"Wordless Wednesday Duckie"

Catch that Fly!!!!

Enough said!!!

Cheers ~ Louise

Okay...........It's Monday

Yep.......another Monday, what can I say? A big snow storm looms ahead of us tomorrow and Wednesday....yuke!!! Weatherman is saying 6-9 inches. Sure do hope our snowblower works and this little squirrl can find the nuts he hid in our backyard......lol!!! Early this morning JP let the dogs out and he saw a possum........that sure is strange cause we live in the city limits. Glad our dogs did not see the possum, we would have had a fight on our hands!!

Not going to make this a long blog today as I have some bills to pay and finish organizing our income tax, so I can take it in and have the accountant finish up the rest. Sure am hoping we get something back again this year.

Well you have a great day and keep looking up for our redemption draweth nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

"Dragonflies and Flowers"

Here is my newest card, made last night. I ordered a few new stamps from an Etsy store on Wednesday and was totally amazed that yesterday I received the 2 stamps in the mail so soon. Gosh that was fast service!!! The two stamps had to be mounted on backing for use on acrylic blocks. Buying the unmounted stamps is much more cheaper then mounted ones....so, I did not mind buying them unmounted. Gave me time to think about what I wanted to do with the dragonflies. The other stamp says, "1 cross +3 nails = 4 given" I thought that was so apropos for Easter..........The gospel in a nut shell!!!

Anyways this is what I came up with......as I had a piece of vellum sitting in front of me, I thought, well lets stamp it and color the dragonfly in with copic markers on the backside so it would not smear the black ink. WALA, then the thought of a vellum flower came to mind and punching the bottom of the card with Martha Stewerts punch then adding liquid pearls to the card really added a touch of elegance to the card.

I probably will be adding a few more of these cards to my Etsy store as I get them made and maybe a set of 3 in different colors. This is my plan.......it will keep me busy and occupied for a while.

You have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

Something Old.....Something New....

Finally downloaded the cards we made at Sandi's home last week. The above card was not made at Sandi's though......made this one for Shirley, as we exchange cards with each other once a month....my theme for this month is "whatever I am making at the time" As I am into "vintage looking" cards this is what I came up with. An old picture from a website I found "girl with her sled". Embellished with the vellum flower and punch from Martha Stewart. Dabbed with a brown ink pad. Kinda looks like "Something old".

This card was made at Sandi's home.......and this is the card she showed us how to make. Lots. of card layering, the top layer went through the cuttlebug, with a dotted folder down the side and oval nestability. I cut out flowers and popped them up, embellishing with gems and a black flower.

This is Shirley A's card. She embossed the card then ran a brayer over in different colors, then we embellished the card with the circles gold pen and verse on the inside.

Here's the card I brought, another old looking card....printed the card out on my printer, then hearts punched out embellished with a ribbon and layered on gold cardstock. A gel pen and speckles were added to sparkle things up.

This was Shirley K's card.........I really liked this one, as I have made a few since. The vellum flower was a scalloped punch, then folded and cut in half and glued on the card........hard to explain....maybe there is a tutarial on Youtube, I shall have to look and let you know. Sparkle cardstock was run through a cuttlebug with two different folders then ribbon drawn across. I guess you can use any ribbon but this ribbon was especially nice, must look for some like it. White would go with any color vellum flower. I have some teal vellum, gosh, think that would make a lovely card, don't you????


Well, think I will close this blog for today. Looking forward to getting some new stamps in the mail that I bought on Etsy. Easter cards are whirrling around in my head, so one of the stamps will be for Easter, kind of excited to see what comes out of it. So until then, keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh.

Cheers ~ Louise

Picking Lillies

Isn't this a pretty picture??? Thinking of making a card out of this. Found a web-site, just typed in "free vintage silhouettes" and up came this site. It has all sorts of vintage type/clip art pictures. Next step.........is to see how it prints out and how big it will be.

Went to a card making session last night at Sandi's.......was alot of fun. Made 4 cards and each one was very unique in their own way. I will take a picture of them and download them tomorrow. Get them on this blog soooooooooon!!!!

Well, you have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption drawth nigh!!!
Cheers~Louise

A Governor Walker Sign!!!

I LOVE THIS SIGN............I voted for Scott Walker because I knew he would make some "GOOD" changes in this state. And, HE HAS. But there is always the "left" that don't like what the right does and tries to make the right look bad. Here is a Governor that is actually balancing the budget, isn't that what we wanted when we voted for him??????? But, oh no, the left wants to re-call Scott Walker and spend all the money that Walker has saved for this State. Does that make sense???????? I think, for one thing, the federal government needs to take a lesson from Scott Walker and get some pointers on how to balance the budget!!! Walker is doing a good job and I certainly will vote for him again!!!!

