I love to color!!

See what I made?? Isn't it pretty? This card was for a workshop. I used Stampin' Up!'s (gramariaticians....try to ignore that one, ok??) watercolor pencils and blending pens to make this. At the workshop, two of my six stampers bought the pencils. Isn't that cool? I was so excited about that!! I also used a white Craft Stampin' Pad, and sold three of those. Whoo hooo!!! I'm so glad my stampers love what I make. LOL!!!

Supplies: And Everything Nice Stamp Set, Hollyhock Jumbo wheel, Pallette O'Prints in Almost Amethyst, Almost Amethyst and Very Vanilla Cardstock, Lavander Lace and Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pads, Watecolor Pencils, Blender Pens, and my fave Mono Multi glue to hold it all together.

On another note, I am getting really excited about my trip to Ohio. Yesterday, I took some typing tests, and today I worked on a Power Point presentation about myself. I think it turned out pretty good....hope they do, too.

I even gained a new blogging friend in the whole moving process. Andrea (HER BLOG) lives about an hour from Cleveland, and she came across my blog randomly, through Blogger, I would imagine. Isn't that cool? AND she is a Christian, and loves to stamp. What a perfect friend!! Even if I don't move, I still LOOOOOVE making new friends.

And so, friends...it's off to bed for Melinda. She has been staying up waaaay too late at night.

Hugs to you all!!!

OH yeah....only 6 more sleeps until Ohio!!

Look -- I Stamped!!

Yeah!! Me!! I made a card, JUST FOR FUN!! All of the stuff I've made lately has been for workshops. Wanna see?? Check out my Splitcoast Stampers Gallery. But, I made this card just because I wanted to make one....and, because I have a friend who just found out (after tons of infertility stuff) that she is having a baby. I'm so excited for her!!

So, about the card. I used the Bundle of Joy, Paisley Background, and Curvy Verses stamp sets. The background of the card is Creamy Caramel, and I stamped it with Night of Navy ink, using the Paisley stamp set. Then, I stamped the animals in Night of Navy ink and colored them with my watercolor pencils and blending pens. I used Stickles (LOOOOVE that stuff) to accent the animals. The top panel is stamped with the saying "One little baby, many happy hearts", from the Curvy Verses set, three times. Then, one bear and one giraffe are up on dimensionals. I used pink and blue gingham ribbon, and VOILA!! I love the way this turned out.

Thanks for looking!! I hope you have a great week.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

We as Christians are so good at the first two, but what about the last one? This is something the Lord has really been convicting my heart about lately.

I was looking at a Facebook group last night, and the discussion was about different ways some Christian College students replaced explatives in their language. You know, the classic "oh Fudge" instead of using the "other" word. Or how about "Oh Buddah!"?? When you really think about it, how different is this from actually saying the curse word? Sure, we want our lives to exemplify Christ, and most Christians I know would not even THINK about cussing. But isn't "christian cussing" the same thing?

When I'm at work (especially), and frustrated about something, it is so easy for me to use a word that isn't quite right. And I think "well, everyone else does it. It's not BAD". The truth, though is that it's not GOOD, either. In fact, the more I think about it, the more the Lord convicts my heart that this really is just wrong. Matthew 12:34b says "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh".

So, I challenge you, and myself, the next time you start to say something, stop and really think about it. What kind of testamony do you really want to have?

I don't want to be a fence sitter anymore.

(OK...I hope this has been as challenging to

you as it has to me. Feel free to post a

comment. I'd love to hear wha the

Lord is doing in

Your life, too.)

And for the stamping part of today's entry....

