My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a nice day.  John was released from the hospital with more heavy duty antibiotics.  So that was good.  I received many birthday cards and greetings and I appreciate them all.  I have not had time to be in my scrap room this week, so I will be posting some of the special handmade cards I received.

The cute little girl card is from my friend, Dawn.  She colors the majority of images using Zig watercolor pens.  One day she is going to have to show me how to use my Zig watercolor pens as my images don't look this good when I use them!  The purple card is from my friend, Kathy Z.  Of course she used all Stampin' Up products and the layout of the card is perfect.  I will post others next week.  Thank you for all the birthday and get well wishes!  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Adorable!

Yesterday was one of those days.  I had to take John to the hospital as he has pneumonia.  He has been congested since Saturday.  When he called his primary care physician, he was told to go right to the Emergency Room.  So off we went.  John is on IV antibiotics, oxygen and breathing treatments.  So he is where he should be right now.  He is disappointed as the doctor said he could be in for three to four days. Mostly, that is to keep him on the IV meds.  But he wants me to bring his Sirius radio so he can listen to the St. Louis Cardinals!  He is feeling better!

Sadie had her first haircut yesterday, so she is my post for today.  She is a little dolly.  Have a great day!

June 2019 Paper Pumpkin

A couple of weeks ago I got a notice from Stampin' Up that I had a three month subscription from a while back that I needed to redeem.  As most of you know, I never got into the  Paper Pumpkin.  But this month's kit is so cute, I am glad I had a three month to redeem.

The kit includes enough card bases, envelopes, embellishments and twine to make 16
3-1/2" x 2-1/2" cards. In addition, there was a stamp set and a Coastal Cabana ink spot. The size means they cannot be sent through the U.S. Post Office.  But they do fit a gift card.  I made four of the 16 and they are adorable.  My favorite of the four is the sand dollar card.  I am thinking that I will use the rest of the kit as parts of larger size cards.  When I do that, I will post what I create.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Beach Houses

It has been a quiet weekend around here.  On Thursday morning, John told me he wasn't feeling good and in pain.  He is not a complainer, so off we went to Sherman Hospital.  As it turned out, John had an emergency appendectomy.  He came home the next day and is doing good.

Wanting to keep quiet so John could sleep, I spent some time in my craft room with a new die from Lawn Fawn (Like I need an excuse to be in my craft room!).  I have Lawn Fawn's Scalloped Box die and recently they released the Beach House Add-on.  The Add-ons set had my name on it and so I ordered it.  The palm trees are from Elizabeth Craft Design.  As a matter of fact, I used that die set on Friday's "Happy Summer" post.  The lighthouse is from Lawn Fawn's Life Is Good stamp set.  I think these little favors are just way too cute!  Have a great day!

Happy Summer!

Today's card was created using another die set from Elizabeth Craft Designs.  After die-cutting all the pieces, I sponged the edges, assembled and adhered them to a card front and base.  As I am looking at this card, it needs a beach ball and a seashell or two!  Have a great day!

Sand Castle

One of my Christmas presents was a die set from Elizabeth Craft Design named Sand Castle.  I was waiting for summer-like weather to create a card using the die set and finally did so on a day last week when there was sunshine and it was 80 degrees.  The only stamping on this card is the birthday sentiment which is from a retired Stampin' Up set.  Next time I will use a darker brown for the sentiment.  All of the pieces were sponged before assembling.  The card front needed a little something more so out came the sequence.  Have a great day!

Sailboats

 One more Father's Day card that I made last week.  Again, I used the stamps, dies and Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up's Sailing Home suite.  The inside sentiments are from two retired stamp sets.

Sydney is here for a few days.  If I thought my scraproom was a mess when I play, the scraproom is really a mess!  She is such a busy beaver.  Syd not only uses the island and counters, but the floor, too.  She had to make a path on the floor for John to get to his workspace!  The good thing though, she always cleans up before she has to go home.  Have a great day!

Lighthouses

This past week was full of good-byes at my house. I have shed a few tears  as I am not good at saying good-bye.  First my brother and sister-in-law and then Dennis and Maren left.  Saying good-bye to Niklas was very sad.  And on Saturday, Sandie went to her furever home.  It was very difficult to give her to her new family~~a very nice family and they have a fenced yard!  Needless to say, I miss her morning greetings and her gentle ways.  Her new family adopted a really good dog.

Today I am sharing two more Father's Day Cards for the important Dads in my life.  Both cards were created using the Sailing Home lighthouse and coordinating paper. The banner on which the sentiment is stamped on the card on the right is from the Smooth Sailing dies.  I was hoping to make a Balmy Blue layer for it, but the Scan N Cut wouldn't cut it out the right way.  I am trying to figure out what I need to do to make that happen.  We spent Fathers Day at Mark's parents' home.  And what was the theme this year?  Lighthouses/nautical and the colors were all the same!  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Sailing Home

Father's Day kind of snuck (or sneaked) up on me so I was late on making Father's Day cards.  Luckily, I purchased the stamp set, dies and paper from the new Stampin' Up Sailing Home grouping of items.   There are so many cards posted on the Internet that were created using this set, that it was simple to choose a few and start to create with those ideas in mind. 

