He is Risen.

Greetings. What a blessed time of year this is, as we remember what is without a doubt the single most important thing that has ever happened on this earth. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, paid the price for the sins of each one of us, was crucified, and rose again on the third day. He won the victory over death so we all can live again. Happy Easter.

"Now let the heavens be joyful,
Let Earth her song begin:
Let the round world keep triumph,
And all that is therein—
Invisible and visible, 
Their notes let all things blend,
For Christ the Lord is risen,
Our joy that hath no end."
    —Saint John of Damascus

The Word is: HOME

Home. The meaning of this word has been changing a bit for me over the recent past. It is now much more a feeling than a place, and it feels like security, comfort, safety, acceptance, trust and love. This is home to me. What feels like home to you?

Today I'm sharing another of my new stamp sets, HOME SWEET HOME, which will be released later this year by Impression Obsession. This is another of my hand-sketched and hand-lettered collections. They're "perfectly imperfect" on purpose. Try them with one of the new chalkboard techniques - so fun! My hope is that when you look at these images you will feel the feelings of home. Enjoy!

"Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go."  —Sarah Dessen 

Getting a Little Sketchy...

On this beautiful SPRING morning (yay springtime!) I thought I'd share one of my newest designs, which will be released as both clear and rubber stamps this summer by Impression Obsession. While I sill love the words and many of my designs are still text-based, I am branching out more and doing more hand-sketched pieces. This is one of a collection of two botanical sets that I've done, and there are lots of other new things to come this summer as well. Can't wait for you to see them, and I myself can't wait to get my hands on the new stamps! What fun.

It's an amazing, gorgeous spring day here in NorCal - it rained a little yesterday, but today is crisp and clear, the sky is stunningly blue, flowers are blooming, and the blossoms are falling from the trees like snow. Other than my headache, sneezing and allergy eyes, it's all good! What a big beautiful world. Does God love us, or what?

Okay, let's all go make someone happy today!

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'let's party!.'"  —Robin Williams

The Word is: JOURNEY

Doesn't this picture make you wonder where these stairs lead? Don't you want to climb them to find out? Isn't the journey of life an interesting adventure? My answers to these questions are yes, yes... and yes.

"The road of life twists and turns, and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons often come from the journey, not necessarily the destination."  —Don Williams, Jr.

"Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world... close your eyes and let your spirit soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before."  —Erich Fromm

"To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we need to keep stepping."  —Chinese Proverb

"Not I, nor anyone else, can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself."  —Walt Whitman

I Have a BIG Announcement!

...and no, I am not pregnant, but this is something almost as good! I have been chosen as a Semi-Finalist in the 46th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest! I've been trying for several years now, and this time they liked me! My recipe, BALSAMIC CHICKEN CRANBERRY PANZANELLA, is in their "Amazing Doable Dinners" category and it will be posted at bakeoff.com for two weeks starting today, where the world gets to choose their favorites. If I'm one of the 33 top vote-getters, I will get to go to Las Vegas in November for a chance to win a million bucks! No lie! Needless to say I am super excited and kinda nervous. And I would LOVE YOU if you went online and voted for my recipe! You can only vote for each recipe one time, so it's easy for you and each vote is very important to me. So tell you friends via email, facebook, twitter, or what-have-you. I wanna win! Thanks for your support! Love ya! Here's an easy link that takes you right to the voting page:

http://www.pillsbury.com/BakeOff/Voting-Home/Voting-Gallery

Remember These?

oosh. Blogger is being retarded today. Can a girl not edit a blog post up in here?? Oh well...  

Remember these Subway-art Easter eggs, that I tried to make last year and failed miserably? Well, not gonna even try this year. I'm sticking to the second kind pictured below. Give me chocolate, baby! I'm too old and too busy to even think about doing something fancy this time around (and I must tell you that this photo is definitely NOT my handiwork - it's from Lil Luna, and you can go HERE to get the full scoop on how she created these beautiful eggs).

It's sure looking like Spring out my window and life is mostly lovely, not counting the allergies, but we press on, right? Happy happy! The Easter season is a joyous one.

So, my dear friends, let's all go and make someone happy today!

"The sun has come out, and the air is vivid with spring light."  —Byron Caldwell Smith
 

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."  —unknown

I Guess I Should Mention...

Warning: this is a personal post. I have hesitated talking about this on my blog because life has been completely crazy for the past several months, but I guess I really should tell y'all that we have moved. Yep. We sold our Rocklin home this past November and are temporarily renting in my childhood home-town a few miles down the road in Loomis. We were fortunate to make a nice profit on the Rocklin place and are going to patiently wait out the roller coaster that is the current real estate market here in NorCal before we buy our next place. 

The reasons for the home sale and move were many-fold. Suffice it to say that both of our children left the nest this past year, and for that and other reasons we decided that we really needed to downsize and plan for our future in a more conservative fashion. So that's what we're doing. The part above where I said we were patiently waiting to purchase our next home? Well, I'm not very good at being patient and this home we're currently renting is just about half the size of the one we just sold and I am missing our big gorgeous remodeled kitchen and all the space we had in our old place and I am learning to be more humble and grateful and will sure as heck appreciate it lots and lots when the time comes to make a new place ours again. Life really is good, and I am not complaining. I have a WONDERFUL husband who loves me and does everything in his power to make me happy. Love you sweetie! I have two amazing, healthy and talented children who are working hard to make their own way in the world, and I am so thankful to be their mama. And I have my work, which is taking me in new directions this year that I am very excited about, and some new incredible opportunities have also come along that may turn into something great for our family, fingers crossed...

So where will this next year take us? We shall see. But I know that everything will work out for the best, and life will go on as it should. No worries. Life is good.

"Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."  —Gordon B. Hinckley
 
"Get busy living."  —Stephen King

Bring on the Spring...

Oh my, February was a tough month. I was sick, then Rich got sick, and we had lots going on and life was just kicking our fannies. So I am happy to turn the calendar today to a fresh new month. Hello March! Sweet March gives us the beginning of Spring, and Easter, and lots of things to look forward to. Bring on the Spring! 
 
Today I'm sharing my SPRING design from my "Seasons in Verse" clear stamp set that you can get from Impression Obsession. It's becoming a big favorite - lots of fun and very versatile. Go HERE to get yours today!

"Spring is the time of plans and projects."  —Leo Tolstoy

"Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world."  —Virgil Kraft 

"In the spring-time,
The only pretty ring time,
Birds sing, hey ding a-ding ding,
Sweet lovers love the spring!
—William Shakespeare