It's JULY and More Rain

Yep, it's true, 7 months into 2024 and it is raining again today. Where is all this rain coming from???? I know the farmers need the rain, but now even they are complaining. They can't get into the fields to plant and do the haying. My, my, the weather sure is weird all over the world. 

Update: we had so much rain today my basement and backyard flooded badly (no pictures). We were warned via the cell phone to please stay home, if at all possible, the streets are flooded, and emergency boats were out to help people evacuate if necessary. One family who lived in their house 52 years had never seen the water this high before in all the years they lived there.

Just a few cards here, I might have used these already, but not sure. Made these a couple of months ago. This top card is a tri-fold, was fun to make, but not sure I would make it again. I think I already put it in the box to give to Hospice.

The giraffes are an old stamp from years ago, they were stamped and colored, but I never made cards out of them. So here they are, made into Father's Day cards. Gave them to Hospice already.

Cute little pandas from Stampin up, finally turned them into a card and gave to Hospice. Will probably make some more of these guys, I found the stamps at Thompson Center, so all I need is a good juicy ink pad and stamp off some more cute pandas.

Well, it finally stopped raining outside. The last couple of bad rains I found water on my kitchen counter....uge hope my roof is not leaking again.

Nothing much has been happening of late, just living life the best I can, pay the bills, shopping, car upkeep and Louise upkeep at the Doctor the last couple of weeks. They are keeping tabs on my blood pressure and now medication monitoring. Signs of old age when the Doctor wants to see you every week, I guess.

This month, July 25th, JP will have been gone 3 years already. Where did that time go, it feels like just yesterday. It's funny, I wake up every morning and have to remind myself, "oh that's right, I am alone in this house", there is always that feeling that JP is still here for some reason, creepy huh???? But when I remember all the pain he was in, I am glad he is not here and does not have to bear all that pain anymore.

I guess I will cut this blog short for now, have to go take my pills for the day, but first I have to put them in the pill boxes, I may have to call in some prescriptions today.

You all take care and keep looking up, better days are coming!!!

Cheers ~ Louise

Well, Hello June!!!

Hi there everyone!! Yes, I know, been awhile since I last communicated on this blog. Just been a lot of this and that going on. Doctor appointments, changing meds and checking blood pressure. Don't know what is worse, changing meds and stopping a few others which changes and discombobulates my whole body....now I am dealing with swollen ankles because the diuretic was discontinued, uncomfortable to say the least!!! Oh well, not a happy camper right now. Next Doctor appointment is the 18th.

Yeah, signs of old age, I guess. Would rather stay at home then go out and mingle with people and drive around with maniacs on the road who speed around me, because I am going the speed limit!!!!

Next Hospice meeting we will meet in September. So, we have the summer off, no rush making cards and I can work outside. I have lots to do and have had a bit of help with the neighbors. Will have to take some before/after pictures of their work and mine.

Here are the cards I created for Hospice. The meeting took place yesterday, and now I'm taking a break from everything, essentially doing NOTHING!!! The cards showcased are foiling cards. I purchased some new red foil and lace toner cards. The flower design was crafted using two different punches at the Thompson Center.

Once again, we see foiled cards, two birthday cakes, and birthday wishes set against various backgrounds.

Creating these cards was enjoyable with the use of 3D embossing folders and vellum, followed by processing them through the Cuttlebug. You apply color to the bottom side (the indented side), for which I used Copic markers. Once fully colored to your liking, you then sweep black ink over the colored bottom side, from top to bottom, achieving the coverage you desire. Afterwards, you can adhere it to the card and affix your chosen verses.

It's fascinating to see the evolution of this blog. The initial two paragraphs remain untouched, penned by my own hand. The subsequent three paragraphs, along with this one, were crafted by "copilot." While the words were altered, the essence remained intact, and arguably enhanced. It's curious to observe the outcome of this paragraph. AI is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Initially, its presence on this blog eluded me, but upon engaging with it, I found the articulation to be superior to my own... hence, I'm inclined to let AI articulate on my behalf...haha!

What fun, the above paragraph cracks me up, makes me sound very intelligent to say the least!!! This is me speaking....lol!!!

Question: Shall we let AI speak for us now!!!!

