Water Color Fun

My stamping ladies and I had fun practicing our watercoloring this past week. We watercolored the floral image from Elements of Style (SU) and practiced on three different types of paper: water color paper, confetti vanilla and shimery white. We liked the three different looks the paper gave. We used SU's water color crayons and the aqua painters found in the Idea Book and Catalog.

If you'd like to order any of these items to give it a try yourself, just click on my store link or go to http://www.bethhartley.stampinup.net/

Here are the cards I made using the images we colored.

Stamp Club Workshop at My House!!!

It's hot, it's humid, it's yucky outside! So come inside with me to get inky! We will be making 4 HOT cards for $5...which is pretty COOL! Class is this Thursday, at 7:00. Please RSVP so I'll be sure to have enough cardstock cut and ready to go!!

These are 2 of the cards you will be making if you are able to attend. I'll also have lots of retired stamp sets available for purchase. Come, be cool, stay out of the heat, and make some really cool cards!!!

Join My Team!!!

If you ever wanted to join Stampin' Up! as a Demonstrator, now is the time. Stampin' Up! is running a 'sign up' special in which you can join Stampin' Up! for only $99. This is usually $185 dollars to join. It's a great opportunity to save money and receive Stampin' Up! benefits. If you enjoy stamping and want to share Stampin' Up! with your friends (by holding workshops, stamp camps or stamp clubs) or want to save on your own purchases, now is the time to sign up!!! Click the photo above for more details and contact me if you are interested!

Happy Father's Day

I love my dad! He is the best dad ever. I think I can only remember him raising his voice or showing anger 3 times in my entire life. Once was when we were camping as kids and we pulled into the camp site after midnight. He was trying to get the stuff off the of the top of the car so we could get the tent up and the box of pots and pans crashed out sounding like a big clap of thunder. Of coarse, he was then angry and started tossing the pots and pans in the back of the station wagon. We 4 kids and mom were sitting outside trying not to laugh very loudly. Anyway, we all chuckle about it now but Daddy-O was not a very happy camper the time that box of pots and pans crashed out in the middle of the night, likely waking up everyone at the campgrounds! LOL!

Well, I have so many fun memories of my daddy! So, here are a few cards I made in Honor of Father's Day. I gave dad the navy card and the boys and I will give Doug the other one tomorrow. Dad is a minister and wears lots of ties so this stamp set from Stampin Up, Best Dad Ever, fit my dad to a tie....er, uh, I mean tee! The boys and I thought Doug would like the pun on the other card. I printed the words off on the computer and we all think Doug is a pretty "tie"riffic daddy!!





Both of these cards use the Best Dad Ever stamp set that is found in the Summer Mini Catalog. You can access the catalog online by clicking over to the right of this blog shere you see the catalog cover. It will take you directly to the summer mini. I used Real Red, Tempting Torquiose and Tangerine Tango cardstock and Stampin Write markers. The 5 ties come on one larger stamp. I used the markers to color each tie individually, then huffed on the stamp, then pressed on my paper.



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This card uses the Top Note Diecut found on page 207 of the current catalog. Stamin Write maker colors used were Garden Green, More Mustard and Night of Navy. The same color of cardstock was used.

I hope you all have a wonderful day with your Father's or the father of your children! :) I know we will have a great day with Doug tomorrow and we had dinner last night with my dad!!

I do have extra copies of each of these cars for sale if anyone would like to purchase them. They are $2.50 each.

Finish Well!

This weekend I had the opportunity to complete a task off my 'bucket list'. For the past 8 months, I have been training for the Indy 500 Mini Marathon. This race is 13.1 miles long. I have never been a runner in my past. In fact, I dropped out of track in high school because I was so awful and came in last at the first track meet. Hated it! But, this weekend...I FINISHED something that I NEVER thought I could do.

This medal is a symbol of great things accomplished! I was able to run (and walk some) this race in 3 hours which for this 46 year old....is good!!! When I crossed the finish line, my mom and dad were yelling "That's my baby...gooooo, Beth!!!" It reminded me of what Jesus might say to me when I cross the finish line of life. I think he will be waiting for me in heaven saying the same thing "Goooo Beth, Come on!!! You are my child!!" And, my reward in heaven will be on such a greater level than the 'bling' of this life. I can't wait!!!

During the coarse of this life, we all need good friends to walk along side us. This is my long time friend, Elizabeth. She shared her gift of playing the harp at our wedding almost 14 years ago. We live right across the street from each other and I count her as one of my dearest friends. What a privilege it was to start this race with her. We walked the first 3 miles together, then I took off running.

I ran miles 4,5,6,7, and 8. In the middle of mile 8, I found a teacher friend from school and we were able to run the last of mile 8 and walk a little of mile 9 together. It is amazing how God puts people in your life at just the right time when you need a little support and encouragement. It was great to see her smiling face and run/walk the race with her for a few minutes. I needed to get running again so took off somewhere in mile 9 and ran to mile 10 and into 11. About that time I was feeling really bad. How much further to the end?? And, How can I finish this race?? I walked some/ran some then ran into my trainer friend, Mark, who has helped me train these last 8 months. This man is an amazing athlete and ran the 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 35 minutes. He had the energy to go back and find another friend about 1 1/2 miles from the end and helped her get to the finish line, then he came back somewhere in mile 10/11 (those last fainting miles are such a blur to me) to help me get to the finish line.

