Happy Belated Birthday - to Me!

Another tradition ... I post a picture of my birthday cards on my birthday. Oops - too busy this year:) My birthday was on Saturday - I entered a new decade as I turned 60. Here are the wonderful cards that I received. I happen to know that there are a couple other cards on their way. Sorry they won't be pictured.

My birthday was great and then on Sunday we celebrated Christmas with our kids and grandchildren. Fun times! Life will get back to "normal" on Wednesday afternoon. 

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Calendar Files

I actually worked ahead:) I have my blank calendars (all fifteen of them) cut and ready to be made. Hopefully this year will be a "calm" year in which I can get my 2015 calendars done earlier. My plan for the past couple of years has been to get January of the next year done during the current January, etc.  Some months worked out that way and some didn't this year.

At any rate, I have uploaded my file for 2015. You can find the link to the uploads under my blog header. As always, you are free to use them. I would love to hear from you if you give the files a try.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to All! I hope you have special family and friends to share the holiday with and have safe travels wherever you may go. Thanks so much for visiting my blog, today and always.

Same tree and ornaments as last year - different house:)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Another Winter Birthday

This card is kind of similar to one I made for our daughter-in-law earlier this month, but since I haven't anything else to share, you get to see it:)

The background is from a matstack from Recollections. I matted with shimmery silver. The sentiment is done with a brass stencil, white embossing paste and glitter. I matted with white and mounted on foam squares.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Thinking of You - Again!

Here is the other "Thinking of You" card I made on Sunday. 

Again, I used ivory cardstock. The flower stamp is from a Penny Black set. I colored it with Copics. The sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! set. I embossed with a Sizzix folder after stamping and coloring. I matted with black.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Thinking of You

A Thinking of You card for a member of my stamping group. I made another similar to it that I will share very soon.

I stamped the image (from a Penny Black set) on watercolor paper and then I watercolored the flowers using Stampin' Up inks and an Aquarpainter. I stamped the sentiment (from Stampin' Up) and then embossed with a Sizzix folder. I matted with Old Olive. The main panel and the card base are off-white.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Sunny Birthday

This birthday card is going to California, so I thought a nice sunshiney card would be OK for December:)

I got to spend some time in my stamping room on Sunday and this is one of the five cards I got made. Nothing much to it! I embossed the sentiment using a brass stencil and my BIGkick. I used black for all of my matting and the flower center - which I punched with an EK Success punch. The flower and patterned paper were from Michael's. The flower and sentiment are mounted on foam squares.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Birthday, Sheri!

Here is the card I made for a member of my stamping group. Happy Birthday, Sheri!

I've spent some time recently "thumbing through" my stamps. This one screamed "Sheri" to me:) It seemed like something Sheri would use. I stamped her with Memento ink and colored with Copic markers and matted with green. The sentiments are from the same little set as the image - a dollar set from Inkadinkado.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Anniversary, Andrea and Dave

I totally missed an anniversary of a member of my stamping group. So sorry, Andrea! Here is the card I made for them that was about a week and a half late.

The flowers were stamped and cut out with Stampin' Up! stamps and die. I used Stickles on the centers and also popped one of them up. I stamped the leaves directly on the cardstock. The sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly. I added a thin strip of green - just because! I matted with the same green. (Gumball Green from SU!)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Third Birthday, Owen!

Wow - our grandson, Owen, is three years old today! This is the card I made for him.

Since he is a big fan of Mickey Mouse (we have to call him Mickey some of the time, and his friends are Minnie (me), Pete (Grandpa), Goofy (Dad), Clarabelle Cow (Mom) and Donald (Wyatt.) I of course had to make him a Mickey card. I couldn't find my Disney embossing folders, so I went on-line and found this image. I printed it twice and cut out the package and Mickey's head and mounted them on foam squares. The font is a Disney font called "Walter." I used black to mat the layers.

Starting in January, Owen will be going to preschool/daycare. I'll sure miss the little bugger, since I've been babysitting since he was two months old. It will be GREAT for him to go there, though. And now I have Wyatt to take care of and shower with attention.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Winter Birthday

Today is our daughter-in-law's birthday. This is the card I made for her. She loves Christmas, so I thought she would like this Christmas-y birthday card.

The background is from a Recollections matstack that I picked up on Thanksgiving. I embossed the white strip with a Cuttlebug folder and matted with shimmery silver. The sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) is embossed with silver embossing powder.

Life hasn't exactly become less busy! We hosted Thanksgiving and have had a lot of company. The Christmas cards all got mailed out and I finished my calendars, finally. We haven't done very much shopping, but we really don't have a lot to do. We made our list of people to buy for and noted a few ideas. I really want to get that done as soon as possible. I haven't done any card-making (until last night) for about three weeks, it seems! It actually feels kind of good to NOT be spending time in my stamping room and worrying about making cards for my blog! I have hardly been on the computer, too. Our weather has been COLD!!! And snowy, too! Yuck!!! Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and not too stressed by holiday preparation.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Christmas Sunday (On Monday!)

