lovelies and unlovelies

Cookie baking. My delight and my sorrow. The peanut butter chocolate chip ones yesterday were gorgeous and tasty. I used my pampered chef scoop and made them all the same size; they were perfect-- slightly crispy, but mainly soft and chewy. Yum!!!

Then today. I made anise jam bars, which I have made before, but it has been years and years. I faintly remembered doing something a bit differently, but I couldn't remember what, so I just followed the recipe. They taste lovely and buttery, but they crumbled at the touch of a spatula. So who knows what I did.

I think that I am not exactly the cookie baking grandma, and I shouldn't try to be. And if I do, I should stick to the sturdy cookies, I think that's what the kids like best anyway, they could care less about the dainty buttery things.

I'm not sorry there's not a picture; they were just a sorry lot of cookies, they are mostly a pile of crumbles, with a very few that are presentable enough for the neighbors. Tasty crumbles they are though, I might have to make some pudding and pretend that I crumbled them on purpose for the topping. :)

card of the day

This one is a card that was sent to ME a long time ago by a good friend. She was one of the inspirations for me to even start making cards! She would be surprised to know that I saved the cards that she made because it meant a lot that she did that just for me. She has been a great buddy for a lot of years and hope for years to come. Our kids grew up in the same church, and schools. They are all grown ups now... we're grandmas...time flies by. We don't live as close as we used to, we both moved away and started over again. But we still see each other occasionally and hope we continue to "do lunch" when we can.

This reminds me of when I made my own paper. Ought to do that again, it was fun.

Thanks Lorna for the friendship, the inspiration, and the encouragement you are to me. :)

what a year...

DECEMBER 14, 2010

what a year…

what a year this has been! Most of it shocked me into silence.  There has been good… but so much sadness and grief for me.  Since my uncle’s death, I have also faced the cancer and death of my nephew and  my friend Marilyn, my friend John’s suicide, and the death of my (our, long story!) beloved dog, Chance. During this time, my father has been in the hospital several times, my mother once, my brother had a heart attack and then back surgery, and my mother in law has required much more care.  I did have the opportunity to become reacquainted with my brother; however it was to attend my nephew’s funeral so it wasn’t a happy visit. My daughter did get to come with me so that was a plus. We rode in this tiny plane; I was very nervous when I got on the plane– it was SO LITTLE!! but I hurried to my seat and glued my face to the window, and I did okay.

I have been struggling, off and on, with trying to start my own business. But it is like I have been in a fog! I am still doing several websites, but that is about all. Just can’t seem to get going in any direction much less figure out what direction I want to be going!

Sometimes I just want to write the good stuff.  Life is a mixture of both though. The good stuff is that I have a Savior who loves me despite the fog and the quirks. Amazing.

Card of the day-- Pooh

I did this background a long time ago when experimenting with watercolor washes-- this one was sprinkled with salt. I like how it affects the watercolor. Probably can't see it much but it is great for balloons. And no my printing isn't as perfect as a stamp would be... so what. It looks hand made. Well it is. :)

I've been thinking about that a lot. Although I love Gina K's clean precise look and Tim Holtz' grunge look, I am neither.... I am just me. My style varies from day to day-- I just do what I feel like. And that's all there is to it.

While the kids are away, the egrets will play...

Going down the street past the skate park, no kids but there was a whole flock of egrets!! I rarely see them in town. Kind of fun though.... click on the picture and zoom in and you will see them. :)

Flutterby butterfly

Not a Christmassy post at all. I figure if they aren't done by now, they aren't getting done, LOL... at least for me.

A while ago I sent a card to Angie and she wanted to know how I did it. It dawned on me that I never told her.

I started with a circle, mine is about 3 1/2 inches. I cut it in half off-center (mine I cut at about 2 inches) . I then pleated each half as tiny as I could, fold in half, and put them together, back to back. I sewed through the middle of them with buttonhole thread starting from the top, came back the other way, tied it and then left the threads long for antennae. then I spread them out, and there you are. Fasten down-- I used glue if I remember right!

I like to use what I have-- and someone gave me a bunch of wallpaper samples. I figure cards are not kept forever, so "archival" is not really important. It has been fun to use. Some have larger pictures on them that i have cut out and used for focal images. The tiny prints worked best for me.

Anybody have any favorite recycling or unusual things they use in card making?

Angie, hope you are feeling well enough to do this!!

