Paper Pleasing Ideas

Always Lots To Learn

If you are new to stamping, or even a seasoned veteran, there is al;ways something new to learn. I have well over 120 tutorials on here to get you started. Have yourself a browse through and try something you ahve never done before!!

ALL TUTORIALS  <---------- Click Me !!

VIDEO TUTORIALS ONLY

A list of each tutorial to find something more specific 

If you try something new and post to your blog, please post a link in the comments, so I can check it out. Have fun and happy stamping !!

Father's Day

Well, the boys wanted to make John a Father's Day card, so I headed to Pinterest and found this one. They got to pick the colors they wanted and we got to work. Here they are with the finished card ( the front says "It takes a big heart to hold a little hand"). I just thought that saying was true in our case, because John needed a big heart to bring a whole family into his life, not just a wife. They boys are excited for next Sunday ! Have fun and happy stamping !!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours !!! May you be safe and enjoy your family and friends this year.

Boys Getting Big

You have also been asking for pictures of the boys. Here they are this past summer, learning how to ride horses. They love it, and now they want some horses!! I think with 2 dogs, a cat, and 5 fish, we have enough animals for a bit. Lol.

They are very happy being here {they do miss the family though}. We do a lot of camping, quadding, and now that it is winter, snowmobiling, driveway hockey.

Well, I am off for the day. Have fun and happy stamping !!

You Did What ?!?

Well some of you have been very observant. You noticed the picture in the top left did not match the one on the right.

I CHOPPED MY HAIR !!

I needed a change, and John saw some of my photos from about 5 years ago when it was shorter. He asked me to do it again. I was already debating, but him wanting to see it on me was the green light I needed.

I have about 10 inches on a ponytail to send off to locks of love. Hopefully someone else can enjoy it now.

Stress Free Suppers !!

Ok, this is not a card post, but it is something that has helped me tremendously.

I used to always struggle to make suppers, at the last minute defrosting meat, or worse yet, eating out!! I had been doing some researching online about menu planning and stuff like that, after seeing all the ideas on Pinterest .  I decided to try them out.

This was after a lot of thought, since we are mennonites and we have a certain style of cooking. Like everything is handed down from generation to generation and we pride ourselves on that. Well, I took the plunge, but not before I searched for a coupon code on google and got it for half price with a Groupon !!

For $24 (regular $49 - still a great deal) I get a weekly menu emailed to me, including the recipes AND SHOPPING LIST !! It comes on Friday, so I can shop on Saturday, and we are good to go for the week. This has cut my groceries bills to an average of $70CD for all of us for supper for the whole week. It does give you the estimated cost you would spend in US$, and even per meal per person.

The true test came with the eating - THEY DELIVER !! Even my kids do not complain and they have never ate so many different vegetables in their lives. I have been using it for about 6 weeks now, and not one recipe has been repeated - not even one. It even has the nutritional values chart for each meal.

They have the Classic Weekly Menu (what I have), the Vegetarian Weekly Menu, and the Gluten Free Weekly Menu. No, this is not a paid advertisement, they have NO CLUE who I am. I am just a very satified customer wanting to help my friends with whatever I can!

The Fresh 20 - my supper time hero ! 

How Time Flies - Seriously !! Love Story Alert !!

I am alive !! Thanks for all the messages that I have been receiving lately, wondering and praying that I am Ok. I truly am a grateful recipient of those! It has been a real adjustment for me, to move to a totally new province, with a new husband, new school for the boys, new church, etc. It has really thrown off my usual schedule.

In 18 days, it will be 2 years since Russ has passed. In just over a month, I will have been married for a year, while only knowing John for a year and 2 months - YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT !! I know people have been wanting the story, so here it is !!

I had an old school friend, J, whose sister, R, wanted to set me up with a guy. This was about 8 months after Russ went home, and I was all "NO WAY, it has not been a year, I need to grieve." So, R let it go, except she had a nephew that would not ... lol. The good thing is, they lived 10 hours away, and could not force me to meet him.

Well, I ended up going there to visit one of my best friends, JW, on the last weekend before school started, This was August 26-29, 2011. So R and her nephew, M, say that we should at least do supper together, since I had not seen them for awhile, and would I mind if John came? No problem, I said, and went out with the boys along.

