Congratulations Bobby!

Some cards go together faster than others and this one fell into place fast.  I used 3 sets of Studio G's Nifty $1.50 stamps and the numbers are from Stampendous Fifteen candles stamp set.  Inside I stamped HOORAY!  I know that is how I felt when I graduated!  I couldn't wait to get out of high school, and when I graduated, I felt such freedom and that there wasn't anything I couldn't do....the sky was the limit!!!   Elaine

In Bloom

Popped up layers on the flower.

I just got finished playing with my new PTI set In Bloom.  I love these flowers.  They were designed so that you could cut layers and pop them up and that is what I did on this card after stamping them on some Designer paper.  I made the larger flower first, then I kept adding flowers and leaves until I got it looking how I wanted it to look.  It took me several hours to make this card, but I enjoyed the journey!  Elaine

Look what $15.00 will buy you today at Practical Cents!

Good Afternoon!  I just got home a little while ago from a trip to Practical Cents.  Everything in the store is half off today and I found the bargains!  I got all of this stuff for $15.00 today!  Yee haw!!!

I got a huge old dictionary that I will use for card and flower making.  It is really thick, probably about 3 inches thick.  Eleven  packages of seam binding that I will use instead of ribbon on cards.  It is nice and soft, thin, and easy to work with.  One package of rick rack, one package of jewels, one package to make fabric buttons, a big bag of yellow buttons, 3 spools of thread, a package of paper doilies, all of which I will use paper crafting.  Plus I got 7 skeins of yarn, Mason will probably be getting some little sweaters or something out of that.  I also got him some big foam puzzle pieces that you make into a play mat.  Jen has wanted some of those so she will be pleased and I am sure Mason will like playing with them too.  And the bonus is being that they are foam, he can throw them and not ruin something.  I also got a brand new pair of knit summer jammies.  They are heavy enough to be worn like a robe it looks like to me.  And I love the tin bucket.  I would like to do a room in chocolate and certainly celery and this bucket is perfect.  I already have a chunk of chocolate and celery fabric that I just love!


Carol treated me to lunch at the bowling alley today, and we had a real nice visit.  She left to go to the dentist after we got back.  It seems like everyone has been to the dentist this week.  Susie, and my mom, and I have seen all of them either before or after their dentist appointments.

I am headed to the stamping room now.  I think I will play with my new Papertrey set that I got from a gal today called In Bloom.  Every time I see a card made with this set I swoon.....it has such pretty flowers in it, so I am tickled to have it in my collection now.  Maybe  I will pop back in later with a card!  Elaine

A productive day!

I have been working away putting my house back together.  The mountain of boxes in the corner are now gone.  I need to hang pictures back up yet, and put a box of video tapes away.  I really made a lot of head way and I have been making changes too.  I moved my computer into the living room and I have lots of work area in the stamping room that I can use for that or to sew.  I probably will do some sewing down here this summer as it gets kind of warm upstairs. 
I felt like stamping right now, so I made a card while chit chatting with Lady Di on the phone.  I am wide awake unfortunately, but I think I will try and go to bed and see if I can fall asleep.  I am such a night owl...LOL  Have a great day!  Elaine

Look what I found on my doorstep today!

Good Afternoon!  I was headed out the door this afternoon and found this sweet little bowl of strawberries waiting for me on my steps!  And I know exactly who RAK'd me with these strawberries....my dear friend Carol.  Every summer, when she berry picks, she always leaves me a bowl on the porch on her way to work.  I have been nibbling away at them this afternoon.  YUMMY!  I have so many dear friends in Mayberry....I am one lucky gal!

Yesterday I had a very productive day with trying to get my house back in order.  I still have a lot to do, but I have got a lot done and what is done looks very good.  I am trying to get motivated to work on it some more but I am lacking motivation today.  I am probably tired out from yesterday as I pushed it pretty hard.  My garage has a mountain of boxes in it.  Now is the time to stop over for some, before they are broke down.  There are all shapes and sizes, if you need some.

I traded out one of my punches so had to go get that out in the mail today, and when I got back, Mom stopped over to visit, she left, and then Susie was over for a visit.  So there was lots of chit chat going on over here.

Taffy has found a new roosting spot.  She has decided that she likes it up on top of the freezer and she can get a birds eye view of what is going on outside the back door.  Perhaps she thinks she is up in a tree...haha!

Off to eat some more berries!!!  Elaine

Wausau Mine Company

Di outside the restaurant before we go in.  I was afraid she was going to break her leg walking around on those rocks!

Di's new boyfriend!  And she says she doesn't want a man in her life....who is she trying to fool!  LOL

Di thinks the Art Linklettuce name for the salad is a real stitch!

Definitely a fun, different place to eat and good food to boot!

Menu cover.

Water dripping down the walls.

Entry way to go into the saloon.

A miner climbing out of the ceiling.

