the years…
We both cried – happy and sad tears. And we have talked almost every day since then. We’ve spent birthdays and holidays and Father’s days together. He was with me at our son Jake’s wedding. He loves my family as his own. His family has embraced me as their own. They have always known about me, and they welcomed me with open arms.
I will never forget the first time I met my Dad’s wife, Carole (aka Mom 2). The first thing she said to me was, “Your Dad always promised me a daughter, and now I have one. We’ve been praying for you for a long time.”
The epilogue of my book closes with:
———-
And so it began …….
With a simple email …
A journey back to Daddy’s girl.
And now, two and a half years later …
… we write each other almost every day
… and talk every weekday morning at 7:05
We’ve spent Father’s days together and holidays and birthdays and are part of each other’s lives again.
Our families love each other and we love each other.
‘What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life’
Dreams do come true!
this is notTHE END.”
———-
Father & Daughter Reunion Day – July 17, 2010
I hope this message will encourage those adult children who were separated from birth parents – at whatever age (birth, childhood, teenager, young adult) – for whatever reason – to reach out and try if it is something that has yanked on and ached in your heart for years.
Maybe your ending will not turn out as good as mine did (and of course there is much more to our story than I’ve shared here so far) , but can anything hurt more than the emptiness and not-knowing that you feel every day? Could the potential rejection be any worse than what you have imagined or decided or dealt with for years in your heart?
Love is worth the risk. It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Closure or resolution or answers to decades of unanswered questions can let you sleep at night… can bring you peace… can make you right with yourself! I’m certainly not an educated or trained professional in this area, but I can only speak of my own personal experience.
I wish you joy. I wish you peace. I wish you resolution. I wish you wholeness of heart – no matter the ending. YOU are worth it. YOU are here for a reason. YOU are loved.
Happy 4 year “Anniversary” Dad! I love you, and I cherish you! (And I’ve been listening to “our song” again this week. I’m betting you will too.) ❤ “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life!”
the creative life in between 