Happy 4th of July

 

Happy 4th of July

 

This card was actually made for a birthday that happens to be on the 4th of July. It will also work as a thank you for their kindness to my elderly in-laws. This birthday girl lives across the street from them and her and her husband keep my in laws driveway cleared from all the snow that falls in the UP. So you can only imagine how appreciative we are as that is quite a job. I thought it would be only fitting to make the card red, white and blue.

 

The background is the same Anna Griffin embossing folder "Rosa" that I used in my previous post for the anniversary card. It is a 5x7 and I really like working with this size folder. I used Spellbinders Decorative labels Twenty-Two for the tag and a few rhinestones for the bling to represent the stars. Keeping with the theme of the 4th, I kept the rhinestones in stripes rather than just the typical trio I would use. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up.

 

 

 

Not much new is happening here. Laying low and quiet for the 4th. So far it looks like rain the first part of the week. We'll see what the end of the week brings for the holiday. I can hardly believe the end of June is here already. The weeks have been passing quickly and I am afraid summer will be over before we know it. Better enjoy it while we can!

 

 

~Have fun and enjoy!

 



A 65th wedding anniversary

 

Happy Anniversary to a wonderful couple. This is a wedding picture of my in-laws who just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. We are fortunate enough to have this 8x10 picture of them on their wedding day so I decided to scan it and use it on their card. They are going to celebrate the occasion the week of the 4th when all of their children will be home. The 4th of July is a huge celebration in Munising and several members of the family head home each year during that time. It ends up being like a big reunion not only for family but with their school classmates as well. Unfortunately I won't be going this year as I have used up my vacation time with my Hawaii and Florida trips. They have 6 children all married and 7 of the grandchildren will be there so I don't think I will be missed. In October they will be going to Hawaii themselves to celebrate again. My husband and his sister are also going to help them since they are in their 80's. I am glad to see the DH can experience Hawaii for himself (and not from the 900 pictures I took when I was there). Then I won't feel guilty about going this past spring. He said I shouldn't because he had no desire to go on that trip. He said he wouldn't have lasted more than 2 days with my sister and was surprised I could spend more than 3 (it was difficult to say the least but I managed- after all it was Hawaii). She is known to be the type of person people can only take in little bits- but she is family no matter what and I made the best of it. I actually began to wonder if we were raised in the same family. I was amazed how many people have commented to me lately that there always seems to be one in the family like that. Gee, and I thought it was just mine.

 

 

 

For the card I used pearlized cream paper with one on the new Cuttlebug folders from Anna Griffin called Rosa. I kept it rather simple and formal. The scroll was cut from a Memory Box die and the border is a Spellbinders. The black embellishments are actually glittered to add a hint of sparkle.

It has turned out to be a wonderful weekend despite the forecast. I was able to tackle some of those chores that nag at you when they don't get done, like straightening out the basement. I also had some things that needed to be put away and some cards that had to be made by this week. And all of that was accomplished yesterday with some time spent sitting in the sun and cooking great steaks on the grill. We finished the night out with margaritas- skinny girl of course. My oh my what am I going to do today?

~Have fun and enjoy!

 

My Dad

Happy Father's Day to my dear dad. This is one of my favorite pictures of my father holding me because he looks so young and he is a new dad of only 4 weeks. I was born in Madrid, Spain while he was stationed there in the Air Force. Yes I have to admit I was the First born- Favorite child, but don't tell my siblings that. It looks like my dad is posing with a baby doll because I had such a full head of dark hair that I don't look like a typical newborn. My mother must have loved having a baby girl with all that dark hair. Luckily it is still as lush and thick now that I am...older. Of course I have several more pictures of him and I (you know how it is with the first born) but this one touches my heart because he looks so proud. I remember seeing the same look on his face when he came to the hospital after my first child was born.

I was fortunate enough that my father took several home movies but once again there are very few of my siblings. I do have a brother that came along 12 years later and we do have several pictures of him so I ought not to feel too guilty. I think I might have mentioned it in a previous post but for Christmas this past year I had the home movies put onto DVD for my dad. He told me there wasn't a gift out there that anyone could have given him that he loved and enjoyed more. It was such fun to watch them with my own children. They loved watching me as I was just learning to walk and they really liked seeing grandma Barb again. I knew what the gift was going to mean to him because my mother was in several of the movies. She passed away 9 years ago and he misses her terribly, as do I.

Recently I started picking out gifts for dad that had meaning. In the past I started getting him gift cards to one of his favorite family restaurants because he doesn't like to cook (or should I say doesn't know how to cook) to make his life easier, but then others started to do the same because they saw what it meant to him. So I let them keep buying the gift cards (because they can't think for themselves as to what to buy) which still serves it purpose and I buy something that he cherishes. This year I bought him a book called "My Dad, My Hero" that I found while I was in Hawaii. The book is a collection of quotes from famous people about what makes their dad their hero. The last two pages were blank and it was the perfect spot to write all the reasons he is my hero. He was very touched and said he was so overwhelmed that he had to put it down a couple of times before he could finish it. Those are the gifts I enjoy giving my dad- the ones he will really remember.

