Follow the yellow brick road

I saw this card on pinterest and just had to

make it for my friend, Coleen. It's a thank

you card for inviting me, my dad and Robin

to Christmas dinner. She loves the Wizard

of Oz. I have to admit that the card on

pinterest turned out way cuter than this one,

but it's the best I could do.

I had to go with a real picture of a dog because

 I couldn't find anything that was cute and wasn't

real.  it looks kind of ridiculous.  There's a 

couple of other things I would fix if I were

to do it again-which I won't, LOL.  It was

kind of labour intensive.

 I can't believe this is the last day of the

year. In six months I may even remember

to write 2019 on things. By the time I

do remember, it will be 2020. My friend,

Karen and I used to talk about going to

New York and seeing the ball drop when

it became the year 2000. That didn't pan

out, but I think back and that was nineteen

years ago! How did that happen???

  Jeremiah 29:11

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.

I have probably used this verse before, but

it is a favourite of mine and seems to be

a good one for the new year.

Happy Monday!

Thankful

I'm back to playing with my gorjuss girls

again. I just ordered 5 more- at $16.00-

for ALL of them. For the name brand you

end up paying at least $25. per die set.

The only problem is that you have to wait

a month for them to get here from China.

But well worth it.

Isn't she cute?  I have another one I'm

going to work on that I hope works out

like I want it to.  It will be so cool!  No

more hints.  Don't ask!

Robin will probably be leaving tomorrow.

I'll miss her.  It's been nice having someone

here to talk to.  I know my dad will miss

her a lot as well.  I'm not sure about my 

mom.  She doesn't seem to be aware of

a lot these days, sadly.

 

Psalm 139:16

 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

Happy Friday!

A late happy Christmas!

I've been missing in action, but it's been

kind of crazy as I'm sure all of you have

experienced at one time or another

during the holiday season. I hope everyone

had a wonderful Christmas! My sister is

still here, I'm not sure if she will leave

before New Year's or not. She hasn't decided.

It's been great having her here and having

company! My mother has been happy to

see her as well. My mother is becoming

more confused. She has her good days and

bad, of course, but you can see the decline and

that's hard to watch. On to happier things though.

I have joined a few swaps for the new year.

This is a letter “U” tag swap and here is

what I came up with.  I think it's cute.

 this is the card box I made for Dianne's cards:

the shiny circle is actually silver but wow

did the light hit it when I took the picture!

My son, Nathan, and Bri and Ethan.  I had

breakfast with Bri and Ethan the other day

and needless to say, I remembered about

pictures as we were all leaving.  Frustrating!

Luke 2:8-14

 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.  Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Happy Thursday!

Vellum rosette

Now that I know how to make the rosettes, I

am loving it! The only problem is that I

still can't get the center straight. But I can't

get anything straight. It drives me nuts.

I'm pretty pleased with how this came out.

I've had this paper for a year now. I bought it

for a project for Christmas last year. Now

because of Karen's and my challenge I'm using

things like that and it's fun!

 Robin got here yesterday. We didn't tell

dad, then I texted him and asked him

to come over and hang out. As soon

as he got close to the house he knew it was

her car. So he sat in the driveway and

called me and said he wasn't coming

after all...lol. We all had a good visit.

We're going to see my mom today. She

will be happy to see Robin as well.

 

1 John 4:19

 We love Him because He first loved us.

Happy Friday!

It's sweater weather!

Ok, it's not really sweater weather, but I

did make a sweater card. There is a cable

knit embossing folder that would have

looked better as a sweater card, but I

don't have it, so this was the next best

thing. I think it turned out pretty great.

Karen's card is here.

I borrowed it from an idea on pinterest.

I've seen several now that I'd like to try,

but then I get distracted and go for something

else. I have notes everywhere. Try this card,

try that card. I've always had notes everywhere,

as my friend Karen can tell you. She used

to laugh at me about it. If it's not written

down I don't do it, buy it, go there, whatever.

My mind is swiss cheese.

 

Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works and

glorify your Father in heaven.

Happy Thursday!

I learned how to make rosettes!

For the longest time I have tried off and on to

make paper rosettes. I would always tear

the paper or it wouldn't go down right,

or maybe I couldn't get the center to stay so

the rosette kept opening. So a couple of

days ago I decided I was going to work with

it until I got it and I finally did! I also burned

my finger pretty badly with glue from the

glue gun. I love the high temp, but you

really have to be careful!!!

