Cards and a Busy Week

Hi there everyone of you.....guess I have been a bite busy lately. It's been 11 days since I last posted. Last Wednesday was my card making day at Betty's. That is always fun. I like getting new ideas.

Betty does most of the work designing, cutting and measuring. She puts everything in an envelope, card stock, paper, ribbon, tags, etc.  We just put the card together, using her copic markers, stamps and ink and gems.

This was a neat card to make. Betty had the flowers embossed with black. We painted in the colors with Pearlex which makes the colors iridescent...so pretty. I am giving this card to someone...I know she will love it.

This was a putsey card.....nothing colored in, except for all the peddles of the flowers. Betty stamped in the tree. So the flowers were colored then rolled on a rubber mat, glued then the gems were added. 

I really liked this card...will make for a nice birthday card, maybe I will give it to JP for his birthday. We used to have a truck like that....but I think it was green. JP tried to teach me to drive shift...but I never got the hang of it. Standard for me all the way. The background was sponged in with ink, then the windmill, foreground stamped in black. The truck was colored in with copic markers then putsey cut the truck.

We got our refund from Uncle Sam this week.....it will help for awhile. We will be getting our new (to us) dryer from Howie Voight Used Appliances next Wednesday. JP is getting tired of hanging clothes and towels. He hung towels outside on the line, they were out there for 4 days...till I finally brought them in.

The next day, Thursday, I will be taking the car to Muntz to get our radio/CD player installed. Gosh, I have been without a radio in the car for at least a year....it will be nice to have music and talk shows to listen to.

JP has a Doctors appointment on Monday. Keep him in your prayers. He is going for his 6 month check up for "active surveillance" to see if the cancer is still there. I heard the other day that a man had stage 4 prostrate cancer and is having the prostrate removed this next week. I am not even sure what stage JP is?? Will have to ask the Doctor....if I don't forget.

Friday, is Hospice meeting.....almost have my cards finished. Just a few more cards to add to the collection. I made some neat Mother's day cards and Birthday cards. I will have to take some pictures after I am done.

Well, it looks like a busy week....only day open is Tuesday. I need to stay home and wait for the call from Howie Voight to set up a time for them to deliver the dryer. That will be a great day, I am sure JP will have all his wash done, so he can put it in the dryer when it is delivered. No more hanging of clothes.

Well, time to close, I need to go make dinner for JP when he gets home at 1:30am....yeah, it's a long day, no wonder I take a nap at 4:00pm gets me through the rest of the day.

You all have a great week and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Some New Cards

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine was interesting. JP had his tooth pulled on Friday at the oral surgeon. We also picked up our income tax papers. We will be getting a refund....Yay for that!!!

Also on Friday, I went shopping for a dryer. As long as JP was home convalescing with his pulled tooth and did not go to work. I. Got. The. Car. for the afternoon. Checked out 3 different stores. I almost bought a New Frigidaire for $400 + delivery, set up and take the old machine. ($490)

A New Speed Queen washer and dryer was priced at $2000.00......out of my budget (but it sure would be nice to have!!!) Off to the second store, a new Amana $420. A new Maytag $422. Off to the third store which was a used appliance store. A Kenmore, $250 including everything. Then there was the Maytag for $220 + delivery and pick up = $300 and from the looks of the condition it was brand new. I like Maytags....they last longer.

So I am excited about getting the dryer, but, have to wait till our refund comes, which might be in a week or so. Then it just might be another week till the dryer is delivered. In the mean time, it's hanging the clothes in the basement. What a chore!! So much easier to put the clothes in a dryer.....spoiled much????

Saturday was spent watching the Chicago Blackhawks lose 5-3 and tonight....they lost again 5-4 oh well....now I understand why my step father got so disgusted with them. Hopefully the 2018-19 season will be better.

In these next couple of pictures are some cards I put together Saturday night. I got the idea at Hobby Lobby. They give card making classes there and always put the sample cards they will be making on the bulletin board. I always check out the bulletin board every time I go in there. I bought my Giraffe stamp a year ago, and finally used it with this idea.

My secret stamper friend sent me the "Hello" image.....it took me awhile to put this idea together, cause when I saw the giraffe sample at Hobby Lobby, the first thing I thought of was using the "Hello" with this giraffe on this card.

I used different colored card stock, which was fun. Some of the "Hello's" were colored in with copic markers depending on if there was contrasting colors. Some I just left plain. I rounded some corners and ruffed up edges on some of the cards.

I made about 20 of these cards, some will be for Hospice and some to just keep, maybe make them into birthday cards or thinking of you cards.

