pink and pearls

This is the last card like this that

I'm making, I promise.  I have one

other card to show tomorrow and

then I'm going to try a project that

I've tried before with very little

success, but I'm going to give it

another go.  I'm not saying any

more...in case it doesn't turn out!

 

I'm seriously thinking about going to

JoAnn's this afternoon.  I have an

appointment and then lunch with

a friend, so I'm a third of the way

there.  OK, so it's still a long way from

Fort Wayne.  I can't really afford

to get any crafts right now.  But it's

the only place I know to get the

shimmer card stock.  What if they

run out?  What will I do?  I

will never survive!  I guess I

can wait.  I wish they carried it

at the JoAnn's here in town or at

hobby lobby.  Speaking of which, they

need to step up their game where 

scrapbooking PAPER is concerned.

They have a lot of card stock, but the

paper selection leaves much to be

desired.  It's a good thing they

aren't the only game in town.

 

Here it is the end of May.  It seems

like the days go so quickly.  Maybe

that's because I'm getting older.  I don't

remember the days/months/years

flying by so quickly when I was

younger.  Or maybe I just wasn't

paying attention.

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

 

Chilly May morning

 I can't believe May is almost over.  I

long for this time of year every winter

and before I know it, winter is here again.

I'm going to do my best to enjoy every

bit of this warm summer weather even

if it is a chilly morning today!  I don't 

think it's supposed to get past the

high 60's today, but that's OK.  

I hope everyone had a fun day

yesterday.  I spent the day doing

some very needed cleaning.

This card looks a little washed out with the

light but as usual, the pastel shimmer

card stock doesn't photograph well.  

On this card I used an edge die that 

doesn't cut all the way through the paper.

It's kind of hard to see, but it looks really

pretty against the different coloured  

background of the card itself.  I like how

it turned out.  I made a bit of a mistake 

but I'm not going to point it out.  Some 

of the experienced card makers

 might be able to spot it.

This is actually a pretty slow week.  Not

much to do at all.  I feel kind of at

odds with no where to go, nothing

to do.  Maybe I'll generate my own 

excitement in the next day or two

and mow the lawn....

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

Memorial day

Today we remember those who have

served this country both past and

present.  I don't know any service

members  that are currently

serving, but I would like to thank

my father, Robert, and my husband,

John, for their service.  My dad was in

during the Korean war.  He was in the

Army but was mainly stationed at the 

Air  Force base in Alaska.

John was in during the Viet Nam war.  He

was in the Air Force and served in many

different places including the same base

as my dad in Alaska.  Also, Las Vegas and

Korea.  I'm proud of both of them.

I am obviously into scoring and pearls lately.

This card was supposed to have the embellishment

in the left hand lower corner.  BUT.  I wasn't paying

attention to where the card opened.  Oh well.  It 

looks pretty nice this way, too.  Since this is

a square card I made it for someone I can hand

deliver it to so I don't have to pay for extra

postage.  Smart, huh?  I do have my moments.

 

We had some great thunder yesterday and 

heavy rain at times.  I don't think we'll get

anything today.  There's only a 30% chance.

 

I'm so happy that we are going to have a

5 week  summer signing class.  This one will

be on signs that are easily confused.  Such 

as "early" and "empty" which can also be used 

for naked.....Someone told me once

they told a deaf person they had eaten

earlier...but used the wrong sign.  He laughed

and she realized what she'd signed.  Funny stuff!

I have gotten a lot of signs confused.  When I 

first started I couldn't get "have" and "want"

straight for anything.  They aren't that close

but I had a lot of trouble remembering 

which was which.  So I'm looking forward

to the class.   I just love learning sign!

 

Happy Monday and Happy Memorial day!

 

Elegance

I would consider my style more of

a shabby chic or Victorian , so I

decided I'd try some elegant cards.

I have a special reason for making

these so I want them to be perfect.

This is one of my most favourite 

cards of all I've made.  It took me

all afternoon yesterday because I

knew kind of what I wanted but I

couldn't get it to translate to the card.

