My Little Corner of The World

2012-01-06T11:40:00.000-05:00

This card is a littel fuzzy cause I don't have a sharpen tool and the battery in my camera was dead so I had to use my cell phone. The papers are from the Sophia pack except for the bracket and it is Topiary. I used the card on page 67 of the Wishes book from CTMH. I cut all the shpapes with my Cricut. We finally had some snow and I was able to get out a couple of times and go snowshoeing. Need to get going as we have errrands to do including delivering this card.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-07T16:01:00.000-05:00

It has been forever since I have used Windows Live Writer and it has changed and I am having to look at everything and click on things to see what will happen. The lighting wasn’t good when I took this pic. I used a Darice embossing folder (it works just fine in the Cuttlebug). It is just a tad bigger than a regular 4¹/⁴ x 5¹^/2 card so I needed the next size up envelope which is 4 ³/⁴ by 6¹^/2. The sticker in the middle is a dimensional sticker that I had left over from last year. The sentiment is from Stampin’ Up.

Starting to get some snowflakes. Supposed to get lake effect snow. There is none on the ground and that is so unusual for here. I am getting anxious to go snowshoeing. Monday I have an apt with a massage therapist in the morning and the chiropractor in the afternoon so hope we don’t get too much snow.

For A Grandson's Love

2011-10-31T16:56:00.000-04:00

When Sam, our grandson was about 6 or 7 (he is now 25 and married) he asked me if I was going to dress up for Halloween. I said I didn't know and what would he like me to be. He replied "a witch". That took me by surprise and I asked why a witch and he said "because I like them pointy little hats". Every year I send him a card with pointy hats on it. This is the one for this year.

The hat stamp is from Northwoods
Rubber Stamp, the sentiment is Studio G Clear Stamps. The paper is two sided and from Doodlebug.
We made our annual trip to Colorado for Kambrie's 1st birthday. She is adorable. This past Friday and Saturday went to an all day stamping/scrapbooking event. Most of the gals were scrapping but a few were making cards. I got 50 cards made and won a $15 gift certificate to JoAnn's.

Time to get supper.

She Cracks Me Up!

2011-06-23T13:24:00.001-04:00

This picture of Kambrie just cracks me up. Leola just sent it yesterday. Her hair is going straight out and she has such a goofy expression on her face. If you look closely you can see the third tooth. She is already 9 months old. I love to talk to her on the phone. She says hi and when I tell her goodbye she says hi. She is crawling and will walk if you hold her hands.

It has been so long since I have posted hardly know where to begin.

Our most recent news is that Sam and Samantha were married June 11 in Colorado at Sam’s parents house. We are having a reception here for them in July. Jim is busy with golfing. Yesterday we took a class on polishing Petoskey stones. They are stones with fossils in them found in the Petoskey area of Michigan. It was interesting. You got to pick a stone for polishing and I had the instructor drill a hole in mine so when I get it done I can wear it as a necklace.

Since the last time I posted Live Writer has changed. I think I must have upgraded something and it changed Live Writer also. I think it is a lot more confusing.

A funny thing happened the other day. I had to go to Petoskey for an ultra sound checkup on my legs after having laser ablation on my varicose veins. A friend went with me and were gone all day (shopping and travel time). Jim went to help a friend work on a rental trailer and he got home before I did. He heard a car idling at our back driveway. As he was walking to the road he could see a lady bending over and holding her arms across her front so he couldn’t see what she had. Well she had my bearded irises that had just bloomed. It is rather pitiful when you have to make off with someone’s flowers.

Think I had better close and go make some headway in the house.

I’ll try and post before another three months has gone by.

Kambrie Rose Romero

2011-03-11T20:58:00.001-05:00

When I saw the cover of the spring/summer CTMH catalog I fell in love with it. This is my interpretation of it. I used the papers from the Sophia paper packet. Buttons and brads are from JoAnn’s. Kambrie is 5 weeks old in this picture, it is the day of her dedication and that is what the sign above her picture says. Underneath love it says Dear Kambrie, I was so happy to meet you I cried tears of joy. This is a 12x12 scrapbook page but I am going to put in a 12x12 white shadow box frame. I see that the ribbon with brads are crooked and I will fix it.

I have been busy going to doctors. Went to my family doctor because I had been having sinus symptoms off and on for about a month and I had no energy and was running a low grade fever at night. Got that taken care of. The went to see my orthopedic doc because I thought I had a bone spur on the bottom of my foot. No, that is my regular bone and I am losing the padding in my feet. There are other places that I would rather get rid of the padding. LOL Lastly I had an ultra sound done on my varicose veins. As far as bothering me they really don’t. My left leg gets tingly. May 16 I am going to have laser ablation on the left leg.

Tuesday a couple of friends are coming over and we are going to work on Mother’s day cards for Operation Write Home.

Spring is in the air, even though we had 6 inches of snow Wednesday.

Monday Kambrie will be 6 months old.

Birds

2011-02-22T19:49:00.001-05:00

This is another card using my extra pieces of patterned paper on my desk. However the same doesn’t hold true for the embellishments. Tonight everything is from CTMH. And I just noticed that the ribbon is crooked. Will have to fix that. I used Pepperwood to stamp the bird from Live Inspired and I think that inkpad has just about served it’s usefulness. The frame is from the Foundry collection and pearls are chocolate.

We have lots of little birds like this at our backyard feeders and they eat us out of house and home. There are three feeders where I can see them from my craft window.

This afternoon I went to town by myself as I had a lot of little piddly things I wanted to do without hubby saying “why do you need to go there etc.”. I got them all done too. One of the places I went was our local medical supply store to buy a boot that goes over a cast. Now I don’t have a cast on my foot and I am not planning on getting one, but I have arthritis in my toes and sometimes they swell up and it is hard to get on shoes. And the straps on most of my sandals come right across the toe.

Then it was on to the car wash. Our car was filthy from all the salt etc. It is an automated one and for a long time I would never go through by myself but now I just pretend I am on a ride at Disney.

Kathi, did you ever read Lad A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune when you were a kid? He wrote several other stories about collies (several are now on Kindle) and last night I read Bruce. That was a big mistake when I was in bed because the story was sad (it did have a happy ending) but I was bawling like a baby and my sinuses were so full I had to get up and it was 3am before I went back to bed.

Almost time for NCIS so I will chat later.

Springtime

2011-02-21T14:37:00.001-05:00

Well it must be springtime somewhere. The sun is shining. A lot of our snow has melted but we still have a ways to go and lots of winter left. No matter what Pun..Phil says.

This card uses Basic Grey Sultry paper that I have had for a couple of years. Cardstock is Watermelon from CTMH. The image is a digital one and I don’t remember the site it came from because it doesn’t say once it is downloaded.I colored it with Prisma Color Pencils. Ribbon is from JoAnn’s.

My desk was in a horrible mess and when I cleaned it up I had patterned paper that I didn’t know what to do with so I left it on my desk and will make cards with it until the paper is all used up.

It is quite icy out because we had several days in the 30’s and 40’s then a hard freeze and no snow to cover it up. Last night after church an elderly lady (almost 90) wanted me to follow her home to make sure she got in her house okay. This morning Jim went over and sanded her driveway for her.

Sam and Samantha have set a wedding date of June 11. Right now their plans are to get married in Colorado at Sam’s folks. They live on top of a mountain. They are almost eloping as they don’t want anyone to be a part of this grand day.

Kambrie is growing like a weed. She is 5 months plus a week. In three weeks she will be 6 months old. Where has the time gone?

Kathi, I am liking my Kindle more and more. The other day I was looking at some free offerings and I saw Old Mother Hubbard so downloaded it. I didn’t know there were so many verses. I had only ever heard of the one where she goes to the cupboard to get her dog a bone and the cupboard is bare.

Look At Me!

2011-01-28T18:26:00.001-05:00

Today I am 41/2 months old. Great Grandma thinks I am a wonder because I can sit up. Those are my Daddy’s legs in the background. I want to eat what my Mom and Dad eat. I don’t like baby food.

It is supposed to be below zero tonight. I am have some kind of upper respiratory bug with low grade fever, no energy and just want to sleep all the time so that is what I have been doing the last few days. If I am no better on Monday will call the dr.

Five

2011-01-21T19:19:00.001-05:00

I call this post five because that is how many different stamp sets I used to make this card. This card is in the summer 2011 CTMH catalog and I feel in love with it when I first saw it. I used the Olivia Paper Packet. Stamp sets used are Hot Diggity, Inkadinkado, Stampin Up, Hero Arts and an unknown. Ink colors are Smoothie, Chocolate, Olive and Black.

We are having some frigid temps –15. When we first moved here 50 years ago it was nothing to have temps to –30 and sometimes in the day time it wouldn’t even get to zero.

Kathi, I like my Kindle a lot. I read it when I am doing my treadmill. I have word game on it and sometimes I will play that while watching the news. It is very handy to take to appts. when you don’t know how long you will have to wait cause it automatically saves your place for you.

Sam and Sam had their kitty declawed and one of his paws got infected so now he has a bandage, cone collar and antibiotics.

Kambrie had her shots earlier this week and was not a happy camper-was very fussy for a couple of days.

Operation Write Home

2011-01-17T18:01:00.001-05:00

I made this card for Operation Write Home’s Sketch 52 Challenge. This is the first time that I have ever participated in a challenge. I have been wanting to get involved with OWH for awhile. I think it is a great idea. For my card I used the Olivia paper packet. The bird is from the Hot Diggity set. Sentiment is from Hero Arts. The little green flower is from Prima and the center is a Itty Bitty sparkle from CTMH.

I feel like I have been away for ever. Had some nasty bug that while it wasn’t right out disabling I had no energy. Some days I would sit at my desk and look out the window and just nothing would come to me.

Jim gave me a Kindle for Christmas so I did sit at my computer a lot and download dozens of books. There are a couple of free sites that I like to go to. www.thefrugalreader.com and www.freeEbookdeal.com and when you choose a book you are directed to Amazon.

We are finally getting some winter weather. Went snowshoeing the other day.

Kambrie was 4 months old on the 14th. She weighs 12 lb 40z and is 24 inches tall. She is a very happy baby.

I was re reading some of my earlier posts and my goodness I should really read them before posting. So many words left out etc.

I Can Almost Smell the Ocean

2011-01-03T18:30:00.001-05:00

This card front was in my stash and I have no idea who the stamp manufacturer is since I most likely stamped it at a friends house. It is layered on Pansy Purple textured cardstock. I had trouble photographing this card. Can’t seem to get rid of the shadows.

Talked to Leola yesterday and we decided I would make a 12 x12 shadow box frame with the idea from the cover of the spring CTMH catalog. Kambrie is 3 and a half months old and already copying everything her parents do. She pets the dog and the other day Leola was having a glass of water and she could tell Kambrie wanted it. Leola put the glass so Kambrie could reach it and she put her two hands around the glass and stuck her face in it. Told Leola she has to put some more videos on their blog.

It is more like winter here, now we need some snow so I can go snowshoeing.

Kathi, I chuckled when you said you couldn’t get rid of the little embossing specks. I don’t have much trouble at home but when I go to classes I have the worst time and I follow the same procedure as at home.

My word is goal. One of my goals is to use up my crafting products before buying more.

I am getting my craft room more and more fine tuned. And rearranging where I store some of my stuff.

It is time for supper.

A Sledding We Will Go

2010-12-31T18:10:00.001-05:00

I had the worst time making this card. I bought the stamp (Northwoods) at our local craft store after seeing a card made with it. But I could not get anything to look right. Wednesday I went back to the craft store and took a look at their card. There’s was on stripped paper but I didn’t have any stripes that looked good. So after getting out several sheets of paper the plaid (Paper Pizazz) hit the spot. Down the side they had two big stars but I couldn’t get the stars to look right. I took the mittens and cap from All Decked Out. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. Brad is from Hobby Lobby. Ribbon from JoAnn’s. The card is on dark brown paper. I stamped the image with CTMH’s Cocoa and it is colored with PrismaColor Red. Hat is stamped in Cranberry and mittens in Outdoor Denim. When trying different color cardstock to put the card on again I kept coming up empty but I had a piece of brown cardstock already cut and folded and I just hadn’t put it away so I picked it up and the rest is history. The sled is stamped on kraft paper from our local craft store and there is no name on it. The rope handle is natural hemp from CTMH.

