A Liebster Award Nomination!!!

Hi everyone. Well today I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Brenda at http://inkspiredtostamp.blogspot.com  Please visit her blog, she makes really cute cards and I enjoy visiting her everyday to see what she is up to.

She has given me some questions to answer and here they are:

1. Do you scrapbook as well as make cards? Yes, but not much. I have put a "dog" scrapbook together of all the dogs we have had and last Christmas made my husband a scrapbook of his racing day back in 1972-73...but it's not finished yet. I do prefer card making to scrapbookking though.
2. Are you a daytime or nighttime stamper? Mostly a nighttime stamper.
3. Do you listen to music or have the TV on when you stamp? TV
4. Are you a stay at home stamper or do you join others at a local place and stamp? Mostly stay at home, but I do go once a month to a lady's house to stamp and she shows us some of her new techniques in card making. I am also involved with a Hospice group, that meets every two months, we bring cards we have made specifically for Hospice adding their inserts. They will be shared with people with cancer.  
5. Where do you shop for supplies (online, brick and mortar store or other)? My favorite place to shop was at Archivers (they are closed now), but now maybe I will start shopping on line via Archivers.com  I still go to Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's and Micheals. But honestly, I did most of my shopping at Archivers.
6. Are most of your friends stampers? No
7. Do you craft with others in your family? No

Now I am nominating seven people for this award. You can visit their blogs and learn about them here.

http://bgardencreations.blogspot.com
http://cardsbyamerica.blogspot.com
http://cazroscraftcorner.blogspot.com
http://kittykatkards.blogspot.com
http://creativekornerbykellie.blogspot.com
http://scrappinanstampininGJ.blogspot.com
http://popperandmimi.blogspot.com

These are the questions I would like to ask:
1) How long have you been stamping and are there other crafts you do?
2) How do you get your inspiration?
3) What are your favorite techniques?
4) What do you do with the cards you make? Or other crafts?
5) If you were given 1 million dollars, what would you do with it?
6) What season is your favorite for making cards?
7) Do you sell your cards on Etsy?
Copy and paste the Leibster Award on your blog.

Here are the rules for the nomination:

1.Be sure to thank the blog that nominated you and be sure to link back to their blog.
2.Answer the 7 questions that the blogger asked you.
3.Nominate 7 of your favorite blogs with under 500 followers and ask your own 11 questions.
4.Make sure to let each blogger know about your Liebster Blog nomination on their blog (leave a comment and link back to your Liebster Blog post).
If you need to know what this Liebster Award is all about you can go HERE and read all about it....

My nominations are ladies that I admire and whose blogs I read. They are so talented and I hope you will visit them and say hello.

Have a great day and do visit some of these blogs.
Cheers ~ Louise

Nothing Much Happening....

Just thinking about spring and planting flowers. Now this is a cute little "rototiller" isn't it? Not that I have one of these....but, I can dream.

Nothing much is happening at this end. Been making my dish cloths....everytime one is finished, the old one goes in the wash and the new one is used.  Maybe when I get an abundance of dish cloths, I will finally put them in my Etsy store for you to buy....(smile). I just saw an Etsy store who is selling her dish/wash cloths 3 for $9.59...why that number I am not sure, but I figure it must be $3.00 for each cloth and the 59 cents for fees. Not sure what postage is, shall have to check that next time I am on Etsy.

Went through a lot of pictures last night and organized them......some day I shall put them in albums. I have found that I have a large amount of frames, over 45 frames....what will I do with them? Not sure at this point, but for now I just want to get all my pictures, frames and albums together, instead of different places of the house.

I am also organizing the basement.....now that is a major over-haul. There sure is an accumalation of "stuff" that needs to be gotten rid of. After organizing, I will then go through stuff and see what will be getting sold in the garage sale this June or July. So as you can see, I do have a plan for the next couple of months.

Well, think I will close for now, have some bills to pay and have a bite to eat....maybe roast some vegies. Sounds like a good meal for Louise tonight. Another plan for the month of March is to lose 5-10 lbs before I see the Doctor in April. I don't want to be given a stronger medication for diabetes. So, if I can lose the lbs then it won't be neccessary this time around. We shall see how things go, a lot of this weight loss is in the head....as soon as I see some weight loss, sabatoge sets in.....not sure why that happens. Losing weight is very hard, gaining is very easy. Oh well, such is life, always a struggle of some sort.

