More cards for kids and crochet projects

Hello again! I've been busy making more cards to send out to Send A Smile 4 Kids (SAS4Kids) so they can deliver them to kiddos in the hospital. All but two of the 163 cards in this box were Christmas. I had fun coloring many of them and said a little prayer with each stroke of the pencil. It's tough being sick, but for kiddos to be in the hospital at Christmastime has got to be very difficult. It is my prayer that these cards will bring a little smile to each face that sees them. Pictures were removed from the source (Flickr), so I'll have to find a new host for them. A crocheted hooded cowl for a friend undergoing treatment for cancer. The center where she goes in Chicago has a huge aquarium in the lobby where she and her husband had posed as fish on a previous visit. With colder temps coming I thought this would help keep her head warm and made her promise to pose wearing it by the aquarium. Isn't she beautiful! This next project and I had a love-hate relationship and it's left me with mixed feelings because I'm not sure what to do with it. I crocheted a beautiful afghan called "Lover of my Soul" by a wonderful South African woman, Hilda Stein. I purchased it online through Ravelry. Instead of buying the yarn from her I used some of the gazillion skeins of yarn that I've accumulated throughout the years. The love part of it is the colors, pattern, texture and memories the various yarn stir up (some came from my mom). The hate part is due to the fact that I can't use it as a bedspread because afghans and terrier claws are mortal enemies. I might use it under the comforter when it gets colder, but am afraid the weight of it might be rather cumbersome. On the other hand I've heard good things about using weighted blankets as a calming mechanism, so just might give it a try. Oh the conundrums of having to decide!

So what's next you ask? I'm determined to learn how to knit socks! Yes, you heard that right. Oh and it will be done with these microscopically minuscule knitting needles that I don't even know how to hold. I mean the needle I use to weave in ends on my crochet projects is three times thicker than these little babies. They are a size 1 and 2 if that means anything to you. I've heard there are a ton of tutorials on YouTube, so wish me luck! Any suggestions are more than welcome!

What have you all been working on lately?

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Glitter for Sympathy

Tonight as I created a special card for a friend who lost her father yesterday I found a new meaning in glitter. What? You say, does glitter have to do with a sympathy card??? Well, silly, just think about it for a minute. Glitter shines just like the memory of your loved one will shine on you. Glitter scatters everywhere just like the little things you'll find from day to day that remind you of that loved one. Lastly, glitter turns something very plain in to something spectacular just like the love you have and will always have for that loved one! Yes I'll be cleaning up that glitter for days, weeks or even months; but as I do I'll remember my own father, mother and step-father-in-law who are all looking down on me with love from their special place in Heaven.

Operation Write Home Sketch Challenge #220

This week's OWH sketch challenge was fun because it didn't require any special measurements, just pretty much eyeballing everything. Today I received a thank you note on an OWH card from a Lieutenant Colonel in Ft Leonardwood, Missouri. It was absolutely the MOST perfect timing because that was my father's first official active duty station in the late 50's where he served as an Army Drill Sergeant. He retired after 21 years and I had the distinct pleasure of serving with him for a couple of those years in Germany. I'll be making a memorial post for him as soon as I'm up to it. He took his last breath on Saturday, April 12th and we're still in the midst of preparing for his memorial service. Making cards has always been very therapeutic for me and certainly helped me get through this day! Please keep my mom in your prayers. They were both living in the same nursing home and she slips in and out of alzheimers, but is aware of his death. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Until I can get myself together enough to do a memorial post, here are a few pictures of my father.

With Mom wearing showing their support for the military troops.

Dad (on left) in Vietnam

Dad in his khakis

Dad at Ft Leonardwood

My Volksmarch hero!

My daughter's hero!

Dad and I

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Operation Write Home Cards

I have three cards to share with you today. I just mailed a big box of cards to Operation Write Home and have already gotten started on the next box. Every so often I decide to join a challenge or two and today I did three. The first is from their Midweek Throwdown Challenge which was to use purple and yellow. I love those two colors together, so this was really quite fun. I had saved a piece of purple shimmery paper from a wedding invitation that was just too pretty to throw away. Unfortunately my husband didn't realize I was saving it for a card and used it to write some notes. AAACKKKK!!!! Luckily there was enough clear space around the edges that I could cover his writing with some awesome yellow handmade paper left over from another project. Add a few flowers and hand stamp the word "sister" and Voila! Here ya go:

Next comes a card with a sad note connected to it. I didn't know her, but one of the Operation Write Home fellow cardmakers passed away last week and in her honor they asked us to copy (CASE) one of her designs.

The last one is today's sketch challenge #118.

