We interrupt Way Back When-sday to bring you this special message...

Hi friends,

I am loving creating the Way Back When-sday features (it has been so great to read your fun comments as we reminisce together!) - but they take a fair amount of time to do right (time is not a commodity I have in buckets) - so I am going to do them twice a month rather than weekly. That will give me a bit more time to work on the various other goodies that are in the works in the studio that I am excited to share with you very soon... SO - I will feature the year 1997 on Wednesday May 7th and will try to stick to the first and third Wednesdays of the month as the official "Way Back When-sday" schedule.

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Meanwhile, speaking of goodies in the works, I have a sneak peek to share with you of a couple of the products I will be offering on my upcoming Etsy site -

This sweet little confection is a covered "Cupcake Plate" featuring...

...an oh-so-shabby pink rosebud china plate...

...a glass cheese ball cover festooned with gradient pink ribbon and a teensy pearl bling accent...

...all footed by a sturdy glass candlestick.


I will be selling this for $30.00.
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You may remember this little makeover - she will also be available on Etsy...

BEFORE...

AFTER...

The verse reads:

"In all that's gentle,

pure and true,

we see God's love

come shining through"

This re-loved cross stitch collage will be offered for $34.00

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Thanks as always for stopping by - I'd love to hear from you about these samples, Way Back When-sday, or anything that's on your mind - you are more than welcome here any time!! I am starting to make a real effort to get out there and comment more on your blogs - there are so many that I love to visit daily, and I truly want to be a good citizen of Blogland and leave a "calling card" when I visit. Thanks one and all for your hospitality, grace, and patience!

And thank you as well for your thoughts and prayers for my husband during his recent injury and recovery - he is so much better and is back at work. He still has some healing to do, but he is well on his way! Praise the Lord!!

Junkin' Like a Drunken Sailor (Oh the Guilt!!)

Why guilt you might ask...? Because I cannot seem to quit buying this stuff!! It's not that I spend very much money - quite the contrary (this stuff is dirt cheap)....it's that I DON"T HAVE ANY MORE ROOM!! I have begun, AGAIN, in earnest, to clean up and re-purpose a few pieces, preparing them for selling and really, really soon I will be unveiling my new Etsy shop - Yay!! Then, maybe, just maybe, we will begin to move items out of the garage, the studio, the dining room, the closets, etc, and into some of YOUR hands (HOPEFULLY!!)

OK, now lets be honest - how could I pass up this stuff...?? Especially since practically none of it was over $2.00 - most were $.25 - $1.00!!

Love this sweet embroidered piece of Jesus and animals...lovingly done by a woman's Grandmother...I assured her I would re-love it into something wonderful...


$2.00 for this yellow rose afghan! SO much work went into this!!

$2:00 also for this entire box of vintage 50's - 80's era greeting cards - unused...

These summery dishes were my only "big dollar" purchase at $15.00 - there are lots more of them in the box - these are just a few of them...

My Mom bought this lamp for me (she's an enabler :o) But oh the possibilities with this cute teapot/coffee pot lamp, huh...!?!

This one I'm keeping - this is a perfect fit to go on top of our fireplace mantel - once it's all shabbied-up of course - it will make a wonderful setting to stage seasonal decor - can't wait!!

Oh yeah...that's how much I paid for it...

Yep...I got a junk habit.....help....

Way Back When-sday: One Week Break

Just a quick note to say that I will return to Way Back When-sday next week (we'll jump back to 1997 !!) - with all the trauma of hubby's injury and lots going on on top of that, we just need a little break to rejuvenate for a day or two. Thanks much - I'll see you all soon!!

Make new friends, but keep the old...

My heart is overflowing today with thoughts on friendship, so, I could think of no better place to let it overflow than onto the blog...

The blog title refers to part of the old poem by Joseph Parry:

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Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
New-made friendships, like new wine,
Age will mellow and refine.

Friendships that have stood the test -
Time and change - are surely best;
Brow may wrinkle, hair grow gray,
Friendship never knows decay.

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There's more to it, but you get the idea. I just had a really neat "old friend" experience today with a sweet buddy of mine from my Colorado days, and that's what got me thinking about the joys of girlfriends. I hope you are blessed by girlfriends in your life (forgive me fellas, if any of you are reading this, but this is definitely gonna be a girly post :o)

These were some of my closest friends and awesome leaders in the women's ministry that I had the privilege of launching and leading in Colorado. (that's me 2nd from the left...still in my blond phase) This photo was taken in front of the booth our ministry sponsored at our church's Fall Festival. This is just one of dozens of fun things we did in the 4 years I was a part of the happenings there (I will no doubt do a Way Back When-sday feature on the start of this ministry - so I'll save more stories for then)

One of the neatest things we did in the ministry was called H.U.G.S (Hearts United in Grace and Spirit) - we took time in our schedule on Tuesday nights to encourage all the ladies to simply hug others - to share the love of God in a very tangible, personal way...it was a very sweet and powerful time. HUGS also helped coordinate outreach (meals and such) to those who were ill or hospitalized, sent postcards to gals who were absent, and provided HUGS Online e-cards for the ladies to use to encourage one another. (They are still available to send through Just Bee 'n Me - but this area of my site needs alot of work)

I wanted to share some REALLY neat and exciting girlfriend resources that I think will be a real blessing to many of you who would like to foster more female friendships in your life and in your church or group. I'm so very proud of one of my other dearest friends from the photo above who has done a lot of writing for the women's ministry department at Group Publishing, a Loveland, CO based church resource provider that creates some of the most wonderful and unique ministry tools anywhere. Here are some FUN, COOL affordable resources that can be used in a small gathering in your home or a larger gathering in your church, neighborhood, etc...
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Chick Flicks (Dinner & a Movie event ideas)

This is the coolest book!! My sweet BFF wrote several of the fun at-home-girlfriend-night ideas that center on preparing a meal and watching a wholesome movie together. The meal and suggested activities all coordinate with the movie (like making "30-Flirty" pizza for the movie "13 Going on 30") There are also some light discussion topics for the cooking time as well as after the movie. Just a REALLY awesome idea and so very fun and easy to pull together (I got to be a guinea pig for the 13/30 one - what a blast!)

