Are you ever overwhelmed by a situation, thinking you wish you could scream from the roof and all you really need is a hug? I was feeling it over the past little while, especially with the holiday season. 

There's no need for details but there were quite a few who have been an answer to our prayers. I couldn't just go one without saying "Hello, I saw what you did there, and we appreciate it ... A LOT!" So we did cards in bulk.

Remember, not everything has to be over the top and out do the next one. A simple handwritten note, sent in the mail can be just the ticket.

Packing up and moving in the Spring happend fast with everything else we had going on. One of my goals was to go through all of our boxes and get rid of things we didn't need/want and make sure we were not wasting space by packing a bunch of air. After moving so many times I stopped worrying about trying to open every box when we moved in some place new, it was also hard because we seemed to keep moving into places that were smaller than the last.

Well we moved into the biggest place we have ever been in, a cute little farm house a couple miles away from the University where Paul is teaching. The goal was to open every box and make sure we weren't holding onto un-needed items.

In doing so I came across this cute little card full of thoughts and advice from the family and friends at my baby shower for Lady A {there are some cute ones for Miss E as well but I put those in a safe spot, you know, so they won't get lost or ruined, and now I just need to remember where that was. Am I the only one that does that?}. 

Even since I did not make it I thought I would try to put together a list of supplies and tools needed to create this.

MATERIALS/SUPPLIES
Solid and Patterened Card Stock
4"x6" Picture sleeves like the ones here or click the link for different sizes.
Decorative Brads
Decorative Embelishments
Archival pens like these ones

TOOLS
Paper cuter {this is the one I use. It travels well and is great for projects that require simple straight cuts}
Small Hole punch/needle {pretty much anything that will help puncture the layers of paper and page sleeves so the brads can be placed}
Glue/Double Sided Tape

This week I have been thinking a lot about my Grandpa or Grandpa Great as we affectionately call him. His wife passed away just over a month after we first moved to the East Coast. They had been married almost 20 years, for my younger brothers she was the only grandma they remember. He still has his own place but my parents have given him a room at their place as well so he can be closer to family. My dad also built a huge chicken coup because my grandpa was not leaving his 'ladies'. All the great grand-kids have loved being able to watch and feed the ladies. It has been over two years and the little ones still get excited about going out in the morning to collect the eggs.

I thought it would be a fun idea to send him a card letting him know we are thinking of him this Easter season.

You can find the chicken here. The 'chicken wire' fence is one I designed so that it would be sure to fit the front of the card {a letter size piece of cardstock cut in half then folded}.

This weeks card is dedicated to my little sister. She is a very dedicated mother of two and has done a great job raising her kids. I have been able to look to her example on a number of occasions.

It seems kind of funny as I type that because we could not be more different. We are the closest siblings in age out of six, we look nothing alike and our personalities are very individual from each other. Growing up, friends at school thought on of us had to be adopted.

Recently she has decided to go back to school. I could not be more excited for her and her kids as they take on this new adventure. This will also help her in providing for her kids as they get older.

So I thought I would send her a quick note to let her know how excited I am for her and her family.

To give the card a little dimension and pop I curled the peddles of the flowers.

Designed and cut on my Silhouette Portrait.

I shared with you that the inspiration for a year worth of cards was my Grandmother. She passed away before Christmas just over a year ago, one thing I remember everyone saying was how thoughtful my Grandma was and that they had already received their Christmas card from her.

Since then my mom and her two sisters have been taking turns going out to spend the evenings with my Grandpa. He suffers from dimensia and loosing his life time companion has been hard for him. Grandpa would love to sit and talk to you for hours about growing up and working for the railroad but his short term memory has suffered a lot. It is hard to look into someones eyes knowing that they recognize you, they know that they should be able to recall your name, but nothing comes to them.

Growing up I remember when my Grandpa built his work shed in his back yard. It was his own bit of space to do whatever he wanted, even if it was to sit there and not work on anything. He loved showing it off and how he had organized it, if there was a project going on he would definitley take you back to see it. This card is for my Grandpa and is designed after one of the many things that reminds me of him......a little red shed.

Here is a little tip about how I placed the stickers. I wanted them to be on the same row but I wanted to letters to be crocked. For this technique place a ruler {I like using a clear one so I can see everything under it as well} over the card where you want the letters to go. Place the letters along the edge of the ruler however you would like.

Lift the opposite side of the ruler up and as the stickers start to touch the paper use your finger to press down the tops of the stickers, then carefully pull the ruler away and press the rest of the sticker down firmly. It is as simple as that. The letters are all on there but look a little wind blown or crocked from the door opening and closing.

My Grandma had some of the sweetest sisters there ever where. Aunt Ivie, Aunt Grace and my Grandma all had the same sweet personalities. They loved unconditionally and where always there with open arms.

Once, after recently getting my drivers license, I had the chance to drive my Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Ivie and Uncle Max out to an event. Honestly, I can not remember for the life of me what it was, possibly a wedding reception, but I do remember meeting a lot of family from Aunt Ivie and Uncle Max's family. I still have the letter my Aunt sent to my Grandparents thanking them for coming and there was a bit in there for me. Oh man, I felt so special that she thought of me and she had such nice things to say.

Christmas time of 2012 I got to see my Aunt Grace again when she came out for my Grandma's funeral. This past Holiday season she has been on my mind a lot and I don't want to miss the chance to tell her I am thinking of her and that I love her.

Did you ever get 'the ultimate scarpbook and card kit' by Lisa&Becky? I've had mine for a few years and love it. Over the years I have added different items to my kit so that everything I need it right where I need it.