Clean and Simple

Today is my son's birthday - 34!  Hard to believe my baby is that old!  Wish I could be with him today.

I am not so good at doing Clean and Simple cards but I do like how this one turned out.  It's hard for me not to add just one more thing when doing these types of cards. 

For this card, I spritzed the Crumb Cake card with Marina Mist and Summer Starfruit inks.  As you can see, I used lots of Framelits and Dies to make this card.  They make it so much easier!

We had a good time this weekend in Atlanta.  Before we got on the highway, we met Margaret & Graham in Charlotte for lunch.  Margaret called me Friday night to tell me they were in town - a last minute decision.  Too bad she didn't call earlier and she could have come to my Christmas Card Stamp a Stack!  We met Ashley and her friends for drinks and dinner when we arrived in Atlanta.  Sunday we walked over to the Coca Cola Museum and toured it.  It was really interesting.  Afterwards, we found an Irish pub to watch some football.  Ashley thinks we much have a touch of Irish in us!  Ashley went to her conference Sunday night to hear the opening speaker; Sonny stayed and watched more football and  I went back to the hotel for a nap!  This morning after breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and drove over to Underground Atlanta.  How disappointing!!  Back "in the old days" when Sonny and I were dating and were first married (early 70s), Underground Atlanta was THE hot spot!  I have many fond memories of bar hopping and having fun in Atlanta in the Underground.  Today though it is just a plastic, sterile shopping area with really junky shops and kiosks lining the roads.  You can still see some of the original architect - brickwork, granite archways, cast-iron pilasters, ornate marble, wooden posts and gas streetlamps from a centuries earlier but other than that, it's not worth the $3 we paid to park!  The only store we even wandered in to was the "Made For TV" store! 

I have a really busy week so bear with me if I don't post much.  Tomorrow Ashley and I are working in the Soup Kitchen early and then coming home for afternoon Stamp Club.  Wednesday I have my second Christmas Stamp a Stack and Thursday is my other Stamp Club.  After the ladies leave on Thursday, we are heading to Asheville for a couple of days.  Somewhere in the next week, I need to plan my menu for Thanksgiving and do a little grocery shopping.

Birthday Cards

I know Halloween is over but I just have to share my neighbor's display for the holiday.  It is so funny!!

Isn't that clever?  I just love it!

I got my butt in gear and did some stamp room cleaning last week.  I threw a bunch of stuff away and tried to get other things arranged where I can see it to use it but not have stuff laying all over the floor, etc.  I got my desk cleaned off first and then tackled the rest.  I still have things to get rid of but I made a start.  See my nice looking desk -

Now maybe I can be a little more productive.  My main incentive is that Ashley is coming to visit and over Thanksgiving, Marianne also comes over and we do some stamping.  The way it was, no one was able to get in my room but me!!

I also have a few more birthday cards to share.  Sonny's birthday was last Tuesday and this is the card I made for him:

 This is a stamp that I bought over a year ago and don't think I have ever used it.  But I love it!  It is one that I got at CKC by unity stamps.

From Ashley to her Daddy

from Margaret to Sonny

from Marianne to Sonny

from Margaret to me

My Birthday Cards

I had a nice birthday .... pretty low key but when you get to a certain age, you really don't need all the bells and whistle to announce you are getting older!  My mom called me early this morning before I left the house to play bridge.  And Sonny had laid out my present from Ashley last night so I saw it first thing this morning.  She bought me my favorite cologne from Hawaii, Hawaiian Gardenia.  I bought it when she and I were in Hawaii many years ago and have been wanting more.  Well, she was able to order it from Amazon!  Who knew?!  When I got to bridge, my friends sang Happy Birthday to me.  I got lots of text, phone and facebook messages too.  Don't you just love the digital age?!  Sonny took me to dinner tonight.  I picked Bonefish Grill and had a yummy Parmesan Crusted Flounder.  Now, if my son would just call, it would be a perfect day.  My daughter in law said they were going to call, but so far, nothing.

Here are some of my birthday cards I received:

from my good friend Kathy - she made it herself with all her granddaughters craft things!

