Spring has finally settled in, and I am enjoying the “in-between” weather–not too hot or cold.
Highlights in April include Easter, Timothy’s birthday, and the guys’ first camping trip in Jim’s new camper van.
Watching
We finished up The House of David. This first season ended with David’s confrontation with Goliath. Though the filmmakers embellished the story in ways they didn’t need to, we still got the truth that David met Goliath in faith. It seemed miraculous that David even got the chance, since his brothers as well as the other soldiers would not have let an untrained teenager on the battle field.
When Jim was camping, I watched Wicked, a retelling of the “Wicked Witch’s” story from The Wizard of Oz. I had seen a few clips but wasn’t sure what else to expect. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. I’ve mentioned before that I used to avoid any story with witches or “magic” until I realized that “fairy tale magic” is a different thing that the occult (more thoughts on that here).
Creating
I don’t do a lot of freehand work when I make cards: neither my handwriting nor my drawing skills are great, so I rely on my tools. A couple of Timothy’s main interests are balloon men (also called tube men or air dancers) and tornado sirens. I wanted to incorporate both in his birthday card, but couldn’t find Cricut images or stickers of either. In fact, when I searched for “tornado sirens,” most of the results were mermaids–I guess they were thinking of the sirens of Greek mythology, which are different from mermaids, but, oh well.
I wanted to have a tube man looking like he was using a tornado siren as a megaphone. So here’s what I came up with.
I thought of adding a few other touches but decided to quit while I was ahead.
This card was meant for a baby shower, but I ended up not using it, for a couple of reasons.
I’d seen a similar idea on Pinterest, which often leads back to the maker’s website with instructions. This one didn’t, so I was figuring it out on my own. I didn’t realize the cross piece was too long until I already had it glued down. Plus, I thought it would look neat to use real twine. Although it wasn’t very thick, it was enough that it left a bump under each of the bears. I wasn’t up to redoing this one from scratch, so I went with a simpler idea.
The onesie and bears were done with the Cricut.
The following two were simple variations on the same idea. These were for friends, one recovering from an accident and the other recovering from surgery.
The blue card is one of my all-time favorites. The words were done with a stamp. The rosy corners on the second card were done with a punch. The lacy strips across the bottom of both were from a set of stickers.
Reading
Since last time, I have finished (titles link to my reviews):
- Hebrews for You by Michael J. Kruger, a helpful commentary on the biblical book of Hebrews.
- An Ocean of Grace by Tim Chester, a Lenten devotional compiled of writings of many Christians of the past.
- The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien, the last of his Lord of the Rings series.
- The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry. Though the main story was good, I had some problems and mixed emotions with this one.
- Wild Swan by Patti Callahan Henry, a novella of Florence Nightingale’s difficulties in convincing her family that she was called to be a nurse.
- He Should Have Told the Bees, another winner by Amanda Cox. Two young women who don’t know each other are named in the same trust, which leaves them co-owners of the one’s farm and apiary. In trying to find out why, they discover each other’s history and more about themselves. Excellent.
I’m currently reading:
- Minor Prophets 1 by the Navigators
- The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950 – 1963, compiled by Walter Hooper
- On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Volume 1 of the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
- Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
Blogging
Besides the weekly Friday Fave Fives, Saturday Laudable Linkage, and book reviews, I’ve posted these since last time:
- The First Step to Murder. Just as lust is the first step to adultery, and is a sin in itself, contempt and dehumanizing others is the first step to murder.
- Redeemed Regrets. Regrets can haunt us even when we know we’re forgiven. But God can redeem them and use them for good.
- The Cross Is the Measure, both of the awfulness of sin and the depths of God’s love.
- When Stones Speak. Jesus said if people were silenced from acknowledging Him, the very stones would cry out. It turns out stones have testified of Him many times.
- If Jesus Had Not Been Resurrected, how bleak and horrible our outlook would be.
- What Does Jesus Pray for Us? I knew that Jesus prayed for us but never considered what He prayed for us until a book I was reading inspired a study of Jesus’ prayers.
