An outpouring of compassion

Wow, I just have to say THANK YOU for all of your kind and compassionate comments over the past few days. So many of you took your precious time to write me long, detailed messages providing hope, encouragement, and cost cutting ideas. I am moved beyond words by this outpouring of compassion. So many of you have been in my shoes, and that gives me incredible hope that my family too will weather this storm and will be better off because of it. Tons of you quoted the old saying "when God closes a door, he opens a window" to cheer me up. I will hold strong to that thought over the next few months!

In some small way, God did open the window ever so slightly yesterday. Grab on to the edge of your seats, girlfriends. I have some good news for a change! Drum roll, please............I found out late yesterday afternoon that one of my cards was accepted for publication in the February 2008 edition of CARDS!!!!! WOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOO! Can you believe it? I am so geeked, I can hardly stand it. I think God knew I needed a little pick-me-up this week. He is so good. I so wish all of my blogging buddies had been here with me when I first discovered Alisha's email yesterday afternoon. I could have jumped up and down and screamed really loud and I know all of you would have been screaming right along with me. Instead, I told Eldest Son (who only wanted to know how much I was going to be paid for this masterpiece), and my husband, who had the phone glued to his ear and didn't really do much except smile and hold up his hand for a high 5. Men. Jeesh. Don't they realize how cool this stuff is to us? Apparently not!

Today is my final article for Craft Critique. I resigned my position as Senior Reporter there because I have been so busy, and something had to give. This week we're reviewing the new Cornish Heritage Farms Thomas Kinkaid stamps that were released earlier this year. I was hesitant to give them a try because I'm not a huge fan of images like these. And, I was skeptical they could really deliver a superior image of such fine detailed artwork. I was determined, though, to make the stamps fit MY style of card making instead of adapting to fit the style of the stamp. So, I got out some really fun designer papers (I used three on this card), and did it up like I normally would. Bright and bold. Did the stamps pass my critical eye? You bet they did. The image IS superior when stamped on paper, and I think the stamp did adapt well to the way I like to make cards. What do YOU think?

One last special thing to fill you guys in on. Today marks a new {Caardvarks} challenge, and it's a fun one! It's called "Do these pants make my CHIPS look big?" !!!! Your challenge this time is to make a card using chipboard on the front. Deadline is midnight October 1st and you can upload your creations into the Chipboard gallery found here. It's being sponsored by Dream Designs, which is an online store owned by {Caardvarks} DT member Bety Jennings! Here's a peek at one of the cards I created for this fun challenge....

Have a great day.

Hugs,
Amy