Where has the year gone?

I can't believe it is almost the end of November already.  Its just so crazy that the older you get the quicker time flies.  I remember my mom telling me that years ago but I really had no idea how true that is.  I read a joke somewhere that age is like a roll of toilet paper.  The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.  That may not be exactly the words, but you get my drift. :-)

I don't even know where to begin since my last post.  I have done up some Christmas cards I would like to share with you. The summer went so fast that I hardly even remember what I did.  My grandkids are all back in school now so I expect after the Christmas Holiday things should slow down some.  I always seem to be able to find time to make a card or two. 

Okay, on to the cards...I totally didn't take any pictures of the birthday cards I made this summer and I am so bummed.  I really need to remember to do that.  Here are the Christmas cards I have been making.

These are all Close to My Heart cards.  The paper on the first two is Pear and Partridge. The burlap ribbon and the stamps are Close to My Heart.  The last picture is the stamp from the Pear and Partridge Card Workshop and the paper is Avonlea.  For those who are familiar with the the ornament stamp will probably notice that I stamped the big one upside down.  Yikes.

The stamp is from CTMH, the paper is from Basic Grey, Nordic Holiday 6 x 6 pad.

I don't own a Christmas wreath stamp so I used a a flower wreath stamp from Hot off the Press, Sweet Blossoms & Swirls. I colored it with Spectrum Noir markers and touched the little flowers with some red Smooch. The face of the card was embossed with the Cuddlebug Snowflake folder.

I love the triple stamped layered look.  My mother in law had one that she had gotten from a swap and I just had to try my hand at it.  The snowflakes are from multiple stamp packages.  I hand drew the ornament and colored it with Spectrum Noir markers and added some little Dazzle jewels from Hot Off The Press, Bitty Pearls from CTMH.

Close to My Heart stamps were used here.

I got this stamp in with my CardMakers magazine subscription. UK version. I used white liquid embroidery for the snow on the trees and ground, Stickles for the glitter and Spectrum Noir markers to color it in.

This ornaments stamp is CTMH October Stamp of the Month. The polka dot satin ribbon is also from CTMH. I believe the paper is from Basic Grey, Nordic Holiday.

I think I will end for the day.  Hopefully I will be back sooner than a month.  Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving day.

Spectum Noir Markers

I neglected to mention my new find.  Spectrum Noir markers are an alcohol marker, but much less expensive than the Copics.  They come 6 markers to a pack and are all color coordinated to blend with each other.  They come in 12 different packs. I have a few Copics but not enough really to do any good blending.  I have noticed these SpectrumNoir markers in several card magazines and PaperWishes catalog.  Last week when I was shopping at JoAnn's with my mother in law I found these.  They were like $14.50 at JoAnn's and with a 50% off coupon I had to give them a try.  I love them!! They are a little wetter I think than Copics so you have to be careful when you are coloring in your images by the edges because they do bleed.  I do recommend them.  I will be investing in the rest of the packages.  So far I have the Pinks, Blues and Cool Grays.  I have Reds, Yellows, Greens and Pales coming in the mail.  Oh...and they are much less expensive online.

I just wanted to share this with you in case you had seen these like I did and were hesitant to buy them. Go for it!!! I believe they are worth every cent! And saving cents TOTALLY makes sense. Hee hee...I had to add that part.

Until next time!

It's Been Awhile

Don't you just hate it when you are typing along and have a goodly amount typed and then you just wipe it out?  ARRGH!  That just happened to me.  Somehow my computer highlighted all but the first sentence of my post and POOF! It all disappeared. A bit frustrating I must say.  I need to make sure that I don't hold my fingers on the keys because that is what happened when I lost everything.