The coordinating paper, Come Sail Away DSP, is so perfect with the stamp set.  It has a variety of colors, including Night of Navy, Balmy Blue and Soft Suede. Aside from the sentiment on today's card, the images and papers are all Stampin' Up Products.  

Have a great weekend and wish the men in your life a Happy Father's Day!

Safe Travels

Today is the day Niklas goes home.  I will miss him very much.  Jen and Sydney will miss him so much more.  Jen and family have been very kind and generous to have him with them for the past ten months.  That being said, Niklas always told her how grateful he was to Jen, Mark and Sydney for letting him experience life here for the past months.  He is a very respectful teenager and once he gets home, he will not be so sad that he had to leave (I hope).  I will say, our get-togethers, holidays and outings won't be the same without him.

I used Sunny Studio Stamps' Stars and Stripes stamp set and die to make a card for Niklas.  I have a difficult time saying good bye to people I love, so inside the card is a handwritten note that told him how important he is to us.  Have a great day!

Good-bye

We are all a little sad.  Dennis and Maren will be leaving tomorrow to go back home to Wilhelmshaven, Germany.  We have such a good time with them while they are here and we never know when we will see each other again when they have to leave.  They laugh because I call them "our Germans", but they are just that.  Little did we know that what started as being part of a high school exchange student program would turn into a 27 year friendship.   They are actually more family to us than friends.

Today's card was made especially for them.  I used Stampin' Up's retired By The Seashore stamp set.  The Blushing Bride ink and cardstock made for a s"quiet" card in which I wrote a special message for Dennis and Maren.  They will surely be missed but always on our minds and in our hearts.  Have a great day!

Dance Recital

We had a very nice weekend.  It was dance recital weekend and as always, Grandma Gay couldn't be prouder of her granddaughter.  Syd's jazz and tap numbers were fun and the ballet performance was so very pretty. 

I make Syd a special card every year.  This year I found a ballerina silhouette on the Internet and used that.  I brought the image into Word, sized it and then cut it out on the Scan N Cut.  The pattern paper is retired Stampin' Up paper.  I spent more time looking for an image than I did making the card!  Have a great day!

Simple Thinking of You

Another simple card, I put it together in no time.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Sincere Salutations, an all-time favorite of mine.  It is stamped in Tip Top Taupe.  The leaf sprigs were stamped with an image from Crazy About You.  I stamped the first sprig in Pool Party.  Then I inked up the image again and stamped it on a scrap before stamping it on the card and repeated that once more.  Both stamp sets are retired.  To complete the card, I added a few white Perfect Accents from Stampin' Up.  Have a great weekend!

Summery Nugget Treat

I placed my first order with items from Stampin' Up's new annual catalog.  Included in the order is the new Delightful Tag Topper Punch.  I use the Scallop Tag Topper punch often and the design on the new one caught my eye.  Then my Stampin' Up demonstrator, Kimberly Smith, posted a video on her blog about using her Scan N Cut to make multiples of a nugget favor.  (Her blog is www.thepaperedchef.com.) I always give my hair stylist a little candy favor when I see her.  Since I had a hair appointment yesterday, she got the favor I made using the old punch.  The summery colors and paper make a cute little favor.  I am looking forward to making favors using the new tag topper punch when it arrives.  Have a great day!

Sympathy Cards

We needed sympathy cards so I went back in my mind to remember how I made what I thought were very pretty sympathy cards in the past.  For both cards I used Stampin' Up's Love and Sympathy stamp set for the sentiment and SU's Timeless Textures stamp set for the background under the butterflies.  The card on the left is a white layer with a Tip Top Taupe card base.  The card on the right has a white card base with the stamped white layer adhered to a Crumb Cake piece of cardstock.  The butterflies were die cut with Stampin' Up dies and embellished with little pearls.  They might not be exactly like previous sympathy cards, but they are still pretty!  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Birthday Cake & Candles Card

Today's card is by Kathy Z.  Kathy used a variety of Stampin' Up items for her card.  She started with paper from the Broadway Bound specialty DSP.  The cake builder punch was used to punch the stamped image from the Piece of Cake stamp set.  The sentiment is from the Amazing Life stamp set which was in the retired Occasions catalog. After assembling the card pieces on a a layer of black cardstock, it was adhered to a Very Vanilla card base.  The strip of gold cardstock was the finishing touch.  Perfect card, Kathy!  Have a great day!

Cute Little Box

Yesterday was Cricut Sunday and I made these little boxes for the girls. Aren't they cute?  A Hershey Miniature bar fits in it perfectly.  The die is from The Stamp Doctor.  It is their 1.25" Mini Box Die.  No adhesive is needed.  The box closes and stays closed without it, even without a ribbon.  My Stampin' Up demonstrator showed this box on one of her videos and it had my name on it!  Have a great day!