FOR MY FRIEND

My friend in Kansas has had some really unusual health issues this year. They were in FL for the winter visiting a Marine museum and the wind caught the door she was trying to close and banged her hand so hard it tore the ligament from her center knuckle. She had to have surgery and lots of therapy and it is extremely slow in recovering and being pain free. She also recently had to have a skin cancer removed from her nostril and they had to practically remove most of it and rebuild her a new one using skin and cartilage from her ear. All this makes me feel so concerned about her. I wanted to tell her how special she is to me and that I hope she gets better SOON!

She is a red head and I thought these colors reminded me of her. The flower print was punched with the Stampin Up scallop, and I added a row of white with the same edge. I punched out a slot from the top layer so white could show and wrote "friend" in gold. I layered it on two shades of browns with the opposite corners punched with the corner rounder. I added some gold outlines to the flowers and some fuzzy half pearls in gold to add bling. I then punched a small EK Success butterfly and added bronze glitter glue all over it and popped it up near the word friend. I was afraid the PO would ruin it in the mail sorter machines, so I added a piece of card board inside the envelope with a hole cut out for the butterfly. AND I added a small mini Mr Goodbar and wrapped it to match and made a rectangle hole in the card board for it to fit in. I hope it made it OK and that she starts feeling better soon!

RAK's

Occasionally you run across really nice people who do not mind showing it! I recently bought a stamp set off of Ebay and the seller said it was "gently used" but did not show the rubber side of the stamps in the set. When they arrived, they were all different colors of red down to pink and some were heavily stained and had not been cleaned. The lightest pink ones looked like they had been cleaned with a harsh chemical and the rubber looked dried and not supple. I was disappointed and wrote and told her that I felt she had listed it incorrectly and I would not have bid had I seen the condition of the rubber. She was kind and refunded all the cost and the shipping and said to keep the set. She wanted to make it right and I wrote and told her how kind she was and that she had "good customer service". I also said I would test the stamps and if they did not stamp very well, then I would look for a replacement.

But before I could test the first set, she wrote and said she had found me a good replacement and mailed it to me free of charge. AND she sent another really cute country doll angel stamp with it. That just blew me away, and I told her she had far exceeded anyones expectations. I was most appreciative not to have to hunt myself for it and told her so in an email. I made this card for her, added $5 for the second stamp set and gave her my assurance that I would continue to shop with her and give her good feedback. She was totally surprised by my card and said I did not need to pay for anything. It is nice to deal with nice people in this world and it puts a smile on your face.

The white card base was punched along the front with the Martha Stewart deep punch called Wild Flower border. I punched a second one on a scrap of white and then stenciled the flowers up the front through the holes in that piece onto the card front using markers. I stamped the country doll angel by D.O.T.S on a separate piece of white CS. and colored it with Copics and cut it out. I used purple Spica glitter pen on her shoes, the pattern in her dress and on the heart. I popped her up and added a hand cut heart to write the Thank You on, which I wrote with the purple Spica and outlined with black. I think she turned out pretty cute.

BOY BD CARD

I usually don't get invited to a 12 yr old boys birthday, but the young man I am grooming to take care of our lawn and such came over Tuesday and cleaned out the rocks which were full of leaves, and cleaned out three flower beds and got rid of the old dead flora stems from last year. It looks sooo nice and the shower we had over night gave all my tulips and daffodils a great drink. Anyway, he said he had a surprise for me and he waited until he was done for the day to tell me he was inviting my husband and me to his BD party which was the next night. It was a big family event with grandpas and grandmas, aunts and uncles and cousins. We said we would attend and I gave him a Vikings large drink cup filled with two packages of M&M's and about a dozen fire balls. We also gave him $10 and Bill had enough spare computer parts and put together a desk top computer for him. He was terrifically excited, especially with the "yoke" for airplane simulator games. Bill was about 12 when he became interested in flying and was able to be a Navy pilot and fly off of an aircraft carrier during his career. So Bill is in his element inspiring a young boy with an interest in flying.

The card for Jon was pulled together VERY quickly. I used a soft blue/white striped paper, matted in blue, stamped a polka dot elephant on it using the Penny Black elephant image called Elephant Song. There is a bird sitting on the elephants rump and I used the saying "A little bird told me it was your birthday", from Inkadinkado. Inside I just stamped "Happy Birthday in black Momento ink. I did draw some green grass under the elephants feet and colored his polka dots blue and shaded with my Copics. It was very simple and I think a fun card for a boy.

Thanks for stopping by.

BANANA PAPER

Here is a Mother's Day card I sent to a couple of friends who make cards. I had bought some gorgeous lace on Ebay and added some for them to use on their cards. I hope they like it all. My card uses the banana paper my daughter picked up in Puerto Rico for me. It looks white in the photo but has a gray tint to it. I really like the look of it and stamped the image with purple and pink ink using the Stampabilities floral silhouette stamp and the sentiment is from Impression Obsession. I tore around the image and saying, and the DSP to create some interest and I had a difficult time fitting it all on the front. I added small light purple rhinestones to the flowers and three in the lower right corner. (which are difficult to see in the photo!) Inside it says, "You make each day a little bit brighter". Happy Mother's Day to all who are privileged to be mothers.

MOTHER'S DAY

Here is the card I made for my mother almost a month ago. I had to wait to post it because I was going to TX to visit her, and wanted to give it to her before I posted this. WELL, my 6 day trip turned into a three week trip. Mom had to have carotid artery surgery (she is 89 and had 90% blockage on the right side and the doctor said it was amazing she had not already had a stroke!). So I was there to care for her, feed her good healthy food, clean up the dishes and help with the cat, and be her driver. My trip down was pretty smooth. I was not sure how getting through security would work with my recent hip implant. And because I also have missing cartilage in my shoulders, I had to use a wheelchair and the airport service people were so kind and helpful. So not too bad going down or coming back.

