Fathers Day Card

Saturday my nephew, Harrison, graduated from Mooresville High School.  The next day he took his first airplane ride!  The family took a vacation to Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and who knows from there!  I've been following their progress as they post on Facebook.  Isn't modern technology wonderful?!!  At his graduation party, there was more food than any of us could eat and this beautiful cake.  His friend, Sean's grandmother made the cake with both Sean & Harrison's names on it.  I think this friend is the only one who is allowed to call him Harry!  My mom told him that when he was born, Marianne told her she better not ever call him Harry .... his name was Harrison!  That's all any of us have ever called him so imagine our surprise to see Harry on the cake!  It was a yummy cake - one layer, strawberry and the bottom layer, chocolate.

Marianne and Harrison

I have a guest designer today, my sister Marianne.  She made this Father's Day card and asked me to mail it while she was gone.  Isn't it great?  She used the retired DSP, Mocha Morning and several punches.  She ran it through the Big Shot with the dotted embossing folder before adhering it to the front of the card.

Happy Father's Day

Sammie sure missed me while I was gone and has not let me forget it either!  She has certainly come out of myher shell in the past few months since I've had her.  She doesn't like to see me working without giving her attention and makes sure she lays right on the keyboard or the table where I am working for me to pet her.  Or her favorite thing is to bring me one of her many plastic drinking straws that she has scattered all over the house and play with her.  In the picture below, she is looking down at her straw - who will get it .... her or me?

Hanging out on my desk

Here is another place she likes to hang out!  It's pretty scary to me but doesn't seem to bother her.

hanging out on the bannister

Hanging out on my chair

Telescoping Open Sea

I'm a little late with this card technique.  I think this was a featured technique on Splitcoast Stampers about six months ago.  I never made one of them but decided it was a good technique for this nautical card. It was a lot easier than I thought.   I made this card for my nephew for his birthday .... a little bit late, but hey, better late than never!

The colors I used are Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White along with a retired Nautical DSP.  I'm so glad this stamp set was included in the new SU catalog.  It is so great for male cards.  Here are the directions to make a telescoping card if you are so inclined.

We had a busy weekend.  Friday night we enjoyed dinner at Prickley Pear in Mooresville to celebrate our friend, Bob's birthday.  He and Sharon were visiting Marianne for the weekend for graduation.  Saturday we attended the Mooresville High School graduation ceremonies and watched my nephew, Harrison graduate.  Where have the years gone?  He will be going to Central Piedmont in the fall.  After the ceremony, Marianne had a party for him at mom's club house.  It was fun.  Today, Sonny and I went out on the boat.  It was my first time on the boat all season!

Derek, Harrison, me & Sonny

Another Papaya Collage

Sorry for not posting yesterday - seems as I've picked up a bit of a cold since returning from our trip.  I think I sneezed my head off yesterday while I was going through a box of kleenex blowing my nose.  So, I'm staying close to home today and taking it easy.

I took my mom out to lunch yesterday just to get her up and out of the house.  (I tried to keep my distance so she wouldn't catch my cold but at the time, I thought it was just allergies.)  She did great - using her walker to go to the restaurant.  We just did a short outing - to a deli for lunch and back home.  But last night she called me in tears she was hurting so bad.  This is getting really frustrating.  Today she and Angela are getting their hair cut so we'll see how today goes.  I have a call in to her doctor to discuss the situation.  I hate being at the mercy of these doctors.

I finally picked my 2 free stamp sets (compliments of my SAB sales) Tuesday and put my order in for them.  I ordered Everything Eleanor and From My Heart.  Of course, I have a whole page of other stamps that I want on my Wish List but they will be there for another time.  I also ordered all the in color cardstock, Polka Dot DSP, Dahlia embellishments, Chevron embossing folder, Delicate Designs textured folder, and was able to get a new stamp set that will be offered for $5 in July for every $50 order, Reason to Smile.  Now I just have to be patient and wait for UPS to process my order and bring it to my doorstep.

