Easter 2011

I hope everyone had a beautiful and blessed Easter. I had the best Easter of my life. As a little girl, I was always interested in going to church. I tried many, many churches when I was growing up, going with my parents, friends, and other family members. One religion above all the others always held my interest and heart - and now my interest has grown into my faith. I finally came home. Since September, Josh (my boyfriend) and I have been taking RCIA classes to become confirmed members of our Church. It has been the most amazing journey I have ever been on, and it brings me so much joy to know this is just the beginning. All of our studies led up to the Easter Vigil, which was Saturday night. I made a few cards for the occasion, and I've got some photos to share from that night, too.

ABOVE

- The interior of our church. I may see it every week, but it will always take my breath away. :)
- Father confirming me into the church. :)

BELOW
- Josh with his very proud Grandmother :)
- Us with our sponsor/Josh's Grandmother and our priest :)

* * * * *

I apologize that the first card doesn't have any detailed photos. I'll add some later - but this was a quick cell phone pic. The image was cut from the Inspired Heart Cartridge on Bazzill Basics Bling cardstock. Ribbon by Ribbon Boutique; Stickers by American Crafts; Stitching by Sew Easy; Pearls by Recollections.

The 2nd card was also made using the Inspired Heart cartridge. American Crafts foil cardstock; Bazzill Basics bling cardstock; Swiss Dots embossing folder; Stampendous alphabet stamps "You are a"; pop dots.

It was such a wonderful experience that both of our families joined together for. I'm so grateful! Thank you for letting me share this with you.

Lots of love,

Emily

Faithfully / Any Way You Want It

This 2-page spread has been in the works for awhile, frankly because I haven't had time to do anything but a few cards I needed. I worked on this bits at a time, and it was still fun. :) Tons of journaling, and I managed to squeeze quite a few photos in, too.

12x12 sheets by We R Memory Keepers.

Titles from Storybook (2"; Shadow) and Cricut Classic Font (1"; Tall Ball/Tall Ball Shadow).

Basic grey stamps, in archival ink, on bazzil cardstock.

I colored & blended them each in with colored pencils, and cut them out with cutter bees.

I drew word bubbles and wrote in dialogue from the show (cutest line ever).

All pop dotted. :)

My first scrapbook page with stitching! Thank you, Sew Easy. :)

thanks for reading!

xoxo

I haven't written anything in awhile - oops! This (Easter season) is a really, really busy time for Josh and I, as we are going through the amazing process of joining our church. :)

This week, my mom and I took a couple hard-earned vacay days to go on our 6th annual trip to Ft. Wayne, IN for the Vera Bradley sale. :) Along the way, we got to go to some of our other favorite shops, one of them of course being Archiver's. I FINALLY was able to get my hands on a Sew Easy (I've been wanting one for months), and I love it! It works just as well as I had hoped, and I have already learned lots and added character to several projects.

Below:

My Sew Easy set--mat, tool, needle, scallop head, and aqua, grey, and purple flosses.

Scotch tape that matches my Cricut Expression! yaaay, purple.

$1 Cosmo Cricut Sticker haul from www.peachycheap.com

Other Archiver's finds - including coveted rose brads and crocheted flowers!

love love love.

Below is a picture of my Vera finds. My mom and I have been Vera lovers since 2004 when I began working in a Hallmark store, and it snowballed from there. We have gone to the outlet sale every spring since 2005, and this year got considerably less because #1, we have acquired one too many bags over the years, and #2, they raised their prices. I'm in love with my Make Me Blush purse - one bag was more than enough for me. :)

I

And because he was all cuddly while I was taking these photographs:

Thanks for reading with me! xoxo