Card of the Day-- gatefold Christmas tree

My initial thought was to put aside card making for December and focus on other stuff. But first of course I had to finish December's birthday cards, and maybe do a Christmas card or two even though I am not planning on sending them out this year. :( I still wanted to thank those who sent them, and then of course there was a challenge that caught my eye, and before you know it, I am thinking, put aside card making for January... but then there are those January birthdays, and people get sick, and need sympathy.... so then I thought, maybe just make a series of cards quick and easy... and any way you put it, I just can't seem to put it aside. Maybe there is something else I can put aside? How about eating, I need to lose some weight...

Originally I was making this for the Christmas card swap. Then I thought, there was that 12 embellishments challenge over on Gina K designs... and then I could send it for the Christmas swap, and maybe enter it in the gatefold challenge... but then I discovered the gatefold challenge is really a swap.... so I have to decide which swap to send it to and make another either gatefold or Christmas card.

And so life goes. :)

Card of the Day-- gecko

One of my goals was to do a card a day. Simple things, maybe. This one is a paper casting-- started last night, let it dry all night. Then this morning I spent TWO HOURS on the background and the casting. I used Michael Strong's Cloisonne gecko stamp. There are tutorials out there, google "paper casting" and you will see. I used toilet paper, but you can use tissue paper too. The background is distress inks: peeled paint, wild honey, and broken china. I rubbed the gecko on peeled paint to highlight and distressed the edges.

So if I do a card a day it will have to be simpler than this one, LOL

I finally ordered a spellbinder's tag die. So when it comes I think I might have to do the tag over again.... ;)

DONE!!!

Finally!! It is now in my daughter's possession. happy birthday sweet daughter Olivia!!!

Almost finished....

not quite, I'm still embroidering its label.... made for Olivia by her mother....

I am SO EXCITED that it is almost finished.... last night, my mom and I finished the hand sewing... doing a happy hop.... can't put a picture up until Liv gets it, as soon as possible...hopefully not too long after her birthday, which is Tuesday. I fixed my mom's sewing machine in exchange for being able to use it. I was hoping to take "it" to Liv today, but it was raining so hard, and it would have been an extra hour and a half of driving, and I didn't want to come home in the stormy dark. Good thing, because my windshield wiper broke on the way home and I shudder to think of me driving on the freeway in the rain without a wiper. And because I forgot to take the embroidery floss with me to my mom's, I am doing a marathon embroidery session tonight.

So now have I given enough hints so anyone knows what "it" is?

paper addiction

Paper, rubber stamps, clear stamps, embellishments, markers, pencils, ink... they all leave me weak in the knees, LOL. But this set of stamps by Melanie Muenchinger is absolutely breathtaking!! I can imagine all sorts of beautiful cards and layouts. This set is being introduced tonight on Gina K Design's site... Here is a link to Melanie's blog:

http://melaniemuenchinger.blogspot.com/

My favorite set out of the ones that Melanie has designed is "Gifts from the Sea". I can just see a set of cards made from her stamps. I often do sets of cards for Christmas presents and this would be perfect for my mother in law. I am also very partial to butterflies, and there's a border with them....

card set

Made a card set today. Got the template for the box from Gina K Designs.... find it here.

Her idea was for pictures until you get them ready for scrapbooking. I like that idea too-- but have been trying to figure out what to do to sell sets of cards. The cards inside all have the same colors and graphics, although they are slightly different. It is an image painted with perfect pearls. The scalloped square is made with nestabilities.

I got a Martha Stewart scoring board. Although I liked the Scor-pal and Scor-buddy, I liked the way this one was grooved every 1/8 inch instead of somewhat randomly. This box was simple with Gina's instructions and Martha's board... only took me a couple minutes. And doing the cards assembly line style made them go quickly. I usually only do ONE card at a time and rarely do two the same, but I figured for a set it might be nice to do them the same. Although, each card layout is slightly different! Can't stand not doing "unique" stuff.

I have some transparency sheets that I am going to try to make a box with. I am thinking that for card sets it would be easier than decorating each one. Who knows where I am going with this...

Tina Gilliland's blog

I've never entered a contest for blog candy before but I ran across this blog:

http://www.tinagmemories.com/

The trouble with going to blogs for ideas is... I get ideas! Then I covet things. Like Copic markers, and a Score Pal or Buddy, or GinaK Designs card stock... or her lovely stamp sets... or Tim Holtz' masks... and on and on, LOL.

Then I start thinking realistically, how can I sell more cards to fund my crafting habit? LOL

I like Tina's blog. I especially loved the Country Thanks card. Of course, the blue caught my eye, and the flowers. I love both. And I love GinaK stamps-- she has wonderful designers, and her stamps are such great quality. The little pocket card is cute too, and I just might have to do one...

