Love Notes To & From My Children

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share an idea with you all that I found on Pinterest! What would we do without Pinterest, right? I get so many wonderful ideas there that I had never thought of before. Today's post is all about how I was able to get closer to my kids using one of the ideas I had pinned!

First of all, I should explain what lead up to my actually using this idea. I am a nurse and I began working in a new facility. I truly love my job and know that I am doing what the LORD called me to do. This new job came with a new schedule and parts of it are good, but parts of it are not. I wanted a way to communicate with my children when I am not able to be home with them after school. We always talk about how our days went. I help with homework. They talk about issues they are facing. We go over spelling words. I remind them of chores to be done. They tell me if they need something special for school. A lot of communication was being lost with my working the hours I am and more important than that, we were not connecting like I wanted to.

I saw a post where a lady wrote in a composition notebook to her child and they became "pen pals" and took turns writing in the notebooks. Walmart had their notebooks on sale during Back2School specials and so I grabbed a glittery green notebook and a pretty composition notebook with a sparkly heart on the front cover. Javan and I share the green glittery notebook and Kadesia and I share the sparkly heart composition notebook.

I am so excited when the notebooks are waiting for me in my bathroom. When I get home from work and getting ready for bed, I just grab the notebooks and read the precious notes my children have left me. I will then write them each a letter back, sometimes to remind them of something, other times just answering questions they have asked, or just a new message about how much I love them.

My children find their notebooks on their bed and they enjoy seeing what I have sent them, too. I have a little better schedule now but we still like to use the notebooks for times I am gone and they just want to send their mommy a special note. I like that it encourages my teenage daughter to share moments in her life that she is going through. We have been able to swap messages back and forth and then when we get time to spend together, we have already laid the foundation to discuss those big topics that we might have not been able to share at all. My son is nine years old and I love that it is encouraging him to write. He needs practice and he is getting much better. It also increases his reading time because he is reading what I wrote to him, and is comprehending it.

The messages are not the same in the books because both of my children are very different. They are at different seasons in their lives. They are going through different things. They are not in the same grade. But the one thing that is the same in both notebooks is the message of love we send to one another. This was such a great idea and I know in years to come, those notebooks will be cherished memories of how we kept the lines of communication open, even when it was a challenge to share like we used to do.

I hope this inspires you to reach out to your loved ones. Find special ways to stay connected to those you love. Be sure to check out my Pinterest board for more ideas and inspiration! Definitely stop by Jennifer's blog and show her some love for this project. Thanks for hanging out with me today!

Hugs,

Time for a tutorial!!!

Hey everyone!

Today is the end of my first full week of blogging. Other than the "technical" difficulties I had yesterday I have been able to post every day so far and I am so excited about the different themes. Do you like them?

I really like to make lots of craft projects, handmade cards, gifts, scrapbook pages, and I love showing other people how to make these items, too. I haven't filmed a video tutorial in a while. My craft room/laundry room is being remodeled so it's been really challenging to get anything created and posted. However, for today's post I am going to create and post a video tutorial for you all. I hope you will enjoy visiting each week for




I hope you enjoy the tutorial. Please let me know if you would like a particular tutorial and I will do my best to provide that for you! Thanks for hanging out with me today!

Hugs,

Moving....

Hey, everyone!!

I needed a fun hostess gift for someone who had a party for me. I wasn't sure what to do and my friend (and fellow Angel) Seleise gave me the instructions for this cute little holder. I slipped in some sixlets candy in the side of the card. The little sticky note holder is a favorite of mine to make and give! Hope you like it!! Thanks, Seleise! The sweet little tag on the front of the card came with our paper from The Angel Company.

As many of you know, we had to move out of our house and of all the things I have done without, there are only a few things I truly miss...one of which is my scrapbook nook in my kitchen! My mom had this sheet for a long, long time and didn't want it anymore. I snatched it up for my scrapbook table. I have my favorite inspirational magazine in the magazine holder. My friend, Christina gave me a really great gift...a subscription to my favorite magazine Scrapbooks, Etc.

