Love and Sympathy

 

Today's post are some of the batch of sympathy cards that I made about a month ago.  I think I made 15 sympathy cards that day.  I was on a roll!  Now mind you...just because they get made don't mean they get sent out.  :-(  I have had so much going on.  I sure do hope things slow down soon!  I am working towards that goal!!!
These cards were made with a new stamp set I recently got that I am sure will get lots of use.  It is called Love and Sympathy and it is such a beautiful stamp set.  I have wanted it for some time...and finally bit the bullet and got it.  I am sure you will be seeing lots more of it.

I was home today until about 9:30 tonight.  I went to the Dells to pick up Antonio from work.  I had quite a productive day at home before I left.  I did some entry work on Quick Books for the church, had a nap, payed a big stack of church bills, and then sewed a little peasant dress for Valentina.  Both Jenna and Antonio loved the little dress I made, especially Antonio.  He said that when his little girl gets walking (which will probably be in the next couple of weeks) he wants her to be in lots of little skirts and dresses.  Well, this Gram can help in that department as I have been collecting lot's of little girl patterns, and have lots of fabric to work with!  I took some pictures of the little peasant dress tonight and discovered that the power cord went bad when I was trying to transfer the pictures to the computer.  I have been having trouble with my camera battery not keeping a good charge, and now I think it probably was due to the power cord, but decided to order a new battery along with the power cord just in case the battery is bad too.  It won't hurt to have a second camera battery.  I really love my camera but it has not been taking the best pictures the past few months.  So hopefully this will solve the problem and perhaps I will be doing more blog posting!  That is if you are lucky....LOL!

I see the weather man is predicting ANOTHER big snow storm for us starting tomorrow afternoon.  YUCK is all I have to say.  I am definitely ready for spring.  I am looking forward to playing outside with the grand babies, and taking them for walks with the stroller.  Let's all say on the count of three...."Good bye winter....Hello Spring!"

Whirlwind Sunday....what a busy day!

Yesterday was crazy busy for me.  I was up, out and about early as Sunday was the Quarterly voter's meeting at church and I had to be there before 9 am to get copies of my report ran, attend the meeting, and give my report.  Then I went to church and sat with my daughter Jenna and her family.  I spent probably another hour after church discussing treasurer business with Pastor, and they it was off to Jenna's to pick up my wallet that I had left there, then to Kwik Trip for gas, a run through the Mc Donald's drive thru to pick up some lunch, and a stop home to pick up some stamping projects to work on.  I headed out to Lady Di's and we stamped the afternoon away!  I finished 15 Mickey and Minnie cards so it was a productive afternoon with lots visiting and laughter!  Both Di and Antonio (my son-in-law) asked me to have supper with them, and I ended up having supper with Jenna and Antonio, much to my grand kids delight.  It was a delicious dinner of BBQ chicken, a California blend vegetables topped with mozzarella cheese, and a rice dish.  By this time of night I was loosing steam as I only a couple of hours of sleep the night before, so I headed home right after supper, around seven.  I was in bed and a sleep by 8:30pm, slept about 4 hours, and now I am writing this blog post and will head back to bed soon to catch some more zzzz/s before my busy Monday starts!
This post has the second half of "Thank you" cards that I made.  I thought you all would enjoy seeing them made up in some more color combinations.  They were a fun scrappy project.  Enjoy your day!  Hugs!  Elaine

