Debbie and I have been friends since we shared a playpen in the church nursery. Debbie had no siblings and I envied her. She didn’t have to put up with three older siblings. She was pretty, sweet, neat, always had a clean face. I was a blue jean wearing tomboy, and I was always getting into mischief. Thing was, Debbie, even though she was NOT a tomboy, was always willing to join in the mischief that I suggested. Well, maybe not mischief, but things that weren’t exactly safe. I talked her into climbing the hay bales in our barn and walking across the beams about 25 feet off the ground. I talked her into sliding down the side of the hill into the creek, something that left our bottoms sore and scratched up. I talked her into swinging across a deep ravine on a grapevine. I talked her into NOT going back to our kindergarten classroom after recess so we could play in the water and catch tadpoles. I talked her into taking the “girls from town” on a snipe hunt in the graveyard and leaving them behind as we ran back to church. There are so many other things we did and I have to admit, I was the instigator on so many of them. Debbie never told on me, she never blamed me, and she didn’t always tell her mom about our escapades. Had her mom known what all we did, she probably wouldn’t have let Debbie come to my house so many times after church on Sunday.

My mom passed away suddenly a few weeks ago. Debbie was there to comfort me. When I introduced Debbie to friends (Evonne, Ellie and Sonia) from the rubber stamping and crafting group I belong to, she begin to tell the stories of our adventures. She was very kind in the telling. She made our adventures sound so special.

The week following the funeral, Debbie began sharing so many wonderful pictures of our childhood. One picture included my brother Paul along with Debbie, myself and another friend from church.

Incident Report – Judy Hale Everett – Lindy’s and Stampotique

I created this card for the Lindy’s Stamp Gang April Color Challenge.  I used Rusty Lantern Lime, Blue Hawaiian Blue, and Hi Maintenance Magenta color sprays from Lindy’s.  The stamped images and words are from Stampotique.

Really, this is more an attempt be lighthearted than keeping it simple. Bright colors, fun image, and a … saying that couldn’t possibly less me! I am not fabulous in the sense of being elegant or classy, but I do love life, my family and my friends.

I created this card specifically for  a challenge that  had to include numbers. I’m guessing the numbers theme relates to April 15th and everyone crunching numbers to meet the deadline.

Using a numbers stencil, I created the numbers using black pan pastel chalk. From there, I used Lindy’s Stamp Gang sprays to add the bright colors. (Rusty Lantern Lime, Blue Hawaiian Blue, and High Maintenance Magenta) The stamped image of the girl comes from Carabelle Stamps. I enjoyed coloring the image and adding the jewel and feathers to the headband. The “humorous” words come from Dyan Reaveley.

I’m entering this card in the Count Me In! challenge over at the Frilly and Funkie blog.

Brightening it up