Thanksgiving Tradition

Thanksgiving at our house is a menagerie of people who like to play games, watch football and do crafts.  On occasion we do a Thanksgiving craft and many times we have done Gingerbread houses as was the case this year.  This is my grandson, Ryan, and I at the start.  Usually I don't get to make one because I am so busy beating the frosting, but this year I threatened them with taking turns doing the beating and they were all very careful and used small amounts so I never had to make a second batch.  :)

This is the end result.  I call it The Neighborhood.  There was one more, but she managed to get away before the picture was taken.  No one EVER likes what they built.  Mine is the one with the TV tower.  There is also a pool in back that you can't see made from Sweet Tarts. 

The next one cheated (found an easier way)  She found a box the right size and just glued everything on.  OK...  The third is supposed to be something from Dr. Who. (I don't relate.)   I think there's a window on the back.  The last belongs to Ryan and everyone was horrified that he didn't unwrap the candy on the roof.  Less messy that way though, and I sure like it.

All of this is stuck together with Royal Frosting and if you don't know what great glue this is, you need to try it.  Here is a link to the frosting on cooks.com if you think you'd like to try it.  http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,163,153160-252200,00.html  It works at Christmas too.  :)

Cards for the Homeless

If you see this in my yard, you better come in because something good is going on.  I am a bit behind, but on Sat Nov 17th, My Paper Inc. group got together to make cards for a homeless shelter in Milwaukee called The Guest House.  There were 15 of us and our goal was 86 cards.  I had asked the girls to start at home and bring some card kits ready for the beginners to assemble.  Bless their hearts, they did.  Then my sister, Melody, who has been cleaning in her craft room, donated 65 beautifully made Christmas cards that just needed an inside sentiment.  These wonderful ladies finished off 183 cards and Bob - my sweetie - took them along with him to work this morning with plans to deliver them to The Guest House.  I am more than pleased and I know they will be too.

Vacation Cards

I can hardly remember the relaxed feeling I had when we were on vacation in Oct. Life had sped up more than I want to admit since we got back.  We rented a "cabin in the woods" as Bob is always wishing for one.  No phone service and no TV reception.  I LOVED it.  The weather was perfect and I mean PERFECT.  We went for walks, watched DVDs, did email, went on an ancestor hunt with great success and most of all, I was able to sit and just make cards.  This is a picture of most of the cards I made.  I did mail a couple.  The place we were is called  Cabin Creekwood and is in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.  You can find it online.  www.cabincreekwood.com  if you want privacy, solitude, gorgeousness all around you, wonderful host and hostess, and total relaxation.

New Victorine Originals Stamps

Hey Everybody,  I just got an email from Vicki of Victorine Originals.  She is offering some brand new Christmas stamps today.  They can be bought as a set right now at a DISCOUNT and will be sold individually starting next week.  Here is the link.  Check it out.  I think they are adorable.

More Sauerkraut

Hello again, After all the hoopla about my sauerkraut in the gal. jars in the back hall, I totally forgot to post when I finally processed them.  Here they are.  We have already tried some with bratwurst and it's yummy.
     I know not everyone processes kraut, but I just feel safer that way and I also love the look of the sealed jars sitting on my kitchen counter.
They are now looking good on the basement shelf.

Bookmarks

Hello Everyone!  I am finally getting a chance to post the bookmark picture to show you the type of bookmarks my stamping group made last time we met.  These are large print and decorated for a nursing home.  Even if they don't read, they all love getting a little gift and we made 60 wonderful bookmarks to hand out.  I have a pattern done in Word and can print out the bookmarks and change the verses if I want to.  Then each person  decorated in their style or however they were feeling that day.  They were all gorgeous!  It's a wonderful thing when something this small can give the person who made it pleasure and the person who actually handed them out AND the person who received them.  We will do this again!

Mr President

Hi Everyone,  I am excited to share a biggy in our family.  Our youngest grandson was elected Class President today.  We are so proud we are about busting our buttons.  This is the card I made for Ryan.  Let me tell you the story behind what's on here.  I have a whiteboard on my fridge and when Ryan was quite a bit younger, I used to put messages for the kids on there.  For a long time I had "Ryan for President" on the board.  He didn't like that, so one day I explained that it didn't necessarily mean President of the United States, but that it could be president of a corporation or even class president.  That calmed him down and this week he took me up on it.  I am so proud.