In the meantime, I have been having fun playing with Papaya Collage, the new stamp set I got in the pre-order as well as the new In Colors.

I know a lot of people are on the fence about the new Summer Starfruit color.  I probably am too.  I love the color that it stamps.  This is the first time I have used it for a card and I love how it coordinates with the other colors.  I stamped the background with Versamark to add a little contrast to the color.  The frame is stamped with Midnight Muse and the leaves are stamped with Gumball Green.  So what do you think?

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms!  Hope you have a restful, peaceful day and are with the ones you love.

What a busy few days this has been!  I would truthfully been happy to just stay in bed and stay home all day today but don't think that will be the plan! 

Friday Sonny & I were in Shelby for an all day CPR/First Aid class.  You have to get certified in CPR every 3 years but I just wish there was a quickie 2-3 hour course to go over the basics!  There probably is but our instructors on Friday were new - we were their first class I think - and they covered every detail.  Oh well, we are done for 3 years anyway. 

My mom had back surgery on Friday (outpatient).  I hated that I was not there but she was in good hands with Marianne and Angela.  Besides, what could I have done except keep them company in the waiting room for several hours?  She came through the surgery fine.  The doctor said she definitely had spinal stenosis and she should have relief after the surgery.  She was in Recovery for a while dealing with the pain but by 3 pm, she was headed back home.  I went over to visit her after my CPR class.  She was sitting up in her chair watching tv.  Her main complaint now is that it hurts when she gets up and down to go to the bathroom.  But any surgery is going to take time to heal and she needs to be patient.  I talked to my sister today and she is not doing so great today.  I think she thought after the surgery, she would be instantly better.  But any time you have surgery, you have got to expect pain for a while.  She just needs to be patient.

Marianne's son, Derek, graduated from UNC-C yesterday.   We didn't attend the graduation - he only got 6 tickets and they went to the grandparents.  But that was ok - sitting through graduations is not the most fun .... especially when your last name starts with "W"!!  But we went to the party afterwards.  Sonny and I went over early to set things up while they were attending graduation.  We had a great time.  It is hard for me to believe that Derek is 22 and a college graduate!  Where does the time go??

I received a beautiful Mothers Day card yesterday from Ashley.  I just might be CASE-ing this card!!

Here are the beautiful flowers Ashley sent to me on Thursday:

Now I'm crossing my fingers hoping for a call today from my son!

I'll be going over to visit Mom and take her her Mother's Day gift and card later today.  Unfortunately, she does not feel up to going out, but that's ok!  As long as she gets better, we will all be happy.

Monday Mailer cards from March

I received some wonderful Monday Mailers last month.  My partner was Pat Wilkerson and she is a great stamper.  She always makes the best cards so I was super glad to be paired with her.  Here are the last two cards she sent me which I will be CASE-ing!

I think this is what is called a Cascading Card.  It is wonderful!  I just have to take it apart and figure it out.  It uses Mixed Bunch from the mini.  I think it looks harder than it really is!

Isn't this a cool one?  Fold the card stock into a bird house and use Language of Friendship for the bird!  I just love it!

Opened bird house

My brother-in-law flew back to Texas today.  I think he had a good trip.  I can't wait to see what their adventure will be next year.  They are talking about looking into a train trip out west.  I suggested they take Route 66 and see where it takes them.  We had a fish fry last night and invited my mom and sister to come help us eat the catfish.  It was fish that they caught last May when Jack was here and I had frozen it.  It's easier for Sonny and I to go out to eat when we want fried fish than to cook it for 2 people.  But I made macaroni salad, brownies, hush puppies and fish.  Sonny cooked the fish and hush puppies outside so I didn't have the smell in the house.  It sure brought back memories.  When we used to go to visit my sister and brother-in-law and my dad and step mother, we would always have a fish fry.  My mother in law made the best macaroni salad and I use her recipe and Debbie (sister) always had sweets - usually a batch of brownies.  One year when we were there, we had a very memorable fish fry and it is always mentioned whenever we get together.  The guys - Sonny, Jack and Papa - had gone fishing all day and had a few lot of beers.  When they returned home, they went out back to get the fire started to cook the fish.  Our kids were pretty small so we went ahead and fed them first with the first batch of fish.  When the adults sat down to eat and we all had put food on our plate, Helen (my step mother) looked at her fish and asked Papa when he started putting pepper on the fish.  Well, about that time, one of us noticed that the pepper was moving.  It was not pepper but it was ants!  The grease they had used had been outside and was full of ants which of course, they hadn't noticed!  Debbie, Helen and I all dumped out our fish out but the guys knew better.  They just kept eating and telling us how great it was and that those ants wouldn't hurt us.  It was several years before our kids found out that we had fed them fish with ants!!  It's a family story now that none of us will forget.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Today was my sister, Marianne's birthday.  I made her this card which I just love!  I'm going to wait until we go to Texas next week  to buy her present.  We are going to the outlet mall in San Marcos where they have a Vera Bradley store.  I'm sure she will find something there she has to have!