Thank you cards

Man, it has been such a busy week and I am exhausted!  I really need to hit the hay but thought I would do a quick post.  I made these thank you cards a few weeks ago.  I was telling Diane that I wanted to make some and she offered to let me use her new "thanks" die made by Memory Box, that she picked up at Let's Create in WI Rapids.  I cut the word "thanks" out with the Big Shot then ran it through my sticker maker to get adhesive on the back of it.  Much, much easier than trying to do dots of glue and running the risk of glue oozing out!  This was a fun little project to use some fun pattern paper's and other paper scraps with die's to cut out butterflies, and the birds, and the border strips.  I also used some of my thrift shop lace on some of them, and my "never ending, humongous spool of baker's twine" to wrap around the cards, make a bow and add some texture!!!
I have a fun little story to tell about Mason.  Last night he was sitting on my lap, looking at me with the sweetest little smile on his face.  Then he says Chocolate Affair...we had so much fun!  He sure did enjoy that, and he is loving story hour.  We went again today, and he did really well and made it through the whole session.  Much to his delight, we sang the song "Where is Thumbkin, where is thumb kin, here I am....  They also glued construction paper together to make a paper mouse like the mouse in one of the stories today.  Mason had never used a glue stick before and he thought that was great fun!  I see a scrap booker in the future!  :-D  Oh...and later on back at Jenna's house we were singing "Where is Thumbkin?" and even little Valentina was trying to sing along with us.  It is hard to believe that she is only ten month's old as she does so many toddler type things already.  But as I always say..the second child always learns things faster than the first one as they are always watching the older one.  Have a happy weekend!  Me

Happy Birthday to Me....again! :-D

Today, Carol Camp and I went to the Dells to celebrate my birthday!  We went to Joann's first of all and I got a really cute stack (pad) of boy's patterned paper.  Some of it can be used for girls also but there are really a lot of cute prints in it that I will be able to use for making boy cards, or in the kids project life pages.  There are sheets of paper that are green with ants on them and I have already told Jenna to take a picture of the kids "getting" an ant or a picture of an ant.  Both of the kids are fascinated with ants, even Valentina finds them amazing and crawls after them and as Jenna laughingly says... tortures them!
Carol and I had a fantastic lunch at Cracker Barrel, and we enjoyed looking in the shop a little bit.   They know longer have the BLT salad that I loved, but I found a grilled chicken breast with bacon and colby cheese, etc. on it that both Carol and I ordered and LOVED!!! Before we left I found a new cross necklace and earrings in the clearance section of the store that I LOVE!!  So I am very happy about that!
We saw a movie and then ended the day with ice cream at Culvers.  And it was a very nice birthday treat.  Thank you again Carol!
Back to today's card.  I made 6 of these on Monday night.  The back ground pattern paper is some of the very first pattern paper that I got with my Stampin' UP!  starter kit.  I also had sheets of pink and brown too.  I remember how much I loved that paper.  And knowing the hoarder in me....I probably was saving this for a special project.  If you saw the paper stash I have today...you would know that it is now okay to use it!  ;-)  I have an extensive stash.  But back then I didn't.  I love pattern paper as much as I do fabric.  I love color, and I love patterns.  So today's card is a mixture of old and new.  The happy birthday is from the SU stamp set Perfectly penned, and the flower is called Triple Treat.  It was named that because if you stamp it three times in different colors like I did, you can use three different punches to punch out the images, or you could cut them out by hand too.  It is a simple layout...but it makes a striking card!  Off to la la land for me!  Happy Wednesday!  Love, Elaine

There is nothing better than a true friend....So very true!

Good Evening!  I know...it's about time I posted something.  My life has been like a treadmill, one that you can't seem to hop off of !!!  Hopefully that will change soon.

I have been doing some crafting, some of it went out the door with out photograph's being taken.  I made Antonio's three hats for his birthday in January and a scarf that matches all three of them.  He doesn't always wear a hat, but he ALWAYS has the scarf on so that it good.  I know he likes it!  :-D  I think he just wears the hats while snow blowing or working outside as he doesn't want to mess up his hair.  You know, the chef has to look his best when he is in front of the guests!  I also made a really long lacy type scarf for Sarah as a surprise present to congratulate her on her new job.  And once again, I forgot to shoot a picture of that.  I have been having some trouble with my camera.  The battery isn't staying charged very long.  I am going to do a search on line and see if I can order a new battery, and hopefully that will do the trick.  I like this camera a lot and really don't want to buy a new one.

Today's card was made with a stamp set from Papertrey Ink called In Bloom.  I love this set.  It makes the prettiest cards.  I made four of these tonight, along with six other cards that I will try and do a post about tomorrow.  It is much more productive to mass produce cards and I rarely make one of a card unless I am making it special for someone, or participating in a card challenge.

