It's been too long

 

 

 I wouldn't blame you one bit if you had given up on me. I would have said the "H... with you" and would have never come back. But if you are here then thank you for having faith in me. It has been quite a summer so far. My mother-n-law has been sick for about 8 weeks now and in the last week has had two surgeries. Not good for someone who is 88. She has been having a lot of stomach and bowel issues. Last week they took out her gallbladder and today she had bowel surgery. Keeping our fingers crossed that she will now be on the mend. My DH made a trip up to the UP when it all first started to help his 88 year old father take care of her. He came home for 2 weeks and then went on his annual camping trip in the UP, to no man's land that is lacking of running water and electricity. Bad ass camping is what I call it. While up there his mother ended up with her first surgery. He is supposed to come home tomorrow but it will depend on how his mom is doing.

Since I've had almost three weeks here to myself I thought I would spend a good portion in my studio making some new creations. I got a bit sidetracked with home improvement projects and the stamping had taken a back seat. I guess I was getting a little burnt out with the stamping as was shown by my lack of posting. I never, never, ever thought I would say that but it happened. I just couldn't get too excited about it. I even brought back some lovely things from my favorite stamping store in Florida but they just sat there on my desk. Oh well, I am back now.

I used the new Blackberry Bliss paper from Stampin'Up and embossed it with a Cuttle bug folder that was in a set and I have no idea what the name is- sorry. The designer paper is Marie Antoinette from FabScraps. Just love this new line of papers. The Memory Box die is Lovely Tendril and Fresh Foliage. The flowers are from Prima's Stationer's Desk line. The seam binding is SU Wisteria Wonder and the tag is SU's Tiny Tags punched out with the Petite Curly Label. You can get a better look as the embossing in the picture below.

 I spent a lot of time outside in the sun this past week as I had the 3rd and the 4th off. Made for a very nice long weekend. While sitting on the deck, look who stopped by for a visit. Aren't they just adorable. They were very playful and pranced around the yard but still very skittish and always kept mom in view. They must be about 4 weeks old now. They sure grow fast.

 

The DH left the dog home with me while he went up camping. Jake is a Border Collie and is 13 years old. His arthritis has been getting progressively worse and since Gerry left he can't even get up off the hardwood floors or up the steps. It has been quite a chore trying to lift him up on all fours and then up the steps on the deck. Luckily there are only 4 steps or I would be needing a chiropractor. He has also not been eating which is typical when Gerry is gone but he had not eaten hardly anything. I hope nothing else is wrong with him. I cooked him some brown rice and scrambled eggs which he ate just a little bit of. Hopefully when his buddy comes home he will perk up.

 

I have another house makeover project that I hope to have finished next weekend and then I will share some pictures of the before and after. I have been wanting to do this for sometime now and I am really excited about it.

~have fun and enjoy!

Serene Silhouettes

 The post is waaaaay over due! This last week I feel like I have been on auto pilot. Our hospital switched over to a new computer system hospital wide. That means it affected every area of the hospital. I put in 60 hours this week and this morning I am feeling it. The good side is that everything went well for the departments I am in charge of and I will have fun spending the extra money from my paycheck at my favorite stamping store in Florida.

For today's card I used one of the newer Spellbinders called Valiant Honor. The stamped image is from the Serene Silhouettes Stampin'Up set. I used my markers to color the stamp and used the "huffed" technique to moisten the image with my breath before I stamped it. For those of you who aren't aware of this technique it has nothing to do with drugs, although I could sure use some this morning.

We had a really nice Easter here. The kids were home and we colored Easter eggs with our grandson Chatham. The DH had over 40 plastic eggs filled with candy,  hidden outside for him when he arrived. I think he likes the challenge of the hunt but not into the Easter Egg thing. He is at that turning point of just wanting to eat the candy. Today we are going down to celebrate his 11th birthday. Looks like another long day which includes a 75 minutes drive each way if traffic is good. I hope I can find some energy to stop at Michael's while I am down there. The closest one to me is 35 minutes away.

The DH will be holding down the fort while I head to the sunny beaches of Florida next week. My girlfriend has a new place and I am anxious to see it. She said we have some decorating to do which involves shopping. Most of all I am looking forward to the Sun and some warmer temperatures. It has been rainy here all week. Not that I had much time to notice. I was either sleeping or working. I think I really deserve this vacation this year. Carol- get the blender ready.

Hope all my Michigan friends have fun at the annual stamping convention. Say hi to Tim H. for me and I will try to find room in my suitcase to bring back some sunshine.

~have fun and enjoy!

A perfect day!