 I used the stamp set, Flower Fest which I need to use more.  I just love how this card turned out.  I stamped the flower 4 times on Almost Amethyst cardstock (retired, darn it!) with Versamark Ink and embossed them with white embossing powder.  I used my Aqua Painter to add a darker purple (Vintage Violet - retired) onto the petals.  I stamped the leaves with Versamark onto Certainly Celery.  I cut them all out separately and stacked the flowers on top of each other with dimensionals.  The "happy birthday" is from A Word for You.  (I masked off "with a cherry on top")  I found the ribbon in my jar of ribbon remnants and crinkled it with the heat gun. 

Tonight the family met Marianne and her boys at a Mexican restaurant in Statesville.  Of course, the waiters sang to her and I got this great picture of her!!!

Happy Birthday baby sis!!

Its A Boy!

It's a BOY!  Jack Wayland Frost IV was born at 12:15 AM Friday, Feb. 3.  He weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces - not bad for being 5 1/2 weeks early!  He is my nephew, Jack, and his wife, Katrina's first child.  If you follow my blog, they were the couple who were married in May, 2010 with the carnival themed wedding (pictures  HERE!).  Jack & Kat live in Austin, Texas - about an hour away from my daughter.  Ashley drove up there this afternoon to meet the newest addition to the family and got to hold him.  I'll have to wait until March to see him.  I made a baby book for him a couple of weeks ago and thought I had plenty of time to get it in the mail.  Oops .... didn't know he was going to be so impatient!  Guess I better get it in the mail on Monday.  I made this cute card today to send to them.

 I found this piece of DSP cardstock in my stash and thought it would be great for little Jack's card.  The stamp set is Simply Scallops which is a retired set.  The materials I used for this card are:

non-SU DSP cut 4 1/4" x 11" folded in half

3/4" Circle Punch (for the neck

1 3/8" Circle Punch for legs

Small Oval Punch for bottom snap part

Scallop Punch , 1 1/4" Circle Punch

White Brads

Here is how I made the card: 

• fold the DSP cardstock in half
• Use the punches to punch the legs and neck holes (just half punches)
• For arms - measure 1 1/4" down from top fold and cut in from the sides 1"; cut from the underarm part you just cut to the outer corner of the leg portion.
• For the trim on the legs and neck, use the Circle Punches to punch out half circles.

Our Newest Addition .... Meet Bogart!

We have a new addition to our family! Bogart!! Ashley adopted a 6 month old kitten Wednesday from a local No Kill Shelter.  He is soooo cute!  We got home with him around 5 p.m. and he has been exploring the house ever since - only taking a couple of short cat naps.  We thought a new kitten would be pretty hesitant and we would need to put him in a room alone until he got used to us and the new home.  But, he is not shy at all and very lovable.  Right now, he is curled up right next to Sonny .... who doesn't care for cats!  How is it that cats always know who in the crowd doesn't like them?  Although, we think Sonny protests too much.  Ashley's last cat, Taco, always curled up in Sonny's lap and we caught him petting the cat and talking to him!  