Outside of the Wausau Mine Company Restaurant.  We laughed when we saw the outside of the restaurant and how crooked it looked.  We weren't expecting this, but it was so cute!  Thanks for a wonderful day Di!

Happy birthday Brooke!

Hello!  It has been a very busy week.  Wednesday, Lady Di and I made a trip to Wausau and had a great time shopping and having lunch at the Wausau Mine Company.  A very cool place, I will be showing you some pictures later on and telling you more about our adventure.  Yesterday, we took Charlie, Di's cat to the vet.  Something happened to his eye, and it didn't heal so it had to be removed.  After we got back to town, Di treated me to breakfast at Family Affair and then we went out to her house to stamp.  Late afternoon we went back to the Rapids to pick Charlie up and it was a good thing I was along or Di probably would have gotten into an accident.  Charlie had to wear a halo around his head to protect his stitched up eye, and he was traveling all over the car and I had to keep a hold of him a lot.  Plus he managed to get the halo off while I was holding him, it was quite the adventure and I was ever so glad to get back to Di's house!

Today was a busy day with lots of phone calls and decisions to be made.  In between things, I worked on my stamping room, and other things.  After much discussion today, I have decided not to move at this time.

Tonight, I wrapped up my niece Brooke's birthday present as Bobby will be here this weekend and I will send it back with him.  It is hard to believe that she turned 10 on Thursday!!  This is the card I made for her and I used the stamp set Hello Spring from Stamps and Smiles.  I won this stamp set from another gals blog.  My long time readers probably remember when I posted a picture of it.  It is an adorable set and you can find it here at Stamps and smiles.  I see that they have it on sale right now.

Stop down and see me at the flea market if you get a chance!  Look for the Rada cutlery and Tastefully Simple Signs!  Elaine

Love and Care

 It's Monday, and I'm a stamping!  I was tickled to get my mail today.  It was a good mail day, both of my trades arrived!  Yippeee!!!  New rubbah to play with!  I am IN LOVE with this set.  It is the new level 2 hostess set from the Summer Mini catalog called Love and Care.  I decided to make 6 of these cards and make them into Anniversary Cards.  I am invited to a picnic at the Dallman's next weekend.  It is Gerry and Vicki Dallman's 35th wedding anniversary, (Zach's folks and Sarah's in-laws).  They are also going to celebrate Zach passing his EMT course, and Tarek (Zach's nephew) 3rd birthday.  So I decided to get busy and get the anniversary card made today.  I love how it turned out.  So nice and summery!  Hang on....the oven buzzer is buzzing....my brownies are done!  Can't let anything CHOCOLATE burn!  Hee Hee.

I am back, and the brownies are cooling on the counter!

Mom called today, and we met at the flea market to move some things around.  We put my Tastefully Simple up in the front of the stall, and made room for more of her Rada knives, and products.  If you have never used them, you are missing out!  They have all kinds of awesome tools for the kitchen.  Stop in and check them out!

I also have been doing some more wheelin' and dealin' today.  A gal was looking for the So swirly wheel and I am going to sell her mine.  Hopefully the other 2 deals will work out too.  I sorted out some doubles of  SU ink pads that I have and those will be going to the stall this weekend.

I need a break so I think I will go watch All My Children.  Have a wonderful evening!  Elaine

Recipe:  Stamp Sets: SU Love & Care, Teeny Tiny Wishes.  SU Punches: 1 1/4 Circle, and 1 3/8 Circle.  SU Markers: Pixie Pink (retired) and Old Olive,  SU DSP Pumpkin Pie, 4" x 3" and 2" x 4", SU Whisper White Card Stock 3 1/4" x 3 1/4", Pixie Pink (retired) for base and 3 3/8" x 3 3/8" mat, scrap of  Whisper white cut out with Spellbinder double ended tag die.  Momento Black Ink. Pink Jewels. Computer generated sentiment.

God's Beauty

Here are a couple of cards I made with the Stampin' UP! retired stamp set God's Beauty, and the verse is from some new Michael's stamps from their dollar bin.  I found some really cute one's the last time I was in Milwaukee.  If you wanted to duplicate this card, the new stamp set in the SU mini catalog Strength and Hope has a very similar butterfly in it.

I am busy cleaning, sorting, and marking, as usual.  I am working on the little bedroom at the top of the stairs.  It is the worse room up their to work on, so the rest of the upstairs will be a breeze after this room is done.  I am working on the worst box of stuff right now.  It is one I had Jessie put in there when we were working on the sewing and fabric rooms.  I didn't want to sort it then....nor do I really want to now, ha ha, but I am 3/4 the way through the bin, the worst is almost over!  It is all just piddly craft supplies, most of which I no longer want, but have to go through it to get the good stuff out and package up the other stuff to sell. 

