Lunch time!

Okay, here is the cutest thing I discoverd this week!  A paper lunch bag, with stitching to become a very cute gift 'bag'.  Isn't this adorable???  I love it and found it here at Mish Mash.

What I'm thinking instead of giving away 4 paks of cards for gifts, I could make up a few of these and put 2 paks of cards in these simply adorable pouches!!!!

Check out the basket below my hallway table... it's the one that I found at GW last week on my birthday spree.  It fits perfect and goes with my tan/brown color scheme of everything else, that isn't black.  It's a catch all.  I better look in there and see what I've been missing!!

Gift 29 ~ the gift of design.  I was chit chatting with my Yoga friend and she was talking about needing stationary.  So after we got together, I whipped up some ideas and brought them over to her.  A true gift from my heart, sharing my creativity .... that, gives me so much pleasure! Although I will continue to give gifts freely, the challenge of documenting it for 29 days straight is now something I have completed.

Tag you're it!

Okay, I'm going to give you a little tease of something I've worked on recently. Besides learning how to try and take better pictures, lighting, placement, close ups etc... I'm learning to get the 'fans' back into checking me out, you need to do a tease every now and then.  Plus you need to do give aways....(that may come) I'd love to give more of my cards away and get my faux card company going!!!  Well besides myself checking my blog (sometimes I'm still stunned at what I can actually create), I'm pretty much my own number 1 fan (I immensely appreciate Kim and all of her kind comments, almost daily, thank you!!!.. and Cheryl, every now and then) but I want more peeps!!!!  To have more, however, is to be witty and charming and creative all the time, YIKES!!! thats big!!!  Anyway, here's the tease... come back and see what I did with this cute tag and ribbon.

One more day to go with 29 gifts

Gift 28~ the gift of water.  Carpooling to v-ball practice last night one of Sissy's friends realized she didn't have any H2O.  She remembered as we were just about to pass our street.  We made an easy stop back at the house to pick her up 2 bottles so she could stay hydrated during practice.

Pink Cupcakes

I'm looking here at my own picture and think I have to be very careful where I take my pages from a book, if I am going to use them for background paper!  Hum!  I think it's pretty clean... The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe... or some long title like that!  This layout was a scrapbook page off of Heidi Swapps blog.  I thought it would make a cute card. isn't it amazing all the different places you can get inspiration?? You can personalize the card by putting a name, or age or the birthday on the tags. It's missing something, even though it has a lot of stuff going on.  I think I need to grunge it up a bit! Add ink....

It's a beautiful Spring day.  The sky is blue and it was about 52 when I took the dogs for a walk.  As my husband says "It's going to be a golden day!".

Gift 27 - a gift for the food pantry.  A neighbor high school girl is doing a senior class project of collecting food for the local food bank.  We dropped off our FULL bag to donate.

I Can Be a Book Maker, Again!

Yay! I'm happy.  I spent my birthday money and bought a Zutter Bind- it- all.  If you are not a scrapper or cardmaker you probably, well, definitely don't know what this is.... the following pink contraption, that's it.  I have been eyeing one of these for years!  I'm always behind on the times because I pretty much re-invest in my hobby what I make after I have a sale of cards.  Before it would have been just paper, ink and embellishments. 

Not with this product, but other big purchases, I hear some women don't even take their things out of the box.  They just see someone promote it on a blog or a You Tube video and they have to have the latest and greatest, but then they don't even use it.  I find the deplorable!!! Who has extra money (sometimes in the hundreds for these Silhouette cutters) to just buy something and leave it in the box!!!!  What this BIA does is take your paper crafts and helps you to create them into a bound booklet.  Its a press to punch the holes evenly and through many layers, and then with a wire ring, you can bind the  pages together and this 'machine' will close the wire once you have all of your pages set. booklet.

I made two little booklets right away to try it out. The worded booklet is a bunch of 'positive' note cards and thank you's I've gotten from various places over the years.  My happy book!  And then on the right (you can see the yellow edge) is a quick cardboard covered note pad that I made to see how the binding works. My fun birthday gift.  Stay tuned to see how I use it in the future!!

