Under the Weather Card

 The April rains have decided to stay in May. It’s been raining every other day here including some real down pours and thunderstorms. I planted some grass seed the other day and I’m pretty sure most of it got washed out. Oh well, I’ll try again… easy to re-seed.

 Today’s card is one made from a bit cut off from an old greeting card. I’ve had this small piece sitting in my “to use someday file” for about 5 years I think. I finally used it.

This little animal, not sure what it is, was so cute in the yellow rain coat I just had to save it. The background is the same pattern as the larger focal piece with a white with pale green flowers in between and the same white between the focal image and the darker green focal paper…so four layers all together. The image was glued to the white background with a fancy green strip underneath to ground it. The sentiment was computer generated and on a die cut banner. My friend saw this and immediately asked if she could have it. I had no immediate use for it for it so I said sure and off it went.

That’s all for a warm, windy and maybe some rainy Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Cheers

Violet

Ps: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply over over the image until the “Pin It” symbol appears and then click …. be patient, it sometimes takes a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

 

 

Stripes and Gold Dots

         We are having some pretty nice weather for October and even the strong wind is coming from the south so it’s warm. It would suit me if it can just stay like this until next April and then start warming it.

        Today’s card was fun to make.

                         
    I found several of these dark wine-brownish strips in the stash and decided to use a few of them in a card instead of putting them back in the stash. This is actually a one layer card that I seldom make. The light mauve card was still on my desk that wasn’t used from a previous project and the strips looked pretty nice with it – nice contrast. So first the strips were trimmed down to various widths and adhered to the card on an angle. Then the 3-d flower sticker was glued on. It needed something else and lo and behold I found a package of bows the same colour as the strips and it was glued in place. But it just needed something else so I pulled out some Rangers gold liquid pearls and added little gold dots all over the card… and called it finished. I wasn’t sure if I wanted this as a birthday card or a thinking of you card so I didn’t add any sentiment to the front this time.

            That’s all for Wednesday, October 7, 2020.

Cheers

Violet

PS: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply hover over the image until the ‘Pin It” symbol appears and then click…it sometimes take a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

 

 

Pretty Pastel Card

        A faithful reader mentioned that the photo of the fairy card was not showing. So odd. It was there because I copied it to my Pinterest Page. I have replaced it so please scroll down to see it. My granddaughter loved it!

       Friday the 13^th! Anyone superstitious out there? I’m not. Friday the 13^th is just another Friday to me. However hubby and I are doing the self-quarantine bit for the next couple of weeks, except for the odd walk around the neighbourhood or bush….not too many people there. So unless I really need something, I’m staying home. I went to get a few groceries last night and it was a nightmare in the grocery store – people were panic buying!  Sad.

When my sister was in the hospital (home now) I realized I had no get well cards on hand so I made one for her and a few extras.

 

For this card I took some pastel left over strips – mostly pink and green – and glued them to a piece of scrap paper. I put double sided tape on the scrap paper so they were easy to glue down and very secure. Then I trimmed it to size. The sentiment square came from a paper pack that some of the strips were from. I mounted it on pink and then glued it down. Another quick and easy card and yet very pretty.  

        That’s all for a sunny yet cool thanks to the wind, on Friday, March 13 2020. Stay safe everyone. Take precautions but do not panic. As Gregory Peck stated, “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”

Cheers

Violet

PS: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply hover over the image until the ‘Pin It” symbol appears and then click…it sometimes take a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

Two Cards to Share Today

        It was a sunny day here but that darn cold wind took the pleasure out of walking outside for very long. However, it is past the middle of February and we have only had our driveway cleared off twice this winter – once was November 11^th, which was very early for snow and once in January. We are hoping for an early spring too.

        I needed a Get Well Card so I made a couple of them – same design but with different designer paper in the background. Here they are.

        I pulled out two pieces of different designer paper from the same paper pack as well as one sheet I used for the fancy label across the middle. The designer paper was glued to the pink card bases and then gold peel-off strips were added down the sides. The fancy label is only about 3 ¾” wide so I had to cut the 6” paper down to that size as well. The middle circle cuts out but I didn’t want the same colour there so I die cut two more; sponged one with pink ink and one with blue; stamped the sentiment and inserted them back in. Butterflies were added to add a little more interest. The sentiment stamp was one long one but it was cut apart so I could use it in the circle. I have another one in another stamp set that I left long. This would definitely fall into the quick and easy card making category.