When it finally came together it

came together quite easily and nicely.

Scoring and putting on those pearls

took a bit of time, but I think it was well

worth it for the result.

Inside.

 

I haven't signed in a month.  I'm not sure

why, I just haven't.  I kind of got

told that this week I would, LOL.  It's

true, sometimes I need to be pushed.

And thankfully there are those that are

willing to gently push me along.

 I'm signing three songs this morning:

"I will bow to you"

"Lord, I need you"

"Take my life" 

The last one I'm a little shaky on, but

I think I'll do fine.  Next week there is

only one song I know and since I'm

supposed to share the songs, I'd better

learn one or two before then!  They're

throwing in new songs now so that

is a bit challenging as I don't catch on 

quite as quickly as Judy and Coleen,

not having signed as long as either of them.

Speaking of them, Coleen, Judy, Pam

and I all went to breakfast yesterday

morning at Cracker Barrel.  It was so much

fun and I hope we will do it again very

soon.  These three are so much fun!  I

think sometimes, of how my life has changed

since John died, things I have done and

learned.  People I have met.  I would never

have met them or Dianne had John not

died.  The trade off, of course, is that

he accepted Jesus as his Savior, so I

accept that while I no longer have him

here on Earth, he is with God and I will

see him again someday.  Meanwhile, God

has filled my life with Christian women

and fulfilling activities.  I also submitted

my application for membership, as well,

so hopefully I'll have a new church home

soon.  But I already feel like it's my home

anyway, so that will just be a formality.

 

 

 

 

Yet another birthday

I told you June was full of 

birthdays!  One more to go.

This car is for my grandson,

Wyatt.  His momma is red

headed and his daddy's father

was red headed so he and all

his brothers have beautiful

red hair.

This is a pic of him and his momma and

brothers.  He's the little guy in the right

hand corner.  I think this was taken

last year.

 

I slept much better last night even though

he said the shot wouldn't take affect until

Monday or Tuesday.  We discussed 

surgery and I told him I wasn't ready.  He is

sure it is not a tear but tendonitis and I'm

not sure what can actually be done for

that in surgery.  Anyway, he said when

I was ready I would come to him and

say, "I can't take it anymore!" and he

would take further steps.  Since the pain

coming back is measured in months

yet, and not weeks, I am no where 

ready for that.  Except at night.  At

night I would consider surgery in a heart

beat if I thought it would help!  So

hopefully this will last a while.

 

Happy Saturday!!

 

One sheet wonder take 2

The one sheet wonders are fun to

make and you get a bunch of cards

all at one time.  I don't have a clue

what to do with these, so the first 

person to comment on FB that

they want them gets them.

I think we got spoiled with all the nice

weather last week because it's been chilly

all this week, not to mention the rain.

I hope it dries out by tomorrow so I

can finally get the lawn mowed.  The

mower isn't going to be very  happy.  I 

would do it today, but I don't think I'm

going to be much in the mood after 

getting back from the doctor.  At least

that's the excuse I'm using....  By 

tomorrow I ought to be in tip top

shape.  I have to believe that, LOL.

 

I forgot yesterday to add a picture of

my sister in law, Laurel's beautiful 

orchid plant.  She said she thinks

it's about 8 years old now and blooms

every single year.

 

Isn't it gorgeous?

 

Happy Friday!!

 

 

One sheet wonder

Sorry for being MIA.  I've been

in a lot of pain with my shoulder

and will finally get a cortisone

shot on Friday.  I haven't been

sleeping much so I'll be grateful

for that.  Naturally, when it

rains it pours, so my sciatic

nerve has kicked up again.  It's

been years and truth be told I

haven't missed it....

Needless to say I haven't

been in a creative mood and my

muse deserted me again.  She

is now officially fired, so I'm

looking for another.  I did

manage to get some cards made

yesterday though, that I like a

lot.  This is called a one sheet

wonder.  You cut one sheet of

paper into multiple sizes and make

different cards from one paper.

I've seen some people make up

to 20 cards!  That's way too 

many for me.

