A few days ago while having lunch with a friend I was told that one of my stamping sisters had unexpectedly passed away. I was stunned. This girl was young and healthy and so full of life the last time I had spoken to her. As I continued to hear about the situation something didn't feel right to me, After all, hadn't I just spoken to her recently? I did some research to discover that my stamping sister was alive! It turned out that there was a miscommunication and although sadly someone died, it was not my friend.

This reminded me of the false alarm we experienced in the state of Hawaii just a few days prior. Early on a Saturday morning, we received alerts our phones telling us to seek shelter immediately because a bomb was headed our way and it was not a drill.

In both cases, there was a 10 to 15 minute period of time where everything stopped. I began to think of my family and friends. Had I been there when they needed me? Had I told them how much I loved them or even more importantly did I remind them how much God loved them? Going through this experience made me want to work harder at showing my love and appreciation for those God brings across my path.

When I held my first stamp a stack class for the new year, I was so happy to see everyone! Hugging them all a little tighter that morning.

Dene is holding the first card we made at class. It was a thank you card. What an appropriate place to start because of all the thankfulness I was feeling that morning. Especially for people like Dene who has been such a wonderful customer and friend to me for many, many years.

Here is a close up of the card.

Petal Palette Thank You Card - www.stampedwithaloha.com

This card featured a lot of brand new product. I used the Scattered Sequins dynamic textured impressions folder for texture. I colored the roses with our new Stampin' Blends. The stamp is new as well, its called Petal Palette and has coordinating designer paper called Petal Passion. In fact, this gorgeous black and white paper was the featured product in my class and could be seen on all my samples that day.

The next card gave me another opportunity to show the Stampin Blends on a sweet card made with our new set called Bird Banter. Everyone really seemed to enjoy coloring the birds for this cute birthday card.

I love the sentiment on this card and the cute little hat you can add to any image in the set.

Bird Banter Card - www.stampedwithaloha.com

I also love the bold black and white print of the Petal Passion designer paper. It is great for masculine cards.

The next card we created was a Valentine Card.

It was fun to see everyone's faces light up when they saw the Stamparatus. A new stamp positioning tool that will be available soon.

I used it for the first time at my Stamp a Stack class to create this Valentine card with the Sure Do Love You stamp set. Cheryl, pictured above with her friend Wray, said she can't wait to get her own Stamparatus.

Sure Do Love You Valentine Card - www.stampedwithaloha.com

Have you seen or heard about the Stamparatus yet? Here is a video to learn a little more about it.

This tool costs $49 and will be available soon. If you would like me to put your name on a waiting list to get one, like Cheryl did, let me know.

My final card of the class featured not only the Petal Passion Designer Paper but also my favorite Saleabration stamp set called Party Pandas.

Just look at all my panda loving friends who are equally excited about this adorable set that you can earn for FREE with a $50 order.

Here are the Panda cards we created at class.

Party Panda Narrow Note Cards - www.stampedwithaloha.com

Aren't these narrow note cards cute? They are new and they come with cute envelopes. The sentiments on the two outside cards is from the Petal Pallette stamp set. The "just for you" on the inside card comes from the Sure Do Love You set. I love to show how versatile our products are by using them on multiple projects.

Our class came to an end with a very unexpected surprise. Two of my long time downline and stamping sisters who live in the mainland came over to visit me!!!! I love these ladies and felt so blessed that they were both here at the same time.

It was wonderful to have them here, especially because of what I had just experienced with the false alarms. It gave me the opportunity to share with both of them how grateful I was for their love and friendship.

Both of these false alarms resulted in the same conclusion, I know that God is in control. My life is in His hands. I was created to love Him and to show that love to others. I am thankful that He has surrounded me with wonderful family and friends. Grateful, that He has blessed me with the opportunity to share what I love and love what I do.

January Stamp A Stack - www.stampedwithaloha.com

With love and a grateful heart,

Cindy

False Alarm

Stamped With Aloha

False Alarm

Tag, You're It!

Sure Do Love You

Stamped With Aloha