Cheers

Violet

PS: To save a card to your Pinterest account, simply hover over the image until the ‘Pin It” symbol appears and then click…it sometimes take a few seconds. This will take you to your own Pinterest account to save the card.

Root Canal and a Card

I’m just back home from the dentist – phase one of the root canal finished…phase two will be April 11^th. My mouth is so frozen! We are experiencing another sunny day with a cold wind blowing but tomorrow there will be no sun and we are expecting a huge amount of rain – like flooding amounts. (insert big sigh here)

Today’s card is another “oops don’t like that so lets see if we can fix it” type of card.

 

The background of this card was the “oops”. I just didn’t like it. It was created by laying cardstock on Distress Inks that were smeared on a piece of plastic and sprayed with water. Distress Inks do not blend as well on cardstock as they do on water colour paper so it was a bit blotchy….but I hate to waste anything. So, I took a piece of vellum and stamped the dragonflies and sentiment on it, wrapped some shiny thread around it and then glued it to an orange card base. Not bad. Good enough to keep on hand in case someone is sick and needs a card.

That’s all for a cold but sunny Monday, March 26, 2018.

Cheers

Violet

Don’t forget you are more than welcome to save any cards or other items I post to your Pinterest account for future reference. Simply place the curser over the picture until the Pinterest save sign shows up in the top left corner and enter. This will take you to your Pinterest account. If it doesn’t work, please leave a comment and let me know so I fix it. Thanks.

A Quick and Easy Card

What a day! This morning it was very windy and was still raining and there was not a spot of snow left on our yard. By 10:00 it turned to freezing rain; then more snow!...and with the strong wind, the snow was blinding. There were so many accidents this afternoon. People will not slow down…or stop texting or on their phones…in bad weather. The police actually caught some people on their phones while passing the snow plow in blinding snow and freezing rain. Some people never learn!

End of rant! On with the today’s card.

I love making these cards. Simply die cut any shape….I happen to like ovals…and use it as a mask. Place it over white cardstock and lightly sponge any colour on. Then stamp an image with the same colour only using it full strength. Its easy to get a real dark stamping if you are lucky enough to own a stamp positioner like the Misty or Tim Holtz’s..which is what I have because my darling daughters bought it for me for my birthday!

Then I wrapped some matching ribbon around it and added a stamped sentiment.  Quick and easy but such a nice effect.

I did some cleaning this morning and then spent the rest of day playing in my lower studio (aka the basement) making some new cards. Tune in again on Monday to see some of them!

         That’s all for a windy, cold, snowy, rainy, freezing rain kind of Friday!

Cheers

Violet

Don’t forget you are more than welcome to save any cards or other items I post to your Pinterest account for future reference. Simply place the curser over the picture until the Pinterest save sign shows up in the top left corner and enter. This will take you to your Pinterest account. If it doesn’t work, please leave a comment and let me know so I fix it. Thanks.

A Very Blue Card

Well, no tornadoes touched down around here on Wednesday so that was good. Strangely enough the people in the northern part of Chatham did not even get any rain.  We had another thunderstorm and more rain last night as well but no damage done then either. It keeps getting dark here today but the clouds move off to the east before it rains. The weekend looks promising though, especially tomorrow.

This morning I was checking the garden and I spotted these two sunflowers that decided to open up. The birds sometimes plant various plants and flowers and I usually just let them grow to see what they are. I assumed these were the common yellow sunflowers but to my surprise, they are orange and yellow. Very pretty! I had to get a couple photos of them….even though I had to stand on a stool to get a closer view. There are some common yellow ones in the backyard right behind the sunflower feeder and I let them grown because the American Goldfinches love them.

  

Today’s card is another one made from leftovers from other cards….and yet I like it just fine.

This is another sponged oval using a light covering of Stampin’ Up Night of Navy on white cardstock. Then the image was stamped using the same colour but much darker. Blue sequins were added at the end. I had die cut a rectangle from the blue cardstock for mounting another image on and this negative piece was still  sitting on my desk. I trimmed it even and placed the stamped image behind it and I decided I liked it…..one more piece used instead of in the recycle bin! The sentiment was computer generated. The rectangle the sentiment is on was die cut with a Spellbinder’s die and while it was still in the die I gently dusted some blue ink over it using a stiff stencil brush.