Now I need to figure out how to make the centers prettier.

Christmas songs for the rest of the month.

I hate signing Christmas songs. You do them

once a year and forget until the next year.

I tried to get out of it again with my poor

burned finger but Coleen said I would need

another doctor's excuse. I sent her a picture.

She said it was not enough. What

a slave driver!

Ephesians 6:12

 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against principalities, against powers,

against the rulers of the darkness of this age,

against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Happy Wednesday!

Let's be mermaids

I thought I'd try the bokeh technique again.

This time on watercolour paper. I am not happy

with what happened, but when I use regular

card stock the ink rubs off if you touch it. The

watercolour paper makes it look like it bled

and it's not very defined.  Oh, well.

 The stamp set Karen sent me for my

birthday last year. Isn't it cute?!

It's been in the 40's and 50's the last few

days, but this morning it's rather cold.

I know it's coming, but I'd like to hold

off the sub zero temps for a bit longer

yet. Actually, I'd like to skip them altogether.

Isaiah 41:13

 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

Happy Tuesday!

Lots of green

No, not money, although I did pick up

some extra money this week helping a friend

get her house ready for Christmas. It was

more fun than work! I don't know where

I came up with this idea but I don't think

I like it. However, it does use up a lot of

little tiny green flowers that I've had forever

and a day, so that fulfills the challenge.

Sorry no post the last two days, by the way.

It was a long and crazy weekend.  I'm not

holding up my part of the bargain with Karen

and it was my idea to start with!

Robin is still hoping she will be able

to come by the end of the year.  I know it

would make my parents very happy and

we get sister time since she stays here

at my house.  And maybe we can get

together with my friends for lunch like we

usually do when she is here.  Except for
Dianne.  She is basking in the sunshine in

Florida.  I'm so jealous.

Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Did you know that the phrase “do not fear”

is in the Bible 365 times? God is so loving.

He wants us to depend on him for everything,

even in (and maybe especially) times that are

hard and we can't understand His reasoning.

It surely makes us stronger. At least it does me.

Happy Monday!

Trying something new

Occasionally I try something new and more often

than not it doesn't really work out. This is one

of those fails. When we were at coffee chat

last week I grabbed up the coffee sleeves

and my friend, Coleen, asked why I wanted them.

I told her I was going to decorate it. She said,

“you crafters make things out of everything!” Well,

we try anyway. So I thought I'd make her a decorated

coffee sleeve. It, apparently, isn't my cup of tea.

Get it?!  Karen's card is here.

There's really no where to put anything, so i don't

like that.  I had a terrible time trying to figure

out how to seal the top.  It's just not a fun project.

No one will accuse me of being a good cook, either.

I'm going to try to make cashew chicken in the crock

pot today.  I'll let you know how that goes.

I lost my bone folder a few weeks ago.  I had another

but I don't like it as well.  So yesterday I went and got a 

new one.  I looked all over.  I finally asked someone.

She looked at my blankly when I asked her where the

bone folders were.  So I described it.  She said,"oh,

you mean a paper creaser".  Yes, that's what I mean and

wouldn't you know, that's exactly what the packaging

calls it.  Furthermore, as soon as I got home-after

searching high and low-I found it.  Sigh.

 

Hebrews 11:1

 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen.

Happy Friday!

Comfort in Christ

  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words.

I wanted to put this first because 

  Larry and I attended a hospice memorial

last night. It was very nice, but difficult.

Those things always are. Going into the

holidays is always hard as well. I remember

I was in grief group and told the chaplain

that 2015 was going to be a very hard year

because that would be the first full year

without John. He said that was the first

time he'd ever heard that and was going

to remember that for future groups. It's

hard to believe he will be gone 5 years in March.

This is not an optical illusion, I guess, but

that's what it reminds me of. This is another

piece of fun that I received in a swap. I've

had it for months and never knew what to

do with it, although I knew I wanted to

keep it. Then this came to mind. I had not

intended to ink the outside of the card,

but I smudged a little ink on the bottom so....

You can see Karen's cards here.  I love them both.

Happy Thursday!

Joy to the world

The skirt is gold foil card stock but I couldn't

get a good picture of it without it glaring, so you'll

just have to use your imagination. I have to thank

Karen for the stamp. She sent me a stamp set in

her loaded hoop. We exchanged them for Christmas.

