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

Hi there everyone....hope you are having a great month. Sorry I am so slow in getting this blog published. Guess March has been busy and being a nurse/caregiver has taken up pretty much a lot of my time. 

NOTE: Just to let you know, both cards on this blog are not mine. They actually were from the internet, made by other people. I used them as examples for cards I did make, sorry, no pictures of them as yet. Most of the cards made, I gave to Hospice. I do have a few cards downstairs that I have been working on the last few days, but have not taken pictures of them as yet. 

Not a whole lot of plans for Easter. Probably will go to church. JP will stay home and watch SBN on TV. Oh, when I say SBN, I mean Jimmy Swaggart Ministries....that is our church. The church we go to is a Jimmy Swaggart church, and we watch the service from Baton Rouge on the big screen at church also. The church is 33 miles (round trip). We've been going there since 2005, 16 years now....long time members there. Wow!!

For Easter dinner I am planning to make ham loaves. I shall have to find a recipe on the internet. It is just ham ground up and mixed with ground pork and spices and rolled into little loaves and baked. Maybe a real pineapple, asparagus, mashed potatoes and whatever else I think up. Oh, I may try bread/rolls in the Air Fryer, just to see how they turn out. For dessert maybe a small cheese cake with berries on top. Sound good??? I shall see, the menu probably will change by the time Easter rolls around.

JP still has a hard time getting around, if he is not getting arm pains he is shuffling around with bad feet. I guess after we deal with all these other health issues, we will go to the foot doctor next. I told him, one doctor at a time. One can get overwhelmed what with all the doctors we have gone to in the last couple of months. It is not easy to get him from the house to the car, to the hospital/doctor and back home again.

I still catharize him, 2 times a day (that has helped, it was 3-4 times a day before) I give him his meds 3 times a day(so he does not overdose or not take them at all). Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and many, many dishes in the sink. I feel like a maid, servant, slave, cook, nurse, and whatever else there is to be called. Oh well, such is life.

JP has a nurse that comes once a week and another lady that comes to give him a shower, wash hair and shave. That helps me, I don't have to do that also. Probably in the next month or so there will be a whole new set of people coming to help me. We will be on Community Care/Respite where people will sit with JP as I can take a few hours off and leave the house and not have to worry about him and if he would fall or do something stupid. (which he has.)

Well good news, the hospital just called and JP has an appointment set up for an MRI for his left arm to see where and why he is having these arm pains for over 12 year or longer. Would be nice to know there might be a remedy.

Well time to close this blog, it's getting pretty long and I am sure some people get bored reading long blogs....I do sometimes. You all take care, keep looking up, better days are a coming round the corner. Cheers ~ Louise

GOODBYE 2020

 Hi there everyone, hope you had a nice Christmas and was able to spend it with your family and friends. JP's family lives in Illinois...where we both are from. We've been in Wisconsin since 1976. Guess we are more Wisconsinites now after 44 yrs. How time flies in a twinkling of an eye. My family is non-existent, everyone is dead. No brother's, sister's, aunt's or uncle's. I had one baby but was told to put her up for adoption. I will leave it at that, she wants nothing to do with me.

So here are a few views of my little table top Christmas tree. I have had this tree for over 20 years. I used to do real trees but stopped, they got too expensive for the pocket book. The above tree is the "USA" tree. Red, white and blue lights and red and blue ornaments.

The above tree is my "Valentine" tree. Can you tell, everything is RED and white. The elf seems to always find a place to sit in the tree. Sometimes he stays on the tree all year longs.

"St. Patrick's Day" tree. There's the elf....otherwise every is green. I contemplated an "Easter" tree for April.....but I guess by March I was getting Christmas treed out.

This tree is from 2017. My tree this year looks pretty much the same. I shall take a picture of this years tree in a couple of days, before I start taking it down. Don't think I am leaving it up as long as I usually do. I didn't start decorating this year's tree till Christmas Eve. My heart has not been it Christmas this year. 

I guess mainly because I have been dealing with JP's health issues on a daily basis and he seems to be getting worse as the days go by. A nursing home is in JP's future, it's getting very hard to take care of him the last couple of months. Still waiting to hear from Doctors. Maybe the first of the year things will start to progress. So much is up in the air because of this Covid 19....be glad when it is over, if it gets over.

