Birthday Cards - a little late!

My birthday was in October & I received so many pretty cards.  Thought I'd share the the hand made cards with you!

Isn't this one gorgeous?  My good friend, Judy, made this one.  It is sparkly as she embossed the outline of the image in gold.

I love these tropical flowers!  This one was made by my English friend, Margaret.

Such a fun card from Joyce who has been in my stamp club since I started it!

Another card from one of stamp club members, Anna.  Love this image.

This card is from another Sharon or "Girlfriend" as we refer to her.  Love the Swirly Bird die cut pumpkins.

And another friend from stamp club made this pretty card.

(the front of the card above)

This card was made by my sweet daughter with a little help from her Paper Pumpkin kit.

My sister, Marianne made this card.  I love the vases of flowers.

I got this card from my NC SU Demo friends - such a great group!

Isn't this cow cute?  My upline, Carol, sent me this card.

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl plus Hawaii pics

Hope your Christmas was a good one and you were able to spend some quality time with your friends and family!  Ours was nice and quiet this year.  It was a little different to have Christmas in my shorts and flip flops (or slippers as they call them here!)

We arrived in Hawaii Monday night around 10:30 pm (or 3:30 am EST).  Ashley met us at the airport with leis.  Believe me, the bed felt good to me when we finally got to Ashley's around midnight!

Thursday was Ashley's birthday.  This is the card I made for her using the new Beautiful You stamp set from the Occasions Catalog.

Our first stop on her birthday was to have breakfast.  We went to a restaurant for macadamia nut pancakes!  Soooo good!  Then we drove over to the Polynesian Cultural Center where we were able to learn about six Pacific cultures and visit the villages (Hawaii, Maori, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti & Tonga). There was a canoe parade with the different cultures aboard the canoes and different Polynesian activities going on.  The Cultural Center did not open until noon and there was really too much to see and do in the few hours we had.  We had reservations at 5:00 for their luau and at 7:30 for the evening show.  We really needed more time to explore.

Our pig for the luau - it was delicious!

Ashley and I with our luau leis

Finally - a picture of all 3 of us.  Those leaves were huge!!

Sonny & Ashley - waiting for our table to be called to get our food!

Our Maori tattoos!  They used a rubber stamp and black ink!

Canoe Parade

Hawaii float from the parade

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!  Today is my special day and I plan on doing what I want to do all day!  Not sure what that will be, but I will enjoy myself!  I know I plan on going out for breakfast with my hubbie.  Then he is going to drop me off at Belk's and Kohl's for a little shopping while he visit with his chiropractor.  My brother in law from Texas is flying in Saturday evening and after picking him up at the airport, we are going to meet my mom, Angela, Marianne and Greg for a birthday dinner.  We will be celebrating not only my birthday but Sonny's (10/30) and Greg's (11/1).  Jack (brother in law) is not coming here just for my birthday.  He and Sonny are going skeet shooting next week in Georgetown, SC.  I'll at least get to see Jack on this visit.  The last time he was here, I was out of town and the last few times I've been in Texas, he has had conflicts and we weren't able to meet.  I'll have a couple of days to visit with him before I head off to meet Ashley in San Francisco on Monday!  Ashley and I plan on being in San Fran until Wednesday and then renting a car and driving to Sonoma for a little wine tasting! 

I have gotten so many great cards this week - some hand made and some bought - but they were all much appreciated.  Here are some of the hand made ones I have received.

from Joyce

from my upline, Carol

from the NC Demo Group

from Gayle

from Sharon

Sharon's card inside

Aren't I the lucky one?!

Resist Happy Birthday

The emboss resist technique is such a good technique and a favorite of mine.  I love to use it - makes a card really pop.  On this card I stamped Happy Birthday (from a Sale-a-bration set) with Versamark ink.  Next I used Sponge Daubers to rub ink (Mint Macaron, Watermelon and Daffodil Delight) over the Versamark.  Next use a paper towel to rub the ink off the Versamark.  That's it - easy, peasy!

I had a great visit with Ashley in Texas.  Mom and I flew down last Wednesday.  We just hung out by the pool on Thursday and Friday while Ashley was at work.  I filled up on my favorite Texas foods - Rudy's BBQ, Mexican food (twice!), Josephine's T-Bone steak to name a few.  Ashley's best friends and their kids came over on Sunday for a cook out.  The pool water was too cold for me but the kids didn't have any problems jumping in.  On Monday, we went to the Botanical Gardens and I took bunches of pictures of the beautiful plants.  I will be sharing them as soon as I get them downloaded from my phone.  Tuesday Ashley took us to the airport and we headed back to NC.

Happy Birthday

I've been making birthday cards lately.  Our NC Demo group sends birthday cards to all the members and I thought I'd donate a few for the cause.