The sign - as close as I could get to his class colors - is there because when Ryan checked out a couple colleges last month, he had an appointment at one and when they drove in there was a special parking place with a sign - in lights - with his name.  He was bigtime impressed.

The inside of the card says, "Follow your dreams and expect them to come true".  We look forward to new exciting things for you.  We couldn't be more proud!!

More Mushrooms

Mushroom Soup!

Hi Everyone,  Today this is what's keeping me from making more cards.  My friendly neighbor up the road called last night to ask if I wanted some Puffball Mushrooms.  I don't think I have found one for about 5 years, so I was very excited and went to pick up three of them this morning.  This one is at least basketball sized.

Tonight when we walked the dog, we went through the woods and what do you think!  We found a couple small ones in our woods.  I make mushroom soup to freeze.  I don't add the milk until I am ready to use the soup, as I am not sure milk freezes well.  My recipe is below.
1 qt chicken stock
1/2 c onions - chopped
1/2 c celery - chopped

Peel and cut/dice mushroom and add to chicken stock with onion and celery.  Simmer for about 20 minutes, or longer. (I used half a mushroom this size for two batches)

Melt 1/2 stick butter or a bit more.
Add to 1/2 c flour 

Add some of the 'soup' to the flour mixture in a separate bowl and mix till smooth.  Then pour it into the soup and stir.  Careful.  It's hot.

Add milk and half and half to taste when you are ready to eat it.

I love it.  I love it, but mostly I think I am so excited because I conquered a mushroom.

Radically Grateful

Good Morning Everyone,  I just subscribed to a new blog called Transforming Common Days which you can find here.  I absolutely LOVE the first thought today and that's to be Radically Grateful.  What a super idea.  Susan started with "the sound of insects at night" and compares it to God's first deep breath.  Awesome.  I think we could all use some Radical Gratefulness and I will start by listing a couple of things I am grateful to God for today.

1. The ability to make greeting cards
2. The resources to make them with
3. Friends to send them to and that they give a lift.
4. The strength to do all the crazy canning I have done this summer
5. The 'beauty' of all the jars on my basement shelf
6. The GOOD feeling I get looking at all those jars - knowing God is providing and always will.

Have a wonderful day and You be thankful too.

Sauerkraut! Yes!

Good Morning.  Now that I have the cabbage all cleaned off the counters, table and floor, I will show you what I have been doing this morning.

                      Making Sauerkraut
I have done this once before and for a year the jars sat on a shelf in the basement.  I was afraid to eat them.  My friendly neighbor heard my story, asked how I made it and told me to eat it as sauerkraut was almost impossible to spoil.  I believed her and lived to tell the story.  :)  So here is the start of another batch.

       I start by cutting off the cabbage and slicing it in my food processor.  Easy, but messy.  I LOVE chewing on the cores.  They are so yummy and good for you too.  All you see here is going in the compost pile though.  And that's another story.  I made one when we moved here and my guy didn't like where it was so he tore it out.  Sigh.  Today he said he's making me one.  I think he got tired of all the "stuff" I kept putting in his Worm Bed, as he informed me this morning that it was a worm bed, not a garbage dump.  Fancy that.

Next picture is after I had the cabbage shredded and weighed.  I am trying to follow a couple recipes.  I really think I should stick to one at a time, but the easiest one that I really wanted to use, was a bit scary for me.  I needed more than "it spits and sputters for six weeks and then seals itself".  I think I would again be afraid to eat it.  So I asked my friendly neighbor up the road some more questions.

She told me that I could put a bag of water on top of the cabbage, tucked in all good and no air would get in and there would be no scum.  Woopie!  I have wasted a lot of cabbage after looking at that scum, so I'm hoping for the best here.  I don't have a crock without a crack, so I have this in three gallon jars and right now it's hiding in the basement stairwall in the dark.  My cousin told me that if you leave it in the light, it turns a yucky yellow color.  Hmm.  So that's what happened last time.

So next on my list is pizza sauce.  I found a recipe to can some on cooks.com and am working on it today.  I need to get down and get it on the stove and put the spices in.  Wish me luck.

Card Boxes

I will never be a teacher.  I have a stamping group that meets at my house - just for fun.  We make cards and bookmarks and STUFF.  Our extras go in a box and we give them away to a homeless shelter in Milwaukee.  I recently have made some boxes for my cards for a craft sale and was showing them off.  You always have to take the consequences when you show off.  The ladies decided they wanted to learn how.  I made the boxes from cereal boxes, backs of legal pads and whatever kind of cardboard I can find to recyle.  Remember I am the Recycle Queen.

