The Secret Stamper Image Revealing Party

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good Monday. My how the weekends fly by so fast. We look forward and in the twinkling of an eye...the weekend is gone......POOH...gone!!!!

So Saturday we were busy spreading red mulch in my little gardens. JP filled the wheel barrel with at least 16 loads in different places. I will take my time in spreading the mulch.....that would be the easy part, unless I get some new ideas for mulch in different places. Yeah, I do that sometimes.

Sunday I woke up pretty exhausted....from all my work on Saturday. But I did get rolling for church. I had dinner already cooked, so all I had to do was heat it up for JP before I left for the revealing party.

About 3:00 I got ready to leave and meet Betty for the ride into Neenah for the Secret Stamper Image Revealing Party. Lots of women were there....maybe about 15 or so. There is one man involved in this group, but he did not come. He lives too far.

So in the top picture, you can see the cards I made with the image sent to me and the cards I made with the image I sent. The lady that sent images to me is the first row of cards on the left and the lady I sent images to is the row on the right (you can not see a few of the cards because I cut them off in the picture.)

This was another batch of cards sitting on another table. As you can see, the images sent and received are so different....so much creativity overload!!!!

These cards were on the same table that the cards I made were on. I totally missed the table with extra images that people brought that they did not want. I took some of my images back, I can use them for Hospice cards. There was also a bulletin board full of cards too.....goodness it was amazing, all the cards.

Well, I signed up for another 6 months...May through October, maybe I will have a better 6 months, with no hitches. I did meet the lady that was sending me images. She was surprised that I did not receive April's images.....the images came today, a bit too late to make cards with. For some reason she thought the revealing party was in May.....duh! Nope, Renea emailed everyone a couple of times to remind them that the party was going to be April 23rd. I guess not everyone reads the MEMO.....oh well!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you....on our way home from the revealing party we stopped at Dairy Queen. We had a treat, a $1.00 root beer ice cream cone. Oh my gosh was that delicious....I must take JP there for an ice cream for sure!!! On my way home from Betty's I stopped at Pic n Save and bought a pizza and got one free and hamburger and buns and seltzer water.....oh and a loaf of bread for 29 cents and a free jar of peanut butter.....now that's good shopping....lol!

I am going to cut this post short...have to go walk Kylie, she missed her walk yesterday, I was sooooo tired!!! I will feed her and then maybe go spread a couple of piles of mulch before "Dancing with the Stars" starts. No hockey tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks are out of the running for the Stanley Cup. But it will be fun to see who wins the Cup. I will let you know.

Have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

Pretty Valentine Flowers

Hi there everyone. I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day. JP gave me $5.00 to spend on some flowers for myself. Whew, I thought, where in the world am I going to find some flowers for $5.00???? Everything I saw was $10, 20, 30 dollars. BUT!!! the day after Valentines I found these flowers at Pic n Save.

The check-out girl said, "they were $28.00 yesterday and today they are $5.00!!!" Yay....I got a good deal!!

I have put them in fresh water with an asprin and cut their stems down.

Hopefully they will last until the week-end...they sure are pretty.

I love the salmon colored roses and the hydrangea's were so pretty. I wish I had a bush....maybe this year.

The yellow roses are starting to weep a bit. I still think I got a good deal though. Maybe before they completely die, I will dry them by turning them upside down.

It's always nice to have some flowers in the house.....feels springy and summery in the middle of winter.

Although, it is starting to feel very much like Spring outside...tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 50's. It's time to sit on the front porch, maybe tomorrow...Kylie is looking for sunny places to sunbath. Next week, the temps will be in the 40's.....I like this kind of weather. Felt like I wanted to start raking the yard and bring out the lawn furniture.

Today I went shopping and actually wore my spring jacket. My winter coat seemed too warm. I saw a man wearing shorts already today....yep, spring is in the air.

I went to Betty's house Wednesday to make some cards....I will take pictures of them and put them up in my next post. We won't be meeting for the next few months....as she had knee surgery on her right knee and on March 6th will have surgery on her left knee. So she will be taking time off to heal.

Had my blood drawn today for the AC1....or is it A1C, I can never get that straight. Here's hoping I get some good numbers. Will find out in the next few days. Probably after I get the results, the Doctor will want to see me for my annual exam....ish!

Well, tomorrow I shall be working on my taxes...I have 2 weeks to get it all together and then take them in for the accountant to finish it off. Also in the next 2 weeks I have to get cards ready for our Hospice meeting March 3rd....I better get cracking. Who said Retirement was boring....I am not bored, have much too much to get done.

Time to close here, have to get a few miles in on my bike, don't know if it is doing any good....but I feel better after it. You all have a great weekend and keep looking up....better days are here again!!!