Gift 27~ puppy love....after running errands I was unloading the car.  Cooper was enjoying the sunshine on the asphalt and Tucker was waiting in the house for me to unload after every trip in. With my head stuck in the trunk, I heard some tussling noises and was surprised to see Cooper playing with a cute Llapso Apso (of sorts).  He looked familiar and was very friendly.  I looked at his name tag and Lynus  lives 4 houses away.  I don't know that neighbor at all.  I got a leash and walked him home.  The mom was surprised to see us at the front door.  She had left the back gate open.  This is the 2nd time I found him.  Makes me happy I found him, but sad that she didn't know he was lost.

My Front Porch

Do you have a place to sit and watch the world go by?  I do, I love my front porch.  Even Coopy does too, see him in the upper left corner. 

I sit and I think, and I read, and I create and I wonder and I wish.  A big wish to my dad who turned 78 years young yesterday.  I hope you had a happy birthday Dad!  I read great books and magazine articles, right there on the soft cushy terra cotta cushion I found at Big Lots.  I try to hide on my front porch because I want to watch and not be seen.  It's a sunny day today and my mind thinks of what I need to do.  It thinks about animals being born and crops being planted (weird thoughts, spring time, sunny day).  It thinks about education and my first born almost a year away from graduating high school and flying away to be free.  It thinks of my hubby flying away to another city for business all week.  I think of cleaning my house, not because I want it spotless, but knowing it's there for me anyhow! Today, tomorrow, the next day. 

I love to sit on my porch and think of chairs I can paint and ways to make a cute grouping. Of flowers I can plant, and how much they'll cost.  I think of weeds I pulled, and birds who wonder in my yard not knowing I have two dogs. I hear my chimes clang together as a Chicago wind blows across the rails.  My mind is racing with all the things I can do.  And then as I sit on my porch I think of all the things I did do, and know that I am very fortunate!!

Gift 23 ~ giving back to the Earth. Pulling weeds and planting seeds.  Planting flowers to continue the cycle of co2 and oxygen.

Gift 24 ~ giving coupons for a buy one get one free, for someone who likes a special something.

Gift 25 ~ the gift of home.  Letting hubby sleep in and get his business in order before flying off for the week, he got down time and time with Bubba.

When the image is too big?

This card looks cute in real life, but this angle and picture make it look huge!  That's one thing I realize when I re-create a doodled image, mine are so much bigger, because I'm not a tiny drawer! 

Years ago I learned they made cartoons for newspaper big, and then they were reduced down to fit in the comic section of the paper.  I often wondered how they could write the captions so small.  Duh!!!  I have to admit with a smile on my face that I have come a long way in drawing.  Most doodles you see are my first and only attempt, and I used to sketch things out with a pencil, trace over with the pen and then erase the pencil lines.  That is long gone.  My only wish, and some day.... is that what you see is original ... but it hurts my brain too much to have to come up with something when there is so much cool stuff out there to recreate! My challenge is to create a good fake!!!

Gift 22 ~ A friend is going away for the weekend with her sisters. I gave her (2) 4 paks of cards to give to her Sissy's when the moment is right.  I gave a gift that can be given.

First Communion

I made a card for my God daughter's first communion, then I played a bit with the photography.  Is this considered a digi card?  Or, just a card I used my Printmaster Print program to do the text and add the clip art?  Then I embossed the background paper with the Cuttlebug and layered the paper on top, added a ribbon and a little glitter gel pen to the bird and flower (can't see that from this photo).  I've used the same layout for grad cards too.... I really like this as my go to image... big name and then intertwine the event in smaller text below and right.  Now I have discovered that I can add little digi images (ha ha) clip art to the letters.  Fun idea!

Gift 21 ~ A coke and a smile.  I invited a neighbor and her doggie over for an enjoyable afternoon in the spring sunshine.  We let the dogs play and we had fun chit chatting,along with an icy diet coke.

Scored BIG TIME at GW

Yippee!  Oh what a happy shopping day.  Look at this really cool basket I found.  I love baskets.... some years they're in some years they're not. Stay tuned to see how I used my GW (GoodWill)  finds!!! But there is a ton more inside the basket, lets take a look....

A huge picture book (England, blue bound)  A heavy metal yard stake, a fancy metal pot,  a package of acrylic stamps, package of 12 doilies(never opened) and a pack of lightweight designer paper about 30 sheets (all the paper stuff is to enhance my card making obsession)... but wait there is more.....