This card was fun to make and uses a stamp from Sale-a-bration (Perfect Pairings) which, sadly, is now over.  I just don't feel like I have used the stamp sets enough so hope you don't mind me continuing to use them.  You can always substitute a current stamp set for the one that I used to re-create this card.

I stamped Happy Birthday on the white card with Versamark Ink and then embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder.  Then I sponged over the Versamark with Mint Macaron, Melon Mambo and Hello Honey.  I punched out a couple of little flags for the top of the card using the Banners Framelits and tied a piece of Bakers Twine around them.  I added a few sequins (non SU) randomly; backed the white card onto a piece of Melon Mambo and, viola - I was done!  You could make this card masculine by sponging blues and greens on it and making the card Marina Mist.  Lot of possibilities!

I had a very different week end to say the least!  My mom had asked me a few weeks ago if I would take her to Salisbury this past Saturday (about an hour away).  The Association for the Blind was sponsoring a day of Putt Putt Golf for the blind and legally blind.  (My mom is legally blind,)  So off we go on Saturday - had to arrive by 9:00 I was told.  Well, we got there about 8:30 and sat around for almost 2 hours before the event started in the drizzling rain.  Not a great way for me to start my day.  If you don't know it, I am NOT a morning person!!  I was assigned to help mom & 2 other legally blind men - one in his early 70s and the other early 80s (Vance and Bob0).  Luckily, one of the gentlemen could see pretty good (compared to my mom!!) and really didn't need much assistance.  I was kept busy going back and forth with the other gentleman and my mom helping them aim their ball at the hole.  I could not hit the ball for them; only tell them the obstacles on the hole and whether to hit it hard or soft.  Once the drizzle stopped and the sun came out, it was hot and humid (the back of my neck is still tender from sunburn!)  After we finished 18 holes, we could take a short break (no more than 5 minutes!)  None of my group wanted to take a break though so we started on the NEXT 18 holes!!  Yes - 36 holes of golf for blind people!!!  Luckily there was a 5 stroke maximum or I would still be there with my mom!  Mom had decided to bring her walker with her so she could sit when it wasn't her turn.  Bob's wife was with her and about half way through the course, she & mom were taking turns sitting on the walker.  We were almost to the end - maybe 4-5 holes to go, when I was so dehydrated and hot, I really thought I was going to faint.  I had to move those two old ladies off that walker and have a seat!!  I think I earned my stars on Saturday!

On Sunday, the Lion's Club (of which my mom and sister are members) held a bowling fund-raiser and I attended.  Bowling is not Sonny's thing so he dropped me off and went to the golf range to hit a few balls.  I enjoy bowling but it is not something I do often.  I don't think I have bowled in about 8 years!  We did four games - I won 2 and Angela won 2.  Mom used to be a pretty good bowler and still is not too bad.  I was really surprised.  She walked the ball right up to the foul line and threw it down the lane.  If she could have gotten some velocity behind the ball, she would have done great.  Her ball usually went straight; it just didn't have any "uump" to knock over many pins.

I am now waiting for our Texas / English friends to arrive (it's almost 1 a.m.!)  Their flight was supposed to be here at 10:30 but got delayed so Sonny has gone to the airport to pick them up.  The guys leave in the morning to drive to Georgetown with a group to go target shooting for a couple of days. Margaret and I have lots of plans while they are gone!!

Brayer Power

This card is a little out of my comfort zone but it turned out ok.  I was going through some of my "stuff" and found this package of Stampin' Up Coaster Board (pg 148) that I had never used but I have had it about 2 years!  The Coaster Board is thinner than chipboard, but sturdier than cardstock.  It's great for die cutting and embossing.  

I ran it through my Lovely Lace embossing folder.  Next I inked up my brayer (which I probably have not used in several years) with Watermelon Wonder ink and rolled it over the coaster board. This is the debossed side.  I brayer-ed both sides but I liked this side the best.  It's neat how the raised portion takes the ink and the debossed areas stay white.  You can't press real hard on the brayer though.  I stamped the cake with Watermelon also and punched it out with the 2 1/2" punch.  I love the sentiment from Party Wishes (Occasions Catalog, pg. 5).  I tucked some of the Dotted Lace Trim behind the circle.  

Sonny and I went to the movies today and saw Eddie the Eagle.  It was very good.  I would recommend it to you.

Sunsets and Birthday

Well - I keep saying I am going to do better about posting my blog posts but so far, I'm not doing so well!  This week was a pretty busy one for me plus I don't even want to think how many pounds I put on.  I went out to eat every day this week and am going out tonight for my sister's birthday!  Monday Sonny and I went into town to escape the snow to the movies and had dinner at an Italian restaurant. This is the sunset that we saw when we came out of the movies!