Okay....hmmm. Where was I?  Okay, I think I have it. 
The rainy season is here and I have been busy in the kitchen and not doing a lot of card making. I've made a few birthday cards and yes, I sealed them up in the envelope and didn't take any pictures.  Normally I have made 10 Halloween cards for our grandkids by now but I haven't made one.  They are so fun too.  Instead I have been busy making bread, baking pies and cakes with the wonderful Fall bounty of my friends orchard.  I decided the kids will get Fall cards instead of Halloween.  Not as much fun but they love getting mail so I think it will be okay.

My mother in law will be here next weekend and I know I will be very busy crafting while she is here. She will be here for 10 days and with  Christmas coming  we'll be like busy elves, putting out the Christmas cards as fast as we can. I'm so lucky that I don't have to entertain because we just entertain ourselves in the craft room.

Because I have not taken any pictures of current cards, I thought I would post some previous cards.  These are a couple of Halloween cards from last year.

 

 

 

Time Slipped Away

I really want to be able to post something at least once a week.  Time has slipped away from me and this hasn't happened.  I haven't been idle though.  I am always working on something but not always so good at taking pictures. 

I made my daughter a goofy little sock monkey.  The sock monkey thing started when I made my grandson his sock monkey.  Then his mommy wanted one, so I made her one out of a purple striped pair of socks that I picked up at the thrift store. (It was new...not used)  Now my other daughter wants one.  I suspect there are many more to come.

I didn't get a picture before I mailed it off so I had my daughter email me a picture.  You can't really see her hat but I made a pink and purple polka-dot bow and attached it to the hat.  I named her "Dotty". 



 

Circular Step Card

I love making different cards.  My brain just seems to close down when I try to make a "regular" card. By "regular" I just mean stamping and decorating a "regular" close card.  Does that make sense?  I do enjoy making different folded cards.  Step cards have been really difficult for me. I don't know why.  I swear I am dyslexic when I am cutting and folding.  They always come out backward and sometimes I will do the same mistake cut three times.  At that point.  I throw it away and walk away from the craft table.  I will always come back to it a little later because I just refuse to let paper defeat me.

This is a circular side step card that I used as an entry in the CFC Outlawz challenge as my second card.  The dragonfly image was drawn by Sandi Huggett. 

 

Summer is coming to a close

Oh so sad.  I hate to see summer come to a close.  It went so fast I don't even remember what I did.  I did spend some quality time with my grandkids and I think that is most important. 

My blog has been kind of neglected for awhile but I expect that since summer is winding down I will be able to devote more time.

This card was an entry for the CFC Outlawz challenge for the weeks of August 26 through September 8.  Anne Fenton was the fabulous artist for this digi. 

New Computer

Happy Birthday to me once again.  Nope.  It still isn't my birthday but it's close enough that anything that I get these days is a birthday present.  This weekend my husband got me a new computer.  My other one had a really bad bug or something and he decided it wasn't worth the effort for an 8 year old computer.

Have you ever heard of people who "break" machines just by getting near them? I really think I am one of those people.  My husband seems to always be saying, "what did you break now?" My oven blew up about 6 months ago.  It really did.  The element inside turned into a welding rod and completely blew apart and blew out the circuitry. Today I was trying to take a picture of a card for The Outlawz challenge and the camera wouldn't turn on.  Yikes!  It did finally turn on and I was able to take the picture so I don't know if it is getting ready to quit, or if it just didn't like me.  Everytime I tell my husband something doesn't work, he will look at it and yep, you know it, it works.  It is getting expensive though.

This is the card I made for this challenge for The Outlawz. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

It really isn't my birthday yet but this weekend I bought myself an early present. A new Expression 2 Cricut. Oh I love it!!! Michael's had them on sale so I nabbed one. My sister in law was visiting me from out of town and gave me the "ins and outs" of the machine. I'm off and running with it. I had one of the first Cricut Personal Cutting machines when they came out and it has served its purpose well. It didn't have the required innards to be able to do the awesome functions the new Cricut Workshop has online though and was limited to what I could cut. Now I can make envelopes to match my cards. Well, there is a whole lot more I can do with the new one. Company is gone now and today I took the morning to play.

