JUST A NOTE

 

 

It's a lovely day in Florida, but I must say, it is EXTREMELY warm for this time of year. The thermometer just showed 90 degrees in the sun. Now, that's just too hot for April.

 

I've been busy making cards and having a blast. Lately, it seems, the mojo is really flowing. Or it could be an escape from all the 'stuff' that is going on with my friends. Too many have fallen ill in recent months and I'm just waiting for them all to get well and get back on track.

 

Here's a card I cased from Glenda Caulkins, and this is for all of you that I don't see regularly.

 

 

This next card was made with my Granddaughter in mind. She is in 8th grade and just made the track team. She had her first meet and I'm waiting to find out how she did. She has a great love of animals and would love to have a horse.

 

 

I've been thinking about doing cards for an organization called Operation Write Home. This organization has specific guidelines to follow and sends homemade cards to troops that are deployed so that they can then send them home to family, friends and loved ones. The following two cards were made with this in mind.

 

I'll keep you posted regarding OWH and if I decide to participate. With that, I'll sign off. Have a wonderful week and keep crafting.





 

 



SEASIDE GREETINGS

I just realized that I was going to try posting once a week and here it's been three weeks already. Where does time go? I guess the saying "how time flies when you're having fun" must apply.

I've been busy making cards, as usual. Quite a few years ago, I purchased a set of 24 "designer" cards made by K & Company. I seem to remember using about half to make Christmas cards one year. What is unique about these particular cards is the size. They fit in a business size envelope, so they are long and narrow.  Well, I finally decided to use these cards and made a couple with a nautical theme.

I used a Close to my Heart "Seaside Greetings" for this first card with Stampin' Up designer series paper for the background. I'm very please with the results.

 

I wasn't as happy with the results of the second card but it will have to do. I put clear embossing powder over the image to make it appear to be behind glass but I think I should have stamped the images a little bolder. I used Stampin' Up "By The Tide" stamp set for this card. 

 

 

 

That's it for this session. Have a wonderful Easter everyone and happy stamping.



THE "LAWN" RANGER

It has been a long time since I posted on my blog. I think it's time to start again. I've been on a card making role lately and thought it might be time to share some of the cards I've been having fun with.

I decided to use some of the wonderful Art Impressions stamps I've recently purchased, along with a few other "comical" stamps I had in my stash.

My brother-in-law has a birthday coming up in April and I made this card for him. He has a large property and does a lot of mowing in the summer, so he'll appreciate this one. Hope you enjoy it as well.

See you soon, folks. I won't wait so long, next time.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Good evening. I hear thunder rumbling in the background and am wondering if we're going to get more showers. Tropical storm Andrea blew through here a couple of days ago. We had some real gusty winds and lots of rain, especially late in the afternoon. A real tropical downpour. Since our craft group opted not to meet that day, I spent the day doing a craft project and making a few cards.

I'd like to share a couple of the cards with you. This first one is using a Stampin' Up stamp from Summer Sketches and their Cloudy Day embossing folder. The palm tree is also embossed using a new folder by Darice that I recently purchased.

I would love to send this card to my son for Father's Day, but alas, he has two amazing daughters and this isn't quite appropriate. I do like the way this card came out, however.

The next card was made today after I received the Bumble Bee stamp from Close To My Heart. It just said "use me for a Father's Day card". Something totally different. I used the Stampin' Up Woodgrain embossing folder for the background.

I even stamped the inside, which I don't always do. These stamps came from a place in Maine called Repeat Impressions. (I think that's the name.) I thought the sentiment was so appropriate....

Finally, I wanted to do a comparison by stamping an image with Tuxedo Black Memento vs London Fog Memento and coloring it with Copic markers.

The first card was stamped with Tuxedo Black and the second was stamped with London Fog, both Memento.

As you can see, the first card looks very vibrant while the second is much softer. It looks like I used different Copic's but I colored both cards simultaneously, using the same color markers on each image. Amazing, right?

I got the idea to use London Fog from a birthday card I received from a member of our Thursday craft group. When I first opened the card, I thought "what? did she go out and buy a card?" But then I saw she had made it. It took a little while to figure out what was so different. In fact, she's been with us for less then a year and does amazingly well. I'd love to hear what you think.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and I'll be back soon.

BY THE TIDE

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there. It has been forever since I posted on my blog and what better day to do a post than today!

It's a lovely day here in Florida. It feels more like Arizona weather then Florida because it is hot and very dry air.

I've been making cards like crazy and taking pictures, so maybe I'll get back into  posting now and then. Todays card uses all Stampin' Up products except for the embossing that I did on the coral. In fact, I incorporated the latest "Paper Pumpkin" kit with one of my favorite stamp sets called "By The Tide".

Can you believe I had to "google" sea horses to find out their color? I found that in most of the pictures I saw, they are a vivid yellow with tiny black dots. I did see some green and almost a white colored ones, however. 

We shall see what I can come up with next but for now, have a wonderful day.

BALLOONS AND SPINNERS

It's a bright, sunny winter day here in Florida. I even got to put on a "winter" jacket when I went outside early this morning. Well, it was nearly eight o'clock, but that's early for me to be out. What a great time of day to hit the super- market! Hardly anyone there.

Anyway, I'm going to spend some time today on getting our taxes ready. Ugh!! Oh well, I'm not alone in that chore, for sure.

Todays card was sort of inspired by pictures that my son takes each summer. He goes to a balloon-fest and takes loads of marvelous pictures. I wanted to incorporate some of the new products I got from Stampin' Up, like the Clouds embossing folder and the Sizzlets pinwheel die. The balloon was from Collage Curios, but I've since found a bigger balloon.