So today was the planned day to make boxes.  I really stressed making samples of Step one, Step Two etc. and we dug in.  I don't know how you people who teach a class do it.  Maybe doing a class in front of a camera is different, but 8 ladies who all go at different speeds, is really HARD for me.  I am not complaining as I enjoyed every minute, but when we finished, I ate lunch and then took a nap for an hour and a half.  THAT tells me it was hard.  The picture is of the sweet girls who all made a box under my direction.  Hard to believe.

These boxes are covered with everything from designer paper, old sheet music, brown paper bag (on back of the sheet music box), page from Penneys Catalog and wrapping paper.  The wrapping paper is the butterfly box on the right.  I think they did a wonderful job.  (Clap  and hoot please)

The most important part is that we all had fun recycling.  Enjoy your weekend.

Yum! Sweet Pickles

Another canning day today.  Well, sort of.  These are wonderful pickles that don't have to be processed.  You just keep them in the fridge.  I never really liked sweet pickles much until I tasted these.  They are awesome.  I must have cut the recipe out of the newspaper - somewhere - years ago as it's awfully yellowed.  I tried it last year and watched Bob eat them all.  So this year I thought I would taste them myself.  I decided immediately that he would have to share, so I made another batch today.  There is nothing 'fancy' to learn.  Just throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them up.  I have reused some old lids here, but I DO STERILIZE the jars and lids.  It's just that no seal is necessary.  I will share my recipe.

6-8 cups thinly sliced cucumbers

1 cup onion sliced thin

1 green pepper sliced thin

2 T. salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup vinegar (white)

 1 T. celery seeds

I also found a recipe that is almost the same on cook.com called Never Fail Refrigerator Pickles (sweet) and they add alspice.  Check it out!  The recipe makes two quarts or four pints.

Corny Corn

Hello again,  Besides tomato soup, we did up some corn.  I was kind of worried we would not get any this year and we were lucky and found a farm stand on the way home from church last week.  We stopped again today and bought some corn that turned out to be wonderful.  I wanted to freeze it so asked Bob to help.  We used this method of microwave cooking to blanch the corn.  I didn't cook it the full 8 minutes.  But don't take your life in your hands and copy me.

With two of us, it went pretty fast and we now have corn in the freezer.  Next on my list is spaghetti sauce, and the bowl of tomatoes you see here is the beginning of what I will probably really get into tomorrow.  Today I need to just sit for awhile.  Oh!  Sitting is a great position to make a greeting card.  And I sure need to start sorting out what I will take to the craft sale in Sept.   Can you see my mind is going faster than my body?  Toodleoo...

Ahhhh! The Harvest

If you've been wondering why I have not put many posts on here lately, it's because it's Harvest Time.  At Harvest Time, my house becomes a wreck.  The floors are sometimes sticky.  The trash is always full.  The compost pile and the worm bed gets fed really well and I get stuff on the shelves in the basement and freezer for next year.

This year with the bad drought, I was starting to wonder, but I think Harvest has exploded and it's my favorite time of year.  The weather is wonderful.  You can sleep with the windows open - if you can stand the tree frogs around here, and you even get a surprise shower once in awhile.  We just got one that lasted about 5 minutes.  The drops were so big they looked like huge snowflakes.

Friday night our son and daughter-in-law came over with their tomatoes.  We combined them with some I had and made tomato soup.  Gramma's recipe.  This is it...
1 peck of tomatoes - 16 lbs. We weighed it AFTER we juiced them
6 small or 3 large onions - We used two large
16 cloves - these get put in a muslin bag and taken out after it's "soup".
1 hot and 1 sweet pepper - We have anti green pepper people so used one hot pepper
1 small bunch celery
We added basil too
Cook all together.  Run through food mill.  Return to stove and add some of hot soup mixture to mixture below (rue)

1 small cup sugar
1 c. flower
1/8 c. salt - 1/3 cup was just way too much.
1/2 c. butter.
Rub together.  Cook soup til creamy.  Pack in jars and process.

