Halloween Card for Send a Smile 4 Kids

Long time no see again, huh? I have a card to share today that is being entered in a challenge for Send a Smile 4 Kids. The pumpkins on the background paper are glittery and really pop off the page. I thought the pumpkin stamp would make a child smile and that's what they need while in the hospital. As a side note, I ended up with a few cards that can't be sent to this group because they don't fit the criteria ("trick or treat", "BOO", candy, etc.), so if you know of any groups accepting this type of card please leave me a note in the comments.

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.

Happy Easter!

We lost my mother in January 2015. She died peacefully with family surrounding her and her ashes joined those of my father in Wichita, Kansas.

 

 

Soon afterwards we lost my husband's step-father, also of Wichita. It was nice to be able to stay with my mother-in-law during the week of planning my Mom's funeral so I could provide some comfort as her husband got weaker and weaker under the care of Hospice at home.

Life continues to grow for us as we've been graced with two grandsons, one in December 2012 and another in August 2015. They live close and we get to see them often. Here's a few pictures:

 

 

Ollie loves the quilt I made for him.

Still being a bit crafty with the pumpkins for Halloween.

Ollie didn't like Santa.

Wall hanging I made.

Slippers I made out of my step-father-in-law's old sweater.

Leland on the quilt I made for him.

Star Wars was popular this year.

And Ninja Turtles remain popular.

Pictures taken by my daughter, a quite talented photographer.

 

 

 

 

That's all for today folks! I've got tons more pictures, but this post should bring you up to date if you've been wondering what's been going on with my life. Hopefully I'll post more often in the future.

 

Ta ta for now!

Sharon

 

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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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It's been like, well... forever!

Wow how time flies when you're having fun! Hey, you KNOW it's true, so don't even shake your head at me. I've been soooooo thoroughly enjoying this grandmahood (is that even a word? spell-check doesn't think so) and wanted to pop in to share a bit of what I've been doing lately. Yes I'm still making an occasional greeting card and have done a little scrapbooking here and there, but I've gotta tell you that this little guy has just made our lives around here so much fun! How could anyone possible look at this little face and not smile?

Oh by the way, did I tell you that my daughter is now a photographer? Yup! Well she's kind of doing it on the side now, still working full time, mommying full time and trying to slip in a photo op when she can. You can find her at Photography by Emily Baker here -

http://photographybyemilybaker.zenfolio.com/

How about another peek at the most precious little boy ever?

and back on a crafting theme, here's what I've been working on for Oliver. Just a few peeks, then the finished product will be posted when it's done.

This is my first attempt at strip piecing and really my first official quilt that will actually have some machine quilting if all goes right. Wish me luck!

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Paper, glue, scissors

That's basically all it takes to put together a special mini album for a co-worker who is retiring soon. We decided that it would be nice to have some room to write notes to her instead of trying to cram everything on a little greeting card. I threw this together using some upcycled file folders and Stampin Up paper.

 

 

 

 

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Pop Up Birthday Card for my Dad

I wanted to make a tactile card for my dad who is legally blind, so put the pedal to the metal... err, how about the fingers to the keyboard and metal to the paper (as in the blade on my machine cutting paper) and created this wonderful Happy Birthday pop up card. I dug through my files for the perfect card that I remembered seeing somewhere and found the svg file by one of my all-time favorite bloggers, Penny Duncan. If you've never heard of her you don't know what you're missing because she is one VERY talented lady! Hop on over to her blog when you have a chance and just drool over her art. She's also got an Etsy shop where you can purchase some of her products and collections.

Dad can see outlines and shadows, so I used a dark background cardstock layered with light shadows. The embellishments are from K&Company and were chosen because they bring back fond memories of camping  with my family as a kid (lantern), how my dad provided direction for my life (compass), how he was always doing something with his hands, sometimes requiring cleaning fluid to clean up; and 49.... well it's just there!

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.

Time for celebration of 100th item listed in Eco Chique Boutique on Etsy!

I've been very busy taking pictures and replenishing the shelves in our Etsy shop and finally listed our 100th item! Well actually if you count all the sales we hit 100 a long time ago, however it was my goal to get 100 items listed at the same time and I finally reached that goal today. If you like EcoChiqueBoutique on Facebook maybe you've already seen the announcement, if not it will be worth your time to go read it now because there's a gift involved if you're not too late.

Altered Two-Pocket Card

I made this card while trying to follow a tutorial for making a two-pocket card. It didn't turn out anything like the original because I tore the cardstock while scoring it, but I think it looks pretty good, especially when the picture is taken by my daughter with her brand spanking new digital/SLR camera! Just imagine how awesome the pictures will be when we use the homemade light box. Wow!