Beautiful from my talented sister, Marianne

from my college friend, Brenda

from my sweet daughter, Ashley

from my good friend, Sharon R.

from my butterfly lover friend, Tesa

I love how Tesa does the inside of her cards.  She types her saying for the inside and prints it out.

Love this little kitty!  from my good buddy, Sharon D.

from my dear hubby!

Tuesday I am headed to Johnson & Wales with a group.  We are going to tour the place and have lunch.  Newcomers has done this activity several times but I have never been able to go so I am looking forward to it.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to me .....

This was taken last week during a Raft Up with friends on the Lake.

I don't think I shared this birthday card I made for a friend.  The funny thing is I made the card and was going to drop it by her house since she lives in my neighborhood.  But then I couldn't find it.  I looked everywhere for it.  I was pretty sure it was in my car some place because I remembered taking it to the car when I went to play cards one day.  But do you think I could find it?  Well, I thought, maybe I took it by her house and just forgot!  Anyway about a week or so later, I found it .... in the car under my seat!  She ended up getting the card about a month late!  Hey - better late than never, you know!

 I used Summer Starfruit with the Sahara Sand card.  The stamp set is "From My Heart" stamped and die cut with the labels framelit.  The background piece is a wheel called Etruscan Elegance Wheel.  I haven't bought or used a wheel in so long but I really like this one.  Now I just need to remember to use it more often!  Watch out Stamp Club - may be using it this month!  I also used the Color Spritzer tool (pg 119) to put drops of ink on the die cut image.  I sponged the die cut piece with Summer Starfruit and stamped the "enjoyed" separately and popped it up.

Here is a close up of the image and the flower.  The little flower was made using a Cuttlebug die that Marianne gave me for Christmas last year.  Makes a cute little flower. 

I hope you took advantage of the items SU put in their Clearance Bin this weekend.  I ordered a few things but a lot of stuff went fast!  I was having a problem with a few of the digital items that weren't showing up in my order with the right price.  By the time, I called SU and got an answer, several of the items I had in my order had already sold out  - like the magnet sheets and all the envelopes.  I was bummed but I still got some good deals - red grosgrain ribbon, Vanilla Velvet ribbon, heart punch, card stock and some digital items for pretty cheap.  I love those kind of deals.

I had a pretty quiet weekend.  I spent a lot of time finalizing my Christmas cards for the Christmas Stamp A Stack I am having in November.  I will be posting details about it if you live in the area and would like to come. 

October Stamp Club

This is Stamp Club week.  Tuesday I had 7 ladies and one cat at the gathering!  Sammie has really gotten a lot more playful in the past couple of months.  It used to be when I would have people over, she would go into hiding.  But, not any more!   I wish I'd taken pictures.  We'll see if she does the same thing today when my Thursday group arrives.

We made a variety of cards this month.  I had a request for a birthday card and I had to do a Halloween / fall card plus I have a few ladies that want to do Christmas cards.  So, I tried to fit them all in!

Not much stamping on this birthday card.

 Supplies:
Cardstock:  Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Polka Dot DSP
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry
Accessories / Tools:  Razzleberry ribbon, Scallop Punch, Cupcake Punch, Crimper, Sticky Paper, Glitter, Extra Lg Oval Punch, Designer Frames
Stamp:  Word For You (I think that is the name of it!)

 Supplies:
Card Stock:  Going Gray, Tangerine Tango, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Howlstooth DSP
Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Black, More Mustard
Accessories / Tools:   Small Oval Punch (for pumpkins), Daubers, White Gel Pen, Ribbon, Perf. Preserved Framelits, Banners Frameslits, Ribbon (retired - from SAB)
Stamps:  Everything Eleanor, Perfectly Preserved

This was CASE'd from Chic'N'Scratch.  She has a great video demonstrating how she made this treat holder.  I gave everyone a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup to put inside the pocket and we made a little 3x3" card for the back pocket.

The next two cards are Christmas cards.  I let the ladies pick which one they wanted to make.  We did the coloring on both cards with Watercolor Crayons.

