Thankfully reaching for the stars

Good morning friends!
I pray you are having a blessed day and know the Lord is with you. I am trying to finish up my To Do list before leaving for my first trip to NEW YORK CITY! I am so excited. I will be gone for the next two weeks. I am thankful for my friend, Jewel, who is staying at our house and caring for the dog and cat. I am thankful for this opportunity to travel with dear friends and make good memories. I have much to be thankful for this year. I am very thankful for all my customers and appreciate your support more than you know.
I set a very high goal for myself this year and I am close to reaching it, but I could use a little help to finish off this stampin year. So to thank you for helping me reach my goal I am offering a 20% off discount to all orders placed this week Sept.19-25. This is not eligible on hostess club orders nor will these orders count toward your customer appreciation cards. Orders can be sent to me by email and paid for with paypal or placed online and I will send you a refund check. I really appreciate your help in reaching my goal!
I do have another Drapery Fold card to share today. I was thanking of a fall theme card for my hostess clubs. We have already done Halloween so I went for just general color them. It turned out great and I love the Copper! There's that Swirly Scribbles again. I used Paisleys and Petals DSP. Love it! Do you notice the little copper piece on the inside? It's the leftover piece from the center of the swirl on the leaves. Don't waste a bit of that beautiful copper paper! Well, it's time to go. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for all your encouragement and support. I finally truly blessed.

Passion 101

The Oxford American Dictionary defines passion as "strong emotion, great enthusiasm for something". The Bible says in Psalm 38:9 (NLT) "You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh." Why is this even important? We are often motivated by our passions, whatever they are. It is important to understand how our passions affect us and how we can use those passions to achieve all God has for us. In my part of the country people are passionate about Football! It dominates most conversations during the season. Much money is spend on tickets, tailgating, apparel, and a host of other stuff to support the team. People go crazy over football. I like football okay, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over a lost game, coach, or player. I tried to make a list of the things that really bring out strong emotions in me, good and bad. It really all boils down to relationships. My relationship with Jesus Christ, my personal Savior, my husband, my children, other family members, friends and even customers from my Stampin' Up! business are what motivate me the most and most often control my decisions. My business does allow me to focus on my other relationships. It offers me the flexibility to put first things first. I love to stamp! It is relaxing and invigorating at the same time. I really love to get comments on the cards I send and to know I touched someone else with a word of encouragement wrapped in a little card I made. I have been very blessed with new relationships and really good friends I would not have met if it hadn't been for my stamping business. For this I am very thankful. One of our Stamp sets that I love is named Inspired by Nature. I used it this week to create this card as a reminder to live each day with passion for the things that are truly important to me. This card is for you, my customers, family and friends. Thank you for your love and support for growing my business and blessing my life.

Supplies: cardstock Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, and Natural White Ink: Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Always, Artichoke, Chocolate Chip Stamp Set: Inspired by Nature Technique: sponging background, large flower stamped and then colored with Chocolate Chip marker