Those cars in the picture are on I-77!

The day before I took some great sunset pictures from my back deck.

And the following day, I saw another beautiful sunset as I was driving home.  I tried to snap a few photos while I was driving but they didn't turn out so good!  (I know - not a smart thing to do.)

Tonight we are taking my sister (Angela) out to eat for her birthday which is Monday.  This is the card I have made for her using some new stamps that I just got yesterday.  I think I am really going to be using this large number set a lot.

Halloween Self Closing Bags

This week was my husband's "guys get away."  He and his friends go a couple of times a year (spring and fall) to Georgetown to go skeet shooting.  It is a fun time for him .... and a fun time for me!  Margaret and Graham come down and Graham goes with Sonny and Margaret and I are on our own for a few days to play in my stamp room.  We took full advantage of it this week too!  We went to a comedy club with friends on Tuesday night at the Galway Hooker in Huntersville and that was a lot of fun.  There was a couple in the group from England so Margaret was right at home visiting with them.  The comedian was one of the best I have heard at the Hooker and didn't feel a need to use dirty language constantly.  In fact, I don't think I ever heard a swear word from him.  I am not a prude, but it seems that comedians feel the need to use the "F" word a lot in their act and it is just not funny.  Margaret worked on the cards from my October Stamp Club while I finished up the shoebox cards from last week's quarterly.  I showed Margaret a cute Self Closing Bag that I had made at Allison's a few months ago and she went to town making them for her family for Halloween.

We got the instructions from a video on Dawn Griffiths's blog.  As you can tell, after she did the first one, she found them easy to make!

Today is Sonny's birthday (69th!!)  After dropping off Margaret and Graham, I treated Sonny to lunch at a deli/restaurant in Langtree Village.  After his week of travels and eating a lot, he did not want to do much.  My sandwich was delicious - their version of a BLT.  It had bacon, arugula, fried green tomato and pimento cheese on a grilled ciabatta roll!  No one else in my family would have enjoyed it but I sure did!  Here is the card I made for Sonny for his birthday using some paper I bought several years ago.  He has several of the "Old Guys Rule" tees.

Happy Birthday!

Remember me?  Last week was crazy busy for me plus it was my birthday!!  (We won't discuss my age!)  We returned from Pittsburgh Monday after dropping Ashley at the airport around noon.  Most of the week I was busy catching up and getting my swaps ready for the Wilmington Quarterly.  Thursday was my birthday and we met my family for dinner.  I had a dr's check up Thursday morning; then went shopping.  After that, I pampered myself with a manicure.  I received some lovely birthday cards which I want to share.

From Brenda Elliott - those flowers are popped up and punched individually - several layers - gorgeous!

Carol Bartle

Sharon

from Joanne

from Joyce

from Margaret

Just had to show all the dimensions on this card plus she handmade the pearl bits on the card.  Just lovely!

from NC Demos

Sharon Ridgway

Marianne

Happy 21st Birthday!

Hope you had a safe but fun Labor Day!  I did.  On Saturday, we went to the movies and saw No Escape.  It was not the best movie I've seen and was quite bloody but it was entertainment for the afternoon!  On Sunday, we braved the heat and took our boat out.  It was not as hot as it has been but it was not cool either!!  Monday, we drove up to the mountains thinking the temps would be a lot cooler - not so.  We went to the Apple Festival in Hendersonville - a couple of hours from us.  Hendersonville is a really nice little town and one we will return to visit in the future.  Most of the tents selling things were gone but we were still able to get some delicious NC apples - honeycrisp - my favorite!  We watched most of the parade but after a little over an hour, we decided to cool off in one of the two Irish bars that were downtown.  Later we found a German restaurant a few blocks away and had dinner.  Oh my!!  It was delish!!  Sonny has already put it in his GPS as a favorite with intentions of returning.

I was able to get a little stamping done too over the weekend.  I mailed this card to my daughter-in-law's oldest daughter for her 21st birthday which was Sunday.  I am quite pleased with how the card turned out.

I used a stamp set from the Holiday Catalog - Your Presents - which I received from convention.  It is great that this set is not just for Christmas.  The stars are from the Star Framelits and I stamped on them using a really, really old and retired stamp set - Itty Bitty Backgrounds.  The "21" comes from the Numbers Framelits.

The best news of my weekend was that ..... Ashley made it back home safe and sound!!  She left Guam Friday around noon (which was Saturday, noon, for her) and arrived in San Antonio on Saturday around 6:30.  So, she had two Saturdays!  Her friends made a "welcome home" sign and greeted her at the airport and another one of her friends had a welcome home sign on her front door when she got home.  Not sure when we'll see her but it sure was great to just pick up the phone today and call her.