Rest In Peace

 This past year we have lost several family members.  As the year comes to a close we remember the good times of Christmas past and hope for healing of our hearts.  We will miss them all especially our sister.  Love and miss you Patty.

A Christmas Gift

This is what I made my brother Ken this year for Christmas.  We went to the Rose Bowl Parade together last year so I scrapped some of our pictures for him.  It is hard to take pictures of the book or describe it.  First is the front cover.

It opens up like a book with pictures on both sides.  Then there are inserts that you pull out and there are pictures on both sides of the inserts.  One of the inserts is not pulled out in this last picture.

Band Cards

I play in two different community bands.  For one of the bands, I make cards which are used for get well, sympathy, and other occassions.  These are the cards for our two directors.  The one with the deer will be going to John and the flower card is for Samantha.  I didn't take a picture of the inside of the cards, but there is a slot for a gift card we are giving them.

2011 Christmas Card

This is the Christmas card that I sent this year to our family.  The colors are eggplant and summer sun, very non-traditional Christmas colors.  I thought they were regal looking, fit for a King. The three wise men and shepards are on the front and Mary, Joseph and Jesus are on the inside.

Bryan's Birthday Card

My nephew turned twenty-one this past weekend.  When he was a baby, he loved Thomas the train.  He would tell us the name of all of his cars.  He couldn't say Oliver or Percy right.  We made him say those names over and over because he said them so cute.  So I made him a Thomas card with a 21 on the front.  I am sure he rolled his eyes over it.

Music Showcase

We did a show this weekend at a music store.  They asked for a donation of a raffle prize.  I made these music themed note cards and a paper purse to store them.  .

A Southwest Card

When we were in Santa Fe New Mexico, I went into a stamp store and resisted the temptation of buying.  But the next day we were in the downtown area once again and I went into the store for a second time.  I wasn't going to buy anything but there was a sample of a card similar to this one and Jim really liked it.  So he bought the two stamps that were used on the card. He made a sketch of the card.  Here is my interpretation of the card he liked using words and doodles I already had.

Last of the Buttons

The card on the left doesn't have any buttons on it even though the center looks like it might.  I just took a picture of the two cards together.  This will be the last of the buttons, at least for awhile.

Happy Thanksgiving

We are spending Thanksgiving day with our good friends Betsy and Ted and their daughter Karen.  We have had many Thanksgiving dinners with them through the years.  We are so thankful for their friendship.

Happy Birthday Dad

Today would have been my dad's 94th birthday.  It is also the anniversary of the death of President Kennedy.  Ever since 1963 I have associated my dad's birthday with the president's assassination.  I already posted the button birthday card but my dad will be my friend forever and he meant a lot to me.  He grew roses so he would like the flower card.  The snails however were not his friend.

More Buttons

My cousin has been in the hospital after a hip injury so I am thinking of her as I post this.  I hope she is recovering from her surgery.

Button Cards

So if you follow my blog, you know that I tend to post pictures of cards made with the same set.  So here comes the beginning of a new set, Stampin' Up! Button Buddies.  I think this pig is so cute with his little birthday hat that I added.

Happy Birthday Grandma Ellie

Today would have been my  grandmother's birthday.  I am not really sure how old she would have been but something like 110.  Although she has been gone quite awhile now, I still think of the good times we had together.

Get Well Doilies

This will be the last of the doilies for a while because I will be starting a new series in a few days.  The pink and black card and the all pink card use the emboss resist technique I talked about the other day.

Friendship Doilies

For the card on the left, I used what was left of the purple thank you card that I posted a few days ago.  The vintage card has a technique called emboss resist.  The doily is stamped and embossed using white powder.  Then kraft colored ink is sponged on top but the part that is embossed does not hold the color.  It is a fun technique.

Thanks Again

Two more thank you cards.  I really like this set and I have used it in a lot of different ways as you have seen the past few days.  The cards today were cut.  The top one I trimed around the doily and on the second one I stamped it and divided the paper in thirds.

Some Thank You Doilies

I don't use a lot of purple but I like the way these turned out.  My SIL Deb would like these as she loves anything purple.

The Butterfly Doily Enlarged

This close up gives you a better idea of what the butterfly birthday card from the previous post looks like.  I tried to get it lined up and I think I got it pretty close.

The First of a Series: Dolies

These are some of the birthday cards that I made using the large doily background stamp.  They all are made using embossing powder which makes them look like it is a real doily instead of a rubber stamp. 

Saved the Best for Last

None of the designs that I used the past week or so are my own.  I get many ideas from the wonderful card makers online at splitcoaststamers.com.  I do change them a little depending on what supplies I have.  This design is from a lady who goes by card shark, not playing cards but greeting cards.  Get it?  I think this card is so cute.

Almost Done

Are you getting tired of Christmas cards Yet?  Well, I am almost through posting Christmas for awhile.  Here are a few more cards with ornaments and another one that uses the deer from Winter Post.  The deer has a little touch of some shiny gold paper.

