Biffer Shrug

 

Here is a picture of some shrugs that I am making that you use on a swiffer.  You use one side, flip it over and the ends inside out, put it back on and use the other side.  Throw it in the wash and it is reusable.

Crochet Flowers

 

These are some little crochet flowers that I was working on while I was staying at Sarah and Zach's.  They are made with embroidery floss and a teeny tiny crochet hook.

I was out at Diane's last night, and had supper with her, and her sister, Judy.  After supper we were crocheting dish clothes and watching TV, deciding who should stay, and who should get kicked off American Idol.

Plane and Simple Card

 

Today is my father's birthday and this is the birthday card that I gave him made with the stamp set Plane and Simple.  Such a fun masculine stamp set that is in the Occasion Mini.  Only a few days left and the mini catalog will be over, so look it over and make sure there isn't something in it that you missed and would like to order before you know longer can.  Happy Birthday Dad!  Love, Elaine

Show and Tell Gifts

These are some flowers that I made to give away to the stampers that bring in something to show for Show and Tell at our stamping get together s.  They are made with the Stampin' UP! large heart punch and then they are folded in half, and adhered to a circle (which doesn't show from the front).  A button finishes them off.

It sure was a beautiful day to be traveling home.  The church service we attended yesterday was so beautiful and joyous.  We all enjoyed it very much.  My kitty cats are very happy to see me.  Molly keeps jumping up here by the computer.  I suppose they will drive me nuts for the next week wanting attention...lol  Enjoy the rest of the day as I understand the weather will be changing tomorrow!  Elaine

Baby Afaghan

This is a baby blanket that I was working on while at Sarah and Zach's house.  I had started it a few days before Sarah broke her leg and it went along with me to her doctor's appointment, and when she was in surgery I was working on it while talking to Zach.    Then I spent many days working on it on and off while I was helping the kids.  Every time I needed to do something I had to make sure that I put it away, and up high so Hunter couldn't get ahold of it as he sure wanted it.  Plus Whiskey, the cat was trying to eat the yarn....so it was a long process working on it there.  In fact, the first week, I totally gave up on it as the pets would not leave it along.  But as they got more used to me being there, they were better about letting me work on projects.
Mason has decided that it is great fun to  give Grammy kisses, much to Grammies delight!  He is such a little nut.  Tonight while I was babysitting for him, Sponge Bob Square pants had a marching band on it.  Mason was sitting on the floor playing with his toys and he started bouncing up and down with his arms going like he was marching.  It was hysterical.  He can be so funny, and he absolutely loves to laugh. He will do a fake laugh to get attention and loves it if you mimic him doing it.  

Jenna and I watched the Passion of the Christ tonight for the very first time and we were very moved by it.  Then we had our bibles out after we watched it and we were looking up things which led to some good discussions.  What a beautiful gift we were given.

I said to Jenna tonight, that we only had a few more days left.  She said "I know, I was thinking about that today.  It went so fast.  Are you sure you have to go home, that you can't stay longer?"  I feel that way too but I do have things I need to get done at home so I will be going back when planned.  Have a Happy Easter!  Elaine

Top Note Gift Card Purse Card

This was our other project for February.  It is a little purse that we made with the Big Shot and the top note die.  Then we ran it through the Big Shot again with the square lattice embossing folder to give it texture.  We used the stamp set Herb Expressions for the verse.  I put a business card in mine for the example but it was designed to hold a gift card.  A fun cute project!

Just my type card

 

This card is one that we made at the February stamping events.  It features the Button Button stamp and it  was embossed with Black Craft Ink.  The typewriter is from the stamp set Puns from the past.  It works so well with the Newsprint Designer paper that is on the bottom of the card.  Kind of an retro blast from the past, and it could easily be a male or female card.  The button was cut from a Stampin' UP! button die with the Big Shot.