First let me tell you that I had added more words to this than there were.  It was basically notes of Gramma's to herself I think and I worked with it a lot to get it right.  My experience in making it with too much salt, too much sugar etc. and my son's modern ideas and a lot of "tasters" made the very best soup ever.
 I wish I had a beautiful picture of all the jars of soup sitting on the counter, but I was efficient this time and they are in the basement on the shelf already.  Here's the proof.  And anyone who uses the recipe takes their chances.  :)

Brown & White Plus One

Hi Everyone,  This is my card for the upcoming Victorine Originals Challenge.  I'm a little ahead of time, but wanted you all to know that there is only ONE MORE DAY of a Back to School Sale on Victorine Rubber Stamps online website.  Vicki is offering 30% off ALL rubber stamps AND  if you spend over $40 you get free shipping.  Get the heavy ones NOW Ladies.  This is a great deal!  And it ends tomorrow August 19, 2012.  www.victorineoriginals.com gets you to the site and to the Online Catalog.  Isn't this just the cutest vintage Santa!

CAS183 - Sunset Sailing

Hello Everyone,  I have had a really BUSY streak that I can't seem to get out of.  It's Harvest Time and I can't pass up all the good stuff out there, so I have been finding some to put in the freezer whenever I get the chance and it takes time.  I am even thinking of canning some things but that takes more time.  Anyway today I got some free time and did the CAS challenge on Splitcoast located  here.  It's a wonderfully easy sketch by Tenia and I used a sheet of Basic Grey Designer Paper and a PSX sailboat stamp.  I stamped the boat on the dp and then stamped it again on white CS and cut out just the sails and glued them on top.  Easy Paper Piecing!  The waves are run through the Cuttlebug and the top is cut.  Sentiment is Victorine Originals.

DTGD12 - Mistake

Good Morning, I need to show you all this card as I am embarrassed big time that I didn't follow all the directions on Splitcoast DTGD12 challenge.  It was a sketch that needed to be tall and thin.  I got the tall and thin part, but totally missed the sketch.

Did you ever have so much fun making a card that you forgot what you were doing?  I have to say it happens to me on a regular basis, but usually before I upload.  This time I realized it afterward.  Too late.  So I figured out how to delete the photo, but could not for the life of me fiture out how to delete the rest of the upload.  Now I don't want to show my face over there.  Don't worry.  I'll get over it, but today I'm hiding.

This is a long, tall card and will probably fit well in a #10 envelope.  The top butterfly is popped up and the bottom one is just glued on with three black pearls on the left side.

Now I'm going back to cleaning this craft room.  I always seemd to get distracted and it never gets done.  You would be amazed at how many cards I get made while cleaning.  I did find a missing stamp, so life it good.

WT385 - Tinkerbell & Pete

Hello Everyone.  Today is my anniversary and I needed a card for my sweetie.  I think this image fit as we are going to a local concert tomorrow in Waukesha and I do believe there will be dancing.  So here we are.  This is for the WT385 challenge on Splitcoast located here.  We were to be inspired by music or use music and I used a Tim Holtz tissue tape.  The image is not us - yet - but we may be heading in that direction.

Church Plant

Some of the reason for being so busy lately is that I am a total social butterfly, but another reason is that Bob and I are involved in a Church Plant right now.  For those of you that have asked "What THAT"? I will explain.

When an Independent church finds that a lot of the people who attend are coming from a different area or areas, then that church may decide to start another church in a different area to make themselves more accessible to the current members who are already travelling further than they really want to.  This is called a Church Plant.  (It's being planted in a different area and expected to grow by finding people who don't attend any church and inviting them).

We have never been involved with something like this before and it's new and exciting.  The first thing that has to happen is "awareness" which is basically advertising.  The people in the area who might be interested need to know that a church is starting, what it's all about and when it will open it's doors to the public.  So our small group of people which I think number about 65-70 including children is getting involved in every community thing going on this summer in the city where the church will be.  We have a pastor and a children's minister who are leading and organizing.

There is a Street Fair every first Friday and we have a spot.  There will be a festival with a parage and we have a float.  There is a city craft fair and I will have the church booth.  I get to sell cards.  Whooie!  We are basically trying to get very involved  in the community as this is the kind of church we will be when the doors open.

I know I'm long winded, but I hope this answers a few questions.