Tina's cards are clean and crisp... unlike mine which tend to be a bit messy-ish. Still trying to find my "style" I guess. Thanks Tina-- and thanks Karen for sharing a link to her blog on the making greeting cards yahoo group.

Hallowe'en....

more cards. I do not celebrate Halloween, but people do, and I was making birthday cards for my grandson so I made a few more. The first one was with some Mickey Mouse paper I got ages ago, in a pad, and had never used. I then actually bought some paper at Memories for the Making, a scrapbooking store near me. There are NO rubber stamp stores here that I know of... you can get some at WalMart or if you want to go to Stockton, there is Michael's, and on the other side of the freeway, JoAnn... some time I am going to have to go to Sacramento and see what I can see. Guess I'll have to take Lorna, I think she will know where places are. She knows everything... :)

a wonderful Chance

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

a wonderful Chance…

Chance was my stepson’s dog. I fell in love when I met him more than ten years ago. I got to see him quite often and then three years ago my stepson and his wife decided to build a new house. Poor Chance couldn’t be with them so he came to live with us. I was glad because I knew we would be buddies. 

The six months that they thought it would take turned into three years. He was already thirteen when he came to us; but spunky and energetic. We took walks together and he was constantly by my side.

Last week, he started doing poorly. Looking back I can see the signs but attributed them to his old age. Sixteen is old for a dog. But it soon became apparent we needed to get him to the vet. It turned out that he had a mass in his abdomen, swollen lymph nodes, and a white count of 57,000 when normal is 20,000.

Thursday he was failing fast. He tried to eat and drink but couldn’t keep it down. He was getting dehydrated. We made the horribly difficult decision to have him put to sleep. I didn’t want to let him go but I also knew he wouldn’t make it. At sixteen, he wouldn’t have been strong enough to make it through chemo. So we took him in. 

I’ve had lots of pets. But somehow I’ve never been this attached. He was my constant companion, he wouldn’t let me out of his sight. My children are all grown, so no little voices to distract my grief. It’s been overwhelming, and my husband doesn’t understand. So I grieve alone.

I know someday I’ll get another dog. A rescue dog, perhaps, an older dog to love. Not yet. It is too fresh. Even though I knew it was coming, it was sudden. I am glad for that. He was such a wonderfully goofy, good natured, fantastic dog. Not perfect of course– he once ate a box of chocolate doughnuts and got very sick… and then there was the times he snatched dinner off someone’s plate when they were talking… or when he got out and followed us down the street… but he was the Best Dog EVER.

kitty marathon

busy card making. Got a request for twelve kitty cards. At first I wanted to give up but knew the challenge would be good for me.

I keep feeling like I need so much more practice. I think my cards look messy. Then I see Tim Holtz' stuff, and it looks messy, so maybe I should just go that direction, and call it "distressed". LOL
When I started making cards, they were clear bright colors and simple. I really enjoy just grabbing whatever and coming up with things. I could have made the job simpler by making them all the same, but I couldn't decide, so I just kept doing different ones. Hope she likes them!! That's the catch, I always think that nobody is really going to like my creations anyway so why bother... but I am coming to see that the PROCESS is the important part for me, I need to create... and I'll just let whomever like whatever and keep what I like and toss the rest. At least it's paper and not gold I'm creating with; although with gold one can just melt it down... :)

living the dream...

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

living the dream…

whereas in reality my dream is to be where the Lord wants me to be, I have my own preferences. However, at the moment the dream and reality are not the same. Learning to be content in whatever place the Lord puts me, but that longing for the mountains hangs with me. I did get to spend a week in the beautiful mountains of Washington state.

My brother is living the dream, on thirty wonderful acres. However, his dream includes SNOW part of the year, which isn’t exactly part of MY dream. I like a LITTLE snow, but he sent pics of a LOT of snow.

Having visited in August, I got to see summer. The weather was pleasant, a little cooler than I am used to for summer. But GORGEOUS…. It was a bittersweet trip which included a memorial service for my nephew Aaron who fought cancer for a year but died at the end of July. My parents funded my trip, otherwise I couldn’t have gone. Liv went too, which made it easier, she served as my Courage and Bravery of which I am lacking! But I got into an itty bitty plane (4 seats wide and not much taller than Liv) and crammed my face into the window and tried not to think about where I was; enjoyed the scenery and the company. Liv of course made friends with a wee cutie and they were fun to watch too.