I know, it's early, but you know how the mail is

this time of year. Oh, and I have instant

gratification issues so.... I have never done one of

these before. They are made with embroidery hoops

and the front has a pocket. You can actually

get quite a bit in there. Now I want to join swaps

with them so I can have lots of them hanging

on the wall. So much fun.  Here is the hoop:

here is the card:

She sent me some glitter snowflakes, too, so I put

one of those on the inside with the sentiment.

I'm getting some real mileage out of the gorjuss

girls.  I just love them.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

Let all that you do be done with love.

Happy Wednesday!

Butterfly lattice

I think this card would have looked better if

I had put two smaller butterflies on it, but

it's OK. I always see what I might have

changed when the project is over. I am

so critical of what I make.

 

I'm happy to report that my sister has power

again after more than a day without-and

she has a parrot. Unfortunately NC doesn't

have experienced snow plow drivers apparently,

and all the mailboxes on her street got taken

out. You'd think he'd have noticed after the

first one, but I guess not. Hers is destroyed

and she will have to get a new one. I think that

ought to be on the city, but I don't get a vote.

My friend, Dianne is basking in the sunshine and

warmth in Florida.  Life is not fair.

Jeremiah 29:13

 And you will seek Me and find Me,

when you search for Me with all your heart.

Happy Tuesday!

Lattice hugs in blue

I love my lattice die but I don't use it enough.

I saw another card I'm going to try today.

This card you can look through, so there

won't be anything on the inside. But the

oval is on the back as well, so I can at least

sign it. I think it came out pretty well.

  Yesterday began Christmas songs at church.

I hate doing them. You sign them once a

year and can't remember how to do it the

following year. So I asked Coleen if I could

opt out this month. She said not without a

doctors excuse.....

Sorry for the poor quality picture.  I forgot to take

a picture of the real thing.  But you get the idea.

She laughed so hard and said she was going

to keep it forever.  A side note: I was still not

allowed to opt out.

Luke 1:30-31

 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary;

you have found favor with God.  You will conceive

and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.

We are doing a series on angels now and I love

this verse. From the time my oldest, Nathan,

was only 8 months old, we read the Christmas

story each year before they were allowed to open

any presents. I wanted them to understand

that this was much more than just presents.

Happy Monday!

Birthday lady

I received this image in a swap and I fell in

love with it. In the course of trying to use things

in my stash, though, I was mystified as to what

to add to the image. Then I found this little

piece of plastic. I have had it for centuries

now, never sure how to use it, but I never wanted

to throw it away. Finally. Success! I have used

that little piece of plastic and I love it!

  I had a really nice visit with my mom yesterday.

She was awake, in the moment and was able

to carry on a conversation. I was praising God

all the way home.

  Nahum 1:7

The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him.

Happy Saturday!

Mickey's Christmas

This Mickey card is for a little boy who is dying

from cancer. The “let it snow” one from a

few days ago was for another little boy.

These are both verified, not like the one from

the 90's that people still see and send cards

to. When Nathan was in the hospital I

saw a lot of very sick babies, one of whom

died while I was in the room. Not that Nathan

wasn't very sick-he was-but unless something

had gone wrong, they could heal him with

surgery. It gives you a heart for other sick children.

All items I have in my stash, of course.

I'm going to go see my mom today.

Most times when I go she is sleeping

and hard to wake, if at all, so I'm hoping

she will be a little bit alert. I think one

of the reasons she sleeps so much is

because she's not eating much of

anything. Your body needs fuel to keep

you going. Two signs that you are at

the end of your life, as well. It's sad.

But we know where she will be when she

is finally called home and that is

always a comfort.

  Romans 8:37

Yet in all these things we are more

than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Happy Friday!

Under the sea

This card turned out WAY different than I

thought it would. I knew I wanted to put

the matted boxes on the left side but wasn't

sure what to do with the the other side. I

looked through die cuts that other people

have sent me and tried a couple out. Nothing

worked. Then I tried the seaweed and seahorse

dies and voila! I think they look so cute. But

it didn't really fit in with what I thought the

card was going to look like. Oh well, I like it.
You can see Karen's here

  I spent yesterday in all kinds of pain from my

sciatic nerve. Thankfully it has settled

down and I am pretty much pain free. When

I got up yesterday I couldn't even straighten up!

Enough of that.

 

Luke 6:37

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged.

Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.

Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Happy Thursday!