"I am not your friend, I am your parent. I will stalk you, flip out on you, lecture you, drive you insane, be your worst nightmare & hunt you down when needed because I love you! When you understand that, I will know you're a responsible adult. You will never find someone who loves, prays,cares and worries about you more than me! This is my promise to you."
I recently saw this poster on Pinterest and quoted on Facebook and it got me to thinking... Hmmmmm, really? Do we really want our children to grow up believing friends are people who say “yes” to them, and that people who love them are controlling and punitive?
I work hard to have a loving connection with my children. The last thing I want to be is their stalker or their worst nightmare, but given the number of times I saw this posted as a status on Facebook, not everyone agrees. I get it; people have the impression that if you’re friends with your children that you let them do whatever they want — party with them, drink with them, get into trouble with them. But that’s an awfully narrow definition of friend — and not necessarily the definition of “friend” I want my children to have.
I try to be an example of the friend I want my children to be to others, and also of the kind of person I want my children to be friends with:
I am a leader. I think hard about the decisions I make so they’re good ones, even if they’re not popular. I want my children to surround themselves with thinking people — the ones who will say no to drugs or getting into a car with a drunk driver. It’s a lot to ask of anyone to make good decisions all the time, but it’s not too much to ask for them surround themselves with people who make good decisions most of the time.
I set boundaries. I don’t want my children to be givers or takers — I want them to be both. I want them to be generous, but I also want them to be honest when they need something. I want the people around them to be the same way, so no one feels taken advantage of or used. Friends need open and honest dialogue.
I am kind and gentle. Friends don’t hit each other, and they apologize when they get upset or frustrated.
I listen. Yes, I need to guide my children, but before I can tell them where to go I need to know where they’re coming from. My children want to be heard, even when they say disturbing or careless things. Most of the time, they just need a safe place to say those things without judgment or action. I want to be the person they come to, and I want them to be a safe place for others too.
I am their mentor. I want all my children’s friends to be people they admire and people they can learn from. Every relationship should add something to our lives, and it should start at home.
I respect them. I learn so much from my children, and I want them to be comfortable around people who learn from them too. Even though my children are my responsibility to feed, clothe, and keep safe, they have so much to teach me. I want them to be confident in their relationships with people of authority, so I show them how valued they are.
As a mother, I’m more than a friend to my children, but our relationship starts with friendship, and it’s a model of friendship I want them to carry with them throughout their life. If I never show them friendship, how will they know how to be a friend? How will they know what kind of friend to be?
I’m so proud to call my children my friends, and I hope that one day many people will be proud to call my children their friends too.
Aren't they gorgeous? I am so excited about the new concept that Authentique is offering and can't wait to see what else is on the horizon. Thanks for stopping by.
THAT would be why!!!! I am so thrilled to be joining the Authentique team as a design specialist. Their papers are a wonderful mix of bright, fresh, beautiful designs with a bit of a shabby chic flair. I absolutely cannot wait to share more about this amazing company and it's products with you. If you are a lover of paper, I am certain you too will fall in love with them as I have. In the meantime, here is a link to the blog post announcing the 2011-2012 Design Team and Design Team Specialist. Go check it out and see if there are any familiar names on the list. Thank you for sharing in my exciting news. See ya soon! :-)
"I am not your friend, I am your parent. I will stalk you, flip out on you, lecture you, drive you insane, be your worst nightmare & hunt you down when needed because I love you! When you understand that, I will know you're a responsible adult. You will never find someone who loves, prays,cares and worries about you more than me! This is my promise to you."
Thanks for visiting, have a happy Monday!
On the gears I misted them first with Shimmerz Coloringz. I used Valentino, Mama Sings the Blues and Anchors Away. On the red one I misted the gear, then sprayed a grid stamp and stamped on top of that. With the other two gears I wanted the effect to be a bit more subtle, so I unscrewed the lid and dribbled some of the pigment directly onto the pieces. The drops mimic the drops on the October Afternoon and help create greater unity to the page.
To finish them off I made two custom epoxies and placed those inside of a couple Epiphany Crafts vintage settings. Once everything was dry I traced around the gears to give them greater emphasis. Love the way they turned out. Hope you are enjoying your Sunday. See ya next time!
For starters my favorite paper has got to be the woodgrain print. It is seriously fabulous, is it not?! I really want to hoard this paper because I ♥ so!
My second favorite paper in this line is probably "Renown".
The colors of this line are appropriate for both boys and girls which makes it such a versatile line to work with. I, however, chose a non-human subject on this layout. I have always ADORED horses since I was a little girl. When I was about 4 or so my mom and I would stop by a pasture nearby my older sisters' school to feed the horses. Thus began my affection for these sleek, gentle, yet powerful four legged creatures.
See the flowers on the layout? I altered some 2 different sets of Epiphany felt flowers; Whimsy and Adobe and combined them with some wooden buttons and bling to complete the look I was going for. I also used one of the "Tea Room" Vintage settings and the Button Studio on the tag in the upper left hand corner.
I love to decorate my house for the holidays and decided to alter an extra large Ball jar to hold treats for our home.
For the front of the jar I used a large a tag and cut slits in the sides and put lace through the slits and tied it in the back. I used a couple of die cuts layered on top of a accordian wheel that I made. LOVE that skull and cross bones! Around the lid I cut strips of paper to fit and hot glued them to the side. I added lace and ball trim for added texture. I wanted to add a bit of height to the jar, so I made a little witch hat and adhered it on top. It's going to take lots and lots of will power to keep from dipping into this jar too often. hee hee
I recently created two layouts using this line. It is pink, girlie and has a vintage flair; three things I love wrapped into one feminine line. I made this layout titled "Love so sublime" using Uncommon. 
I recently visited one of my favorite vintage stores in old town Elk Grove called "the red door" and wanted to create a layout about this unique little place I discovered. For this layout I fussy cut the doilies out of "original" and the rose cluster out of "Unique" to add softness to the layout design.
Here is an example of one of the die cut sheets called "Icon" and a few of the papers I used on these layouts.
"Special" (back)
"Original"
"Distinct"
"Gifted" (back)
"Unique"
Aren't they all lovely???? If you haven't had the opportunity to work with these papers yet I'd encourage you to get your hands on some. If you live in the Bay Area, stop by my friend Sarah's store "Our Paper Place". She has all of the newest lines in stock including the alpha's and die cut sheets. Hurry and get yours, she sells out of this stuff QUICK!