For my friends that are reading this post....this one is for you.....Nothing is better than a true friend!  May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he shine his face upon you, and give you his peace.  Love, Elaine

Valentina's doll blanket

Good evening-  I hope this finds you safe and well!  I ended up having to go out in the yuck last night and then early again this morning to watch the grand kids.  I LOVE watching it snow....from inside.  Normally I will hibernate in the winter for 4 or 5 days at a time...till I get a little cabin fever....then I will finally go out!  But not so this winter, with having the grand babies here.  It is rare to have a whole day at home.  I am either there or off on some adventure!  I got tuckered out today so I am just waking up from about a three hour nap!  Sure do love my recliner for napping!!! ; - )

Today's showcase is the keepsake doll quilt I made for Valentina's new baby doll.  She received a cabbage patch baby from her Mama and Papa for Christmas and boy does she love it.  She is always kissing the baby on those chubby cheeks, just as we are always kissing hers!

 

The quilt is made up of 52 two inch squares that after sew together are 1 1/2" square.  I have this sitting on the seat of the recliner at Jenna's house so you can see how miniature this quilt is.  After piecing together the quilt.  I traced the animals on the fabric with my light box, after I had sewn the panel on the quilt, then embroidered them through the fabric and flannel lining.  I purchased the embroidery/quilt pattern from Nana's Company.  A little row of lace, edges the top of the quilt and then all off the squares were machine quilted.

All that was left to do was to sew on the binding which is done by machine, and finished by hand.

So Valentina has her very own miniature quilt.  It would also be great for doll and bear collectors as it is a miniature size.  I have in storage an old doll buggy and a old doll crib.  It would look really cool in there with some dolls or bears.  One last picture of the quilt with Valentina's dolly.

 

When Jenna was little, she had a cabbage patch knock off doll.  I couldn't afford $25.00 for a real one and I found a doll that looked very much like them.  She named it Peggy Sue, after Peggy Sue Ramsey, the first real live baby she played with and she loved that doll so much!  Isn't it nice that she wanted her little girl to have one too only Valentina's is smaller.  They now make baby one's.  Her doll doesn't have removable clothes.  It is in a flannel attached sleeper.

Have a wonderful day!  Elaine

PS.  Corinne, you asked if I subscribe to Michelle Wooderson's blog and yes, I do.  Mishy is the one who has given me the inspiration to get going on Project Life books for the grand kids!

Project Life

Greetings from the winter wonderland!  We are in the middle of a snowstorm here.  I don't know what the final count of inches is, but I do know that several hours ago we had 6 inches already.  I haven't been out yet and I don't plan to go out if I don't have too.  Our sidewalks have not been shoveled yet but one of the neighbor guys came and got my keys and moved my van so that they could plow in front.  It is so nice that he does that for me.
You probably have been wondering why I haven't been posting much this month.  It has been crazy busy with babysitting the grand kids, getting all the year end book keeping done for the church, etc.  But I do have some projects done that I would like to share.
I started thinking about doing this for the grand kids about 6 months ago, but with the flea market, learning the church treasurer job, getting ready for and doing some craft shows, I just didn't find any extra time.  I decided that the New Year would be a good time to start.  Mason and Valentine will each have their own scrapbook, and I am using Project Life by Becky Higgins plastic inserts.  It is an easier (they say :-D) form of scrap booking.  You can do as much or as little as you would like to the inserts and journaling cards.  The theory is that you do a two page spread of the 52 weeks in your life.  I decided that was probably too much for me to commit to, being as I had two books to do, so I decided that I am going to scrap what ever pictures we have of the kids that month and make the book a monthly book.  So far, I have 3 pages done for each of the kids books for the month of January.  Sometimes the kids pages will be identical except for embellishments, and sometimes I will make a page different for each of them.  I decided not to purchase coordinating Project Life kits.  There are tons of free journaling cards out there.  I have a whole board full on Pinterest if you are interested in starting your own book.  And Two Peas in a Bucket and Jessica Sprauge have digital journal cards for sale too.  I picked some up today at Jessica Sprauge.  On Wednesday's they send me an email about One Buck Wednesday and what items are on sale for a dollar.  I got a pack of journal cards, and a huge bundle with tons of digital papers, journal cards, arrows, tickets, etc.  Adorable stuff.  In between working on some church work this afternoon, I printed a bunch of the journaling cards and tickets.  Soo so cute.  I love them!  And I printed out more January pictures to scrap.  I will probably work on that tomorrow.  I think I am ready to relax in the recliner right now!!