Cheers ~ Louise

I Love This Song "Jerusalem"

Hi there everyone....Thought you would enjoy this beautiful song....I sure do like it, no, I mean love it. Could listen to it over and over again. Bet it is even better being there to experience the Worship.


Well, today we watched the snow, snowing and JP shoveling it. Good thing, it was light snow. I watched the Packers win 38-10 and I watched the Chicago Blackhawks win 3-1. Good games today.

We didn't go to church today because of the snow. Our travels to Forest Junction (round trip) is 32 miles, to watch Jimmy Swaggart Ministries from Baton Rouge, LA on the big screen 60" at church. So, because of the snow, JP did not want to go, I am glad. I can watch the Church service on my little screen 32" at home.

I got most of my village up (will take pictures soon)....tomorrow I will work on Christmas cards. Maybe Tuesday I can get them into the mail along with Pop's Christmas present, a box of cookies and candy, headed for LasVagas. All will be well.

Next thing on the agenda is my card making day on Wednesday at Betty's. We have a little party, snacks and making cards and exchange little gifts. My next blog I will show you what I made for the ladies. My snack, will be "angel eggs" I am figuring for now....I can get a free dozen of eggs at Pic n Save this week, if I spend another $25.00.....we'll see about that.

So much business for Christmas and to think it is not even Jesus' birthday. I have heard that he actually was born in April. December 25th is a day to remember Him.

Anyways, I am getting most everything done....then I can enjoy Christmas....I guess. Still have to buy something for JP but I have to wait till I get some $$$ and the pay check is coming 1 day before Christmas Eve (I don't shop on Christmas Eve). JP's SS is coming 3 days before Christmas Eve. My SS comes 3 days after Christmas.....so that won't work well either. Oh well, he already got some socks and he is getting a hair cut from me....so what more does a guy need??? He will probably give me some money to go buy myself something....I will wait till after Christmas for the sales.

Well, I suppose I should cut this post short. Hope you enjoy the song Jerusalem. Keep looking up....better days are coming.
Cheers ~ Louise

Hospital Visit, Prayers and Cards

Hi there everyone. How did your Friday go today??? I was pretty busy. JP had an appointment with the Urologist today. He had an ultra sound and biopsy of the prostrate. I guess they are looking for cancer. His brother had the same procedure and there was no cancer, so hopefully it will be the same for JP. Prayers for JP would be appreciated.

A special treat for us...I bought some pop-corn and a cup of coffee at the Hospital. Our next visit, next Wednesday to find out the results....maybe we will hit the Hospital's "Market Place" for a hamburger and salad....shall see how things go AND if I have $$$ for that day.

We got home about 11am, I took a nap till 1pm then got ready to take off for shopping and pay some bills. Hit Sam's Club, Hobby Lobby and Pic N Save then home. For some reason, I was feeling a little bit queasy with hot flashes in Hobby Lobby....whatever that was I do not know. By the time I got home....very tired. Uge old age is not for whissy's.

Following are 4 cards I made at Betty's last Friday....yeah, I am a bit behind. But I really have been busy making cards for Hospice lately, mostly Christmas cards. I should have enough to send out personally, put in my Etsy store and give to Hospice with some left over for next month.

So with these two cards, the top card is embossed with a cuttlebug folder and little die cut birds glued on, a bow tied and the flowers have speckles dabbed on them. Very simple yet beautiful.

In this Christmas card.....the background embossed with a Christmas folder then die cuts for the fiddle player, holly and Noel were glued on the card and a bow added.

This was really a nice technique. The picture was colored in with copic markers....any colors we desired. then after that we inked the picture with versa mark, then covered with embossing powder and heated to get that glass affect. Die cut birds and a stamped "Happy Thanksgiving" were added. Which reminds me, I need to get some Thanksgiving cards made too.

The last card was a snowman, colored in with copic markers and speckles to enhance the snow. Sequins were added to embellish the card and make the card look like a "snow-globe" Cute huh?!?!?

As I am typing this post....watching the Cubs game which is still playing, I did turn on the Hockey channel and watched the Hawks beat the Devils in overtime 3-2. So now I think the Cubbies should win too.....couple of more endings....Go Cubs!!!

Tomorrow is SATURDAY...my favorite day. We really need to rake leaves and cover the rose bushes. Maybe I need to take some tomatoes of the vine if they did not get frost bit. I was covering the plant for a couple of  days....time to do that. Where did this month go???? November is right around the corner, along with my birthday on the 21st and I shall be 70 years old......OH MY!!!

Time to close this post for today....I will come back on the 31st with 3 Blue Apron meals that I cooked this month, oh and maybe a video from YouTube.

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