Interesting Idea

It's kind of hard to tell from this picture but this is a 1 layer note card.  My neighbors Wen & Barb had it waiting on the counter with some fresh flowers when Cricut Man and I got home from Jacksonville.  

The card is folded so that the stamped top flap folds down just to the top of the stamped border on the bottom part of the card.  When it's taped or sealed with a sticker it looks like it's all one piece.  And when you open it fully, it's just enough room to write a short, sweet note.

Really clever idea, huh?

Happy Friday.  Sounds like the weekend's going to be a beauty.  

Labels

One of the advantages of drinking nice wine is collecting the labels.  Yep - that's right - that's how I justify my indulgence - I do it all for card making :-)

This is a card a made using a really beautiful label from a Spanish red blend called Can Blau. Really yummy! I used my circle cutter to cut out the center of the label.  It may be hard to tell from the picture but there's an iridescent shimmer in the label design.  So I decided to mat it on a larger glitter paper to really enhance it. I loved the way it turned out.

Thanks for Your Support

This is a thank you card I made for our neighbors, Marilyn and Heather, for all their love and support during our little Florida adventure.  It's got kind of a funny story in that the background "paper" is actually the back of a Comments card from Red Bird.  We met there one night before we left to have some appetizers and a glass of wine and when the bill came it included a Comment card printed on the back of this really cool paper.  I loved both the color combination and the design.  They teased me about taking it for my stash but I surprised them the next day with this little card.  I loved its simplicity and the little birdies seemed just perfect for the occasion.

Freebies

Happy Monday Tuesday Gal Pals.  Hope you had a good Memorial Day weekend.  Mine was blissfully free floating and a bit celebratory.  It was an anniversary of sorts for me and Cricut Man.  10 years since his first trip to Missoula which set us on the path of a life together.  

I wanted to share with you a freebie that I found somewhere on the blog-o-sphere. . .can't remember for sure what rabbit hole I went down that led me to Chic Tags.  But I found some really cute freebies like the one above.  Here's the link to the page that has 4 really cute printable pdf files.  There's some other cute digital content on the site.  Hoping to find some time to explore a little more.

And while we're on the subject of freebies, I wanted to repost the link to the free online copic coloring class we were talking about last week.  I still haven't completed all the lessons but that's OK - it will make for some fun on some future rainy day.

Calendar Envelopes

I was sorting through some old folders on my laptop and came across this picture of some envelopes I made (before I had my new Score-Pal envelope tool) from an old calendar I had.  Aren't they cool?!  I used one a few weeks ago to give a special card to my neighbor Barb and she just loved it.  She's a depression era baby and often uses things over and over again so she really appreciated the recycling effort - and so do I!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

More Bookmarks

I love these bookmarks! - especially when I think of all the little ones my Mom used to teach in her reading program.  It's a MDS template called Book Buddies - only $2.95.  I'm going to print and laminate them and send to Mom &  Dad as little "do-da's" they can give their kids for good performance.  May have to keep a set for myself to remind me I should turn off that dang "boob-tube" more often and pick up a good book.

Bookmarks

These are some quick little bookmarks I made with some scraps laying on my craft counter.  The one on the right was a special request from Cricut man - a Griz bookmark just "plain" - no foo-foo embellishments he said.  Silly man!

My Friend

Don't you just love this card?  I cut the pieces and will be bringing it with me tonight to assemble at the shop. The stamp is from "All Holidays" which thankfully comes with the baseline My Digital Studio. 

See ya' soon!

Cheers

Cheers! Gal Pals.  Hope you had a good weekend.  

I didn't end up getting as much play time in the craft room as I intended or would have liked but I did get a few minutes Sunday to play with the Tart & Tangy set.  Made this card to send to a friend who I've been wanting to get together with for a little maguerita time.  The Lucky Limeade color which I reversed embossed was fun to play with and the cute Cheers stamp - one that I got from the $1 bin at Memory Lane - really fit well.

I played around with trying to replicate the Thanks a Bunch strawberry card inspiration I posted on Friday but boy was that tough.  I just couldn't get the masks to line up well.  I'll keep working on it though.

Take care and have a good start to the week.  Hopefully we'll see a little sunshine today.

Tart and Tangy

I don't know about the rest of you Gal Pals but I may just have to have me a big ole' marguerita tonight to celebrate the end of the week.  How cute is this card?!!  It's made with the SU Tart and Tangy set we jointly own.  I have it checked out and am planning on having a little fun with it this weekend.  Can't say I'm too sad about the weather forecast for a rainy Sunday as it makes a perfect excuse for locking myself away in the craft room for a little play time.

Here's the index card for the stamp set and a couple of other cards from the Splitcoast gallery to get the creative juices flowing:

Happy Friday!  Have a Good Weekend!

