Have Yourself a Beachy Little Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends.

Christmas Ornaments

We were a bit late getting our trees up this year, but they are up and trimmed. We did cut back a little on the amount of stuff we put on them, but they still look nice.

Sweater Weather

The past few days and mainly evenings have been a bit chilly.  I don't have any Christmas sweaters but I do have a vest, some T-shirts, and a Santa sweatshirt.  The vest and sweatshirt came out this past weekend.  My vest isn't a pull over like the one on the card.  It zips but I leave it open.  I do think I would wear the one of this card too if I had it.

Nature Coast Cat Show

This weekend we will we attending a cat show in Crystal River.  Here is one of the panels we will be bringing to display.  It will be our last show until next year.  It is hard to believe that we are near the end of our crafting season.

Christmas at the Beach

When I saw this stamp set, I knew it was perfect for where I live.  I never use snowmen or anything else related to snow on my cards because it just isn't appropriate.  I would like to string lights on my palm tree but the person who puts up the lights would not want to do that.  Don't even think about me doing it myself because that would be a big disaster.  I just may go to the beach on Christmas Day.

Time for Some Thanksgiving Cards

This is one of the cards my group recently made for our fall card class.  I had a variety of stamps they could use for the sentiment.  Some of them even change it to a birthday card for fall birthdays.  My next class will be on Monday November 20 when we will make Christmas cards.

Veterans Day

Today we remember and thank every veteran.  We especially thank our parents for their service, Bob Alexander USAF, Jim Gilroy Sr. US Army, and May Gilroy US Coast Guard.

Thanksgiving Retiform

I have been seeing a lot of cards made with the retiform or grid  technique.  I finally gave it a try.  I used several different stamp sets to make it.  For a first try, I am happy with how they turned out.  If I did these again I would use a lighter shade of brown.

Tomorrow we will be at St Timothy's Craft Show in Lutz and Christmas Under the Oaks in Clearwater on Sunday.  Monday I will be sleeping late.

Cards with the Flute Choir

Today the flute section and members of the flute choir from the community band I am in came over to make some Christmas cards.  This is one of the cards they made.  The picture doesn't show the nice sparkle to the rhinestones or the Wink of Stella on the center of the poinsettias in the background.

Coneflowers

Yes I know I said I like daisies and sunflowers and these are coneflowers.  I like them too since they have that same look.  This would be another one that I would be glad to add to one of my windows.

Sunset in the Woods

This piece is suppose to look like it has a wood frame but it actually is brown glass.  If you look in the sky, there is the beginning of a pretty sunset.  Our show this weekend will be in Cedar Key at the Seafood Festival.  Maybe we will see some nice sunsets there.

Pretty Sunflowers

I have been working on daisy and sunflower cards the past few days.  I guess Jim decided to try some sunflowers also.  Of course I like this one because it goes right along with my daisy and sunflower obsession.  Maybe I can sneak this one out of his stash and make it mine.  It has such an interesting border too.

This Saturday we will be at Keystone United Methodist Church for their annual craft show.

Daisy Punch

I can't believe I haven't posted much showing the daisy punch.  I had to wait to get it because it was on backordered.  When I finally got it, I went crazy making cards with it.  I love daisies and sunflowers so it was perfect for me.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mom's 96th birthday.  This is the type of card that I would send her.  She would love the lacy look and the pearls.  Unlike me in my blue jeans and Crocs, she always liked to dress up with heels and hats.

Tranquil Tulips

Tulips are one of the flowers that don't grow where I live.  You can plant them but if you want them to come back the next year, the bulbs have to be dug up, put in the frig, and re-planted.  too much work for me.  I loved the colors on both these cards so I decided to put them in the same picture.

Happy Anniversary

Today would have been my parents 71st wedding anniversary.  Thinking of them today.

Labor Day Weekend

Traditionally school started the day after Labor Day.  Boy am I showing my age.  The truth is as a teacher I always started back before Labor Day, one year as early as July 31.  Now I am enjoying a constant summer vacation in retirement.  I love this new die from Stampin' Up!.  Thanks to Lyssa for the inspiration for this card.

By the Sea

I am always looking for different greetings for my cards.  When I saw these greeting at Technique Junkie, I knew they would go perfect with these Gina Marie dies that I had.  The mermaid is cut out of glitter paper and really sparkles.

Orchids and Bamboo

Look at the embossing in the background of these two cards.  I bought those embossing folders at least 10 years ago and never used them until today.  They were in a package with other folders that I have used a lot, but I just couldn't find anything to use with them.  I have one more that I need to use out of that package so I am looking for ideas.  When I saw this new orchid Stampin' Up! set, I knew I had found something to go with my Asian folders.