His encouragement was amazing but I was DONE at that a point and am afraid I wasn't a very good student! I tried to do what he said but my body heaved out NO very loudly. He even came carrying a bottle of Gatorade for me. Well, we ran and walked till we got to about 1/2 mile from the finish line!! I could see it!!! The end was in sight!!!! One day I will lay on my death bed between here and there and will be able to see the finish line of life. I wonder who will be with me at the end of this life. I hope it's my husband and dear boys! But, for this race, it was my friend Mark.

As we got closer, we could see my husband, son Ben and Mark's son. Doug was able to take these pictures as I jogged by. We were about 1/4 mile from the finish line. We kept going as best as we could....well, as best as I could!!! I'm sure Mark could have sprinted to the end. At the end of the day, he figured he ran nearly 20 miles. Amazing!

When we got this close, I could really see my husband and our oldest son, Ben. It brought joy to my eyes to see them at the sidelines cheering me on. I could have just cried. It was all I could do to not heave big tears. Ben and Mark's son asked if they could jump the barriers and run the last 1/4 mile with us. Wow.....what a comfort that was for this mama to have her son come and run along side her to the end. Honestly, I'm not sure I could have done it with out Ben!!!

As we got even closer, I could then see my parents and my mom shouting and waving her arms. The crowds of people lining both sides of the street were amazing. What a great reunion it was and it will be when we cross the finish line of this life. I'm sure those that have gone on before in this life will be cheering me on into those pearly gates. I think of my grandma shouting "Beth Ann Dear!!! Gooo" as I cross the finish line. And, if my parents pass before me...I'm sure my mama will be shouting the same words she did yesterday, "That's my Baby! Gooo Beth!!!"

As you go through the race of life, who is running beside you? Who are you turning to for help and support? What will your final prize be at the end of this life....eternity with Jesus or something else that is so painful it hurts me to even type it. I hope you know where you will spend eternity. There are only 2 possible choices: heaven or hell. Where will you be and how will you finish this race of life? I know I gave it my all yesterday. I have run more miles on another day of training but on the day of the race...I know I gave it my all. Do you give your all every day??

Overall, this was a wonderful experience for me. I did hurt and even cried at the finish line....mostly due to exhaustion, and the emotional experience of holding fast to a set goal, and seeing those alongside the road cheering me on to the end. Will I do this again? I'm not sure. The training was intense and long. But my sister told me yesterday that she thought she might want to get back into running and maybe next year she would do it with me. So, now I'm having second thoughts....maybe I will be out there again running the race for the prize with all my heart and soul.

Run well! Live well! Finish well!!

A Few New Cards

It's been ages since I've had a chance to update my blog. We are on Spring Break so I have a little time to get a few extra things completed.

Here are a few cards from March's Stamp Club. We had a great time. We meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month. Hope you can make it some month.

This card utilizes the chalk emboss technique. I used SU!'s white embossing powder to emboss the image on marina mist cardstock. After letting it cool off, I used chalk and a Blender Pen to paint on color over the white embossed area. I used Spray Clear Acrylic to spay over the image several times to lock the chalk into the embossed image. Cardstock colors are Marina Mist, Rose Red and Perfect Plub. Iused the Elegant Lines embossing folder to dry emboss the Perfect Plub cardstock. The main image is from the SU stamp set Just Believe.

Who??Who??Who?? is the wise old owl that is graduating this spring? I used the SU owl punch to make this wise old owl. The branch is from SU's bird punch. The cap in the background is from the Sock Monkey set. I used the tag punch and folded the top part of the tag down to make the cap for the owl. The folded part makes a great tab to attach the cap on to the card. The 'congratulations' comes from the set Perfect Punches. Cardstock colors are Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red, Black and So Saffron.

This card uses the Poppin' Pastels technique. The floral image from the Water Color Trio set is stamped using Versamark. I used sponge daubers to pat on chalk across the versamarked images. Cardstock colors are Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Certain Celery. Chalk colors are Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink, and Close to Cocoa

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These two cards were made by using the chalkboard technique. I stamped the image on black cardstock using white craft ink. Then, used the sponge daubers to pat on the chalk color across the image. Stamp sets are Extreme Skateboard, Extreme Elements and Extreme Guitar. Cardstock colors are Basic Gray, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant. The 1 1/4 and 1 3/8's and 1 3/4's circle punches were used.

Happy St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patty's Day in a few days to all my Irish Friends!!!

This Stamp is in the new Occasions Mini that runs until the end of April. I have a very Irish neighbor and she is going to be getting this card in a few days with hopefully a set of tile coasters to match. She's walk/running in the St. Patty's 5K walk/run so I hope this will encourage her along on her journey.

Here are the details for the card:

Autumn Spice SU designer paper, Certainly Celery cardstock and ink.

Lucky Shamrock stamp out of the Occasions Mini and a retired set of SU St. Patty's Day words for the background.

Stampin' Up! Circle and scalloped punches

You can order any of these supplies by clicking the catalog to the right of my blog.

Hope you have a very LUCKY week and find lots of GOLD lining in your days.