On another note, my PC is still out of commission and I am still unable to take pictures off my camera. I took some pictures of cards I made this weekend with my cell phone and sent them to my daughter to email them to me. It's a round about way but I am thinking that should work.  I'm beginning to think I am making my computers sick because the loaner PC my husband gave me is now having issues too.  I do have a virus checker so we're not sure what's going on.

The weather has been pretty hot here. It's been in the 90's and expected to be 102 degrees on Thursday. We (the people of the Pacific Northwest area) aren't used to anything warmer than the 80's, so it is causing some people distress. If it rains, we complain there is too much rain, then we get sun and complain because it is too hot. I love the sun...but it would be nice to have air conditioning.

Here are the cards from this weekend.

My sister in law found this cute little card on Pinterest. I don't know who to give credit to but would be more than happy to if someone wants to let me know.  The clouds were drawn with Cricut gel pens and the Cricut.  The rest of it was made with scraps that I had. I used the Owl punch from "Stampin Up."

Rounding the corners of a square gave this four square card a different look.  The paper is "Dotty for You", CTMH and the sentiment is also from CTMH.

The teddy bear paper is from Hot Off The Press and the bee stamp is CTMH.

The banner for my utility room didn't quite turn out as I would have liked.  It definately doesn't show up well in the picture.  I said I would post it though so here goes!

Everything was so white and plain so I decided to add a little color.

So long, hard drive!

The hard drive on my PC died, so I have to do things a little different in posting pictures.  My hubby gave me a helping hand so I could post the pictures.

I still haven't finished the banner. I am hoping to do that tomorrow.  Bye for today.

I Wanted One More Post

Time has gotten away from me.  I thought I could get in one more post for July but here it is, the 1st of August and I missed it. I don't have any pictures to post today because I can't seem to get the pictures off the camera onto my laptop.  I haven't been idle though.  I decided to use some of my scraps up and I'm making a banner to hang in my laundry room.  It is just stark white and even though I make a lot of things for other people, I haven't really kept much for myself.  I have one more letter to go and my banner will be ready to be hung. I'm really excited to see it all put together.

I also made my first card for this months challenge for The Outlawz.  It's pretty much a CAS easel card.  Anne Fenton made the image and it was so pleasing to color it in.  It would be nice to see that out my back door! The paper is Close to My Heart, "Dotty for You."

I can't forget the dear little sock monkey I made for my grandson.  So, since my last post, I have been really getting my craft on.

I've decided to become a Close to My Heart consultant, so am waiting for my "Essentials Kit" to arrive. I'm a little bummed that I didn't wait until today to sign up because I missed the nifty bag they are giving away as an incentive to sign up starting August 1.  Do you think since I signed up two days early they will give me the bag? Naw...probably not.

The new Fall/Winter Catalog and Idea book is now in effect.  If you aren't familiar with Close to My Heart, checkout my website.  grandmaplenty.ctmh.com.  You can browse through the online catalog, and should you decide to order anything you can order it right on my website.

That's the craft wrap up for today.  I am hoping my husband can get my PC going and I can post some pictures soon.

Additional Cards For The Week

I hope you all have had a good weekend.  It has been pleasant here.  I've had some crafty time today, then I have some bread to pop into loaf pans and a cake to bake. 

Here are the cards I mentioned that I would post.  The "accordion" card and "the pull out" card.  I also have my second card for this half of the month for The Outlawz.

On the pull out card, the image is a digi from MazyArt.  I love her images. (I do believe I have mentioned her art before ... maybe a few times?) The paper is from Colorbok "Sweet Summer".  I haven't put anything on the pull out portions of the card. I still haven't decided what I want to put.  The accordion card is a Thank You card.  The image is from CTMH called "Bee Happy" and the paper is also CTMH called "Lucy." 

My last card for this week is for The Outlawz Challenge.

This was my attempt at a little shabby chic.