Patriotic Hello

This is a card I made for the family last summer around the 4th of July.  It uses a really cute Authentique paper pack called "Glory".  Just love that paper line!  

And speaking of patriotic. . . .can't wait for the new BoBunny "Anthem" papers to come in.  You know Flag Day is just around the corner!!!

Thank You By The Seashore

Another inspiration from Pinterest.  Here's the card I cased.  Another in my new favorite color combination.

I used the SU digital stamp set By The Seashore to create the shell images.  Then printed them out and cropped them.  Sponged Crumb Cake, Pool Party and Island Indigo to create kind of a beach view on the top panel.

I made 5 - one for each of my wonderful neighbors to thank them for all they did while we were gone and all their love and support these last few months.  Truly wonderful people!

Then because I had the shell images in a file, I used a modified version of them to create this quick and easy one layer card for this week's family newsletter.

Kind of cool to think of all the possible variations.  Sure wish I had more play time with My Digital Studio.  I think I could get lost in there for a very long time! :-)

Birthday Presents

Well all my pinning is starting to pay off.  Here's a birthday card I made for my Aunt Hazel's birthday next week - she'll be 84!  

It was inspired by this card I found on Pinterest and pinned to one of my boards.  I used some leftovers from that $4 Walmart paper pack and a Martha Stewart bow punch that's been collecting dust for quite a few years.  I even got brave and did the polka dots on the ribbon and bows by hand - benign essential tremors and all! :-)  

I hope she likes it.

Mother's Day

Posting the Mother's Day cards I made for my Mom and for Allan's mother.  I did the outside and Cricut Man crafted the inside panel using a really pretty font called Heritage - very fitting don't you think? 

So glad we were able to spend lots of quality times with our mothers these past 2 months even if we missed the official holiday.  We are lucky to have 2 very special women as our mother's and mentors.

I suspect this Mother's Day was a mixed blessing for my Gal Pals.  Joyful for one with the expansion of motherhood in her family and a bit of melancholy for the other at one of the first milestone days without her mother.  My heart is with you both.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night.

Smiles All Around

Sure is great to have everyone back in our morning routine.  I'm heading back to work this morning for an admin/catch-up/planning day.  It will feel nice to get settled back in there.

Enjoyed the day yesterday unpacking and settling back into the house. I spent a little time in the craft room making thank you cards for my wonderful neighbors.  I'll post those next week.

You can't believe all they did for us while we were gone.  In addition to Heather house/cat-sitting with Marilyn pinch hitting on the days she needed to be out of town, Mike cleared all the houndstongue weeds out of the east side of the property and hauled away last Fall's burn pile, Wen & Barb did some early pruning of the flower beds and raked our yard and Steve & Judy provided the car shuttle for the trips to the airport so we could have a car waiting for us on the trips home without having to use long term parking.  We are so blessed to have them in our lives. 

And after many hugs and smooches I think all is right with Maddie's world now too . . .

One happy kitty for sure!

Happy Friday!  Hope you have a great weekend.

Hello Home

Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this 

moment, all you have is all you need.

~Sarah Ban Breathnach

Packing Day

It's our final packing day today - taking care of all the loose ends and "scraps" here at the apartment.  So I thought it was only fitting that I post a card I made awhile ago using pieces of paper scraps from another project.  I like the design.  If I remember correctly it was actually a sketch from one of the clean and simple challenge blogs I follow - just can't remember which one right now.

Not much time to "chat" today so I'll just leave you with a quote I captured awhile back from the TV show "Brothers & Sisters".  It touched my heart back then and seems so appropriate today. . . .

“. . . .You realize that what’s happening, as horrible as it is, 

is bringing you closer to the people you love and 

is reminding you of what is most true in your life. . . 

and that is a good thing.”

     ~(from the character Robert during an episode of “Brothers & Sisters” re: Kitty’s cancer)

Sunshine

I know most of the Gal Pals have seen this card but I realized I never posted it to the blog.  I thought today was the perfect day to do that as it's a sunshiny Florida day.  I see on the KECI web site that it's the same in Missoula.  How cool is that?!  Sunny and mid-70's here and at home.  All is right with the world today :-)

Cricut Man and I celebrated the end of treatment yesterday.  After his final treatment he rang Aud's Chime - an absolutely beautiful ritual they've developed for all patients - both the precious pediatric cancer patients and the prostate cancer patients. Please take a minute to watch this video which explains it's significance.  You may need a tissue at the end - I sure did.

We celebrated with a wonderful dinner at The Wine Cellar last night.  Toasted to fresh new healthy roads ahead.

My brother Danny flew in last night and we'll be having a "Welcome Danny / Congratulations Allan" family BBQ tonight at my parents house tonight.  We'll say our good-byes to the parents and my brother John and his family and then will focus the day tomorrow on closing down the apartment and heading to the airport.

