Auld lang syne

I can't believe another year

is almost at a close.  They

all tend to blend into one another

now that I'm older and it's not as

exciting to see a new year

come in.  But it still remains

mystifying how another year

could be gone so quickly.

God has brought so many

changes to my life this year.

He has given me a new

church.  I have new friends.

I have also lost friends this

year.  I've become a 

great grandmother!  Who

would have seen that coming

at the close of 2014.  I survived

a whole year during which

John was not a presence in

my life.  When 2015 was upon us,

I told the chaplain of the grief

group I was attending that

what bothered me the most

was that I was going to begin

a year where John would never

have been.  But I made it.

I'm learning a new language.  I 

wouldn't have seen that coming

at the close of 2014.

It's been lonely, too.  Sometimes

I am able to reach out.  But I am

also aware that so many people

suffer in the quietness of

their own souls.  I need to

remember that other people

are reaching out, too.  That

they are just as lonely as I.

That they need to have someone

see that loneliness and reach

out to them when they are unable

to do so themselves.  I ask

God as I go into a new year

to make me aware of people

who are struggling and hear their

silent cries even when no

word is uttered.

Enough philosophy.  

I know someone who reads

my blog (and you know who

you are) has already seen

this but I don't have anything else

ready to post!

I have had to make way too mnay

sympathy cards in the last 

couple of months.  I hope I don't

have to make any more for a while.

Unfortunately, death seems to

recognize no holiday.  I always

pray, when I am not sure, that the

person knew God.  I am relatively

certain that the people who  have

died recently were saved.  That's 

the only thing that helps (and then

only a little) to know that the person

is with God and we will see them

again.  But that doesn't take away

the pain.  I am always amazed

that when Lazurus died, Jesus

mourned his death-and He KNEW 

he was going to raise Lazurus from the

dead!  That's the human experience 

that allows Jesus to understand

our pain and anguish.  He understands

our experiences

 because he's been through

them.   What an amazing God to

be born in human form so that

He could identify with us.  It's comforting

to know that Jesus totally understands

what we are feeling.  That way if

we simply can't pray for whatever

reason all we have to do is 

cry, "Abba Father" and He

hears our heart cry.  And

what a blessing to know that

when the words won't come

the Holy Spirit groans for us.

(Romans 8:26-27).

OK, now I am done with

the philosophy, I promise!  and

to think I dropped that

class in college!  The professor

put me to sleep.  True story!

More screen cards

I couldn't get a sharp picture of the

second one for some reason, just shaky

I guess.  I'm really happy with

both of these and that's

what happens when you don't 

"wing it".  I don't really know what

use they would be as greeting cards

since there's no where to put

a sentiment.  Maybe I could put a 

white panel on the top one, but

not on the bottom as each of the

windows is vellum so anything

behind it would show through.

But I think they're pretty!

 

 

Bri will be 16 in February!  I

don't know how they grow up

so fast but I am feeling older by

the minute.  I especially felt

old Christmas eve!  Anyway....I love

how this card turned out.  It

looks a little washed out in the

picture because of the

pastel colors.

 

 

This one is a die cut of a gilded

gate which has the ends trimmed off.

 It's two gates set opposite each

other.  I'm not crazy about it, but

it's the first time I've played with

the die.  My friend, Karen, sent

it to me.  I'm not getting good

sharp cuts because of the

intricacy of the die.  I need new 

plates for the machine.  

Which I was going to

get yesterday....except that we

got an ICE STORM!!

That is my punishment

for making fun of NM.  God has

such a sense of humour.  :/

Screen card

Had I given it more thought,

I would have made this card

way different.  I didn't really

know where I was going with it

so I winged it and I 

don't like it much.  I'm planning

on doing another one which

hopefully I will post tomorrow

which will be much more

planned out! 

And another picture of my adorable

great grandson!  

I'm enjoying the fact that New Mexico

had, last I knew, 14 inches

of snow and it was still

coming down.  That's where

 my inlaws are are!  Better

them than us!  The weather might

be colder today, but still

no snow and that's just fine 

with me!  And...freezing rain.
That's my punishment for
making fun of NM.

About to fly

I have two quotes that I like

to use on cards, so today I 

was playing around with them

trying to make something new.