Talk to you later and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Let's Go Swimming Someplace Warm.....

Hi everyone....hope you are all well and keeping warm or cool where ever you are living. Well, it is 11 degrees here today in Wisconsin. Guess it will be 5 to 15 degrees this whole week....better then 0 degrees huh?!?

I am ready to go someplace warm and take a nice swim, get your bathing suit ready and let's go swimming!!!

Not sure where this lovely place is, found it on Pinterest.com It sure looks inviting. An indoor-outdoor pool, oh yum. Probably a piece of heaven. Many years ago, when my mother and step-father moved out to Las Vegas, they bought a beautiful house with an out-door pool and jacuzzi. I went out there to visit them, it was 1988. We did a lot of site seeing and walked through a lot of casinos and ate a LOT of food.

My main focus was their swimming pool, of which I practically lived in every chance I got. I could only swim in the morning and late afternoon or evening. Because the afternoon sun was just too hot and not realizing it, the skin could burn real quick. So I would do the early morning or late evening swims.....like until 10:30pm, and later if I could. But my mother would call me in...."Louise, it's getting late, time to come in" (???). Geez, I was 42 years old then, and she was calling me in, cause it was late!!!! (What????)

But, while I was out there in the pool by myself, it sure felt like a piece of heaven, just loved it. I think even now I would just love to jump in that pool and just float around....doesn't that sound just heavenly about now????

This picture from Pinterest.com is in Japan. Looks like it must be heated, has to be with all that snow on the rocks. Oh but it sure does look inviting doesn't it? Would just love to put my feet in the water and let my feet and legs dangle in that water. Another piece of heaven, I would say!!!

Now this picture was also found in Pinterest.com is from Pamukkale, Turkey. Okay...here is what I found by googling about these beautiful blue pools: "If you love seeking out surreal sites, that look not of this world, then do we have a destination for you. Pamukkale, or "cotton castle" in Turkish, is an unreal little village that has some of the most spectacular turquoise water terraces you will ever lay eyes on. For thousands of years, people have come here to bath in the hot springs. There are 17 of them in all that range in temperature from 35 °C (95 °F) to 100 °C (212 °F). What makes this site so breathtaking, however, is how the pools look against the white limestone mountains. The terraces are made of travertine, a form of limestone deposited by the thermal waters.

For those looking to take a dip, sadly you're out of luck. As world traveler Michael Turtle states, "Whereas once you could swim in the travertines, now security guards keep a watchful eye on anyone trying to get too close. Other than a special swimming pool that has been constructed away from the cliffs, Pamukkale is generally to be seen but not touched these days.
"In many ways, that’s to be applauded. The site is a truly remarkable natural phenomenon and it would be a pity if human interference damaged it permanently for future generations."

I Wonder who those people are swimming in the pool...perhaps the guards??? But it sure does look relaxing there and those people look very happy just laying there enjoying the warm waters. Aaahhhhhhh, heavenly!!!

This too is from Pinterest.com. I posted this picture once before, liking it so much, I am posting it again. It is someplace in Greece, another place that looks so inviting. Would love to just splash around in this pool all the day long. No cares in the world, no stress to drag me down, no worries. No pain, no tears.....well that sounds like heaven again!!! Yes, someday, and someday soon we'll be in the shelter of God's arms and finally have that peace we all long to have....yep, someday soon, we'll be splashing around in the heated pools of His healing.

Well, I hope you had a great day. Keep warm and talk to you later.... Cheers ~ Louise

A Few Cards, Computers and Crocheting

Hi everyone, how are you all doing??? Hope the weather is treating you well, where ever you are. We are still digging out from the storm yesterday and the weatherman said there is a major storm coming on Thursday. Yikes. I shoveled a bit today and there is no place to put all the snow. The mounds of snow are as tall as I am and I am 5'3". Pretty tall mounds!!! Where oh where will all this snow go, when it starts to melt?????

Well, I tried getting this blog up last night, but my computer was not cooperating with me. I still have Windows XP, and XP is going to be discontinued April 8th. Booooo!!! Guess I will be looking for a new computer in the next month or so. I think the "higher ups and powers that be" have this all planned out. So, if we get a refund from the Government, guess that money will have to be spent on either a upgrade for $100-$200 or a new computer for $500, more or less.....depending on what I want and what I can spend. Oh and then there is the learning curve of going into Windows 8 and who knows, by the time I learn Windows 8........Windows 9 will be right around the corner!!! Man....someone knows how to make money and it ain't me!!!!