Just another 48 hours and I'll be writing a blog post from my big easy chair in the living room of my beloved Jewel of the Pines.

Celebrating Cricut Man

Today is the BIG day - the last day of Cricut Man's treatment!!!  

We are both so happy.  Happy that he found University of Florida's Proton Therapy Institute (UFPTI).  Happy that he weathered the treatments with little or no side effects.  Happy they have a 99% cure rate for their last 5-year cohort of patients studied.  Happy for the time spent in Jacksonville which made seeing all of our families possible.  And last but certainly not least. . . . .Happy we're coming home Wednesday!!

So in honor of Cricut Man, today's post is a paper craft project he did last August for Noah's birthday.  We found out then that Noah was loving the British cartoon "Mike the Knight" and that was the theme of his 3rd birthday celebration.  

Allan found a picture on the web that he printed out and we Mod Podge'd it to chip board pieces to make a puzzle.  I'm not sure if you knew this but Circut Man loves Mod Podge almost as much as he loves his Cricut Machine.

The puzzle turned out so cute that we just had to make a paper box to put it in - complete with a lid that shows the finished puzzle.  We heard that Noah loved it and his Mom & Dad were very, very touched by such a special gift.

I was touched too, as I am now, by just how very lucky and happy I am to have Cricut Man in my life.  

Showers and Flowers

It's still raining!  All day yesterday and more today and tomorrow.  Looks like Mother Nature might take away the weekend walks on the beach I had planned for my last weekend here.  I just might have to play hooky from "work" on Monday and Tuesday as sunny skies are in the forecast before we leave.

One last doctor's appointment for Mom today.  My heart is kind of breaking for her right now.  On top of everything she's dealing with on the mobility and recovery side of things, she found out at the dentist that she's got to have a tooth pulled and 3 more filled.  All she could say as we left the dentist's office was "Man! getting old stinks!" 

So I'm posting this card for her in case she's reading the blog.  It's the one she and I made this summer when she was in Missoula.  The Olympics were happening during that time and we decided to stamp a flower in the colors of the 5 rings with a sentiment about being the best and matting in USA red, white and blue.

Mom - I hope the flowers will brighten this rainy day and remind you that in this Olympics of Life you are Simply The Best!

Just a Note

Rainy day here in Florida.  What's it like in Missoula?  Can't wait to find out! - only 6 more days!!!  

I've got all my list making done and now it's just a matter of sticking to it.  Cricut Man went to the post office and UPS store yesterday and got the boxes we'll need to send stuff home.  We'll pack Sunday afternoon and get it all in the mail Monday and Tuesday.  

My brother Danny is coming in Monday night and will stay with Mom & Dad for a couple of weeks helping out.  It makes my heart feel good in a number of ways to have him here.  Not only is he an incredibly hard worker, he's a "good energy" person and has a big heart full of love.

Still posting some old cards from the family newsletters last year.  Can't believe there were so many I didn't share with my Gal Pals.  This one uses one of my favorite paper packs from Memory Lane.  It's the one that has all kraft papers with various printed designs.  It comes in brown print and black print.  I'm pretty sure I bought both - just can't decide which one I like best.

The stamp of the envelope full of hearts is an old beat up stamp my neighbor gave me when she abandoned stamping for quilting and subsequently donated all her craft supplies to my Coastal Craft Room.  Lucky me!  I added a computer sentiment which worked out nicely.  But looking a little more closely at this picture I sure wish I would have sponged or inked the edges of the tag - it would have looked a little more finished.  

But my favorite part of this card is the notebook paper border punch.  I love, love, love that punch!, don't you?  I need some additional Pinterest inspiration for that one for sure.

Well I better sign off for now and get to work.  Have a good one.

Nostalgia

Hi Gal Pals,

Sorry for being M.I.A. for the last couple of days.  We went up to South Carolina last weekend to see Allan's brother and his family and after getting back I started my planning and list making for winding down our time here in Jacksonville.  Some of things on the list included time with Mom wrapping a few chores up at her house.  

While waiting for her to get dressed one morning I was poking through her office closet and found a box of pictures that I hadn't seen in awhile.  I took a timeout and did a little wandering down Memory Lane :-)

Found this silhouette cut of myself from way, way back.  Remember when these were popular?  Do you have one of yourself hidden somewhere?

Also found on the dining room table a paper-crafted birthday "wallet" I made for Mom back in 2009.  Not sure why she had that out but it tickled me to see it again.  Sorry the pictures aren't better but at least they captured a little of the essence of the gift. . .

I especially liked the quote at the end. . .sure does fit this time and place.

"When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses."  

~Joyce Brothers