Bogart playing with my shoelace

Isn't he pretty?

A happy girl and her cat!

Sketch Challenge and stuff!

Today is Wednesday .... I think!  So, it is time for the Stamping Queens Sketch Challenge.  I took time on Sunday while we were watching football to log onto My Digital Studio and create a card for the sketch.  It's a fun birthday card.  Which reminds me .... my baby brother turns 50 (!!) next week and I need to make a card for him.  Ok - back to the subject .... Stamping Queens Sketch.  Check out the other Queens take on the sketch this week HERE and to see the sketch this week.

Isn't it funny how when you're on vacation, you just lose all track of the days and the time!  Ashley has been working half days this week (she was off last Friday and Monday) and I have been taking her to work so we could have her car.  Yesterday, she told me she would probably work until 1 or 2:00.  When I came back after dropping her off, I got back in bed for about 30 minutes.  Then I got up and ate breakfast and got on the computer - how I can waste time!  When she called me to pick her up, I said "I thought you were working late today" to which she replied, Mom, it's 1:00!  I had not even gotten dressed!!  How time flies when you're doing nothing!!!  When we picked her up, we went inside the hospital to see her office.  Sonny had never even been on the base before and neither of us had been in the hospital.  It is really nice.  A new portion was added on while she was deployed and that is where her office and the pediatric clinic is.  Then we went over to the PX and to a Medical Museum on base. 

I have not made any cards or done any of my calendars while I have been here.  We have been on the go since we got here.  The day after we arrived, our good friends, Don and Sharon, who live in Dallas arrived.  One of Sharon's best friends and a college roommate lost her battle with cancer and they were in town for the funeral.  So, we met them at their hotel and had dinner and drinks.  It was great to see then even under the circumstances. 

I hope your holidays are continuing to be merry and you are getting ready to welcome 2012!!

We had our family Christmas early - last Saturday night at Marianne's home.  As you are reading this, I am in Texas which is why we celebrated early.  These are some of the family pictures that I took.



Mom and Derek, Marianne's oldest son



Harrison - Marianne's youngest son

Jacob and Lexi - my brother, Lee's kids

My brother, Lee and his wife, Dina

Marianne's husband, Greg

My sweetie

Harrison - isn't she /he cute????

The 3 sisters - as seen through the smoke!  We were outside sitting around the fire pit eating smores!!

Wednesday Stamp Queen's Sketch Challenge

Doesn't that little box up in the corner scare you????  11 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!  I'm not ready!!

As usual, I am late in posting this sketch challenge for the Stamping Queens Challenge.  But My Digital Studio rescued me once again!  The sketch this week was fairly simple so I kept the card pretty simple also.

I used elements for several sets for this card.  Sometimes I think simple is best!

Check out the other Queens take on the challenge HERE.  If you get a chance, try out the sketch for yourself!

We are making progress with getting the whole house painted!  Sonny has moved upstairs and has finished painting our bedroom and bathroom (blue).  He still has some trim work to do in the bathroom but will do that after Christmas.  Today he is doing our guest bathroom (Lemongrass - a pale green).  He will finish up in 2012 and paint both our guest bedrooms in pink.  What's so great is he also vacuums the rooms and baseboards when he's finished before putting all the furniture back!!  He's a keeper for sure!

Thanksgiving pictures

Thought I'd share some of the pictures I took last week.  I didn't take as many as I wanted to - seems I kept forgetting to take my camera with me when we went out!!

Taken Thanksgiving Day on my deck of us gals!  Ashley, me, Sharon (Girlfriend), Angela, Marianne and Mom.

My dining room table all set and waiting for the hungry family!

We finished painting the dining room and it looks great!!  This is one side of my family pictures.

This is the other side of the room.  I have old pictures of my family hung on both sides. 

Harrison and Derek - Marianne's boys on Thanksgiving.

Mom and Ashley taken at the Waffle House Tuesday morning before she headed to airport.

Ashley and Angela (who hates having her picture taken!)