That’s all for a ‘right-now-sunny-but-subject-to-change-any-minute’ Friday, August 4, 2017. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and if possible, perform a random act of kindness.

  

Cheers

Violet

Don’t forget you are more than welcome to save any cards or other items I post to your Pinterest account for future reference. Simply place the curser over the picture until the Pinterest save sign shows up in the top left corner and enter. This will take you to your Pinterest account. If it doesn’t work, please leave a comment and let me know so I fix it. Thanks.

Orange Poppy Card

The A/C had to go back on! We are once again experiencing hot and humid weather. This has been such a strange summer weather wise. Oh well, it’s better than cold and snow! I am so not a winter person.

I love flowers; especially poppies; and I love colouring them. In fact I just bought two new Power Poppy stamp sets from the clearance rack at our local scrapbooking store – Whoot! Whoot! But I don’t have them coloured yet. The one on this card was a free download from the Internet.

I love orange poppies so I coloured it orange using coloured pencils and blended with gamsol. The blue is chalk that was sponged on. I also happen to have a lot of this orangy-yellowish paper from a thrift store find so it worked really well with this coloured poppy. The poppy was mounted on black; then the striped paper; then the orange paper; and then a yellow card base. I used the Spellbinder label die set to die cut a black label; stamped the sentiment with VersaMark and then heat set it with white embossing powder. The ribbon is from the stash. I think this made a cheerful card for someone not feeling well.

That’s all for a hot and humid Friday, July 28, 2017…..which happens to be one of my daughter’s birthday….and a cousin’s birthday! …..okay, second cousin actually but we are only a year apart so we decided to say cousins. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and remember to be kind, always.

Cheers

Violet

Don’t forget you are more than welcome to save any cards or other items I post to your Pinterest account for future reference. Simply place the curser over the picture until the Pinterest save sign shows up in the top left corner and enter. This will take you to your Pinterest account. If it doesn’t work, please leave a comment and let me know so I fix it. Thanks.

A New Card with 2 New-to-me Techniques

Wow, we finally had a typical summer day with no threat of rain! It was hot and humid but not unbearable – at the lake that is…not sure about in the city! We went on another picnic and bike ride today and it was a great day. We may actually have two nice days in a row as tomorrow is predicted to be the same….but on Sunday we are back to thunderstorms!

A friend of our recently had open heart surgery (two surgeons and it took them seven hours) but he is home now and recovering nicely. I made him a card the other day using two techniques I had never used before. Here is his card.

 I began with an old greeting card that I die cut an oval out of it – Spellbinders. Then I placed it over a piece of white cardstock and sponged on Stampin’ Up Night of Navy ink through the open area to get a nice light blue oval. Then I stamped the boat (Close to My Heart) and the birds (Tim Holtz) with the same ink. That is one technique that I have never used before and I loved doing it and made a few more cards too…..stay tuned for them!

The Frugal Crafter had another technique I had never done before she demonstrated on a recent YouTube video and I wanted to try it but didn’t have the right punch. She punched the corners of the card front with a punch that left an insert on each side of the corners. I had nothing even close that would do that. However, I do have a punch that does two vertical lines for threading ribbon through. I found out that if I just put the punch in just a bit at the corners I end up with a notch….which worked perfectly. I taped one end of the bakers cord to the back and then wrapped it from corner to corner catching it in the notches and then taping the end at the back again. I love how it framed the picture. The sentiment was computer generated; mounted on a hand cut banner and then added with a dimensional glue strip. I then glued it to a dark blue piece of cardstock (yes the hand cut banner was cut from the middle of the blue panel) and then onto a white card base. I hope he likes it. I certainly had fun making it.

That’s all for a hot and humid Friday, July 14, 2017. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Cheers

Violet

Don’t forget you are more than welcome to save any cards or other items I post to your Pinterest account for future reference. Simply place the curser over the picture until the Pinterest save sign shows up in the top left corner and enter. This will take you to your Pinterest account. If it doesn’t work, please leave a comment and let me know so I fix it. Thanks.

A Poppy Card

The cool weather continues here with…yup, more rain and thunderstorms for the next few days. This Saturday, July 1, is Canada Day and it is even more special this year because it is our 150 anniversary! Lots of events are planned throughout the country but a lot of them around here are going to be rained out….which is a shame after all the work that goes into them.