SC395 - Spotted Butterfly

Hello Everyone,  Can you believe this is my second post in one day.  Can you imaging what life would be like making cards if I didn't have to work.  I might even design something that was not rushed!  The problem with hurrying so fast is that I never get time to clean up.  So that's what I do if I can't sleep at night and that has not happened for awhile.  This card is for the Splitcoast SC395 located HERE.  The butterfly is from a Store Bought cared that someone gave me several of a long time ago.  I decided to put it to good use, cut it out and popped it up on the designer paper.  I like it.

TLC387 - Enlightened Ribbon

Hello Friends,   This is the card I made for TLC387 on Splitcoast located here.  The ribbon was supposed to be pleated or ruched.  I can't pleat too straight and what the heck is ruching anyway.  Mine's gathered.  I guess that's half cheating.  I've decided I can't make a decent card when I'm in a rush, and there doesn't seem to be anything but RUSH, RUSH lately.  And I have had the Gas Company AND the Phone Company here this week to check if we are falling apart or what.  We DID get some rain though and I am still very thankful for that.  In about a week I will be complaining about mosquitoes, but right now it's gorgeous here.  My flowers are even blooming again.

WT386 - Beached

Hello Everyone,

We finally got some rain last night in WI.  A wonderful
downpour that lasted a good long time.  The news never
gives the amount we got, but it was nice and we are
very thankful.  The temperature is down some too and
that feels good.  Our lake is still about as low as this picture though.  :) 

This is my card for the Splitcoast challenge which was to Hit the Beach located here.  My image is Local King Rubber Stamps and is colored with watercolor pencils and blended with a blender pen.  The sentiment is computer generated and is from a Quotable Magnet by Christian D. Larson that I have hanging on the wall.  I don't do well with CAS cards, but I like this one.

WT383 - Stitches

Good Morning.  Ooops.  It's late afternoon.  It's one of those days today.  I arrived at my sister's house for a card class this morning an hour early - even after I absentmindedly passed the turnoff to her house and suddenly realized things didn't look familiar and had to turn around.

She was very accommodating and suggested we do the WT challenge on Splitcoaststampers.com located here.  I had a few things packed and she lent me a few more and I had to finish it at home, but this is the card I came up with.

The Background is from a mat stack that my sis just bought.  The next layer is a paint sample that has been running around with me.  I borrowed my sister's new border punch and would you look what it did to that paint chip.  Added some brads and inked the edges and then pierced the chip around the edges with the sewing machine. 

I also borrowed a Nestabilities Scalloped Circle, embossed it and added it to the side.   Then I stamped a flower/weed stamp (also borrowed) When I got home I added the computer generated "Friends", three Primas with brads and a Nestabilities Butterfly.  Since the challenge was stitching, I stitched around the edge.  I think I like it.

QFTD120 - Angela Maine

Emboss Resist

Hello again,

What a day.  I get to make more than one card.  After my busy week of picnics, I needed to just relax and play today and I sure did.  This card is an emboss resist I did for the Queen for the Day challenge on Splitcoast Stampers located here.

I masked off the center and stamped the leaves with VersaMark and embossed them with clear embossing powder.  Then I sponged three colors of Ranger Distress ink over that. (Peeled Paint, Tea Tye and Spiced Marmelade).  I think I could have left off the ribbon, but it seems I always need to fuss.  I will try this again as I really like the look.

CAS178 - Cinderella Moves On

Hello Everyone,
It's a gorgeous day.  The heat and humidity
finally left for awhile and my two big picnics
this week are done.  So today I am having
fun making cards.  Do you ever get so
involved making a card that you forget what
you are doing?  I do.

Today the CAS challenge on Splitcoast Stampers
is Fairy Tales and I sure did get involved in my
card.  I picked Cinderella, of course and had a
blast, but realized when I was all done that it was
NOT a Clean and Simple card at all.  So I am putting
it here instead.

This is Cinderella as a gramma (people in fairy tales must grow up, don't you think)  with a twinkle in her eye and still sporting that glass slipper.  This was a total blast, but I didn't think it fit the challenge.  I'll be back later with another attempt.  Thanks for looking.

Just Because it's your Birthday...

Hello Everyone,

This is my card for the current Victorine Originals Challenge (Birthdays) found here. And A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

Victorine Originals has a 40% sale tomorrow - July 4th  on all stamps - including rubber.

Check it out!!

TLC381 - Half it

Hello again,
I'm back already.  This is the other card I made today.  It's for the Technique Lover's Challenge on Splitcoast located here.  This one required us to use half of something.  Could be an image, a die, a sentiment or whatever.  I used half the doily image.

