Here's to new experiences!

Yesterday I helped greet at church.

I handed out bulletins and said

hello, shook hands, etc.

I've never done that before.  It

was interesting because I am usually

shy about those types of things.

Yes!  For those doubters out there.

I am shy.  I know I don't

act that way a lot of the time,

but in new situations and around

people I don't know well, I am

quite shy.  Once I get to 

know someone, look out!!

Then Sunday evening I went to 

church and attended the "state of

the church meeting"  I'm not a member

so I couldn't vote, but the whole

thing was interesting.  They talked

about the church mission, changing

the name of the church (very cool

idea!) and things like that.  I'm

glad I went.  It was a very good

experience.  After that Sam and I went

to Bob Evans and talked.  Always

good to talk to her.

So here's the card.  Very plain, just

some embossing and flowers.  I probably should

have inked the white oval. I'm

working on a technique I saw on

pinterest- where else?? which

I think is going to turn out fantastically.

So hopefully that will be on 

tomorrow's blog.  It has to dry probably 

overnight.

Tonight I'm going to my sister in law and

brother in law's to play cards and I

plan to win!  I've been on a losing

streak and it ends tonight!  Take

no prisoners!  Well, I'm going

to try at least.  With my luck I 

will be stuck on phase one

when they get to phase 10.  That's the

card game we usually play, Phase ten.

Then it's off to farkle.  The thing

is, we are all extrememly

competitive, so it's gets a little

crazy, but all in good fun!!  I have

known them for 28 years in May.

I started working for them when Cody

was a year old.  Larry used to hold

him upside down by his feet.  He loved

it!  Larry is just a big kid.  He's on 

their level most of the time....LOL.

I can't believe my "baby" is going

to be 29 in May!  Where has the time

gone?  In addition to working

for them for years, I married Laurel's

brother so I got to be their sister

in law as well.  It's really weird

how things turn out sometimes.

You meet people in your life

that really turn out to be more than

just people passing through.  I 

have met several people like that

in my life.  People  so very

special to me that I met under

unusual circumstances.  One good

friend I would not have met had

John not died.  The pastor called

that providential relationships.   God 

brings people into our lives at the

right time.  Sometimes they

do just pass through, but

sometimes He allows us to

remain in that relationship for

the rest of our lives.  

Both are such a treasure and a blessing.

Believe

Sorry if I repeat titles of the posts

because I can't think of new ones and

I'm pretty sure I used "Believe" before...

Maybe not.  Anyway, I really like

this card.  The mesh is actually

drywall tape that I've embossed

with gold embossing powder.

It didn't show up well in the 

picture, but is really pretty in

real life.  I have so many

eyelets that I decided

it was about time to use some

of them.  I have so many

bits and bobs and I'm always

buying more.  I need to-as my friend

said-go shopping in my craft room!

I bet I would find things I'd

forgotten I even had!

I see I forgot to put an eyelet in the

lower left corner.  I'll have to go fix that.

Eh, maybe not.  Maybe I'll let it

flap in the wind!  It's kind of plain.  

I probably should have put something

under the butterfly, or a trail or

something from the bottom of

it, but I always think of these

things later on.

So we are supposedly going to get

"spring like" weather.  If I ever

see that rodent in Pennsylvania

I will choke him.  He's such a liar.

When he said early Spring I thought

he meant like the next day.   Hey,

I can have my dreams, right?  

Shaped cards

I am not good at shaped cards.  But

I saw some that were really cute.

The controller card was HORRIBLE

to do and I will never do another,

but I guess it looks OK in the end.

I guess the rest of them

aren't technically shaped cards,

but they have cute shapes on them!

This is another shaker card.  I was going

to put glitter on it, but I didn't

think the mom would appreciate

it.  Can't say who it's for, but they

will know soon enough!

Ipod card.  I  like how it turned

out.  I don't have an Ipod myself,

so I'm just going by the card I saw

on pinterest and hoping she/he

was basing it on a real Ipod!!

This is my absolute favourite!!  Will

the kid who receives this even 

know what pac man is??  Cody and I

loved playing it at the

laundromat while waiting for

the clothes to finish.  I was so

happy when I finally got my own

washer/dryer.  What a pain going

to a laundromat is!

I'm going to lunch with my friend today.

We're going to a new place that has

been there for a while, but I've never

tried it.  I'm not sure if she has or

not.  It will be an experience.

I'm not really very venturous

when it comes to food, so I hope

they have something I won't be afraid

to eat!  If it's not chicken, forget it.

I do not eat beef, never have

even though my parents tried to force

it down my throat.  Well, OK, once a

year or so I have a steak at Outback

but that's about it.  I am also not

fond of pork.  I will eat fish, but

only certain kinds.  I'm very finicky.

I try to eat more "good stuff" but I  have a 

lot of trouble doing it.  I've got my 

mind made up even though I am

willing to try.  Subconsciously. 

We were not encouraged to eat

good foods, but forced, by threats and

cold vegetables for breakfast.  That is

not a pleasant experience and I'm afraid

I have internalized that forever.

In Memory

Today is three years

since I lost my beautiful birds.

Captain

Kiwi

Max

I miss them so much!

Kid cards

I'm trying to get better at

kid cards and I think I

succeeded at these.  I'm

very pleased with them.

Aren't they cute??  I almost never

use these stamp sets so I thought

it was about time to pull them out.

I saw the greatest stamp set today that

I might order from "Our Daily Bread".

Can't say what they are so it will

be a surprise if I get them and post here!

I guess you will just have to make sure

you read every day.  Well, at least

next month because I won't order

them until then.  But why not read

every day anyway??

 

It is SNOWING!  And when I

say snowing I don't mean just a little

bit.  Since I got up a few hours ago

we have gotten about an inch and half

and it's still coming down hard.  Wet

heavy snow.  Hopefully the snowblower

is in the mood to go....I'm not

a happy camper, but what can I do??

It's really pretty until you have

to be out in it.  It's also a bit

windy.  I took the trash can out to

the side of the road this

morning so I wouldn't have to find

a place to put it tonight.  I may not

be able to tell the difference between

the road and my yard at the rate this is going!

Oh, how I long for summer.

Celebrate!

My grandson, Ethan's birthday

is next month so I thought

I'd better get busy and make

a card for him.  I covered cardstock

with tin foil, then ran through the 

sizzix with an embossing folder.

When I finished that, I got out

the alcohol inks-actually didn't

stain my hands too bad this time!

I think it looks fantastic!

I am happy to report that I

have found my desk.  I knew

it had to be there somewhere under

all the mess  I even got ambitious

and made a pencil holder to hold all

the tools that I use frequently, such

as  pencils, scissors, scoring tool

and the like.  It will make them

easier to find, I'm sure.

Cody figured out how to download the neatest

font!  This says "hello how are you"

you can't use  punctuation because

for some reason it messes it all

up, but isn't it cool?!

Hello how are you

 Well, shoot, can't figure out why it
came out so small.  But you
can still get the idea, I think.

She's baaaack!!

I am super happy with how these 

cards turned out!  My muse was

working overtime this morning.  

(I hope she helps with the house

cleaning as well.)

I was lying in bed this morning-

which is when a lot of my best

ideas come-and I decided

to make another mustard seed

card.  I have made a few of these

in the past and always love how

they look and the verse that

goes along with that tiny little

seed.  And yes, that is an actual

mustard seed in the dome!

The mountain is printed on vellum

paper which I think makes

it look a little ethereal .  Exactly

what I was going for.

This one I  also thought of this morning

and though I didn't know exactly how

to put what was in my  mind

onto a card, it just kind of flowed as I

made it!  I love it when cards

come together so easily.

I bought the paper a few weeks ago, as well
as the gold card stock.  I think it lends a
real elegance to the card.  I don't know why
all of a sudden this thing won't let me center...
Anyway, yet another from the same set
I've been using recently.  There are quite
a few so I will probably be using more
of them.  I have so many stamps that
just sit around and I forget about them
because I have my favourites.  I just
found another set earlier while I was looking
for something else.

Today is cleaning day as I cannot

find my desk.  I tend to have quite

a few projects going at the same

time and then I get involved in another,

and another, and well, pretty soon

I can't find the desk.  It's hard to

create without a surface to do it on. 

I also tend to generate tiny bits of

paper all over the floor.  Yesterday

I vacuumed and then decided

to die cut something with tiny

bits.  Yep, now the floor needs

to be done again.  I'll probably be

out of ideas for the rest of the

week anyway!!

Count your blessings

This quote is from another of the "religious" quotes

stamp set that I've had forever.  The card

was just quickly put together so I'd have something

to put on the blog because I've been feeling

quite lazy the last couple of days!

Church was interesting today.  The pastor has

been preaching from I Corinthians 13.  In

front of the church are two crosses and there

are hearts there and in the bulletin that

you can write things you want God to

change in you or that you don't like

about yourself, I guess is the way to put it.

Anyway, then you nail them to the cross.

So I did that today.  What he preached

today directly spoke to what I had

written!  Now, if that isn't a "God-thing"

I don't know what is!!

Yesterday the church here in Fremont,

where I used to go, showed the movie

"War Room" .  It made a real impact

on my life.  If you haven't seen it, I highly 

recommend it and other Kendrick

brothers films;

"Courageous", "Facing the

Giants", "Fireproof"

  They tell stories that will move you

and make you reexamine your life.

Very powerful movies.

New outfit!

I'm including the first picture only because

it shows the boots (kind of) that I got

for 20.00.  They were 55.00 normally!

I also found a skirt (you need to know I 

am NOT a dress/skirt person....) 2 sweaters,

one short sleeved, one long, and also a cute

peasant shirt.  So here they are.  The

"smile" is because my brother in law,

Larry told me to smile.

And here are the cards.  My muse

has finally returned.  She stayed

a bit longer than Dianne did, which I

thought was pretty rude of her,

but she's here now, so on we go.

For some reason my blog isn't letting me center
the text....Anyway, this is called a collar fold.
I like it, but I'm not sure I would do it
again.  It's hard to find the center  and I ended
up kind of messing it up in the front, hence
the flower.  But I think it turned out nicely.

And now it's centering again.  Go figure.

This is just distress ink sponged

on the cardstock, then I cut it in half

and put it on the mat.  I only wanted the 

middle inked and duh.  Didn't

think about masking.....Oh well.

That came to me just this minute.

Ok, so my brain isn't in gear quite

yet this morning.  It's only 9 am after all!

Gone fishin'

I like to fish but not in

cold weather.  I don't like to

do anything in the

cold weather! So this is the

next best thing.  Maybe it

will make me think warm. Today

is supposed to be in the

50's!  But we're also under a

wind advisory, so it's hard

to enjoy warm weather

when you're trying not

to be blown away.  I'm no skinny mini,

but in high winds I don't keep my

balance well.  Maybe I'm bottom

heavy...no maybe about that!!

For the background, I wiped a

distress ink pad on my craft sheet, then

spritzed it with water and laid the

paper in it.  It gives it a kind

of water colour result.  The fish is 

"fussy cut" and popped over

the coral.  It makes a perfect

guy card.  

I was going to try another technique that

I haven't done in a long time, but

I kept tearing the paper....

Yesterday I had a ferocious headache.  

4th day in a row, but this was the worst.

I spent most of the day in the

lazy boy with the dogs just dozing.

I did make it to class last night, 

though.  She asked me (in sign!)

to interpret for her and I managed

to get most of it, so I was pretty happy.

She's been doing more sign without

it being the lesson, just random, and

that helps me so much.  So, keep it

coming, Sam!

My sister in law, Laurel, and

I are going to Good Will- half

off today.  She is a champion 

good will shopper so I'm hoping

she can help me find a cute outfit

or two.  I usually go in and can't find

anything.  Laurel, on the other hand,

seems to come out with tags still on

the items.  I guess it requires a certain

"eye" for bargains.  After living

with my brother in law, Larry, who

is the champion at pinching a

penny, she's learned the lessons well.

40 today!

Oh, how I wish!  But my ex daughter

in law's hubby will be 40 in 

a few days.  I consider her still

my daughter in law and him

my son in law and love them both 

very much.  When their children

were born they called

their parents and me!  They've

always made me feel included

with  all the kids, not just Bri

and Ethan and I'm grateful

for that.  Kids can use all the

love they can get.

I forgot to take a picture, so I had

to rip open the envelope

and make a new one, but I really

wanted a picture of this.  I love

how it turned out.

Another birthday for a dear friend

next month and here is

her card:

So pretty on the outside and a snarky

quote from Phyllis  Diller on

the inside.  One of the reasons for

that is that she sent me a picture

of a cat that was made up

to look like Phyllis Diller.  I don't know

where she finds this stuff, but it 

was hilarious!  So I

remembered I had this stamp and

thought it would be perfect.  Kelly

is as nutty as I am so we mesh

perfectly!  I barely hold on

to my sanity most days, but

that's OK.  The voices guide

me through and most of the

time they have some pretty good

ideas!  No, I don't really hear voices

(much) but my sister Robin says

I have multiple personalities

so that must be what I'm hearing...

Just kidding.  Maybe.  Have

you wondering now, don't I?  Well,

here's one thing for sure:  I don't

suffer from mental illness, I enjoy every

moment of it!!!!!!!

Eclectic???

This is a very weird card and I am

pretty sure I don't like it....It

looked better in my head.  I've had

this background stamp for

forever and I think I've  used it once.  

I like it, I just don't know how to  use

it right, I guess.  But the whole composition

is off.  Maybe it's the ribbon. It was sitting

on my desk, just a snip, so it seemed

like a good idea, LOL.  In retrospect,

maybe not.

Anyway.  I remembered to take a picture

of the cookies!  They are so good!  I think

I like the mint version better, but these

are better for Valentine's day.  Even

though that is past, I'm not seeing

my friend, Dianne, until tonight

and wanted to give her some.  Hopefully

she'll be feeling well enough to go 

out and to eat a cookie or two as

well!

 

 

Don't you just want to reach

right out and grab one?  Well, that

will teach you not to live in Indiana, then,

won't it?  If you did, I would make YOU

some cookies!  :)  That is especially for

those of you who are enjoying the

warmer weather!  The weatherman

says it will be spring-like this

weekend.  I really missed my

calling.  I could be making big bucks

by predicting the weather.  Might

rain...might snow....might have a hurricane

in the middle of the country, who knows?  

I could have been rich.

Vintage, Vintage!

I love the look of vintage!  In cards, that is.  

I'm not into antiques, or anything like

that, but vintage cards are just so pretty.

This isn't really a vintage card, just a vintage

car, but I love it anyway.  

This is more of a vintage card.  It's a birthday

card for my ex's grandfather.  I'm not

sure how old he is but I know he's in 

his 90's.  I haven't seen him in quite a while.

We used to talk on the phone sometimes

but he's had to go into a home after

a broken hip, and since that when when

John got sick, I kind of lost touch with

him.  I still try to send him cards, though.

He's a very sweet man.  The reason

there's two panels in a row is

because (duh) I put one of them in the

wrong place!  Oh, well, no one

would even know if I didn't say anything! 

So just pretend I didn't!

It's darned cold out today and I'm doing

nothing but staying in.  I wish winter

jam was on Friday instead of Thursday.

I decided not to go because you end

up standing outside a long time waiting

to get in with all the thousands of people

going.  I didn't thin I could stand to be

out in the cold for a long time.  Naturally it will be

in the 50's on Friday.  I'm bummed because 

my favourite band of all time, the Newsboys,

is going to be there.  I've seen them

twice and even got to meet them/get autographs

once.  Another one of my favourites,

Matthew West, is going to be there, too.

I hate cold weather.  :(

Trying out different folds

This is a chevron fold.  It's pretty

easy and I like the zig zag down the front

of the card.  I cut an inch off the front

so that you could see the heart paper

when the card is closed.

My great niece, Maya, is having

her 8th birthday next month.  She likes

to go to tea rooms so I thought this

would be a neat card to send her. Much

easier than making some sort of

Star Wars card which she also likes.

She is just the cutest girl.  Her parents adopted

her from China.  She's smart as a whip

and a personality that is  full

of sunshine! They live in NM, so I

only get to see her in pictures (her mother

is a photographer and posts lots of them) and 

 occasionally when they come to visit his parents,

my in laws.

I forgot to take a picture of the cookies

this morning, but I'm making another batch

tomorrow night.  Maybe I'll remember to

take a picture then.   I also made

some raisin cinnamon bread yesterday and

I did remember to take a picture of that!

Isn't it gorgeous?! I let the bread machine

do the first rise then took it out, let

it rise a second time and put it in the oven.

Yes, there's a hole in it.  I was nervous

about it being all the way done since I'd

never made  bread that way before so I 

stuck a skewer in it!  It was done!

Drapery fold

The computer is finally up again!

Cody could not figure out what

was wrong with it, but it's working

now, so that's all that matters.

He's going to put some more

RAM in it, so that might help.

I'm hoping it's just a hiccup.

The computer isn't that old.  

I mean, it's not new, but not

 to the age that it should be crashing.

My friend, Karen, has been posting

"fun folds" on pinterest.  I saw this

one and really wanted to try it.  I think

it turned out pretty nice.  The person who

was showing it put it on a flat

card, not one that opened, but I like

it better with a card that opens so

you can write a  note inside.

This is the same paper, just a double

sided, so I thought I may as well

make two cards instead of having

extra paper I'd have to find

something else to do with.  I think

if I ever do it again I might put a pretty die

cut where the flower is.  I didn't think of

that at the time, naturally.

I need to make a quick run to the

store this morning and then I plan to hunker

down the rest of this COLD day!  Tonight

I am going to make some more meringue

cookies, only this time I am going

to use red dye (for V-day, of course) 

and some cinnamon chips I found at

the store.  My friend, Sam, told me 

I should make them for more than 

just Christmas, so

I'm interested to see what these

will taste like.  ( Guess who will

get some tomorrow?)  Shhh. Don't

tell her!  The chips are good.

I'll try to remember to post a picture

of the pretty cookies!  I'm not

good for much in the kitchen-

other than putting some pizza

in the oven, but these cookies

always turn out beautifully.

Oh, yes!  And I got my  hair cut!

I LOVE how it turned out!

Sorry, I am terrible at selfies, but

you can get the idea.

And last but not least, my poor dog, B'Elanna.

I hope I didn't post this already.  She was sleeping

in the corner of the chair and when she stood

up, this is what she looked like!

I grabbed my phone as fast as I could and

got the picture right before she shook

it all out.  I just love this picture!!

Mathematically challenged....

I'm going to put it right out there...

I'm mathematically challenged.

As a matter of fact, in 

college, my math teacher (beginning

math, mind you) told me I had

number dyslexia.  I didn't know

there was such a thing.  I just thought

dyslexia was  words.  It turns

out  so is my dad and also

one of my grandsons.  That explains 

a lot over the years.  So, I tried

to make the box for the cards

today.  Got all the measurements

wrong and when I finally got them

right and got everything together,

I put it together upside down.  

I bet you can guess where it is

now.  In the round file.  So I wasted

a bunch of card stock and a long

piece of ribbon.   I'm bummed.

Here are some stitched cards I've

made in the last couple days instead.

 

Bri is Sweet Sixteen!

Here's Bri with baby sister Sam.  She was about

7 here.  I don't have any of her baby

pictures loaded to the computer since

I was using "real" film then...Anyway, and the bottom

picture is Bri a couple months ago with

 B'Elanna.  She was cute then and

 beautiful now!  I'm so proud of her.

She knows her mind, doesn't follow

the crowd and has plans that

I truly believe she'll stick to.  She's strong

willed and her mother says she reminds

her of me!  What an honour!  And they

gave  her my middle name.Love this kid!!!

Happy Sweet Sixteen, Brianna Louise!

I didn't do much during the day

yesterday, so I will try to get the card box

done for tomorrow.  I did go to my old

church though, for a Bible study

and everyone was glad to see me.

I go usually go there twice a month

when they have their food pantry and say hello.

I make rubber band bracelets and give them

to a lady there who gives them to the 

kids when they learn Bible verses or

whatever.  It keeps me busy, 

makes me feel useful and the kids

love it, I'm told.   I enjoyed

seeing people last night and fellowshipping.

my "small group" was cancelled last night

due to the super bowl.  Anyone know

who won?  Guess what?  I don't care!

LOL!!!

One sheet wonder

I need to find another place/way to photograph

these cards.  This one is very washed

out.  The orange and yellow are much

brighter in person.

This is called a one sheet wonder

because you cut one sheet into multiple

sizes and shapes and make sets of

cards using all the same paper.  I was lazy

and only made 4, but out of a 12 x12 sheet 

of paper I've seen people get 15 gorgeous

cards.  I've tried that and find

it's overwhelming for me to try

to make so many cards all at once.  Each

one is different, just using the same

paper.  Today sometime I'm 

probably going to make a box I

found on someone's blog that they

can go in.  She calls it a "book box"

because it really does look like a book

when closed.  I've never seen anything 

like it.  It's very unique and looks very

easy. 

My friend, Dianne, is headed home (finally).

They stayed in Lexington last night and will

be home today.  So if you're reading

this, please say a quick prayer

for their safe return.  I've missed

her a lot!    I Can't wait to

see her next week and hear all

about her vacation!

Ocean view

Ok, so maybe the seaweed and

this particular fish don't go together,

but I consider it artistic license!

I've been thinking about getting

this stamp for a while since I've

seen cards using it.  I'm glad I

got it as it lends itself well

to guy-cards when paired

with this fish.  I have lots of

little kid stamps I could probably

use it for as well.  I'm not good

at little kid cards either, but

that's OK as I don't have

too many little kids in my life.

I've been thinking of donating

some cards to "Gray Matter Foundation".

They support people with brain tumors.

I think they mostly want

blank cards and cards that

are encouraging.  Since I have a 

cousin who died from brain cancer

and John had a tumor in his brain

(which was actually lung cancer that had

metastasized)  it's kind of close to my 

heart.  I donated some cards to

them several years ago.  It's a worthy

cause and something to channel

my creativity into.

Inspire

I think I need a little inspiration

myself, but this card turned out OK.

I was going to put a different

sentiment on it, but none of the

ones I had looked right.

I have had these little metal

embellishments for forever.

I like them, but just forget about them.

I have LOTS of things I have

forgotten about and keep buying

more....  John would not have been

happy about having a hobby

lobby right down the road!

I also haven't used this die

in a while since I was having

so much trouble getting my machine

to make a clean cut on the

intricate dies.  I must have

worn the other one out.

I have a friend who asked me to

make her some cards to

send to her daughter who is in college

and in return she bought me lunch a 

couple times.  About two weeks

ago we went to pizza hut for

lunch and she handed me a card

that looked kind of familiar...

I'd been kind of down then and

I guess she thought I needed a lift.

Inside was a gift card for Hobby lobby.

No particular reason, just because.

What a wonderful surprise!

I used that to buy a new die

cutting machine and I'm happy that I'm

getting better cuts on most of the

intricate dies.  They're beautiful

but a bit frustrating with all

the tiny cuts.  

I made these panels a few days ago and

while I love them so much, I'm not sure

what to do with them yet.  They're kind of

bulky because they have a product

called crystal effects on them which dries

raised and leaves a gorgeous shine.

I suppose it wouldn't be much more

bulky than a couple of layers on

a card, but I also don't have a

clue what kind of card to make

with them!  Maybe I'll get some

ideas soon.  My muse is still on

vacation with my friend who

is at this time in Charleston, SC. 

I miss that place so much!  I lived

there for 3 years and it's an amazing

place to live!  I'm so jealous of

her, lol.  She went last year, too.