I am having a busy week here in Milwaukee.  I took pictures before I left town of projects I had finished and uploaded them onto the blog so that all I would have to do is write the blog posts while I was here., but as you can see, that hasn't been happening too often!  I spend most of my days watching and playing with Mason so Jenna can get some projects done.  We also have made a couple of shopping trips.  I got my haircut today and I babysat tonight so the kids could go out to eat.  Mason is growing right before my eyes this week.  Every day he is changing and is learning new tricks.  We have been having a great time together and I have been loving every minute of it.  He just turned 8 months old on the 18th. The time sure has gone fast!  I need to hit the hay, morning will come too fast!!  Elaine

Owl pins

 

These are some felt owl pins that I am currently working on.  I took these six to the Dells on Friday.  I had a doctor's appointment in the morning in Mauston, then I went to the St. Vinnies, restocked the booth at the Dells, and then headed to Milwaukee's to Jenna's house.  The wind was terrible the whole way and the van really sucked up the gas.  :-(   Little Mason greeted me with a big smile when I walked in the door, much to Grammies delight!  I have been having fun loving him up, and spending time with everyone.  Diana and I went to Joann's in the afternoon on Saturday.  It was fun to walk around in there as I haven't been to the city, any city, for months.   I taught Diana how to finger crochet bracelets out of old T shirts and she liked doing that a lot.   They turned out very nice.  We also played the board game Name 5 that I got Diana for Christmas and that was fun.  In between things  I have been crocheting biffer shrugs.  I  figured out how to do the front and back post double crochet thanks to Lady Di, and mine now looks like the pattern, plus I seem to be able to crochet them faster.  I can't find my yarn needle so I will have to wait till I get home to finish sewing up the sides, or perhaps I will buy one while I am here, we will see.  I have 2 done and a third started.

Today we went to church and it was a beautiful service for Palm Sunday.  The Sunday school kids waited till every one was seated then they marched up the aisle waving their palms, they looked so cute, and I couldn't help but think that soon Mason would be marching along with them.  They also plan to send him to school there.  The children then lined up on both sides of the aisles, the congregation began singing and then a procession with the Pastor singing came up the aisle.  The kids then assembled in the front of the church and sang a song.  Plus the choir sang today, and they had trumpets, drums, etc playing.  A very nice moving service.  It is a beautiful old church and I love it there.  Mason was very good.  He likes going to church.  We went to Mr. Churro's for lunch and that was fun.  Mason loves all the Mexican murals on the walls.  He is also a people watcher, and between looking around and eating, he was a happy camper.   I had my very first Mexican hot chocolate.  It is very good, and very rich.  I have never had anything quite like it.  I ordered a burritto, and that was very good too.  They put the sour cream right inside it, and I don't know what all else except that I saw lettuce, tomato, and onion, and I chose ground beef as the meat.  They had all different kinds of meat to choose from, pork, chicken, tongue, and I don't remember what all else.   Then we decided to go over to Roberto and Edith's house to visit them.  The boys were surprised to see me.  I opened up my arms and little Saul came running into them.  I said to him "Oh how I have missed you"...and he let me hold him...and then the other boys took their turns.  It was pretty funny when we were saying our goodbyes.  I thought he was trying to call me missy, but he was saying Miss you, and he said Bye Grandma, which I thought that was so cute as the older boys consider me their Grandma, but I did not know that Saul had picked up on that.  He is now 3, and I have not seen the boys since the middle of December.  Have a great week!  Elaine

Rules of Chocolate

Good Evening!  I just got home from Thursday nights stamping group.  We had a fun time.

I gave 3 of these "Chocolate Books" as door prizes to Monday night's group.  They were a big hit!

I was busy packaging cards, and merchandise today, and ran some errands in the afternoon.  Yesterday, Di and I went to the Hwy 13 and 21 restaurant for an early supper.  I used my gift certificate that I received from Barb Cook and Sandy Wellumson for my birthday.  This was the first of many treats that I will have there thanks to these gals.  Thanks again....your the best!  Elaine

Kitty cat card

Today's card features the Level 2 Hostess Set Long Fellows.  I love these cute long animals.  Very fun and whimsical!  I also used an oldie but goodie...the retired stamp set So Many Scallops for the Happy Birthday Cake.
I worked at the flea market this morning setting up my card rack.  It is good to have that done, and now I know where the gaps are and what kind of cards I need to make to have more variety.

Jenna and Mason were here for the weekend.  They arrived on Friday afternoon and left on Sunday night.  It was so good to see them and so fun to have them here.  Mason loved the kitties, and they were quite fascinated by him which surprised me.  Normally they hide when kids are around.  But they were very curious, and they figured it out right away that he was unable to chase them so they would sneak by him, or sometimes they would get close and let him "just" touch them.  It kept Mason very busy to watch them walking around the house.