This is my baker's rack. I don't have room for it in my new house (that we haven't moved into yet but hopefully soon...) so I gave it to my sister. It matches her kitchen and I am sure she will get a lot of great use out of it. My friend, Christina, gave me those vertical paper holders. I love them! Thanks, Christina! See all my scrapbooks?

In the corner was where I kept my Xyron sticker makers and various other scrapbook supplies. I don't have room for that shelf either so I gave it to my sister, too.
Here's a picture of Paul and Javan during one of our last moving days. It was really sad to see all of our stuff in boxes hauled off to the storage unit. It's not easy living out of a box, digging to find your clothes and personal items but hopefully soon we will be moved into our new home and it will be so exciting!
I just love this picture of Javan. He sat in the chair in the back of his daddy's truck! We bought this recliner for Kadesia when she was really small so this little chair has seen a lot of love!
I will update again with photos of more things we have done while I have been away from my blog! Thanks for checking out my blog!

Angel Hugs,

BLOG CANDY!!!

Hello, everyone!

It is time for BLOG CANDY!!! Yay!!!!

I want to thank all of you that have stopped by Hoosier Card Angel's Creations to see what new projects I have been working on and the latest happenings with my family and friends. I love the comments and new friends I have made through this blog! I hope you all enjoy visiting here as much as I love sharing with you all!

Most people that know me will tell you that my absolute favorite holiday out of the entire year is INDEPENDENCE DAY! I love the 4th of July!! It's a wonderful time to celebrate with family and friends, gather for a cook-out in the back yard with burgers and hot dogs and my mom's awesome potato salad!!! It's so exciting to watch the big bursts of color lighting up the night sky as the fireworks are on display!!! BUT, the best part of all, is when we can take a few moments out of our busy agenda to remember WHY we celebrate and WHO we should thank for our FREEDOM that hasn't come cheap! Do you know a veteran? THANK THEM!! Do you know someone who is putting their life on the line right now fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and parts unknown? THANK THEM! PRAY FOR THEM! NEVER STOP UNTIL THEY ARE SAFE AT HOME!!!!!

In honor of America's birthday and in my opinion the best time of year to celebrate, I am offering up some BLOG CANDY!!!! I am offering an acrylic sticky-note holder, matching ink pen and bookmark! Here is a picture of what you can win:

Here's how you can win:

1. Post a comment on my blog of your favorite 4th of July memory, or why you feel like it is important to celebrate this special holiday!

2. Make a card, scrapbook page, or altered item, with the 4th of July/Americana theme and give me the link to see it!

3. Tell me what you would like to see more of here at Hoosier Card Angel's Creations: video tutorial, photos with instructions, altered items, scrapbook/faithbook pages, cards, etc.....

4. Link this blog candy offer on your blog for others to get the chance to win, too!

WHEN YOU DO ALL 4 THINGS, YOU WILL BE ENTERED FOR THE CHANCE TO WIN! I will pick the winner and announce it RIGHT HERE on JULY 4!!!! Don't miss it! Check back often so you can participate! Have a great day!

Hugs,

Bridgett

Are y'all ready for this???

Hey, everyone!

Wow! It's been quite a weekend!!! I just got back from my Relay For Life meeting and I am really excited about going this year! Our team is going to have so much fun!!! Woohoo!!! I will fill all of you Hoosier Stampers in later with an e-mail!! If you want to be a Hoosier Stamper, we'd be more than happy to have you on our team! Just let me know that you want to participate and I will help you do that!! If you haven't made a donation yet and you would like to, please do! Every dollar counts!!! Do you know someone that has cancer or has had cancer? For $10 you can buy them a luminary and you can even come to the track and decorate it yourself (if you want) and light it (if you want)!!! Our Lawrence County American Cancer Society Relay For Life is June 20 and 21! Make plans to come out and support the Relay! There's so many fun things to see and do there!!! I will post more details very soon so be watching for that!!

Okay, now most of you are wondering about the fun we all had at our Stamp Out Cancer and Crop For A Cure! Well, we had LOTS of fun!! We had so many prizes to give away and yummy food to eat, even cheesecake for dessert! Mmmm!! And we had a QUEEN OF THE CROP contest!!!! Want to see the lucky winner? Okay! But first I must thank two very special people who sent me items for this event. Unfortunately they did not come in time, but they were very generous and I just wanted to thank them here and show you all what they brought! The pictures do not do them justice!! Thanks, ladies!!