Today is a foggy icky drizzly day for winter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is supposed to start freezing tomorrow night. We will need a foot of snow to cover up all the ice. It will be nice to have fresh snow, right now it is all brown and dirty.

Picked up the new Spring/Summer CTMH catalog and I fell in love with the cover. A baby girl scrapbook page all in pink and delightful saying: I am so glad to meet you! This most definitely love at first sight. And I know the perfect baby girl to send it to. I just need to call Leola and find out what size baby book Kambrie has.

I am going to be spending what is left of 2010 cleaning. Tomorrow I have to hit checkbooks big time and get bills paid.

Simple

2010-12-17T16:57:00.001-05:00

Last year we received a store bought like this. And I thought hey I can duplicate that almost. I used the snowflake cuttlebug folder and on the boughten card it was flocked. Otherwise the card is pretty much the same. Cardstock is White and Juniper. Wreath (Serendipity) is stamped in Aspen Green (retired). I used the Cricut to cut the white square but did the rest by hand as my Circuit goes in 1/2 increments. I did the ribbon in two stages. First I put the hanger part and then made the bow and attached with glue dots. I used red stickles for the berries on the wreath.

The first of my packages have arrived in Colorado. Now this coming week just have to get packages wrapped for here. I use a lot of bags. And the ones for Sam and Samantha all get tagged “Sam”. They have fun figuring out which package goes to whom. And they usually get it right.

Yesterday PJ posted a 30 second video of him playing with Kambrie. He would growl at her and she would try and growl back. I am going to wear it out watching it.

Went for a little snowshoe hike today. Jim put a fence around the birdfeeder that is outside my craft room window as the deer have found it. They have been tearing up our front yard also.

Band Practice

2010-12-14T21:26:00.001-05:00

Leola and Kambrie made the paper. Leola and PJ both play instruments in the community band. They didn’t have a baby sitter the day of practice so along went Kambrie. She loves music. Mom plays the French horn and Dad is a drummer.

The caption says: A potential future community band member listens while her mom, Leola Romero, and Joanna, Duane, Jack, Walter and Michael rehearse.

Kambrie is three months old today and a very happy baby.

I went to town to today to have lunch with a friend, then I took some fudge to Sam and Samantha and checked out Wal-Mart. Saw a friend there I hadn’t seen in awhile. It was 5pm when I got home with three small grocery items. Jim said “you were gone all day and only bought three things:? I said “Yup and I had a good time”.

Sam and Sam and their kitty are coming out Christmas eve, spending the night and enjoying Christmas with us. It has been a long time since anyone has been here overnight on Christmas.

I promised Leola I would have the fudge in the mail tomorrow. Better get it made.

Waiting

2010-12-10T19:31:00.001-05:00

This card uses papers from the Heirloom paper packet. The tag is white cardstock. Stamp color is Ponderosa Pine. I made the tag about 4 years ago. The stamp set is Art Gone Wild. They are cube stamps. The ribbon is probably from JoAnn’s and the star is most likely from our local scrapbooking store.

This has been a crazy week. Sunday night through Wed. we had lake effect snow and ended with over a foot. Jim blew out the driveway Monday and when he got all done the tractor died. It is a small one that you can put a mower deck on in the summer. We went to town and bought a new one and it was delivered today. Jim decided to go with a walk behind one as there is less things to go wrong. I has an electric start and power steering. We are bracing for a major winter storm of up to 14 inches of snow starting tomorrow night and lasting all day Sunday and accompanied by 40 mile an hour winds.

My craft room is such a mess I need to clean it before I go any further in my card making.

I talked to Leola yesterday and Kambrie is now weighs 10 lb 8oz and is 23 inches long. Tuesday she will be 3 months old. I talked to her also but she wasn’t in a talkative mood. LOL. I always make fudge at Christmas and Leola asked if they were getting fudge. I told her yes but she might not get it with her Christmas packages. I hope to get them out on Monday. And then I will make the fudge and send it.

Better get busy and clean my craft room. There a papers everywhere except on the ceiling. LOL.

Tis The Season

2010-12-02T18:28:00.001-05:00

I just haven’t had any mojo lately but I think I finally have it together. Card stock is CTMH’s Bamboo and Parchment. Patterned paper is from DCWV from about 2 years ago. Embellishments and ribbon are from JoAnn’s. I used a wide plaid and a narrow gold ribbon. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado. I cut the ovals (3 “ and 4”) with my Cricut and the George & Basic Shapes since I am mass producing this card for folks at our church. I rubbed the parchment oval in Cranberry ink.

Today I had an interesting thing happen. In checking my e-mail there was one from my credit card company asking me if I had made a certain transaction. I hadn’t made the transaction but before I responded to the e-mail I called the credit card company. Because you are always hearing that they don’t contact you that way. And I asked how they knew to question that transaction. And she told me it was outside of my spending pattern. I have an Amazon.com credit card and only use it for making purchases from Amazon for books. I also used it for Shutterfly and she asked if had made that transaction. I thought that was pretty neat.

Kambrie and I had our first phone conversation the other day. Leola put her on speakerphone and I was chatting away and every once in awhile Kambrie would “say” something and I when I said “goodbye” it sounded just like she said goodbye. Both Leola and I laughed.

There was a lake effect snow warning for our county but so far we have escaped the snow but the Soo 20 miles north got dumped on and all their schools were closed.

Better go and get some dinner.

A Happy Card

2010-11-19T19:38:00.001-05:00

Today was one of those really really gray November days. In the middle of the afternoon it was so dark that you needed light in every room.

I used paper from CTMH’s Olivia paper pack. The frog is from Penny Black’s Toadily set. Sentiment is Inkadinkado. I stamped the frog and saying with Pear. I colored the flower with PrismaColor Pencils. The ribbon is CTMH. The striped is from the Sunset Collection and the sheer is from Autumn Terracotta Ribbon Rounds. Button is also from the Sunset Collection. They are adhered with a glue dot. Originally when I made the bow I was just going to have the width of the Colonial White, but I liked it long and thought it would be a waste of ribbon to cut it off. I popped up the rectangle piece with foam tape. I got the idea for this layout last Saturday when a friend and I went to some craft shows and a CTMH consultant had this layout. Her ribbon was tied in a knot and she used a flower for the image. She was selling the cards for $1 and I bought one for a guide. I am going to put this card in a padded envelope and send it to Leola.

This has been quite a week. Monday Jim and I got our yearly physicals. After which we went to town and did our errands and had a chat with Sam. The dr is 30 miles south and town is 20 miles north from our house. Wednesday the dr.’s office called and said Jim needed a thyroid scan and set it up for next Monday and Tuesday. That appointment is 75 miles south of here. I figured I was doing okay and since they had said any thing about my test results. Thursday they called and said I had bacteria in my urine and needed an antibiotic. That solved the mystery as to why I was so tired but thought it odd that I didn’t have any other symptoms like fever or going to the bathroom all the time. The arthritis in Jim’s hands have been getting really bad so the dr changed his medication and gave him a prescription for a pain pill to take occasionally. And guess what that pill (Darvoset) was on the news tonight as not safe to take.

I hope that I feel better tomorrow as there are a couple of craft shows that I want to go to.

Kathi, I should have gone to the ones you and your Mom and sister went to as I was looking for jewelry and didn’t find anything. Only saw one jewelry vendor and it wasn’t what I was looking for.

I have been reading the new Father Tim (from the Mitford series) series. I have finished the first one, Home to Holly Springs and have started the second one, In the Company of Others. I never could get into the Mitford series but I couldn’t put down Home to Holly Springs.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-10T16:38:00.001-05:00

Paper used for this card was from Passages. Stamps were Inkadinkado. All the emellishments are from CTMH. I just love the new Mocha Pearls. Turkey and saying were stamped in Pepperwood (retired). I am going to be sad when my ink pad finally gives up the ghost.

Today was another nice day. It was a little more cloudy but still nice enough to go out and do some yard work. I think I have finished cutting back my perennials. We modified my bird feeder outside my craft room window as it was too low. We got a taller pole and Jim put a squirrel baffle on it. The squirrels are fun to watch also I just don’t want them eating my bird seed out of the feeder.

Talked to Leola today and got a Christmas wish list from her. Kambrie is progressing well in every way. She will sit in the corner of the davenport and watch what is going on around her. When PJ plays his drums Leola says her little legs go a mile an hour keeping time.

Kathi, how is Miranda doing? When is her due date?

Time to do a few things before supper.

Archiver’s and Michael’s

2010-11-07T15:30:00.001-05:00

The deer on this card did not photograph well at all and I don’t feel like messing with it. I spied this card at Archiver’s along with a sign that said if you bought $30 worth of merchandise you could get a free 7”x9” album from Shutterfly. It wasn’t hard to spend $30. This is an 81/2 X11 piece of cardstock cut in half lengthwise. The materials are Bazzil Basics Herbal Garden, Paper Garden Natural CS and My Minds Eye Holly Jolly. The deer is a gold vinyl sticker from Stampendous. The ribbon is from American Crafts.

Trying to upload my pictures to Shutterfly is some undertaking. I think there is a software glitch somewhere. I thought I would put pics from our 6 trips to Colorado. I have until the end of Nov to put them all in.

Now on to Michael’s. I bought a twelve inch Martha Stewart Cutter ( I had given my 12 inch swing arm cutter to Leola for her scrapbooking. She is just starting to get into it doing pics of Kambrie and doesn’t have many supplies.) and a Martha Stewart Scoring cutter. When I checked out the gal gave me a 40% off “coupon for my next visit. I replied “ I wish I had known that before as we live 300 miles away.” Bless her little heart she said “Return one and buy it back at 40% off.” So that is what I did.

We have been having some nice weather. Tomorrow I hope to get some leaves out of my back flower bed. They were all out once then we had terrific winds and they all blew back.

Yesterday I was sitting at my desk in my craft room looking out the window and lots of birds were flying around. I found a bird feeder we hadn’t used in awhile and hung it on a pole that in the summer holds a hanging plant. It didn’t take the birds long to find it. So far I have chickadees, red breasted nuthatches, white breasted nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and hairy woodpeckers.

I feel a nap coming on and since I am fighting some kind of upper respiratory bug I am going to go find my bed.

LadyBugs

2010-10-30T15:46:00.001-04:00

I love the smiles. Talked to Leola this morning and Kambrie felt no ill effects from her shots. While we were there she was already putting weight on her legs. Her Daddy walked early, Mom about a year. Sure would like to reach through cyberspace and give them a big hug.

The Great Outdoors

2010-10-29T18:39:00.001-04:00

I used the Passage Paper pack from CTMH for this card. The image of the man hiking is from Inkadinkado. The word Explore is from the Live Inspired set also from CTMH. Moose button is from JoAnn’s. Image is stamped in Cocoa and I used a cocoa ribbon for added accent.

The wind has finally quit blowing. Tuesday and Wednesday we had steady gale force winds. We had several trees go down in our woods but our neighbors had two big pine trees come down and one landed on their house and went through the roof. Jim helped get the tree down. The insurance lady came out right away.

Talked to Leola today and Kambrie had her first shots yesterday. One must have hurt her pretty bad cause Leola said she screamed but with the other two just a little cry. She is growing like a weed. She weighs 9lbs 4oz and is 21 and 1/4 inches long. Kambrie is going to be a ladybug for Halloween. Leola found the cutest little outfit that can be used as a sleeper when Halloween is over.

Time to go find something for dinner.

We Are Home

2010-10-24T15:33:00.001-04:00

After driving 3,385 miles we are home. Yesterday (Saturday) we drove 340 miles from Oshkosh to here in the rain. Sometimes it rained hard and sometimes it seemed like it was letting up. Today we have more of the same.

Kambrie was a delight. We got to babysit twice. Once Leola and PJ went to community band practice (Leola plays french horn and PJ the drums) and once when they went grocery shopping. Kambrie is a good baby. In the first pic she just had her diaper changed and is stretching. He little onesie says Grandma’s little pumpkin and I got some fabric paint and wrote Great above it. Second pic she is all dressed for her dedication at church. Third pic needs no explanation. This is what I love to do. I am pooped think I will go take a nap. There will be more pics later.