 

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OWH VCMP Card #8

OWH VCMP Card #8 challenge is to make a card with an image of a bee and a sentiment that plays on the word bee. When I was working on the 6th challenge I noticed a cute bee in the stamp set which shall go unnamed because quite honestly, well there isn't a manufacturer's name anywhere on the acrylic stamp sheet. Anyway, there was also some matching sentiments and the one I picked was just perfect! You can visit the host of this challenge here and see cards made by other partiers.

OWH VCMP Sketch Challenge #188

Good morning everyone! I've got a busy morning today because my grandson is getting baptized and family gathers afterwards, but I had a tiny bit of time to get one card done before leaving.

This card is part of the Operation Write Home Labor Day Virtual Card Making Party (OWH VCMP) and follows Sketch #188.

See you again later!

OWH VCMP Card #5

Card #5 for the OWH VCMP is a masking tape background card. You can find many other cards for this challenge here.

I made a couple different cards, one with regular white card stock and the other with watercolor paper. Can you tell which is which? I used the Stampin Up Sprinkled Expressions stamps.

Card for my step-father-in-law's 90th Birthday

Saturday we'll be celebrating my step-father-in-law's 90th Birthday, so I made a special card for the occasion. I bought the DCWV Heirloom Stack a while back and finally pulled it out. I love the vintage and masculine papers included in that stack and hope to make more cards with it soon. The colors remind me of his favorite chair and the decor of their living room.

Pretty cherries decorate this upcycled note card

This card is one of four in a set of blank note cards that I listed today in my Etsy shop Eco Chique Boutique. I wanted to show you how something as simple as a picture from paint chip samples, a little ribbon and an embossing folder could turn in to something so beautiful. I love the way she is holding those luscious cherries in a heart shaped pile in the palm of her hands. I hope this goes to a good home and brings a smile of joy to the person who receives it!

Mother's Day cards I made

Wait until you see these awesome cards I made for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day! I cut them on my Cricut using the Mothers Garden SVG Kit from SVGCuts.com. They even have video tutorials showing how to put these things together. I think my moms will enjoy these, especially the way the sunlight comes through that vellum window inside! Have you ever seen anything so beautiful made out of paper? Me neither!

Challenge for the New Year

I can't believe it's been an entire MONTH since my last post! Where has the time gone??? Unlike some of you who have very busy lives with children and/or grandchildren running around the house during the holidays, it's just me and my dear husband and menagerie of dogs and cats. Sure we have an occasional visit with our daughter and son-in-law, sometimes along with one or two of their dogs; but for the most part it's just the two of us. I think that my mojo got sucked up in the thick atmosphere and blew away for a visit somewhere else!

What have I been doing? I dare not show any pictures because of the perpetual mess my craft room is always in, but I will tell you that things are moving along. Like some of you I am trying to use up what I have on hand in my stash. This MIGHT be the time for me to finally make the switch from paper to digital design, BUT not until I've gotten my stash down to a reasonable amount. Here are some thoughts I've had lately:

1. Create card kits to sell on Etsy.
2. Create scrapbook page kits to sell on Etsy.
3. Put stuff together for a swap with friends.
4. Donate a bunch of stuff to groups that make cards for charities.
5. Make cards to donate to Operation Write Home. DONE
6. Make cards to donate to a local church that in turn donates to homeless shelters (currently doing this one.)   DONE
7. Make card assortments along with boxes to put them in to have on hand for gifts.
8. Offer some blog candy (coming soon, so stay tuned!)
9. Make upcycled embellishments and other products for Zeleny Art Fair coming up in April.

So there you have it! The past few days I've been digging through my stash and pulling out all those assorted paper embellishments that I cut or punched out in bulk for who knows what reason (just because!) and am attempting to use them to make card assortments. Isn't it funny when you look at something that you've hung on to for several years and you can't for the life of you figure out what you were thinking when you made it??? The paper-hoarder in me finds it extremely difficult to throw anything away that might possibly be used on a card, scrapbook page, collage, jewelry or whatever. Don't you love seeing and reading about all the cool things people make out of what would normally go in the trash? Sorry folks, but I've actually begun throwing away those little bits of paper that are left behind when cutting borders with the scalloped border punch! Yes they make squares look like postage stamps, BUT if they haven't gotten used in over two years they're GOING BYE-BYE!

One last thing I'll kind of share with you is that I have a huge reason for needing to downsize, but am not quite ready to post in for the public yet. I guess I don't want the plans to get jinxed somehow, so will wait until time gets closer, but trust me, this will be a big life-changing and very exciting thing! No folks, I'm NOT pregnant (way too old and the plumbing's been removed since 1994!); but it DOES have something to do with family. Like one of my favorite movie characters once said, "That's all I have to say about that."