I'm getting tired of butterflies, 

quite frankly, since I tend to use

them a lot.  I'm not sure why 

that is.  I remembered I had

a feather stamp which 

seemed to lend itself to the

sentiment and I was pretty

happy with how it turned out.

The second one I wanted to use

a punch on since I have quite

a few and don't use them much.  I

also went looking around online

and found a neat tutorial to make

flowers using a rose die set

that I bought a long time ago

and really don't use.  So I'll probably

be using that more often since I like

how it came out.  I used glimmer

mist on it, but I don't think 

you can really see it in the picture.

Oh, nice.  I just realized that I screwed up
the sentiment on the top one!  Oh, well,
you know it's handmade that way.....
I think I'm going to add a little
bling to the bottom one in each
of the circles before I send it out.  I never
think of those things until I see them
here on the screen.

Christmas Eve baby!!!!

 

 Little Heath David made his appearance

about 630 yesterday evening.  8 lbs, 7 oz.  

I couldn't get a length for some reason.

I'm excited, but sad at the same time

because he will be at least 6 months

before I get to meet him since I

am planning on going to NC again

next summer.  Mom, Caitee, doing

fine, dad, Tyler, very proud. 

I'm sure there will be more pictures 

in the future!

The Christmas eve service yesterday at

church was beautiful, candle light and

communion.  and I was able to

share it with Cody and Pam so that

made it more special.

Sadly, I have occasion to make another

sympathy card for a friend

who lost a sister yesterday.  Death doesn't 

take notice of a holiday, unfortunately. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful and

blessed Christmas.  Remember the reason 

for the season-

Jesus' birth!!!

Christmas Eve

It hardly seems like a typical Christmas eve.  The grass

is green, it's been raining and it's warm.  Warm!!

So I'm not complaining. No tree; I got rid of that

last year and there really seems to be no need for it anyway.

Christmas eve has always been special to me, 

moreso than Christmas day.  Every Christmas 

eve we would go to my Uncle Chuck's and he had

a huge party/reunion.  I can remember

the crunch of snow under my feet

and all the colorful lights on the streets. 

The air was so crisp.  In those days

it didn't bother me like it does now.  

In his living room was a HUGE Christmas tree.  

At least it seemed like a huge tree to me.

In the basement he had a bar. There was  lots of

noise, cigarette smoke and drinking.

I got my first taste of alcohol at

one of those parties!  My grandma Sanders

called me over and gave me a sip of hers.  I don't 

know what it was, but it didn't seem so bad.  I was

probably 10 or so.  It wasn't  something I would 

have continued, but it tasted OK.  Then she 

told me I could put water in a bottle after I drank

some and it would mix in.  Thanks, Grandma!  I filed 

that away.  Eventually I  tried it with wine my dad was

 making at home.  Busted. I came home from school one

day and he was holding the jug up to the window.

He must have seen me in the window.  He sighed

and said, "Either my wine has gone bad or

someone has been watering it."  I said, "Grandma

told me to!"  I don't think she meant every day...
I was so cool coming home from school

and having some wine and my cigarette (that I didn't

inhale!)    Well, that's a story

for another time.  He actually didn't get

mad, which was a miracle for him .  How

did I get so off track?  So I've always loved 

Christmas eve.  When my kids were

older I would always let them open one

present on Christmas eve-I got to

pick which one.  We would have cheese

and crackers I ordered from the Swiss colony catalogue.

When John and I got married I started a tradition

of having the whole family (both sides) to dinner

on Christmas eve.  It was a wonderful evening of

sharing and just enjoying each other's company.

I wish I could go back to that day but so many

are gone now, either Home to Jesus or just across the 

country.  On Christmas day, starting when my oldest, Nathan, 

was only 8 months old, I started reading the Christmas 

story before any presents were opened. 

 I wanted them to understand that Christmas was 

so much more than presents  to open in the morning.

I'm glad I have those memories to bring out

when I'm feeling sad.  Memories of a more

carefree and happy time when there just

didn't seem to be the pain that comes when

you get older.    But life is not stagnant.

If it were, there would be no point.

We have to continue to grow and experience

all life has to offer.