Stylin' Snowman Stamp Set

Winter Memories Stamp Set

Happy Birthday card

Before we came to Texas, I had to get caught up on a few birthdays.  Here is one of the cards I made:

I just love the colors in this card.  The stamp set I used was Raining Flowers.  It is a set I got last year at SU Convention and I haven't really used it much.  But I really like it in this card.  I stamped each flower three times and raised each layer up with dimensionals.  Then I put a pearl in the center of each flower.  I embossed the white layers of the card with the Dotted Embossing Folder  So, how do you like it?

Here are a few pictures I've taken since I've been in Texas.

I snapped this in a hurry from the backseat of the car as we were driving to dinner -  a beautiful Texas sunset.

Ashley and Sonny at dinner ... Mexican of course!  We convinced Sonny to sit outside in the courtyard.

We toured the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory last Wednesday. Yum!!

Bogart is at the door watching us in the back yard.  He likes to keep his eye on us - either at the door or sitting in the window.

Bogart's favorite way to drink his water!

Simply Sent Birthday Cards

How do you like my new blog header and background paper?  Just screams summer time!!  I made it using My Digital Studio .... so easy!

I am really getting frustrated with doctors!  When we took Mom back for her surgery check up last week, the surgeon did the MRI and said all was well with the incision area but it looked like their was narrowing at the S-1 vertebra area.  So, he recommended we go back to the Pain Mgmt doc for another injection.  We tried to call that doctor on Friday but their office was closed.  Today they called Mom and had her scheduled for JULY 16!!!  Please - another month???  This is unacceptable.  I feel like Mom is their dart board and they are just pitching darts hoping to hit the target eventually.  So, tomorrow I am taking her to her general doctor to see what his recommendations are.  I am getting really fed up with getting the run around.  You would think the surgeon would be trying to do everything he could since he didn't look at her first MRI for a week and then discovered the blood clot.  Sounds like a case for a lawsuit to me.

I have been trying to use up some of my retired items.  I had a Simply Sent card kit that I bought during Saleabration so thought I would dress them up a bit.  Plus, I needed a few birthday cards.  These three all went in the mail this week to friends.

Enjoy Every Moment

I made this great birthday card this weekend to send to a good friend for her birthday.  I had such fun making the card.  It was trial and error cutting the little squares and getting them spaced out but I finally got it pretty close.  The squares are 3/4" each and I didn't have a punch for that size so I used the good ole SU cutter.   I used last fall's Spice Cake DSP (which is no longer available) and Pool Party card stock.  I used a lot of different elements for this card - the eyelet at the top is retired but I still love them!  I ran a piece of the eyelet ribbon through it and used my Crop-a-dile to set the eyelet.  The tag is just a metal tag that I got at an office supply store.  The bird is from a retired SU set and I colored it with markers.  The butterfly is punched using the SU butterfly punch.  I layered the Pool Party behind the Spice Cake DSP and used the Butterfly Embosslit Die for the small butterfly in the center,  I wrapped twine around the center for the antennae.

I got news today that my friend and the owner of our local stamp store lost her husband in a battle with dementia.  What a cruel disease!  He had steadily been going downhill for the past year and died in her arms last night.  She told me recently to enjoy every moment I had with my husband and I am passing that advice along to you.  Enjoy every moment of life and take time to give thanks for what you have.

Well, it's starting to storm here - thunder, lightning and winds outside so I'd better sign off and shut down my electronics!!

Magic Birthday Card

I made this card last week for a friend's birthday.  I don't know what the technique is called and I can't find the website that I got the directions!!

This is the front of the card.  I used Creative Elements stamp set (one of my favorites!!).  The colors I used are Pink Pirouette and Regal Rose.  So you can see the flower through the circle when the card is closed.

Here is the card open - now you see "Birthday Greetings" through the hole.  It's magic!!

Here is what it looks like as you are opening the card.  The "birthday greetings" slides into place over the flower!

You make two folded cards and adhere them together.  The dimensions of the two are:  5 1/2" x 11" (scored at 3 1/2" and 7") and #2 is 6 1/8" x 5 1/2" (scored at 4 1/4".)  If I can find the video that I watched to make it, I'll post it later.  I first saw the card on Splitcoast and followed a link.  I thought it was on Dawn's blog but I can't find it now!

EDITED TO ADD:   (I FOUND THE LINK!! - Check  HERE)

I really liked how the card turned out and I hope Brenda does too.

