Live Like We're Dying

I had a great time at CKC (Creating Keepsakes Convention) but, boy, was I tired last night!  We spent Thursday and Friday nights in downtown Charlotte at the Hampton Inn.  So much better than where we have stayed in the past - Hilton - as far as nearness to the Convention Center (across the street!), parking (FREE) and breakfast (FREE - a full breakfast - bacon, eggs, etc.) plus a little cheaper.  I took a lot more classes this time than I ever have.  I think we took 4 classes on Friday and 4 or 5 on Saturday.  You would think I didn't have much time left for shopping ... but you would be wrong!  In fact, my arms were sore today and the only thing I can contribute that to was carrying all my "loot" around.  Here is a picture after I unpacked all my bags:

I piled a lot of the packages on a tv tray until it got too tall.

This is what wouldn't fit on the tv tray and I piled on my desk.  Now to find storage for all this!!

I'm not that much of a scrapbooker but mostly what we were making were little albums - chipboard, acrylic, etc.  I enjoy doing those.  As I complete them, I'll share them with you.  My final class on Saturday was a Dimensional Elements card class by Technique Tuesdays.  I learned a few new tricks but I was frustrated that we did not even complete one card!  I finished them today though.

This flower was so cool!  Here's how you make it:

Take a 4" x 4" piece of paper and draw a spiral pattern on it.  Cut along the spiral line.  Ink the edges of the spiral.  Starting at the outside edge, begin the process of rolling the paper strip all the way to the center.  Place a glue dot on the flat end (middle) of the coil and stick the top layers down.  Attach the flower to your project.  You can crumple it if you want before you start rolling it up.

This is the inside of the above card/gift holder.

I know these were all the rage not too long ago, but I never made one.  It was really fun.

Those scallop around the page were stamped onto the paper and cut out.  I used stickles on the center of the paper flowers.

I need to redo this one - I'm not liking it.  The saying "celebrate one cupcake ...) is stamped on twill tape.

This is a little gift card enclosure.

My grandson turned 4 yesterday.  It's hard to believe he is that old already.  Unfortunately, things have gotten worse with our relationship and I did not get to wish him Happy Birthday.  Someday .... 

One of the classes that I took was Life's Lyrics.  We had to take the lyrics to several songs to class.  While looking through song lyrics last week, I came across some really thought provoking ones.  One in particular has been going through my head all day (from Live Like You Are Dying)

So if your life flashed before you, what would you wish you would've done?

we gotta start lookin' at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got, then we gotta start thinkin'
If every second counts on a clock that's tickin'
Gotta live like we're dying

We only got 86 400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell 'em that we love 'em while we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying


And if your plane fell out of the skies
Who would you call with your last goodbye?
Should be so careful who we left out of our lives
And when we long for absolution, there will be no one on the line

Gotta live like we're dying ....