Daisy Punch

I was so excited to finally get my daisy punch.  Daisies and sunflowers are two of my favorite flowers.  One of my card buddies asked me to teach her how to make a card with this lattice design.  This was one of the cards I made while learning the technique myself.

Lemons in Life

Everyone has heard the traditional when life gives you lemons..........saying.  When I saw this greeting at a recent stamp show I had to buy it.  They #techniquejunkies also had the background stamp so of course I had to add it to my purchase too.  I also knew I had a retired Stampin' up  lemon stamp to finish off any card I would make.  Which version of the card do you like best?

Flirty Flamingo

I love this flamingo die and think it goes so well with the tropical designer paper.  This is one of the cards we will be making at card class Monday.  Hope they like it.  After I use it as a model in class, I am going to send it to one of my crafting buddies who recently had heart surgery.

Mr Hedgehog

We were watching the movie Sing with some of the nieces and nephews this past week.  When the porcupines showed up I had to ask if they were porcupines or hedgehogs.  Not that I don't know the differences but for some reason I couldn't really tell.  So that made me think of this little hedgehog guy.  I checked and I haven't posted him before so I thought it was time for him to make an appearance.

Christmas and Cats

We do not have a cat but my family did have one when I was growing up.  All those hanging ornaments are so much temptation for the poor kitties.  I know several people who own cats and have been to their houses when the Christmas tree is up.  Most of them have unbreakables near the bottom so the cat can enjoy the tree too.  We are doing a cat show this year so I am starting to work on various cat cards.

Treble Clef

Does this picture bother you?  It bothers me and it should bother you also.  If you look at a piece of music you will see that the treble clef does not look quite like this.  But no worries it's ok.  When he took the picture he was looking at the back.  So when it is hung correctly, the clef will be right.  I know I can rotate pictures but I don't think there is a way to flip something.

My community band will be performing a patriotic concert this Thursday in Sun City Center.  Then we get the month of July off for a little break.

Happy Father's Day

I know the card says Happy Birthday and the title is Father's Day.  I usually don't make Father's Day cards but if I did this would be a good one to make.  I got a new die and wanted to give it a try.  I remembered I had the tool stamps as part of one of my masculine sets and thought they would go together well.  It turns out it is my sister in law's birthday and Father's Day but this is not her card.

Glass Flowers

This is one of those hard to photograph pieces since the glass is all clear.  The blue you see in the background is our pool.  If you click on the picture it will look a little better.  The flowers and vase are all glass dishes.

Seagulls Having Fun

One of the things I like about going to craft shows is meeting new people.  About two years ago, I met a lady at a show who also is a card maker.  She and I recently met at a sandwich shop and traded napkins.  I know that sounds strange, but if you've followed my blog for a while you know I make some of my cards from napkins.  This napkin was one of my favorites that she gave me.  When I saw it I thought immediately about my pansy stamp and punch.  The napkins are a bit two short so I always need to put something along the edge to cover up the end of the napkin.

April and the Baby

Did you get hooked on watching the live feed of April?  I did check in each day but didn't spend a lot of time watching.  The day she had the baby I was at a friend's house and we missed it.  There were lots of re-runs to watch so no big deal.  So of course we have to get in on the giraffe trend too so here is Jim's giraffe.

One Last Dragonfly

I still have a few more cards with dragonflies, but I decided this will be the last one.  I saw the layout on pinterest and thought this paper with butterflies would be a good panel.  If you look at the embossed piece of card stock, it also has a butterfly pattern of sorts.

Dragonfly Sympathy Card

Here is another one of the dragonfly cards  I made with all the extras I had.  I never have enough sympathy or thinking of you cards to send.  When I have extra parts I usually try to get a few of this type of card made.

So Many Dragonflies

I got carried away with cutting dragonflies for my last class.  I wasn't going to toss them, especially the large ones made from gold foil paper.  I could have saved them to use in the future but decided they would get bent.  So I checked out Pinterest and came up with a bunch of ideas to CASE.  So the next few posts will be cards made using the extra dragonflies.

Another Succulent

This is the other card I made using the succulent designer paper and punches.  The paper is on sale right now so I bought some more of it.  I plan to use it on my teabag holders when I get back to making them.

Tomorrow we are doing a craft show.  Normally we don't do anything after January but this one is sponsored by the craft guild we are in so we thought we should participate.  I don't have enough made so we will only have glass and not that much of it either.