For those of you who live far away, it was quite the weekend weather wise, with a tornado touching down in starting in Arkdale, and making a 15 mile path of destruction.  They are estimating the damage to be at 2 million dollars.  My heart goes out to the families that have been impacted by this.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Monday, night we had stamping and Becky Gruenwald was our hostess.  It was so fun to see everyone again, and we had a great time as usual.  If you weren't there and would like to order, I will be putting the order in tomorrow night.

Sarah went to the doctor today, and received a good report.  The x ray showed that the large bone was healing.  She is now allowed to put 50% of her weight on her leg and will continue to use her crutches. She will start physical therapy next week.  She also has some exercises that she can do at home to try and loosen up the knee, which is not bending very much at the moment.  The next step will be to later go down to using one crutch, and then possibly a cane.  She can go back to work tomorrow, 4 hours per day, 5 days per week, at a sitting job.  She is very excited about that, and Zach's dad is excited about having her back.  She told me that she will be working on replanting, and that they will slide things down to her.  So that is good news.  Please continue to pray for her as she continues on this journey of healing.

Have a good night!  Elaine

The end of the chair cards....for now!

Hello-  I am a tired girl tonight so I think I will write this and then head to bed.  I have been on a night owl kick again...and last night was the worst night of it, I didn't go to sleep till 3 am!  My thoughts were last night that pretty soon I would be staying up till morning...at this rate!  And then I got woke up at 9:45 and I stayed up so didn't get enough sleep.  But that is okay, maybe I will get back on track tonight, and keep more normal sleep hours.  I have been sleeping about 10 to 12 hours a night/day.  I think between taking care of Sarah, and the LEG (Grrrrr....), I require a lot more sleep.  Pain can be exhausting.

Today I met Mom down at the flea market and we talked about where I was going to be putting my stuff in her stall, and I took a little box of stuff with me and got it hung up on the pegboard.  I decided to stop at Practical Cents on the way home (which was a mistake) and I walked through part of the store.  I was happy to find a packet of old Artex transfers, of Hanna Barbara cartoon characters that made their way home with me.  They are adorable, and could be used in crafting so many different ways.  The first one I opened it up to was Yogi Bear....which won my heart immediately, then I saw the Jetson's, Flintstones, and Scooby Doo, and I knew that after opening up two sheets I didn't need to even look at the rest of the sheets in the package as I knew they were going home with me.  Ahhh...the little things that bring such joy.  The cheap thrills I get for $1.06!!!

I had to hit the bed after I got home, then packaged up and priced a few things for the flea market.  Susie stopped over and we had a nice visit and she showed me the pens Wayne has been making.  He does such beautiful work.  I finished 8 cards tonight with the stamp set Plane and Simple. I did what I had to do at the stamping desk, then took all the parts and esembled them in bed.  They turned out so nice.  I am so happy that they put this masculine set in the Occasion Mini, I really like it and we have so few that are really masculine.  

I am chit chatting with Colleen on the IM, we are trying to decide what stamp set we want to choose for free based on our Sale A Bration sales.  Time to go....nighty nite!  Elaine

What a lovely combination!

I just love this color combination, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz.  It reminds me of sherbert!  I am so glad that we have another year of playing with these in colors!!!  The focal point of the card is from the Sale-A-Brations stamp set Punch Bunch, and the verse is from the set Thank You Kindly.  If you look at the labels on the side of the blog, I have made lots of cards with Thank You Kindly.  You can click on it and it will bring up every card that I have used that stamp set on.  It is a GO TO set for me, I am using it all the time.  I think it's a great set for anyone's stamp collection.  The designer paper is from the Designer Series Paper Pack - In Color, Level one hostess gift.  This will be one of many choices Becky will have for a hostess gift on Monday.  I ran the Whisper White panel through the Big Shot with the Textured Impressions Embossing Folder that is on page 28 of the Occasion's Mini Catalog called Framed Tulips.  It is so pretty, and it is so fun to fill the center in so many different ways.  It really adds a lot to the card.  The final touch on this card is the 5/8" White Organza ribbon which is on page 190 of the Big Catalog.  I have to say.....that I love a lot of our ribbon, but this ribbon is my all time favorite.  It turns a card from cute...to elegant...the minute you put it on a card.  And..it is so soft and flexible to work with.  LOVE IT!!!