Well, time to close here. I may do one last blog on the 31st. That should make 25 blogs for 2020. Yeah, I have been very laxed in doing these blogs, just not a whole lot happening. Well, a lot has happened but I just have not wanted to tell the world about my tales of woe's because someone else's tales are probably worse then mine.

So you all have a great New Year and I DO hope 2021 is much better then this last year was. Take care and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise  

How Are You All Doing???

Hi there everybody....how are you all doing??? How is this quarantine treating you??? I think I have gained a few pounds....although I have not jumped on the scale for 21 days....not sure I want to for fear of seeing a gain of too many pounds. 

As you can see, this is going to be a food blog today. Been cooking up a storm this month. The spaghetti recipe below was really fun to make and delicious. "One-Pot Spaghetti" 

2 Tbsp. butter or veggie oil
1 lb. ground beef (I added one small chopped onion and 6 sliced mushrooms)
1 - 1 1/2 oz, envelope Spaghetti sauce mix
1 tsp. salt
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
6 c. wter
1 - 8 oz. package spaghetti

Melt butter in a dutch oven over moderately low heat. Add meat; cook and stir over moderate heat until brown and crumbly. I cooked the onions and mushrooms with the meat. Add spaghetti sauce mix, salt and tomato paste and blend well. Add water and bring sauce to a rolling boil over moderate heat. Add spaghettis, boil gently, uncovered 10 minutes, or until spaghetti is tender and sauce is thick, Stirring occasionally. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serves 4

With the spaghetti is some home made bread, toasted, and garlic spread topping it....mmmmmmm!!

Not sure if the bread in this picture is the garlic toast in the top picture.....may not be. Been making so much bread lately, I am losing track. The buns in the back became hamburger buns....gosh those were good hamburgers. This loaf of bread did not last too long....don't want it to get too old. Makes good toast with peanut butter on it.

I made a "sourdough starter" on Saturday....so now I have been making sourdough bread, buns, and waffles today....so good. Will have to do something sourdoughy tomorrow. I found a web-site that has 75 sourdough recipes....so I am all set to use my starter for quite awhile. 

Above is a chocolate cake I made on Easter Sunday.....nothing special....just a packaged cake mix with peanut butter frosting topped with crushed walnuts and sprinkles. It's all gone now. 

Made this apple pie on the 3rd of April....my favorite way to make....with the crumbly top. Along with that pie was some banana fudge ice cream....yummmmmm!!!

Made this scrumptious pizza pie along with the apple pie.....another pizza winner!!!

In the bottom picture is "Cheesy Rice" This was a good recipe...it did not last long. As JP gobbled it all down. It was soft and easy for him to chew and eat. 

I guess out of boredom I have been cooking more, looking up recipes that I have never tried and it can't be spicy or hard to chew, as JP has a set of bad teeth that all need to be pulled. One of these days out ship will come in and we will be able to take care of his teeth.

So according to my calender, I have been making a lot of things...Apple pie, pizza pie, Bean soup and British beans(that was good), cup cakes, focacsa bread, a loaf of bread and buns, cole slaw, fried cabbage and more bread. More beans and green pea soup more bread and sourdough starter. Sourdough bread and waffles. Someone need some sourdough starter???? I just hope I can keep up with this starter. Maybe after about a week I will be able to keep it in the fridge which might slow down the growth some.

Well, now that I have made you very, very hungry, I should close here. It's been a busy month for cooking....but we don't order out for food and I am just used to cooking at home. You all have a great rest of the month and keep looking up....better days are coming and we will no longer be under house arrest!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

HA! Made a List of "TO DO" Things this Morning

Hi there everyone....hope your quarantine time is going well. Life has surely changed, not sure if it is for the good. I guess we all will find out eventually. 

Going shopping sure has been a challenge, especially this past Tuesday. Went into the store to get my diabetes strips and a few groceries....still no toilet paper, so I got paper towels (we are limited to ONE paper product). We personally are out of toilet paper so we have been using Kleenex….works well. So many of the shelves were bare....sure is scary to see this. The store does seem to keep the junk food and soda aisle well stocked though.  