Top view includes the 2 articles of clothing a Coldwater Creek blouse/jacket (peach top left) and an Apt 9 green t-shirt (bottom right scrunched.)

All for..... drum roll please......

$16.52. 

Since it was my birthday and I belong to Club GW (hee hee) I got an extra 35% off my days purchase. Ka-ching!!!!  It made me very happy!  Like I said, when I use my great finds in a photo, I will point them out to you!

Gift 20 ~ The shirt off my back.  I also purged and bagged up stuff we don't use and donated.

  

Just Because

I can't tell you how many times I hear how people love to receive mail, Just Because. Well, they like to receive something other than junk mail or a bill. People aren't writing in cards much anymore because of email, texting and all the different electronic devices. I want to start a resurgence of card writing. (PS.... I know where you can get some really cute cards, only $2 for a whimsy of fun, a party on a card!!!!) I want people to get feel good mail again!!! Just Because we think they are worth the time and effort! Here's a cute little card I sent out to the YEP (Yellow Envelope Project recipient of the week) The doodle is similar to Stamps by Judith. Working on creating the watermark and 'enhancing' the photo a bit.

Gift 19 ~ I went out to lunch with a friend. As we stepped up to order, I stated boldly it was my treat. She can treat next time!!! :0)

Outside and in

A little photog magic going on ... did you see it.  A few blogs I follow are being EXPOSED.  They are balancing their pictures, adding water marks and deepening the shadows.  Obviously the left picture is touched up.  I'll keep working on this.  I thought my cards were the showcase, not necessarily how I showed the cards on my blog.  This card was inspired by  Stamps with Serendipity

And I have been inspired by Erin K. creations...she says: Every project DESERVES YOUR BEST STUFF. If you are taking the time to make it, then it deserves a few of the jeweled brads you splurged on and have been saving. Those chipboard elements you want to dole out slowly one per project for the next year? Nah! Use a few on one project, it's ok. Your most special paper? USE IT. Every project DESERVES YOUR BEST STUFF. If you are taking the time to make it, then it deserves a few of the jeweled brads you splurged on and have been saving. Those chipboard elements you want to dole out slowly one per project for the next year? Nah! Use a few on one project, it's ok. Your most special paper? USE IT.

29 Gifts

Gift 16~  Gift of the dogs.  Had a rough afternoon and needed to get out of the house.  Took the dogs for a walk.  I forgot it was near a gated dog park.  Another Pom owner asked me to join her.  My dogs had the best hour running free with about 12 other dogs.  Not only did I give them some great social time, I got to air out my head.  That could be a funny blond girl joke.

Gift 17 ~ We gave the gift of a ride.  One of Sissy's team mates.  Her parents are off in Hawaii and she asked for a ride home from the volleyball tournament.  It was certainly no problem and an easy gift to give.

Gift 18 ~ Every week going to the grocery store there is ALWAYS someone outside the doors selling something.  It's really nice the grocery stores allow these organizations to do this, but we get inundated week after week.  I really wasn't carrying any cash, so I dug through the change purse and just pulled out as much as I could.  I don't even know what the cause was.  Sissy and I just donated.

Butterflies everywhere

Well I should quantify that bold title, butterflies every where on my cards, on cards I see in other blogs, big butterflies, colorful butterflies, I wont have enough text to fill up this post for the amount of cards I have to show off. Whew! All cards are some sort of CASing....

Martha Stewart punch on this one, a little bit of stitching and some bling as the butterflies body. Cute tag off the bow and a MS border punch below.

Same flutterby, old designer paper that I need to get rid of, this is an easel card. Which means when you get it, you can prop it open and view the outside and inside all at once.

Butterflies the color of rainbows, clean & simple.

And monochomatic (all of one color scheme)

All kinds of sentiments.

Gift 15~ giving money to the government for tax day? Nah! too boring. No, my gift today was being extra pleasant to the check out clerk at Wal-Mart.... when I asked him how he was, he said 'not to good' and I didn't know if I heard him right.... he then changed what he said when I was quizical... and I told him it would be a great day and the sun was shining... I actually took a minute to speak to him.... maybe he didn't think anything of it but a chatty customer with a silly grin, but it was my gift to him!

