WOW! my last post was in March 2015! 

A LOT of stuff has gone on between then and now. Well, our youngest graduated High School that June and there was A LOT of preparation for that.  Then it was summer and hubs and I took another EPIC road trip. We headed out of TEXAS through the panhandle of Oklahoma, then through Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.  We hung a left and crossed into Montana, headed down through Wyoming and into Colorado.  From there we went into New Mexico and back into TEXAS. It was a wonderful trip.  People really do need to stop flying and ride the highways and byways of our great country. The sights are impressive, thought provoking, a little sad at times, but most defiantly beautiful.

I have been re-evaluating my blog.  Obviously I'm not very good at keeping up with it. I realized that there were a lot of things I wasn't keeping up with, so I made a couple of resolutions for this year.

The very first thing I did was pick an inspirational word to focus on. After a few days of  picking and choosing and tossing out words, I finally settled on CONSISTANCY.

CONSISTANCY

for me, this word means

1. keeping a little more organized (utilizing my "DUMP DIARY" more)
2. setting aside a few moments of the day just for me
3. staying in the moment, being aware of the present and not so much on what's down the road.

Hopefully by doing this, my home will stay cleaner, I will have less stress and time will(?) slow down.

I'm also doing some charitable sewing. 

1. 2-5 cute & fun pillowcases for the cancer center at our local hospital. 
2. Lap quilts for our towns Police force to use on domestic dispute calls.  (I also go to Kohl's once a month to get the stuffed animal and book that they have for their "Kohl's Cares" program.  The stuffed animals are only $5. and the police department uses them too.)

So my hands and heart are full and happy.

As for my card making, I just participated in two January challenges.  One from "Die Cut Divas" and one from "Cut it Up!". 

The first challenge is from Die Cut Diva's . It's their first sketch challenge for 2016. 

Here is the sketch

Here is my card

The die cut is from my silhouette

and the image is from Nitwits called Nitwit Hollow

the paper is So Saffron from Stampin Up! as is the ribbon that is retired. 

The gems are from Stampendous!

This is the inside, I used scrap strips from the front piece of DP

and  punches from Stampin Up! for the flower

Since the card was 5x5 inches I made the envelope out of the same DP

It was a perfect challenge.  So simple and quick!

The second challenge is from Cut It UP! In this challenge you had to re-use a gift bag that had a logo or store identification on it.  I do this all the time and since I needed a quick bag and for this Saturday, this is what I did.

I bought a gift in Grandbury, Texas for a friend of mine.  We are meeting this Saturday to exchange gifts. Yes, Christmas gifts.  Anyway, again I used my silhouette and a file that I purchased from their store. The bag from the shop was purple and the tissue they used was lime green and black.  Not your usual Christmas colors but fun none the less. I added some silver and gold ribbon (to go with the subtle theme of the cartoon "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer")

You should check out both sites so you can see some of the fabulous contributions!