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Here's a link to other similar event ideas for doing at home or in other small group gatherings:

Other Themed Event Ideas

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Girls Night Out Party Kits

These little kits are wonderful! Included is a CD-ROM with all the printed materials and even music, complete instructions and a goody-bag of helpful stuff too in each kit. These are perfect get-togethers for meeting your neighbors, youth slumber parties, small group get-togethers, or anytime when girls gather for fun! Check out the fun and delicious Chocolate Boutique Party Kit !

Other "Girls Night Out" Party Kits and Craft Resources

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Finally, if you are involved in Women's Ministry, you might want to check out Girlfriends Unlimited.This is a dynamic fresh approach to reaching women and has many great resources. My BFF is also the editor of their online newsletter - very cool stuff!

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So, to all my new "silver" friends (who are becoming "gold") in Blogland, I just wanted to share those ideas and encourage you to continue reaching out and being connected with other women - I believe blogging has been so popular and powerful because it provides, to some degree, that connectedness that we all need...it's a wonderful thing, and has meant so much to me to be able to share with so many from near and far, and to pray for and rejoice with you through all the many ups and downs of life. But there are also many women out there who might never see a blog who desperately need the fellowship we all enjoy - keep your heart and your eyes open for them...you never know...you may just find yourself a "gold" friend for life - one of the greatest treasures and God's greatest gifts to us!

Illustration Friday: Save

(click image to enlarge)

I'm sorry to keep using existing illustrations for Illustration Friday, but I didn't want this week's topic, "Save", to get by, and I didn't have the time to create something new - so re-posting this illustration (one I originally did for the topic "Lost") seemed appropriate...

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"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
(Luke 19:10)

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"Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love."
(Psalm 6:4)

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"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
(John 3:17 )

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"All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.We have left God’s paths to follow our own.Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all."

(Isaiah 53:6 )

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"Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."
(Psalm 100:3)

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Way Back When-sday: 2001

2001

Hard to believe it has already been seven years since 2001 - wow!!! In historical terms, it was a monumental year with 9-11 and its aftermath, but I prefer to focus on the everyday matters of that year...and the personal milestones and minutia which marked the year so vividly for me.

First off, I was living here in GORGEOUS Loveland, Colorado...

It wasn't snowy ALL the time...I was actually able to successfully grow flowers for the first time in my life...





I also LOVED Aspen trees - especially in the Fall...my-oh-my!!


And of course there were the Rocky Mountains....sigh...

Here's me in those days (the blond years)...

I was working for the same multi-national big-wig company that I still work for today, but 2001 marked a BIG change in my job. From 1998 - 2000, I traveled extensively throughout the USA conducting training sessions and doing software implementation consulting. It was exciting work, and I LOVED meeting all kinds of people from all over the country, but the travel got OLD REALLY fast! But, as 2000 was drawing to a close, I was laid off from the division I worked for...however, within a week I was hired by a totally different division of the same company, working with the same software, but this job was 100% home-based telecommuting!! Whooo-Hooo!!

I am blessed to still be working there today...but now I telecommute from my home in Houston! I conduct training sessions online (webinars) and I write training materials for help desk software...I'm on the phone alot in meetings...I've never actually met my manager face to face and he's been my manager for 3 years...my co-workers are scattered over 6 different states...such is the life in a virtual office. I LOVE it, because I LOVE being at home. (but I STILL want to be a full time illustrator...but that is a post for another day...
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Artistically, 2001 was the year of the Comeback - during all that travelling in previous years, I did some sketching in the hotel room at night and some piddling on the weekends, but I never really had the time or energy to create any major projects. In 2001, however, the big comeback piece for me was this painting I did for an auction at our church...

- it was a challenging piece, and it had been a LONG time since I had done anything so large and so relatively realistic, but it was gratifying to do...plus it fetched $500 at the auction, so I was really happy about that!

I was still creating some cutesy illustrations too, just for fun and to give to family and friends...

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My sweet Aussie girls were still alive in 2001...I miss them terribly - they were my kids and were the most wonderful dogs...

Ginger

Sydney

Here's Sydney heading toward the big lilac bush in our back yard - gosh, that was the sweetest-smelling, most beautiful shrub - I really miss lilacs - they just can't quite tolerate the heat here...

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As to what was going on in the wider world, here are the top grossing movies of 2001:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
3. Shrek
4. Monsters, Inc.
5. Rush Hour 2
6. The Mummy Returns
7. Pearl Harbor
8. Ocean's Eleven
9. Jurassic Park III
10. Planet of the Apes
    
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    So what in the world were you up to in 2001? Did you have a different hair color then :o) ? Did you have pets then that have passed on...or any that are still with you since that year? Were you working inside or outside the home? Did you ever go to Colorado on vacation in those days? Come on, let us know what you were doing that fateful year - we can't wait to hear all about it!