Hello my friends! It's Friday, and I usually have a Power Poppy card to share with you, but I wanted to share something different today. I'm not normally a "put-it-all-out-there" kind of person. I don't know why. I just tend to be more private. Plus my blog is titled "STAMP TALK with Tosh". So I have pretty much kept my posts all about my projects. Well, today's project has a story behind it, and I just felt inspired to share. I hope you don't mind.
I am an introvert/extrovert and don't do well with change, so when my husband and I changed churches a couple of years ago, stepping out and getting involved was quite the challenge. I was very involved in the church we'd been members for since we got married; I'd even say to the point of being too involved. But after we left that church due to situations that we felt we couldn't support, it was hard to step out again.
But, God being God...he pushed me out of my comfortable little box and I felt nudged encouraged to join a women's Bible Study that met Wed. mornings at our church. And what a blessing that has been. Many women from that Bible Study are blessed with gifts of encouragement, and for the past two years they have been sharing that with me, allowing me to gradually get involved and blessing me greatly in the process. I thought it was time to let them know what a blessing they have been to me, so I decided to invite them to my home for coffee/tea.
Now, being a paper crafter, of course I had to make some invitations. Which brings me to another issue. A sad one. I have been on the Waltzingmouse Stamps Design Team since April of 2011, and it's been an absolute delight. Claire (the owner and designer) is a gem! She has a heart of gold and a style of design like no one else. Unfortunately, she is closing Waltzingmouse Stamps. My heart is beyond sad. I adore her vintage style and her eye for detail! She and her designs will be greatly missed in this stamping community!!
She has designed the most beautiful coffee/tea sets, and I wanted to use one of them for my coffee/tea invitations. So I combined a couple of them: Afternoon Tea (out of stock) and Coffee Set Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the invitations which included images from the Coffee Set (Which still happens to be in stock).
Here are a few of the invitations. They all have the same layout, just different decorative papers.
Here's a close up of one of the invites so you can see the details.
You might be wondering where my title from this post came from. Well, the whole point of the invitations, was to thank these wonderful Godly women for blessing me so abundantly. And also, I wanted to thank Claire for allowing me to be on her Design Team for almost 5 years. That too has been such a blessing!!
I also wanted to give a shout out to the companies I used for my little get-together. I can't arrange flowers, and baking...well, this was too important to me to risk messing it up. So I hired a local baking artist (she really is quite the artist) who bakes the most delicious and beautiful cookies around, to make cookies in the shapes of birds, bird cages, and nests!! And they are beautiful and delicious! She only advertises via Instagram, and believe me, this girl is in high demand. You can find her on instagram here: thebakersboxcafe
For my flowers, I called my favorite local florist: Shelley DeJonge~ owner of Sweet Memories in Visalia, CA.
I told her I would like a vintage style arrangement, and this is what she came up with!! It couldn't have been any more perfect! You can find her on Facebook here too: Sweet Memories
These were not the only flowers I received either. One of the dear ladies made a beautiful and charming arrangement of flowers she picked from her garden. And Gerberas happen to be one of my all-time favorites!
And another brought me this summery fresh smelling candle!
How totally sweet!!
And, not only was I blessed with the delightful company of my dear Bible Study friends, I was even blessed with a first time phone call from a dear stamping friend that I've never had the pleasure of meeting irl, but have shared emails for the past couple of years, as well as being a fellow Design Team member for Power Poppy: Katie Sims...and let me tell you...she is one of my stamping idols, and has one of the sweetest "Georgia Peach" accents you have ever heard!! What a delight!!!
And to end the day, I got to talk with my dear daughter who lives 2000 miles away. So, as you can see, I had a full day of Blessings!! GOD IS GOOD!! To Him be the glory!!
If you've made it this far into my post, thanks for sticking with me and allowing me to share a treasured day with you! I had a glorious time planning my little Coffee/Tea party, and getting to know the ladies from my group even better. And I'm going to miss designing for Waltzingmouse Stamps, but I wish Claire and her family all the best for their future!!
I also wish you a wonderful weekend filled with blessings of your own!!
Happy Stamping my dear, dear friends!!
15 comments:
Having gone through a similar type of situation, I know exactly how much it means to find Godly women who allow you time to heal as they encourage you along the journey. By making everything about your tea so beautiful, I'm sure you honored and blessed them beyond measure. And isn't it just like our God to give you a little "kiss" of blessing in return!