The trip inspired me to do FIVE scrapbook pages. And I am not done yet. My mom and dad had a wonderful garden this year. This is of their courtyard where they live. My father must have his fingers in dirt so he has many containers on the patio and has grown so many interesting things. It seems that many of the people in the complex haven’t seen vegetables growing, so he has grown zucchini, corn, green beans, and even potatoes. Last year he actually harvested a few tufts of cotton!

Well I had better get busy. I got an order for 12 thank you cards, with cats on them. I have lots of ideas running around in my head, but I better get them done, hopefully to be delivered within a day or two. 🙂my precious nephew Aaron…

I might like this

Browns are not usually my "thing" and neither is distressed. So this is my absolutely first card that is distressed, and browns. I used a cuttlebug folder for the background and inked only the raised part and not solidly. The stamp is one I've had for ages I think Stampendous. The ribbon is from the Dollar Tree. My cards still look like a 6 year old made them. Well not ALL of them.
After awhile I've started to like the card, anyway. Hope my son and dear DIL like it, it's for their birthdays, and the inside says "happy birthdays to you".

I think for me I love the process and am not always pleased with the final. I need to practice more. I go for what I want and not copying others, and then I judge by comparisons. Silly me.

perfect pearls

Since I had a 50% off coupon and a gift certificate for Michael's, I got some Perfect Pearls by Ranger. This is my first attempt. I took a piece of card stock embossed with a texture using my Cuttlebug, then dabbed the Perfect Medium all over and swirled different colors of powder around. You can't of course see the shimmer. Then I stamped a Michael Strong image and painted it with the Perfect Pearls.

I feel like such a beginner! I've done simple stamps and cards for ages but rarely gone beyond my comfort zone (embossing, watercolor, colored pencils, etc.) and branched out to different techniques. I like the Alcohol inks (also from Ranger) but I'm not great at it yet. I love the effect of painting with the Perfect Pearls. This card needs a little something more, I think a tiny spray of pearls in that bow. It is much prettier in person. I did some other pictures, but the trouble is, you can't see its shiny goodness from a scanner. :(

catching up

(my poor kitty after surgery...)

It's been awhile since I even thought about this blog. Lots of things going on other than making things!

This morning I found a site that I think will be really useful... it's called The Stitching Cow. It's based in Australia, but it is epatterns so it might not matter. I haven't tried to order anything yet but am enjoying the ideas and may get brave enough to try ordering. There's a link to a currency converter so it's a maybe. I love the stuff though. I've had fun browsing, and I got the free stitchery pattern for a mini quilt, so there you go.

I'm making good progress finding my dining room table. When I am stressed I clutter worse. So I am playing catch up now. I used to just get mad at myself but lately I've been just telling myself, stop beating yourself up, and just clean up after yourself now. LOL... My reward of course for having the area all cleaned up and no clutter is making that mini quilt!! It will be good to sew again. I've been reluctant because the last time I sewed the kitty ate thread and ended up in the hospital so I am going to have to be SUPER TIDY with my thread. It makes me nervous even to think about. Now that summer is approaching and she will be spending more outside time, I think I can have my machine set up, throw her out the door, SEW for a couple hours and clean up before she gets back. And vacuum a LOT. I won't really throw her, she bounds out quite nicely all by herself. ;)

Uncle Alan...

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

 

I’ve had enough darkness and winter. Right now it is windy and rainy.

My uncle died last week. It has been a sad time. My father is now alone– his 9 brothers and sisters are all gone. He says that is what has been hitting him the most, feeling alone.

I’m glad that in spite of humanly being alone, he is not alone. He knows that this isn’t the end. He knows that it is good that my uncle is no longer suffering. He knows that he will see him again along with his brothers and sisters.

It’s still sad. Having to clear out his apartment and seeing what he left behind made me want to run home and throw some stuff out so my loved ones won’t have to see the silliness that I collect. My mother was laughing over 70 coasters and 10 shoehorns. I can only imagine how people are going to feel going through my stuff. 🙂

We did find a song book from the 1800’s– that had belonged to my Quaker great-grandfather. It was full of the love of the Lord.  It was encouraging in the midst of the hard things that we have been going through.

He also had started 4 rose bushes. In spite of how badly he had been doing, he was still gardening a tiny bit. I’ve been told it is hard to slip roses. They looked healthy and full of potential. His birdfeeder, full of thistle, attracts Lesser Goldfinches. It was so restful to just sit and watch them. I remember the last time I was with him, we were just sitting there watching the birds come and go. A quiet time.

He will be greatly missed. By my father and my mother. By his neighbors. By his daughter. By me.