Easy as ABC's and 1-2-3's

Hello!   I'm back with another card for Vicki's Flashback Friday Challenge.  This is a new weekly challenge that Vicki started to get us using our old neglected stamps again.  This week Vicki challenged us to use our old alphabet or number stamps.  Now, I have A LOT of alphabet stamps and I hate to admit it, but I don't think I've ever used any of them.  I have no idea why I even bought so many alphabet stamps.  I hate them!  They are so frustrating to work with.  It's so hard to get them lined up correctly, even if they are clear stamps or you use a Stamp-a-ma-Jig.  I just find it so much easier to use my computer if I need to create my own sentiment.  But I wanted to play along with Vicki's challenge and so I kept it really easy on myself and just made the word 'Hi' with my alphabet stamps.  It's pretty hard to screw up a two letter word (But if you look closely, I still screwed it up.  The letter 'i' is lower than the letter 'h'  See what I mean?  UGH!)!

 For my card, I combined a very old set, with a newer set, but they have both been retired (I think).  My main image is from MFT and is called 'Party Time'.  I bought it on clearance, so it must be retired.  My retired alphabet stamp is from SU! and is called 'Contempo Alphabet'.  The paper is  Crate paper  'Farmhouse'.  I stamped the word 'hi' with the SU! stamps and cut them out using Spellbinder's Nestabilities.  Then I used a sentiment from the MFT set and cut it out with an MFT die.

 My image was colored with Copic Markers.  The other colored papers are Night of Navy and So Saffron.  I used an old MFT sketch (MFTWSC206) but I flipped it the other direction.

If you'd like to play Vicki's challenge go HERE.   I'm sure she'd love to see you!

Have a great day!  Amy

Death Leaves a Heartache

Hello.  I have a secular stamp set by Impression Obsession that I use for a lot for my sympathy cards, especially on ones where I am unsure of the person's faith.  I love the quote on this card, but many times when I use it I ask myself, as a Christian, if it's true.  Does 'Death leave a heartache no one can heal'?  I'm always conflicted when I read this quote because as a believer, I think Jesus can heal any hurt.  But the death of a loved one?  Does that heartache ever go away?  I don't think so.  I think it gets better with time, and I believe Jesus helps you to continue on with your life without your loved one, but is the heartache ever gone completely?  

I've  only lost three people in my life that were important to me.  One was an old college roommate who was instantly killed in a car accident her senior year of college.  That was over twenty five years ago and I still think of her quite often and wonder what her life would have been had she lived. 

 Another was an elderly woman at my church who was a constant  encouragement to me and the mother figure I never had.  I felt such a loss when she died and also a lot of confusion because this woman had more faith than anyone I knew and she believed wholeheartedly that God would heal her of cancer,  and He chose to take her home instead.  But probably the thing that upset me the most at the time was that as a young woman, I looked at this older sister in Christ as a rock.  No one had faith such as hers!  And yet, she didn't want to die.  She was afraid.  One of the last conversations I had with her she tearfully said to me 'I'm so afraid people will stop praying for me to be healed'.  It broke my heart and crushed my faith into a million little pieces.   And the last person I lost was my father.  No matter how many years have passed, I still miss him.  I remember one time I was at work when an elderly man walked in looking exactly like my father.  My heart actually leaped a beat when I saw him.  I thought it was him!  I got so nervous conversing with him, the resemblance was uncanny!  And he even had the sweetest, nicest personality too;  he treated me so politely, just like my father treated strangers.  I actually hurt when I  met this man, for it brought up so much pain of my father's death, and for one split second I thought he was still alive.

So does death leave a heartache no one can heal?  Yes, it does.  But the Lord can, and does, comfort you.  And the rest of the verse is definitely true:  'Love leaves a memory no one can steal.'  Our loved one may be gone, never to be seen on this earth, but we always have our memories.

 As is my usual style for sympathy cards, I kept it simple.  I stamped both the sentiment and the floral image directly onto designer paper.  The main image is  Papertrey Ink "Four of a Kind".  I then added an organza bow so you can still see the image through the ribbon, and a three dimensional butterfly by K & Co.

So what about you?  What are your thoughts on this verse?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a great day!  Amy

Fashion Over Fifty: Is It a Short Dress or a Long Top?

 Hello!  I was wearing this dress of my daughter's last Sunday when someone asked "Where do you buy your long tops?  I can never find tops long enough to cover my butt when I wear leggings."  I didn't have the heart to tell her that I wasn't wearing a top at all, but a short dress, so I just replied "It's my daughter's.  When she was home for Christmas we exchanged some clothes.  I kept a few of hers, and she took a few of mine, and we'll get them back next time we see each other.  It's like having new clothes without having to buy any!"

But my friend's question got me thinking.  Is it a long top or is it a dress?  Well, I think that depends on who's wearing it!  In the religious circles I run in, this would be way too short to wear as a dress.  But, put a pair of leggings underneath, and it's perfectly acceptable.  However, if I were to start blog surfing, I would find lots and lots of pictures of women wearing skirts and dresses this short. Even though midi skirts are making a huge comeback, and maxi's were all the rage last summer, short skirts are still very, very popular.   Technically, this is a dress I'm wearing.  But I could never wear it as a dress, so I pair it with a pair of black leggings and wear it as a long tunic.

Because the dress is polyester, it is very comfortable, and the leggings keep my legs super warm.  Sometimes if I think a dress is too short, I'll wear tights underneath, like I did with this outfit HERE.  But this dress was even a few inches shorter than the skirt I had on in that photograph, so leggings were a better choice.

For shoes, I wore silver metallic flats (old).  If your wondering how I wear shoes like this in my climate, I don't wear them outside.  I wear my "protects up to - 40 degrees" Kamik  boots whenever I walk outside and I put my flats inside my large bucket bag.

My leggings actually have a cute little zipper detail on the outside by the ankle but they didn't show up in the photograph too well.

For jewelry I wore a gold and black necklace (old) from Charming Charlie's, and a white and black bracelet (old).

There is a constant on-going debate about the appropriate way to wear leggings.  I, like most fashion designers and stylists, believe that leggings ARE NOT pants and the only correct way to wear them is with a tunic or dress that covers your butt.  However, no matter how many times this is preached, I can't set foot outside my door without seeing one or more women wearing leggings as pants.  Sometimes I think part of the problem is that it is hard to find long tops or sweaters that cover the butt.  Even the ones that are advertised as 'long' only go about half way down from the button of your pants.  However, there are plenty of short dresses out there, so if you want to wear leggings, check out the dress department!  Sweater and sweatshirt dresses especially are perfect to wear with leggings:  check out these posts  HERE, HERE, and HERE as examples.

So what about you?  Do you have any clothes that were originally designed to wear one way but you re-purposed them and wore them a different way?  I love it when people are creative with their clothes. I'd love to hear some of your ideas.

I'm linking up with Trendy Wednesday,  Sophisticated Style, and I Feel Pretty,  join us if you can!

Have a great day!  Amy