Today was a good day for football!  My Steelers and the Panthers both won today.  Marianne joined us at Big Al's to watch the game.  It was pretty much a blow out - Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 35-7!  Ashley was pretty bummed out today.  She is taking a two week Army career course and thought they would be done by noon so she could get home and watch the game.  Several of her friends were coming over who are in town taking the course also.  She had already told them that her big TV would be on the Steeler game but that she had a couple of other tv's in the bedrooms they were welcome to watch other games on.  Well, she called me about 11 am and was still in class and it looked like she was going to be there until 3:00.  She has Direct TV and I was able to go on the internet and log into her account and set the Record button for her!  Isn't modern technology great??!!!  Well, when she got home to watch the game, she was able to watch it until the middle of the 3rd quarter. The score was such a blow out that the station changed the game to another one!!  Glad that didn't happen at our house - afraid Sonny would throw a brick through the tv.  On second thought, maybe that would be a good thing since I have been bugging him for a while to get a new tv!!  Hmmmm ....

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!

More Birthday Cards

I have a few more birthday cards to share.

This first one is from Margaret, my Texas friend.  It is just beautiful.  The ribbon is dyed to match the flowers and cardstock.  She is smart - whenever she orders an ink pad, she always makes sure she gets the matching refill so she has it to do things like this as well as ink up her pad when it runs dry.  She asked me to suggest other color combos for fall for this card.   I suggested More Mustard, Tangerine Tango and Soft Suede.  This is where the Color Coach comes in handy.  I hardly ever do a card without consulting the Color Coach.  According to the Color Coach, More Mustard, Night of Navy and Cajun Craze would be lovely on this card.  What combo would you suggest????

 This second card is from my sister, Marianne.  I love it!!  Her "lollie" is great!  I have to say this is the student teaching the teacher.  I just wish she didn't have to work and we could play a lot more.  Marianne used the Flirtatious DSP on this card.  I need to use that paper more - I have it in my stash!

 Last, but certainly not least, is this beautiful card from Judy.  She told me she has been getting her money's worth out of the Fabulous Florets stamp set and this card is a fine example of that.  Judy is smart - when she makes a card, she doesn't make just one but makes several to have on hand.

I'm still waiting for my birthday card from Ashley to arrive!  I played the "pitiful me" part on Tuesday that she didn't send me a card and she told me yes, she did.  She took it to Boston with her and put it in the hotel mail on Tuesday so I would get it in time.  Well, I don't know what they did with it but I should have received it by now.  Come on USPS - send me my card!!!

Well, I have a "girlfriend" from Florida coming over today to play.  So, I need to tidy up and make room for her to work create.

Last night was Senior Night for the Mooresville soccer team.  I was proud of Marianne - she didn't get emotional.  Don't think it has not hit her yet that Harrison will graduate in May.  Hard for me to believe it too.  It seems like just yesterday that he was a toddler and I was helping her potty train him!

Too Many Years to Remember!

My daughter-in-law's birthday was yesterday.  She turned 34 but on her blog post, she said that all year she thought she was 34 so it was a pleasant surprise to her that she was not turning 35 on Friday.  Guess that is one way to sneak up on the years.  Unfortunately, I have known all year that I was 62 since I started getting my Social Security check last year so guess I can't fool old Mother Nature into letting me have another year at 62.  The good thing is I guess, Sonny will have a birthday next week and he'll start getting his medicare health insurance!  So at least I am not there yet!

We are going to a football game  with friends today.  In fact, as you are reading this, we are on our way!  We are traveling to Durham to see Wake Forest play Duke.  I have to find something warm to wear.  The temperature is supposed to only get to about 65 tomorrow but sunny.  I don't think it even made it to 60 today.   Don't know if I am prepared for cold weather yet!

I have received some very nice birthday cards this week and want to share them.

from my convention roomie, Nancy Lewis (I'll be CASEing this one!)

from NC Demo group

from Brenda, Stampers Alley owner

from my good buddy, Sharon D

from Stampin' Up Office (digital card)

from Joyce M, one of my stamp club ladies

from "girlfriend" Sharon R - She's gotta teach me how to do the scallop square!