Santa Frog

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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?

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

Flowers

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

   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. 

Happy Memorial Day

Last weekend I saw lots of patriotic cards when I was blog surfing.  This one would work for either Memorial Day or the 4th of July.  The paper is from CTMH Patriotic and is retired.  The stamps are Hero Arts.  I stamped them in Outdoor Denim and ran the paper over the stamp pad.  The sentiment is from JoAnn's.  A couple of years ago I bought a file folder filled with paper super cheap.  The yarn is Sassy Strands from CTMH.

Today was another rainy day.  I did manage to get out and get a walk in.  I cleaned up my area.  Tomorrow am going over to a friends and we are going to make graduation cards.  I only have one to do and except for the stamping it is done.  So I am going to work on circle cards. 

A Copy Cat Card

This card is on page 52 of the CTMH Summer Idea Book.  They used stickers but I used punches and stamps.  The colors are the same; buttercup, dutch blue, hollyhock and sweet leaf.   Sentiment is from With Love.  I stamped the daisy from With Love in CTMH's Daisy White.  Punches are McGill and Fiskars.  Rickrack is from JoAnn;s.  As soon as I saw this card in the book I wanted to make it as it is such a bright cheery card. 

Yesterday I did better on the laundry than I did making cards because I got caught up in a book and couldn't put it down.  We had lots of wind and rain and in the evening it started to snow.  At three in the morning the ground was all covered with snow.  The weatherman said tonight that we are 20 degrees below normal.  Today the sun was out but it was still cold (40) and windy.  The leaves are coming out on the trees.  Tonight is the finale for Survivor and I'd like to see Taj or JT win. 

At Last!

This card is my take on a card from the new Summer Idea book. page 82.  The round carousel cardstock is from Stampin' Up.  The other papers are from the Boom Di Ada Paper Pack Level 2.  It doesn't show up very good but around the outside is stamped "With Love" from Say It In Style.  The "Thinking of You" is from For Every Occasion.   Brads are CTMH Bitty Brads.  Green flower is Flora Doodles from Petaloo.  White flower is Prima.  Ribbon is CTMH Vineyard Berry. Ink color is pepperwood.  I used my Cricut to cut the shapes.

It seems like forever since I posted.  I have been having a lot of trouble with pain in my right hip so May 27 I have an appointment with my favorite orthopedic surgeon.  It bothers me enough that I can't go for a longer walk than 1/2 mile and doing yard work is tricky. 

Tuesday I hosted a CTMH gathering.  It was lots of fun.  Sheri (our consultant )always has fun cards for  us to do.  I was in shock when she told me that the sales were over $700!  I am anxious for all the stuff to come.  

Today we had over an inch of rain today.  Which is good because everything was so dry. 

Gotta go it is Survivor time.

Three Circles

I finally got some mojo.  LOL  This past Tuesday we had our card club and one of the gals used this template but she had animals in the circles.  I put flowers from Penny Black stamps, colored them with Prisma Color Pencils and then used Stickles.  The sentiment is from CTMH's Treasure Life set.  The dotted paper is from Emporium.  The blue paper is Bazill and is textured.  The stripe is from my stash. 

I have been in a reading mood lately.  A friend and I bought a series of Murder She Wrote books and I have been devouring them.  I think that I have one left.  Sometimes I can figure out who done it and sometimes not.  We still have snow in our yard but it is mostly gone.  I have done some raking and pruning bushes.  And I have no pain in my thumb when using the pruning tools.  Today we went out to check out the damage the deer did to our dappled willow.  We could only see two big branches and they were not in good shape.  Jim cut them off but under the snow there were lots of new growth.  Jim pulled them out of the snow and we tied them up so they would grow a little straighter.  Tomorrow we are supposed to get a few sprinkles but that will be good because everything here is so dry that the fire danger is very high.

My little corner is a disaster.  Can hardly find a place to put my feet so I guess I better go start cleaning.

Stuck on Pink

Seems like the last few posts I have done have been with pink paper.  The striped paper is Basic Grey's Sultry collection.  The pink behind the tulip is Watermelon from CTMH.  The stamp is Hero Arts.  Colors used are Watermelon and Clover Meadow.  The ribbon is from JoAnn's. 

I made this card yesterday but didn't get a chance to post.  And today we were gone all day.  Had an appointment to see my orthopedic surgeon for a check up on my thumb surgery.  Everything is fine and I don't need to return.  I have developed a ganglion cyst on the outside of my right wrist.  It doesn't bother me unless I turn my hand just right.  If it gets really bothersome I can go back and have it surgically removed.  But I think that I have had it with surgeries for awhile.  Also got a shot in my left big toe as the arthritis is bothering me because I'm walking funny due to the sciatic nerve on my right side.  Enough of my aches and pains.  Will be glad when I can get outside on a regular basis and do yard cleanup (our yard is  still under 3 feet of snow), walk etc.  Now I am not complaining about the snow, it is just a fact of life here.  We live in the woods and our yard is always the last to have the snow gone.   

A Summer Flower

Sometimes I have a hard time thinking of a title.  The stamp is from Stampin UP and is embossed in white on Basic Grey Sultry CS.  That is layered on paper from Yellow Bicycle called the Roses and is double sided.  For the card itself I used Ponderosa Pine because it was all cut and folded on my desk,  it doesn't show up too good because of the black background.  To finish off the card I used Martha Stewart's lace punch and added dew drops. 

