Confirmation Week

Our youngest was confirmed this past weekend.  It was wonderful!  Now all three boys have been sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit!

They really do grow up so quickly.  I am still shocked to know that next year I will have three boys in high school!  I don't know why that thought came out, I guess my thinking about the boys growing up brought it to mind.  Back to notes on confirmation.......

The bishop gave a wonderful homily. There were a few times I wanted to yell out, "Amen!".  He told the kids that if they didn't believe, not to waste his time.  Of course, with a lot more eloquence than that.

The night before confirmation, we ate Chinese food. Joseph got a fortune that made us all laugh-- it read, "You will receive a special gift soon."  He was so excited and said, "Yes, I will be receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.'  A friend gave him a confirmation photo frame that he plans on putting a picture in along with the fortune. God has a sense of humor.

More of our postcards arrived. Serbia and Finland checked in.  Postcrossing is so neat.  We sent out a few more cards, including one to Russia.  The lady from Serbia sent a message when she received her post card. She told me (on postcrossing) that she is also Catholic and she wants to send us some pictures and information on the church she attends.

Sean and I went strawberry picking and I made jams with Sarah, also known as mini me.  I even made lemon curd!  What a fun week.  I've given quite a bit of jam away this week! I couldn't store it all.  It is all very yummy, especially the lemon curd.In other news: I ordered a Mito Awareness Rosary and can't wait until it arrives! If you are interested in ordering a Mito Rosary (she can make them in any color), visit her FB page and friend her Carolyn's FB  Once it arrives, I'll share a picture!

Three Flats of Strawberries that We Picked

Pop-Up Bouquet Card Tutorial Video

If you'd like the template I used, please feel free to email me. I'd be happy to share it with you. This is a fun card! I made these for Mother's Day this year! I first published the video on a website, but wanted to share (I can do that because I own the rights to the video and my creations!) I hope you enjoy making this card!

Pop-up Bouquet Card from Pattie Curran on Vimeo.

First Post Card Arrives in Taiwan!

We were all very excited to learn that our post card arrived in Taiwan already!  The receiver entered the number I wrote on the card into the database to let Postcrossing know it arrived.  Very neat. Can't wait to see what post cards will arrive here at our house!  I'll have to post pictures when they arrive.

I'm still working on my Catholic mail art.  I think I am going to use some of the extra pressed flowers I made.  I've spent the last few days catching up on techniques for the site and getting ready for Confirmation this weekend.  I still can't believe that soon I'll have three boys confirmed in the Church!  Where does the time go!?

Finished Flowers

Aren't these pretty?  These are the finished pressed flowers  (dried for a few days)and a picture of what I made with them.....

Flower Pressing

I dug out my old flower press today and picked a few flowers for pressing.  I want to add these dried, pressed flowers to my mail art.  Have you ever pressed flowers?  I think it is very easy to do.  I have a simple flower press made of two boards with straps--  I layer the flowers between cardboard and regular paper, changing the paper towels every few days until my flowers are dry.

Gardening and crafting are my mental escapes!  Our youngest had his third trip to the dentist in three weeks.  Not a big deal, just a small cavity.  He already goes for cleanings every three months because of his added issues.  Today, I found myself worrying about 2013 and the new Obamacare regulations that are going to have a huge impact on our family. The decrease in flex spending from 5K to 2500 in 2013 is very upsetting to me.  We survive using our flex spending. Just to give you an idea, here we are on May 19th and our family has already spent over $5,000 on out of pocket medical expenses and our boys still have bone marrow biopsies coming up in August.   Add this to the fact that the deduction amount moves to 7.5% of your AGI to 10% in 2013 and this family will have its back broken.

So... to relieve my anxiety and stress, I worked a bit in the garden after the dentist and school.  I can't wait to see how the flowers turn out. So, for now, I am going to have faith in God that Obamacare will be repealed and have fun dreaming about how my flowers will turn out!

Our poor Valentine is at the vet tonight because she has an abscess. 

Mail Art Project

I love mail art (I am a rubber stamper, you know!). I am looking for people to participate in a mail art exchange. I'd love to exchange Catholic mail art with other Catholics, but I love all art! If you send something my way, I'll be sure to send some mail art back! Be creative! Everyone loves to get something in the mail!