 What a perfect day. The weather is finally starting to show signs of spring. It was nice enough outside today that my DH and I were able to clean up the gardens- without coats I might add. I couldn't believe the leaves that we raked out  of the beds after what we had done in the fall. Where do they all come from over the winter.  He cooked T-bone steaks and corn on the cob on the grill for dinner and I found a cheddar bay biscuit mix that Red Lobster makes and it's the real deal.  A perfect end to a perfect day.

I picked up a new set of Spellbinders on Friday. This one is Valiant Honor. I cut the frame of the card using the largest die. The white panel is Spellbinders Gold Label Four and the Pear Pizazz green panel is from the Opulent Ovals die set. The sentiment is from the Petite Pairs SU set and I used another die from the Valiant Honor Spellbinders set. The flowers are Prima and the the leaves are from the MS Frond punch and McGill Fern punch.

 

 

I need some graduation cards in a few months and I figured there was no time like the present. Yesterday I finished all of them and now I just have to remember where I will put them until then. The next few months will be busy with getting the flower beds planted and mulch spread. Every other year we get a truck load of mulch delivered and then I just fill in as needed in the off year with a few bags. And that is another one of life's mysteries- where does all that mulch go?

 

I am looking forward to my annual Florida trip in a few weeks. Can't wait to lay in the sun and spend some time with my stamping buddy. She is still doing some decorating of their new place so more than likely we will be having some fun shopping. One of my other favorite hobbies is home interior decorating and I can only keep changing things in my own home every so often. It will be fun to help Carol's with hers. I think I will end this perfect day with a good book.

 

~have fun and enjoy!

 

 

 

Pretty and Pink

 

Had a great stamping party last weekend. It is always so much fun to get together with these girls and a good excuse to eat some chocolate in any form. Since it was Sale-a-Bration everyone went home with some freebies including this card they made for a make-n-take. They had their choice of Wisteria Wonder polka-dot designer paper or this fan pattern which is in the Subtles Color Collection Designer Paper Stack from Stampin' Up. The pink tag was made with the new Scalloped Tag Topper punch and then embossed with the Stripes embossing folder. I rounded off the corners and added a different twist on the ribbon. Rather than knotting it, I tied it with a piece of twine for added texture. The flowers were made with the Petite Petals stamp set and punched out with the coordinating Petite Petals punch in Melon Mambo and Smoky Slate ink. This can be purchased as a bundled set out of the current mini catalog. Love it when you get what you can get both and save a few dollars to buy something else. The Scallop Tag punch can also be found in the same mini catalog. The bird is from the Polka-Dot Pieces stamp set and punched out with the Bird Builder punch and stamped in Melon Mambo. The sentiment is from the Label Something stamp set and also stamped in Melon Mambo. I used the coordinating Artisan Label punch to punch it out. For the faux ribbon I used Smokey Slate card stock and punched it out with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch.

 

 

 

 

I have been working on my youngest son's room with mixed emotions. Even though he hasn't lived at home the last few years of college, I still felt he hadn't completely left since he still had quite a bit of stuff in his room. Now that he has finished college and has a great job, it has set it that he is never coming back home to live. My baby has really left the nest and I am feeling kind of sad about that- proud but sad. I am very proud of all three of my children because they are doing what they love but there is something about the last one that just tugs at your heart. I didn't clean out his dressers but there were some totes and other items stored in the corner waiting for him to take back to school. Obviously they are filled with items he feels he can live without so I moved them to the basement. I want to get the room is shape because my brother, his wife and the twins are coming over for a long weekend. The girls will just have turned two and we are excited to have them. Getting the room ready for a happy occasion helped.

 

I can actually see grass outside the window as I am typing. The sun is shinning and I if don't look too far to the right and see the patch of snow that is still on the ground, I might be able to fool myself into thinking summer is almost here. If only it were so!

 

~ have fun and enjoy!

Soft and Subtle

I made this card awhile ago for a Stampin' Up party and I realized it was one I hadn't shared with you. I am getting ready for another party next weekend and I came across this one when I was looking for samples to display. The stamp set is Apothecary Art. The card stock is Pistachio Pudding as the base and Costal Cabana on top of that which I used the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder. The ink is Costal Cabana and Wisteria Wonder. I used Stampin Up framelits Labels Collection to cut out the Apothecary Art stamped images. The seam binding is Pool Party. This turned out to be a very soft and subtle card that I can use for someone who is going through a rough patch.