The first two cards came all the way from England! My fellow SBS18 Sister Vicky sent them to me! Visit her blog and tell her what a great job she did! This is in honor of her mother that passed away from cancer!

These wonderful gifts all came from a fellow TAC Angel, Angela K! Go see her at Artistic Detours and leave her a comment on what an awesome and generous donation she made for our event!! There were tons of gorgeous cards, altered books and an amazing coaster album! Seriously you should see these in person!! Amazing!

We all had a fun time making NUGGET PURSES! These were a big hit with everyone, as everyone talked about fun events these would make the perfect favor for! Check out the cute little purses these ladies made!!!

Check these out!! My mother-in-law bought me a pair of these cute flip flops! She got a pair, too! Only $8 for the two or $5 for one pair! And you know I would have to pick the ones with wings, huh? AWESOME!!! And this will be one exception I will make for pink! LOL

Monyca Easter is helping out at the registration table! Don't you love my awesome banner my mother-in-law made for me?! Thank you, Leann!!

For another fun group project, I thought we'd make some cute little candles. I had seen many of the larger candles featured with this technique but I thought it would be fun to try to stamp on votives and look at what these talented ladies came up with:

STOP! We have a winner!!! Memory Lane Scrapbooking gift certificate! Woohoo!!!

Hungry? My mother-in-law made lunch and it was soooo good! I loved it! The "buffalo" as we call it was delicious (not really buffalo meat), and the salad was yummy with lots to load onto it! And for a sweet treat....cheesecake for dessert! Mmmm!! Great job, Leann!

Here's are the lucky winners of our raffles! We had a Coach purse and a Longaberger stand!! My daughter won the stand! And trust me, I had NOTHING to do with that whole thing!!!

QUEEN OF THE CROP: Peggy Louden! She deserves it!!! She worked so hard to get the word out about the fundraiser, arranged for us to use her church, and was just a wonderful help with everything!! Isn't she beautiful!??

And here is my lovely friend, Dawna!! She is my very first stamping friend....my angel! She took me right under her wings and showed me the ropes and even protected me from a bully!!! Yeah!!! Don't mess with Dawna!! LOL She lives about 30+ minutes away and came down to be with us and try to kick cancer's butt! Woohoo!! So glad you came!!!! Look at her amazing work! Isn't she great? AND she was SOOOOOOO generous that she gave away boxes and boxes of papers and envelopes and just whatever we needed!!!

And if Saturday's fundraiser wasn't enough fun, we had a little three year old's birthday party to go to. Here's the card I made her! I used the Ice Cream stamp set (T-2630, p. 59), stickles (F-526, p. 122) and Tombow markers (F-01, F-07, p. 120).

And to say thank you for all her help at the fundraiser (and with everything for our team), I made this little post-it note holder and matching pen. She loves pink and this way she doesn't think too many of the men at her work will be taking her pen and sticky notes! LOL I used the stickles (F-525, p. 122), a TAC stamp from a previous stamp of the month!

What could be sweeter to the weekend full of fun than with two special cards made for me and for my daughter by our sweet little friend, Rosie! What a great card maker she is!! Thank you, Rosie! Kadesia and I love our cards!!! Beautiful work, sweetheart!

Thanks for checking it out!

Hugs,
Bridgett

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Hey, everyone!

Thanks for stopping by today to see what I have come up with!

Since this is Teacher Appreciation Week, I have decided to make a little gift for my daughter's teacher and TA's. I'm sure a lot of teachers will get various gifts, but I thought I would give them something they would be able to use over and over. I made them some post-it note holders. I had fun making three of these and three note cards to go along with them!

I used the Thanks GWP stamp (TG-2913); Noir Palette Hybrid Ink Pad (TT-220); and the Mega Scalloped Circle 2½" (D-700).

I hope you like these and are inspired to make something today! Remember to thank the teachers who have made a difference in your life and the lives of your children, not just at school, but at church and any special things they've done!!

Have a great day!
Bridgett