Now that the sun is about to set it looks like it is trying to shine.  It has been cool and cloudy all day.  This morning we had a few rain showers.  Since I got my desk cleaned off last week I am doing pretty good at keeping it clean.  I am trying to put away all my stuff before I am done for the night.

Toadily Pink

I finally got the Penny Black Frog set, Toadily Yours. I colored the image with Prisma Color Pencils.  The flower petals have fruit punch stickles on them but they don't show up in the photo.  The paper is from a 12 x 12 pack of Basic Grey called Sultry.  To finish off the card I used Dew Drops. I inked around the edges of the white cardstock with Hollyhock and thought it too dark so went over it with Watermelon and liked it much better.

Yesterday the current issue of PaperCrafts magazine came and it contained a 20% off coupon for Michael's.  The nearest Michael's is three hours south of us in Traverse City.  However, all is not lost as I want to go to a Flower & Garden show in TC the first weekend in April.  It has been super windy here the last couple of days.  Tonight we could get some rain.  Yesterday I cleaned our bedroom.  Things sure do get out of hand when your hand is in a surgical dressing and cast for 5 weeks.  Today I have been sorting papers in the computer room.  Once it gets nice I want to spend the time outside. 

The Shack

Here are my thoughts on The Shack.  I was ready to throw the book across the room, stomp on it, put it in the trash and burn it when I came to the part where God is portrayed as a woman.  And I didn't like God being referred to as Papa.  However I made myself  keep reading and I couldn't put the book down.  I liked the theme of forgiveness and how God wants to indwell in each of us.  And the ending was so cool. 

Boom Di Ada Frog

This is my take on Kathi Carlson's butterfly cards.  I used the Boom Di Ada Paper Packet Level 2.  The images are a new set from Stampin' Up.  I popped dotted the flies.  I stamped the frog in CTMH's Olive on to the green dotted paper in the pack.  The log is stamped with brown staz-on.  The flies are black staz-on. 

Today was a little cooler than yesterday due to the wind.  But it was still sunny and the snow is slowly melting.  And dear sweet Jim shoveled a path to my greenhouse.  The next nice sunny day I'm going to take a book and sit and read out there. 

I have started reading The Shack. 

Kathi,  your tooth story reminds me of when I had my first appointment with my orthopedic surgeon.  My friend and I were eating lunch just before my appointment when to my horror my right front tooth was in my sandwich.  My tooth is capped and it broke off at the gum line.  In talking to him I tried not to open my mouth wide but then I couldn't talk so I just told him I had just lost my tooth.  It was embarrassing. 

Paper Garden

The papers for this card are from CTMH's Paper Garden Level 2.  Flower image is Stampin' Up hostess set.  Sentiment is Inkadinkado's Clear Stamps.    I colored the image with Prisma Color pencils. 

Today was another gorgeous day in the Eastern U.P. of Michigan.  Jim and I got out and took a walk.  I'll be glad when we can walk in the woods.  But there is a ton of snow to melt before that can happen.  And this weekend we could get more snow. 

Kathi, yesterday when I was in Wal-Mart I picked up a copy of The Shack.  I haven't started to read it yet as I have another book to finish. 

Pretty In Pink

I know that this stamp set from Stampin" Up has been done lots of times but I just got it yesterday.  I used the Floral Tapestry Paper Pack Level 2 from CTMH.  Ribbon is from JoAnn's.  The pin is CTMH Pretty Pins.  I stamped the image with CTMH's Watermelon.  The lace edge is a Martha Stewart punch. 

As I was putting the stamps together I made one card from the set.  And as I got done making the card, I put everything away, even my stamp cleaner and cutter etc.  Now I have a clean work area.  There is one card on it to finish but all the materials I used are put away.  And to finish I just need to color the image and add some embellishments. 

I gave my hand and thumb quite a work out today and it is only slightly aching.   Must mean that I am healing. 

Time for supper.  Later.

Think Spring

The last two photos I posted have shadows in them and I couldn't figure out why until I had a lightbulb moment.  I was missing one of my desktop lights as the lightbulb in my floor lamp by my computer burnt out and I brought up the desk lamp so I could see.  So hopefully then next time I photograph my cards it will be taken care of as the desk lamp is going back in the basement tonight.  Stamp set is from Stampin' Up.  I colored the flowers with gel pens and the flowerpots with a colored pencil.  The white CS looks dingy but it is really bright white.  I used a Nestability and my Cuttlebug for the circle.

Today I spent a good share of the day in my corner putting away, tidying up etc. in anticipation of a large Stampin' Up order coming today.  It finally arrived about 6 so guess what I will be doing tomorrow.  LOL. 

For The Sports Fan

A teen in our church is having a birthday next week and he plays all these sports.  The card is 6x6.  Colors are black and orange, because those are the school's colors.  The background paper is Barn Red from CTMH and I am pretty sure this particular piece is  retired.  Shoes are from Jolee's.  Buttons are from JoAnn's.  I cut the shank off the baseball and put waxy flax through the basketball.  I'll stamp Happy Birthday on the inside. 

Today I was able to turn the ignition key with my right hand.  Hooray.  Saturday when I went to make cards I put a popsicle stick through the key and that  gave me enough leverage.  It is nice and sunny and in the 30's.  While I am anxious for spring I also would like to get out a few more days and go snowshoeing.  A friend and I were going to go today but she fell and hurt her back and my left ear is plugged up and hurts whenever I swallow.  I have a Dr.'s appointment tomorrow.