Thank you Mr. UPS

I think the UPS man and my hubby are getting to be on first name basis. My Thirty-One business is doing very well this year. Simply taking up orders has not only earned me the entire amount of my conference registration fee, but has allowed me to be the Hostess of the party and earn tons of free products. Here are my rewards from recent parties.

The newest thermal in the Thirty-One family is the Around the Clock Thermal. It is the perfect size for work. No I don't eat that much for lunch, but it gives me room for leftover containers, drinks, snacks, whatever. I am a big fan of the black playful parade pattern.  

However, pink and turquoise are going to be my signature color this year. I love the bright pastels and if you know me at all, you know I love floral. This mini zipper pouch is one of my favorite items and you have no idea how many of these I have and I use them all. Let's just say they rate right up their with my love of flip flops.

At the end of last year, I bought one of the wine colored All About the Benjamin Wallets. I ordered this at the end of January while they were on sale. I love the wallet and just HAD to have it in pink. It is as gorgeous as I had hoped it would be.

There is so much room in this wallet. It has 13 interior card slots, 3 compartments, a flap for check books and a zipper for your change. I can even put my smart phone in one of the 3 compartments and zip it closed.

I went ahead and got the strap that went with it.

Since my phone fits in it as well, I can use it as a wristlet when I don't want to fool with a big purse.

But my favorite of all is my new Spirit Pink Zip Top Organizing Utility Tote. I never leave home without at least one bag. I carry a couple of catalogs, some order forms, flyers for monthly specials, etc. It is also great to toss in a phone charger and sun glasses in case I am not going in my car. I wanted on in pink with turquoise writing. I must say I am totally, totally in love with this bag. I couldn't be happier with it.  

Nothing like a new bag to pick you up in that phase of winter where you are so ready for spring. Have a great day.

So true....

I totally agree...and it should be called Lay(-on-the-couch-and-veg-out-)Day. 

A little break....

I am taking a little blogging break for a couple of days. I will be back on Monday. So much sadness this week. First the loss of my dear friend. And today our community had a car accident that killed 3 teens (15, 16, and 18) and injured another (18).

My grandson was friends of the 15 year old. The 15 and 16 year olds were brother and sister. That poor family. My heart grieves for them all. The whole county is devastated for the families and the loss of three young lives. 

Please pray for these families.

I will be back next week. Thank you for your prayers and understanding.

R.I.P. Ms. Norma

Thank you all for your prayers and emails for my dear friend Ms. Norma. Ms. Norma went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday night.

She was such a fine lady. Never had a bad word to say about a soul. She was a true inspiration to anyone who had been through something that shook their faith. Many, many memories of times talking to her about her faith and what all God had done for her. We loved talking about the old days and vintage stuff we missed. She knew how much I loved crafting with the kids at church and was always sharing ideas with me for projects for the little ones. One of our favorites was these little bears.



She also found these little fig newton bibles that she thought would be perfect for VBS.



She shared not only ideas for kids crafts but was always sending me pics of things she thought I would like. My favorite was this bouquet of flowers. I think it would be fitting if I could find the wood to do this for her graveside for Easter.



I will miss you forever Ms. Norma. True friends like you are very hard to find. You touched something in my heart from the first day I met you and I will forever keep my memories close until we meet again.

This has been a looonnggg week...

This has been the longest week...or it seems like it to me. Here is a little humor for those of you experiencing the same feeling I am....

And one last word of wisdom for the day....

Have a great Wednesday!

Easy Valentine's Craft for Kids

I found this craft on Pinterest and thought it would be perfect for Children's Church as their craft project last week. You just need a magazine or catalog with colorful pictures, construction paper, glue stick and scissors. 

Fold construction paper in half and cut down the middle. This will give you 2 pieces about 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in size.

Lay one piece to the side and fold the other piece in 1/2 again.

On the folded piece, take a pen or pencil and draw 1/2 a heart and lay that piece to the side. 

Next tear some pages from your catalog or magazine with pretty pictures on the page. Cut the page so it is the same size as the construction paper 1/2.

You should cut more than one page so you can create the mosaic effect with different pictures. But they should all be the size of the 1/2 sheet construction paper.

Then start cutting your pages in strips about 1" - 1.5" wide. 

You should end up with some assorted picture strips. (Note: I pre-cut to this point for class because we have so many kids. But if you are doing this with your grandchildren, they will love cutting the strips and they don't have to be perfect.)

Next, pick a strip and get started. We didn't encourage them to do a pattern or anything. They just picked what they liked. Then you take a glue stick and run it down the back of your first strip.

Press it down on the edge of the paper. 

Continue the process of placing them side by side until the whole sheet is covered. If any were hanging over the edges we just trimmed them off.

Next, take your folded piece and cut along the outline of your 1/2 heart.

Lay it flat and smooth it down.

On the back side (where the pencil mark was) run your glue stick around all the outer edges and around the edges of the heart.

Lay it on top the magazine strips paper and press down all over to make sure it is nice and smooth.

And wah-lah! You have a cute little mosaic valentine. Some kids took them home as is for Mommy to frame.

Some wrote Happy Valentine's Day on them. And it being Children's Church we always have foam stickers on hand so some decorated with little foam hearts. 

Either way, they all were cute as could be. Each one was unique in its own way because we used so many different magazine pics to cut the scraps. The kids loved it.

Prayers for Ms. Norma

My heart is heavy this morning as a very dear, close friend of mine is suffering through some health problems. Ms. Norma could really use our prayers today. If you have a moment, any quick prayer is appreciated. Ms. Norma is a lung transplant survivor. In 2003, she was told if the transplant worked it would buy her about 5 more years of life at the most. Here we are today almost 12 years later and this dear lady is still holding strong to her faith in God. She had some breathing problem a few days ago and was admitted to the hospital. As they were working on her esophagus, they caused a tear in it. There were 3 options for repair. Two are not even options for Ms. Norma because she is a lung recipient. They talked with her about the 3rd option which was not without risks or she could simply let them make her last days comfortable. She did what she always does and put her faith in God and went for Option 3. The emergency surgery was a success, but she is still not out of the woods. She suffered a setback yesterday morning and had to have breathing tubes inserted. Fluid is building around her heart and lungs. She still needs prayers. Please pray for my sweet friend. If you would like to learn more about her story, which is amazing, I interviewed her in 2011 and you can read her story here Does God Still Perform Miracles?

Thanking you in advance for your prayers.