Ornaments for the Tree

The card on the left is made using an ornament punch, not a stamp set.  Punching makes it so easy when working on cards.  After I had these cards done I thought that I should have used a paper clip behind the punched image to make a hanger for the ornament.  Too late now.

Snowmen and Trees

Living where I do, snowmen wouldn't last very long in our yard.  I guess that is why I don't make that many cards with snowmen on them.  Usually the stamp sets have a family of snowmen and there are just the two of us so that bothers me too.  The numbers have to match up right.

Merry Moments

The designer paper that I have used on these cards is Stampin' Up Merry Moments.  I got it off the clearance rack this past year.  What a great deal it was.

Winter Post

These cards have a vintage look to them.  The main set that I used is called Winter Post.  I also used one of my favorite sets called Lovely as a Tree.  I like the blue card and it may become a Christmas card that I will send some year.

Christmas in October

Sure I know I should be posting Halloween stuff, but I didn't make anything new. Be prepared for several days of Christmas cards because once I get going on a theme, it goes on and on.

This is the Stampin' Up set called Dasher with Merry Moments designer paper.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mom's 90th birthday.  She would have loved this card even though it is very simple.  We always had doilies on our furniture and now I have many of those doilies.  I miss her a lot and think of her everyday.  I sure wish she was here to celebrate this birthday.

Francis and Frankie

This is a Halloween card that I made with a few friends that I stamp with.  They all have grandchildren that will be getting this card.  I call him Frankie because he has blue hair.  We also made some with bright pink hair for the girls.  Her name is Frances.  We used the Stampin'Up top note on the Big Shot to make him along with several punches.

Back to School

At the beginning of every school year, I send my brother a back to school card.  I started doing it when I retired just to irrate him a little since I no longer had to go back to school.  I think he looks forward to seeing what I will come up with each new school year.  This is going to be the last school card that I send him.  He plans to retire in June after teaching 35 years.  He lasted longer than me. 

Rose Parade Remembers

 We had the privilege to help work on this float that was in the 2011 Rose Parade.  It honored those who died on Sept 11.  The fire hydrant was recovered from the wreckage near the Twin Towers and was on the float.  They had to get special permission from the committee to have it on the float without flowers.  Everything on floats in the parade must be covered with something natural.

Business Card Holders

It has been awhile since I posted anything but cards.  So, I thought it was time for something new.  Many years ago Jim made a cat business card holder for his mom.  When she died, we took it to use for our cards.  Many people asked us about it.  He decided to make a few more.  We did find that ours is a little on the short side, so he made these two a little bigger. 

Nautical Expedition

This is the end of the nautical look cards for awhile.  It is easier for me to make a bunch of cards with the same set and papers since I make so many.  I just get out what I need and change the format of the papers.  That is why you see so many of the same set grouped together.

The Open Sea

The name of this Stampin'Up stamp set is the open sea.  It is in the summer mini and is available only through August 31.  I guess l also like it so much since I live near the sea.

Nautical Cards

Get ready to see a few more cards made with this ship and designer paper.  I like the navy blue and cherry cobbler paper together and the various strings that I used on the cards instead of ribbon.  They are nice masculine cards.

August Birthdays

Happy birthday to our BIL John.  He liked his birthdate so much that his daughter Heather was born on the same day.  Their birthdays are a little later this month, but I need to post these things when I remember them.

Flowers, Again?

Those few of you who look at my blog must be thinking, is she ever going to make anything else. I guess I was just on a big flower kick.  I am working on some other projects right now that have flowers on some of them but totally different than anything you have seen in the past month.

Summertime

Besides flowers, when I think of summer, I think of a cold Pina Colada at the beach.  It sure is hot right now at the beach and we at least haven't been having the three digit heat.  We have had rain to cool us some too.

Purse Full of Cards

This is another style of a purse that holds four cards.  The cards are shown below the purse.  There is one bday, get well, thank you, and thinking of you card in the paper purse.  The colors are nice and bright IRL.

Tissue Paper Flowers

The flower on this card is made with tissue paper.  In real life, they puff up real nice.  The flowers were cut using my Big Shot and a Sizzix Stampin' Up die. 

Two July Birthdays

Today is my nephew Jack's 16th birthday, so I sent him a car.  I told him to tell all his friends that his aunt sent him a car for his birthday.   Our sister Mary will be having a birthday on Saturday.  Happy Birthday to Jack and Mary.

Last of the Flowers

Well at least it will be the last of the flowers for a little while because I haven't downloaded any more pictures to the computer yet.  Besides that I have a few birthdays I need to mention soon. 

Some More Flowers

Just in case you didn't see enough flowers yesterday, here are a few more.

Summer Flowers

I make a lot of cards with flowers and trees.  I promised myself I was not getting any new flower stamps or dies until I had used the ones I have several times.  So here are some cards with flowers on them.  I don't have anyone to send them to right now, but they will be in my stash ready to go when I need them.