Well, I think I shall leave you now with this question to ponder. Talk to you later, maybe I will try for another blog this month just for the fact of having another round with AI and letting it rewrite my paragraphs. Hope you have a great June, don't let the bugs bite you too badly. Cheers ~ Louise

April is Flying By

 That is for sure!!!! Hi there, everyone, how you all doing? Been awhile since I have been here, quite a few things have been happening and blogging never entered the mind of Louise!!!

This cool card was made at the Thompson Center. The technique is called "Sunburst" it is all in how you cut the strips of paper using a 6x6 pad of patterned paper. So fun.

Well, I have to go and get ready for card making at the Thompson Center today, I shall come back later to finish this blog.

Back again, 2 days later and a few more cards to show. This next card, the horse, was a stamp donated to Thompson Center. Sure glad I found it when I did and stamped a bunch of horses, cause now the stamp has disappeared...oh well, guess that happens.

Anyways, my great-niece likes horses and jumps them. So, for her birthdays I like to give her "horse birthday cards". Her brother is into guitars and drums, so that is what I look for, for him. My other great-nephew and niece, he is into hockey and fishing and the niece likes gymnastics and cheerleading. So, the hunt is to find stamps that represent what their likes are. I do love this horse though, so pretty.

This was a fun card to make, it is just strips of paper encircling a square, simple and easy. Made this card a couple of weeks ago.

The next two cards were made at Thompson Center on Tuesday. A "sunburst card" Fun way to make thank you cards, need to make a few more of these for a couple of people that have helped me with  projects around the house.

I love this card, probably it's the paper I like, again it's the sunburst card.

Well, my Chicago Blackhawks did not make the play-offs, nope, not this year or even next year probably. They are in a rebuild with lots of young players coming up the pipe-line and the older players getting treaded off to other teams. Will be sad to see them go, but at least they will have a chance to join a team that is chasing the Stanley Cup. Now we have to wait till August/September before the games start up again.

A neighbor has been helping me get the front yard cleaned up, had weeds growing all over the place, he cut them down, laid plastic down and then mulch. Planted a rose bush at one end and moved a big pot with dirt in the middle of the planter and put flowers in it. What a difference it made. He is going to work up the other side of the yard this weekend maybe. I bought a new peonie stand to keep from letting the peonies lean on the ground. Have to get out there today to set the stand up before the peonies get too big.

Since Jay's passing, exactly 2 years and 9 months today, there is just some stuff, I can't do alone anymore. John on the other side of the house, cuts my grass and shovels the snow. It was a mild winter this winter, but who knows what next winter will be like. Guess I will have to do what I can and hope for the best.

Well, I guess it is time to close this blog for today. You all have a great rest of April and keep looking up, better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

Easter is Just around the Corner

 Hi there everyone, hope you are having a good month. Today was the first day of Spring and we will be getting a snowstorm starting Thursday night. Got my car parked in the garage, so no snow on the car and also my soft maple is dropping those little red thingy's on the ground. So just trying to protect the car from all "that stuff" defacing it.

Well Easter is just around the corner! Guess it is early this year although it just seems time is flying by so fast. Making cards for Hospice keeps me on my toes because I have to always plan for the next holiday a month early so the cards get to Hospice in time. Then we are on to the next holiday, oh well, makes life interesting. 

So, the card above is a die I used at the Thompson Center. A large donation of paper, dies and stamps came in and I used this die above from the donation, makes for a nice card.

The Birthday Blessings cards, the background came in as a donation to Thompson Center, that is one embossing folder I do not have, so when I saw these backgrounds, I found a way to use them. The roses are from a sticker set I bought at the Dollar store. Made for a nice, simple and easy card to put together.

Now this was a fun Easter card to make. One of the ladies at the Thompson Center led the class and gave us instructions on how to make this card. She had all the pieces cut out and we colored them in and placed them on the card, then the card is set up so that it sits up, hard to tell in this picture, but the Happy Spring is holding the card up.

I was at the Thompson Center today and finished off some cards I am making for Hospice for our next meeting. I will take a picture of them for the next blog. I found some more dies and did some cutting with them. Hopefully I can make a few more cards with those dies.