Oh biggest Hugs Tosha, it has been an absolute treat for me to have you on the team, you are a treasure. I'm gutted to have had to close and break up the team, but I am really hoping that I will be able to make more time for blog land and staying in touch with you and the gals, You absolutely were the silver lining to every cloud WMS faced and I remain in awe of your crazy crafting skills, so I'll be stalking you for a while yet!! Hugs Tosha, thank YOU for everything. BTW You are so lucky I don't live closer, that's a tea party I would have just crashed for sure!! It looks amazing!! hugs :)
You have been blessed indeed :) Switching churches is SO hard! We did that two years ago as well after much heartache and attempts to share our concerns re: their direction etc. Hardest thing we have had to do - my family were founding members... Thankfully we have found an amazing church and are drinking deep and healing. Not plugged in yet but getting close (hard being a pew warmer LOL). So glad you have found a wonderful study to be a part of :) Your tea sounds wonderful and great floral arrnagement - I love gerbers too and the orange wtih the touch of purple is amazing. Yeah for upliftin days that make us realize how truly blessed we are :)
thanks for sharing your blessed day......it sounds wonderful as well as full of wonder.....and, I agree with Claire....if I lived closer I too would have crashed this wonderful tea party....hugs, TP
Your post was just what I needed during a stressful nursing shift! I needed a little break from doing some difficult chart reviews and came across your blog post! What a gorgeous table for your tea and those cookies are so amazing! Your day certainly was blessed and it reminded me I need to quit stressing and count my blessings as well!
What a Delightful day for you and your friends with many sweet memories!!! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Paper Hugs,
Jan
I have been following your blog for sometime. I read all of the way through and found this was refreshing to read. You had a blessed day and I thank you for sharing it with us. I am glad for you and glad that I read your post this morning.
We had a situation that caused us to decide to change churches 10 years ago and I can relate how hard it is to step out again. But isn't amazing how the Lord gently brings us along and gives us new sisters to encourage us and open new doors for ministry! Your invitations are so pretty! As a baker and floral designer I say the attention you gave to the details to show your appreciation to these ladies is delightful and Im sure was much appreciated. Glad you had such a wonderful day! God IS good :)
Reading your post is a blessing in itself. I am glad you are blessed by your new church fellowship. Your invitations are beautiful and I bet those yummy looking cookies were delicious. The flowers are gorgeous too. TFS
Such an uplifting post. Your table looked so beautiful as did your invitation. Thank you for sharing your sweet day.
So glad you were able to find a church with such a wonderful support group for you, I love my ladies bible study group and they are so much of an encouragement to me also. It does sound like a blessed day all around! Your invitations were so pretty!
God is so good you are 100% correct. Your bible study girls are surely blessed to have you among them as well sweet friend. These invites are fabulous and the food and flowers are perfect. We need a special trip with us all again to refuel the tanks I think. This time bring miss Katie and Pat along. ;-) I heard about the upcoming trip to the new place (well to Pat) and wish I was coming too. Big hugs... Enjoy your blessings girlie.
Oh, sweet and dear Tosh! Wow, I loved every word of your post and love the photos! What a blessing to see the beauty of the flowers (both from the florist and from your friend) and the yummy looking cookies in all the shapes! Such care and talent! And I too was to very sad to see Waltzingmouse close and love Claire's heart and art. I only wish I would have purchased this tea set! It's always been one of my favorites. Your invitation are so beautiful and perfect for this wonderful occasion, and having a call from sweet Miss Katie had to be a treat. I so love hearing here voice and am blessed she is in my (and our) lives! I love her so much. Dearest Tosh, I too struggle with much of what you have been dealing with and don't handle change well with churches especially. We've had our share, and it's been a real struggle, but looking back we can see God's hand in it all. I shall have to write you with some of the details about it, but I know (as you do) that God has us in the palm of His tender and mighty hand! Thank You, precious Father! I trust that you all have a most wonderful time and do also wish Claire and her family blessings in the future. Hugs and so much love, precious friend! xoxo
i love tea parties - and I recommend the huntington library if any of you are near there - the gardens are beautiful - the tea room overlooks the huge rose garden.
That was a day to remember praise God. Thanks for sharing it with us.
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