Here is the blinged up version

of the card I posted last time:

It looks a whole lot better that

way.

It's been raining for two days and my

lawn needs to be mowed so badly.

I am hoping everything will dry

out by Saturday.  I have a window

of opportunity in between a breakfast

invitation and practice at church later

that day.  Not that I'm anxious to

get it done, of course, but it needs

to be.  I hope my leg/back settle down

before that.  I'm loving the rain, 

though, and we even got a thunder-

storm yesterday!

Happy Thursday!

Negative space birthday card

I tend to use only what the die cuts

and ignore the negative space it

leaves behind.  I thought I'd

utilize that in this card.

I like how it turned out.  I think monotone

cards are really pretty anyway.

Maybe I should add a little bling

here and there before I get it ready

to send, though.  It looks kind of plain.

If I do, I'll take another picture and post

it tomorrow. 

 

As I suspected, all the storms went around

us.  Actually they went east of us.

It's really no fair.  But I don't get a vote,

I guess.    Maybe this weekend.

 

The zoo trip is off because my son, Nathan,

has to work, but since it's double time,

it's well worth it and we have the whole

summer to go.  Wednesday I found out

that the church here in Fremont

(which I am still currently a member of)

is having a seminar on the end times

on Saturday, so I think the Lord

worked that out very nicely.  I

am looking forward to going and I'm

right around the corner so I can step

out at lunch time and walk B'Elanna

 quickly.  That works out

very well.  I don't think the ministry

talks about the end times enough.

Maybe they are afraid that people

will not want to hear things like that

and just want to hear "warm fuzzy"

things about the Bible.  There's a place

for that, of course, but we need to 

be prepared for what is to come.  I

think more pastors need to take that

and run with it even if they offend

a few people.  Jesus wasn't afraid

to offend people when He told

the truth, right?!

 

Happy Friday!

 

Stacked die cuts

I found an awesome new technique

yesterday that I want to try again

with some different dies.  The way

the demonstrator did it didn't work

for me, because she used tape to hold

them to the paper and the only tape 

I had would tear the paper.  So I just

winged it and it worked perfectly.

Isn't that so cool looking? I used the

satin cardstock and I think it looks

fabulous with this technique.  Maybe

I'll run to JoAnn's (which is where

I got this paper pad) on Sunday and

see if they have some darker colours.

When I'm at church I'm halfway to 

Fort Wayne, so it's easier to go then.

 

I heard that we may have thunderstorms

tonight.  It will probably pass us by.

We live in what I call the "goldilocks

zone".  We're "Just right" and get 

passed by for storms pretty much

every time!  It's not fair!  It's also

supposed to cool down over the week-

end.   80 degree temps in May!  I'm 

loving it!

 

Happy Thursday!

 

Unfinished

One of my favourite artists is

Mandisa.  Songs like "Overcomer"

and "Stronger" really helped me

during hard times in  my life.

Because she's an artist, we tend

to think, like other artists, she

has this fabulous life.  In reality

they are people just like us, subject

to doubts, depression and other

life challenges.  She has turned her

life's challenges into song.  She

has a new song now, that really 

speaks to me called "Unfinished".

She sings of how she has had doubts

and times that really got her down,

but God isn't finished with her yet.

He's got something really special in

mind with her, but she's "unfinished"

right now.  That's how I'm feeling

lately.  I have so  many doubts and

wonder if I'm doing the things

that He wants me to do and doing

them the way He wants me to.

I have to keep remembering that

I am a work in progress.  In

card/scrapbook lingo that is

WIP.  I'm God's WIP and I know

He will never give up on me!

Here's the card which is NOT

unfinished!

I'm happy with how it turned out.

 

Happy Wednesday! 

 

Black and white with a dash of red

Lots of birthdays are on my calendar

for June, so I'm sure I will have more

birthday cards to show.  This one

is in my favourite colours, black and

white.  I had to add something else,

though, just to make it stand out a 

little more.

I have to say, I like how it turned out.