I made this a 5" x 7" card so there would be room for everything I wanted to use. Besides, sometimes I just like to send a larger card. It was fun making the card, even if I did find that making the pinwheels was a little challenging. But I finally got a system going that worked for me.

You all have a wonderful day and I'll be back soon.

FEELING SENTIMENTAL

Hello out there ~ it's been awhile since my last post. I'm just beginning to be able to sit for longer "spells" since my knee surgery three months ago. Therefore, I've been making more cards.

I love the "Feeling Sentimental" stamp set from Stampin' Up. It makes for a wonderful  "man" card. I struggle with card designs and use sketches and challenges for my inspirations. Mojo Monday is a great one that I use frequently.

Here's one of the cards I made using the stamps from the set. I had some "newsprint designer" paper that I used for the background.

 

 
Here's another that one could send to either a man or woman. Aren't these stamps great?

 

 

When I made a card using the last image, I thought the card was too "busy",

so I changed the card design. In hindsight, I think I should have left it alone because I like the first card best.

Live and learn. That's it for today. I plan to make some more cards today using some of my new supplies and stamps. You all have a wonderful weekend.

THANKFUL PART 2

OMG!!! I cannot believe that I left out one of my dearest craft members.... Jo. She has been my inspiration and mentor to go ahead with this knee surgery and I left her name off the list. I just know it's the meds.

Anyway, my heartfelt thanks, once again, to Sue and Sue and Suzanne, Audrey, Dot, Ruth and Jo. Bless you all!

THANKFUL

It has certainly been awhile since I posted, my friends. A lot has been happening in the weeks since my last post. We had the craft fair in our community and I'm happy to say that my cards sold quite well.

I had taken pictures of the Christmas cards I made for the craft fair and have been "itching" to post them. However! Our house sold unexpectidly and we had just 2 weeks to move out. (Fortunately we had another house available to move in to.) I want to tell you all that my hubby went way above the call of duty with this move as he did most of it by himself.

To top it off, a week after the move (and trying to settle and unpack) I had knee replacement surgery. That was on the 5th of November. Anyway, I'm doing exceptionally well and this is the first day I have felt that I could sit at the computer long enough to do a post.

This post is special because I want to thank ALL of my little craft group for everything that they have done to help out. Can you believe that they got together and brought a prepared meal, for two, each day for over two weeks? My hubby didn't have to cook a thing! So.... a huge thank you to Sue and Sue and Suzanne, Audrey, Dot and Ruth. I love you all dearly and am so thankful to have you as my friend. You have been life savers.

Here are a couple of the cards I made for the craft fair. I hope you'll like them. 

WHIMSICAL

Good morning. As you may have guessed, I've returned from my vacation at the beach. It was a very interesting week and I'm so pleased with some of the pictures I was able to get. Now it's time to get back to normal.

As stated previously, our community is having a craft fair at the end of the month. (Our 2nd annual craft fair.) I've been making cards like crazy, so now it's time to share some of the cards I've made. You've already seen a couple of them and here are a few more of the whimsical ones.

I'll be posting some Christmas cards, among others, in the days to come, so stay tuned. In the meantime, have a wonderful day.

THE STORM

Yesterday was a lovely day at the beach. It was hot... that's for sure. The winds were coming from the east until late in the afternoon, then they shifted. Following are some of the pictures I took of the approaching storm.

 

 

As we looked up the beach, there appeared to be smoke and we determined that there was a boat fire. (Of course we don't know that for sure.)

Then the rain hit and the skies opened up, the wind blew and it was amazing. After the storm, we figured we wouldn't see a sunset, but this is what we did see.

There is a low spot in front of where we are staying that fills with water when there are heavy rains. After the rains, the seagulls come along and take a "fresh water" bath.

What a joy there is in nature and what spectacular pictures one can capture at the ocean.

To top off this post, here is another whimsical card I made a while back.

Enjoy your day, have a wonderful long weekend, and check back in another day.

RAINBOW

Good morning all. It looks like it's going to be an okay day in paradise. We awoke to heavy rains and a little thunder, but it looks like it's clearing now.

After I downloaded my pictures yesterday, a most amazing rainbow appeared so I had to take some pictures to share.

Isn't this rainbow just manificent?

We had company later in the day and just sat around talking. The sun didn't really come out 'til late in the afternoon.

Other then that, it has been quiet here. However, everyday brings something new to watch as the sky and ocean just keep on changing.

Here's a little card I made recently. I decided I'd try making some cards with a stamp set I'd purchased eons ago and never used. That's it for today. Stay tuned and have a good one.

Tropical Paradise

 

Who says one has to go to the Carribean to have gorgeous tropical atmosphere? We are on vacation at our timeshare on the gulf coast of Florida, and it is simply gorgeous.

The surf is unusually high today; we watched rain approach this morning and it is so beautiful to see.

(I think my camera lense was fogged a bit when I took this shot.) I have more pictures that I want to share later on. However, just for the sake of keeping this post legit, here's a card I made recently. Little did I know that I'd be at the beach when I posted it.

That's it for today. Have a good one and I'll catch you all later.

CRAFT FAIR

Good morning everyone, and what a lovely morning. Gee, but it's been a long time since I've posted anything. It's been a long, hot summer and I've done a lot of reading... and I've made loads of cards.

Our community is holding a craft fair at the end of October and I've been making cards like crazy in hopes of selling some. This will be our 2nd fair and I did quite well last year.

There are just so many cards and ideas out there and not enough time to do them all. Anyway, here are a few samples of what I've made.

 





As you can see, I've been trying to do some cards appropriate for men/boys. Anyway, keep checking in and don't give up on me. I have lots more to show you, plus some Christmas cards. You all have a great day.