I made a couple of trades.  One yesterday for the Level 2 Hostess set Love and Care, that is in the Summer Mini.  I can't wait for that to come.  It is such a beautiful flower set.  About an hour ago I made a trade for the stamp set Awash with Flower's, another pretty flower set.  So I think you shall be seeing a flower garden on here soon!  LOL 

Recipe: Stamps: SU God's Beauty, Michael's verse,  SU Scalloped Edge Punch, Whisper White Craft Ink, Momento Black Ink, MFT Ribbon, Card stock: PTI Aqua Mist, PTI Kraft, SU Whisper White

Back to the grindstone for me!  Have a good one.  Elaine

Stamping Buddies

Nadine Ashworth and Nancy Sorensen, also known as Ethel and Lucy.

Hello!  Tonight was the monthly meeting of my former stamping group, that Susie Smith has now taken over.  I decided to bring my camera along to take some pictures of my stamping buddies.  Usually I am too busy running around to take pictures, and I wanted to get some pictures as I want to do some wall art to hang in my new place in Milwaukee.  I got some pretty good pictures of the gang I thought!  It was fun seeing everyone and we made some cute cards.  It was a nice break from sorting and packing which I did all day long.  I was working in the bathroom today and finished working on the corner area.  Part of my project was to sort out a file cabinet full of papers.  I am glad that is done.  I just have a few drawers in the bathroom to finish, which I may do yet tonight and then the bathroom will be done too!

Maureen Bruce, Sue Bartels, Beth Griffith

Barb Cook and Sandy Wellumson

Someone just pulled into the yard, and it was Carol Camp bringing me more boxes.  She is on call tonight so didn't stay.  It is so nice that she keeps bringing me them.  I don't have to spend my time trying to hunt for boxes and I can keep working away on things here.

I am sure enjoying this cooler weather, I hope you are too!  Elaine

Susie Smith

Dana Diorio and Diane Dilworth

All Booked Up

This is a book mark that I just made with my new goodies from Papertrey Ink.  I cut the book mark out with the book mark die with SU Marina Mist card stock, then cut with SU Whisper White the Mat Stack 3 Die.  I then used stamps from the Mat Stack 3 Collection and the All Booked Up stamp sets to create this adorable book mark.  I am going to give it to Lennard (the girl's dad) on Saturday.  They are having a cook out at the Wilson's farm next Sat. which I have been invited too.  I can't wait to see little Mason again!  It will be Lennard's birthday that day, so I thought I would make a little something to put in his card.  He is a reader and will appreciate it, I am sure.
Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  I have not worked on any crafts since Monday.  I have been on a roll with packing and I really got a lot done this week.  Yesterday, I was kind of dragging and slept, or watched TV most of the day, but did get some work done in the evening.  I had quite a bit of company during the week, Susie Smith stopped over one day and I went to her house on Thursday evening, Nadine Ashworth, and Carol Camp also were over for visits.  Enjoy your weekend!  Elaine

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

 I decided that I needed some inky fingers, and that I wanted to play along with the Mojo Monday sketch challenge, so I made this card this afternoon.  I did a lot of sponging with Tim Holtz Distress Ink.  It adds a nice glow to things.  The strips on this card are 1" x 4", and then I punched four 1" circles with a circle punch and layered them underneath the 1 1/4" x 4" chocolate chip panel.
I have been busy packing away.  I packed up my baking pans, and pots and pans last night.  I just left out a few things to cook with.  So the floor to ceiling cupboard by the back door is now empty.  I also sorted out 2 tupperware drawers, emptied them and marked all the items.  Most of the cabinets in the kitchen that had dishes in them are empty, there is mainly food left in some of the cabinets.  I have a few more to do, and I will probably finish that today.
Susie was over for a visit this morning, and little miss Molly Wilson, hopped up on the table by me, walked right past me, into Susie's waiting arms to be petted.  That girl has come along ways from the cat who would let no one but me touch her.
Elaine

I'mmmm Back!

I am back!  Did you miss me!?!?!  I was talking to Jenna on Monday evening and around 6 o'clock she talked me into coming to Milwaukee.  By 7pm, I was packed and on the road there, and stayed there till yesterday.  I got home around 9:30 last night.  It was great to see them all, and especially babycakes..little Mason.  He loves to play and is so much fun.  We had a blast together. 
Today, Zach and I ran the stall at the flea market.  It was a long hot day.  After we closed, I went over and visited with my mom for a couple of hours, then headed home.  I made a pizza for supper and have been catching up on the computer since I have been home.  I am tired out and I am about ready to head down for the night.  It sure feels good to be in my air conditioned house!

Card Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Four Frames, Short and Sweet
Beautiful Wings embossing folder, Ink: Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Ribbon: 4" and 8" piece
Card Stock: Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Measurements: Base: 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", 1st layer: 4 1/8" x 5 3/8", 4 pieces 11/4" x 4", 4 pieces of Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper 1" x 3 3/4"