 

 

 I hope you all had a great week. We were busy digging out of 6 inches of snow but some of the drifts from the strong winds were 3 feet. The really bad weather started after I had gone to work so the ride home was a real treat. At least I only live 15 minutes from the hospital on a good day. I had called home to see if my DH had cleaned out the driveway and he said he was just going out to do it. I left work 45 minutes later thinking that would give him enough time. When I pulled up he was at the top of the driveway and the snow was a couple of feet down at the bottom, so I continued on down our road looking for a place to turn around. I finally found a driveway that had been cleared out. When I pulled up in front of the house my DH came to the road and suggested I go to the grocery store to get tomatoes for the salads we were having for dinner while he finished snow blowing. TOMATOES really? The roads in our subdivision were just one lane so I couldn't park in front of the house. I headed to the nearest parking lot and thought I would just play on my iPad for a bit to waste some time. I ended up shopping at Cracker Barrel and then I sat in the car until he called to let me know the driveway was clear. Needless to say we did not have tomatoes on our salads that night.

~ Have fun and enjoy!

Glitter- a lot of glitter!

 I first want to apologize for my absence. I have had major problems with my computer and was unable to get on the internet. I didn't have any of my newest cards on a thumb drive so I thought I was just plain stuck. The Photoshop I use is also on that computer and I was really going to need it after trying to take pictures with my phone and iPad. It then occurred to me that I had also downloaded them to Picasa and voila here they are. Well at least one of them. I started to do this because when I upload my images they post in the correct orientation much better than if I select them from one of my folders. I guess you could say Picasa and Blogger were a marriage meant to be. Some applications just work better with others.

Anyway until I get a new computer I will be using DH's laptop. That's OK because I don't think he ever uses it. He is either on his iPad or PC. This card was one I made at our stamping club and the technique is called "glitter painting". It is made with glitter (a bunch of glitter) and stencils. This stencil I used was a Dreamweaver- Hydrangea. You can find the technique  here on Splitcoaststampers. Lots of fun and very pretty, just be ready to wear glitter for the next few days. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/glitterpainting/ The images don't do this card justice. In real life it is just stunning the way it glistens.

 

 

Like the rest of you the winter is starting to get to me. Growing up in the UP it just took me a little longer, but I must say I am waiting for Florida. How could we possibly be 70 degrees apart. I bought my ticket a couple of weeks ago and am now counting the days. It's not until the first part of May but at least I know when I 'll be seeing some nice warm weather. Quite a few people from work  have bolted out of this nasty cold weather to somewhere nice only to come back to the same frigid weather they left and are now more depressed than before they left. That is why I like to go in May. At least I have somewhat of a chance to come back to decent temperatures, plus I can keep up my tan the natural way when I get home. Call me a gambler since it is Michigan after all.

My brother and his wife and the twins are coming over for Memorial Day weekend and I am so excited. I haven't seen them since last year but they send me pictures regularly. I must say I see a lot of my baby pictures in them. My daughter said the same thing so I know it's not just me being a bias auntie. It's a nine hour drive so we will see how that goes with two year olds. Neither of them are drinkers (the parents that is) but I have a feeling I better have a pitcher or bottle of something when they arrive.

Well I better run, I have about a dozen clocks to turn back tonight.


~have fun and enjoy!

Some much needed color

 

 The weather around here in Michigan is really getting old. It is getting pretty difficult to deal with the never ending cold and snow. I thought I would make a card with a punch of color to brighten things up. I think the raspberry ribbon and flowers did the trick. Take that Mother Nature!

The designer paper for today's card is from Paper Studio called Kirby Teesdale Studio. It is a 12x12 pack and I used the lower right hand corner of the paper. Don't be afraid to use an off centered pattern for your background. I balanced it by adding a piece of Martha Stewart vellum ribbon to the left side of the card. I found this on clearance at Jo Ann's and I just love it because it is already sticky. The hard part of using vellum is what you use to mount it so that is doesn't show through the vellum. I haven't had much luck with  glue unless I cover it up with an embellishment. The layers were created with Spellbinders Decorative Label 8 and Resplendent Rectangles. The key stamp is from Paper Studio. The sentiment on the inside is "You are the key to my heart".

  

 

I have been sidetracked from my stamping lately with knitting. I am addicted to the Sashay scarves and after someone told me how easy they were to make, I grabbed my iPad and searched You Tube. I watched a couple of the videos and I now have seven new scarves. My ulterior motive was that if I keep my hands busy I am less apt to snack. Guess what- it works.

 

I wonder if I can find some of the yarn to make these scarves in hot pink or lime green because they are predicting another storm for Wednesday. I'm going to need something to get me through this next one. Wish me luck!

 

~ have fun and enjoy!