Digi World

Okay, yesterday's digital video is not exactly what I wanted to have pasted all over my blog, to my millions of viewers (ba ha ha ha ha) (who do I think I am, Heidi Swapp??) it was the first attempt at taking the video and the 2nd attempt of uploading it to my blog. Cross your fingers, hopefully there will be many better shots to come. But here it is, my birthday present, the Kodak Zi8 digital edit : camcorder . Why you might ask? Although wanting one now for over 6 months, I don't really know 'why'. Other than I like it and think it's cool and that maybe it will be a tool for creating?? To help me capture THE moment, the memories of our lives!!! Stay tuned.

On to a cute card. Here is an attempt at a Digi card! Well, in my world, it's images are a mix from my print program and they are called CLIP ART, not digi images or brushes, one of the images is a freebie off the internet, and some of it is the font text off the computer program, all combined to make a digi card(?) I don't know if I'm making a true statement or not!

Although, I do love the fact I made two images of the birdcage and layered it with pop dots and added the ribbon, isn't it tweet?

29 Gifts

Gift 14~ Gave the gift of accompaniment and companionship today. If you are a friend who has seen me write about my gifts, I'm not doing the gift as something to write about, I would be doing the gift anyway. But as part of the project at House of Shine and my own interest in this program, I am documenting those gifts that fit into what this whole project is about. .

Congradulations!

Spring time, ah, all kinds of events happening. People come out from their long winter hibernations and plants begin to grow, birds start chirping, life starts moving and you almost feel human again. Yadda, yadda..... here's my card for the day. I couldn't pass this layout and thought it was a great grad card with the mortar board. Brad for the center and I made a little tassle out of floss. The congrats is an old stamp but with what seems like a very nice font. Black and white make it a classic if you don't know the school colors.

Check out my new slide show to the right. ----> All my pretty flowers poppin up in my garden. And I'm lovin the new cushions I found at Big Lots for my front porch wicker. My first attempt to show you my birthday present didn't work last night at 9:30 pm, so you will have to stay tuned and see how it turns out!

Gift 13 ~ Neither a borrower nor a lender be; My gift today was returning borrowed things in a timely fashion. Simple.

Birthday testing 1...2....3....

Stay tuned, this is only a test.... that didn't work. Cross your fingers and come back tomorrow!!

It's a hap, hap Happy Day

Well, 'cuz today's my birthday, 16,801 days old (roughly translated 46 years!!!) My birth flower is daisy featured on the card and my birth stone is diamond, but I don't see any of those laying around the house for me, yet!!!  This card is based off Stamps by Judith. I met her and saw her card making at a card show in Milwaukee around this time ... oh about 7 years ago.  I love recreating her doodles!!!!  The funnest part on this card is the button with the floss!  I bought a whole cute packaging purse full of pastel buttons at M's the last time I was there. Wish I may, wish I might, find a place to sell my cards tonight!!!  Oh well, I do love giving them away to, besides my 29 gifts, I feel I always have a back up gift!!!

Gift 12 ~ although I think it's a nice gift, it was a personal testimonial with something that could happen next week, or not for four years, but that's all I can say.

Zindorf flower pot

Here is a recent Michelle Zindorf tutorial.  She was trying to teach us to water color the back ground instead of using the brayer with ink.  I got the effect I wanted.  But I found out, well I knew this, the ink pen I use to draw my doodles doesn't always take to water very well before it smears.  So I have to be careful.  I just love using punches for different reasons other than what you might think they are for.  This is a circle punch that becomes a cool modern vase once you cut off the top and bottom.  Awesome!!!

29 Gifts

Gift 10 ~ I made some Toddy Cold Brew coffee and for some reason my cup runneth over.  I had enough not only to put in my carafe for the week, but also a full cup and a ball jar with lid.  I decorated the ball jar with curly ribbon and a cute tag and brought it over to my neighbor who has been intrigued by all my iced coffee talk.

Gift 11 ~ Just finished a wonderful book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  The weekend was beautiful despite some v-ball issues (but why get into that) and I was outside like everybody else on the block.  I was talking with my neighbor and he turned the topic to the south and Mississippi, where this book happens to take place in 1963.  So, I recommended the book, I don't know how you are but in a general conversation I often don't remember everything someone tells me about a book, a movie etc.... so last night I emailed in the book title, author and the Good Reads website with the review of the book.  If you are like to read, go to Goodreads.com.