Two cards have been set aside for my secret stamper friend that sent me the "hello" die cut. I still have 12 flower images my stamper friend sent to make cards with, plus the two images I sent to my other secret stamper. I should get all these cards done by this week, as soon as I do, I will post them for you to see the finished products.

So this next week looks pretty quiet NOW....but who knows what will transpire in the next couple of days. Wednesday is "Betty Day" when I go to her house to make cards, I always look forward to that. JP gets his SS check....so I can pay a few bills.....bills, bills bills, never ending!!!

Hey....Spring Begins on the 20th.....it sure has been nice these last couple of days. My crocuses are up and I noticed today the tulips are pushing up. I better cover them so the rabbits don't get to them first. I noticed the crocuses are being eaten up!! Must be the rabbits!!

Well, time to close here, you have a great week and keep looking up ~ better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

The Luck of the Irish

Hi there everyone.....are you ready to celebrate St. Patty's Day???? Got my cards made, aren't they cute? Thanks to my "secret image stamper friend." She sent me these little leprechauns and I colored them in. These were extras. I have my secret stampers cards set to the side. 

I think I mentioned this once before. A secret stamper image is sent once a month, November thru April and then May thru October. We are given a name to send our images to. Our name is given to someone else. Last year, the lady had my name and I had her name....that was fun, when we had the revealing party, we were both surprised we had each other's name.  

We make 14 images, make two cards and then send 12 images to the person whose name we have and visa versa. It's quite the challenge to come up with a card using the image sent. Sometimes I have "brain block" then all of a sudden an idea comes and WA-LA and pretty cute card evolves!!! 

Here's my St. Patty's tree. As you can see, the red Elf would not leave his perch in the tree. I took him off......and he jumped back in....he said he liked the green lights and didn't want to leave. So I left him there. (to bad I could not find a green outfit....then he would have really blended in.) This is my first year for a St. Patty's tree....for the last couple of years I have thought about doing it, but didn't. I found some lights for half price and some shamrocks too. So, why not have a St. Patty's tree this year!!! I am not Irish....but it is always fun to celebrate special days.

This is my St. Patrick's Day center piece on the dinning room table. It always comes out every year. I have a Valentines, Christmas, Easter, Spring, Fall and Summer center piece. I like the changes of seasons.

Here are pictures of those cards again.....I was trying to eliminate the glare of the flash....put the cards in a plastic envelope...not a bad shot.

So tomorrow JP has an appointment to get a tooth pulled at the oral surgeon...he is not looking forward to that. Me neither, that means I will have to listen to his moans and groans for three days. I guess I shall be hiding in the basement.....making cards and hanging clothes on the line.

I got a call from the accountant this afternoon....our taxes are done. Gosh I hope we got a refund....that would be nice to have some extra money. For one reason, I need to get a new dryer. Our 27+ year old Speed Queen dryer sounds like a cement mixer when drying. I am now hanging clothes and towels on the lines in the basement. It's okay I guess, but towels and wash rags are so scratchy. Bummers...huh! Feels like the old days when we lived in Ladysmith in a Pole Shed. I just had a little washing machine and hung clothes in the house, good thing was, it put moisture back in the shed/house. We had a wood burning fire place and wood burning stove, so it was pretty dry in the shed.

Another thing I want to get done, is finally have a radio and CD player put in the car. I have been radio-less for over a year now. Maybe I can get that done. We have the CD player, it was given to us 10 years ago and has never been used. Time to get it in the car.

For the last couple of days I have been dealing with a plugged drain in the kitchen sink. I plunged and plunged and poured a whole bottle of Mister Plumber down the drain at intervals and plunged and plunged again. So much so....that the plunger broke...it too was old, it came with the house as did the dryer. So yesterday, I went to the Hardware store and got a new plunger...this is a real dandy, it's purple and plunges really good with much more power. Yep, got my drain unplugged, the dishes done and the water goes down the drain. Hooray!!!!

Well, I hope that is enough trials and tribulations to last me for the month all came in one week....the dryer, the drain and JP's tooth....enough already!!! You all have a great St. Patrick's Day, careful not to drink to much green beer....keep looking up.....better days are coming sooner then we think!!! Cheers ~ Louise

A Good Deal Today

Hi there everyone. The first 7 days of March have been busy and snowy....but, it's still winter. Spring starts March 20th....so we have 13 days to go...yep and when Daylight savings starts, the days will be longer and we are on our way to SPRING!!!!

Today I got a good deal!!! All these stamps for $6.00!!! Some of the stamps still had their original price on the side. I estimated there are $125.00 worth of stamps...give or take a few dollars. I estimated on the low end. House Mouse stamps alone are $8-10. The "deep sea" stamps (in the left)were $10.00 originally, I paid $1.00.

