Happy Birthday Tom

About three weeks ago I told you someone close to me was having surgery.  It was my husband having knee replacement.  He is getting along great and I owe a big thanks to two of my brothers for coming to stay with us.  They each took a week so the first two weeks I had help.  Today is my brother Tom's birthday.  He had week #1 so he got to sit with me at the hospital and help get DH in the house and up the stairs the first night home.  He was so much help.  I hope he has a great birthday.

Using Old Designer Paper

This designer paper is several years old.  I bought it before I became a demo so that is at least 4 years ago.  I am down to just a sheet or two and scraps so I am trying to use it up.  I thought the lotus blossom stamp in shades of purple would look good on this paper.

Sending Good Wishes

I don't think I published this one yet.  Once again it features the butterfly die.  I also used the co-ordinating stamp set.  This is the last one I will post for awhile.  I need to mix up the themes for a change.

Blue Butterfly and Blooms

Like I said in an earlier post, I love this new butterfly.  It does take a while to poke all those chads out but it is so worth the effort.  Today would have been Jim's dad's birthday.

Another Sympathy Card

I made this card for my community band to send to the one of our tuba players.  His father died recently.  His dad attended almost all of our practices and concerts not because of his son, but because his wife was in our band too.  I also made a card for her which I will post another day.  We will all miss seeing him at our concerts and practices.

Praying for You

Today someone very close to me is having knee replacement surgery.  He has been suffering with a bad knee for over 30 years.  He is finally old enough that they agreed to replace the knee.  I know he is very happy to get in done but I know he has a long road ahead of him. 

Golf Birthday, Female Version

Here is the female version of a birthday card I posted last week.  It is the same card and layout just different colors.  You may not be able to tell but the card base on this one is blushing bride, a pink.

Love These Butterflies

I have needed quite a few sympathy cards and thinking of you type cards the past few weeks.  Here are two that I made using a stamp set and die that I earned free from Stampin' Up!.  I love this butterfly.  It is now my new favorite butterfly die. 

The Perfect Florida Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day from Florida. 

Baby Shower

I recently attended a baby shower for a young lady I have known since the day she was born.  The theme for the shower and also for baby girl's nursery is woodland animals, the fox and owl in particular.  The onesies that I gave her reflect this theme as well as the hooded blanket thingie that I bought.  I made the card and used it to decorate the bag like I did in a previous post.  The little girl that is hanging from the handle is a stained glass ornament that Jim made.  When she got married he made her a set of all holiday sun catchers so she was excited to have another addition.

Valentine Doily

This heart may look like it was die cut but it wasn't.  I had a piece of designer paper that had 12 heart dollies on it.  I cut it apart so I can use each of them as a separate heart on a card.

Hugs and Kisses

For some reason, all the pictures I took of my valentines will not load from my camera to the computer.  I have tried everything to fix it with no success.  This happened one other time and it just sort of fixed itself so I hope that happens again.   That is why there was a week without posts.

Fire Place Screen

About 15 years ago we picked up a greeting card in a shop somewhere in the Northwest.  It was a mama cat in the sky looking down at her babies.  We bought the card because we liked it and he wanted to use it for inspiration for a glass pieces.  So 15 years later it finally got done.  I want to find the artist's name and also take a picture of the card so you can see her work.  This was his second entry to the fair.  We are at our last craft show of the season.  We only do shows in October through December and the Kumquat Festival which is where we are today.

Love

I made quite a few different valentines that I will be posting.  I borrowed this stamp from a friend and a group of us made some just like this.  The pink is a bit much but I didn't have enough of the lighter pink for everyone.  The little heart is glimmer paper so it is nice and sparkley.

Golf Birthday Card; Male Version

All of my nephews golf but only one seems to like it enough to play high school golf.  He has a birthday this month and this is the card I made him.  I have a female version that I will post another day.

Florida State Fair Time

Today we went over to the fairgrounds with another member of our guild.  Many of the guild members submit projects for the craft competition and our committee takes them to the fairgrounds for judging.  It is a lot easier than 30 people going individually. 
This is one of the projects Jim submitted in the stained glass lamp category.  He has a second item that I will post next week.  The results won't be known for about three weeks.  I will let you know if he wins anything.

My First Use of Blendies

I don't like to color and I am not good at it.  That is probably why I don't like to color.  People have been asking me about the Stampin' Up! Blendabilites and since I am a demo I thought it was time to try them.  I bought Melon Mambo and got the Old Olive free as one of my SAB items.  This card has my first attempt using them.  I didn't take all the time lifting and blending that you are suppose to do.  I just colored like they were a regular marker.  I have to admit they look so much nicer than a regular marker.  I plan to get a few more free ones during SAB.  I like them.

Starting to Make Valentines

My Christmas decorations inside the house are still up.  The outside decorations have been down 10 days or so but DH has been working on a glass project that has to be done by Monday and I can not put the trees away.  I still turn on the lights too so the neighbors probably think we are a bit crazy.  But it is time to work on valentines so here are a few.  I will be making these with my card group this month.  Hopefully the trees will be down before they come.

Gift Bag

I needed a bag and card for a recent Birthday party that I attended.  The theme of the party was butterflies so of course I had plenty of butterfly ideas.  One of my fellow Stampin' Up! demos showed me how to make this bag with card.  Thanks Robbin.  Isn't it clever?  The card decorates the bag and is the usual card.

Happy New Year 2015

This is my last Christmas card that I have to post, I think.  I love this dove and I mentioned in another post that it could be used for other than Christmas.  Wishing you a Happy New Year.