Last Saturday night Sonny, Ashley and I took a Haunted tour of downtown Charlotte.  It was great fun!  I had bought the tickets several months ago on Groupon to use when Ashley came to visit.  We learned a lot of history about Charlotte that I didn't know.  Whether you believe in ghosts or not, it was very informative.  So, if you live in this area, I would highly recommend Carolina History and Haunts tours.

On Monday, we drove to Kannapolis to the North Carolina Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Everyone I have mentioned this to has said, I didn't know there was such a place.  I had read about it a couple of years ago in the Charlotte newspaper and kept the clipping for "some day."  It was free which is always a good thing but it is very well done.  I was surprised by the number of artists which have roots in North Carolina.  Museum exhibits include Charlie Daniels, Nina Simone, Chairman of the Board, Clyde McPhatter, Donna Fargo, Thelonius Monk, and Victoria Livengood.  Another good place to visit and take your guests to.

A little of this and that

Sorry about not posting the past few days.  I've been super busy with my Christmas Stamp a Stack.  I had a group of ladies Friday night and another group of ladies Tuesday afternoon.  I think everyone was quite happy with their cards.  I had a lady in each event that made 45 cards!  That's some assembly line stamping!  My Friday night gal had her mom and daughter here to help her but my Tuesday lady did hers alone.  She stamped everything she needed to while at my house and did a sample of each card.  Then she took them home to assemble them later.   I really enjoyed the stamp a stack but I am glad it is over so I can go on to do other things!! 

Several people have asked me about my mom.  It seems she takes one step forward and two steps back.  Last Friday, Angela called me to tell me mom was having really bad pain again.  When I've talked to mom in the past week, she has been pretty depressed.  I guess so - she hasn't been out of the house to speak of in over a month.  She has really been missing going to church and socializing with her friends.  She went to the dr. today for the second spinal shot.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this one will do the trick.  If not, I guess we will be doing the surgery.

I have not been doing much stamping the past week or more except for the Christmas cards for the stamp-a-stacks except for my Monday Mailers each week and I don't think I took pictures of the cards I made to send before mailing them!  That's the way October was for me.  But I do have my most recent received Monday Mailer to share with you.  It is a great fall card using the sentiment stamp from the mini catalog that is just so elegant.

 

I also have a birthday card to share with you that Margaret sent to Sonny.  It is a great card!!  I don't what company makes the stamp but I love it!!  She did a great job with this card.  Oh .... speaking of Sonny and birthdays, someone told me that I made an error in my birthday post about him.  I said that he was now on Medicaid instead of Medicare!  Most of you know us and know that I meant Medicare!   Like I said, October was a crazy busy month!

We (Sonny) has made a lot of progress with our paint project.  He has finished the hallways both upstairs and downstairs as well as the dining room.  We had a painter com on Saturday to do the foyer with the 18 foot ceilings!   I'll take pictures of the dining room to show you.  It looks really good in burgundy!  Tomorrow he is starting in the kitchen .... oops, guess I won't be cooking tomorrow night!   So after the kitchen, he will only have the bathroom downstairs, the laundry room and his office.  Then to the upstairs and the bedrooms and bathrooms.  Hopefully, all will be done by Thanksgiving!

Stitched Stockings

I have had a request for a revision of one of the cards on my Christmas Stamp A Stack.  So I am adding Cards #13 and #14 as seen below.

Plaid Stockings in Cherry Cobbler is #13   /   Dotted Stockings in Real Red is #14

I met Angela and Mom at the surgeon's office this morning ..... at 8:00 which is way too early for me to be up and in town!!  I am NOT a morning person!  Luckily, he did not recommend any major surgery!  We took the x-rays from the Nerve Block Injection that she had on Tuesday so he could see them.  His recommendation is -  let's see if it works; even possibly having to redo the injection in a few weeks.  If we  determine that it is not working, he can do an out-patient surgery to relieve the pressure on the nerves.  The doctor would use a microscope to see and protect the nerve roots, and safely remove the portion of the disc that has herniated. Removing the fragment of disc material that is pressing on the nerve eliminates the pressure on that nerve.  