Anyways, I left the store to go to my car, started it up and noticed the brake peddle went down to the floor.....oh my, how am I going to get home. Well, I figured I would go slow and pump the brakes 3-4 times till the car came to the stop lights. I did pray to God to get me home safe and give me green lights all the way home. Thank God only one light was red and by the time I got to it, it turned green....Thank you Jesus!!!! I got home safe. The car is parked right now, can't go anyplace anyways....hopefully the car will get fixed sometime this month.

JP was laid off his job last week, so he has no place to go either. We will get by with God's help!!! I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to Biz right here. May God Bless you abundantly today and always. 

So I made a list early this morning of "to do" things to accomplish TODAY. 14 things to accomplish and 2 things done so far. (doing this blog....was NOT on the list.) Here are some of the projects, make an apple pie, make a seasoning (perhaps I will give you the recipe in this blog at the end), make thank you and thinking of you cards, wipe floor, do dishes, straighten my stamp area, make Hospice cards, clean the garage and basement, change the sheets to name just a few......uuummmmm not sure I will get to all those things. Why do I have so much to do???? No time for me to be board, that is for sure.

One of the other things was "walk the grounds and see what is growing" It seems we are going to have an early spring and there is a lot of work to be done outside. I shall have to take some pictures, but I am sure they will look really dreary.




See the poor little baby on the right....that's me. The hard part about this coronavirus is NO HOCKEY.....actually all sports have been cancelled. The Olympics have been cancelled till next year. I don't know, I can't help but think that there something more to this whole thing that we are not being told....something very, very political and corrupt!! But that probably is just me, but something just doesn't seem right.

The Easter card below is one I am going to try to make today....looks simple enough. I have the die for the cross, I don't know, looks like that circle is felt or something and I am sure I have a dove die, will have to look for one. Should be easy and fun. I really need to get back to card making, sloughing off. Too many other things taking up my time. OOOO can you imagine...I FINALLY took my Christmas village down!!! I really enjoyed turning the lights on every night....but when I looked at the calendar it was going on APRIL....LOUISE it is time to take Christmas down.....I said. My gosh, talk about procrastination!!!!

Well, I guess I will close here and get going on one of these other things "to do". Oh wait, I said I would give you the recipe for the seasoning I made today. Here it is "Best Burger and Fry Seasoning" this seasoning is so good on burgers, fries, chicken, fish, pork and sheet pan vegies. This is a double batch and you can half it down if you like. (I doubled it today cause I use it so much)
1 Tbsp. Basil, 2 Tbsp. Garlic powder, 1 Tbsp. Parsley, 1 tsp. Celery salt, 2 tsp. Chili powder, 2 Tbsp. Garlic salt, 4 Tbsp. Paprika, 1 Tbsp. Cumin, 1 Tbsp. Pepper, 1/2 cup Salt. Mix all together in a mason jar and shake to mix well. To use, sprinkle with your fingers or a spoon. I love this stuff.

Well you all take care of yourselves and keep looking up, better days are coming. It's SPRING, be HAPPY!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

It's All About Jesus

Hi there everyone....hope you are having a good day. Hope your Resurrection Sunday was a blessing to you and your family. Our Sunday was quiet as usual. Dinner was pork roast, apple sauce, oven fries, asparagus and beans. Cheese cake for dessert....yumm!

So this post is going to be about Jesus, nothing more and nothing less. I think I have been silent too long.....no more!! Here are a few signs, pictures and yes, some cards.

I saw this poster on Pinterest and just had to have it. But, isn't it true? If the Bible, God's Word, was still allowed in schools, perhaps there would be less killings in schools too. In some places it is not even safe to go to school....sad how this world has kicked Jesus out of schools and EVEN some churches!!! What is this world coming to??? Even so, COME LORD JESUS!!!

The above picture is hanging in my front room. It was given to me 32 years ago, when JP and I lived in Ladysmith, WI. We were involved in a Crisis Pregnancy Center of which was also a part of a Salvation Army Service Unit. Also involved, a prison ministry, food and clothing ministry, a Church Ministry Outreach and many other things too numerous to mention. We even took in a 19 year old and mentored him, he got saved and now 32 years later, still serves the Lord along with his family.

Can you see in this picture how Jesus grieves over the aborted baby? How sad, his helpless creations being murdered..........sacrificed for convenience sake.