Here you can see how we sat at the table. I made sure to sit on the same side as him, at the opposite end, so we would not have to talk. I was going to show everyone that they could not set me up with him. The only words I really said to him that night was, "Hi" when I got there, and "Bye, nice meeting you." I talked to everyone else, and basically completely ignored the poor guy the rest of the time. I felt so bad, so I sent him a message on facebook saying " Sorry we didn't get to talk more, maybe next time." (Though never intending to follow through with that ... lol). His reply was, "Well, here is my cell number, text me ..." Me "UMMM NO, here is mine, text me."

He did ... the next day ! We texted for a whole week, all this time, I was on my knees praying all night long. I could not figure out the feelings that were rising in me. I knew that biblically, they were not wrong, but I was scared. I finally called him on September 4th, and we hit it off, talking for over 8 hours. After a week of praying and restless sleep, I slept like a baby that night. I had such peace, but that scared me even more!!

I woke up the next morning to a text from my realtor, saying " Wishing you God's Highest and Best !" I was like "What?", and he texted back " I just thought God wanted me to tell you that today." My realtor, are you kidding me? This was really starting to freak me out, so I went to talk to my mom. I told her what I might be feeling and  she said 3 things that stuck in my mind.

1. Where there is great suffering there is great blessing
2. God's timing is rarely our timing.
3. It Doesn't Matter What Anyone Else Thinks If This Is What GOD Wants For You !!

 John and I talked alot that rest of that week, up to 6 hours a day. And we really wanted to meet in person, for real. So, I asked my Mom and Dad to watch the boys that weekend, and I went to Edmonton to actually meet John. We met up, basically for the first time, on September 9, and got engaged THE NEXT DAY !!

We had spent so much time talking, and honestly when you are in our shoes, you cut out small talk. Every conversation had meaning, and we both laid everything out on the line, so it just felt right. There were only  few people who knew what was happening, and they stood behind us in prayer all weekend, and kept us accountable. I appreciate them for their support, so much, because after that it it seemed like a lot of fighting for approval.

We got a lot of backlash, and yes, while it was a shock that I was moving on, WE WERE DOING NOTHING WRONG. I was not married anymore, Russ was gone. It was even something I had to work through, because it almost felt as though I was cheating on Russ. People also were worried that I had gotten engaged without the boys knowing him. Well, that had been my plan all along (not the engaged part), but I did not want my boys to go through the up and downs of me dating. And I understand their thoughts ... " What if the boys did not like him?" ... but I knew that if GOD could awake the love in me for him in such a short amount of time, the boys would be a cake walk!! And they were. He met them the next weekend, and since then, he is their hero. He is such an amazing father to them. So, we got married 2 months later.

I will not say that it has all been easy, but no marriage is. If you want to stay together, you work at it, but I can say that it was absolutely God's plan for us to get married. My in-laws (Russ' family) love him, and he has become a part of them as well. I am so blessed, I have nothing else to say about it, except that my God is an awesome God !!

Have fun and happy stamping,

Julie

 

I Need Some Help !!

I so badly want to get into the craft room, but it is so overwhelming right now! I am learning to do books (I am NOT a numbers person) on top of trying to sell our acreage and cabin and all the things that have to be done first.

I need someone to come and help finish setting it up - PLEASE !!  LOL

Here is the online views for the acreage and then the cabin, just in case you know anyone that wants a new home *wink wink*.

Well, you can pray for me that my life will settle down, so I have a bit less stress and can get back to doing the things I love. Have a great day, and happy stamping!!

A Work In Progress

Well, I am working hard to get things organized and look what came in today ?!?

Time to open up and get new goodies on the shelves, can hardly wait to play. I also am going through everything and have a ton of stuff to sell, as well. It is SHOCKING how much stuff I have and have bought over the years, that I will probably never use. I am trying to downsize to what I WILL use instead of what I may pull out SOME DAY !!

Well, back to work, have fun and happy stamping!!

Setting Up !!

I have been so busy trying to settle into my new life here in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and nothing has suffered more than my love of paper crafting. Don't you for one minute think that I did not miss you all. I have received more messages than I could count about when I am going to get back to my desk.

Well, here what my craft area looked like.

And a whole afternoon and into evening later,

Ahhhh - it is taking shape !! I am spending the week unpacking and going through everything, and also putting in a MASSIVE Stampin' Up! order. Get ready folks, I am almost ready to get back at 'er.

Have fun and happy stamping!!