There was a "It's your call" letter in the newspaper last week (I wish I had saved it) but it said in effect that when we voted for Walker that is who we wanted as Governor of Wisconsin, now the people on the left who want to recall Walker are saying in so many words through this re-call that our vote does not count.......excuse me!!????? Those re-call people were so intrusive in the first place, being in places they did not belong, I for one, did not like what they did!!! I let one re-caller know how I felt........gave him an American flag tract with the "10 commandments" on it and said I did not agree with what he was doing and walked away. Maybe if these re-call people had jobs they wouldn't have been on the streets collecting names.

Here is another "It's your call" letter (this one I saved) Walker backers: "...Yes, there will be more than 100,000 people marching for Gov. Scott Walker, but we'll do it when the time comes at the ballot box. We don't have time to march-we all have jobs." Here, here!!!!

Well, now you know where I stand on this walker situation.........now if only the Presidential elections would play out "right" and not to the "left"!!! Here's a question, did you ever wonder which of the two thieves hanging on the cross next to Jesus made it into Paradise??? The one on the "right" or the one on the "left"????

Well you have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh. If you have the answer to my question, please feel free to leave a comment.
Cheers ~ Louise
PS. please be advised, this is only my political point of view and no one elses.

♥A Valentine Gift for Him♥

This is the Valentine gift I am giving the husband tomorrow, hope he likes it. A "heart box" which I got at Archivers a month or so ago, bought $10 worth of Valetine's product......that was not a hard challenge at all!!! Give me $100 and I could spend it in no time flat...lol!

So I thought it would be fun to decorate, this is what I came up with. My next challenge was trying to figure out what I wanted to put in it, no candy, no nuts, no cookies, no chocolate...........Finally came up with the answer! JP is into dried prunes, yes you heard me, they are individually wrapped, so this will work out well. They are actually VERY healthy, packing in lots of anitoxidents....more then blueberries AND they give you a GOOD constitution!!!!!

Back to the heart construction........wrapped and glued lace around the heart then covered it in red cardstock. Covered the edge with red spickles, then white spickles, sparkly red and gold heart-shapes, lots of bling and a red bow and an old-fashioned Valentine from the 50's. On the base of the heart...(which you cannot see, stuck the sparkly red and gold hearts around the base of the heart. (JP and I went to an Antique store and someone was selling some old valentines, wish I had gotten a few more. But, Valentines is almost over.....maybe next year that antique store will have more.)

JP's gift to me was a brand new pair of slippers......my old slippers were getting hole-ly and dangerous to wear, cause I was tripping over them.....time to go in the garbage, they only lasted 12-15 years or so. A gift from my mother.

JP and I went out to eat after church yesterday.......to the Express Diner (used to be a George Webbs) we got breakfast, buy one, the second one is free. Two eggs over easy, hash browns and rye toast and jelly........very good meal. We also got 6 hambergers for $5 for dinner along with homemade soup I made on Saturday....Italian Wedding Soup. Oh delicious!!!

So I think I will close this blog for now.......wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day, hope it is really special for you.........enjoy. Keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh.

Cheers ~ Louise

♥A Very Vintage Looking Card♥

Isn't this a pretty card.......wouldn't mind someone sending a card like this to me, I really like it. JP and I went on a date Saturday and I found these reproduced vintage replica cards - 9 postcards for $.50 and thought they would make a nice card. Needed to send an anniversary card and put this one together last night......yep, think I will make some more like these. Simple to make and put together for one of those quicky cards, yet very elegant and that needs to go out by the next day. I ran off a couple of cards on my printer, soooooo can make lots of them. The postcards are not a "copywrite" so it is legal for me to copy.

Going to add a few cards to my Etsy store today after I finish this blog....more St. Patrick Day cards. Another 4 card set for $10 + postage (just $2.50 for each card - a special for St. Patty's day) Check out my store at http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/ Had a good start for the year, having 3 Etsy sales......hope that is a good sign for the rest of the year. My husband said it takes a good 5 years to get a business going, been on Etsy since 2008..........this is my 5th year, I hope he is right. Hope, hope, hope!!!!

Well, I need to close this blog for today and go on to Etsy. Then, get working on my income tax.....uge! I have till March 2nd to put it all together. Our accountant likes that I organize everything so he just has to look at it and zip, zip, zip it is all finished. We are hoping to get some money back as JP's car broke down and we could not get it fixed, needed too much work. So now we are down to just one car and that puts quite a kink into my schedule. If I have shopping to do, I need to be home in time for JP to go to work....not fun!

Well, you all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh!!!