In case you are wondering, yes I still have laryngitis – for three months now!!! – I have a weak voice, but a voice, some days but other days it’s not much more than a squeak….or not voice at all. The doctors are stumped so I’m waiting to see an ENT specialist.

Because of the cold and rainy weather I’ve spent more time in the lower studio (aka the basement) making cards and scrapbooking than I usually do in June. Here is one card that I made last week.

All the paper and ribbon are from the stash. The image itself was a free download I found on the Internet. It was coloured with pencils and blended with gamsol. Dark Stickles were added to the middle of the flower and Wink of Stella was spread on the flower and bud. The sky is chalk. The rectangles were die cut with the Elizabeth Craft Design stitched die set….love this set. Once the flower was coloured this was a pretty quick card to put together.

That’s all for a cool Wednesday, June 28, 2017.

Cheers

Violet

Don’t forget you are more than welcome to save any cards or other items I post to your Pinterest account for future reference. Simply place the curser over the picture until the Pinterest save sign shows up in the top left corner and enter. This will take you to your Pinterest account. If it doesn’t work, please leave a comment and let me know so I fix it. Thanks.

A Left-Over Card

Yet another beautiful day here in Ontario. I don’t have much to say because other than watering the garden; trying to finish some quilts and make some cards; and visiting my sister in the hospital, I don’t have time for anything else.

Yesterday I posted a card using a piece of an 8”x8” designer paper. The left over piece was used in this card.

 

For the card base, instead of using the pre-made white ones from Michaels, I took a piece of 8 ½” x 11” heavy cardstock that was white with a pinkish marble design on it and cut it in half to make two card bases, 4 ¼” x 5 ½”…..stay tuned for the other card made with this card base. This rectangle was all that was left of the designer paper because I used the top part to die cut the butterfly used on the other card. So, I inked the edges of it, glued it to a piece of pink cardstock that was cut just bigger enough to leave a 1/8” border and glued it to the card base. The circle was die cut with a Spellbinder’s die and glued off to the right of the rectangle…..I didn’t want to cover up too much of the designer paper! Then the flower was attached with the dimensional foam tabs that came with it….but I added some more for stability. The flower came from the same element pack that was on yesterday’s card….a great dollar store find. A simple design but I rather like it. It could be used for many occasions and I just may leave it blank for that reason.

That’s all for a lovely Wednesday,

Cheers

Violet

A Stylized Rose Card

Brrrrrr. Yes, we are back to brrrrr….at least compared to the last week of hot and humid temperatures. It’s that darn cold wind that makes you shiver. It's supposed to go down to 8C tonight (46F) so that's cold for May. It rained off and on all afternoon and in between the rain, we had sunny skies.....odd weather day for sure.

Today was another busy day- some housework; some errands (me while Joe cut grass); picked up newsletters from the church; delivered newsletters to my ladies in the nursing home; tried to help my friend fix her printer – failed at that one; quick supper and clean up (glad we have frozen meals I make in the freezer for these days and after supper I hit the lower studio and finished a scrapbook layout; tidied the desk and called it a night. I woke up at 5:00 this morning, up at 6:00, so it’s catching up with me now. Tired!

Today’s card is one example of what to do with a single flower stamp.

 

This stylized rose was stamped on water colour paper; coloured with water colour pencils; and then blended with water. The dies are Spellbinder’s oval dies. The background once again is from the stash and taped together at the back. This time I stitched around the edges of the blue background and the inner oval with bright blue thread. Because the rose was pink I paired it with the pink polka dot paper. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but I did….things have to either match or be complete opposite for me to like it. The tag was die cut with an old Cuttlebug tag die and the sentiment is a peel-off. I’m not sure where the bow came from.

That’s all for a cool Tuesday,

Cheers

Violet

A New Stamp!!!

This has been such a busy week what with both my sister and sister-in-law moving and/or getting ready to move and yet I told Joe that “I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything!” He just laughed and said that’s because you haven’t done any quilting or scrapbooking this week! True. I did make some cards but not much of anything else except help both of them with the trials of moving. My sister just finished her radiation for breast cancer about 10 days ago so she has not yet done major packing but we’ll get to that next week. She has lots of time yet before she has to be out of her place. We went to her new apartment this afternoon and spent a couple of hours putting down those thin sticky backed floor tiles on all the cupboards shelves and drawers. It is a bit of work but now the shelves look nicer and will be easier to clean. We didn’t get them all done but the rest will get done before she moves in.