The background is stamped with All Night Media music that I stamped off the then smudged off a little to make it lighter.  The doily and music and rose are all stamped with Ranger Distressed Antique Linen.  The rose is colored with copics and I added a beaded flourish and vintage button to the doily. 

Today I'm pleased

CAS174 - Grateful

Hello Everyone,
I can't believe I made two cards today.  This first one is for the Clean And Simple challenge on Splitcoast located here.  We were to put a white layer on a white layer.  What?  I think I did it.  I usually don't use white, but off white as I did here.

I cut a piece of watercolor paper 1/4" smaller than my off white card front.  I ran it through the Cuttlebug to emboss it and then used a Nestabilities die to cut out the center panel - not necessarily in that order.

Next I stamped the flowers and sentiment on the front of the card and popped up the embossed piece with dimensionals. Flowers are by Judith.

FS279 Special Day for Stephanie

Hello Ladies, 
(and if you are not a lady, then more power to you).  This is my card for the Featured Stamper challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers today located here.

My computer was tied up half the day because Bob found a virus and did all his restoration and scan stuff all afternoon.  Then we sat down to eat and watched a couple neighbor kids shoot a "rocket" into the archery club directly across from our house.  Smoke started immediately.  The kids went over the fence to check it out, but it's warm and very windy today and it was gone.

Bob ran to check it out and called the Volunteer Fire Dept immediately as this was directly across the road and our house was downwind from the fire.  Yikes!  The next problem was how to get in the gate.  There is a big fence with a locked gate around the archery club and no one knew the combination.  I couldn't go home by this time as the smoke was too thick, and it was too far to hold my breath.   Bob was at home watering our grass just in case.  Thankfully only one evergreen tree at the archery club burned and the rest was grass.  If the trees had started, our house might have gone.  I am thankful, thankful, thankful.  It seems to be over now except for the bad smoke smell in the house.

Now for my card.  I have a layer of green and then a layer of dots.  Next I cut a Nestabilities Label Die, cut it in half and used one piece on each side of the center strips.  The ribbon is glued on to the strips and the "bow" is not a bow, but the leftover piece of twill tied in a knot and stuck on with Zots.

Then I cut two circles with my Coluzzle, offset the top one and stamped a sentiment from Inkadinkado. The edges of the sentiment circle are inked with Ranger Antique Linen.  Now I think I will go catch my breath and see if the police car is still sitting at the neighbor's house.

The nice thing about "neighborhood excitement" is that you get to meet neighbors you have never seen before - and we did.

Garden Art Mushrooms

Hello Ladies,  I'm back from vacation and I think am finally rested up.  We went to NM where they have the biggest fire in the history of the state going.  Smoke chases you, you know.  It was far enough away that we didn't have to run.  Thank God.

Awhile back I said I was working on some Garden Art and that I would post a picture.  With lots of help from Bob, we finally have mushrooms in the yard.  All it takes is some dead logs from our woods, some bowls from Goodwill, a little spray paint and a screw.

OK that's materials.  I was picky about my shapes and looked for only stainless steel bowls.  I sprayed the insides a pale yellow and - on this first bunch, I used red for the outside.  Then I made a pattern which was a circle punched out of paper, laid it on the bowl and sprayed the white.   Bob drilled a hole in the center and screwed it to the logs for me.  They are by no means perfect, but I'm happy. 

Here is my second one.  I think this lid is from a wok.  It's awesome.

The third ones were a little harder.  I couldn't find bowls in the perfect shape, but close.  I think the hardest part was placing the logs in the ground just right.  They ARE NOT just right, but they are staying the way they are and, for this year at least, I have mushroom garden art.

This last set is sprayed orange and left plain with no spots. 

When he got half way through drilling these orange ones, my sweetie asked me if the bowls were stainless steel as they would be much harder to drill.  Oops!  He did a fine job and really the only hard one was the mixing bowl as it has a double bottom.  Now I think I need to be done with this type of project for awhile as today we bought LOTS of flowers to plant  Have a nice weekend.