I do have a card if you are not bored to

tears by now and skip it altogether!  This is just

a simple black and white die cut card.  I'm shocked

that I was able to get it centered perfectly

on the first try!  I can't draw a straight

line with a ruler generally!

Still no baby.  Obviously her body just isn't
ready yet.  I'm not sure why they insist on
pushing things when mother nature will
take care of it on her own if just left
well enough alone.  When I had my babies
I didn't know what they were before they
were here and I gave birth when my body
told me it was time.  Everyone is in
such a hurry these days.  Life is meant
to be enjoyed and you can't enjoy
it if you are rushing through it.
Wow, I'm quite philosophical today.
I'd better quit while I'm ahead!!

Early Christmas gifts

I got a keurig last month, so

for Christmas my sister and hubby

got me a bunch of k-cups

of flavours of cappucinno.  I don't

drink regular coffee, but I do

love the cappucinno. Then my

friend Dianne and I went to

dinner at the Mexican restaurant

at Lake James and she gave me

a big coloring book and some yummy

dark chocolate sea salt caramels.

And they're made by my very

own company-Sanders!!

I haven't been coloring lately as

I have been working on Christmas

presents, so I got down to it yesterday

while I drank a cup of cappucinno and 

ate a salted caramel!  I'm going

to be as big as a house after

the holidays and definitely am 

going to have to get back on WW and

the treadmill.  You play you pay.

It looks like I will be a
great grandma today!!!  I just
wish I was close enough to
hold him in my arms.  :(

cookie time!

I rarely bake or do anything

else that sounds domestic.

But at the holidays I make my 

famous (infamous?)

mint chocolate chip

meringue cookies.  I only

make them at the holiday

which  keeps them special-
and my waistine from

getting even bigger.

They are so good!  this picture

doesn't show very well the minty 

green color.  Everyone loves

them and looks forward to them

each year.  Including me!!  I

think I've had three so far.

 I need to make sure

I save some for a friend 

I'm seeing tonight!

I love how this card turned out! 

I'm getting very low on flowers, though.

I'll have to hit the internet as I

can't find any vendors that sell this

type of paper flower. I use them a lot.

 

Happy Monday!

December is almost over!  Where in

the world did it all go?  This

entire year seemed to fly by.

The older I get the

faster it seems to go.  It's kind

of scary.  Here it is 

December 21, and it rained

most of the night.  The lawn

is going to need to be mowed 

soon.  I've never seen it

so green in the winter!

We are still waiting on

that great grandson.  He was

due three days ago, but

is being stubborn.  My friend,

Sam's granddaughter

had hers last week (and

on Sam's birthday to boot)

and she wasn't due for

two more weeks.  Sigh.

 Little Heath David will

come when he is good and 

ready, I suppose.

 On to the cards.

 

I'm not sure if I like it

this way or not.  I may add

something in the  middle at a later

time.  I have to look at it for a while.

This one I am a little

annoyed with because as much

as I like it, I see I could

have added a dark mat behind

the embossed piece and it 

 would really have stood out.

After I took the pictures

I decided both cards needed

a little something, so I blinged

them by adding some glitter

glue to the flowers.  They look

really cool that way.

All in all I'm pretty happy

with how both turned out.

 

Christmas card

OK, so I said I wasn't going

to make Christmas cards.

More accurately I am not

going to send  Christmas

cards.  I saw a card

similar to this on pinterest 

(is there anywhere else to surf?)

and had to try it since I had

all the punches.  Naturally I made

it my own, but it's based

on the one I saw.  I am going

to make one more like

it only in blue as my friend

loves that color.

Who says Christmas has to

be red and green?  Well, I guess 

blue is now an acceptable 

color for Christmas, but in my

book so is pink.  The reason for

that is that this did not 

begin as a Christmas card!

Now you know my secret!!

six fold card

I've been wanting to try this card

for a while and every time I cut

the triangles I cut them wrong.

I get frustrated easily so I 

decided it best to put it

aside for a few days.  Went

back to it today and it came

out right except that the cardstock

cracked along the score lines.

Every once in a while

you get an uncooperative piece.

Usually I can bow it and see

which way the score line

should go.  Unfortunately with this

card there is a myriad of ways

it folds, so that doesn't work well.

But I'm not planning on giving

it to anyone  (obviously) .

But here are the pictures

anyway.  Sorry the second

one was blurry.  I didn't realize

it until I was cropping it.

Ideally it would have a belly band

around it to keep it closed but

since I'm planning on pitching it (or

keeping it as a template more likely)

I didn't see a reason to go to

the trouble of creating that.

No muse

My muse deserted  me, probably

because my dog got me up

at 5 am again.  He's been

doing that a lot lately

and it's really getting 

on my nerves.....

Anyway...

So here are a couple

cards I made a while

back, called candle

cards-at least that's

what I call them.

They will fold flat in 

an envelope, but will open

up and you can put a tealight

candle (flameless) inside

and it lights up.  Pretty cool.

I must not have a candle inside

the pink one.  But you

get the idea.  The light shines

through the vellum and

looks a whole lot better

when it's dark.  It would

have looked better, as well,

if I had cropped the first picture,

but I'm too lazy to go back and

do it now.  Sorry.  :(

Special request

Not sure why, but my muse is

always  most active in the 

morning.  And since my dog

has been getting me up at

5 am.....  Hope you 

like them, Nancy!

Harry Potter!

My Daughter in law, Pam, is a 

huge Harry Potter fan.  OK, so

am I, but she even went to

some of the midnight releases.

I was looking around for something

else and came upon this tutorial

for a Harry Potter wand.  I just

had to try it!  The box was

a little more challenging, but

I'm really happy with how

it all turned out considering

this is the first time I've ever done

anything like this!  I have another

one, too, but it's not finished

yet.  Maybe I'll post it tomorrow.

Guess what Pam's getting for Christmas??

Another Sympathy card

Unfortunately I have occasion

to make another sympathy card.

A couple in our church

lost His father yesterday.

He's been ill for quite

some time, I understand.  

I never met him, since I've not

been going there that long.

But I also understand he was

ready to go Home, so that's 

all that matters.

 Last night our small group from

church went to a concert

of Handel's "Messiah". 

I have never been to a concert

like this.  It's never really

been on my radar.  But I thought

it would be fun to go with

the others.  (My horizons are 

expanding these days and I'm

getting some culture, lol)

Anyway, I loved it.  It was

quite an experience.  I'm glad I

decided to go.  I've really

been getting out of my comfort

zone since John died.  My mother

says she thinks he was holding

me back, lol.  But truthfully, I didn't

feel like I needed others when

I had him.  Now I'm seeking

other people and experiences

and I really feel like God is

using these things in my life to

draw me closer to Him.  It's pretty

scary to step out on the water, 

but if you keep your eyes on Him

you will walk on that water!

A snowflake is....

I read about a little girl (and yes, 

I verified it with snopes) who

was in a fire, lost her

family and was burned pretty

badly.  All she wants this

year for Christmas is lots 

of cards.  I can help with

that!  I'm not sure if

they are getting snow in

New York or not,

but in case they are

getting our beautiful weather,

I decided to send her

a little of the white stuff.

In the case that they

are getting the white stuff,

I would appreciate it if they

would KEEP it there!!
As I was putting this in the
envelope, I decided that some
pretty blue fuzzy yarn
would look good tied
around the fold.  It looks really
great that way.
 

I can't believe what wonderful

weather we have been having!  It's supposed

to rain a little today, and I say

bring it on!  Better than snow and

ice!  It's supposed to be in

the 60's today!  Now all

we need is a few decorated

palm trees and I'll be in 7th heaven!!

Meanwhile, I've got about everything

made for Christmas.  It's getting

down to the wire....  I need to

stay off pinterest because I keep

seeing more projects and thinking,

"that would make a great gift".

I don't  have the time (or money)

to make all those awesome projects.

Pinterest is almost as dangerous 

for me as hobby  lobby!!!

Embossed card set

I'm pretty happy with how these came

out.  The top 1/3 is dry embossed,

then a ribbon and a die cut word.

It's going to be in the 60's by

the end of the week!

In December!  What more can

you ask for?  Well, Palm trees would

be nice, but I'm trying not to push

my luck!

Nothing to talk about today, sorry.

getting ready for Christmas

Last year I skipped the holidays.

It was too hard to be 

around people.  This year

I've come back into the

land of the living and having a

fun time making things

for people for Christmas.

Top on my list is journals,

and I made another one this

morning.

I love how it came out.  I found

the spray of beads and flower

at hobby lobby.  Your one-stop

shop for spending money you 

don't have....But hey, this

is for a gift, so that's justified,

isn't it?

I had this picture nicely cropped,

and apparently deleted that

one and kept the original,.

Oh, well.   you can see my pretty

rug, too.  B'Elanna loves

being dressed, so I thought

it was about time to bring

out the holiday dresses.  

Isn't she cute???

Cody to the rescue!

Something got changed on my phone.

Not sure how that happened since

I don't even know where he

found it at, but it's fixed now,

so I'm happy.

I ordered some new patterns

and I have stitched three

of them:

They're kind of blurry, I'm not sure

why, but you can tell what it looks like.

The others I ordered are an Eagle,

panda and dinosaur.  The latter two

are kiddie patterns, the Eagle

is more realistic.  I also ordered 

a sweet 16 pattern that I'm going

to make for my granddaughter

as she turns 16 in February.

phone/computer disconnect......

OHMYGOSH.  My phone and computer

have decided not to talk anymore.  So

I had to email these to myself and 

in the process the bottom cards are 

washed out.  I'm not a happy camper

as I've had problems with this phone

since day one.  Anyway, the journal

is a new stitching pattern I made.  

There's a praying little boy, too,

but I didn't get that pattern.

The cards are for my cousin, Jane,

who wanted cards with a daisy,

 bear (not pictured)

and a Christmas card and two

others.  Hope she

likes these.  

I may not post again until I get this
straightened out.  That will
be when my son, Cody, has a chance
to come over and figure out
the issue. It's good to
have a nerd in the family, but
he's pretty busy, too.

File folder card

I love miniature anything.  

So when I saw file folder cards

I had to try it.  This isn't

my first one, I just haven't made

them in quite a while.  I was going

for a vintage look; not sure

I actually accomplished that!  

But I'm still pleased with it.

And this time I remembered to 

take a picture of the

inside as well!

Happy December 1st.  I think.  

It's raining today and fairly warm

for this time of year.

  I just can't figure out how it

got to be December already!

Wasn't it just January 1st?

Soon another year.  I remember

how exciting it was when Year

2000 began.  Now it's going

so quickly. Before we know it,  it will

be 2016.  Where does

the time go?  I find myself wondering

what I did with the whole year

and if it was pleasing to God.

Every day I thank Him for another

day.  None of our days

is promised and since John (and now

my friend, Dennis) has died, 

I am more acutely aware of that.

 Kids don't think

of those things.  But as we get

older and our loved ones

go to be with the Lord, it 

reminds us that life-in this

world-is not forever.  I am

so thankful to know that this isn't

the only life there is.  That someday

I will go to be with the Lord as

well.  I'm hoping I don't have to

die to do it....  Come, Lord Jesus!

Northern lights

This is the Northern Lights technique.

I didn't get the sky dark enough,

though.  But I guess it looks OK.

I did one before this but

I messed up the trees trying

to make a "forest".  It did NOT

look like a forest when I got

done with it.  Maybe I'll play

with it again later.

It's cold and frosty but no more

snow right now, so I'm

trying not to complain.  No, that's

just not true.  I'm complaining.

And I have to get up

and out in that cold in a

 minute to get

a blood test.  I hope they

too busy.  It's

a first come first serve basis.

Mini me's

These are miniature composition books.

They came out so well I think

I might make some more.  Not

a lot of decorating (or embellishing

as it's called) on the third one.  That's

just the paper itself and then

a ribbon around the spine.

But, hey, it took me some

serious shopping at 

hobby lobby to find just the right

paper pack.  Like I needed

more paper!  I could start

a scrapbook store with

all the paper I have and when

I go to do a project I rarely

have what I want.  Sigh.

It's a good thing that John didn't 

know about them building

a hobby lobby in the next town.

I'm sure he's shuddering

right now watching me shop there.

Maybe I should call it

"banking" there.  They

take enough of my money! 

But I really love having it

down the street practically.

It's much handier than having

to go to Fort Wayne.