What is a post without a few cards. No I did not make these. But one of these days I will. I do have this embossing folder....perhaps this will be next year's Easter card.

William Booth was a very Godly man.....starting the Salvation Army with the help of God. His words are very true for even today. Can you see this happening now???

I love this picture, Jesus helping Joseph. Baby Jesus picks up 3 spikes and the cross is in the shadow of his body. A single picture, worth a million words.

Here is something else to think about....Jesus died for our soul, the soldier died for our freedom. How dare ANYONE take our Freedoms away. As for our souls, we belong to Jesus and NO ONE has a right to take that from us!!! God said it, I believe it and that is all there is to it!!!!!

So Jesus has been a part of my life for many, many years. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was 7 yrs old. I got up every Sunday, got ready to go to Sunday School and church (by myself). My mother and father would stay home. When I came home from church, my mom would say, "What did you learn today?" I would tell her about Jesus and show her the pictures I drew. Eventually she started to go to church too. I guess back then I was witnessing to my mother....so very, very innocent.

I could go on with my journey with God and what he has done for me....but I am sure you would get bored. We all have a story to tell on how God has directed us in many ways, but also how we have taken steps without him and landed in a ditch. Sometimes, those ditches were hard to escape. But when we looked unto JESUS, He helped us out.....thank God, his eye is always on us, guiding and directing our every step till the day we die.

Well, time to close, need to go make some Bullet proof "Keto" coffee. You have a great day and keep looking up....better days are coming for sure!!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Secret Stamper Images Pt. 2

Hi there everyone....how's life by you? Well, here we are the first day of Summer!!! Hip-hip-hoo-ray!!! The weather is lovely today, I like it when the weather is in the 70's....so comfortable.

So in my last post I said, I would continue my secret stamper images in 3-4 days....today is day 4 so I thought I better get my rear in gear and do what I said I would do.....(gosh there sure are a lot of "I's" in that last sentence.....6 I's!!! 

November....Tis Thanksgiving of course. I sent the turkey, my card is on the right, secret stamper card is on the left. My background is a napkin....one of my favorite ways of making a card. Glue card stock with a glue stick then layer the card stock with a single layer of the napkin and smooth it out like you would with wallpaper. Makes for a nice effect. I have quite a collection of napkins for every season just about.

December......I sent the green wreath...my card is on the right and secret stamper is on the left. I am always amazed at how the secret stamper comes up with a completely different idea....always fun to see.

In January, I sent the spider holding a heart, thinking in advance for Valentine's Day of course. I liked her little verse. "Your friendship lifts my heart!"

February, I was thinking ahead to Easter with my card on the right and secret stamper on the left. I sent the background. She came up with a great idea for sure.

For March, I sent the green frog. I love this card..."I am hiding, can you find me?" The frog was a digital off the Internet. I cut him out then layered him, cutting his leg and eyes out, then layered him on some succulent patterned paper. My card is on the right, her card is on the left. 

April was the Dragonflies. I had a bunch of these dragonflies colored in, so I thought it would be fun to see what the secret stamper would come up with. My card is on the right, hers on the left.

So there you have it....we have started a new session already....May and June with July coming up. I better start thinking about what I will send to my secret stamper for July. Something summery, I am sure!!!

If you have noticed on my blog....I have not added any more cards to my Etsy store. The items that are still in the store all expire in September. After that, I will be closing my store. I will have been on Etsy 10 1/2 years and only had 67 items sold. I have decided, it's not worth it for me anymore. Everything is for a season, and I guess my season on Etsy has passed. Etsy is also making a few changes and I guess I just don't feel like jumping through the hoops with more learning curves....nope, not no more. That's okay, I was never much of a good entrepreneur. I have tried many times to sell things. I have made cards, crafts, etc. grown vegies and sold eggs, or sold for someone else (ie. Mason Shoes, Herbalife). Guess I am just not a good salesperson. So, I guess for now on...I will just donate or give away.....that's what people like much better, everything for free. Maybe I have been dealing with a bunch of liberals and didn't realize it. Now a days….you just don't know.