My card uses a large stamp by Carolyn Shores Wright. I stamped it in black Momento ink, colored it mostly using the Copics I had. I did have to buy several greens, and one is a Spica glitter pen to make the hummingbird iridescent. I stamped it again, colored it and cut out the parts that are closest and popped them up over the first image I had colored. The edges of the white and the pink mat are punched with a Martha Stewart floral lace punch and then the whole matted with a darker pink. I could not find a ribbon I liked that was the right shade so matched up the light dotted Swiss ribbon to go with the lighter shades of pink in the flowers. Mom usually prefers cards with blue on them, so this one gets her out of her comfort zone a bit. But she was pleased with it.

Thanks for coming to visit.

THANK YOU CARDS

Both grand daughters had birthdays 4 days apart in March. Their great grand mother (my mom) who is 90 in July, sent them a musical Disney card. So we got busy and each girl made a Thank You card for her, which I will take down to her this week.

Matti (now age 5) picked out a clear stamp of a little girl and wanted to color it to look like herself. She first picked out a marker she thought was brown and it turned out to be black. She had already colored part of the hair with it and was disappointed at the color. I told her we could restamp it on another piece of white CS and she could color the popped up face the right color, which is what she did with a little help from grandma. I told her to leave strips not colored with the brown and then go back and add yellow highlights. Her hair is light brown but also has some blond and red mixed in. Not sure what color it will be when she grows up. But if she has her choice, it will be magenta! She loves that color. She stamped the flower background using a Hero Arts background stamp and colored in most of the flowers. She got tired and grandma finished for her. I do all the cutting using the paper cutter (to save little fingers!) and she adhered the sentiment onto the pink mat and popped it on. She loves Stickles and added lots of magenta Stickles all over the flowers and a little onto the sentiment piece by accident But it looks really good. Inside she stamped THANKS in orange, and wrote Love, Matti in pink. She did a wonderful job and I am sure great grandma will love the bright colors.

Emma, now 6 (with 6 teeth missing), took her favorite rose image to color. She wanted it pink, so I gave her all four shades of pink markers. I shared that roses look more realistic if you color the tips of the petal a lighter shade, and make it darker nearer the center and underneath the petal. And I left her to color while I went to make them dinner. I had showed her the green sparkle CS I had and she liked it and wanted to use it. I cut it into a rectangle that would fit the card front and she used a decorative punch for the corners. I did the tearing around the rose to give it a more rustic look. I think she did well on the coloring but she too wanted Stickles on the rose, so when she put the pink Stickles on it and rubbed with her finger, it kind of moved the ink around a little. But that is what being an artist is all about. Some of our mistakes can become most beautiful by accident. She made the little leaves under the rose a darker green than the main leaves. She must have remembered what I said about the petals being darker and applied that to the leaves also. It is amazing to me how much they have learned about card making in the year we have been doing it together. Inside Emma stamped the wonderful sentiment, "Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. THANKS" She wanted to write so put "To Mamaw Jo (with the J written backwards) and "I love you, Love Emma" Then she added a whole row of XOXOXOXO across the bottom. It is so sweet and each girl put a lot of herself into each card. Mom doesn't have a computer so will not see this or read it but I know she is going to really enjoy the cards from the grand girls.

Thanks for coming to my blog. If you have not joined my merry little band of followers (all 7 of them!) , feel free to add yourself. I know I would have more followers if I were posting cards every day and entering lots of challenges, but my family comes first and since I am not the sharpest computer person, I am probably near my learning limit with this machine. I will continue to make cards as needed and try to post as often as I can and enter challenges when I have time and can figure it out again. Thanks for your patience.

FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY CARD

This is a first for me. I don't think I have ever created a 50th anniversary card. My friend Gloria at Living Vine Church asked me to make one and wanted to pay me. She has been so friendly and kind, sharing recipes and calling while I was in rehab for my hip relacement. I told her it was my privilege to do something for her. And it was a definite challenge because I almost NEVER do anything with gold. I had to go and buy the shiny gold card stock for it, some gold ribbon, and some gold embossing powder. So now I am all set if anyone else has a 50th! Yaaa!

My card base is the cream card stock. On a separate piece of white card stock, I decided to use a beautiful rose brass stencil and I sprayed the card stock through the stencil with gold Glimmer Mist (Neither the stencil or the GM had ever been used yet!) I am totally surprised that the roses show up so well in the photo. Anyway, I had to mop up the excess of the Glimmer Mist liquid and let it dry. It was a bit lumpy from having been wet, so I piled a bunch of books on it and let it sit for a few days and it almost became flat again. At least flat enough that I wanted to use it. I used deckled scissors to cut around the edge leaving a small white border for a frame. That gave me the idea to make the gold frame.

I found a corner punch in my bin of little used punches, did some measuring and cut the gold a little bigger than the rose piece. I then punched the corners hoping that I had measured correctly. It looks like a much brighter gold in real life. I added the little sentiment "celebrating" which was stamped on the cream CS and heat embossed in gold and cut out with a Nestie. I folded the ribbon gently and stuck it down and then popped the sentiment over it. Inside I heat embossed "50 wonderful years" using Versa Mark and gold embossing powder. Not a real complicated card and I did not make lots of layers because Gloria has to mail it. Thanks for stopping by.