Almost Home

2010-10-22T21:26:00.000-04:00

We are in Oshkosh Wi and should be home tomorrow (Sat night) but first we have to go past Archivers and Michaels and all kinds of good shops at Fox River Mall. Today we stopped in Burr Oak Iowa and toured the hotel that Ma and Pa Ingalls ran for a year. From the tv show one gets the idea that everything happened in Walnut Grove. Because I am a distant cousin of Laura Ingalls I got to sign a special book. The door on the left were for men to enter the smoking room. Door on the right was for ladies. Everything was so very small. Guests paid a quarter to sleep three to a bed and there were no doors on the rooms.

On The Road

2010-10-14T21:49:00.000-04:00

These blue berries are on an Eastern Red Cedar tree. They are not blueberries but seeds of the Red Cedar Tree. We stopped at the Nebraska Nature and Welcome Center near Aida, Nebraska. There was a nice little trail going down to the Platte River. Tonight we are in Oakley Kansas. Tomorrow we will reach our destination and see and hold our precious great granddaughter for the first time. Watch out for a bunch of baby pics.

Kathi, eversince you posted that card titled Inspired by I have been mulling over in mind of making a Christmas with that same idea. I have the background script and I think I have a couple of Christmas stamps that will work.

Fall Beauty

2010-10-05T15:28:00.001-04:00

I was standing at the corner of our driveway and road when I took this picture this afternoon. It looks like we live in the middle of the wilderness but there are houses all along this road.

The last couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous with temps in the 60’s. Some of the leaves have fallen and I just love walking in the rustling leaves. A week ago I got a big order from CTMH and I the only thing I have had a chance to do is put my new stamp pads in the organizer. Boy I really like it. Now I need to work on getting more of the new style pads. The old ones don’t fit so good.

We got a package of free light bulbs today. Our electric company was bought out by a local co-op which is a good thing because our electric company was owned by a company in Wisconsin. Anyway our new company puts out a little magazine every month and there was an offer for free light bulbs. They are the squiggly kind and three of them are extra bright so I have one of the bright ones in my craft room. When I was a kid my Mother would take our old bulbs to a Detroit Edison office and exchange them for new ones. After Jim and I got married and were living in ND I tried to do that and was shocked that not every electric company did that and they thought I was nuts for even thinking such a thing and now over 50 years later they are doing it.

Think I will go outside and enjoy what is left of this beautiful day.

Bountiful Harvest

2010-09-28T18:40:00.001-04:00

Stamp is Penny Black, CS is Garden Green, Chocolate and Bamboo. It is colored with chalks. I tried this stamp two other times with chalk pencils (too heavy) and cream chalks (way to light). The image is stamped with Versa Mark. Embellishments are CTMH Chocolate Collection. I distressed around the edges of the Bamboo with Chocolate.

I had every intention of posting last night after I watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy with Jim. I was going to use that time to work on blanket I’m cross stitching for Kambrie. I think I got one row done and the next thing I knew it was 8:45pm. I crawled out of my chair, got my jammies on and went to bed. And then I was up way to many times going to the bathroom.

Today was another delightful day spent doing some outside work. The leaves are beautiful but not quite at peak. And they are falling like mad. Yesterday as I was putting some of my yard stuff away I noticed there was a hole in the roof of the storage shed. Jim went out and looked and discovered a big limb had come down on it during a big wind we had the other day. He repaired it today.

I was talking to Leola the other day and Kambrie was making noises. That was pretty neat.

Time to go get some supper.

Funky

2010-09-21T18:53:00.001-04:00

This card makes me laugh. I wanted to do a card with the bat and hat to tell you a story but didn’t want a traditional Halloween card. Stamp images are from Inkadinka Doo. I put Diamond Stickles on the hat and bat and Orange Stickles on the pumpkin. Pieces are mounted on Autumn Terracotta Textured paper. Card base is New England Ivy Textured paper. The print paper is BoBunny Mango Luau Dude. The ribbon brad is purple with green brad. Checked ribbon is a scrap that I had. Felt flower is from Prima. And I used a Bitty Sparkle from CTMH. Stripped paper in the corner is the opposite side of the flower paper and I put a purple button on it. And I use my piercer around the edges of the flowers. I also used an orange brad and black and orange sparkles.

Now for the stories. When Sam about 6 or 7 he asked me if I was going to dress up for Halloween and replied no. He said he wanted me to dress up like a witch. I thought that was rather odd and asked him why. And he told me he like the pointy hats. So I dressed up.

This summer about day break Jim got up to use the bathroom and I saw a shadow of something flying. When he came back to bed I said “There is something flying around in here”. He turned on the light and checked all four corners but saw nothing. I pulled the covers over my head and went back to sleep. That evening as I was shutting the living room drapes guess what came flying out. You got it a bat. Sam got one of our fishing nets from our ponds and captured it and spent a while looking it.

Talked to Leola and she and Kambrie are doing fine. Said the baby is a natural at nursing.

Jim gets an A+ for today. He went golfing in the morning and then was going to town to do some errands and asked if I needed anything. I needed one skein of floss from JoAnn’s. Gave him the number and told him the color and he came home with the right one.

Time to go get some dinner.

Ready To Take On The World

2010-09-20T20:23:00.001-04:00

This is Kambrie at four days old. In this photo I can see Leola. She is being held by PJ’s father. They live in New Mexico only four hours away and we are four days away.

Today I am counting my blessings even more. Talked to Leola and she told me that PJ had picked up his grandparents and brought them to the hospital to see the baby. On his way to take them back home their car was rear ended and totaled. But praise God that no one was hurt.

I am working on a couple of cards but don’t have the finished cause it was too nice out today and I spent some time getting the yard ready for winter. And then I just sat in our backyard swing and watched the birds.

Baby Pics

2010-09-17T18:20:00.001-04:00

Just got these photos on Facebook. Can you tell I am a very excited Great-Grandma! These brought happy tears to my eyes. Now I have to get busy and finish the cross stitching on a blanket I am doing for her. Wish I could just reach through cyberspace and cuddle her. I called all my friends and told them to check out my Facebook page. And I’ll have to print them out for my brag book. LOL

She Is Here!

2010-09-14T17:27:00.001-04:00

Kambrie Rose Romero was born this morning at 4:30 am. She weighs 6lb13oz and is 18 inches long and has dark hair. As far as I know Mom, Baby and Dad are fine. Leola called me at 8am which is 6am their time. She had been in labor all night. PJ was watching them clean up the baby. We will be out there in a month. I am so excited.

This is the card I made to send to the happy parents. It is one of the new clear cards from CTMH. Yesterday I had a gathering at my house and our consultant said you could put the clear cards through the Cuttlebug, so we had to try it. We used the folder Stylized Flowers. At first I thought I would make it into a wedding card but when Leola called this morning with the good news I knew I was making a baby card. I looked through all my baby patterned paper and nothing worked. Then I got out my flowered vellum and this one hit the spot. When I looked to see what the name was I knew I had the right paper. It is called Wild Rose and is by K and Company. I have probably had the paper for a couple of years. Then I backed it with Hollyhock CS. I used my Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities to cut out the circle for rose paper as I wanted to make sure I got the flowers ( a couple of rosebuds) to show. I used my Cricut to cut out two 4 1/2 circles of Hollyhock. The ribbon is CTMH Ribbon Rounds Summer Celebration Organdy.

Still having a cool, windy and sometimes rainy September. Yesterday Jim and I went for our mile walk. When we first started it was cold and windy and a few raindrops but about 3/4ths of the way the sun came out and it was hot and I had to take off my sweatshirt. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice and Thursday nasty. Jim needs to re-roof our basement entry way so he is hoping a couple of good days in a row.

Time to get some dinner going.

A Hole In One?

2010-09-07T16:32:00.001-04:00

I got the idea for this card from a flyer in Michael’s. They used two stamps from the Stampendous line of stamps. One is called Little Golf (C195) and the other is Changito Golfer (D170). Michael’s didn’t have the stamps and a search on Stampendous’ website came up empty so either it is a brand new stamp or a discontinued one. I used the golfer from a retired CTMH golf set. The round green is part of a stamp from Northwoods Stamp Co. And I used a golf ball brad. Paper is from the Passages paper pack. Ribbon is chocolate from CTMH.

The weather is less than desirable, looks more like the end of fall rather than the beginning. We have been having rain and lots of wind. At least it isn’t cold.

Still no baby. Talked to Leola a little while ago and she was on her way to the dr. Her due date was always Sept 5 ( our 51st anniversary) but then a couple of weeks ago the dr changed it to Sept 13 and the next week proceeded to tell her she would probably come in a week. She sounded good and said she would call after she got home.

Sunday we went to Traverse City for our anniversary dinner. We met my cousins there and had a good time at Red Lobster. They are headed back to Phoenix next Sunday. They have a summer cottage near Traverse City.

All three Sams are loving their new apartment. All are working two jobs.

The Last Days of Summer

2010-08-31T19:52:00.001-04:00

When I moved my craft room upstairs I threw out a box of scrap papers that I hadn’t used in over a year and put half finished cards in it. My vow is to use up all the half finished products before making a new card. The fish stamps are from Northwoods Rubber Stamp, the canoeist is The Stamp Pad Co. The large scene stamp is a set of clear stamps with several stamps and I don’t remember the name. The sign is a brad from Outlet Brads and says Gone Fishing. I took the brad part off and used foam tape to adhere it to the card. I had the three fish on the card so had to come up with a scene to go with it.

The last couple of days have been very hot. Yesterday we tied a record set in 1973 of 88 degrees. Today it wasn’t quite that warm but it was more humid. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 70’s with thunderstorms. Our county fair is going on this week so we could use some nice weather.

Everytime the phone rings I think it is going to be PJ telling me that Kambrie has been born. Last Monday when Leola went to the dr she was told she’d probably be born within the week. Kambrie just wants to be born in Sept. Leola and I are holding out for Sept 5 (our 51st wedding anniversary). Just had an e-mail from Leola and she was feeling just fine.

I’m really liking my new crafting room and some things I like just where they are and some things I am still tweaking. I need to go clean up my desk.

I Made It Myself

2010-08-17T21:19:00.001-04:00

I saw this card in Stamp It Cards 2008. The colors are CloverMeadow, Autumn TerraCotta and Chocolate. Stamp set is Treasures. Ribbon is Autumn TerraCotta Ribbon Rounds. And then Dew Drops. Now for the part I made myself. The card had a scalloped chipboard. I had a round chipboard but not scalloped. At first I tried using a scallop punch but the circle punch I had was too big and didn’t get enough lip. Then I thought of my Nestabilites and that worked great. I was able to line up the plain circle and scallop one at the same time.

Last week we had on the air today we had on the heat for awhile. It has been cold and windy but good days to get things done in the house.

We made out fine at the dermatologist and dentist but the orthopedic surgeon was a different story. I thought I had a stress fracture but he said I had a Morton’s Neuroma, which is a nerve at the base of my third toe and it gets enlarged. Very painful. Got a cortisone shot. Then he suggested I get some Birkenstock shoes. Only had a few here in town and I really didn’t like the style. Friday we are going to visit my cousins near Traverse City and there are three shoe stores on the way so maybe I’ll find something if not I’ll order it off the internet. Then I told him I occasionally had pain in the palm of my hand. Well I have the beginnings of carpal tunnel. Oh Joy!

Am still working and rearranging things in my new craft room. The entertainment center is still there and today I removed Jim’s video’s from two shelves. I cleaned out a storage cupboard for him down in his man cave.

Almost bedtime.

Happy Birthday Sam

2010-08-10T19:48:00.001-04:00

Got my inspiration for this card from an old copy of CardMakers. CS colors are Brown Bag, Chocolate and Colonial White. Ink colors are Pepperwood and New England Ivy. I am going to be sorry when my Pepperwood ink pad dries up as I use it all the time. I ordered the moose stamp from an on line company that sold inspirational sayings and there is no name on the stamp. The trees are from CTMH. It is one tree that I stamped over and over. The nature rock is an embellishment I got from our local craft store in a goody bag.

