Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  As long as the candle is burning, it is still possible to mend

In the book "The Book of Jewish Values," Rabbi Joseph Telushkin tells a story of a sage, Rabbi Israel Salanter, who was spending the night at a shoemaker's home.  Late at night the rabbi went over to the man and said, "Look how late it is; your candle is about to go out.  Why are you still working?"  The shoemaker replied, "As long as the candle is burning, it is still possible to mend."  What will you mend today?  A relationship, your attitude, your daily work?  I just returned from a trip where I saw family that I had not seen in a very long time.  I am beginning to mend my family.

Today's inspiration challenge on SCS was to find inspiration at Espe.  This card was inspired by the following wallet on Espe .  It is the third one down on the left-hand side.  I stamped the image from Eastern Blooms in Ruby Red and cut it out.  I then added flowers from the trio punch and finished the flowers with some crystal effects.  I punched some flowers from the 5-petal flower and Boho Blossoms punch to build the "clasp."  I added a little "spritz" with the spritzer tool and some faux stitching with the paper piercing tool  Hope you like it!

stamps:  Eastern Blooms, Tiny Tags
card stock:  Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Ruby Red
ink:  Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip
accessories:  Crystal Effects, 5-petal flower punch, Trio flower punch, white gel pen, Boho Blossoms punch, spritzer tool, paper piercing tool

Words and Sword - So Powerful!

Today's Lesson From Far Away From The Craft Room:  Don't Use Your Words As Weapons

I realized today that "words" and "sword" use the exact same letters - just arranged in a different way.  I don't think this is a coincidence.  The power of words never ceases to amaze me.  It is incredible how a combination of seemingly innocent letters can cause such pleasure and such pain.  Be careful of your words.  Treat them with respect for they hold a lot of power.  I was blessed with words of support from my friend Judi today - her words encouraged and calmed me.  How can you use your words to comfort and heal today?  The words you speak to yourself are just as powerful.  What can you tell yourself, before you go to sleep tonight, that will serve to provide you with a peaceful night's sleep?  I wish you sweet dreams!

On The Road Again!

Today's Lesson From A Long Distance From The Craft Room (aka Ohio):  Speak From Your Heart

I am on the road again and will be doing a presentation tomorrow.  I really enjoy being in front of people (kind of funny since I am a bit of an introvert), but I still get a bit of the jitters and get concerned about whether or not people will enjoy the presentation and be able to take something away with them.  I'm always so conscious that people are sharing the precious minutes of their lives with me and are willing to spend some of those minutes listening to what I'm sharing (as you are now).  What a precious gift!  I am learning to realize that I don't need bells & whistles or gimmicks - what I need is to speak from my heart.  Tomorrow's talk is about managing transitions at work (which, of course, is equally applicable to our personal lives) and I am going to speak from my heart.  As all of us, I have gone through a lot of change - a lot of transition - and I imagine more is on the way...as it always is!  My hope is that by sharing my stories and my heart, I will connect with those who are sharing their time with me.  Wish me luck! :)

Ooh- and don't forget about the Blog Candy that Judi has on her blog!  Click HERE to sign up for her candy!