I had company this afternoon.  Dana and her mom Betsy were over this afternoon for a nice long visit.  Dana returned some cards she had borrowed from me, and I got to see what her daughter is going to use for wedding invitations.  Plus she brought the stuff that they made at the stamping retreat I missed while I was taking care of Sarah.  The gal organizing it immediately found some one to take my spot after I called her and told her what had happened, so I got my money refunded which was nice.  Diane had to miss it also due to her emergency gall bladder surgery, so Dana went with Susie and they both had a great time!

I talked with Jenna twice today, Diane, and Sarah, so it was a busy phone day.  Jenna found out today that she was the best candidate for the hospital interpreting job she applied for and has to take a test next week, and if she gets over 80 % on it, she will get the job.  So she was concerned about how she was going to get her studying done with Mason, so I suggested that she come up for a couple of days and bring Mason here.  She could go upstairs or to the library to study and if we need her, I can just call.  My leg isn't good enough to be walking the floor with a baby, but I can sit and play with him and keep him entertained.  So we will see what happens there.

Maureen stopped and picked up a couple of things from the grocery store for me after she got off work  which was really nice.  I had attempted the grocery store on Saturday, and it has taken me three days to recover from that, so unfortunately, I am grounded to the house.  A trip to the mail box and back is a slow process and a work out at this point of the healing.

Stampin" UP!  came out with some new digital stamps today, and I bought a couple sets.  It is so nice to be able to size things to whatever size you want them to be.  And they are cheap, plus you can order, and have them downloaded all in about five minutes.  It satisfies my urge to play with new toys some days, especially as I can't be doing my usual thrift shop jaunts!  Hee Hee.  So I printed some of them out and was coloring while talking on the phone.  I had to laugh.  When I was at Sarah and Zach's, I was sitting at the table one night coloring, and someone called and I had my headset on and was coloring, and Zach made a comment a few days later that when I was trying to "multi task" it wasn't working to well, that I wasn't getting much coloring done!  I thought that was pretty funny...as he was suppose to be studying and not watching me color!  But he was always very interested in what I was coloring, and he liked looking through the digital images I had printed out.  Probably the artist in him.  He is good at drawing I have heard, but I have not seen his work.


I finished the other 8 chair cards tonight, but I will wait to torture you with them another day!!!  Have a good one!  Me

Four more chair cards

Just finished four more cards so I am now half way done with this project.  I think I will hip hop...or I should say, hobble....off to bed!  Elaine

I chair-ish my blog readers....

Here is a close up of the Stampin' UP! Bitty Button that I used to make the pillow look like it was "tuffed"

Catchy title for today's post don't you think!?!?  Hee Hee.  I have to find something to amuse myself with.  I just finished these four cards and have 12 more started.  The chair is a digital image that I purchased on line.  I printed it out on designer paper, then cut it out.  I also printed an extra one on copy paper so that I could chop the pillow out of it and use it as a pattern.  Then I traced around my pillow pattern, and cut them out and glued them down on top of the pillow.  This is called paper piecing.  I then decided to use one of  Stampin' UP! Bitty Buttons in the middle of each pillow to look like the pillow is "tufted" with a button.  It was just the finishing touch that it needed.  Oh so cute!!!!  I threaded the bitty buttons with some green crochet cotton I had in my bin.  Some of my thrift store collecting.  With the small amounts that it takes to thread a button, I am probably going to have to live a couple thousand years to use it up!
I decided on a striped pattern for the "floor" of the house.  I typed up my own verses on the computer and printed them out.  I would say this style card is out of my normal style, but I like it a lot.  It is clean and simple.  Sometimes I like to do things that are a little bit out of the box for me.  My mom tells me that I don't always need all the bells and whistles on a card, that simple is cute too.  When I had my store, people would tell me that I had a certain style to my work.  That if they saw it some where, they could pick it out.  I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it is what it is.
I would love to hear what you think of these cards.  Are they cute....!?!?!  Too simple....!?!?!  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!  Elaine

Sympathy Music Card

Stamp Set: Thoughts and Prayers, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Big Shot, Baker's Twine, Scalloped Edge Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Old Music Paper, Card Stock, Soft Suede, Creamy Carmel, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Chocolate Chip Ink, Rhinestone Brad, Vintage Wall Paper Embossing Folder.  I did some sponging with Soft Suede ink, and also colored the Rhinestone with a Baroque Burgundy Marker so that it wasn't so shiny.  It worked like a charm!