Today’s card is the first one I made with my new Penny Black cling mount stamp. I love this stamp. I kept seeing it on various blogs and on YouTube and I just had to have it….and it wasn’t even on sale!

 

This was the first stamping of it and as I looked at it I thought this is going to be hard to stamp for a smaller card. This card base is 5 ½” so it’s a big stamp…..but then I noticed that flower on the far right was completely separate from the others. Mmmmhhhh do I cut it off or not. Off won. Yes, I cut up my stamps if they have something on it I don’t like or to make them more functional. Next week I’ll post a couple of cards with that cut off flower placed elsewhere on the card and left off all together. What about you….do you alter your stamps?

 Anyway, this was stamped on water colour paper with Archival ink and I used water colour pencils to paint the flowers in. I used actual water colour paint to do the sky and to splatter on the paint in the background. Now when you paint on water colour paper you are suppose to tape it down so it doesn’t buckle and bend. Do I ever remember to do that – NO, of course not but I have found a solution. If you ever have paper that is bent and only has paint or ink on it, iron it flat! Just place it between two pieces of plain paper to protect your iron and iron it with a hot dry iron. Works every time......but don't try this if it has glue, glitter or other bling on it.

Once it was ironed flat, some Stickles were added to the flowers and some sequins glued to the sky to add some bling. I was a little worried about just using glue to attach it to the darker pink layer so I made sure it stayed put by adding the heart brads after it was glued down. Before gluing it to the pink covered card base I added the ribbon and bow.

 

I really like this card and this stamp and I have no buyers remorse what so ever! It could be used for almost any occasion - ladies birthday card; anniversary card; get well card; or thinking of you card.

 

That’s all for a Friday, March-04-16

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cheers

Violet

 

"Ruff Day"

It was a cool, damp foggy morning here but we made sure we got our morning walk in. It’s not the same walking in town as it is out in the park but this time of the year we have to adjust. This afternoon I worked diligently on the last Halloween costume. Once again Jack picked a character that there are no patterns for and in fact, I’m thinking only other 12 year boys will know who is portraying. Oh well, it’s what he wants but I’m glad it’s done! All I have to do now is make the sword sheath....but not tonight. I've had enough sewing for one day. It's about time I got the boys Halloween cards made.

Today’s card is another one made from the dachshund calendar. As soon as I saw this picture, I had to use it.

 

I cropped the photo and mounted it on white cardstock. The background paper is from a very old 8x10 paper pack I picked up along with others at the thrift store. The edges were inked with brown ink. The sentiment is computer generated and added to a hand-cut banner. The inside says, “Wishing you better days ahead”. This could be used for either a thinking of you or a get well card.

That’s all for a cool Tuesday, 0ctober 6, 2015

Cheers

Violet

 

Under the Weather Card

It’s Easter Monday – schools and government offices are closed - Home Opening Baseball games (Hubby roots for Detroit Tigers and I root for Toronto Blue Jays – damp weather but no rain or snow that’s good – and I finally got my daughter’s quilt quilted this afternoon. The problem is I don’t have enough binding to bind the edge of it. I had bought the material and cut it out about 5 years ago and put it away unfinished, and forgot about it. I pulled it out last fall and was determined to finish it but then I remembered why I put it away – it was a square quilt and I don’t like square quilts. Well, I made it longer so it’s no longer square – but huge! – and now I’m short about 30” of binding. Groan! I’ll never be able to find the matching fabric but I’ll try hard to find something that matches. In the meantime I’m working on the quilt I’m donating to our local OSPCA (animal shelter) for their fund raiser. I made cards all weekend because I couldn’t take the noise of the sewing machine so I’m happy today is a better day and I’m back to quilting.

Today’s card is for the challenge at: www.craftingwhenwecanchallenges.blogspot.com which is to make a card about weather! I can do that!

This is a Penny Black House Mouse stamp...love these stamps. It coloured up very quickly with Prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol. The sentiment was computer generated and I just hand cut the banners. Paper is from my stash….which doesn’t seem to be going down no matter how many cards I make! I really must stop buying paper – HAH! Like that’s going to happen!!!