Succulents

Succulents have become real popular the past few months.  I could have bought a die to cut out all the pieces of the succulent, but instead I used what I already have.  So many of the punches I have look very similar to the pieces that are in the die set.  I did buy the designer paper though.  I have one more card with this theme that I will post in a few days.

Happy Easter

I decided for this post I would show two different Easter projects.  This Celtic cross is my favorite of the crosses Jim has made.  He made it using iridized glass that looks like a rainbow when light hits it.   The second picture is a little tiny bunny rabbit.  I sure hope that rabbit brought some peanut butter cups to our sister who gave up peanut butter for Lent.  If not that bunny is going to be in trouble.

Orchid Oval Dish

I haven't posted much glass recently because I didn't have any new pictures to show.  So we took a few pictures of glass this week.  Jim found this oval dish at one of the thrift stores.  He goes about once a month looking for things to add to his glass panels.  He hadn't used any dishes with this much depth before but decided to give it a try.  He didn't want to put too much around it because he wanted the flower to be the focus.  The border is a cranberry colored English muffle.

Fresh Pineapple

I love fresh pineapple.  We have discovered that quite often Aldi's has pineapples for half the price of our local well known grocery store.  This card features a pineapple die from Gina Marie and two other dies from Stampin' Up called Swirly Birds and Botanical Gardens. 

Lighthouse of Hope

I have a friend who is going through chemo for the second time.  I have been sending her cards because it really is all I can do to help her get through this.  She lives clear on the other side of the country.  This is one of the cards I will be sending her.

St Patrick's Day

I no longer make St Patrick's Day cards. It is too close to Easter and I like to spread out my card sending.  So I make Easter because I have a lot more Easter stamps and ideas than St Patrick.  This is one of the last cards I made for St Patrick's Day and it was made several years ago. 

Birthday Boxer

Today is my youngest brother's birthday.  He has been having some health problems recently but hopefully he is on the mend. He had back surgery so I know that hurt.  It is also our niece's birthday today.  So Happy Birthday to both of you.

Blues Clues?

Do you remember the children's TV show called Blues Clues  It was probably in the early to mid-nineties.  My nephew used to like it and watched it while he was staying with my mom and dad while his parents worked.  My mom faithfully let him watch it but she really didn't like the show.  So when I saw a card like this on Pinterest, I immediately thought of my mom.

Ready for Spring

Here is another card made using the Stampin' Up! Beautiful You. She is ready for Spring.  We have been having beautiful weather here. 

Beautiful Ladies

On one of the Stampin' Up! pages I belong to,  Michelle Carter posted some of the cards she made using this stamp set and the paper piecing technique.  I remembered that I had made some using the technique too and hoped that I took pictures.  I like the black and red together.  This paper has been retired for awhile now and I am down to very small pieces so there won't be many more like this.  Some of the sisters will be getting a different color than the others.  Oh and don't worry about them seeing the card before they get it.  None of them look at the blog anymore.

Happy Anniversary

These crazy birds, and the dogs and cats too, are so cute.  I like using all the accessories to fit what ever the occasion is that you need to celebrate.  Here we have the male bird presenting his female friend a bouquet of flowers.  I wonder if he got them the day after Valentine's and got them at a good price.  One year my DH bought me and his mom each a dozen roses the day after.  He paid $1 a dozen.  Yes you are reading that right.  I didn't make a typo.

Happy Valentine's Day

Jim and I have never made a big deal about valentine's day.  Roses are so overpriced and we really don't need to be eating candy.  We also don't like to eat out on the 14th either because every place is so crowded.  One year I got two dozen red roses the day after.  Our local grocery store had so many left that they reduced the price to $1 a dozen.  He couldn't pass that up.

Non-traditional Valentine Colors

Valentine's Day has slipped up on me.  Normally I would have posted a few valentines before this.  So to make up for it, I took a picture of two cards together.  I will try to remember to post another one tomorrow.

Chicken Soup

I know two people who have had surgery on their arms during the past few weeks. I have heard it is painful surgery. Hope they are feeling better or at least the drugs are keeping the pain away. I got the idea for this card from splitcoaststamper and cgarskejones.

Groundhog Day

Today is groundhog day. From what I have seen on facebook, I guess the groundhog saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter. Where I live winter isn't so bad and I don't think it has been too bad in the north this year. Of course when you don't live there you don't really know how bad it has been so feel free to let me know if the weather has been bad. Sending sunshine to anyone that needs it.

Ocala Horses

Many times in our travels, we drive through Ocala and see horse farms. Those farms were the inspiration for this piece. Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the horse is beveled glass.