On that note, I will close this post for today. Stay tuned, next post will be either about my little garden or the cards we made at Betty's. Talk later, have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

My First Paper Pumpkin Kit From Stampin'Up

Hi there everyone. How are you all doing? I have been busy...and 5 days behind in posting something on my blog...slacking a bit. Been working in my gardens and not taking a whole lot of pictures. I should take some tulip pictures before they all start pooping out. The tulips are so pretty this year and so vibrant. I counted my tulips and I have 95 tulips growing.....really that is lots to me.  I do have a pot of tulips that were given to me for Easter....need to plant them soon.

Been busy making cards for Hospice also....which is where I should be right now, down in the basement making cards for Hospice. We have a meeting this coming Friday. Been working on Father's Day cards....I will take some pictures of them. We also will be making Father's Day favors with a Hersey Nugget inside. So I need to make 20 favors with a ribbon holding it together. Oh, it might take an hour to make them.

So in these following pictures, is the Stampin'up Paper Pumpkin Kit I received for April. This is the first time I ordered a monthly kit from Stampin'up.

This is what the cards will look like when I start to play with this kit. Been too busy to even play with these cards. I just want to take my time and savor the moments while I play with this kit.

Lots of neat things came in this kit. Card stock, envelopes, ink, stamps acrylic block, color pencils, paint brush for water coloring, embellishments and glue dots. Probably by the time I start working on this, the next one will be sitting at the door.

I just realized.....I sure can keep myself busy doing things, can't I??? Gardening, card making, cooking with Blue Apron.....but, not as busy as other people who can run circles around me. I think I have slowed down a bit. I have decided to only work ONE hour outside, anymore and I am worn out and exhausted the next day. Perhaps by Fall, everything I want to do will be done by then.

I am hoping the weather stays cooler this summer and not get too, too hot. Guess I don't want to invest in a new air-conditioner as yet.

Well, time to close here, need to get my cards done for Hospice before Friday. Have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Easter Dinner - Cowboy Ribeye

Hi there everyone. I hope you had a wonderful Easter with family and friends and lots of good eats. We don't have family in Appleton, a few friends though that's about it. We did enjoy a good meal though. I bought this "Cowboy Ribeye Steak" from Festival Food in the manager's special bin." It was originally $24 and I got it for $15. I know that was expensive, but hey, it's Easter, guess I could have gotten a ham or a turkey, but sometimes it's just nice to have a change. Well, this was our change, and I do think I just might do this again.

First of all, I let the steak get room temperature. Seasoning the steak on both sides with the Black Hardcore. The Red is for Pork, I have used it for Chicken also. Here is their site.

I seared the steak on both sides for about 5 minutes each, using my new Copper Chef pan. This is the neatest pan, it really gets the food hot and that pan is easy to clean too. Here is their site. I got my pan from Shopko and actually got it with a gift card...sooooo...FREE BABY!!! I am thinking of getting the larger pan though, as I am REALLY liking cooking with this pan.

I made oven-roasted potatoes, mushrooms and onions. Then added asparigus half way through. I then put the vegetables in a black fry pan to keep warm on the stove. I made a side salad, along with chives and sour cream for the potatoes.

I placed the seared steak into a hot 500 degree oven for 10 minutes or until the temperature read 145 degrees. Then let that steak rest for about 5 minutes.

AND....this is what it looked like.....oh my, oh my was this delicious and that BONE was out of this world, I haven't chewed on a bone for years. Then I let Kylie have a chew also.....she loved it!!!!

I hear there is another way to cook a steak like this and it is called "reverse searing." Where I seared first then baked the steak. The reverse is "Bake first, then sear." Biz will be showing how to do a reverse sear on her blog this week.....check it out. I shall try her way of doing a steak also.....it's always fun to try different ways of cooking.

Have a great evening and keep looking up better days are coming.
Cheers ~ Louise

PS the Chicago Blackhawks are down 3 games now, they will HAVE to win the next 4 games to stay in the playoffs. Time will tell.

Happy Easter......

Hi there everyone. I want to wish you a Happy Easter. I give you just a few pictures in my collection, pretty pictures reminding you of Easter.

Here is a beautiful bouquet of roses....my first thought when looking at them was that they looked like the colors of Easter.

I made this card last year...definitely an Easter card. I do have this stamp, but did not make anymore cards like this.....maybe next year.

Ah yes......Angel Eggs, that's what I call them....for Easter of course. Maybe I should make a few hard boiled eggs tonight for some Angel eggs for tomorrows Easter dinner.