Been working on some new cards. This may be my new line....using vintage looking stamps and stamping on pages of old hymnals and newspapers. This card was stamped with my new chandilier stamp that I got 50% off at Archivers...(sob, which just closed Saturday). The pretty lady, lace and flowers embellish the card. I think this could be an everyday card....depending on what you need it for.

This is the Valentine card I made for JP. He liked it very much. Thinking I shall make a few more of these for next Valentine's Day. Maybe even as a birthday or thinking of you.

Started doing a bit of crocheting. I love using knitted and crocheted dish rags for washing dishes. Thought it was time to start making my own, might just sell a few in my Etsy store also....once I get the hang of it and find a pattern I like....who knows, maybe a crocheted card of some sort is in the future. Maybe using the crocheted flowers in the below picture.

I found a blog that made crocheted flowers, something I had been looking for, for quite awhile. Then going to "youtube" I found out how to make leaves....so if you are looking to make these two items, check out the many tutorials there. As you can see there are two different kinds of flowers...just have to decide which one comes together easier. Practice makes perfect and no....have not found perfection in my dish rags or flowers. Someday maybe.

Well, time to close here and go do a bit of excercise and make some lental soup. So you all have a great evening and keep looking up, Spring is a coming around the corner!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Who Wants Some Coffee.....MEEEEEE

Hi everyone....hope you are having a wonderful day. It is sunny here and the temps are 16 degrees. Feels good, although I have not been outside, except to let Kylie out. It's been kind of a lazy day today, that's okay though, good to have a day like that once in awhile.

Need to finish the income tax paper work today, JP and I will go over it to make sure I have everything listed. Then Monday it goes in to the accountant. Here's hoping we'll get a refund of some sort. We certainly pay enough in taxes during the year. Did you ever try and figure out how much gas you buy for your car during the year? I went through the check book register...estimated about $1100 and that was not including cash, cause that did not go through the checking account. Geez, no wonder we're broke all the time.

Well, I think I need another cup of coffee......(wink, wink)

I have been on a diet the last couple of days.....fruit on Thursday, vegies on Friday and today it's fruit and vegies. Roasted some asparagus, peppers, onions, carrots and broccoli last night and finished it off today....did not even share with JP....it sure was good. I've lost 5 lbs so far, but I am thinking that is mostly water weight, so that does not count. Been doing a little bit of exercise in the evening. Using DVD/old VHS tapes for exercise, Wednesday night it was "walking with George Foreman" Thursday and last night exercise with Chris Powell from Extreme Weight loss. Tonight I might put a Richard Simmons tape in and revisit the 90's. He was always a fun person to watch and exercise with.

So tomorrow it's bananas and skim milk (I shall make a smoothie for breakfast) plus diet soup with cabbage, onions, tomatoes, carrots and spinach for the day. Monday I get to add rice with the soup and some tomatoes. We'll see how this goes. It is a cleansing diet also...cause bread, meat and lots of carbs are eliminated.

Well time to close, need to get working on the taxes. Have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

♥♥♥ I Love Paris ♥♥♥

Oh my....it was so cold and snowy today. So, I decided to take a trip to Paris, France for Valentine's Day. Suddenly that familar song popped into my head, "I Love Paris". Although I have never been to Paris, it sure was fun to visit via Pinterest.com. So come along for a short trip to Paris. The sights are beautiful!

              The song: "Every time I look down on this timeless town, whether blue or gray be her skies,

                 Whether loud be her cheers or whether soft be her tears, more and more do I realize.

                                      That I love Paris in the spring time,

                                       I love Paris in the fall

                                           I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles,

                             I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles

I love Paris every moment, every moment of the year, I love Paris, why oh, why do I love Paris? Because my love is near".

Happy Valentine's Day to you and your favorite people. May this day be special and you enjoy the day. Keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Here's an interesting little tidbit about the Effel Tower. Did you know there are approximately 4 acres under the Effel Tower. That sure puts things in perspective doesn't it. I have always seen the Effel Tower in pictures. So picturing 4 acres makes that tower pretty big!!!

Sicily and Made 2 Cards

So today I decided to go to Sicily Italy.....aaaahhhhhhh....so warm and sunny. Do you see me in that boat???? We are having cheese and crackers a little fruit and water. So relaxing. Don't you just love these minute vacations and they don't cost a single penny. Yep, we are rich when it comes to taking vacations. We can go any place our heart desires on the internet via Pinterest. Check out my boards if you like, I have lots of stuff there, go to: http://www.pinterest.com/louisellen/ (Sorry, the link button is not working for some reason.)