....a notecard holder set that I made. This is one of my favorite ones. First, I wheeled Bordering Blue cardstock with the Spot On wheel. The main image panel is the Little Pieces stamp set, stamped with random bright colors. I used MicroBeads and glue dots on some of the circles. Add a piece of bright yellow ribbion, and VOILA!! These notecard holder sets are one of my favorite projects to make. Here are the direcitons:

Notecard Holder measurements:

1. Start with an 8.5" x 11" sheet of cardstock

2. Score along the 11" side at 2.5", 3", 7.5", & 8"

3. Score along the 8.5" side at .75", 1.25", 7.25", & 7.75"

4. Trim corner to 3" score line and 1.25" score line. Repeat on corresponding score lines for all corners.

5. Fold along all score lines and put together.

Insert Clever title here

And insert clever text here. I've been trying to decide what to blog about today, and I decided that there isn't anything really that exciting going on. I've been a little down today, with a migraine. That's always a happy time right there. LOL!!

I have also been "catching up" with some of my old college buds on Facebook. Now, that's COOL!! Mom and I have talked about this before, but isn't it funny how you just loose contact with people you were really close to in college? People move on, get married, have families, and pretty soon....you don't have that much in common anymore. But, I have re-connected with several of my friends lately, and it is so nice to hear from them again. Of course, most of my friends are married and have babies and homes.

So, that leads to another line of thought. I KNOW that being single is the Lord's will for me right now, even though it can be hard at times....like when my sister is having a baby, or my brother is getting married. It's hard, and it hurts....but then, I keep on thinking. One thing that has struck me recently is my relationship with my mom. We do almost everything together -- shopping, cooking, or just hanging out. I have the greatest MOM in the world. She is such a good, godly role model for me, and I love her so much. If I were married, then I couldnt' spend as much time with my mom. Memorial Day weekend, the Friday night before, we went to Appleton, WI, overnight. It was so much fun. We spent the night in a motel, just because we wanted to. Then, we went shopping all day long. It was a blast! AND....I got a whole bunch of new clothes, that I actually needed for once. LOL!!!

AND...I have a job interview IN OHIO on the 19th of this month. I'm really really excited about that!! I have been looking for a job since January, but the Lord hasn't opened up any doors in this area. It has always been in the back of my mind that I would like to work at a Christian School or church or "something like that", but I never really persued it seriously, until now, and I believe that the Lord may be about to open up a really great opportunity for me. The job is located in Cleveland, which is about 600 miles or so from where I live right now. Now, if I were married, I would not be able to persue this wonderful opportunity, so I guess maybe it's not such a bad thing after all.

Above all, though, I am 100% confident that where I am right now is God's perfect will for my life. No questions asked. Ok so maybe I doubt sometimes, or get lonely, but that is just human nature. So I just have to get out of the flesh and remember that my Heavenly Father loves me, and only wants the best for me.

Welll....thanks for listening, as it were, to my ramblings. I feel better already!! I hope you are having a great week. Be sure to keep in touch, ok???

Hugs!!
Mellinda

Cute Stamps

Don't you just LOVE THIS STAMP SET??? I do!! I can't believe they are retiring it. I gues SU! knows what they are doing, but...sigh!! This is the cutest baby set in the book right now!! I have done so much with it. Here are a couple

of examples. Isn't it adorable?? I really love how versatile stamp sets are. Both of these projects were made with the same stamp set, but they look totally different. The on eon the left is embossed, and the one on the right is watercolored. How fun!!!

All Creatures of our God and King

At Mom's work on Friday, the men in the shop found a Lunar Moth. Isn't it beautiful? Well, when I saw the pictures, the first thing that popped into my mind was the following song:

All Creatures of our God and King

By Francis of Assisi

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!

Refrain

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!

Refrain

Things like a simple moth really make me stop and think about how much our Heavenly Father loves and cares for us. He can create something so incredibly beautiful just by speaking, and yet He still knows the number of hairs on my head. WOW!! That is absolutely incredible!!

I was thinking, too, about this tonight, and the following passage of Scripture came into my mind:

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? (Mt. 6:25-30).

I guess no one can remind us of that than our Lord, Jesus Christ. Have a great weekend, everyone!!!