Oriental Trading Post Haul

Ok Ya'll, please don't laugh, but I finally made a video to share a haul with you. I discovered that my daughter has the best place ever for making videos, so might just have to spend more time granddogsitting in the future. Or I guess I could just go when she's there to keep the dogs out of the room. Anyway, here's a video showing all the cool stuff I got from Oriental Trading Post.

Halloween Cards upcycled from food boxes

I've been busy lately preparing for our upcoming Handmade Market in Lawrence, Kansas for Etsy artists from Kansas. Would you like to see a few of my Halloween cards? Well you're in luck because I have posted a few pics below beginning with the blob that was supposed to be a spider. Maybe it'll adorn another card as The Blob, ya think? I tried homemade shrinky dink stuff using some plastic cut from something like a salad container and well, it must be the wrong kind of plastic! I ended up just stamping a spider on the plastic and marking over the image with a Sharpee to thicken the lines.

 I like the way this bakers twine spider web looks. I cut tiny slits along the edges of the card to hold the twine in place, then tied the spider on to the center of the web.

 What you can't tell about the pumpkin below and I can't photograph it is that it's painted with glow in the dark paint! Believe me, when I turned out the lights it was really cool looking! Oh yeah, the web on this card is painted on with Epsom Salts and looks awesome, kind of like ice crystals.

 The little bats are stamped on the card using Versamark clear ink. The black dots around the orange circle are done with glitter glue and look great, just hard to photograph.

 The spider and BOO below are done with a puffy black embossing powder that feels grainy.

 Don't you just love the Stampin Up mesh embossing folder? I can't get enough of it!

 Now for those who are just happy it's Fall, here's the perfect card for them. Very simple, yet elegant.

Below I've used a circle to mask off a spot, then sponged orange ink all around it. It really makes the paper cutouts pop, don't you think?

Blog Candy for Gratitude! -- CLOSED

If you've been reading my blog you know that in one week's time I was the recipient of four blog prizes. This past week has been an all time high for me, making me feel almost guilty, but mostly grateful and appreciative of the generosity of others. The best way for me to show my gratitude is by paying it forward, so ..... drum roll please.... I've got blog candy!!! Yup, I put together a package of ephemera, vintage ribbon, buttons, vintage wallpaper, handmade embellishments, twine, silk flowers and other fun things that would be great for making mini albums, embellishing scrapbook pages and cards or anything else your imagination desires. This blog candy will run until October 29 with the winner announced on October 30. To be eligible all you need to do is the following:

1. Become a follower if you aren't already
2. Leave a comment
3. Tell someone else about the candy. If you want to post this on your sidebar that would be awesome, but is not a requirement. You can just mention how you are spreading the word (twitter, facebook, blog post, etc.) in your comments.

Oh and please leave me a way to get in touch with you. Here's a picture of what I've gathered so far. I will be adding more as the month progresses and if I get over 50 comments I'll start another box. Woohoo, let the fun begin!!!

You're not going to believe this!

Ok, truly now, if any of you want to hop right over and rub my hand for good luck I'm home the rest of the weekend! Oh yeah, I WON AGAIN!!!! I got the message that I'd won an awesome Stampin Up stamp set from Holly and The Dog over at  Ink Paper Stamps while checking my mail on my cell phone in the car and let me tell ya, it's a good thing Mr. H was driving or I'd have gone off the road!!! We were on the way home and I promptly instructed him to stop at the next location that sells lottery tickets! Silly me made him come in with me because, well, I honestly don't know the first thing about buying lottery tickets. No really! Here is the lovely set that will be in my grateful hands soon. You've GOT to go give Holly and The Dog a shout out and enjoy her crafts. She's got some great tutorials if you're looking for inspiration!

Earrings my daughter made and cards I've been working on

Ok, so after showing you my horribly messy desk I think it's time to show you that I really DO get some work done, but before that let me show off the earrings my daughter made for me using an Arizona Tea can and some flower punches. These are absolutely amazing and very similar to some she is selling in our Etsy shop, Eco Chique Boutique
If anyone knows how to make these pictures maintain their angle instead of importing sideways please let me know. When I save them prior to importing they are right side up. Very perplexing!

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The next group of pictures is a bunch of stamped images that I colored with colored pencils. The book I am using to attempt to become a better artist is also shown. I hope to learn how to draw realistic things like they show in the book, but even if I just improve my skills I'll be happy. They don't use stamped images, but I'm just taking baby steps (channeling Dave Ramsey now...)