I love these bunnies. They were sent to me by a lady who has my name in a secret stamper group. I had to find a way to turn them into cards. In my next post or so, I will show you how they ended up, along with a few other images this same lady sent me.

I love Easter, I love the newness of the season and all the flowers coming up after a long winter's sleep. Everything is new....the Easter story never gets old. The week that changed the World....Jesus's triumphant ride through the town and a week later, dying on the cross for our sins, then rising again on the third day that we might have life forever more. No where in the Bible are bunnies, eggs and chick's mentioned....all those characters are pagan beliefs.....I know, I know...takes all the fun out of Easter. But we all know the real reason behind what Easter is all about. Our hope is based on the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.

For tomorrow's Easter dinner, I will be making a very thick "cowboy steak" salad, oven potatoes and asparagus. JP will probably have some fruit for his dessert.

Well, I think I will close this post for tonight...You all have a wonderful Easter and keep looking up....better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

Doing Christmas - Cards, Eggs & Votives

Hi there everyone. Gosh...Christmas is getting away with us isn't it....8 more days and all this rush, rush, will be over with. I have everything done that needs to be done. Decorations up, cards out, cookies made.

I did make some interesting cookies the other day and they were very simple...I should take a picture before they all disappear. Ritz crackers, spread with peanut butter then made into sandwiches,  dunked in melted chocolate then covered with sprinkles and refrigerated. I already gave some to the Schwan's man...he said they were right up his alley. He likes Ritz crackers, peanut butter and chocolate....who doesn't huh????

My next project will be to make "MaMa's Cookies" I had a taste of them this past Wednesday at our Card Making Christmas Party. One of the ladies who is from Denmark, made them...gosh were they good, like little pancakes. Lis gave me the recipe after she changed it from grams to ozs. Think I will make them tomorrow or Monday.

In the above picture are the little votives I made for the ladies. Aren't they cute. The die cut is from Tim Holtz, called "Trees" I then ran some vellum through the cuttlebug with the embossing folder from Stampin'up called "Snowflakes" (I think) I added a punched out circle for the moon. Glued the trees and vellum together and wrapped it around the votive. They liked it....Betty wants to borrow my die cut....she must have a great idea to use with it. Can hardly wait to see what she comes up with.

In the above picture are the cards I gave the ladies or close to it. (these cards are going into my Etsy store after I do this post.) I brought samples of the paper and showed them how I made the tree....I am sure they all will be making these trees also.

This is what I brought to the party. "Angel Eggs" or famously known as Deviled Eggs. Betty had Ham, buns and cranberry sauce. Sue brought bacon wrapped chestnuts in BBQ sauce. Lis brought the Mama Cookies and Joan brought crackers and liver paste.....everything was delicious and all blended well with each other. I am thinking there were no calories in any of the food we ate....lol...kidding of course!!!

These are a few of the cards we made. The chickadee in the top picture. Colored in with Copic markers....Betty gave us bow makers that she made....so we can make our own bows now. She also gave us a BIG spool of ribbon.....I got yellow ribbon. So you may just see many cards made with yellow ribbon. A good Easter and Spring color.

This card was absolutely beautiful. The picture does not do it justice though. The background is gold sparkle paper. The poinsettia was stamped with "Staz-on" on one side of the acetate and we colored the other side with copic markers. Otherwise mixing Alcohol ink with Staz-on would smear. Sure is a beautiful card. I may just keep this card and frame it. Lis made a beautiful card also that is worthy of being framed....I have a bunch of frames in the basement. That should be one of my projects this winter, framing cards.

Apparently I did not take a picture of the other cards that were made. That will be for another post in a few days. I was only able to make 3 cards....the 4th card, I had to leave otherwise I would be late getting home and making JP's lunch and fixing him something to eat before he leaves for work. Sometimes.....it is just plan hard sharing a car....but in the end, it is cheaper....gas, insurance and car repairs would be doubled I guess.

Well, I guess I will cut this post short....it's getting kind of late and I need to get downstairs and ride my bike for a couple of miles. Been very laxed in doing that lately. I really need to try and lose 10 - 20 pounds this winter. I know I would feel better and maybe my blood sugars would not be so high.

Well you all have a great evening and relaxing Sunday....keep looking up ~ better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise