Friendly snake

Yes, LuAnn, there are friendly

snakes!  Although unless you

look closely you can't really see

his smile.  I don't like how it came

out, and if I do it again I will choose

other colours.  I tried to make it

variegated but it didn't work well.

I guess he's kind of cute!

 

Class was...interesting last night.

I am still not very good with 

fingerspelling, though I'm sure I'll get

better.  I worked with Matt last

night, who is deaf, and it was

so much fun.  He's very patient

with me, and funny!  I learned

a lot of words, as well.  Then we

had a test to see how many words

we could read a minute-it's a

computer program.  I didn't do very

well, but as my friend said, the only

place to go is up.  I need to practice

much more both doing it and reading

it.  So much harder than I thought

it would be when I first started

this adventure.  But also a lot of

fun and I have met and made

so many friends.  It's been a

real blessing in my life.  And...

I might do ALL the songs in church

Sunday.  I'm not sure yet, but

that's what I'm shooting for.  

 

It's been raining this morning and is

supposed to get into the 50's.  Maybe

Spring really is here.  Probably not.

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

Time to Spring clean

Just kidding.  I don't actually do

spring cleaning unless I start something

and then see something else,

something else, something else.  

Every once in a while I get carried

away with cleaning, but I try

not to let it happen too often.  It 

does feel like Spring today, though.

 I saw  a really neat card on pinterest

that used letters she had stamped.

I didn't have any letter dies but 

remembered that I had seen a set

at Hobby Lobby, so off I went.  Well,

I had other things to do, too!  At first

I didn't see them but then, there they

were, the prize I was after.  Only one 

set left.  The price was $19.99, but I,

of course, always carry a 40% off

coupon with me on my phone.  Don't

you love technology?  You don't have

to remember to print a coupon.  So

I justified the purchase that way.

This is 5 of each letter stacked together

which isn't as easy as it looks.  very messy

work with the glue.  I'm working on

another card of similar style but this one

I have used glossy accents to give it

a nice raised shine.  Hopefully the card

will come out as I'm envisioning it

but it may take a few days to get

it out of my head and onto a card.  My

head sometimes doesn't want to 

give up it's secrets. Which is not

always a bad thing, I assure you.

I'm having lunch today with my friend

since we missed last week due to my

illness.  I'm also looking forward to

fingerspelling class tonight.  My 

teacher can do it left and right handed.

Fascinating, right?  She shows me:

A-both hands, B-both hands, etc.  I

try it.  Yep.  I can fingerspell with

both hands too.  I'm slow on either one,

but that's just because my fingers 

don't have the necessary muscle 

memory, but I can do it!  Who  knew?

Happy Monday!

 

The road to recovery

I was so sick last week.  Thursday

I would have to have gotten better just

to die.  I slept all day.  But I

am on the road to recovery finally.

 I never used to get sick...

I managed to get a card made

in the middle of all that.

 I'm pretty  happy with how it turned

out.  I made the card and then 

realized I didn't have any green

ribbon.  Gasp!  A trip to Hobby

Lobby.  Such an imposition in my

life.  NOT!!  I love that store!  I'm

not sure if I ever made that clear or not.

Today I am signing three songs!

"Forevermore", "I will bow to you",

and "Our God" .  The only thing

I'm a little concerned about is the

last song where the bridge is:

"and if our God is for us then who

then who could ever stop 

us and if our God is with

us then what could stand against?"

It doesn't seem that fast, does it?

I'm here to tell you it is.  And we

don't sign most of those words!

It will be a challenge but I have to

remember it's not about me, it's about

God.  He's going to take my hands

and use them for His glory.  (I hope!)

Before I go practice some more,

a picture of my daughter in law,

Heather, and my three grandsons,

Bradley, Sammy and Wyatt.

Isn't that a great looking bunch?!

 

Also, Congratulations, Judy on your new

grandson!  I'm very glad everyone is doing well!

 

Silly snakes

I know there are some people,

even friends of mine, that don't

like snakes, but these are hard

to dislike because they're so cute!

Aren't they adorable?  I have two more

patterns, but I haven't gotten anything

done in the last few days.  When I

sit in my chair and just watch TV 

and/or doze off, you know something's

wrong!  I think I'm starting to feel 

better now, but I'm sure not there yet.

 

I'm absolutely loving this weather.

It's been drizzling off and on, but

other than that, it's just beautiful

out.  So warm!

 

I have to get motivated to go out to

the store and get a few things.  I'm

going to make sweet and sour 

chicken for dinner tonight

and the only things I'm missing

are the sweet and sour sauce,

pineapple, tomato....It would be 

easier to list the things I DO have

for the recipe:  Chicken.

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

Birthday greetings

I've not been feeling well the

past couple of days.  I so rarely

get sick, so when I do, I usually

do it right.  Saturday night I was

pretty sure I'd have to get better

just to die.  But I'm pretty  much

over it now.  I just can't sleep

because I can't breathe through

my nose.   I woke up at

3 am and couldn't go back to

sleep.  That is certainly annoying.

My friend has a birthday coming

soon.  This is the new die set I

just got.  I'm not thrilled with

this card.  I like it, but it 

didn't turn out the way I wanted

it to.    I definitely should

have made the flower/leaf

at the top in navy, too.

 

Classes started again last night.

Monday night is finger spelling

and I need that very much.  I'm

slow at both doing it and under-

standing it.  There's only four of

us in the class, so we pair up and

finger spell to each other.  It

was a fun class.  On Saturday I

have a religious signing class which

I am looking forward to.

 

I'm loving this weather, but I 

hear Saturday the temps are

going to take a dive.  I have

to keep reminding myself

that it's still only February!

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

Offset lines

The weather has been fantastic!

I'm enjoying it so much.  Yesterday

because of the way the wind was blowing

(thankfully very little) I could smell

the bread baking at the McDonald's

bakery factory.  It smelled so good!

Simple pleasures.

I saw a card like this online and thought

it was pretty cool.  I didn't cut it quite

right, though, and I had to free hand

the flower part.  But it's OK.

This is made with a new die and

I wish I hadn't gotten it.  I didn't

realize you had to emboss the

edges after the die cut out

the shape.  I have never had good

results with embossing this way I end

up tearing the images in the paper.

Drives me crazy.  (John would say short

trip!) I was so looking forward to

getting the die and so disappointed

when I tried to use it.  Oh, well.  Thankfully

it wasn't too much.  

I did get some new dies yesterday in
the mail which I already love.  I have

to play with them a little to get just

the right card, but there are so

many different ones and many, many

ways to arrange them on cards.

I'd better go get Lili up before she

wears her screaming voice out....

Happy Saturday!

Abstract day

I love abstract patterns although

some are hard to figure out.  I have

one right now that I can't figure

out for the life of me.  This one

was much easier.

Isn't it cool?  I think maybe it  needs

something in the circles, but I don't

know what.  Maybe it just needs

to be left alone!

 

This is the first card I made with

the mermaid die and I hate it.

 

It's so plain.  But I didn't know what

to do with it.  The "water droplets"

look ridiculous, too, but there you

have it.

 

I'm going to church tonight to 

see the movie "Fireproof" which I've

probably seen 15 times, but it's a

good movie and I can see it with

friends, so it's a win-win.

 

It's supposed to get warmer today!

Yay!  Again.  I'll believe it when I see it,

but I'm hopeful. 

 

Happy Friday!

 

 

Hello Mermaid

This mermaid die was one that I

ordered recently from Walmart

(free of charge, remember?!)

I thought it would be easier to

make a card with it but it hasn't

proven to be so.  I finally got a

card that I'm happy with.

What I would really have loved to

do is cut it from the sparkly paper

but it just wouldn't cut through 

no matter how hard I tried.  It

would have looked so pretty.  I

love how the marbelled paper looks

behind it.  (My computer flags the word

marbeled whether I use two "L's" or

one, so sorry, I don't know what the

correct spelling is. )  It might have

looked good to mat the circle with

some sparkly paper, but I didn't

think of it until just now.  Naturally.

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's

day on the 14th, but you are all wrong

if you think it's really the 14th.  

Valentine's day is really the 15th.

That's the day all the candy goes

50% off!  ;)  I have controlled 

myself and not gotten any candy

from this holiday.  But I have a feeling

it's going to be on sale for a little

while yet.  I guess I'll have to avoid

stores until everyone buys

what is left.

Happy Thursday!

Two views

I made this card a couple of days,

then realized it would make a 

great card for a guy if it was in

different colours.  I happen to

have a guy birthday coming up so

I used brown and red for the 

second one.

It took me a while to figure out how

to stitch this.  Sometimes the

patterns aren't very clear especially

when they are very detailed as this

is.  So I slept on it.  The old adage

is true.  I woke up the next morning and 

all of a sudden I understood how to

stitch it.  I love how they both turned out.

 

I saw this on Facebook and thought 

it was worth sharing:

 

I don't know about you, but I forget

this quite often.  Recently I've been 

dealing with something that is

pretty much an aggravation but seems

a big deal to me.  I  need to learn to

put things into perspective, for one

thing, but I need to remember to lean

on God and let HIM handle the day

to day aggravations-and worse-

because He sees the big picture and I

don't.  In the end it all turns 

out OK usually, but I don't think that

far ahead.  He knows what's going on

and the whys and wherefore's. I know 

I should trust Him more but sometimes

it's hard not to take things into my 

own hands-or at least try!  So I pray

frequently that he strengthens my faith.

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

Sweet teddy

This is one of the patterns 

from my book:

Isn't he adorable?!  It would make

a cute baby card or announcement,

I think.  I  had to fiddle around with

the pattern to get it to fit on a 

standard sized card.  There was 

another border on the left side

which I could have added but that

would  have required more 

fiddling and I wasn't in the

mood, LOL.  Maybe if I ever

make it again I'll add it.  It's not

playing with the pattern before

you print it, you actually have

to move the card  around while

you are piercing the holes.   That's

a little tricky to get everything

lined up just right.  Sometimes

it's a little off...  although I think this

one is lined up fairly well.

 

I am glad I'm not in the East!  I hear

they are really getting pounded with

snow.  They can keep it, too!

 

I took B'Elanna to the vet yesterday.

She is usually very blustery but

when she got in the room and 

realized this was something she

didn't think she was going to like

she started shaking!  Poor girl.

She was a trouper, though, even

when they had to stick her twice

for blood.  The vet had a syringe

filled with peanut butter.  That she

liked VERY much!!  They gave me

a toothbrush and sample of

(eww) chicken flavoured toothpaste

and said she needs to have her 

teeth brushed a few times a week.

I can go online and get the tooth

paste if all works out well.  I'm hoping

she will go along with the program.

 

 

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

Sun, moon and earth

I've had these peel-off stickers

for a very long time and wasn't sure

what to do with them.  I saw something

similar to this on pinterest (naturally)

and decided to give it a try with 

what I have in my stash.

I like  how it turned out.  I have

no idea what you would use the 

card for.  It's not exactly a birthday

card or any other occasion.  Just a

regular notecard, I guess, which is

what I usually make.  The mesh is

dry wall tape.  It has a sticky side,

so I used that, sprinkled embossing

powder on it and embossed (heated).  

Then I used the eyelets to attach it to the

card.  I got the top ones a little high.  

I should have cut the mesh down a

so I could see what I was doing.  But

no matter.  It still looks OK. 

 

B"Elanna has an appointment with

the vet in two hours and I was 

able to make an appointment with

the dentist for tomorrow!  I didn't even

have to call, just go online.  And...

you can even download and print the

new patient forms and fill them out

right at home.  How convenient!  

How did we ever live without

the internet??

 

Expect to see more stitched cards.

Cody brought over the scans from

the book I have.  There are some

really cute patterns in it.

 

Happy Monday!

