Working on Ladies Retreat

Our Church is having a Ladies Retreat and the theme is Branded By Love.  I was asked to work up a brochure advertising the retreat which I loved getting to do.  First started with a Logo and you can see that in the top name tag.  I used Traci's rope heart but I couldn't find in all my "stash" a brand, so I designed the brand. That was fun and since I made it I could use the word LOVE for the brand.  My "sunflower" friend, Marsha is leading a session on discovering your personality based on the colors of green, blue, yellow (gold), and orange.  Each lady is getting a tin cup with a bandana of one of these colors tied to it.  Once the ladies discover their personality color, they get a dot to add to their name tag.  (I put a yellow dot on my name tag in the LO...Marsha told me she bet I would discover that I have a gold personality?!?  Will be interesting to find out if she's right.  Since we are using peel and stick name tags, we needed one for each day.  The top one will be used for Friday night and the bottom tag will be used on Saturday since that's when the color session will be presented.  The "Wanted Poster" is to be used for a "Getting to Know You" activity.  Decided it needed a bandana background and I couldn't find ones in the colors needed, so I made my first bandana print.  I used dingbats for the crosses and paisley designs...another fun project but took a little time.  I have 48 Wanted Posters all printed and with white edges trimmed and two sets of name tags for the so far 42 ladies registered printed and ready.  I made around 300 chocolate, peanut butter, and mint flavored candies in all 4 colors using western theme molds.

The only thing left for me to do is clean house as my mom and her friend are coming to the retreat and will be at my house during part of the weekend.  I decided to scrap a page as I needed to unwind from my marathon of projects before starting on the house.  We have gem studded horseshoes and branding irons for decorations...thus the gem studded horseshoe in the LO.  There will be a wonderful devotional using horseshoes, saddles, chaps, cowboy hats, and tumbleweeds to describe our relationship with the Lord.  You can find this devotional HERE!  While there check out the whole website...Julie has many wonderful and creative ideas for a Ladies Ministry. Oh, I forgot...I made a handout with of this devotional and added elements and clip art for the ladies to take home with them.   Another lady printed them on colored paper I found in my paper scrapping stash that matched our color theme. One lady has a stamping craft project planned and 4 ladies from our church will be sharing their amazing testimonies.  And, our own award-winning western singer/songwriter will be providing inspirational and fun music throughout the weekend.

Now, I just hope that I will be able to participate in the weekend.  We included on the brochure Please, No colognes or fragranced lotions...but, couldn't say no deodorant, mousse, hairspray, fabric softener, etc.  I will wear my mask, but it's a little scary to be in a confined area with 40+ women.  Thankfully, the weather is supposed to be good.  I will probably spend most of the retreat on the patio where I can still hear what's being presented and it will give me a break from wearing my mask for hours on end.  There are some benches away from the retreat center where I can go and remove my mask so I can eat away from all others.  The retreat center is only 8 miles from our church.  I'll be able to go home for the night and sleep mask free.  Even if I only get to be present for part of the weekend, it was fun getting to do my small part to help with the planning and preparation for making what surely will be a great weekend for all who will be there.

Vintage Love

 

A few of my Granny's valentines...a friend added 1923 on the front of the top right valentine.  It seems the others are also from the 1920s.  The little girl valentine center top has a brad attaching "walking feet".  I found it interesting how tiny this brad is.  I have some tiny brads I use in paper scrapping and this one is much smaller.  One added element is the sparkling word LOVE which was taken from Helen's Valentine gift.  Read about how these sparkling words were created HERE and follow the link there to pick up your gift.

Happy Valentines Day to the Grands!

 Click the photo to enlarge and see the blinkie in action!

I sent this Valentine E-Card to all my Grands...it was so fun to make.  When I went to Hershey's website to get a pic of a Hershey's bar to use in my card, I found a cute message I also sent to each one individually! Click HERE if you would like to send a Hershey's Kiss to someone!  Bryce surprised Nana and sent me a Kiss back!

Precious Little Jewel

Avery, our precious "Little Jewel"  This is a photo I have been wanting to scrap for several years and I guess it took Helen's  Flight of Fancy kit released on the blog to give me the inspiration to get it done!  Avery wore this adorable little outfit on Mother's Day 2009 when we met Jennifer and family in town for lunch after church.  Best I remember, the hat lasted almost the whole time we were eating!  

You can find a preview of this kit, Flight of Fancy HERE and you can also pick up a lovely QP while you are there!