Loving July

I know there are a lot of people suffering in the extreme heat this summer and I can't imagine having to deal with that, but here in the Northwest it hasn't been bad. I'm loving July!  It may have hit 90 degrees this summer but the hot days have been in the high 70's to mid 80's.  Perfect weather I think.  Last night I slept through a big thunderstorm and didn't hear a thing.  There really is something to "white noise." 

July is also my husband's birthday, my youngest daughter's birthday and my little sister's birthday.  Of course I can't forget my yearly physical comes due in July.  My "Squishy" aka "mammogram" is this month too.  Not normally something that a person would blog about but.....it really is important to get your squishy!  In 2004 I had a mammogram that showed something suspicious.  It did turn out to be breast cancer but was caught in the very early stages of it's development.  I had a lumpectomy and some radiation and this year will be my 7th year cancer free...if all goes well with this mammogram.   So...go get your squishy even though you hate it. It's one of the best things you can do for yourself.  Okay, NOW I will get off my soapbox and I'll show you some cards. At least the last one I made for The Outlawz Challenges.  We always receive the cutest and or prettiest images from Sandi Huggett and Anne Fenton.  You really should go to The Outlawz and check them out! They are awesome ladies too!

This little girl is Anne Fenton's image.  She is such a sweet little darling.

I'm not sure that I like the background paper that used for this step card but I like elements of this card so I left it.   The paper is by "My Mind's Eye" Mary Mary collection and the cake stamp is by JustRight stamps.
The first time I put this together I made yellow roses to go with her little yellow dress.  It just didn't look right so I pulled off the yellow roses and replaced them with the pink ones.  My husband liked the  yellow ones. I'm adding the card with the yellow roses too just so you can see that the color of the roses really does make a difference.

I don't know. What do you think? Pink or Yellow?

My Crafting Tip:  I have discovered a really awesome glue. It is called "Best Glue Ever" by Scraperfect.  It is FABULOUS! You can make your own glue dots with this stuff! It is super strong, super sticky and glues your paper without warping and glues buttons, ribbons, die cuts, brads....and is quick drying.  Scraperfect also makes a cleaner called, "Best Cleaner Ever." I recommend this too.  It is earth-friendly and is safe for your hands, tools fabrics, clear and rubber stamps.  When my scissors get sticky I spray a little on a rag and wipe the blades and presto! The sticky is gone.  I have used it on stamps and on a wooden block that I had taken the stamp off of and left some sticky residue.  I suggest you spray the cleaner directly on sticky sticker glue and let it set for about 30 seconds then wipe off. Another thing about this cleaner is that it doesn't stink!  I have a delicate sniffer...I hate stinky stuff.

Another card I had been working on earlier in the week is a pull out card.  You pull the tab and a bottom panel comes out too. It's way cute.  I haven't taken a picture of it yet but will post it this weekend.  I also made a couple of accordion cards.  I made one for a coworker of my husbands that gave me a Dungeness crab and some Sea Bass.  Oh Wow! Heavenly is the only way I can describe it.  I gave him a loaf of sourdough bread that I had made and the accordion card was a thank you card. (I didn't take a picture of it. Ugh! I am still trying to remember to take a picture of all the cards I make. My friend Ginny told me to always take a picture and then I forgot.)  I do have a perky little yellow one that I will post this weekend too.

I think that is all I have to share for today.  I'll be back a little later.  Happy Friday! Have a great weekend.

Rockin Party

Happy Friday! Can it really be the end of the week already?

I spent a large majority of the morning trying to get my little image small enough to make this pop up party invitation.  I colored her 3 times.  This was really my first pop up card and although it wasn't exactly how I had it pictured in my mind, it came out okay.  This was my second CFC challenge card for The Outlawz.  It is a good thing I don't do other challenges because I would never get anything done. So after posting this, I have to unbury my work table and then change some bed linens.

The outside of the invitation is fairly plain.  But all in all, I'm happy with the card.  What do you think?

