Staying cool...

I realize it's been over a week since I wrote much of a blog post. As I mentioned in my last post, I am enjoying a much slower pace of life right now. The weather here has been HOT and when that happens I spend a lot more time relaxing with a good book or crafting. God had such a blessing in store for me when we bought this house and the most logical place to create my crafting space was in the basement. I actually get good light in my corner of the room and it's the perfect cool retreat in these warm summer months.

So since most of what I've been doing is reading and making cards, with a little sewing thrown in on the side, that's what this post is about.

I've made a few cards lately and a few of these photos are cards that I didn't get posted previously. For example, this first card was the Fourth of July card that we sent to friends and family, but I'm just now getting it on the blog.


These next cards are baby cards that I had to stock up on after depleting my stash this spring. They are all copied from designs on Mish Mash's blog. She is one of my favorite card designers because her layouts are simple and stunning at the same time.






These next three cards all use stamps from PaperTrey Ink (PTI). I am never disappointed with PTI's stamps, paper, ink, and ribbon. Everything they make is phenomenal - not only in keeping up with the trends and colors in papercrafting, but also in making such high quality products. I would own everything they sell if I could!




The first design is another of Mish Mash's and the other two are Nichole Heady's. Nichole is the stamp designer for PTI and her sense of style is amazing! I always find inspiration at her blog.

Have you noticed that I very seldom create my own card designs? :) It's so much quicker to take a great layout or design from another stamper and put my own spin on it. Of course I always try to remember to give credit where credit is due. I would love to have the talent of these ladies, but for now I am happy to let them do the hard part.

This last card is actually one of my own design - shocker, isn't it?! I actually made this card last fall to send to my book group as a reminder of our upcoming meeting.


Speaking of reading, this evening I finished the latest Sisterchicks book by Robin Jones Gunn. I have a special place in my heart for Robin because her Christy Miller series was instrumental in leading me to Christ, but that is a story for another time. I've been reading her work for over 15 years and I enjoy everything she writes.


Now I have to get going on our book group selection for next month. It's a little intimidating because it's almost 700 pages long, but I know it's going to be a good read. I'm already a little ways into it and I really enjoyed the movie, so I'm looking forward to getting "lost" in 16th century England.


Finally, I took on a little project this week that turned out better than I had hoped.


I made a dress!! I have only made one other article of clothing and that was probably 5 years ago and it was a costume for an Easter cantata at church. Needless to say it's not something I generally wear on a regular basis. But this! This is cute and I will wear it! In fact, I have it on right now. Oh how I love my sewing machine and my new sundress!

So that's what I've been up to this past week. I hope you are staying cool wherever you are - or if not, I hope you enjoy the heat!