Monday, March 19, 2018

Me On A Monday - March 19th


Good Morning!  Thank you to everyone for last weeks words of encouragement, very much appreciated.  A few days of some better sleep & some fresh air has done wonders.

We have locally be enjoying some wonderful sunshine.  The snow is almost all gone & left behind is the March shade of dull.  Spring arrives here at 12:15pm on Tuesday & while that day has a forecast of sunshine & above zero temperatures, the end of the week moves back to snow.  That's not unusual for this area - winter & spring seem to fight for space for weeks on end.

The March Dulls
My potted tulips are spending their days basking in sunshine & are growing & greening.  


This past week has seen me creating a few scrapbook pages along with some cards.  I think my preferred creative card making style is to use punches, die cuts, paper & embellishments.  I haven't given up on stamping & heat embossing, it just isn't my favourite (yet).  Who knows maybe with more practice I'll get there.  A few weeks ago I made with punches & paper a St Patrick's Day card for someone in Ireland, to send to them as happy mail.  I realize that probably the way North America celebrates the day is quite different to the way it is celebrated in Ireland.  
Speaking of celebrating St Patrick's Day; locally the universities tend to go completely insane & with wild out of control parties.  Last year's parties at the close to us universities of Guelph, Waterloo, Kitchener were front page news from the property damage, so much drunkenness.  This year about 2 weeks prior to March 17th the mayors, the police & the university authorities started making regular on radio & tv & in the papers,  announcements that this year the behaviour would NOT be tolerated at any level.  It seemed to work at the University of Guelph because there were no arrests, 300 cars were stopped in the R.I.D.E. program (reduce impaired driving everywhere) & not one charge was laid.  It seems that in Waterloo the students there did not heed the warnings  & there was much partying & lots of charges laid.  

Source: The Kitchener Record; Waterloo Univ Students
So back to my card making adventures.  Hallmark need not fear my creations (col).  I make them with joy & caring.

Last Sunday I celebrated a one year return to church services.  I must admit I am starting to feel quite comfortable in our small  church community.  I know everyone's name & they know mine. I must admit that feels pretty good.  Our current interim minister is quite the preacher.  This Sunday he had the whole congregation in laughter as he started his sermon,  which I guess is a good way to get everyone's attention to the lesson of the sermon. He has lead a 5 week Lent Chat on Wednesdays of which I have attended.  We have a bake-less bake sale fund raiser coming up in April, but thankfully there's no preparation needed, we just make a donation of money rather than actual baking.  I like it.  We have been warned, informed that there is the traditional bake, plant & garage (boot) sale coming up in May.  Good reason to do some more sorting & tidying at home.

"life is like a mirror, if you smile at it, it will smile back."
 

16 comments:

  1. I can't get over how much other countries celebrate St Patrick's Day - we do nothing where I live in the UK!
    Lovely cards, and you can't put a price on one made with love so don't you worry about competing with Hallmark.

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    1. I had to laugh about St Patrick's Day because I heard several students wishing each other Happy St Patty's day not Paddy ... do they even know the why behind the day! (lol). I hate the all thumps curve part of learning a new skill!

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  2. Happy Spring, or hopefully it will feel like Spring this week. I know what you are talking about with the St. Patrick's Day celebrations at university - I'm glad it made a difference at Guelph. -Jenn

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    1. Jenn I think there were fewer parties in Guelph because St Patrick's day fell on the same weekend as College Royal & that is a huge deal to the students - it kept them occupied elsewhere!

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  3. I saw your card and Instagram and guessed it had come from you ... it's lovely! Deb is right, St. Patrick's Day is hardly celebrated in the UK, and me with all that Irish ancestry ...
    Have a fab week!

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    1. My card on Insta! I feel famous now. The only Irish I ever had was a step-Mom, my heritage goes with St David's Day ...

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  4. College + Partying = a right of passage for young adults these days. So glad my brood is past that now! Your cards are beautiful - was especially drawn to the lacy-winged dragonfly.

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    1. Thanks, I think taking Sandie's online Artist Way course really helped to unblock my creative needs. The dragonfly card I made at my monthly workshop & it is a die cut & glitter paper.

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  5. St. Patrick's Day can be a bit raucous at the pubs here as well. I've never heard of problems at the universities in town, though. We tend to stay away from restaurants on St. Patrick's Day, but this year had a very low key and delicious dinner in the Finger Lakes. Your cards are just lovely, and anyone would be delighted to receive one!

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    1. Thanks Karen. Thankfully living in a little village off the beaten path we don't get any spill over from the rowdy parties. Nice that you could get out for dinner for Tracy's birthday celebrations.

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  6. I agree, your cards are lovely and of course it is the care that matters most of all anyway! Glad you are able to hold spring in your sights. We are back to snow again at the moment, but...

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    1. Oh Lady Ella poor you, more snow. The forecast keeps changing but I think we are avoiding the snow bullet again. Thanks for the cards compliment, the dragon fly card was really fun to make, the pink white & grey card was a lot of different techniques which required a lot of hand holding from the instructor, but I got there in the end.

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  7. I hope spring comes to you soon. Your tulips look hopeful :) Around here we have parades and parties for St. Patrick's Day, but I'm a bit of a stay-at-home and our observance is much calmer. We have what I'm considering cold weather for us today, but the high will be 50F. I'm tired of rain....

    Your Lenten series sounds interesting. Church sales are a great opportunity to donate things (and pick up more lol).

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    1. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the 5 Chats. My goal is to donate not purchase (col).

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  9. Your cards are super wonderful - I've always thought I'd give it a try, but so far haven't.

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