Cheers ~ Louise

♣Some New St. Patrick Day Cards♣

Added some new cards to my Etsy store today. Here is a sampling of them. The two Irish boys were made last year, had never put them in my store. Must have made them after St. Patrick's Day. The two new ones on the right were made in the last couple of days. The card on the bottom, right, I found in an Antique store, in a packet 9 postcards $.50 and marked "reproduced vintage replicas"....thought they would make a nice card....I was right. After embellishing it with more shamrocks and a gel pen, think I will make some more, thought they turned out rather fun!!!

Will be adding another set of 4 cards on Wednesday and possibly a third set on Friday. Hopefully they will sell. The price of each set is $10.00 + 3.00 postage. I am selling my cards for $2.50 a piece, that's cheap cause I usually sell my cards for $3.00.

Can't think of too much to write tonight......so I think I will close......you all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Fabio's Italian Wedding Soup.........mmmmmm

Made this soup last night......out of this world!!! Only thing I changed is that I used ground turkey for the meat balls and added dried Basel after the soup was cooked. Oh yeah, breadcrumbs instead of panko, noodles instead of orzo.....geeez, guess I changed alot of things, sorry! It still turned out really, really good though, you will have to try it, was alot of fun to make and one bowl was just not enough. No telling what the # of calories were, or sodium mg's or carbs count were.....just was plain good to the last drop. Fabio's directions were really easy and he is a kick to listen to, if you want to watch his video just type in "Fabio's Italian Wedding soup" click on one of the links and that will take you to his video. I tried to get his video on my blog, but could not seem to get it........oh well.

Here is the recipe: 1 c chopped onion, 1 c chopped carrots, 1 cup chopped celery, saute in extra virgin oil, cook on high till caramelized. While cooking make meatballs.

1 lb ground beef or ground turkey, 3 T Parmesan cheese, 1/3 c panko or breadcrumbs, 2 eggs, salt and pepper to taste. mix with hands and make balls bite size or 1/2 in. in diameter. Bake in oven 10 -15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Add 3 qt. chicken stock to chopped and saute' vegies, 3 handfuls of baby spinach, 1-2 cups orzo (I used Penni noodles, guess you can use whats on hand) Add your meatballs and simmer for a while........if you can wait that long, I also sprinkled some basil and salt and pepper to taste.

Well, these are the ingredients I wrote down watching his video, you can get better instructions from him or from http://www.cooks.com/ or http://www.recipe.com/ or any other cooking site. You probably will find there are many different ways to make Italian Wedding Soup.......But Fabio does a great job and he is fun to watch, plus it was very simple to make and very delicious too!!!

Working on some St. Patrick cards, hopefully will have a set up by this week-end. JP and I are going on a date later on today........going to the antique mall to look at clocks and bowls for his cousin Doug. Have a great day and keep looking up for you never know when your redemption will draweth nigh.

Cheers ~ Louise

Ground Hog Day and a "Thanks" Card!!!!!!!

Yep.....it's that day of the year that we find out if we have 6 more weeks of WINTER!!! Personally, I am not really caring.......if the groundhog sees his shadow or not. Guess it depends on which groundhog you are talking too.....hahahah......and which one saw his shadow, the one in Wisconsin or the one in PA, Ohio, Ill or Mich. (Note: just on the news....a couple of them did not see their shadow, does that mean an early spring????? whatever). So many people seem to think they know how to predict the future in some way or another......hummmmmm.....me thinks no one knows the future except God!!!! For isn't His ways higher then our ways and His thoughts higher then ours??????? "If God says", I will tend to listen to what HE says and not man or groundhogs.....so there!!!! I have no pictures of a groundhog.....they aren't that pretty or cute like my puppy dogs..........soooooo this may just be a picture less blog for today. Who knows maybe I will come up with something as I write.

Some bad news yesterday.....we had to get rid of our second car, had too many things wrong with it, needed brakes, new fuel lines, rusty lines, tyrods, etc. would cost more to get it fixed then what it is worth....junk yard paid us $400....that was good. Paid part of our bill at Van Linn's, the rest will go towards another "old car" and more bills till that one wears out and becomes "undriveable".
Here's a picture of a card I made with my new Cricut machine, (used this picture in a previous blog) I really like my Cricut, it's fun to play with. It is a gift from a friend. Bought some new mats on Etsy, ordered them on the 28th of January and they arrived yesterday......gosh that was fast delivery. Have an idea for a St. Patrick card, "Kiss me I'm Irish" card. Really need to get some more cards in my Etsy store for St. Pats......sort of lagging behind. But I did notice that last year, this time I sold some St. Pat's cards, 4 of them, starting the 21st of February.......soooo, guess I have a little bit of time to get some cards made and up in my Etsy store. Take a peek, go to http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/

Hope you all are having a great day with better days ahead and keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh!!!
Cheers ~ Louise