Believe

     I sure am having fun playing with scraps of paper and modge podge.  This is my fourth index card for the Daisy Yellow Index Card Challenge.

Blue Heron Sketch

   

"Creativity is the Blue Heron within us waiting to fly; through her imagination, all things become possible."  ~ Nadia Janice Brown

      I tried to take a picture of a blue heron at a nearby pond. She flew away on me.  You can see the shot here.  So I had to content myself with trying to draw her picture.   I made this pencil sketch from an image I found on the internet.  I used colored pencils.  I had to search the bottom of my son's backpack to find a black one.
     This is Index Card # 3:  Blue Heron Sketch.  Blue Heron is part of the Daisy Yellow Index Card Challenge.  You can read more about it here.

Origami Dress Index Card

     This cute little origami dress is my second index card for the challenge at Daisy Yellow.
     I found a wonderful video tutorial for making the origami dress at Dreadlock Girl.  I added a button and ribbon embellishment.   The scrapbook paper on the right has wonderful sentiments that go with the dress perfectly.
     The little dress is so cute and simple to make.  I've already made another to use on a baby card for a friend.  The dress would also make a cute Christmas ornament or gift wrap embellishment.

Index Card A Day: Chicken

     Daisy Yellow is hosting a challenge for the months of June and July.  The challenge is to create something on an index card every day for 61 days!  Doesn't that sound like a whole lot of fun?  The project started on June 1, but you can jump in at any time.  It's already the middle of June, so I am starting late.  But this is for fun.  I likely won't make all the rest of the days either.  School is ending and there are tests, projects, celebrations, and a trip to Virginia in the middle.
     Visit Daisy Yellow for the details.  There are themes and suggestions, but what you do is really up to you.  There is also a Facebook Group.  So break out the paints, crayons, colored pencils, and modge podge!  Have fun!
     Here is my first index card.

     Most people are using 3 x 5 index cards.  I opted to use 4 x 6 index cards, because they fit in my Project Life photo album better.
     For my Chicken Card I modgepodged old scripture pages, green mulberry paper, a few chicken feathers, and a pencil sketch of one of our girls.  It looks like the modgepodge is still a little wet!
     You can read about our chickens here.

Father's Day

My Dad on his sailboat.

    A brief list of things Dad's say:

This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.
 Get down before you kill yourself...never mind.
Who's paying the bills around here any way?
Don't forget to check the oil.
Didn't you eat your Wheaties today?
Always have enough money in your pocket to make a phone call.
I'm not sleeping, I'm just resting my eyes..
I don't know, ask your mother.
We don't need to ask for directions.  I know where we are going.

     This week we celebrate our fathers.  I learned a lot from my dad.  In fact, I still do.
      Dad taught me to swim.  I remember clinging like a monkey to his back, hanging on with my arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he swam.  He always warned me before he went under water so that I could hold my breath.  I'd quickly puff out my cheeks as we sank under the water and gasp when we surfaced.  I  learned to swim resting between my Dad's strong shoulders.
     Later, Dad taught me to drive.  On Sunday mornings we would get up about six am and hit the roads.  The day was new and more importantly, there weren't any other cars on the road for me to put in danger.  We drove the back streets of town.  Eventually, I graduated to being his chauffeur on the odd jobs he did in the evenings.  Dad repaired appliances.  He would pack his tools into the car and leave the driving to me.  I met a lot of different people that way.  In particular, I remember an elderly couple with very thick accents who raised rabbits.  They served me tea and a cookie, while Dad fixed their "ice-a-boxis." I listened to the old woman saying how "good" her rabbits were.  I was enchanted with how much she loved her pets.   I finally deciphered what she was saying and realized that she meant "Good to eat!"  Dad laughed at how appalled I was.  The couple didn't have a lot of money (obviously, they were eating rabbits).  Dad charged them enough that they would think they had paid for what he had done, but no where near would the actual cost should have been.
     Dad taught me how to drive, but he didn't teach me how to change a tire or how to check the oil.  When I asked, he firmly told me, "That's why you have me.  If you get in trouble, you call me."  He meant it.  Anytime I called, Dad would come out after me.  
     Now, my Dad always reminds me that I need to get the oil changed and the car lubed.  I don't know what lubed means exactly, and I don't really care.  I know that what my Dad is really saying is "I love you."
     Jesus followed the example of both His earthly father and His heavenly Father.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.   Now remain in my love.  If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this:  Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  This is my command: Love each other.  ~John 15:9-17

       You can read more about my Dad here and here.
       What did your Father teach you?

Holy Rain Gear, Batman!

 The true crimefighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt...even an umbrella!

Graduation Countdown

     Our daughter, Patty, is about to graduate from High School.  It is such an exciting time of last minute assignments, prom dresses, finals, and ceremonies.  I wanted to make a simple graduation countdown to celebrate her accomplishment.

     Patty has attended BOCES for Culinary Arts for two years.  Her dream is to be a pastry chef.  You can read about our trip to Carlo's Bakery here.  We did not meet Buddy the Cakeboss, but we did see his sister, Mary.

     I purchased an oaktag calendar chart in Patty's favorite purple color.  I had cupcake and chef hat shapes in my school stash, but these can also be purchased at a parent/teacher supply store.  The graduation embellishments were on sale at Michaels for 40% off.  

      I numbered the calendar by the June dates.  I added a graduation hat to each day.   BOCES Graduation Night, Senior Prom, and the Graduation Ceremony received their own special embellishment.  I covered each day with a cupcake or a chef's hat, that Patty could remove and see the graduation cap behind. (Please ignore my freckly hand.)

      Here is the finished Graduation Countdown Calendar.

      Patty was pretty pleased with her surprise.   A Graduation Countdown Calendar is a fun and easy way to celebrate an important milestone.

Mustache Baby

     I mustache you a question.  Have you seen this adorable book?

      You never know what will happen when a new baby joins the family, especially a baby with a mustache!  Does the new baby have a good guy mustache or a bad guy mustache?  You'll love the delightful way this question is answered.  Adults will enjoy the quirky humor and children will find that it is an instant favorite.
     The illustrations are wonderful.  Here are two adorable pages from the book showing the opposing sides of his mustache.

     The author, Bridget Heos, wrote this for pure entertainment.  But, a good story is a good story, and I shared this book at Friendship Sunday at our church.  My message was:

So... I mustache you a question...
Do you belong to Jesus this morning?  Jesus, who looks past our appearance and peeks into our hearts.  Jesus, who knows you and loves you.  The One who created you, who formed you.  The One who painted your eyes that perfect shade and gave your mouth it’s smile, and perhaps, a mustache.  The One who wraps prodigals in His arms of love.

“There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”  ~Romans 8

     When God looks at us, He doesn’t see a good-guy mustache or a bad-guy mustache, He sees a son or daughter.


     I have not received compensation for sharing this book.  The opinion expressed is, as always, my own.  I am an Amazon Affiliate, which means that if you click on the picture of the book and purchase anything from Amazon, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  This will not in any way add to the cost of your purchase.