Sunday will be Sam’s 24th birthday. We have plans to go out for dinner but don’t know when yet. Samantha has to work on Sunday. Sam does too but he gets off at 1. Ever since he has been 3 years old he has gotten a Lego Set and a quarter for every year old he is. The other day I asked him if he was too old for the usual and he replied “Grandma it wouldn’t my birthday if I didn’t get Lego’s. So this Grandma will buy a set of Lego's. He has all the Lego’s his Dad had when he was a kid. He was out yesterday and saw that I had taken down the wildlife poster on the door to his room. I told him it was my room now and he said “That poster brings back a lot of happy memories”. I asked him if he wanted it and he said “No”. I could tell that he didn’t want it thrown in the trash so I told him I would put it in his keepsake box in the basement. And he was pleased with that. I have two big Rubbermaid containers that I put stuff in for Sam and Leola. I said to him that the label maker sign that says Sam’s and Granpa’s Room will stay on the door.

Today we went to the dermatologist. Jim got zapped a couple of times and I got zapped once. I wore athletic shoes and I thought the toe box had enough room and I could wiggle my toes. But when I got there my foot was swollen. It could be because I didn’t ice it all yesterday. We got home at 5 and I already have iced it 3 times. I read on the internet if you have a stress fracture that you need to ice it every hour for 20 minutes a time. And I now have on a good pair of sandals.

Picked up the new CTMH catalog today from our consultant. Boy do I ever like the new summer colors and the fall paper pack. I think the name is Olivia.

I didn’t intend to write a novel but now you know all about me. LOL

It is time to take the ice off my foot and get something done.

Penny Black Sticker Card

2010-08-07T16:58:00.001-04:00

I know my title is pretty lame but I couldn’t think of any other. It is on CTMH Sorbet. I used Lime Green Stickles on the veins and stems and yellow stickle on the center of the big flower. The ribbon is from my stash most likely from JoAnn’s or Wal-Mart. The happy birthday is a gold sticker that comes in a 5x9 sheet with other words like Happy Anniversary, Congratulations, Good Luck etc. Have no idea who made it as there isn’t any name and I bought it several years ago.

Sam and Sam got all moved into their apt. and are enjoying it. I am enjoying my new crafting room upstairs. Except for the dark green walls and out door wallpaper border you would never know this room had been a young man’s room for the last 6 years. I had thought about painting but that would have delayed my moving into the room. I did do some touch up painting today. I look a window into our backyard. I have everything how I want it but as I use things might do some changing. Jim is enjoying his new tv watching area in the basement. He calls it his” man cave”.

Next week is jammed with appointments everyday but Monday. And two of the entail a trip across the Mackinac Bridge. Tuesday we go to the dermatologist. Our appt was for the end of September but they last week and asked if we could come Tuesday as the doctor will not be available in Sept. Wednesday we go to the dentist for teeth cleaning. Thursday is a sentencing hearing for one of the guys that stole a bunch of copper pipe from a vacant building across the road. It has been postponed twice. And on Friday I go to visit my orthopaedic surgeon and his office is 2 1/2 hours south of here. In Feb I hurt my foot snowshoeing and went to my regular dr. He didn’t see any thing and neither did the radiologist and it got better. In April my foot was bothering me so I went back to my regular dr and he said I had an inflamed tendon and with rest and ice that got better. Then we went to a pro ball game with my cousins and I didn’t see a step and wrenched the same foot. I iced it and rested and a week or so ago I started walking around the driveway. After several days when nothing hurt I decided to walk a mile and did that for two days and on the third day I could hardly walk. So now I am going to see the expert. I looked up my symptoms on the internet and according the information I found there I have a stress fracture. So we will see. I am not losing any sleep over it. LOL

Kathi, you were right on the two girl Sam’s are Samantha but they go by Sam.

On The Move

2010-07-30T19:37:00.001-04:00

The weather here in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has been just great so I have been outside and not doing much stamping. This card uses the Passages Paper Pack from CTMH. I cut the stripe paper into a one inch wide strip then I used trial and error to miter the corners. The stamp is from Stampin’ Up. I embossed the train in Woven Tapestry from PSX and I just found out the company is no longer in business. I tore the edges of the Colonial White cardstock and used Walnut distressing ink on the edges.

Sunday is moving day here. Sam has lived with us since he was a Senior in high school. And now he has decided it is time to move on. He will be sharing an apartment in town with his fiancée and another girl. All three of them are named Sam. The minute he is out and I have vacuumed the carpet I am moving my card making stuff to his room. In a way it is going to be kinda sad as he has had that room for the past 21 years and would come and spend a few days at time with us starting when he was three. There is still a sign on the door that says Sam and Gramp’s Room. When Sam wasn’t here Jim used it as a TV room. After I get all my stuff upstairs, what was my area in the basement will become Jim’s tv room. Right now he hunches over on a computer chair with earphones plugged in so he can hear the tv. He is getting a new tv. Better get to some housekeeping duties.

Summertime

2010-07-15T21:34:00.001-04:00

Every summer I put a few water hyacinths in my water gardens and ponds. This is the first year they bloomed. I took this one out of the water garden and put it in a clay saucer to take the picture.

We didn’t get any of the bad storms that were predicted and not even enough rain to cover the bottom of our rain gauge.

Tomorrow we are going to Traverse City and meet my cousins at the ball game. It is professional ball, but not major or minor league. Then we are going to their cottage on Crystal Lake for a weekend of swimming and tubing.

After I cleaned up my mess in my area I sat down to make a card but couldn’t get anything to come together.

Fun in the Sun

2010-07-14T21:28:00.001-04:00

My camera battery was on it’s last leg when I took this photo. It is now charging. The images are on white cardstock. The background for each image is Summer Cloud Blue from CTMH. The stamps are from various companies and colored with markers.

Today was a nice hot summer day. I watered my hanging plants early this morning. This afternoon when the shade got in the front yard I went out and did some weeding. Then I bribed Jim to take me out to dinner. The lawn needed mowing so I said I would mow if he would take me out to dinner. He usually mows but his gout has been bothering him (not enough to take medicine). We went out for fish at Wilcox’s Fish house. The only thing on the menu except for chicken fingers is fish; walleye, perch, herring etc. We each got the 1/2 pound of perch. It is a small family run operation.

Tonight we are supposed to get some severe thunderstorms so I brought my hanging plants under the eaves. The perennials will most likely get beat down but I can stake them up afterwards. And it is supposed to be rainy all day tomorrow.

My card area is a disaster and I only made one card today.

The saga of Me Vs. the Census Taker is over. He came the other day and I was home alone. I saw a strange car drive in so I quickly shut and locked the front door. He knocked and when I didn’t answer he went around to the back. He went to his car and was probably noting that no one was home when Jim came home from golfing. Rats. We gave them our name, age etc. When he wanted to know how much Jim got from his Air Force pension and Social Security I told him it was none of his business. Jim said he didn’t know because the check was automatically deposited. Some of the questions were how much did we pay in property taxes and how much were our utilities. We just said we didn’t know. He can go to the county or township and find out the property taxes. He got enough info so hopefully he won’t be back. He even wanted to know how long we had been married. The guy was polite even when I was giving him a very hard time.

Well enough of my ranting. I’m going to go work on a baby afghan.

A Perfect Summer Day

2010-07-10T20:43:00.001-04:00

My inspiration for this card comes a card on Add Ink and Stamp blog. My stamps are all from Art Impressions except for the two small flowers by the cat and they are from Stampin’ UP. I colored the image with markers. The photo corner is from CTMH and the red buttons are from my stash. Cardstock is Outdoor Denim, red is from a JoAnn’s Christmas pack. The white is cardstock from Wal-Mart.

The last two days here have been perfect summer days. Lots of sun, no humidity. Have been working on getting the weeds out of my flowers. I can’t do too much at a time as it makes my thumb and hand ache. Today I fertilized my hanging plants and turned the ones that are under the eaves so each side gets a week of sun. House was clean and there was no laundry to do.

We watched golf today. Steve Stricker finished the round with 25 under. That was fantastic. He just kept making birdie after birdie.

Kathi, today I got a letter from the Census Bureau telling me that their field rep would be contacting me again. Article 1 section 2 clause 3 of the US Constitution says I am only required to tell how many people live here and I have done that. There is a bill in Congress H.R. 3131 to make it voluntary to answer the questions. Well enough of my ranting.

I’m Stuck for a Title

2010-07-08T13:10:00.001-04:00

Saw this card on a blog but I don’t remember who did it. The small sea shell stamps do not have a name on them and of course I didn’t keep the container they came in. I have had them for years. I stamped them and the turtle in Pepperwood (retired from CTMH) and then I chalked them. The turtle is from Cornish Heritage Farms and comes the way you see it. The netting on the card is kind of sparkly but you can’t see it. I got it a long time ago from Paper Wishes and it came with a whole bunch of gold stuff. I layered torn Blue Denim, then a piece of craft cork and then white cardstock. For the turtle’s eye I used a Bitty Sparkle from CTMH. I tried a Bitty Black brad but that didn’t do anything.

It is hot and humid here but that is okay. Our house is air conditioned and when I get tired of it I go outside and enjoy the hummingbirds and flowers. Not much going on here. Trying to work out a trip to see some cousins in Traverse City.

We were the lucky recipients of The American Community Survey which is a fancy name for the long form from the Census Bureau. We did the regular form in April. This one is pretty intrusive and I don’t want to answer the questions. For example how much money do you get from Social Security? How much are your utilities? They keep calling and I keep telling them I am not going to answer their questions. One time when a worker called she said I didn’t have to answer any questions I felt uncomfortable with so I answered some but they keep calling. One worker told me that every month the Census Bureau sends out 225,000 of these surveys.

Mackinac Bridge

2010-07-05T19:40:00.001-04:00

This is a pretty good depiction of the bridge looking from south to north. The stamp is by Sunnyside stamps. Striped paper is Kaiser Scrapbooking paper. Ric Rack is from CTMH and the brads are from CTMH White Daisy Collection. The seagulls are a clear stamp from Fun in the Sun Collection. The scene is colored with Marvy Markers.

The months of April and May were very dry. Temperature was decent. June was cool and rainy most of the time. July started out very hot and dry now it is in the 70’s and raining.

Today I did a lot of stamping. When I make a card unless I have a specific person in mind to give it to I leave it blank. Today I did all my birthday cards and anniversary cards for the month. And as I stamped each one I put away my stamp pads etc. So I have a fairly clean desk. Saturday when a friend and I took a card class we found out about a scrapbooking/stamping store that has classes in Alpena (2 and half hours south across the bridge) taught by a gal that we like. I came home and did a Google search for the store called them and got put on their mailing list. Jim is hoping to golf tomorrow if it isn’t raining. I have some ideas for things to do just depends on the weather and golfing isn’t one of them.

I Love The Splendor Paper

2010-06-23T20:11:00.001-04:00

Got the idea for this card from Yvonne’s blog-Stamp Your Art Out. I do not however have the Spring Stamp set that she used. This is a clear stamp set that I got at Ben Franklin. I used Dutch Blue because I don’t have the Moonstruck stamp pad. The sailboat is cut out and attached with a square of foam tape.

The months of April and May were extremely dry and now in June it seems like it rains every other day. One thing tho it is a warm rain. I do see blue sky appearing here and there. Jim has a big golf tournament tomorrow and I have lots of things that I want to do in the yard. Went to the dentist today, I had broken off part of a tooth. The filling was still intact so now I am sporting a temporary crown until one comes from the lab. I can always think of lots of things to write about when I am not sitting in front of the computer. LOL.

Half and Half

2010-06-12T21:36:00.001-04:00

The lightning was not good at all for this photo. But I haven’t posted in so long wanted to give it a try. I just love the Splendor paper from CTMH. Stamps are from Stampin’ Up hence the title of my blog.

I got the idea for this card from Yvonne at Stamp Your Art Out blog.

We had an early spring but summer sure is slow in coming. At the beginning of June we were in a severe drought but in the last few days we have had an abundance of rain. Today it was just cloudy and damp. And I was grumpy. I want sunshine.

I had plans of stamping all day but that just didn’t work out. Maybe tomorrow afternoon after we get back from a graduation open house.

We Are Home

2010-05-21T21:45:00.001-04:00

Except for the frog all the other stamps are from Hero Arts. The frog stamp is Inkadinkado. I colored the grass and flowers with markers. Ink pad colors are New England Ivy and Sunflower. The center of the flower is orange stickles. Background paper is from Fiskars. The writing says I Love My Family.