That’s all for a Monday, April-06-15

  Cheers

Violet

A New Stamp

The cold continues and the snow continues along with the moaning and complaining by a lot of people…especially one man in this house, not mentioning any names of course!!! Not much news around here other than we are finally updating the bathroom a bit and the plumber came today to see what he needed. He wanted to knock a hole in the bedroom wall for access but we said no, we will remove the top part of the shower-round instead. He was surprised the shower-round wasn’t attached to the wall – yeah, not in this house. I think the builders took a few liberties and we were the second owners, not the first, so too late to complain.

I do have a grandson gem for you. Our youngest grandson, Finn, is only 4 and is in Junior Kindergarten but is already learning to read. He knew all the letters of the alphabet when he was two and loves books so it is no surprise to us that he is reading already. Now here’s the funny bit. He sat down to read with his mom with a new book entitled, “Things I like.” He read the title then looks at his mom aghast and says, “should be "things THAT I like". Four year-old 1 -Scholastic books 0. I do believe he will do well in school!

Today’s card is from a stamp from the latest line by Stamping Bella….one of the ones I won before she moved to the states with exorbitant shipping charges to Canada so I don’t bother entering their challenges anymore.

This coloured up much quicker than I thought. Once again it was done with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I always like to have elements in uneven numbers and scattered about the card or scrapbook page. Hence, the blue pillows and two blue buttons. Same with the pink – her dress, the ribbon and tag (Spellbinders) and the small banner. The card was then mounted on pink and then on brown card base.

That’s all for a Wednesday,

Cheers

Violet

Get Well Cards

We have been spoiled by having several nice fall days in a row in October and November, but then it turns cold again, like today, and it’s a rude reminder that winter is around the corner. Yesterday we walked down to the cenotaph for the Remembrance Day service but today neither one of felt like going out at all….so we didn’t….the joys of being retired. My sister came for lunch today. She had an appointment just after 12:00 so we were eating early and we just turned the oven off and plated lunch up when the lights went out….no idea why but they didn’t come back on until about 15 minutes later….glad lunch was ready though other wise I guess it would have been a sandwich lunch for her!

After she left and we cleaned up I did the only part of quilting I don’t like…..pinning all the layers together. I don’t have a table so I have to tape it to the basement cement floor and sit and pin it together….so hard on my bad back and knee…but one is ready to quilt….which brought on another problem. I don’t usually do large quilts but this year I did and it is such a struggle getting a full size quilt stuffed into the sewing machine to get it quilted. I got so frustrated I called our local Baby Lock rep to see what a sewing machine with a wider throat plate would cost ……aaaagghhhhh…..over $3,000. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN ANY TIME SOON! So, I guess I’ll just push and shove and mutter to get them quilted.

Today I thought I would post a couple of cards with the same image, but in different layout colours.

Its flu season so I thought I’d get some more Get Well Soon cards done up. Love this image. They were coloured with my alcohol markers and die cut with a Spellbinder’s die. The backgrounds for both are from the stash as is that loopy border....another reason I don't throw little left over bits out! The sentiments were computer printed and then I cut them into the banner shape and glued them to left over bits of cardstock that was used on the top of the card.

That’s all for a Wednesday. My Toronto Maple Leafs are on tonight so I just might sit and colour up so more cards as I watch the game.

 

Cheers

Violet

Rainy Day Card

Yet another rainy day here in Ontario….but at least it’s not snow! I keep thinking of my blogging friend in California who is wishing for rain and here we are with days of it. And of course we had to get groceries today…why do we always seem to get groceries on a rainy day? Weird how often that has happened this year.

Yesterday I mentioned that besides doing crafty things I also like to do genealogy. A cousin in Chicago has Ancestry and I don’t but I have a lot of background info so we’ve been sending info back and forth and I order birth and death certificates for Canadian ancestors because he cannot do that from U.S.A. However, our local library has Ancestry and it is free to use – unlimited time if you bring your own laptop but limited if using one of their computers. So, if you are interested in researching your family, check with your local library to see what program they may have to help…..and if you happen to be related to the Willett family from North Collins, New York, let me know as we could be related.

Today’s card is one of the quickest cards I’ve ever made, and yet I like it.

