OCC Challenge - Beautiful Butterflies!

This week, Dana Grothaus is challenging us to use butterflies on our cards. They can be big, small, punched, stamped, on patterned paper... we just want to see your beautiful butterflies!!!

To play along, upload your creation to your blog or gallery, then link it here with the direct link with our NEW linky system. If you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword: OCCC

I've had this card made for much more than a week now, and I'm so excited to finally share it. My family was spontaneously invited to lunch by a family in our church after our Good Friday service. 5 hours later, after a wonderful meal and terrific fellowship, we returned home. I made this card to thank that family for their generosity and grace towards us. We are still somewhat new to this large-ish church and we haven't really connected with families outside of the leadership with which we are involved. If things happen the way I think they might, there's potential for a love story here that will unfold in the fullness of time. I'll tell you about it as the fullness of time happens. I may burst though!

It was so fortunate that this card fit today's challenge because I haven't seen the inside of my studio since last weekend. All 9 puppies are now adopted. We love fostering and it's just our reality that the adoption process is a very heavy time commitment. Families first have a telephone interview with our adoption co-ordinator. Once approved, they are given our information and they contact me to set up a time to come see our puppies. We are typically on the phone for close to half an hour while they ask questions and I give them background information on our dogs. When families come to see our puppies, it typically takes and hour for that visit. If the family has a dog already, they bring their dog for a visit when they come to pick up the puppy. If the dogs don't get along, there's no harm, no foul and that's the end of it. It's normally another half hour when the dogs are picked up to fill the family in on the puppy schedule and the medical history. This week, our fostering was a full time job for me because all the puppies were adopted over 4 days and then Hannah got sick. Today, 4 days later, she's still sick so we went to the doctor.

You know what though, while I'm coming out of a very hectic couple of weeks here, I think it's all good! So far there is nothing that has happened that God hasn't equipped me to deal with. I haven't had as much time to craft as I 'should' have, but it's okay. I'll get my Sugar Creek Hollow card done tomorrow, 2 days late (I'm so sorry, ladies!), and my calendar is clear for the next couple of weeks. We might be getting more foster dogs later today, we don't know for certain yet because it depends on what the crew finds while they are on the native reservation where they are going to pick up some dogs they already know about and give out dog food.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Have a marvelous weekend and enjoy the rest of the beautiful butterfly creations by the OCC team!

stamps; joyful hearts (just rite)
paper; blossomwood (k&co), coconut swirl, brown (bazzill)
ink; juniper, pebble, espresso adirondack (ranger)
accessories; oval nesties, labels 6, fleur de lis pendants (spellbinders), butterfly trio punch (martha stewart), ribbon (offray)