Ummmm...............still relaxing, I don't want to leave. Is this what Heaven will be like?????? Blue skies, water, sun and perfect weather conditions. Yes!!!!!!

Thought I would post a few cards I made last night. I got the idea for these cards from another blogger, her name is Frenchie. She took acrylic blocks and used them to stamp with. So I tried it and "Waa-Laa" (as she always says) I got this rather neat effect. Then I used a stamp using the same effect on the Anniversary card. I rather like the way it turned out. Here is Frenchies address: http://www.frenchiestamps.com If you are looking for "Stampin Up" she is a dealer. (Sorry, the link button is not working for some reason)

I bought the chandalier stamp at Archivers for 75% off. Debated as to if I should buy it. Had seen it around alot but never had the urge to buy it. But, at 75% off, it is part of my collection now, and I am glad I bought it. It's very elegant, I think. My next project with this stamp will be stamping on pages from an old gospel hymnal song book. I have seen examples on Etsy and rather like the effect.

Well you all have a great day and keep looking up. Winter is almost over in a few weeks for some of you. For others, hang on for an explosive Spring!!!!! Why I used that phrase, I don't know. Cheers ~ Louise

I Am Taking A Break In........

Hi everyone.....don't you just feel like getting away today??? Well, I am taking a break and today I am going to Hawaii!!!! Gosh this is fun...may just take off a few more days like this.

Ahhhhh....here I am in Greece!! Would be nice to just take off and find these quiet places to gather ones thoughts and renew the spirit. Life can be a bit stressful at times.

And last but not least.....Tahiti, oh my this is the life. Take me away Calgon!!!

Well there you have it a quick tour of some wonderful places. I might just do this again next week. Have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Do You Wanna Go For a Walk???

Hi there everyone, how you all doing? I hear there are storms going through the mid-west today. Stay safe and warm. I think we are supposed to get partly cloudy and warmer temps this week. Getting up to 20 degrees by this weekend....heat wave!! We'll see, as the weather can change so quickly here in Wisconsin. I would love to take off for a warmer climate, but you never know what the weather could be there. Oh well, I can only dream of warmer places.

Thought I would add a few pictures of Kylie today. Whenever we say...."do you wanna go for a walk" oh my goodness does she get excited!! As you see in this picture, she is just a blur. Yep, that's her going around in circles, she goes so fast, I can't believe she does not get dizzy!!! I know I would. She finally settles down so we can put the leash on and then you better hold on, cause she pulls you out the door. Funny how our animals can run our life and we let them.

In this picture the door is opened, sun shinning and she is ready to go. We can only go for short walks, cause some of the neighbors have laid salt down, that is pretty rough on Kylies feet. Plus the ground is so cold, her feet freeze up fast. She also keeps her nose close to the ground, trying to smell all the smells and then starts coughing. So we don't say out long. It's just a quick run down to Kitty's house then back to ours and past John's house and back. Not a long walk but it's better to go for short ones and not get "cabin feaver". I should have taken her today, but "lazy" got in the way. Maybe tomorrow, the sun is suppose to shine and it will be a bit warmer.

I shall close this blog for today. Need to take a nap and then do my taxes....not a pleasant job. You all take care and keep looking up...Spring is coming soon!!! Cheers ~ Louise

I'm Waiting for Spring.......

Hi everyone......well, it is February 1st....not much longer and it will be spring!!! And just think, we will see flowers and sunshine, there will be bugs and spiders, mosquitos, bees buzzing, lots of rain, tornados and who knows what else. But it will be spring and lots of work outside. I am looking forward to it.

In the mean time I will keep dreaming and looking forward to the next season coming up. Which is just 48 days away, that being the 1st day of spring March 20th. Daylight Savings is just 37 days away on March 9th. So you see, we have much to look forward to. Easter is April 20th and "NEW LIFE" begins!!!!!! I love Easter and the true meaning of what Easter is all about, not about rabbits, chickens and chocolate but that Jesus was Resurrected, what an exciting day that must have been.

This will be a short blog....was just going through my emails and ran across this House Mouse picture and he immediately reminded me of Spring. So you all have a great weekend and keep looking up, better days are a coming. Cheers ~ Louise