The Hockey season is almost over, my Chicago Blackhawks are in last place (there are 32 teams in the NHL). Hopefully in the next few years they can get in the playoffs, they are in a rebuild right now, so things are not looking good for them. But they are fun to watch. a young team with lots of guts and desire. One of the kids, is only 18 years old is going to get the "Rookie of the Year Award" he is almost as good as Patrick Kane and Patrick is the best!!!!!

Well time to close, the game is over, and the Hawks lost 6-2. Need to finish this blog and get ready for bed....getting late. You have a great rest of the month, keep looking up, better days are coming!!!

Cheers ~ Louise

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Hi there everyone, how are you doing this month??? Oh, my how the days are flying by. Yesterday I wrote a check for February 22.....how did this month fly by so fast????

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. Here are a few cards from the last couple of years. The one above is an old card I made at a card making class.....not sure I have this card anymore, but at least I have a picture of it.

Now this card I still have or at least a copy of the card that I can run off on the printer and color them in. Cute frog hiding in the britches. 

More old cards that I don't have any more but still have the pictures. 

I could make more of these cards because I have a copy of him that I can run off on the printer.

I always liked this die and can make more of these cards anytime, they turned out nice for St Patrick's Day!!!! I have a few more cards in the making but have not taken pictures of them so I can post them on this blog.

Hospice meeting is on March 1st. So, I have 7 days to get some cards put together, guess I am running behind at this point. Think I will have a few more St. Patrick cards, some Easter cards, Birthday cards and Thinking of you.

I feel so behind in everything right now, things I should get done, just sit and don't get done. The dishes can sit in the sink for days and I just keep adding to the heap, then finally I get tired of looking at them and finally do them in phases. After I get done with these dishes and cards, need to sit down and do the taxes for 2023....not one of my favorite jobs. 

Well, that is about it for this blog, not much going on here, just trying to live life and get through each day and the only thing that keeps me going is my faith in Jesus Christ. Been reading Acts a little at a time. Have you ever heard the saying, "Read the book of Acts and get ready?" Yeah, get ready for the second return of Jesus, he is coming again and soon and I can hardly wait!!!! We will be reunited with Jesus and our loved ones...gonna be a great day!!!!

Talk to you all later, maybe something exciting will happen like Spring is just around the corner. Keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Happy Valentine's Day

Hi there everyone, Happy Valentine's Day this month to you, better late than never!!! So here are a few cards I made for the Valentine season.

In the top set of cards and second set of cards, these were made last year. The top cards were a print off the internet (I think, sometimes hard to remember because I pick up pictures along the way and from other people.) The second set, bottom two cards were copies from original Valentine cards from the old days. The top two were cards I put together with odds and ends I had in my "Valentine card stash" All these cards ended up going into the collection of Hospice cards last year.

These butterfly cards were made at the Thompson Center. One of the ladies let me use here die, Only made a few of these, so very classy, Maybe one of these days I can borrow this die from her again and make a few more cards like these.

In this picture, this rose die was at the Thompson Center, someone donated it, sure did make a lovely card. I still have about 12 cards left over, the rest went to Hospice.

In this picture, I had ordered on -line from Scrapbook.com a roll of Valentine stickers that look like stamps. I just place them on cardstock and layered glitter glue around each stamp to keep them from falling off. Made quite a few of these and gave them to Hospice.

Now these were fun to make, and I have this die in my personal stash. Except for the butterfly corner punch. The heart was colored in with Distress Ink then covered with the Heart die. Thinking of you added for the verse.

So there you have it, Valentine cards for February. Next month will be St. Patrick cards. I am not usually into to St. Patrick, but guess what, I will have a few cards made up which will be going to Hospice. One of the men in our group gave me a folder with St. Patrick stamps, stamped on paper that I could run off on my printer and color, and make into cards. So that is what I have been doing the last week or so, making St. Patrick cards.

Not a whole lot has happened this past month, I did find out that I won't have to move like I thought I would, whew, such a relief off my shoulders. I just did not know how I was going to manage the move if I had to leave, and I really did not want to leave. So now I have found out I don't have to leave....I just got wrong information. Thank God I got wrong information and got the RIGHT information.

Time to close this blog, you all have a great month, I will, now that I have a load of bricks off my shoulders and now maybe I can enjoy living in my home. Take care and keep looking up, better days are just around the corner.

Cheers ~ Louise