If you are interested, please send your mail art project to:

Pattie Curran
931-B South Main Street #332
Kernersville, NC 27284

I'll post pictures of everything I receive and everything I send here on my blog for all to see.

Post Crossing

Post Crossing is a neat site where you can send post cards and receive post cards from around the world. I thought this would be a great project for homeschoolers.

Glue Distress Card Tutorial Video

I love to distress things! I came across this technique one day while looking through a magazine. I never thought the results would be so amazing! Simple and fun. Creates stunning results. I did this video not too long ago for a website and also wanted to share it here with my blog readers. As always, I retain all rights to my videos and creative work, so that I can share it with YOU! Enjoy!

Glue Distress from Pattie Curran on Vimeo.

The Letter Writers Alliance

Anyone who really knows me, knows I love to write letters. I have written letters since I was in grade school. There is just something absolutely amazing about getting a letter in the mail. Especially letters with what I call mail art.

I found a wonderful book titled Good Mail Day. So many fun things to do with your letters and mail. One of the links the book contained was to The Letter Writers Alliance. I'm proud to announce that I just purchased my $3 membership and can't wait to get to writing!

By the end of this week, I am going to post information for a letter writing, mail art challenge. I'd love to see what beautiful creations land in my mailbox. I'll be sure to respond with a thank you! Ideas are cooking in my head! This is going to be fun.

Art and letters are a break from the stresses of life, are they not? I'm always looking for that special something to put in a letter or on a postcard. Creative packages are fun to send to people in the hospital, too. One of my favorite techniques is blackout painting-- I think I shared the photo on my blog before. I plan on posting photos of some of my new mail creations.

Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Cards

I designed these cards for a friend and several people liked them and wanted to know how to make them.  I created a free tutorial video to show you how you can make them, too!  The inside of the card contains the green Mito awareness ribbon (as does the back).  The video follows the pictures of the outside and inside of card. Click here for the supply and dimension list.

Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Cards from Pattie Curran on Vimeo.

May 15, 2011 I am hosting a Stamp out Mito Fundraiser, you can see the flyer for the fundraiser here. I added this because I've had people ask me where they can purchase the stamps to make these cards. If you purchase the stamps or supplies to make the Mito Cards through my website, before May 15, 2011, proceeds go to UMDF. I'm donating all of my profits through the 15th to the UMDF. The Hope & Strength stamp set is only available through August 31, 2011. The Ribbon of Hope should be available longer. If you order supplies or stamps to make these cards  after May 15th, you can choose to donate the proceeds to MitoAction, UMDF or Shwachman-Diamond America. Just let me know when you place your order. I am currently using these same sets to create a Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome Awareness card like the Mito cards you see here.

Gyros Tonight!

I love to make my own Pita bread and posted my recipe about 3 years ago. Pattie's Pita Bread

Tonight,m I am trying, for the first time, to make gyro meat from lamb, using a recipe I found on food network.  I hope it turns out as yummy as the gyros we get at the Greek restaurants!  Gyro Meat Recipe


For the first time in many months, we have a FREE Thursday. Meaning: I can stay home and cook! No baseball, no football, no piano, and nothing much to do at all.  We had a great visit at the GI yesterday. After 15 years of seeing the GI every 3-6 months, Sean graduates to once a year!  Joseph still has to go more frequently, but progress is progress!

Sunday is the big Stamp Out Mito event.  I'm very excited. Once I get my lamb in the oven, I am going to post pictures of the cards and scrapbook pages we will be making. I even created a Mito Awareness card!

Dancing Bat Boy

Matthew is a bat boy at the Winston-Salem Dash, I have mentioned that before.  What I may not have mentioned is that he is also known as the Dancing Bat Boy.  We are the proud parents of this spectacular bat boy.  Of course, I claim absolutely none of the credit for his dance moves.  I give all credit to his father, Chris.

When Matthew was a toddler, I would come home to the two of them marching around the living room to John Sousa marches or dancing to opera.  Of course, the Disney classics, too.  So, all of Matthew's dancing prowess comes from his father. No doubt.

To see pictures of this famous dancing bat boy, go to this link.  Dancing Bat Boy is pictured in the first 7 photos.  Prepare to be amazed.

We love you, Matthew!

