Ah, the beach... How I miss it -- A Child's Year, Tent Card, MPS Challenge #8

I could live with a trip to the beach today...  It would be awesome to be on the beach!!  But, alas, I am missing the beach...  Maybe this summer...

Thinking of the beach made me think of Challenge #8 over at My Pink Stamper -- create a project with a summer theme...  Of course, thinking of summer, made me think of Challenge #73 over at Cricut Cardz Challenge -- create a project with a beach theme...  :)

This was a fun card to make -- I'm still playing around with how these 'tent' cards work...  The last time I made a tent card (see it HERE), I turned it the other way so that it was tall...  That seemed to be an easier method.  This way worked, though I had to modify the card slightly so that it stood up correctly (not leaning forward)...  If anyone has a great tutorial for one of these, I'd love for you to leave a link so I can try another card like this!!  :)

Anyway, I started with a 5.5x8.5" piece of chocolate cardstock and folded it in half to create a 5.5"x4.25" card...  You'll also need a 5.5"x4" piece of cardstock scored at 1", 2", and 3" so that you can mountain/valley fold it and attach it to main opening of the card (to create the 'tent' effect)...  You'll also need to cut a frame into the front of the card (I used my handy-dandy trimmer to do this -- leaving a half inch edge on each side).  Before attaching that mountain/valley piece, you'll want to decorate the inside of your card so it can be seen through the 'window'...  It's kinda like a diorama!!  I made my sky with torn strips of cloud blue cardstock from my scrap stash.  I added a few partial scallop punches for clouds too.  I then cut some wavy strips of leftover decorative paper that I thought looked like wave colors and attached that to the 'mountain' part of the fold...

My little girl is from the A Child's Year Cricut Cartridge, cut at 4"...  When I saw this image I was reminded of being about 4 or 5 -- We were at the beach (in Florida, perhaps?) on a family vacation.  When my dad would take me into the ocean with my inner tube, he would put me on a wave and I could ride into the beach with him close by...

But I remember one time not wanting to wait for everyone else to get into the ocean, so I took my inner tube and marched down to the water to wait on the waves (kids are quick little buggers, aren't they??)!!  I remember thinking that I shouldn't go too far into the water...  Just far enough to catch a wave...

Of course, being a little thing, I didn't understand much about the tides or currents and how the water level would change quickly...  So there I was, back to the ocean, perched just far enough in the water that I could push my toes into the sand and lean forward in expectation of that wave that would carry me back to dry land....  When I heard my mom yelling hysterically to my dad that I was in the water...

And at that moment, with my cheeks puffed out from holding my breath and my fingers pinching my nose, I felt the water pull swiftly back away from legs before realizing that the shadow that had suddenly blocked the sun was an enormous wave about to crash down on me!!  In that brief moment of losing grip on my nose and having the carefully held breath knocked out of me, I remember reaching out to grab at the bubbles...  Salt water stinging my now wide eyes and burning my throat as I tried to cry for help...

When suddenly, strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me to safety...  My mom had crossed the span of beach and jumped into the water quickly enough to grab me from the wave that surely would have pulled me deeper into the ocean (adrenaline? super-mom powers?)...

I won't pretend that I can remember everything she said after that (in between the hugs, tears, and understandable anger that I had disobeyed and wandered off alone), but I do remember having a new respect for the ocean after that...  And hopefully, I listened to my mom a little better when she told me not to do something!!

I still stand in the water and feel the familiar pull of the currents, I still love pushing my toes into the sand in expectation of that wave, and it still takes my breath away when a wave carries me into the beach...


I didn't expect to share that entire story (there's a lot of emotion tied up in that card!), but then I thought about my new friend, Kristal from Getting Cricky with K Andrew... She always has the most positive things to say, and I enjoy her posts immensely...  And so her posts have inspired me to think more about life's lessons...  Sometimes, far away from the beach, we find ourselves caught in a current that is stronger than we can handle...  We lose our carefully held breath and experience fear in the face of difficult situations...  But there is someone watching over us even when we wander and disobey...  He's ready and waiting to wrap strong arms around us and pull us to a safe place...  Our throats might still burn as we cough and sputter from the consequences of our actions...  But we are in a safe place in His arms...  So, friend, if you have found yourself caught in a current that is stronger than you are prepared for, I invite you to crawl up into my Savior's lap with me...  Allow the hands that have shaped the world to hold you tight, allow the arms stretched wide for you and I to embrace you and bring you comfort...

Until next time,