The image is by Anne Fenton.  The paper is CTMH, "You Rock." The outside card stamp is from Inkadinkado, "Amy Smyth Made It". (That is the name of the stamp)  I don't know who made the invitation stamp on the inside. I seem to have lost the packaging for it.

Hope You Had a Safe and Fun 4th of July

I love the 4th of July. Certainly not for all the fireworks but for the time with family and because it's my husband's birthday.  This year I made Teriyaki Chicken with potato salad, beans and chips.  Micheal wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday so that is what we had. It was a perfect ending for a great meal. 

Today is "officially" Oregon's first day of summer and it looks and feels like it too. There isn't a cloud in the sky. Gorgeous!  So, after a load of laundry I am going to go enjoy it.

Today I made my first card for July's Outlawz CFC challenge.  Sandy Huggett is a fabulous artist who did this card's image.  Later I will be doing a darling image by Anne Fenton....another fabulous artist.

The paper used for this card is from DCWV Adhesive fabric paper.  The littlel frame by My Mind's Eye Mary Mary "Beautiful" accessory sheet and the little heart stick pins is from Dritz that I picked up in JoAnn's sewing section.

It's Been A Beautiful Day

The second day of July and the weather couldn't be more perfect.  It's a little overcast but the temperature is perfect for this transplanted Alaskan girl.  The last few days have been so humid you would have thought we were living in the south.  I found that my single sheets of scrapbook paper curled because it was so humid. I will have to stick a book on them to flatten them out. Today, it has been just perfect.  After July 4 the weather will be close to 90 and that is just a little too warm for me. 

I had lunch with a friend and then we went to a few artsy shops where I live.  She is local and knows the shops much better than I.  We went to a shop called The Framers Touch that I had never been to before eventhough it has been here 9 years and right in the heart of town.  What a neat little store. It has jewelery, ceramics, picture framing, glass and tea! The tea and accessories was a total surprise.  My friend bought a really cool ice tea pot and I bought some Black Currant tea.  I'm going to try some out tonight.  Anyway, that shop is definately a place I will be going to again.  Their website is http://www.aframerstouch.com/.  Check it out!

Yesterday I was working on a card like this but when I stamped the greeting inside I had switched the Happy and the Birthday clings.  It read Birthday! Happy.   I was not so happy to see what I had done.  So, because of the honeycomb balloon, there wasn't a way I could just remove the front of the card and I couldn't restamp it on another piece of paper.  The only solution was to start over.  My granddaughter loved it though and wanted to have it since I was going to toss it so I guess it wasn't a total waste of time.  

Here is the new revised birthday card.

Giant Ginger Cookies

My blog so far has been just cards I have made. From time to time just to be different I have to throw something new into the mix.

Yesterday I made these giant cookies.  If they were any bigger they wouldn't have fit into the little celophane bag.  I sent some of these to work with my husband to give to his co-workers.  The recipe states it should make 25 giant cookies.  I got half that but I guess I really oversized them.  I put a few in the freezer to give to my daughter and my grandkids because I knew my husband would eat them before they got a chance to get any.  I ate two as soon as they cooled.  I think that would be the equivalent of maybe 6 regular cookies.  Yikes! 

I do have to admit, these are really yummy!

Great Week Ahead

Good morning!  What a wonderful weekend I had.  I hope yours was wonderful too.  I just know it is going to be a great week.

Saturday I was able to visit with my daughter and grandkids, did a bit of grocery shopping and just chilled at home with my hubby.  On Sunday I went to the CTMH card workshop and made a new friend and some really fun, different types of cards.  I loved the butterfly pop up card.  I can see doing that with hearts or possibly balloons.  I'll be playing with it.  The fold over card with the whale was cute.  I'll be making different types of those too. Very versatile.  A celebration card where we made our own "bursting fireworks" paper. (This will be my husband's birthday card because his birthday is July 4.)  There was a simple one with a wooden sea shell embellishment, very cute. Also a cute little birthday card.  As promised, here are the pictures. (I seem to use the word "cute" a lot.  Sorry. It seems my vocabulary is short today.)