After 12 days and slightly over 3,300 miles we are home. Since arriving home at 3:10 all the clothes are put away or in the process of washing and drying . The mail has been gone through and I even had time to make a card.

We had a good time in Colorado. Graduation was nice and Leola’s baby shower was fun. I even won a door prize (a metal flower in a pot).

Tomorrow I will be gone all day. Making cards with some friends and in the late afternoon going to a Mother Daughter Tea at a neighboring church.

On The Banks of Plum Creek

2010-05-19T22:50:00.003-04:00

We stopped in Walnut Grove, MN this afternoon. The only thing left from Laura's time is the depression in the side of a hill where the dugout was. And that is basically what the sign says. And since I am a distant cousin of Laura's it is very fascinating. There is a museum in Walnut Grove with all kinds of Ingalls artifacts. We will be home on Friday.

Road Trip Day #3

2010-05-11T21:49:00.002-04:00

We are in Colby Kansas, which is in the northeast corner of the state. Tomorrow we will get to our destination.

This picture of the arch over I-80 in Kearney Nebraska was taken out the window with my digital camera. I wanted to check out the chip. I can't believe how sharp the pic is.

Trial and Error

2010-05-06T19:55:00.001-04:00

I have wanted to do something with this stamp for awhile. I colored it with chalk pencils. Then it smeared. The hints that came with the chalks say to take a piece of tissue paper and rub quite firmly with the back of a spoon. I did, but I didn’t get all the excess chalk and it looked dirty. My next step was to take gold Pearl X and go over the image. That helped some but I still wasn’t satisfied, so I took a 2 way glue pen from Stampin’ Up and highlighted a few areas and then put on Stampin’ Up Diamond Dust. I walked away and decided to come back to it later. I finished it up this evening. Cardstock is white, Pansy Purple, Sunflower and Sweet Leaf. Except for the white all is textured. Dew Drops are in each corner.

It was a beautiful sunny day today but with a very cold wind. I’m glad I have no plans to go anywhere tomorrow as the weather is going to be downright nasty with rain and that “S” word in the forecast. Anyway I have plenty to keep me busy trying to get ready to leave on Sunday. I still have to make a graduation card with a cosmetology theme and a baby card. JoAnn’s didn’t have any embellishments for cosmetology so guess I will go on line and see what I can find.

Happy Mother’s Day

2010-05-02T18:08:00.001-04:00

I wanted to make Leola a Mother’s Day card but didn’t have any pregnant lady stamps so got this image all colored from Microsoft Clipart on line. The sentiment is also computer generated. CS is Colonial White and Smokey Plum. Background paper is K & Company Girl Plaid.

It was a pretty good day here. Partly sunny. Jim and I got our walk in and somehow Jim came home with a tick.

Thanks, Kathi for the nice comment on my last card. Making those kinds of cards isn’t really my strong suit but I like making them. I have some other stamps in that set that are pretty neat with a garden theme.

Sleeping Beauty

2010-04-30T16:30:00.001-04:00

The bench and cat are one stamp from Art Impressions unmounted stamps. There were several other stamps in the set. The vines and flowers are small wooden Art Impressions stamps. I used Twinkling H2o’s to color the image. Flowers are stamped in CTMH’s Hollyhock. I used watercolor paper. It is mounted on CTMH Textured Dutch Blue. The Cuttlebug Happy Birthday is the reverse side of the blue.

Today it was supposed to rain all day but not one drop fell. I worked cleaning my area. Still have some fine tuning to do. I need to go and get some groceries, there is mighty slim pickings in this house. Tomorrow I plan to spend it working on laundry and getting some things ready that Leola wants us to bring out. I hope it is somewhat nice tomorrow so I can work outside even for half an hour. Sam has his second interview at Wal Mart this week. He has one algebra class that he is taking this summer. One of these years he will get through college.

The trees here are really starting to leaf out. Daffodils are all blooming, tulips are all coming up and some have buds. And the black flies are out in force. Gotta go get those groceries.

Kathi, if you ever get over this way, would love to have a cup of coffee with you.

Mighty Mac

2010-04-27T21:55:00.001-04:00

This is the Mackinac Bridge as seen from the north end. Every time we want to go south we have to cross this bridge. It is 30 miles from our house. Most of our doctors are south. People that live north of the bridge are called Yoopers and those living below the bridge are called Trolls. At one time the Mackinac Bridge was he longest suspension bridge in the country.

I did not sleep well last night. Hope it was the full moon. Sam said he didn’t sleep well either. I wanted to get down to my cards this afternoon but didn’t make it. Only have a week and a half before we leave for Colorado so I have to get with it.

Jim left at 2 this afternoon to take our car to get the tires balanced. Four hours later and $450 poorer he came home. We needed new tires and the dealer didn’t have any in stock so had to go find some.

Almost

2010-04-17T20:01:00.001-04:00

When I saw this card in the Summer Close to My Heart Catalog I couldn’t wait to make it. I will have to wait to May before I can order the paper pack and stamp set but I think I did pretty good. The bird stamp is from Stampin’Up, the script stamp is Hero Arts and the flourish in the corner is CTMH’s Love Flourishes. Metal frame is from CTMH. CS is Bamboo, Chocolate, Colonial White and Garden Green. The bird is stamped in Brilliance Coffee Bean and colored in a little with Prisma Color pencils. The rest is stamped with CTMH Pepperwood (retired). I put 2 lengths CTMH’s of Chocolate ribbon together and topped it with twill from CTMH. The card is 4 1/2 inches square.

Thursday is was 75 degrees and yesterday and today in the 40’s with a cold wind. This morning we had snow but it didn’t stick to the ground. Thank goodness.

Found out last week that the baby my granddaughter is carrying will be a girl. At this moment her name is going to be Kambrie Rose. She is due Sept 5. We are going out to Colorado in May for her graduation from Cosmetology school and to attend a baby shower.

The other day when I was in town I was very tempted to get some bark nuggets ( I use them for mulch in one of my flower beds) but I knew it was going to be cold and I didn’t want them sitting around. I’m not sure what the forecast is for this coming week.

A Round Peg Does Fit In A Square

2010-04-12T14:45:00.001-04:00

The paper is from the You Rock paper collection. CS is white, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim and Goldrush. Orange sparkles are Hero Arts. Flower brad in the middle is from my stash. Stamp set is CTMH Playful Petals.

Wow, it is the middle of the afternoon and I am posting. That is because we are going to Petoskey for a Fit for Golf class for Jim.

Last Friday our CTMH consultant gave us our Summer catalogs. Boy do I ever like it. So many neat card ideas and just what I need—a couple more paper packs that I just have to have. There are also some neat stamp sets.

I guess the biggest news around here is that we are going to have a great granddaughter. Leola and PJ found out last Thursday that the baby is a girl. They sent and ultrasound pic of her face and she is beautiful. We are going out to Colorado next month when she graduates from cosmetology school and to attend a baby shower her friends are giving her. The shower is early but Leola wanted to have when family could come.

I Have No Idea for a Title. LOL.

2010-04-07T19:57:00.001-04:00

I saw a card made with the Animal Crackers Creative Basic Papers. And it was bright and cheery. Mine seems a little dull. Might have to charge the camera battery.

The last couple of days have been quite stressful. Monday I don’t remember why I was stressed so it couldn’t have been too bad. Yesterday Jim was filling out a form to get our rebate for our new fridge. He was having all kinds of problems with his printer –kept wanting to go to the fax(which we don’t use). Finally I told him to go get the mail and I would install MS Word 2002. He was using Word Perfect and in my opinion it is terrible. Installing Word didn’t help. Went to the fax program and shut off everything, still didn’t help. I was ready to pull out my hair. I thought I’d give Control Panel a try and Jim said click on Printers and Fax and when I did I saw the problem immediately. The fax printer was checked. All I had to do was uncheck it and check the correct printer. Today was some better. I got my are cleaned and made a couple of cards. Dinner was leftovers so that was easy.

Tomorrow we are supposed to get 3-5 inches of wet heavy snow. And maybe that is why I am somewhat stressed. When I worked at school the kids were always hyper a few days before a storm.

Surfin’ Grannie

2010-03-28T21:05:00.001-04:00

The paper for this card came from DCWV Summer Scrapbook in a kit. Stamp is a $1.99 stamp from Ben Franklin. Flip flops are from JoAnn’s. Inside the card is the saying You are only a kid once, but you can be young for a lifetime. Happy Birthday. The sentiment comes with the surfing grannie.

I made this card in about 15 minutes from thought to finish. I went down to my little corner and tried to color an image I had stamped the other day but it didn’t turn out. So I was looking through my stuff and came across this paper and had an eureka moment when I knew the stamp I had to go with it. LOL.

Thursday we went to the dermatologist. I got zapped a couple of times and Jim got off scott free. Then we went looking for a new fridge. Home Depot didn’t have what I wanted and at Lowe’s I probably could have ordered it and it would take a month to get here. The next day we went into our local town (Sault Ste Marie). Our first stop we saw one but we weren’t sure that it would fit so were going to go home and measure again. At our next stop we found one that we knew would fit and it is being delivered Tuesday. The fridge has to go between the counter and a wall so size is very critical.

There was a tad bit of rain overnight and today was partly cloudy, by the weekend we could have temps 60-70.

Time to go watch UnderCover Boss.

Copied

2010-03-21T15:27:00.001-04:00

When I saw this card on Kathi’s blog I fell in love with it. I used paper from the Silhouette pack since I didn’t have black and white polka dot paper. There is natural hemp from CTMH in the buttons because they had four holes and I thought it looked funny. Ribbon is from Joann’s. Flowers are colored with a cranberry marker from CTMH. Stems and leaves are colored with clover meadow.

It is a beautiful sunny day here. Hubby and I just got back from a walk. Not much going on around here. I guess we lead dull lives. No, we don’t lead dull lives, just everyday ordinary ones for which I am very thankful.

Spring Fever

2010-03-17T19:46:00.001-04:00

Some friends and I got together and did some stamping. One of my friends had this bird stamp. I have no idea who it is by. I looked but didn't write it down. It is a wooden stamp. The white crocheted flower is from CTMH’s White Daisy collection. The heart button is from my stash. Background paper is from the Silhouette collection.

I have spring fever. It has been 60 and sunny all week. The snow is gone! Today I raked one of my front flower beds after going to the dr and getting my neck and back cracked. What a relief. Jim brought two of our front porch chairs up and I sat outside. However all good things must come to and end. They are forecasting a big storm for this weekend. Don’t know yet if it will be snow or rain. Some of my crocuses are up and blooming. Have one daffodil with buds on. It is next to the house so should be okay if we get snow. I have even written in my gardening journal that I started yard work March 17!

Kathi how are you coming along with your new computer. I still have a couple of glitches with mine. Mostly software I think. One is a printing problem. When I tell it to print more than 5 copies it just keeps printing. I didn’t get a new printer as mine is still working good and I am used to it. Then there is a mail merge problem in MSWord. It will only print the first three names.

Spring Is Coming

2010-03-07T20:55:00.001-05:00

As I was cleaning my desk this lone card from Lasting Impressions was begging me to stamp something on it. The stamp is from Stampin’ Up. I colored it with Prisma colored pencils. With just the stamped image the card was rather plain and as I had some dew drops on my desk I put them in the depressed embossed squares.

It is really looking like spring this past week. The snow is melting like crazy. It is so nice to drive on clear roads. Although I’m sure we are going to get some more nasty weather before it is finally nice for good. The sun has been just wonderful this past week.

About ten days ago I woke up with a stiff neck. When it didn’t go away I put some heat on it, which made it worse. Ice didn’t help either. Since it was the weekend I had to wait until Monday to call the dr. I got in on Wednesday and he told me I had a sinus infection. This past Friday night I woke up at 1am with my sinuses draining like crazy and my sciatic nerve was killing me so I got up and took some Tylenol PM. I woke up at noon on Saturday feeling a zombie. Today I feel like a real human and was up at 8am.

And Baby Makes Three

2010-03-01T21:35:00.001-05:00

For some reason this card didn’t photograph well. Maybe I need to charge the battery. Cardstock is white. I used the baby buggy embossing die for the Cuttlebug and ran it through three times. The ducks are from the Wild Card cartridge for the Cricket. I colored the beaks with an orange marker. Ribbon is from JoAnn’s. Sentiment says “Congratulations” and is Hero Arts.