As we change the calendar to May, we look forward to Mother’s Day, a ladies’ luncheon at church, the resuming of our writing critique group, and a long-awaited appointment.
How was your April? What do you look forward to in May?
(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)
Stray Thoughts 
Barbara, you never cease to amaze me when it comes to your card making. Each one is personalized to the person you are giving it to …Timothy’s as a case in point. I loved it! And my favorite is the last card…I love blue and white, but each one is beautiful in its own right. Those are what I call “treasures”.
Thanks so much, Dianna. I thought of you as I was making the blue card. 🙂
What a gift to craft cards like that! What a gift to your family and friends!
Thanks so much!
As usual, your cards are so pretty! I do especially like the blue floral one. I’m looking forward to learn that craft.
I am very happy with our temps and even the rain doesn’t bother me. Now, wild wind makes me nervous. But so far, in my neck of the woods, I’ve not seen much of that.
It’s hard to believe that we are entering the 5th month of 2025! Time flies by.
Have a lovely week.
I always love your cards and your monthly wrap up. I just added House of David onto my “want to watch list”.
We loved Wicked and yes there is a HUGE difference between the Satanic/occult magic and the innocence of fairy tales. We never had a problem with letting our girls watch Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of hte Rings…and then…Harry Potter books and a former church who said we were sinners if we read those. Well, fast forward to our new church, more solid Biblical truth and less legalism and the fact my olest daughter did some research, and let’s just say we have now all read all the HP books and seen the movies. And our faith hasn’t been hurt. I wish I had known then what I know now….:) and how to answer some of those past “leaders”.
Anyways, I”m so glad you enjoyed Wicked. Our daughter bought the movie and had us over one night for dinner so we could see it.
You had a great month!
May…i’m looking forward to hopefully less upper back pain/leg pain and our trip to NM
I liked the Wicked movie a lot more than I expected as well! Loved the colors/music/musical theater-feel of it. The part at the dance where the 2 girls had their hands together was a little odd, but otherwise … 🙂
As always, I enjoy your cards! I think the baby one with the mobile looks great and honestly I thought the one piece longer than the other was just due to perspective? Timothy’s with the balloon man is so special with him loving them. May is so busy here that I’m just taking it one day (and sometimes less!) at a time. Things always seem to work out that way. I hope yours is wonderful!
Yes, the one “stick” in the mobile was supposed to be longer than the other due to perspective. But I should have left more margin on the sides. Although, looking at it again, it doesn’t look so bad. It’s still sitting on my work table–maybe I’ll keep it for another time. 🙂
Barbara, those pretty cards will be a welcome surprise for each recipient. Well done! / Our April calendar was quite full of appointments and engagements. The introvert in me was glad to turn the page to a much quieter May! We are looking forward to a visit from our younger son and his wife. / I always appreciate book reviews from respected sources. I’m adding the last two from your list to mine!
I feel that way after a busy month, too. I am always glad to other people’s book-reading lists. 🙂
I always enjoy your monthly roundups, especially your creative cards!
And I’ve been meaning to check out Wicked, having heard so much about the musical.
I’ve gotten interested in making cards lately too. It’s a fun outlet for me. I think it started during the pandemic. I had a hard time getting anywhere to buy Mother’s Day cards or birthday cards for my husband so I made them.
My stepchildren made my husband and me watch Wicked with them. Neither of us is into musicals, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would too. I’m not sure why musicals don’t appeal to me because I love good singing. The singing in Wicked was impressive.
Barbara, your card came exactly when I needed a good dose of encouragement. Thanks so much. I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day.
I’m so glad, Lois. I had wanted to get it out earlier, so I am thankful to hear it arrived at a good time for you. It’s so good to see you about the Internet again! I’m still praying for recovery and healing. Happy Mother’s Day.
Your cards are pretty; though making cards myself I completely get your frustration when they don’t turn out quite like you had pictured them. He Should Have Told the Bees sounds good!