Aren't those just too cute??

Friday night I made a birthday card that I copied from a card I found on Pinterest.  It made me think of my daughter who loves to shop.  Today I finished my second card for the CFC Outlawz challenge.  Here they are!



Hope you all really do have a wonderful week.  I'm off now to make some Ginger cookies and Sourdough bread.  Later!

Happy Friday!

Once again, its the end of the week and I am not sure where it went. I've been working on making sourdough starter and my grandkids and I made some sourdough donuts yesterday.  I had found an old recipe of my moms and wanted to give it a try. My mom was an excellent cook and baker so I thought if it was her recipe it has to be good....  I didn't care much for them but my husband loved them.  They were way more chewy than a donut should be and I think I over worked the dough.  Moms notes did say to handle the dough as little as possible.  It was supposed to be a cross between a cake donut and a raised donut.  Mine was more bagel-ish.  I don't know that I will make that recipe again, but I have other sourdough recipes of hers that I will give a try.

Today I got my housework done so I can have the weekend free.  Sunday I am going to a Close To My Heart card workshop.  I always look forward to going. We make some pretty neat things.  I'll post pictures of the fun things we made a little later.

This is the Creative Freebie Challenge for June 17-July 1.  I don't think I will get to do the second one, but at least one will keep me going. 

Card #2 for CFC June 3 - June 16

I shirked my duties this morning in order to complete my second card.  It looks like the ring isn't centered on the background right, but I think it is the angle the card is sitting in the holder. 

Now I'm off to do my wifely duties around the house.  Laundry..... here I come!

School's Out

Well for me, summer has officially started when the grandkids get out of school.  It gets pretty hectic sometimes but I would not change any of it.  I think being a grandparent is the best!  I watch them grow and mature into young adults and just marvel at it all. (I am also very glad that I am not raising children anymore)  It doesn't really seem like it was that long ago that I was their age, then reality sneaks in and says, "Becca, you're getting old." I can almost be a great grandma now. Wow! Time flys.

It isn't as easy getting into the craft room these days.  I have really been trying to at least keep up with the CFC Outlawz challenges.  Most times I can get the two done but it looks like this time I will only get one. 

Here is my first card for the CFC challenge for June 3-June 16. 

I also am posting the anniversary card I made for my husband.  It was our 12th on June 3rd.  These are the only two cards I have been able to complete it seems for some time.

I had to laugh.  My husband told me that he just couldn't make out what the top of the card said.  LOL!  I told him that was good because I couldn't either. 

Time Flys

It's unbelievable that it is almost June.  Where is the time going? Its busy times these days making cards for graduation, birthdays and our 12th wedding anniversary. Somewhere in there I need to fit in housework and yard work.  Isn't there a saying that "a cluttered house means a creative mind?"  That may not be the exact saying but it surely is close. 

I have been working on my genealogy for the last 30 plus years and finally finished it. While digging for information I came across a website called "Find a Grave".  Volunteers go to cemeteries in their town and take pictures of tomb stones for people who want a picture of their ancestors graves.  I volunteered and the next day I had three requests so I will out prowling the local cemetery to take pictures.  I have always had a fascination for those old stones.  They really tell a story sometimes.

Today I was able to squeeze in one card. The stamp is from Hot off The Press, one of their new small stamps.  I think this stamp is so cute. I have a couple others that I am dying to use also.

Happy Wednesday!



Step Card - Last for this week

Last card for the week is a travel "Step" card.  I know most people have made these and it was a trend awhile back but I never was able to master it for some reason.  My brain just wants to do it backward.  Today I finally got it. 

The CAS challenge for The Outlawz this week was regarding travel.  I came up with this but the more I look at it, the more I am thinking it isn't a clean and simple card.  The embellishments were simple...we'll see.  Anyway, here is this weeks card.  Hope you all have a really great weekend.  We are expecting warm weather! Wahoo!!!!!