In September we are going to be great grandparents. We have seen the ultrasound of the baby at 7 weeks.

I really enjoyed watching the Olympics. Now I can go to bed at a decent hour. I even watched hockey when the US was playing. I thought that NBC did a very good job of covering them. I liked the special interest stories the Mary Curillo did.

The Great Outdoors

2010-02-16T20:58:00.001-05:00

I got this idea from one of the old Stampin’ Up catalogs. The hiking stamp is from Clear Stamp Designs and stamped in New England Ivy. The trees are from CTMH and stamped in Indian Corn Blue. CS colors are Chocolate, New England Ivy and Indian Corn Blue.

Tomorrow I hope to get out in the great outdoors and do some snowshoeing with a friend. We have about 3-4 inches of fresh fluffy snow. Kathy, my foot is fine thanks for asking. The xray showed it wasn’t even bruised.

I have been doing some rearranging in my card making area. I have 4 packs of CTMH Textured cardstock coming on Friday and I need a place to put it.

Gotta get back to the Olympics and figure skating.

No Stamping Required

2010-02-10T20:24:00.001-05:00

I guess the title is a bit of a misnomer. I did stamp think spring. I used papers from the Caboodle paper pack. The bird and brackets are cut out on the Cricut Wild Card cartridge. The birds eye is from the kids section at JoAnn’s and I have had them a long time so don’t know if they are still available. The paper flowers have CTMH sparkle in the center. The sentiment is stamped in Indian Corn Blue because Crystal Blue just didn’t show up.

While the eastern coast is getting hammered with snow we don’t have much. While it is nice to drive on bare roads we could use some fresh snow. The other day Jim and I went snowshoeing and the trail had really been tromped down by a bunch of school kids. It was hard packed but I didn’t think too much about it. Later that evening my right foot started hurting so bad I could hardly walk and I couldn’t sleep very well. Called my GP the first thing Tuesday morning and got an appt for later that afternoon. He x-rayed but didn’t think it was broken but will send it on to the radiologist. He gave me a cortisone shot and now it is just a tad swollen and getting black and blue. The dr told me that you can break the outside bone in your foot just by over exercising. Interesting.

Tuesday we had our monthly card making get together. We all wanted to take advantage of the free paper offer that CTMH has for the month of February so we combined it into one order and had enough to qualify for a party. We decided that no one would be hostess instead we would each get a free marker and split a pack of white cardstock.

What To Call This Post?

2010-01-25T21:43:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe it. After not posting for so long this is the third day in a row that I have made cards and posted. This card uses Life’s Delight Paper Pack. The bird is from the June stamp of the month. Sentiment is Happy Birthday from Hero Arts. Stick pin is Pretty Pins from CTMH. Marker colors are sweet leaf and Pink Carnation (closest I could come to Blush)

Today I worked in my computer room and except for a couple of shelves on the bookcase it is spotless. Tomorrow I will tackle those. This room has been a mess for so long.

Today when I was making cards I cleaned up my desk after each card. Wonder how long that will last. LOL

We have our new hot water heater installed. It will be nice to take a shower instead of washing up in the bathroom sink.

We need about a foot of snow to cover up all the icy roads. And then I can go snowshoeing again.

From Scraps

2010-01-24T20:47:00.001-05:00

As I was cleaning my very messy desk this afternoon I put this card together from things laying on my desk. The big flower is dry embosses and was already put together. Paper is from CTMH Silhouette. Orange flower in the corner is FloraDoodles and I put a dew drop in the center. Sheer ribbon is buttercup from from CTMH.

It rained here all afternoon. Hubby and grandson were shoveling snow away from the house and about every 5 minutes or so I would go and use the shop vac to mop up the water that was coming in the basement door.

Inspired by Martha Stewart

2010-01-22T19:38:00.001-05:00

I have been away from blogging for so long I hardly know where to start. The layout of this card is from a card in the new CTMH catalog. I had made one but it just wasn’t what I had in mind. I kept thinking orange for some reason. Well, the other nigh when I was watching tv there was a commercial for the Martha Stewart show and there was a basket of orange tulips. Colors used are orange, citrus leaf, hygrangea & white. The stamp is from Stampin’ UP. I colored image with Marvy markers. The orange gems at the top are from a Hero Arts Halloween set. Ribbon is from JoAnn’s. I used my Cricut and the Wildcard cartridge to make the 5 1/2 circle.

Now for why I haven’t posted or made a card in a coon’s age. The month of December I was so tired all the time I could hardly do anything. My hand was hurting aching something fierce so it was hard to make cards. In fact I only got out about half of my Christmas cards.

Found out I have a benign nodule on my left thyroid but according to all my test results that shouldn’t make me tired. However my doctor put me on a low dose of thyroid meds. Annual physical showed my kidney function was off so I am working with a kidney specialist to figure out my meds (high blood pressure and cholesterol). But I do have some good medical news. I saw my orthopedic surgeon Jan 11 and he said he could do a procedure called Arthrex Tightrope. He pulled and pushed and manipulated my thumb and the next day my hand was very sore. but then it started to get better and just for the fun of it I tried doing some things that I haven’t been able to do like chop veggies etc. When they called to give me a surgery date I told them that my thumb wasn’t bothering me and they checked with the doctor and he said at this point I could cancel. If I had the surgery I was going to be in a surgical dressing for two weeks and a splint for 6 weeks and very little use of my thumb for a total of 4 months.

Weather here right now is fine but come Sunday night we are supposed to get rain and freezing rain then back to lake effect snow and cold next week. We need some fresh snow for snowshoeing.

Santa Frog

2009-11-25T21:30:00.001-05:00

I saw a frog image very much like this one in a Christmas card catalog. The card was kind of plain with just the frog , hat and lily pad. I added some pizzazz to it. The saying at the bottom says “Toadily Cool, Truly Ribbeting” and is stamped with Black Staz On. The HO HO HO I did while I was editing the photo.

Striped paper is Frances Meyers, Green CS is New England Ivy from CTMH, the frog is stamped with New England Ivy on white. That stamp is All Night Media, the stocking cap is stamped in CTMH’s Cranberry and the stamp is from the All Decked Out set by CTMH. Lily pad and saying are on New England Ivy. The lily pad is done with Lasting Impressions dry embossing. I put red stickles on the cap pom pom. Red ribbon is from JoAnn’s. I popped the frog and lily pad up with 3M mounting tape to give it some dimension.

Today was a very dreary day weather wise. I got the kitchen cleaned up and a bunch of junk thrown away and the pantry tidied up. Tomorrow I am looking forward to cooking a nice Thanksgiving dinner. We are having a rotisserie chicken already cooked I just have to warm it up. Happy Thanksgiving.

From Penguins to Polar Bears

2009-11-20T22:29:00.001-05:00

The inspiration for this card came from Allison’s blog . I didn’t have a penguin so I used a polar bear. The image is from CTMH’s Chillin set. He is stamped in Outdoor Denim. His scarf is cranberry. I put the cranberry cardstock through my snowflake cuttlebug folder. Striped paper is Yellow Bicycle. Ribbon is from JoAnn’s. I used foam tape under the navy but you can’t tell it from the photo.

Yesterday I had a couple of medical tests in Petoskey and I couldn’t eat before I had them and my dear husband also went without breakfast.

I went to therapy center to see what the Get Moving Program was about. The first time I go, one of the therapists tailors an exercise program based on my needs and shows we how to use the equipment. I can go as many times as I want for a month. I wish it were closer than 75 miles away. But if I can go at least once a week (I’m hoping for twice a week) it will be worth it. I want to work on my right glut and left hamstring. They also have a pool but I don’t know if that is part of the deal. I go for my first session Nov 30.

I am reading Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay about a 10 year old girl in 1942 France.

Snowman and Cardinals

2009-11-18T19:37:00.001-05:00

I got the idea for this card from a catalog that had sweatshirts. The snowman is a wooden Penny Black. The cardinals are also Penny Black from a Christmas clear stamp set. The paper the snowman is on is the middle of PSX Snowman border. It is layered on burgundy from the Paper Factory. I stamped the birds in Brilliance Rocket Red. The snowman is colored with Prisma Colored Pencils. I might put some stickle on later but it never shows up in the photos and my hand is hurting and swelled up some and squeezing the stickle bottle really does a number on my hand.

My card area is mostly clean, just a few papers laying around here and there.

I tinkered around some outside this afternoon. Tomorrow it might rain. We have certainly gotten spoiled with all the nice weather we have been having.

Think I will go read the book that came with my new computer about the touch screen stuff.

O Holy Night

2009-11-17T22:24:00.001-05:00

When I saw this stamp by Inkadinkadoo a few weeks ago I fell in love with it. I stamped it in Cranberry on Bamboo. That is layered on some gold shiny paper. The striped paper is last years Christmas pack from Die Cuts With A View. Just a simple gold metallic ribbon finishes it off.

Today was another gorgeous day in northern Michigan. Temps in the 50’s and bright sunshine.

Last Saturday a friend and I went to Petoskey to take a card class. One of the gals there said there was a craft show at the fairgrounds. After the class and lunch we went to check it out. We each got a free 10 minute massage and I participated in a Silent Auction and won a month at the therapy center, along with a tshirt, water bottle and bag. They have a program called Get Moving so will see what that is about.

Slowly but surely I am getting used to my new computer. Yesterday I bought a 16 gig flashdrive to store all my pics from my old computer.

One of our thieves waived his right to a prelim hearing and is going to Circuit Court and the other guy is going for another prelim hearing in 21 days.

I put up my outdoor front porch tree decoration. It is a bunch of evergreens, pinecones, red berries and dried milkweed sprayed silver in an urn. Our porch is covered so it stays good all winter. Last year we put in cedar and one deer came and ate all the cedar so this year I didn’t get any cedar.

Guess that is about it for tonight.

Bird Nest

2009-11-15T20:35:00.001-05:00

The other day a friend and I were walking in the woods and saw this bird’s nest. Don’t know what kind it is. The nest is right next to the trail. I was going to post a picture of a card I made but my camera battery needs charging.

Slowly but surely I am getting used to this new computer. Some of my programs don’t work like Boggle and Microsoft Picture It. With Boggle I can just download a version on line but with Picture It I am going have to learn a whole new editing system. Also I don’t have MS Word, now that one I can get if I am willing to pay big bucks. So far MS Works seems to be very much like Word.

We are still having fantastic weather. Firearms deer season started today and I am sure that the hunters would like colder weather and some tracking snow.

Tomorrow the guys that stole the copper wire are going to court and Jim has been subpoenaed.

Dinner Time

2009-11-05T21:37:00.001-05:00

If you look close you can see two gold finches eating seeds off the cone flower seed heads. I have read that you should leave the heads as the birds like to eat them. This is the first year I have seen them eating. There are several other finches eating here and there but they just blend in too well with the background.

I spent several hours working on getting files etc on my new computer and I have hardly made a dent. Then I had a printer problem but I finally fixed it.

It snowed, rained, sleeted etc off and on all day long. This weekend is supposed to be really nice.

Doorways

2009-11-04T22:12:00.001-05:00

Saw this card made up in one of my favorite craft stores and I just had to have it. The door is one stamp set and the accessories are another set. The sets are from Art Impressions. The accessories are called Oct/Nov and have all kinds of things for those months even Trick or Treat stuff. The doorway stamp is just the doorway. And there are sets for all the months. The pumpkin is stamped on orange paper and cut out. The apple basket is stamped, colored and cut out as are the corn stalks and corn on the door.

Monday was a very interesting day. Jim was outside getting some leaves out of our fish ponds when he heard some noise across the road. When he went to investigate he saw two guys jump into a vehicle and peel out of the driveway of vacant mobile home . He got the license number and called the State Police. They had gotten in through a back window and were stealing copper wire and pipe. They have been responsible for over thirty break -ins. They are now sitting in jail.

Talked to my orthopedic surgeon on Monday because my thumb and hand had not been aching, or hurting for several days and I had not been wearing my compression glove. I was hoping that the tendon had gone back into place but he said no. Keep wearing the compression glove. There is a procedure called Arthrex Tightrope that I will probably have to have down the road sometime.

A couple of friends came over this afternoon and we worked on cards. I got 10 Christmas cards made.