Enough jabber....I bet you can't wait to see the pages.  Here goes!!!

 

You can click on the picture if you would like to see it larger.

Mason learns how to cut up his own carrots and is so proud!

The top left picture is my very favorite picture of Valentina.  Our little beauty!

This is our story right here.  at this very moment.  currently today and it starts right now!

I personalized the cover pages with there names.  It say Hello 2013 (so happy to meet you!)

 

A nice family picture in the upper left corner.  The middle journal card say Twenty Thirteen on the top, then points to the month of January.  I printed cards like this for each month.

Oh how they love bath time.  It is their favorite time of the day!

 I wrote little story to the kids on these pages about things they said or did.  Things that they will forget.....It is a labor of my love for the kids to have these keep sake books.  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my FIRST Project Life pages!  Stay safe!  Love, Elaine

A pillow I made for Susie Smith for Tammy Renner

Sorry I haven't been posting too much.  I have been busy with church book work, babysitting, and I have been in a flare up.  This cold snap doesn't help the fibro too much!  Today's post is about a pillow that Susie Smith asked me to make with some new fabric that Stampin UP! has for sale in the Spring mini catalog and some new dies.  She gives her hostess a gift each month at stamping and this month Tammy Renner was the hostess so she received the pillow tonight at Stamp Camp.

I adore these fabrics, they are so pretty!!!  The first thing I did was to fuse fusible web to the back of the fabric, and then I ran the dress dies through the big shot.  After that, I cut my center fabric to size (thank you Sandy Wellumson, this was in one of the scrap bags you gave me), then I cut my border strips out and sewed them onto the center panel.  I then took embroidery thread and stitched around the outer edge to mimic the stitching on the fabric. Next, I sewed the front panel and a liner to the backing, right sides together leaving an opening to turn it inside out.  I pressed it, then took the paper backing off of the dresses and fused them into place.  I stuffed the pillow, sewed the opening closed, then worked on embellishments.  I made 3 yo-yo's and attached them to the pillow with some cute buttons.  The necklaces were stitched on, along with the heart button choker.  The pearl belt was stitched on along with the blue buttons on top of the ribbons I glued on.  The rhinestones had adhesive on them and I carefully placed them on with a paper piercer as they are pretty tiny to handle.
Here are a few more pictures to show the details on the pillow.

I hope that Tammy likes it.
Have a great Tuesday!  Love, Elaine

Jenna and the hobo gloves

I finished these fingerless gloves last night for Jenna.  She already has one pair that I made and she loves them so much that she wanted another pair, and she picked up this yarn to match her coat.  She loves to wear them driving.  She told me that she wears them over her fingers when she starts out and after the vehicle warms up, she rolls them back as you can see  in the picture below.

She called them hobo gloves when I was taking her picture.  I said "Hobo gloves?" and she said because they don't have fingers in them...like a hobo's, and she started laughing.  What a nut!  Enjoy your hobo gloves Jenna Lee!

Crazy for Cowls!

Here is a picture of a cowl that I recently finished.  I have another one in progress very similar in color to this one, only the one that I am making right now has more teal in it.   So I will have two available.  If you are interested in it.....message me.  They are nice and warm to wear, and are very "IN".   I gave Sarah one for Christmas and it looks adorable on her.  She stretched hers some and doubles it around her neck.  Sooo...cute!  $35.00 and it is all yours (plus shipping)!  They are light so it shouldn't cost too much to ship it if you live far away.  Have a wonderful day!  Elaine