 

Featured Stamper 275

Good Morning,  I hope you all had a very nice Mother's Day and got to spend it with Mom or at least Family.  I did.  My sister and I like to do a challenge together and we got to do that.  This card is for two - the Featured Stamper on Splitcoast located here and the Victorine Originals Challenge starting today with free stamps for the winning entry.  My two rusty/peachy scraps are Basic Grey, the plaid is a 6x6 Echo Park mat stack and the dictionary page with Mother is from a vintage dictionary cut with a Spellbinders Nestabilities Label Die.  There is vintage lace across the center.  I paper pieced the little mouse.  I just LOVE paper piecing and I thought the matching plaid balloon was cool.  I stuck the Prima on with a large matching brad, sewed on the butterfly and glued on the MOM beads.

QFTD111 - Betty

I'm up for two today, but now the rush is on.  This is my card for the Queen for the Day 111 located here.  The Queen is Betty Wright and there was not ONE card in her gallery that I felt I could do easily.  All gorgeous cards.  So I fudged a bit and this came out OK.

Sympathy

Good Morning,  Oh oh, it's afternoon.  Hard to believe it's not the middle of the night or the end of the day.  I got a card made BEFORE that today.  This is for the Technique Lovers Challenge 376 located here.  This is my idea of Paper Piecing today.  I "borrowed" some Stampin' Up stems to put my cut out flowers on and colored them with a Copic.  I seem to have a lot of plain flower stamps with no stems, so I borrowed.  Don't even know the name of the set.  I assume it was from a rummage.  Next I stamped All Night Media music on the top layer and distressed it.  Yup.  It's the card today and not me.  I'm thankful for that. I stamped my new Judith flower and cut it out, coloring the center with that same copic and inking the edges.  Next I curled the flowers a little and popped it up.  The sentiment is computer generated and punched.

Butterflies in the Night

This doesn't happen often, but I could NOT sleep last night - for whatever reason.  I hate tossing and turning.  Seems like such a waste of time.  If I'm going to waste time, I'd like to do it my way, so I got up and headed for the craft room.  At first I just sat there being mad because I couldn't sleep.  Then I started nosing around in the still not unpacked stamps and things that I had bought at a recent stamp fair.

I dug out this grand background by Impression Obsession which measures 5.5 x 5.5" and wondered what I would ever use it on.  When is a bargain NOT a bargain?? My cards are all A2 size.  I stared at it for awhile and then stamped it on a piece of scrap.  It was love at first sight and I knew I had to overcome.   Whooie!  I can almost compete with Basic Grey!   So I inked up a little more than half of it and stamped it on a piece of cardstock with CTMH Desert Sand.  Next I stamped the Stampendous dandelion seed heads with the same color and by then I thought I needed to make at least 25 more of this same card!   How I ever got back to sleep after this, I don't know, but then I decided it needed some color, so I dug in my "small scrap bag" and came up with some very nice matching scraps just big enough to cut a Nestability Butterfly, and I cut three of them and embossed them all.  I think I went to sleep because I felt satisfied.  I love it.

Thankful for You

No I'm not trying to catch up because I don't think I ever will.  This is my card for yesterday's Featured Stamper on Splitcoast located here.  I had a terrible time with the mathmatics of the flower hanging over the circle.  I didn't have a flower that had a big enough bloom to suit me and the smaller ones looked funny.  I cut the flower out instead of stamping the circle as that's what I could NOT figure out.  The stamp has to be just right in my brain, and cutting out a lilac was not a good idea.  It would have looked nice, but I quit in the middle.  :(  This one makes me feel good even if it IS out of season.  The big bloom is cut out of designer paper and popped up.  I like it.

I may even get a chance to look at today's challenges as dinner is leftovers.

May Flowers

Good Monday, Everyone.
The sun is out today.  Yay!  And today is the start of a new challenge on the Victorine Originals Blog located here.   My tulips in the yard have lasted SO long this year and are still blooming.  I have one row of red ones that looks something like this, so I am giving them a special spot.  They are the good kind that have been coming up every year since we bought this place.

Spring is really here and my plate is getting full.  Somebody asked me to do a craft sale for church in the fall and my brain is going crazy over that already.  Yeah!  I said, "Yes".  If it's Fall, I think I can do boxes of greeting cards, and maybe some wreaths.  I'm getting excited already.

DandeLIONS

I'm a little bit late on everything this week.  I had some gum surgery on Tues and have been taking it easy.  So I get on here and find they "changed the look" on me.  Now I get to figure it out all over again.  :(  Here I am posting my Splitcoast Stampers card from Monday whose theme was "At the Zoo".  I don't own any zoo animal stamps, but I figured there are lots of dandeLIONS at the zoo, so here you have it.