Because I didn't post anything on Mother's Day of my mother, I included the picture below that was taken on the same day as the one above. I have these two pictures in frames in my living room that has a lot of my favorite things on display. I look a bit bigger with my mother holding me because she was a small woman herself. She was probably all of 100 lbs when she delivered me. She was a wonderful mother and even though she is no longer with me, I just think back to the last day of her life and it gives me peace. I had gone home to take care of her knowing that she was dying. Just her my father and myself were at the house. I sat by her side the entire night as she took her last breaths and I will always cherish that time because I was the last one she saw and said "I love you" to as she closed her eyes. My father was too upset to watch her die so he was in and out of the room. I found it fitting that she brought me into this world with an overwhelming amount of love and I was there to help her leave it with the same tenderness. Those moments will mean more to me than any of her possessions that are handed down. I do have some things of hers that bring a smile to my face when I see them, but not like the happiness and the feeling of love I get when I think back to that day.

I find it strange when people pass away how the family fights over the possessions. I have even seen some who think the possession can replace the love they never gave or received. They just don't get that the greatest gifts are the times we shared with them. We can loose the jewelry or break the dishes and figurines but nothing can happen to the memories. If you don't have those, no possession can take it's place.

~Have fun and enjoy your dad's!

 

 

Rhinestone Ribbon

Wow, did this week ever fly by. I hadn't worked a 5 day week in some time due to my vacation in Florida and then the holiday. I thought for sure the week would have drug on. What a pleasant surprise to the start of a nice weekend.

Today's post is a card I made using a ribbon of rhinestones that was a great find and some beautiful lace. The rhinestone ribbon came on a bolt of 10 yards for $12 but I was able to use a 50% coupon. I can see all kinds of ways to use this trim. From vases to mirrors my imagination will be blinged. The designer paper is from KaiserCraft called Needle & Thread. There are a few buttons here and there but one that was certainly standing out was in the upper right corner and looked out of place. I added the flower embellishment to cover it up and the person who receives this card will be none the wiser. The card stock is from SU and they are retired colors but I still love them. They are Soft Sky and Mellow Moss. The tags are Spellbinders Decorative labels Twenty Two and the sentiment is from a KaiserCraft clear set called On This Day.

 

I had my eyes examined this morning for new glasses which included dilating them. It wasn't until early this evening that they finally are back to normal. I had a few things I wanted to get done this afternoon but my vision was a bit blurry to be working on cards and the sun was too bright to work outside so I decided to take a nice nap- oh darn! I am looking at putting a 3 light lamp post out on the patio but where I want to put it is going to mean some major under ground wiring. Wasn't expecting this to be such a major project. I am surprised the DH isn't recommending that I just sit out there with 3 flashlights instead of all this. It will look nice when it is done and he will be happy we (he) did it- fingers crossed.

 

~Have fun and enjoy!

My Fairy Garden

 

 

 Welcome to my fairy garden. I made a smaller one a few weeks ago and there was just something missing. I realized it was too commercialized and I hadn't used plants as my backdrop. This weekend I was at a greenhouse that had several fairy gardens and quite a few supplies. I used a 26" pond formation, that I got at Lowe's, which allowed my imagination to go wild. The main structure in the back is a form that is meant to be put on the wall. I liked the openness and decided to use it as my fairy's house. I had spent quite a bit of time looking for a house. There are some out on the market but they run around $20 - $30. An arbor I saw at the greenhouse was half off at $37. My fairy is on a budget so she will have to live within her means. The DH said he is going to make one for me out of twigs and wire that I will put over the stone steps along the front left side. I found quite a bit of my fairy items at Hobby Lobby. They aren't categorized as such but I just kept and open eye and a big imagination. The black thing you see in the front right is a solar light that I thought would look nice shinning on the fairy at night. I removed it before I took the rest of the pictures.

 

I used a Japanese Fern behind the tea house. The tall plant to the left of the house is a house plant called Lemon Cypress. I also used several different ground covers that come in little pots that are just perfect for a fairy garden and I also planted some herbs for different textures and heights. Click towards the bottom of  the images for a closer look.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a lantern that I set up as a tea house. I made the table out of an orange juice lid and a wooden spool. I found the tea set at Hobby Lobby in the doll house furniture section and I glued them down with glue for glass beads. I am keeping my eye out for a chair that I can also put in there so she has a place to sit and enjoy her tea.

 

Below is a birdhouse that I painted and then put a gigantic seed pod on top. I found these pods on clearance in the floral section. I glued some glass tiles around the house to give it some whimsy. The blue dish is a pedestal planter that I sunk into the dirt and filled with glass marbles and water as a pond. You can just see the copper faucet sitting up over the edge of the dish. I put some slate pieces as steps. I built up the left side of the planter so I could get some elevation.  The little red dish on the left side is a birdbath and there is a designer Shepard's hook on the right side of the house. The cream object is a chess piece.

 

 

 

This another image of the tea house.

 

 

In this image of the tea house you can see another chess piece and a gazing ball in a wire holder. It is a glow in the dark so she can find her way. I used small pebbles as a stone path and tucked a saucer in amongst the plantings on the right as another water feature.

 

 

 

Here is a close up of the fairy in her house. She is sitting on a twig chair. I made the flower pots by using hot glue to fill the pot and just stuck flower pieces  in it. I glued the pot to hexagon glass tiles for stability and then glued them to the floor of the her house.

 

 

 

Below you can see a fairy riding a snail that is on a long pick. It gave some balance to the height of the house.  You can also see another one of the seed pods in this picture.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed a tour of my fairy garden. I really enjoyed making this one. If I attempt another one I want it to have a river and bridge with trickling water by using a pump. This fairy is going to have to work if she wants to become a landlord.

~Have fun and enjoy!