I like the kid stamps. Will be perfect for making cards for the nieces and nephews. 

Will be fun to see what kind of cards I come up with.

We got our income tax done and taken to the accountant....so now we wait to see if we are getting anything back. We usually do get a refund from both Wisconsin and the Federal. Last year I had to buy a stove. This year....we will have to invest in a dryer. I think the bearing is going out on this one. The dryer came with the house when we bought it almost 27 years ago. It's the last appliance to be replaced in the house.

I was hoping to be able to spend $50....guess that is out of the question. $50 is doable if we have to invest now.

I checked out the pre-owned appliance store....dryers were going for $250-$300, not including delivery. UGE....I wonder, might as well invest in a new dryer. Will have to check out VanVerde's for a new one. To have the old dryer fixed might cost around $200, if not more. Well, I have another place I want to check out, it's where we got our used washing machine. 

Hopefully we can limp along with this dryer until we get the money to get another dryer. It's all in the timing I guess. God knows our needs. Maybe I will invest in a little rack to air dry clothes for the time being. There is always something to occupy our time.

Well, time to close, JP will be home in about an hour and half. Still have to figure out what to make for dinner. You all have a good evening and keep looking up....better days are coming, sooner then we think. Cheers ~ Louise

WOW ~ First Day of March - Keto Bread - Blackhawks

Hi there everyone. Here we gooooooooo!!! The first day of March....seems like every month has it's own celebration of some sort. This month it's the wearing of the green, even if you are not Irish...green is the color. I love corned beef and cabbage, so most definitely there will be some corned beef cooking in the crock pot this month.

The Chicago Blackhawks are playing San Jose tonight.....the Hawks are losing so far 2-1. Well, it is only the first period, so we'll see what the score is in the 2nd and 3rd periods. This is the first time in 10 years the Hawks will not be in the Playoffs, not unless there is a major miracle and the Hawks pull it off....we'll see. 

I forgot to show you the cards we made at Betty's last Wednesday. Guess it did not cross my mind for some reason. Maybe too many other things on my mind. So the above card is a St. Patrick's Day card. A beer stein of green beer, I guess. It could be a "green river" Remember that drink....yep that was my favorite, Green River soda with French fries at the corner drug store!!! Gotta love those memories and carbs!!!!

This sure is a cute card. Betty said, "Because everyone has been sick" she wanted to make a card for them. I like that chicken. I will have to borrow that stamp sometime and make a few more cards like this one.

Pretty Spring, flowered card, using the copic markers. Makes for a nice card.

Another Spring card, using the copic markers. Betty designs all these cards, sometimes getting inspiration from magazines, card clubs that she belongs to and Pinterest. That's where I get a lot of my ideas too. Always fun to go there and see what's new.

So tonight I made some "Savory Keto Bread" looking forward to have some with an over easy egg in the morning. Here's the recipe.

2.5 cups almond flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup Kerrygold butter

8 oz cream cheese

8 whole eggs (set out at room temperature)

1 tsp Rosemary seasoning and 1 tsp. Sage seasoning

2 Tbs Parsley seasoning and 1.5 tsp baking powder

Cream together, butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add Rosemary, Sage and Parsley and whip until fully combined. Add the eggs and continue mixing till smooth. Finally add the flours and baking powder. The batter will be thick. Grease a loaf pan or 3 small loaf pans, or cup cake pans. Fill pans 1/2 way with the batter.

Bake 350 degrees.

35 minutes for small loaf pans.

55 minutes for large loaf pans.

15 minutes for cup cakes

Maybe one cup cake per meal or one slice per meal. Put a little butter on it too.....yummy!

Well the score is 5-1.....no need to get excited about this game. I will keep it on though...just to listen. My step father (who is dead now) would have given up on them along time ago. He probably would be Rooting for the Las Vegas Golden Knights who are 1st in their division in the NHL. This is their first year playing, a new franchise, of castoff players that nobody wanted. Wouldn't you know it, they are out to prove they are the best!!!! I kinda knew that was going to happen.

The Hawks are one of the Original 6 teams that started back in the 20's and 30's....now there are 31 teams to keep track of, that's a lot of hockey players. Pops had season tickets back in the 60's when he married my mother. So we went to lots of Hockey games. Yep, Pops would have been disgusted with the Hawks about now and would most definitely be rooting for the Golden Knights!!

Hawks lost 7-2....bummers!!

Well, time to close here, have a great night and keep looking up ~ better days are coming. (when we see Jesus....those will be the better days, in heaven.) Cheers ~ Louise