I have a new toy to play with. An HP Touch Smart all in one computer. It is sweet. Has a wireless keyboard and mouse and Windows 7.

Fall

2009-10-21T19:44:00.001-04:00

I saw this PSX stamp in a stamping about 5 years ago and really liked it. But when I went to follow the directions they were a lot more complicated than I wanted to try so the stamp mostly sat unused. Then today I decided to try and color the different sections with markers. This is the third try. CS is white, Pansy Purple, and Autumn TerraCotta. Markers are Pansy Purple, New England Ivy, Outdoor Denim, Sunflower, Pepperwood and Autumn TerraCotta. The sentiment is from For Every Occasion from CTMH. Ribbon is from JoAnn's. I thought it had a little too much white so I dabbed on a little Pansy Purple.

Today was rainy ( we could get over an inch). Thankgoodness some of the leaves are still on the trees to give some color. Instead of doing household chores first then errands etc I did things backwards. Made this card to send to a friend who just had hip replacement surgery, then the errands, then household chores. Still need to mop the kitchen floor. After supper I decided to bake some cookies (Pillsbury take them out of the package and put in oven). I set the timer and went to have some computer time. When the cookies were done I went to take them out of the oven only to discover I hadn't put them in the oven. LOL

My thumb and hand were aching and swollen some last night perhaps because of the rain coming. Before I had knee surgery I could forecast the change in weather.

Thank you, Kathi for your very kind comment about my tree card I posted yesterday. I think that I might use that for some of my Christmas cards. On the inside I will put a Nativity scene or something that signifies the Reason for the Season.

This is long and I want to watch the end of Jeopardy.

Plain and Simple

2009-10-20T21:18:00.001-04:00

Saw this stamp when we took our card class last Saturday. It is really prettier in person because in the photo the glitter doesn't show. Stamp is Penny Black Before the Snow. It is a single tree that is stamped three times in Versa Magic Niagra Mist. The glitter is Art Glitter Angel Dust. The Versa Magic is wet enough that I just sprinkled the glitter directly on the trees and then heat set it a little with my heat gun. The bird is from the Stampin' Up set Branch Out and stamped in Brillance Rocket Red. Ribbon is from JoAnn's. To put just a tiny dab of red stickles I put some on a scrap piece of paper and used a toothpick to put just a very tiny dab on the trees. The stamped image is layered on Olive.

Did a little work outside today. Other than that life is just the same.

A Card Makeover

2009-10-19T18:22:00.001-04:00

I have had this image stamped and colored for a year but just didn't like what I had put the card on. So it sat on my desk and I would look at it but nothing came to me. Yesterday Kathi Carlson's blog featured a stamped image with pumpkins, apples, grapes and pears. It was quite colorful. I stamped my stamp on white, layered it on autumn terracotta that I had run through the autumn cuttlebug folder and added some brads. It really liked it. And I was still looking at this card and laying next to it was a piece of olive cardstock. I held it up to my card and thought this is it. So I ran the olive through the cuttlebug pulled the stamped image off the card base I didn't like and put it on the olive. The card itself is some cardstock I have had for years and it is just a shade darker than CTMH Bamboo. The stamp is from Northwoods Rubber Stamp. Gold brads. Waxyflax is Sunflower from CTMH.

Not too much going on today. Just the usual picking up after the weekend, laundry, etc. I have used my hand a lot today and it hasn't bothered me. Yesterday I didn't do any stamping and only a little time on the computer and it was bothering me. Maybe the key is to use it a lot. Time will tell. Anxious to find out what my surgeon found out from his colleagues.

Did I Or Didn't I?

2009-10-16T21:54:00.001-04:00

Can't remember if I posted this card or not. If I did it has been awhile. The sentiment is from CTMH Treasure Life and so are the very small flower stamps. The pot of sunflowers is from Stampin Up'. Flowers are from my stash with a brad in the middle.

I wanted to jabber some and just couldn't on my previous post of Sgt. Griffin.

Kathy, thanks for your thoughts of flying to Mich and giving me a hug. It worked because I woke up with a smile on my face this morning and it has been a good day. Gave my hand a good workout and I have only had a few twinges of discomfort and that has been just in the last little while. So hopefully this glove will work until we can find a solution. Before I had my knee replacement surgery I wore knee braces and they worked quite well for a few months and then came the time I knew that I needed to have the surgery. One thing about the thumb surgery is that it is outpatient.

It was a nice sunny day today although a bit on the cool side. Jim and I went to town about 4 and got a ton of groceries. I needed to stock up. I have been getting groceries but just enough for a meal or two.

Tomorrow a friend and I are going to Petoskey to a card class. We will be making a Christmas box and 4 coordinating small cards. It is getting late so I better get to bed, have to be ready at 7:45 am.

A Tribute to Sgt Christopher Griffin

2009-10-16T21:36:00.001-04:00

Christopher Griffin was one of eight men killed in that ambush by Taliban forces in Afghanistan Saturday Oct 3. He was from here. He graduated from Rudyard High School in 2004. He and Sam had classes together. His funeral was Wednesday Oct 14 at the high school gym. It was very patriotic and military. A street is being named after him and his name will be on the plaque in the memorial park at the township offices. Also a scholarship fund started in his name at the high school. Christopher is the first soldier to die for our country from this area since WWII. We were not able to attend because I had a doctor's appointment.

Bright and Colorful

2009-10-15T21:44:00.001-04:00

I went to make a bright and colorful card today to cheer me up. I tried making a flower card but couldn't come up with any color combination that suited me. This card took about 5 minutes. The rake stamp is Serendipity. Leaf buttons are from JoAnn's. I made the charm in the middle by stamping the saying "Autumn is a second spring, where every leaf is a flower" by stamping it on shrink plastic and heating it with my heat gun. Cardstock colors are New England Ivy and Colonial White.

Now about the cheering up. Yesterday I had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon because another joint in my right thumb was bothering me and my hand was swelling up. Well he pulled and pushed on my thumb and you could hear grinding and snapping--not good. X-rays revealed that the tendon replacement had dislocated and I now have bone on bone again. Oh joy! My surgeon has never had this happen to him before. I would have to be the first. LOL There are three options. 1. replace the tendon (but that didn't work the first time) 2. artificial joint (but that can cause cysts) 3. fuse the thumb (I would never be able to use my thumb again). My surgeon doesn't want to do any of them. He is going to talk to some of his colleagues and see what they suggest. He has never had this type of surgery fail before. In the meantime I am wearing a compression glove on my hand. It does keep my hand from swelling. Oh yes, if I do have surgery it is 8 weeks in a cast!

I watched a U-tube video of a young man with no arms or legs and he gives motivational speeches so I really have nothing to complain about.

The leaves here are just a tad past their peak. Jim and his golfing buddy are going to the golf course tomorrow to bring their golf cart home.

Queen Anne's Lace

2009-09-24T19:21:00.001-04:00

This card was inspired by the Queen Anne's Lace that grows wild at the end of our driveway. I used the September SOM from CTMH for the white flowers. For the buds I used the corner of small background stamp from Stampin Up. Ink colors are White Daisy and Olive. Cardstock is olive and background paper is retired (CTMH)gingham check in olive. Ribbon is from JoAnn's. You can't see it in the photo but I put a little Diamond Stickle on the white flowers.

So far for the month of September the weather has been absolutely lovely. But that is all due to change Sunday night.

Kathi, the stamps that I tried to make a fall wreath with were way too big. I even made the circle bigger but to no avail. Then as I headed up the stairs for another pursuit I thought maybe if I cut out the flowers. So that is a project for another day.

40 Mile Point

2009-09-07T14:02:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was our 50th wedding anniversary. We decided to take a trip down the Lake Huron side of Michigan and go to all the lighthouses we could. This one is called 40 Mile Point because it is 40 miles south of Cheboygan and 40 miles north of Alpena. We were able to see 10 lighthouses. Some were open to the public including 40 Mile Point. Some are active lighthouses.
This post is dedicated to Tiffany B. at the Residence Inn in Saginaw Mi. We didn't make motel reservations because we didn't know how long it would take us or where we would be when night fell. The first night we ended up in Oscoda MI. The room was nice but the bed was very uncomfortable. There was a jacuzzi in the room and I had to use that to get the kinks out. LOL. Saturday afternoon we had looked at all the light houses and headed for home. We stopped in Saginaw at the Residence Inn. Tiffany greeted us and indeed they had a room. She quoted me a price of $109 and I said ok. Then as we were chatting she asked if I was a AAA member and I said "no" but I have a military ID. Jim was in the Air Force for 22 years. That got the price down to $65. She also asked if we were there for business or pleasure and I told her we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. She replied "congratulations". We put our bags in the room and left to do a little shopping. Hobby Lobby is in the shopping center right next door and then we went to the Family bookstore and I got a book I had been wanting that had just come out. When we got back to our room there was a computer generated Congratulations paper and when I picked it up underneath was a nice frame to hold 4 pictures and both were from Tiffany. I told her that I was going to tell everyone how sweet she was. And she knows I am putting her in my blog.
It is a beautiful day out so think I will go enjoy it for awhile and then watch golf with Jim.

A Month Has Gone By

2009-08-22T20:41:00.001-04:00

It has been exactly one month since my last post. I ran the Indian Corn Blue cardstock through the Happy Birthday Cuttlebug folder. The stripe paper is Kaiser Cabbage Patch (it is double sided). Mountain stamp is Beautiful Things from CTMH, bears are from Art Impressions. Four brads in the corners are Heidi Snapp.

A lot of little reasons for not posting. No mojo, got involved in genealogy (found a cousin who lives in Wisconsin and this coming weekend we are going to meet her), and it has been nice summer weather and I have been outside.

Our grandson Sam is officially engaged with a wedding date spring of 2011 when he graduates from college.

Seems like I should have a lot more to say after being absent for a month but my mind is blank.

At Last A Card

2009-07-22T18:47:00.001-04:00

Had this idea in my head but didn't have a chance to put it together until today. The image is from Penny Black's Toadily set and the sentiment "How Are Things at Your Pad?" is from Stampin' UP. The striped paper is from Paper Pizazz. I used my oval Nestabilities and colored the frogs with Prisma Color pencils.

Today I chatted with Leola on Facebook and cleaned off my computer desk. Then I entered some family information into my genealogy program. I hadn't done much of anything with it in a long time. And I wanted to tell PJ's dad where to find my information. Well I finally found it and lo and behold there was a tree with some of my same info. I emailed the person who had the tree and it turns out that my grandmother and her grandfather were brother and sister. And the best part is we each have info the other one doesn't.

It is almost 7pm so I better go and get some dinner going.

Back In Time

2009-07-20T17:13:00.001-04:00

When Kathi Carlson posted pics of her grandsons at the fair watching Miranda show her horses reminded of when Leola took lessons and showed horses. Leola was between the ages of 8 & 11. She was 9 & 10 on Danny (white pony) and almost 11 when she did show jumping. She still loves horses.

I'm Still Here

2009-07-08T21:35:00.002-04:00

It seems like forever since I have posted. Monday and Tuesday were cold and crummy days and I didn't get a lot done. Monday I started sorting boxes of pictures. Still have a ways to go. Today was nice and sunny, went out and watered my flowers. Took a short walk. Then this afternoon we did something that we have never done before. While we were in Colorado we had some car trouble but thanks to a son who is a mechanic it didn't cost us as much as it could have. The car has 191,000 miles and we decided it had made its last trip. We went to town just to look and we now have 2008 Chevy Impala and paid cash for it! We have always looked around and have never before paid cash for a car. The GM dealer assured us he wasn't going to be put out of business.

Kathi, I went to the Cuttlebug Spot but it won't let me leave a comment. Did you have trouble with it?

One of these days I'll get back to posting cards.

A Grandson's Handiwork

2009-07-04T19:36:00.001-04:00

A few years ago I had made a rock garden. Then a couple of years ago a lady came flying around the corner in her car and did my rock garden in. Last spring we left it alone to see what plants had survived. This year Sam said he would give me 8 hours of his time on a nice day to do anything that I wanted done in the yard. Yippee. So today I gave him some basic instructions as to what were plants and what were weeds. This is what he came up with. The pink flowers are from an ivy germanium that is on a shepherd's hook. The bush in the rock pile is false indigo and gets neat seed pods in the fall. Right now it has blue flowers but they aren't showing up. We worked outside today and I got all my plants planted in containers. Still have three perennials to plant when I decide where I want them.