I am also excited about my latest Spring Project.  I drove to the bank one day and saw some unique Garden Art on the way.  Someone had painted all sort of  hmm (dishes, pans and plates) to look like mushrooms and put them upside down on posts in their garden.  I headed immediately to the thrift shop to find some of my own.  I found about 5 stainless steel bowls and am in the process of spray painting them.  So far I'm having a bit of trouble as it's still too cold for paint to dry and I made a real mess the first time.  Bob has a great fear of my spray painting in the basement.  I can't imaging why.  I will post some pictures as soon as I can get something that resembles a mushroom.

My Spring Flowers

These are two pictures that I took of my flowers today just before lightning struck and the power went out.  Bob and I decided to walk the dog before the rain came.  We headed down the road in front of our house, got almost to the end and I felt a huge raindrop splash on my face.  We turned around the decided to get home as soon as we could.  We got about 3 houses from the corner, there was a loud noise and we saw a "fireball" on top of the power pole.  I turned around and Bob was ducking.  From what is what I wondered.  A reaction, I guess as he was in the middle of the road.  The lightning had hit the pole, burned out the fuses and "chewed" through the steel  wire holding up the pole. (No, it didn't fall), but it took out power to 93 homes.  Bob is an electrical contractor and knew just who to call and the power company had it fixed in a couple hours, but this was the closest I had ever been outside and unprotected when lightning struck and it was a bit unnerving.  I am thankful for God's protection.

Playing with Round

I think I'm in a Brown mood today, and Tim Holtz helps fill things in.  This is my card for the Splitcoast Stampers challenge SC380 located here.  I found out after starting that circles are a real challenge for me.  Maybe because I don't use them in a "bunch" very often.  So I got out my Tim Holtz Mat Stacks and started making circles.

After a couple, I decided it needed to be more interesting, and since one of my favorite things to do on cards is add unique things that I have found - even if it's on my tabletop, I started looking around.  Both the watch face and the clock hand were on the tabletop just waiting to be used.  I found the felt flower, Tim Holtz text flower and the button sticker in my flower drawer.  I really wanted a black flower for the smaller circle, but I must have used them all.  The key is from a little container of charms and finally, I DO like how it turned out.  It may have lifted my mood to "tan".

Cabin in the Woods

Happy Day after Easter.  Our Easter was a good one.  I hope yours was too.  This card is for the Splitcoast Queen for the Day challenge #107 located here.
I started with a piece of gold cardstock, embossed  in my Cuttlebug with a woodgrain embossing folder.  Then I added just the TOP paper from a piece of corrugated cardboard that I had sprayed and peeled off.  It was curled and I had a hard time keeping it from crawling off the piece underneath, so I attached it with brads.  The black square - which looks brown - is distressed on the edges.  Next I added the moon which is just a circle punched out of yellow cardstock. Then I stamped the trees with VersaMark and clear embossing powder.  Tthe Art Impressions cabin is stamped with Ranger Vintage Photo,  cut out and glued on. The sentiment is computer generated.

   My better half likes to talk about running away to a cabin in the woods when things get rough.  He has been talking about it lately, so I made him one.  (I'd probably have to go along to cook.) Don't you think?

Back in the Day

Good Morning.   I am running crazy.  I needed a haircut, but my girl is not in this morning, so I bought a little time and have done the Splitcoast IC331 Challenge.  The website to be inspired by is Soul-Flower and it took me back to the 70's.  We know I save everything and I found a bag of yoyos from the 70's that I had bought at a rummage.  Someone was making a wonderful patchwork vest and sewing the yoyos on, but they must have given up.  I have been using those yoyos right along.  For this card I stamped All Night Media music on a piece of off white cardstock, glued it onto a green background and added the yoyos with sewed on buttons, some corrugated cardstock (just the top layer sprayed with water and torn off), silk flower and scrap of Basic Grey.  Now I think I need to get busy on Easter dinner and that means shopping.  You all have a very nice Easter.

Victorine Originals April Showers

Hello.  It's April and this is one of my cards for the Victorine Originals April Showers Challenge located here that starts today. (There's a prize, Ladies)  My card is a night time shower.  I started with a piec of black cardstock, added a torn piece of embossed, inked cardstock and then the image panel.  Can you tell I'm cleaning off my stamping table?  This is made from leftovers I found lying on the table.  Did I say "leftovers".  They're Treasures.  :)