CASology #9 ~ Family; OLW #104 ~ Gratitude Campaign 2012

And we're back around to Friday!  Whoosh!

Today I'm combing two posts.  Apparently I'm also being economical with my letters.  Mister uses a similar expression when he tells me how much money he spent on a motorcycle item.  "Are you lying?" I ask. 

"I'm not lying," he demurs, "I'm being economical with the truth." 

I let it be since, natch, it only follows that I can use the same expression regarding craft supply transactions. 

It didn't take me very long to pop the train off the tracks this morning, did it?  Let's start over.

Today I'm combining two posts.  I'm playing in two challenges, but unlike the usual course of events, this time each has its own card.  I'm putting them together in one post because, to my way of thinking, you shouldn't have one word without the other.

 

For CASology this week, the cue word is family.

 

Of course, I immediately thought of stamping one of my little boy stamps two times to represent twin grandsons, but I ended up going broader than that, like this:
 

I have all these great family name stamps from Hampton Art Stamps that were perfect for this challenge and that fit perfectly stamped in rainbow colors along the side of the card base.  I rummaged through my alphabet stickers and found the perfect stickers to "match" the fun stamp designs of the words.  I wish I got paid a dollar for every time I use the word perfect in one paragraph.

 

Happily today, "family" is more diverse and more widely accepted than the Ozzie and Harriet Nelson TV model of the 50s and 60s, although even then (behind the TV eye), there were families that were nontraditional.  I grew up for the first eleven years with four sisters, two brothers, an uncle, a grandpa, and a mom who was mentally ill.  Then I was placed in a foster home for seven years where I was an only child with two older strange, and I do mean strange, people for parents.  Sometimes in life you trade one onion for another and you have no choice but to start peeling all over again.

It was a rough go those first two decades, but then I met the Mister and his family and my family blessings haven't stopped since.  The blessings grew with first our son, who then brought us a daughter (-in-law), and then they doubly blessed us with their two sons.  And let's not forget all the four-legged pets and frogs and fish along the way.  As if that weren't enough to be grateful for, twelve years ago, I reunited with my brothers and sisters after being apart from them for forty years.

~~~
 

Which brings me to my second card.  Susan Raihala of Simplicity started a "One Layer Wednesday" challenge 104 challenges ago.  I think it's a blast.  This week the challenge kicks off her 2012 Gratitude Campaign.  To quote her:

 

"The Gratitude Campaign is my annual attempt to save Thanksgiving from the commercial limbo between Halloween and Christmas.   . . ."  You must click over to her blog to read the rest.  Hear, hear, Susan!

Your family may be traditional, it may be non-traditional, it may be your friends, or it may be your pets, but whatever it is, it's good to be reminded once in a while not to take them for granite and to express your gratitude, like this maybe, with Prismacolor pencils:

 

 

Enjoy!  Enjoy!  As always, thank you for stopping by to visit and leaving a comment.  Special thanks to all of you who have become my second family in this wonderful online community!  Mm-waugh!! 

Family
Paper:  PTI white, unknown green BP
Stamps: Hampton Art Stamps 23 (words);
  Hero Arts F3342 Stitched Ribbon
Ink:  Marvy Matchables
Ribbon:  Richard's dollar bin
Stickers:  unknown

Tulips
Paper:  Strathmore
Stamps:  Tulips, PSX K-1695;
  Hero Arts, A-3079 Gratitude
Ink:  Prismacolor Pencils