 

I had some 8 ½” x 11” paper in my stash, likely from the thrift store as I don’t usually buy that size, and had no idea what to do with it. So, I cut one portion with the two umbrellas just ¼” smaller than my card base, inked the edges and glued it on. Then downloaded that little circle embellishment, inked that edge with the same hot pink; coloured the umbrella in with alcohol markers and glued it on with dimensional glue dots. Done! The rest of the paper is still in the stash but it will be used!

That’s all for a rainy Thursday,

 

Cheers

Violet

Busy Day Today

What a busy day this was! Today was the first day I’ve left the house since the quilt guild meeting last Wednesday. The weather turned cold and windy on Thursday which triggers off my brain disorders (trigeminal neuralgia and hemi-facial paralysis….don’t feel bad if you don’t know about them as they are both quite rare…rare to have one and even rarer to have both…lucky me, right!). So I’ve been quilting like crazy for the last few days and got lots done…with lots more to go! The brain disorders not only cause pain but they also affect my speech in various ways. Yesterday was another “add 20 or 30 syllables” to the end of every third or fourth word and I absolutely do not leave the house when I speak like that….people would think I was high on something and I don’t take even pain pills, but they wouldn’t know that. I also don’t leave the house if I’m speaking as if I’m impaired….and I’m a total abstainer from all alcohol and wine….or if I’m speaking slow and mispronouncing some words as this makes me sound…well, a little slow shall we say.

This morning I was speaking just fine and we decided to get groceries and run some errands and as soon as I stepped outside into the cool wind I started speaking with a southern accent…..Joe kind of likes that one! Apparently sometimes I have an English accent and some days a Chinese accent. Joe just shakes his head and says, “Never a dull moment with you dear!” Needless to say, we seldom every buy tickets for anything in advance! We all have our cross to bear and mine is much smaller than some peoples. This was proven to me again this afternoon when I went down to do some visits at the nursing home. Some of the residents are sad to visit with; some are a pleasure to visit. So if you are having a bad day, remember that it could always be worse! So, busy day for sure. Now it's back to quilting.

Today’s cards were so much fun to do. Flu season is here already so it’s nice to have some Get Well cards on hand.

I made this one first using paper from the stash and a bow from the now closed shoe factory. I added a piece of the same paper to the inside so it wouldn’t be just plain white. The cards came shaped from Michaels. All dies are from Spellbinders. I liked this one so much I decided to make a brown one as well.

 This bow was tied on my home-made bow maker but other than that it was made just like the blue one. I love it when I have ribbon that matches paper in the stash.

That’s all for a windy dull Monday.

Cheers

Violet

Blown Away and Fixing a Ooops

So windy today I could hardly walk forward at times. The wind was too cold for me to go for a walk so we decided to run a few errands so I could just go quickly from the car into a store…..forgot about the wind being even stronger out near the edge of town. Joe was laughing at me trying to walk straight against the wind. One lady was coming out of the grocery store as we were going in and the large plastic top from her pie went flying by us. A couple of guys tried to get it for her but to no avail. At least it didn’t rain. My sister is having major roof leaks and the roofer doesn’t come until tomorrow.

We wanted to run errands but had to just go where I didn’t have to talk as my speech is still just so-so. One of the stops was to the church to get the newsletters for the shut-ins I visit at a nearby nursing home. Joe had me try to say newsletters at home and that didn’t come out right so luckily the secretary had a couple of other parishioners in visiting and she knew what I was after so I just waved to them all and went and got them. Whew!....didn’t have to talk.

Yesterday I posted a get well card using a Mouse House stamp from Penny Black. Well, I stamped it twice because the first time one of the mice didn’t stamp. I hated to waste the paper so I coloured up just the one mouse and made this card with it.

Once the mouse was coloured I cut around it leaving just a bit of an edge. I also coloured and cut out the pill  that the other mouse had. The background paper is all from the stash and I just made a brown card base. The fancy square was made using a Spellbinder’s die. The mouse is attached with dimensional glue dots and then the pill was attached with one as well. Once again the ice cube was coated with Glossy Accents to make it look wet. The banner was hand cut and inked with brown in same as the yellow floral piece. I hate white edges so I pretty much always ink the edges.

Tonight I still wasn’t feeling all that great so instead of finishing my grandson’s Halloween costume I just sat and watched the first hockey game of the year. Unfortunately my Toronto Maple Leafs lost with less than a minute to go...... Gonna be another long year for my Leafs I’m afraid!

That’s all for a Wednesday,

 Cheers

Violet