 

Cute little puffin

We saw puffins like this in Alaska 

 the  wild when my dad and I

went in 2006.  They are  so cute

When I saw the pattern I decided

to  get it.  I think I'll send the

card to my dad!

For some unknown reason the

mats are wrong, crooked, or something,

but my dad won't look at that, LOL.

 

Here is your laugh for the day:

A Dominican newspaper used the

SNL depiction of Trump by Alec

Baldwin instead of a real picture

of Trump!  I got quite a giggle

out of that and I'm sure they got

some red faces.  Someone might

even have gotten fired over the

incident.  If....If it was indeed

an "accident" as they claim!

 

I woke up to rain earlier this morning. 

I was hoping to hear some thunder, too,

but none so far.  I don't think it's supposed

to rain any more today.   It's pretty mild

for the 12th of February.  The first day

of Spring is March 20, only a little

more than a month away.  It has been

my experience, however, that

Mother Nature doesn't always check the

calendar before letting the snow fly.

How insolent of her.

 

Happy Sunday!

 

Basket 'O flowers

I like how this card turned out.

But what I  like even more...

Yesterday I had to kill a little

time so I ran over to hobby lobby

intending to buy nothing.  And

I would have gotten  nothing, but

I saw a package of stamps that

had things like "Made with love"

"hand made" etc.  The reason I

bought it was this:

 

Isn't that cool?!  I made some stickers

like that after looking all over the net

for the stamp.  Now I finally found one!

I was in 7th heaven.  Which was a good

thing because my day was about to

get REALLY bad.  I ended up with a

dental issue which I hope I can 

rectify very, very soon.  Not a 

good ending to the day.  There is a

prime example of trusting Jesus

when things happen that you don't

expect.  I have to admit I wasn't

very trusting and got pretty darned

upset, but I'm trusting now that He's

going to fix this problem quickly.

 

It's warm outside!  Well, not warm

exactly, but not bitterly cold with an

icy wind.  It's chilly. Maybe a late fall

day type of chilly.  I'll take it.  B'Elanna

likes it because I don't rush her and

she can sniff around the yard to make

sure no intruders have invaded her

space.  If she can see it (street included)

it's her space.  Her world.  You'd

better not intrude on her world.  Her post

is on the chair looking out the window.

I have tried to explain to her that people

are allowed to walk along the street/

sidewalk but she's having none of it.

I hope she's that vigilant if someone

tries to break into the house.

 

Happy Saturday!

 

 

Whooooo!

I texted  a picture of this card to

my friend and right away she said

she wanted to buy it to send to her

daughter.  I guess their sorority

mascot is an owl.

I LOVE how he turned out!  It's

one of the cutest patterns I have.

I didn't follow the colour scheme 

they had in the pattern because I

thought the variegated thread

would look better and I was right!

Aren't his little feet just the cutest thing?!

 

It's supposed to get warmer today

although I'm not sure what their

definition of warmer is.  Right

now it's chilly-not necessarily

cold-but breezy.  If the breeze/

wind would cease and desist it

might not be quite so bad.

 

I have big plans today.

Plans to do NOTHING

at all!  I've been running around

all week and I'm ready to just sit

under a blanket and watch TV

all day long.  It sounds like

a good plan to me.

 

Happy Friday!

 

We dodged the bullet!

All that nasty weather went

south of us and I'm not complaining

a bit!  We got a very light dusting

of snow.  It is pretty darned cold

and windy out, but no snow, so

I am celebrating.  I'm just doing

it in the warmth of my own home!

I ordered this a while back and

had the holes pricked and everything

but got distracted by one of my games.

I go in moods.  Anyway, I made this

one in purple for a friend who

loves that colour.  I hope you are

ready to see more stitching because

I ordered three more patterns just

now.  They are so cheap and I don't

go out to movies or anything, so 

it's my entertainment.

 

Although I am going out to lunch

today...  My other form of entertainment.

I do that way too much.  It's no wonder

I can't lose any weight.    But I enjoy

spending time with my friends.  

 

Happy Thursday!