Since my calendar page went on yesterday's post, I'll do my "Christmas Sunday" on Monday. I actually made this card almost two weeks ago, and it is my last for the year! I got the Christmas letter done and the cards all went out the day before Thanksgiving. Whew! I really wanted to get them out early this year, since we have a new address and not everyone had it yet.

Another simple card, and I made five of them with various stickers. The ornament stickers are from the dollar area at Michael's a few years ago. The patterned paper is from a Recollections stack. I cut the vanilla circle with a punch and the green circle with a Nestability. The sentiment is from Rubber Stampede.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

December Calendar Page

The last month's calendar page from 2013. Unbelievable!

The trees were embossed with a Lasting Impressions brass stencil. I matted with shimmery gold paper. The sentiment (from Denami) was embossed with gold embossing powder.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving Day! (To my American friends, and to everyone else, too, whether today is "Thanksgiving" or not!) I hope you all have someone special to celebrate and give thanks with today!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday - Thanks/Thankful

This week's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is to make a card with the theme "Thanks" or "Thankful." Be sure to include your fairy or butterfly! If there are at least 50 entries, there will be a prize, so let's all get busy creating! Then, link your card up the Flutter By Wednesday blog.

For my card, I went really simple. Imagine that! LOL! But, this is even simpler than usual. The background is a sheet of patterned paper. It's from a small matstack from Jodie Lee Designs that I purchased a couple years ago at a small scrapbooking store on our way home from a mini vacation. I just trimmed it down, stamped the sentiment (from a retired Stampin' Up! set called Thank You Kindly) with SU! Soft Suede, and matted with Soft Suede cardstock. We'd love to see what you all come up with!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate it! 

This is the one Hanukkah card I made this year. I cut the snowflakes out of an iridescent cardstock that I've had for years. I used my Cameo Silhouette to cut them. I matted with a thin strip of textured light blue and a thicker strip of the same cardstock as the snowflakes. I printed the sentiment on my computer before assembling the card. Happy Hanukkah, Harriet and Bruce!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Christmas Sunday

A new Sunday - a new Christmas card. Not for long, though! I have two or three more to make. Yippee! I was hoping to get the Christmas letter done and printed yesterday, but didn't get a chance. Hopefully, VERY soon, as we are hosting Thanksgiving, and I really wanted them done before that.

As I reach the end and feel like I'm running out of time, they are getting simpler:) I embossed the design with a new-to-me Sizzix embossing folder. I stamped the sentiment (an oldie from Katie & Co.) and the holly leaves (from Repeat Impressions.) I colored the holly leaves and berries and then added red Stickles to the berries.

I'm linking this to the Christmas Card Challenge blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

No Card - But a Post:)

I scored some free cabinets yesterday. We picked them up last night and Jim (with a little help from me) got them put up tonight! (Just the uppers ones. The lower part is part of old dining room hutch.) I'm not sure what all I'll keep in them, but I've already got them at least half full! I put ribbons and punches and some paper in there so far. I think it will make my stamping room more tidy, as I had a lot of stuff piled up and not very neat looking. Now I'll be able to get my bulletin board hung and a couple pictures that I've wanted. It will be nice to finally have my stamping room all in order!

I haven't had any time for stamping lately. Seems like taking care of a two-month old and an almost three-year-old doesn't leave me a lot of time for anything else! LOL! I DO have four posts scheduled for next week, though.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday - A Sketch

This week's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is another great sketch by Design Team member, Kathy. We'd love to have you join in the fun! Just create your card based on this sketch, and link it up to the Flutter By Wednesday blog. Be sure to include your butterfly or fairy! If there are at least fifty entries, Danni will be awarding a prize.

For my card, I did something different for me. I started with the papers, working my way from the bottom up. It seems I usually work from the top down:) The papers are from a stack I bought at Michael's, but I cut it into six by six pieces and threw away the cover sheet, so I can't tell you who it's made by. Sorry. I chose to use this whimsical butterfly stamp from Inkadinkado. I colored with Copics. The sentiment (from Papertrey Ink) replaces the ribbon in the sketch. I guess I just kind of forgot about/ignored the three dots at the top of the panel. LOL! (Sorry, Kathy!) Looking at the card in the picture, I can see that I put the butterfly piece on crooked:( Maybe I can get it off and straighten it up.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Christmas Sunday

Here is my card for this week. I actually made seven of this one - with slight variations. On some of them, I positioned the panel on the right side, instead of the middle. One of them has silver glitter. Etc.

I saw these cards on Joan's blog, and really liked them and the "NOEL." So, instead of purchasing the file from the Silhouette site, I made my own. The NOEL and the red circle were cut on my Cameo Silhouette. I used my Xyron machine to apply the "sticky" for the glitter. The ornament top was stamped with a Verve stamp and embossed with silver embossing powder. I free-handed the ornament string. I used a punch for the holes to put the ribbon through. I'm submitting this to the Christmas Card Challenge blog. (Edited to add: As always the main challenge is just to make a Christmas card. This week's additional challenge is "sparkle and bling." Gosh, I even met the specific challenge!) This makes 66 cards done. I think I have about 14 to go. I still have to stamp a sentiment in them all, though, so I guess I still have a ways to go!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!