 I'm not super crazy about the wishes

stamp.  it's very bold on the words 

"come true"  I would like to have it not

so dark.  I don't think it looks quite right.

But then, I've never been asked to design

stamps (good thing) so I guess I have

to take what I get or find something new.

It's really old anyway.

I pulled out all the lights around the house

yesterday.  They were wired into the house

so it was a chore.  More than I thought it

would be.  They never work right anyway

and half the time aren't lit even if I

get new bulbs.  I WAS going to plant grass

seed around two sides of the house until

I remembered that I had bush stumps.

We just chopped them down but never 

dug out the stumps.  So I guess I'm back

to my original idea of vinca.  I am going

to toss out the railroad ties, though, as

they are pretty rotten, and put in some

pavers that stand upright.  My brother in

law says they last forever and don't cost much.

Speaking of Larry and Laurel, they were

over last  night and I took pictures when

they weren't expecting it.  I told them I

was going to put them on my blog, so

here they are:

writing down scores for cards.

Trying to figure out what I'm

doing.  TOO LATE!  Snap!

Happy Tuesday!

Mini album (lots of pictures)

I haven't made a mini album in a

long time and had some trouble getting

started.  It finally came together, though, 

and I love it so much!

I made the backs of each page plain so I could

put an embellishment on it.  These are the

cards that go inside each pocket:

 

I was so happy with how it turned out

and hopefully the person it's going to

will love it too.

 

I didn't even write Happy Mother's

day yesterday!  Hope everyone had a

great day.  My friend, Coleen and I, went

to subway and had lunch and talked. 

We have so much in common while

being very different.  It's pretty cool.

 

I have to talk about Pam, too.  "Church

Pam" as my friend Dianne calls her,

to  differentiate from my daughter in law,

Pam.  Anyway...Her signing is so expressive.  

She uses angry faces, happy faces, etc.

so much so that you feel like you are really

hearing the person speak (when the pastor

is talking about Peter or something like that,

I mean).   Singing,  even moreso.  She

signs the songs with so much love and

worship for the Lord.  BUT.  Her signing

"You are good" by Kari Jobe is an

experience to behold.  It is one of the

most beautiful things I have ever seen.  You

can see the worship and love on her face,

in her eyes (when they're open, LOL) and

in the way her hands move.  It's a very 

emotional song anyway, but seeing her

sign it moves me to tears.  Someday maybe

I will be that expressive.  I have trouble

remembering to smile!

Happy Monday!

 

 

Hello in aqua

I don't use aqua very much.  I like bolder

colours as a general rule, but I'm 

getting tired of them, so I decided to

go for something a bit more subtle.

I meant to cut off the little curly cue

at the top of the flourish, but forgot.

I think it would have looked better that

way.  Otherwise I think it turned out

nicely.  Not like I expected, but then

they rarely do turn out the way I envision

them.  

 

It's a gorgeous morning, not chilly but

not hot either.  I think it's supposed to

get pretty warm later, though.  It

was in the middle 70's yesterday and

I was loving it.  Except the part about

mowing and trimming.  My next big

project is to pull out all the lights around

the house-which don't work right anyway

and even when I replace bulbs don't 

stay lit for long.  I'm going to get rid of the

RR ties around two of the "flower beds"

and replace it with grass seed.  I think

I have to get the weeds out first.....I 

need to get some new RR ties for the front

and side of the house too.  The other 

ones are quite rotten.  I've been

meaning to do it for a couple of years

now.  Outdoor things are not my

forte and I don't like doing them.  

Unfortunately I can't afford a landscape

guy.  I'd like to find a cute one who

will do it for free.  You know, kind

of like a pool boy, only for the

yard instead.  Anyone know someone

like that?  🤣

 

I have to be at church early today,

but I woke up way earlier than I

meant to.  Actually, I didn't sleep

most of the night.  My shoulder has

been killing me for a couple weeks now

and night time is the worst.  So I haven't

been sleeping very well.  You'd think I'd

be too  tired to care after doing yard work.

 

Happy Sunday!