Another day in paradise.  I do enjoy being home, but really miss the kids.  Both sets!  I called to wish Sarah a Happy Birthday today.  It is her 23rd birthday today.  We only talked about ten minutes as she was exhausted from the wedding.  They left the house at 8am and didn't get home till 1am.  She said that she had so much fun!  Zach mentioned on facebook that it was funny to watch her trying to dance on her crutches.  I would have liked to seen that!  They didn't go to the gift opening today as Zach needed to study and Sarah was worn out. 
My niece Brooke called today.  She is 9 and is so darn cute.  She says the funniest things.  She told me that she had heard about me hurting my leg and that she called "to cheer me up"!  I got a kick out of that.  We talked about everything under the sun...until she ran out of topics, and I couldn't think of any thing more to ask her so finally after an hour and fifteen minutes, she decided that it was okay to hang up!  She is definitely like her "Aunt Elaine" in the talking department, her mother is very quiet.  It would be a rare occasion to spend an hour on the phone with my sister.
The cats are still driving me crazy.  I have been home for six days and they STILL can't get enough of me.  They need to get all their petting in!

In between phone calls today, I have been crocheting.  I have made 2 shrugs for swiffers.  I will shoot some pictures to show you.  Hope you had a great Sunday!  Elaine

Greeting inside the Card.

Vintage Card

Recipe: Stamp Sets: Four Frames, Wonderful Favorites, Teeny Tiny Wishes (its says happy mother's day inside the card), Punches: Decorative Label, Scalloped Circle 2 3/8", Scalloped Edge, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Card stock: Old Olive, Baroque Burgundy, Very Vanilla, Old Sheet Music, Baroque Burgundy and Old Olive Markers, Baroque Burgundy Ribbon, Mat pack and Piercer.

Good Evening-  I specially made this card for my readers tonight.  This is some of the old paper from the Music books I put a picture of on the blog yesterday.  It comes from the book "Burning Bush Songs" Number One, Selected by Music Committee, Metropolitan Church Association.  Prices 10 cents per Copy or $1.00 Per Dozen, Prepaid, $5.00 Per Hundred, Not Prepaid.  Copyright 1902 by Metropolitan Church Association, Waukesha, Wisconsin.  This is your history lesson for the day....LOL  But what I really want you to notice is the label.  I stamped it with the new stamp set Four Frames and punched it out with the decorative label punch.  I absolutely love this stamp set.  I am having so much fun with it!!!  It is a set that will be in the new catalog, but you are able to purchase it for the month of April with a $20.00 order.

Today is Deanna's wedding and I hope that Sarah is doing okay.  It will be a long weekend for her as last night they had rehearsal, today is the wedding and reception, and tomorrow is the gift opening.  I hope she isn't too tuckered out.  I talked to Jen tonight, I was missing them this morning, and she said she had felt the same way.  She really wants me to come to Milwaukee after I get healed up, as she would like to see me, and also wants a date night with Antonio.  Guess who Grammie will get to be with!?!?!?  Her little ray of sunshine!  So, I hope to heal quickly, and to be able to go soon!  Have a great weekend!  Elaine

Old Song books....

Here is a picture of the old song books I bought in Reedsburg at the thrift store when I was helping take care of Sarah.  They are all small books so they will be perfect for back ground papers on cards.  Most of them are pretty old so they have a nice aged patina to them, perfect for what I want to use them for.  Perhaps tomorrow I will work with them.  I was just out to the mailbox to get three days worth of mail.  It is a slow process hobbling out there and back!  LOL  And I also just brought in my clothes and a few other things from the van.  It sure was a lot easier to carry stuff in than when I tried it on Tuesday.  I still am moving slow and carefully, but a lot better than a few days ago.  I haven't been doing much except for talking on the phone, going on the computer, and watching TV.  Have a great weekend!  Elaine