After the doctor's appointment, we went to breakfast and then I headed home.  I worked fast and furious until my club ladies came at 1:00.  We have started a painting project .... well, let's rephrase that - Sonny is doing the painting!!  We Sonny is going to paint the interior of our house.  I am tired of the white and cream that is on all the walls.   He did the living area yesterday.  I was surprised that he did the whole room in one day!  I stayed out of the way and he never even got cranky!!  When I got home today, we did a little bit of touch up in the corners and then moved all the furniture back in place.  We finished about 30 minutes before club started!   I have been wanting to do this painting for about a year but never really pushed him about it - mainly because I couldn't decide what colors I wanted.  Finally, when he got in the mood to go buy the paint last week, I knew I had to make a decision.  I have a painting in my hall that is matted in a sorta suede brown so that is what I chose for the den, hallways and foyer.  We are going to hire someone to come in and do the foyer since the ceiling is 18 feet tall!!  We have also bought the paint for the dining room.  I am going to match a valance that I have in there and paint the room burgundy.  There is a chair rail so I will leave the bottom white and cream.  Now to figure out about the kitchen.  Ashley gave me a suggestion that I think I am going to go with and paint it a mustard-y color.  When I was in Gig Harbor, I worked at a ceramics painting shop and painted a mustard-gold rooster.  As I was moving the rooster out of the den yesterday, I decided I liked the color and that's what I will paint the kitchen!   That color will also go in Sonny's office/den.  I think it will be perfect with his black and gold Steeler stuff that he has in there!!

OK - my bed is calling my name - time to go visit it!

Queens Sketch Challenge Week 9

It's Wednesday .... time for another Stamping Queens Sketch Challenge!! 

I worked on this sketch forever last night trying to get something that I really liked.  Finally I did it!  And no wasted cardstock, ribbon, etc.  That is the beauty of My Digital Studio - if you don't like what you've created, delete and start over!

The color scheme is from the Spice Cake DSP - pool party, crumb cake, more mustard and early espresso.  The stamp is from Day of Gratitude.  So, see, you can create this card without having MDS if you have those items.

 Won't you play along with us this week?  Check out the sketch itself and the other interpretations of the sketch HERE.  

I had Stamp Club yesterday.  We had a small group - only 4 ladies.  So it was quiet and we got a lot done I think.  I'll be posting the projects later.  We did Halloween and Thanksgiving cards.  I have room for more in the Tuesday group if you live in the area and would like to join us!

Marianne and Angela took Mom to the doctor yesterday for her nerve block injection.  She did great with it and it did not hurt her like the last one she had did.  Now let's keep our fingers crossed that it works!  Angela took her out to eat afterwards and then to get a massage.  She had a rough night Monday night and her upper back was bothering her.  The massage therapist said she had a big knot that she tried to work out.  I am sure it is from the tension of the past few weeks.  Angela sent me an e-mail last night and said Mom's leg started hurting again and she went to bed crying.  She has just sent me another e-mail this morning that Mom did not sleep at all last night and is hurting in her back, shoulder and leg!  She is waiting for the doctor to call her back.  When is this going to end???  We have an appointment in the morning to talk to the surgeon.

Shoebox Swaps

I haven't shared the Shoebox Swaps from Quarterly with you .... mainly because I haven't finished them.  But, I decided to go ahead and share the pictures that I took of the ones I need to finish.  I hope to work on them real soon!! 

The stocking punch makes this one so easy!

Again - another punch to make it easy - this time, the owl punch.

No punch - have to cut the snowman out.  This is the cute snowman in Snow Much Fun



A great autum card using French Foilage

Angela took Mom to Dr Hines today - the spine and pain management specialist.  He diagnosed her with severe stenosis, disc bulging and severe osteoarthritis.  He is going to give her an injection next Tuesday - a nerve root block to try to decrease the inflammation which should reduce her pain.  He says it will not change the stenosis and does not know how long the relief will last.  The other option is surgery and he wants us to talk to a surgeo.  I am very leary of her having back surgery.