A gift for Bubba

Gift 9 ~  Bubba woke me up before they left for school (I don't often get up with my teenagers, at first I wanted to say... sorry, or sad to say... but I'm not sad or sorry.  Currently being a SAHM getting up before 7am makes for a very long day)

Anyhoo, Bubba wakes me up with a hug and a request.  A special card to ask his gal pal (not girl friend, but a friend who is a girl) if she would like to go to Prom.  I was shocked and surprised he asked me specifically to make him something.  The kids left for school, hubby left for work and my mind was in a mad whirlwind of ideas.  Bubba and friends were coming over to our house for lunch since the sub place is just up the street and it's easier to just come to our house.  I needed to have the card ready by 10:45am.  Here's what I came up with.  We just recently watched Footloose with Kevin Bacon....1984 good movie (some corny parts). He's obviously the skates, I was going to put two left feet for him...his gal pal was disappointed that her homecoming date didn't dance (uh oh!!!!).... and it's the school colors. Inside asks if she would like to go, he wrote inside "Guarenteed fun!!" He gave it to her when they got back to school after lunch.

By the way, she said..... yes.

Fozzy wozzy wuz a doggie

Gift 8~ Tucker got groomed yesterday!! Awwww! He is just like a little teddy bear. Scroll down a few to see what he looked like earlier in the week when I took pictures of him outside in the daffodils! The groomer is across the street from Starbucks. In my car, I've been toting two empty bags of Starbuck's coffee that I use to make my Iced Coffee Lattes. On the bags is a free Tall coffee with a purchase coupon (you need to use the entire bag). When I dropped Tucker off I asked if they go to Starbucks (I mean, it's right across the street and all) the gal said yes every day, and I told her about the coupons on the bags and asked if she would like them. She said, are you sure? Of course! So, I handed her my dog and the two coupons.

Then the marketing person in me said, make a Tucker card that I could 'tuck' the check into and a thanks, (somehow with my email stamp on the back,) maybe it would interest this small business. Doggie cards for their customers????? When I got Tucker and she gave me the (shocking) total... I slipped the ckeck into the Thank you card and left with a smile on my face. I had a way cute doggie, I had actually given a few GIFTS and my day was pretty much set!

Café Au Lait

Could that be translated into Coffee a lot!! As in I need a lot of coffee? Bean there, done that! No, not really in my case (waiting until I was 45 to have some joe on a regular basis).... just give me some iced coffee latte and I'm good to go! ... if the temperature is above 40 degrees.... barely makes it that way today!

Love love this card. I wish I had a ton more Copic markers (but at $5.00+ each, that would be very expensive) I have 5... two skin tone, 2 grey and one blue. The skin tone help me achieve that brownish foam color. The grey, the shadow on the left. And then wish fairy I would love a Bind it All, a Sillouette, a Tablet and the list goes one, hee hee... oh it is fun to dream! Embossed to top portion.

Have you heard of 29 Gifts? The challenge of the gift of giving. We're taking on the challenge at the House of Shine (formerly Highlowaha) Although I feel I give of myself often, here's a way to document what I and others do. I'll list my gifts on my blog.... and making up for the past 7 days....

29 Gifts:
Day 8- Tucker's in to the groomer at 8 am, I have two Starbuck coffee bags (empty) each one has a coupon on them for a free coffee with purchase. Groomer is across the street from Starbucks, I give them to the 'girls' since they frequent often... they can buy one coffee and get the other FREE, on me!
7. Sent a birthday card out to a highschool friend, we haven't seen each other since the summer of '82
6. While shopping and in the fitting room, I brought out all the extra clothes from my room that someone else was too lazy to put out on the return rack.
5. Coming to Fruition.... response day to emails and gifts I sent out, so in a sense, a gift for my giftgs back to me from the past
4. Complimented A. on how fantastic she looks from all her hard work in sculpting her body
3. Recieved a gift of a cup of sugar, but in return sent out a sentimental card
2. A listening ear on a walk
1. Opening doors to serve others before us