Recipe Book

I'm considering doing a tutorial video on how to make this book.  It is quite simple to do with the proper punch for the edge.  I think I like how it turned out!  Two of the bees are popped up and they all have sparkly wings.  I added Smooch pearlized top coat to all of their wings!

Card Fun! Recipe Plans!

I came up with this design for Mother's Day. One Mother's Day Card, I made a pop-up bouquet for Twosday's Techniques and the other design is below. I made several with the original Mother's Day design, this one is a birthday card.  I used Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede, Early Espresso and Whisper White. I love Tri-fold cards.  The embossing on the front makes it pop.  I'd love to hear what others are working on.  I am currently working on a recipe book.  For 18 years, I stuffed recipes into a gallon size Ziploc bag.... I have finally started compiling them into a pretty notebook (made and designed by ME!). Once I am done, I'll share photos!

It is another wonderfully cool day here in North Carolina.  It got down into the 40s last night and is supposed to stay that way for a few more days.  Baseball season has only a few more weeks left, then we get a short break before contact football begins.  I'm hoping to get the boys finished with school by the beginning of July (I have hopes to get them done by the end of June, but July would be nice!) -- then I would have time for scrapbooking all the memories I haven't had time to scrap!  Yeah, like that will happen.  Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by!

A Day in May

I love the month of May! Daffodils and irises have usually already bloomed, Purple Cone Flower and Bee Balm are starting to bud along with my lavender. Mint, strawberries and blackberries are back for another year of delicious flavor. My roses are hanging in there after a year of neglect. I'm headed out today to feed them my special concoction made with beer. This year, I will take better care of my roses. This beer concoction should perk them and all my blooming flowers right up. Roses are very high maintenance flowers.

My garden is really coming alive. My tomatoes (started from seed) are looking so pretty. I can't wait to taste the first fruit! The last few days are the first in many weeks that I've actually been home long enough to weed and work in the garden. Gardening soothes my soul. This year, I am adding a few more lavender plants to my garden. I love perennial plants. They come back year after year and make gardening simple. I added more Echinacea (Purple Cone flower) to my garden this year, too.

One day, my dream is to pull the hedges in the front of the house and place a perennial garden there. We have a lovely magnolia tree on the corner, that will soon cover the shrubs.... and flowers are much prettier than these ugly green bushes! I can see large bunches of lavender in their place...... of course, hubby doesn't know this yet, and it might be a long time before this dream is realized. ~laughter~

I hope you've enjoyed the free tutorial videos that I have posted. I've enjoyed making them! In my spare time, that is. The boys are plodding along in school... closing out the 3rd quarter and making headway on the 4th. We will get a summer break! I can see it at the end of the tunnel. Other than a few summer colds, everyone is healthy. Flag football on the weekends and baseball taking up much of the week. Sean was able to pitch in a game last week and will hopefully pitch in tomorrow's game. Here are a few shots of him pitching.

Lillie's Lovely Things

Just wanted to share a great place to get jewelry and more! In December, we purchased several of Lillie's handmade products for Christmas gifts. Lillie is 17 years old and has been working hard to grow her business. Please stop by her site and if you live nearby, check her table out at local events! You'll love her products!

Lillie's Lovely Things

Pop Up Slider Card

Here is another free tutorial for you! Enjoy! This is a pop-up slider card I made the other day.

Pop Up Slider Card from Pattie Curran on Vimeo.

Card stock:

Not Quite Navy 4 1/4" X 5 1/2 "
Ivory 4 1/4 " X 5 1/2"
Cherry Cobbler 3 1/4" X 3 1/4 "
Scrap paper for front of card ( I used 2 3/4" X 3 1/4" Cherry Cobbler and Natural Ivory 2 1/2 " X 3")

Divine Mercy Sunday

What a beautiful day Divine Mercy Sunday is! The second Sunday of Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday -- a day to reflect on God's infinite mercy and love. Yesterday was extra special, because Pope John Paul II was beatified and is now Blessed Pope John Paul II! It was also our 18th wedding anniversary.

In other news, Osama bin Laden was killed. We need to pray for his soul. I found a great Catholic response to his death here: The Catholic Response to the Death of a Murderer

Here is a picture my son took of hubby and I after Mass yesterday: