Tag Archives: kindness matters

FREE “Santa-tizer” Tutorial… My Gift To You

We all love receiving gifts. But I’ve found that the joy found in giving can not even compare. This FREE Tutorial is my gift to you. You will find the link below.

This past week and weekend was fully packed with lots of gift giving and blessings! I had a wonderful time celebrating my birthday. Not just any birthday… this was the BiG one! The BiG FIVE-0! When did that happen? Doesn’t seem possible.

But I have to say… my family made this the best birthday ever… regardless of the number. Have I mentioned just how much I love this man who is a true gift from God to me. Continue reading →

A Special Card for my BFF

Sometimes you need a special card for that someone special. Back in February I did a post sharing the Card in a Box I made for my “true” love… my best friend… my hubby… for Valentine’s Day. You can find that post HERE. Today I want to give you a sneak peek of the one I made for my other “true” love… my bff… since grade school.

You know… that special friend that when your paths first crossed you became instant friends. No matter what storms came your way… a new friend moving in right next store, boy crushes, parents divorcing, moving away from one another, getting married and starting your own families miles apart… you still can come together for a precious time of a few stolen minutes and start right back where you left off. That’s who this card was for… my girlfriend, my bff Liz. I was blessed to spend some precious time with her and give her this card a few weeks ago during our quick trip to Maryland. Nothing better than a hug from your best friend!

Liz and I met 40 years ago. Our friendship is the longest and dearest friendship I have. I was in the fourth grade (the same age as my youngest child) and had just moved into town and to this day we can’t agree which one of us got in the wrong line on the first day of school. I’m guessing since I was new it was me, but let’s not tell her that. The one thing we can agree on is that in that very moment both of our lives had been changed forever. We discovered we lived right around the corner from one another and became the best of friends.

We truly “grew” up together as we spent hours, days and years playing with Barbies, riding bikes, scraping our knees, going to girl scout meetings, making crafts, learning to bake and sew, going camping, swimming, playing games in the park till dark, watching movies, giggling through sleepovers, staying up all night sharing life together. We went from chasing lightning bugs and running from boys as little girls to chasing boys and letting them catch us through our
teen years.

But then something happen that rocked both our worlds. Before high school began Liz’s parents divorced. This was the first of many families that would go through this painful separation. To this day the pain of her having to move away with her mom was one of the most painful moments I had growing up, not knowing at the time my own parents would be following suit. I remember crying till all my tears had emptied out and I could not cry one more tear… my heart just ached.

We wrote long heartfelt letters to one another promising to always be there for one another no matter what, no matter how many miles were stretched between us. I still have mine packed away somewhere but found these quick notes of love written on the back of school pics she gave me way back then. After she moved away we cherished the moments we got to spend together when it was her dad’s weekend and she was back around the corner from me or the special times that I would get to spend with her at her mom’s house and even her grandma’s house which wasn’t as far away.

Life went on and we both grew up in our different worlds and life was nothing like our childhood plans of growing up, buying a camper and traveling carefree across the nation together experiencing life. HA! Instead I moved from Maryland to Ohio to go to college. There was no internet or social media back then, only long distance phone calls and writing letters. And for us… it was mostly letter writing because I didn’t have a phone. As a mom with kids in college now I can’t even imagine not being able to call or text them anytime I want. It was a different world. Oh how we missed one another during those years… sometimes you just need to talk with your best friend face to face and those times were difficult.

But… in some ways I truly miss the art of letter writing. I still treasure the hand written notes and letters I have from those I love… the love notes from my now hubby Todd when we dated… the hand written letters and recipes from my mother who I miss dearly, especially treasured today on her birthday… and of course the notes and letters from my best friend.

Eventually, we both married and of course were each others Maid of Honor. She married her high school sweetheart Sam and stayed in Maryland and I married my high school sweetheart Todd and settled in Ohio… oh so many miles away! We tried to stay in touch over those early years of adulthood as best we could being so far apart, but those seemed to be the years that the distance between us was so vast in so many ways.

Then… we both started families and that seemed to give us a new special bond as we shared in the love, joy, tears and heartache of raising a family. Every chance I got to go home we would get together with our kids and catchup on life. The pics above of our firstborns were taken almost 20 years ago. We both wished we had lived closer to one another so we could have done this season of our lives together. I can’t believe so much time has past since those pics were taken and we’ve both sent our kids off to college.

But through it all… the good, the bad and the unknown I can always count on her. I know her love and concern for me is genuine, unconditional and true as mine is for her. I wish more than anything that we lived closer but am so blessed that we have one another and can even keep in touch through Facebook. I wish we had more moments in real time together, but I love that when do get together we can start right back up where we left off even after being apart for months or even years. Gosh I love this girl!!!

Our friendship is deeply rooted, always authentic, respectfully honest, lovingly real, painfully raw, sometimes messy, positively priceless and heavenly bound. The more years that go by the more I realize just how special our friendship truly is… just how much of who I am is because of “us” and how very much I love and miss her. I also realize that I need to make sure she knows just how special she is to me. I don’t think we… or at least I… let those I love and care about know just how special they are to me and how important their friendship is. So that is why I made this card just for her. Something fun to say hello… to let her know I miss her. How about you? Have you let that special friend know just how special they are to you? Go for it… send a text, or a hand written note, or give them a call, make time to get together.

If you would like to make this special card for yourself to give then I encourage you to sign up for my Card in a Box Class.

My Card in a Box Class is coming up soon and I would love for you to join me to make this fun card that you can give to that someone special in your life.

Card in a Box Class
Tuesday May 6th at 6:30pm
or
Wednesday May 7th at 10am.
Class fee $15
Please Register by May 2nd

You will create a lovely free-standing card that would be perfect for Mother’s Day, a Birthday or Graduation. You will learn how to make the base as well as decorate the card using exclusive stamps, punches and die-cut framelets. You will even learn to make your own envelope using the Envelope Punch Board. Please bring your favorite adhesive and scissors.

Blessings and Happy Stamping!
Anita Haines

All The Lonely People { Part Two }

Welcome back for part two of “All The Lonely People”. You can read part one here.

This year my “ONE WORD” is { INTENTIONAL }.

I’ve decided I live way too much of my life on auto-pilot. A revelation that came to me while I attended Brave Girls Camp back in May of 2012. I was awaken to the fact that it’s hard to enjoy life when you’re on auto pilot. You miss out on all that it has for you. So this year I am focusing on living my life with intent. Intentional time with my Lord… with self care… with relationships… with inspiring, creating and sharing. This new Blog as a big part of that.

One thing that I’m going to be intentional with is sending out more cards. You may think that is a no-brainer since I’m a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator but I actually was better at that before I became a Demonstrator. I get so busy with the prepping of classes and events that I don’t take the time to make them for myself to give. Or worse, I actually do get them made but never manage to get them sent out. I have stacks of unmailed cards to prove it. Sad but true…

To continue from part one of “All The Lonely People” I am also going to be intentional with awareness of those around. Again it’s so easy to overlook others when you are operating on auto pilot. So many around us are hurting or lonely. I need to have my eyes open and we all need to be gentle with one another ~ Lives depend on it. My dear friend Melody Ross from Brave Girls Club shared in THIS incredible blog post about how it would be so propound if we could all wear a sign proclaiming what we were going through or what we needed. We are all so afraid of what others would think… our weaknesses would be exposed. So instead we tend to hide behind the pain, behind the loneliness, behind the screen and pretend everything is okay.

I’m working on being intentional with growing and my time with the Lord as well. I’m in the middle of Beth Moore’s “Sacred Secrets” Bible Study where she just shared with us that secrets manifest. We may think that what is going on in our lives is hidden but it will manifest itself one way or another.

It may be that the disengaged or grouchy girl whose path you just crossed was up all night with a teething baby, or she has been taking care of her own mother who doesn’t remember who she is, or she just got the test results from the doctor, or someone she cares about deeply just tried to end their own life, or she lives with the memories of child abuse, or the father that she finally was able to forgive and build a relationship with is dying, or her husband is dealing with depression and she yearns for him to just and hold her tight, or maybe he just told her that his business is going under and they may lose everything they’ve worked so hard for, or her closest friend just betrayed her, or she has unfulfilled dreams and desires, or fear has paralyzed her, or she can’t remember what it’s like to not feel pain, or she is so very lonely.

Anyone of us could be that girl. I know because I’ve been that girl. We all need a little grace at times. We all need someone to really see us… to hear us. So many are screaming without uttering a word. Let’s look up from our screen and see past others eyes to find a soul. Intentional living matters… kindness matters… love matters most…

Casting Crown does a beautiful job reminding us of this in their song “Does Anyone Hear Her”.

{ We who have strong faith should help the weak with their problems. We should not please only ourselves. We should all please our neighbors. Let us do what is good for them. Let us build them up. ~Romans 15:1-2 }

If you are the one that is crying out and feel like you are not seen or heard please know that you are not alone. You are truly loved. God has not forgotten you. He sees you. He hears you when no one else does. I hope and pray that you can be brave enough to come out from behind your screen and ask for your deepest needs and desires. We were not meant to do this journey alone. Seek out a safe place of community where you can be encouraged, thrive and grow. The Lord has promised to never leave you. He has a plan for your life… a plan for an awesome and wonderfully fulfilled life even more than you can possibly dream or imagine.

{ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11 }

So now I’m off to getting some cards sent out… because it matters…

{ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ~ 1 Peter 5:7 }

{ My God will use his glorious riches to give you everything you need. ~ Philippians 4:19 }

Blessings & Happy Stampin’
Anita Haines

All The Lonely People { Part One }

February is considered the month of “love” and most of us just finished celebrating the day of love “Valentine’s Day”. This can certainly be a day with mixed emotions. For some it’s a fun day filled with gifts or tokens of love from a “valentine”. But for others it’s a painful reminder that they are alone. Some have even coined the day as “Single Awareness Day”. We chuckle at this term, but for those who are struggling with loneliness it can really be a difficult time.

photo credit: Nicole C Haines

There is a huge difference between being alone and loneliness. As a mom of six children I have definitely appreciated my little bouts of alone time. At the same time, I will be completely honest with you… I’ve also experienced being in a room full of people and feeling incredibly alone. All of us have struggled at one time or another with loneliness. It’s when we find ourselves so isolated that we can’t seem to find our way out that it becomes a serious health risk.

photo credit: Nicole C Haines

Studies have shown isolation to be twice as dangerous as obesity. It can impair our immune system and can lead to depression, heart disease, diabetes and even suicide. In a time where social media is at an all time high we have become increasingly more socially isolated. We hide behind all our posts of a perceived perfect life. We find ourselves almost like an addiction coming back for more “friends” and “likes”. Let’s be honest here, it’s natural to want a positive response to what we post. I’ll admit I do.

photo credit: Nicole C Haines

But when we start to define our self worth by how many likes a post or photo gets we can easily become disillusioned. Don’t get me wrong. I love all the benefits and blessings of connecting and re-connecting with friends and family through social media and even now through this new Blog. But I find myself more and more yearning for real life face-to-face interaction with people. Some days I just need a real person with skin on to converse with or an authentic hug where you simply melt into someone… and my beloved MacBook or i-phone just don’t do it for me.

Using technology to connect is great and an answer to prayer for some. But it should not be the only connection you have with others. As a family we don’t allow phones at our dinner table so we can connect with one another. I am so saddened when I am out to eat and see a table full of people focused on their screens instead of one another. Life goes by too quickly to spend it in front of a screen all day. I need intentional time with a real person. Maybe it’s because all my kiddos are now in school full time, or because I work by myself from home, or maybe it’s just been this long winter and lack of sunshine we’ve had… but I can’t imagine that I’m alone on this.

What would happen if we all were to be intentional and real with connecting with others? Maybe you will have to disconnect in order to connect? This past year a number of my girlfriends didn’t realize how much they were missing out on until they decided to take a temporary break from technology including social media and watching TV. I want to encourage and even challenge you {as well as myself} to just make an effort to reach out to someone else in some way.

You know… that friend you’ve been thinking about or always say you need to get together with. It won’t happen by accident… be intentional and take the first step. Go ahead and pick up the phone and give her a call, ask her to meet you for lunch, or sit down and write a letter or send a card with a note of encouragement ~ a hand stamped card with a hand written note inside is always a gift. Writing seems to be a lost art. I know I treasure anything I have with my mom’s hand writing on it. As soon as I see her handwriting I can see her face and hear her voice. Or go ahead and use technology and social media… send an encouraging text, email or message to lift someone up. You never know what a perfect blessing it will be at just the right time.