I grilled hamburgs but they didn't compare to the ones that grill guy did in Trinidad at our granddaughter's wedding reception. LOL

Now it is housecleaning time as Samantha (Sam's girlfriend) is coming up tomorrow evening for a couple of days.

Hope you all had a nice 4th.

Mountain Top View

2009-07-02T19:27:00.001-04:00

Good Evening,

Our son and his wife live on the top of a mountain in Colorado and this is the view they see. The mountains off in the distance are the Sangre De Cristo mountains in southern C0lorado.

Today was cold, rainy and miserable. However late this afternoon it started to clear up and the sun is mostly shining. Cleaned off a kitchen counter that held a 30 year old 5 inch analog tv. That was mostly Jim's counter and now he has no place to hide all his collection of stuff. Outdated coupons, etc. most of it went in the trash. If I can find a place to recycle the tv will do it. LOL.

Yesterday I left the house at 8:15am and returned at 9pm. I picked up a friend and we stopped at a couple of greenhouses on the way to Alpena (a 2 hr drive one way) for my dr appointment. That went well. Most of my aches and pains were nothing. Did find out that I have arthritis in my left thumb but it doesn't hurt. It took almost two hours at the dr because he was behind and I needed x-rays. After that we went to Wal-Mart, Staples and Culver's for ice cream before heading home. We had a carload of flowers so hope to get some planted tomorrow. It is supposed to be sunny.

Paul and Noreen, I mailed a cd of wedding pictures to you today. Talked to Leola today and she was busy scrubbing the tub in their new apt. Said it looked like no one had lived there in a long time.

What A Yucky Day!

2009-06-30T19:48:00.001-04:00

This photo of cosmos was taken a couple of years ago. I have been just whipped since we got home from Colorado. Yesterday I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. Today is better. But it was very frustrating. I made a cd of the wedding pics we took for Leola and PJ and for his folks. PJ's folks lost their camera. I didn't have any trouble making the cd's but when I went to make a label oh brother! I ran into all kinds of problems. Probably due to the fact that I didn't have the right paper for the software. Hope to remedy that situation tomorrow. It has been cold and rainy the last two days. Guess I will go make a list of all the things I would like to get tomorrow. I have to go see my orthopedic doc in Alpena tomorrow and a friend and I are hoping to stop at some greenhouses to get flowers.

Thanks, Kathi, for your kind comments about Leola and PJ I have passed them on.

Unity Candle

2009-06-27T21:20:00.001-04:00

Leola and PJ are lighting the unity candle but I wanted to show you how pretty the back of her dress is.

Flowers

2009-06-27T21:08:00.001-04:00

Went and got a couple of hanging plants today. Now the front porch looks more user friendly. We have had a few sprinkles. Just enough to make it humid. Perennials are doing really well. A lot of them were blooming when we got home. Got the tail end of the poppies, they had nice big buds when we left.

Congratulations, Paul and Noreen on your 25th wedding anniversary.

Retake

2009-06-27T10:50:00.003-04:00

Here is a much better picture of the Little Brown Church in the Vale. The church was started in 1860 and still has the original wooden floor. The sun is shining here but supposed to rain this afternoon so want to get outside and play in my flowers.

We Are Home!

2009-06-26T22:23:00.002-04:00

We got home about 9 pm tonight. Flowers are a bit shaggy and need some tlc. House is fine except for a leaking bathroom sink. I'm tired, still have to put away all the stuff we took and added to. I always take way too many clothes. We have called everyone to let them know that we have arrived safely. More later esp wedding photos.

Little Brown Church in the Vale

2009-06-25T21:00:00.004-04:00

Hello,

Today we stopped at the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashua WI. http://www.littlebrownchurch.org It is still an active church. Tomorrow we will be home. Yea! Last night we asked for a suite and all we got was a room with a sofa sleeper. Tonight we have a lovely suite at Best Western in Sparta WI. Nice king size bed some space between the bed and sofa, jacuzzi (which I am going to take advantage of when I am done here). It even has a TV in the bathroom!

Kathi, you were right the tea set was a hit. Leola wouldn't even let PJ touch it.

Paul, did you find your camera yet?

The Wedding

2009-06-21T14:34:00.003-04:00

Here is a picture of Leola and Paul (PJ) Romero. The wedding was beautiful. The reception is in two and a half hours. We are soaking up the coolness of our room before we head outside for the outdoor reception. I'm on my laptop so the picture is unedited. It is nice to have the whole family together and PJ's family seems nice and friendly.

A Lazy Day

2009-06-20T21:05:00.002-04:00

Today it rained most of the day, but now it is clear. We mostly stayed in our room. Needed to do laundry and the guest laundry was just around the corner from our room. Our son, Barry, spent the day with us. Sam (grandson) and SamD (girlfriend) have arrived and are getting some rest. We went to Wal-Mart, I needed to walk and the guys needed some stuff to keep our car A/C going on the trip home. I checked out the craft dept and came away with a 16 page album kit. I have most of the pages done. Just need to put in the pics and add some embellishments. Of course the photos I'm going to use are wedding photos. The album is not a wedding album per se but it was quick and easy and then I can work on a traditional one.

We Made It!

2009-06-18T23:20:00.003-04:00

We are in Trinidad at the nicest Best Western. I had made reservations on line and when I checked I asked the gal at the desk if she had any suites. She replied that she had given us a suite at a very discounted rate because we were going to be here 5 nights and had a military discount. This suite is more like an apartment. We have a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath. TV in the living room and bedroom. I might not want to go home again. LOL

Until last night we had an uneventful journey. When we pulled into the motel we heard a noise but we both decided it was the semi's going by. However in the morning when got ready to leave we heard the same noise and it was coming from our car. Fortunately there was a Chevy dealer 1/2 mile down the road. Our air conditioning compressor had gone out. A new one cost $900 and they didn't have any instock. Our car has 190,000 miles on it so we really didn't want to spend any more money than necessary on it. They were going to try and put in a new bearing and then the service guy remembered that they had taken one off a car because it was leaking freon but it turned. They would put that one on for us but couldn't gaurantee how long the freon would last. That was only $140. When we get back home we are going car shopping.

This photo was actually taken in Texas a couple of years ago but looks like some of the country we went through today.

WOW!

2009-06-13T21:19:00.001-04:00

My friend, Lonnie, made this card from the same napkin that I made my card from. Her card is 6 x 6. I asked her permission to photograph the card and put it on my blog. The stamp set is from CTMH (I'm too pooped to go down in the basement and look it up). I'll tell you another time. She added some brown to her plaid and green also.

Weather wise today was nice until about 4 then it cooled down and rained. I have given Sam instructions on watering my 4 hanging plants, house is clean, and I think that I have everything in the suitcase that we are going to need. Sunday evening we are having dinner with some folks we have seen in about 35-40 years. And I stressed more over what I was going to wear to meet them than anything else. Went to a card class this afternoon with Lonnie and her granddaughter. It was a lot of fun and I learned a new trick. Some of my acrylic stamps have lost their stickiness. Linda, our instructor, said that Hero Arts Acrylic stamp cleaner works for that. We each bought a bottle and it does work. I'm gonna go put my feet up and relax.

From a Napkin

2009-06-12T21:47:00.001-04:00

The other day when we had our card club, our hostess had napkins with three daisies. Two yellow and one orangeish. The napkins had yellow and green plaid where I have the circles (I didn't have any plaid). The stamp is an altered Penny Black. I used just one daisy and stamped three times. Colors are Autumn TerraCotta and Sunflower. Sunflower centers are Outdoor Denim. Stems are Clover Meadow. Circle paper is Lime Rickey from Basic Grey. Cardstock is white and Outdoor Denim.

I am basically packed. Just have a few last minute things to do like balance checkbook, look up some addresses, vacuum, wash the kitchen floor, etc. Speaking of addresses one of the things we want to do is go to Oshkosh Wisconsin and look up the place my Mother lived when she was a baby. We have the address but when I put it in Microsoft Streets it came up east and west. I have a picture of the house across the road from where she lived but since that was in 1915 I'm sure the house has changed. My Mother's older brother froze to death on Lake Winnebago January 23, 1915 when he was 12 years old. I have a picture of him, my Mother, and another brother and sister. My Grandmother told me the story but I never could find a birth or death record of him. He was on the 1910 census but I wanted more. Then one day I found the newspaper article about the tragedy quite accidentally. He was indexed under his grandfather's name. And it was front page headlines. Even though it was tragic the article was very informative and fascinating. There was a picture of him and it was the same boy in the picture that I have. Didn't mean to get so long but I think that genealogy is so intriguing.

Since we are leaving for the wedding on Sunday I won't be posting any cards for awhile but maybe I might post about our travels. Later

A Tea Party

2009-06-10T20:59:00.001-04:00

Jim got this tea set when he was stationed in Okinawa in 1960. When our granddaughter would spend the night Grandpa and she would have waffles for breakfast and tea in this set. The other day when I was talking to her she asked me if we still had the dragon tea set. I replied "yes". Then she wanted to know if she could have it when we were no longer on this earth. She said that she and Grandpa had lots of good times over that tea set. When I told Jim he said she can have it now. So we are taking it with us to Colorado and it will be one of her wedding gifts.

Penny Black Sticker Card

2009-06-08T19:57:00.001-04:00

Saturday a friend and I took a Penny Black Sticker card class. This is not one of the cards we made. This is my own creation using a different set of PB Stickers. This sticker set is called Garden Poems. There are 5 different flower stickers and 5 rectangle stickers that can be used for ribbons or other accents. One of the neat things we learned is to back your sticker with scrap cardstock so you can see where you want to put it before adhering it to the card. And if I remember right you could also use talcum powder. The sticker is mounted on CTMH Tulip, then Olive and that is put on Colonial White. It is finished off with a gold spiral and three dew drops.

This has been a November like day. Rainy and cold (50). On the local news tonight the strawberry farmers are saying that their crops are at least 10 days behind. They should be picking right now and there aren't even any strawberries on the plants-just flowers. I have to go cut up some papers and run some thru the Cuttlebug for card club tomorrow.

Penny Black and White

2009-06-04T20:00:00.001-04:00

Just couldn't resist the play on words. This card is pretty straight forward. The stamp is Penny Black's A Touch. Brads are from Hobby Lobby.

Today was a great day. It was summer weather. I weeded in one of my flower beds, Jim and I took a walk. Chatted with my daughter in law. Next Tuesday is our monthly card club and this is the card I am taking. We each bring a card and enough stuff so the other gals can make the card. We all go home with several very nice cards.

Fit For A Wedding

2009-06-02T21:21:00.001-04:00

Our granddaughter is getting married June 21. Her colors are cream and red. The colors on the card are Colonial White and Cranberry. Stamp colors are cranberry and olive. The writing on the stamp is so small that I cannot make out who made it. The red flower is from Prima's Christmas collection, with a clear dew drop in the center. And I used the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder.

This is the inside of the card. I used the new Wild Card Cricut Cartridge. I don't have any words yet because I just found a site with lots of good wedding sayings. WWW.imag-e-nation.com

I had a very fun afternoon. I took my new Cricut cartridge over to a friend's house and we played all afternoon making different things. It has six different functions. And there is no end of things to make. I bought it because it makes round cards. It makes envelopes too, but only for cards up to 4" square. Tomorrow I am going shopping for something to wear to the wedding.

Scraps

2009-05-31T22:00:00.001-04:00

As I was cleaning up my area yesterday I picked up these three colors and thought "Hey they don't look too bad together". I think that the striped paper might be Basic Grey. The purple and orange are both textured. The flower is CTMH Taffy stamped with Pansy Purple. The flower stamp is Stampin' UP and I stamped twice and cut it out. I popped it up with a pop dot to make it stand out.

I got a good report about my hip. Don't need hip replacement. It is my hamstring causing all the problem, so I have a couple more stretching exercises to do. The weather has been frightfully cold and rainy but this week the sun is supposed to shine. I don't have any flowers planted. Have lots of perennials and they are all coming up good in spite of the cool weather. There are a couple of plants coming up in the front yard that I won't let Jim mow (and he is good about that) until I see what they are. And if I like them I'll put them in my flower beds.