Cards and Loretta Laroche

Happy Sunday! The sun is shining brightly but the temperatures are not in agreement - baby, it's COLD outside! So this girl is gonna stay in and make cards all day and pretend that I don't know how stinkin' cold out it is. I can just bask in the sunshine in the warmth of my craft room and look forward to the day we hop on a plane for sunny California!!! Can you believe it - we leave in 17 days! My biggest problem once we get there is getting my husband and son to come back home. hee hee

So anyway - back to business! I have 2 cards to share with you today, and don't tell the other one but this first one is my absolute favorite. I really enjoyed creating this one - it's for the
All That Scraps Weekly Wednesday challenge - which was a sketch challenge

I used an adorble digi image from the All That Scraps Sugarplums Spring Kids set along with SU! cardstock in WW and Real Red. The red gem brads and the rub-on sentiment I put on the ribbon (from my stash) is also by SU! The background papers are by DCWV and the image is colored with Prismacolor colored pencils blended with Gamsol. Funny story about that - my husband walked in my craft room one day while I was coloring with my Prismacolor colored pencils. He was talking while I worked - I started blending the colors with a blending stump dipped in Gamsol and he goes "Wow - that's like magic, huh?" I thought that was pretty cute. hee hee

Next up - I actually followed Aly's Sunday Sketch for this one, but forgot to upload it last night by her midnight deadline. So I'm also using this for 2 other challenges

DU2DS34 (Easter cards)
Stampin For the Weekend - Easter Creations challenge

I used SU! cardstocks in Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal and Regal Rose. Off-white ribbon with SU! brads and rub-on. The image is a digi image from Bugaboo.

On Friday night, my sister and I went with 2 of our friends to see Loretta Laroche perform her act called "Lighten Up" at the Hanover Theater in Worcester, Massachusetts. Loretta is a humorist and "stress expert". We had an absolute blast. Loretta is one of those unique people who everyone wishes was related to them - she's funny, sweet, and honest. I think the honesty part is what makes her funny - she doesn't just make fun of stupid stuff, she makes fun of HERSELF. She finds humor in everything - something that more of us should do. I think I like her so much because I can relate to her - I am always smiling, I just enjoy being happy. Of course I am only human, and sometimes I get in a bad mood - and it kind of bothered me when people would notice. But you know what? The fact that people notice when I'm grouchy is actually a good thing - think about how many people you know who go through their lives miserable or even just "monotone"? You'd never know if things were going good, bad, or indifferent, because their facial expressions and attitudes never really change. That's not me. I wear my heart on my sleeve - I am upbeat and positive with a smile on my face 90% of the time.

The other 10% - well, let's just say it takes a lot to get me to that point. hee hee I just enjoy being happy and making others happy - I love my life! I love my family and friends and I guess I just have this philosophy that we only live once, literally, and why not make the most of it? We really do have the power to change our lives - perception is such a big part of that. Sure, I have crappy stuff that goes on in my life. Like I said, I am only human and I experience a lot of negative human emotions - sadness, jealousy, anger, guilt - but then I slap myself upside the head and move on and away from those feelings. Cuz when you think about it, we bring most of those feelings on ourselves. I could certainly sit around feeling sorry for myself about one thing or another, and those negative feelings would just make me feel worse. The lower you sink, the harder it is to pull yourself back up and out of it. Just this past week, I was feeling sorry for myself because I didn't make a Design Team that I was really hoping to be chosen for. I actually CRIED when I got the "rejection" e-mail that morning. Then I forgot to make sure my teenage daughter had her sketch book for Art class and I spent hours during the day with that awful "mother guilt" hanging over my head. It was like the rejection e-mail set the tone for me to feel sorry for myself all day! By the early afternoon, I was actually mad at myself for letting all that bring me down. I am always saying that "everything happens for a reason" even if that reason takes a long time to become evident. I really believe that, and I have to force myself to remember it when stuff doesn't necessarily go my way!

Whether it's parenting, participating in contests or challenges, doing housework, doing my day job, etc. - all I can do is the best I can do - but if I am not having fun, enjoying it, then what is the damn point? There isn't one! If I'm only creating cards to WIN or get on some design team, then I'm missing the point. I started making cards because I enjoyed making other people happy - it's turned into a sort of therapy for me, as I just totally feel at peace sitting in my craft room alone seeing what I can come up with. So if it makes ME happy to create, it makes my blogging buddies happy to see my creations, and it makes the recipients happy to receive my creations - THAT, my friends, is the point. :)

So I'm going to continue being happy as much as possible. I'm going to continue to smile all the time - even at strangers who often look at me like "what the hell is she smiling at?" - and I'm going to continue to try to live my life in a way that would make Loretta proud. :) I highly recommend that you visit her website and try to attend a show or at the very least, watch her on TV. She's a phenomenal woman with a positive and upbeat attitude who sees the humor in life. I think the world would be a better place if we all adopted her way of seeing things. Peace.