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

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  

14 Days Into 2019

Hi there everyone....14 days into this new year and it has been hectic and frustrating!!! Without going into too much detail, as I look at my desk calendar....everyday has something going and I am already POOPED!!!!

The last day of 2018, we had to call the plumber AGAIN. A leak under the sink and water dripping on the floor. The pipes were plugged to the tune of $264 and we still owe $40 from the last visit....the toilet was leaking down in the basement. A drip, drip, drip, every time the toilet flushed and oh did the basement smell. I thought we were in the clear for awhile and then the leak under the sink started the last week of 2018.

JP has had quite a few days off from work...the last week of December which meant a very small check for this month. We barely had enough $$$ to pay the mortgage. Not sure what next month will bring...but we will see.

I signed up for food help once a month at the Salvation Army. Yep....that took a lot for me to do. 17 years ago I worked at the Salvation Army and was helping people with getting food....now I need the help...it is quite humbling, that is for sure. So Friday I signed up and was taken into the warehouse and walked through the aisles. My cart was full and weighed out at 112 lbs of food. Guess I will not have to go shopping for a while, except for medication, paper products and Kylie's food.


Saturday, I had Spectrum come and set up the tv, internet and phone. I am cancelling At&t and Directv. Cost wise, I was paying $225 a month. Spectrum will be $75 dollars cheaper. Now I have to get used to the new numbers. Just looking for ways to save money. Tuesday I will be signing up for Energy assistance....will see how that goes. Hopefully I can get a few months paid, and that will help. Hopefully....by the end of the month I will have enough $$$ to pay our house taxes. Since JP went part-time it has been really tough making ends meet.

Maybe this is why I have not been blogging a whole lot....just have not felt like it as there is nothing exciting to write about or take pictures of.
 
 I got a new used stove last month....so it has been a joy to cook again. I made some 30 Minute Dinner Rolls, that were really good. Following is the recipe: Hope you can read it.

Last week I made "IHOP" copycat Buttermilk pancakes. Oh my gosh.....were they delicious. I am going to make more, but I will have to use regular milk and add a little bit of vinegar to make the milk sour....that should work.

My only enjoyment has been watching the Chicago Blackhawks on TV and computer....only wish they would start winning more. But I am getting into the other teams and only hope the other teams don't beat the Blackhawks....it's been an interesting season though.

Card making has been at a minimum lately....Valentines and St. Patrick cards....cleaned out my stash so there are lots of cards for those two holidays. Just have to put inserts inside the cards. BUT my printer is not working, so I may not have enough inserts to put in the cards.....I tell you, there is always something to hinder me from doing what I need to get done.

Health wise....we are still plugging along. JP still gets his arm pains, people who don't know him think he is having a heart attack. Then he tells them he has been getting these attacks for 8 years and has been to 5 specialist, none of them could point the finger at the problem. So, we live with it. 

Kylie still deals with her blindness and hard of hearing, but she seems to be doing better and loves to eat, go outside, sleep and walk around the house bumping into things. When it is not cold, we go for walks, but since she can't see that well, we never quite make it down to the corner because she is already heading back the other direction. Funny how a dog's life can change so radically.

As for me, I am still on the Keto diet (part-time), it works for me. I want to lose another 20 lbs this year. That is doable. My Doctor will be happy with me. My A1C is 6.2....next appointment is May, so I need to keep working on that. I still deal with a sciatic nerve problem on the left side of the butt. Gosh, it hurts when I get up in the morning and can barely walk....after an hour or so it gets better. Guess I am stuck with that pain for the rest of my life.

Well, now that I have completely bored you to death with all my problems, I shall close here for now. No telling when the next time I will be here. But I will keep you updated now and then. So until then, keep looking up because I am very sure, better days are coming soon and very soon. Cheers ~ Louise

Secret Stamper Images Pt. 1

Hi there everyone. How has your week been? I am a little bit slow at getting these cards posted on my blog. These cards were from the Secret Stamper Image Reveal Party from April 22nd....oh well, guess spring has been a bit busy or, not so busy. No excuses. 

Have really been enjoying May and June. Not so much April though, when we had that bad snow storm....gosh that was a mess. It took my husband 3 days to get the snow shoveled and the car going down the driveway. He missed one day of work and then his supervisor picked him up the 2nd day. Third day he got out. I think by the end of the week you would never have known we had a snow storm of about 22-23 inches.

I had a really neat Secret Stamper. With each image, she sent a letter and where she got  the different stamps and dies. So the above cards were for December. She sent the deer, her card is on the left, my version of her deer image is on the right.

February being Valentine Day, she sent a Valentine kit, the white back ground with a cut out heart, the silver heart, pattern paper for the heart and the little strip of hearts. Her card on the left, my card on the right. I embossed the white back ground with hearts, running it through the cuttlebug. Adding the Love die also.

March, being St. Patrick's Day. She sent the leprechaun, again, her card is on the left and my colored in leprechaun is on the right.

Well, I guess I did not get October in the right order. She sent the small leaves. Her card is on the left, and my card is on the right.

January....She sent the "hello" her card is on the left and mine is on the right......I love that giraffe. I saw the idea at Hobby Lobby and made quite a few of these cards. When my secret stamper sent the "hello" I thought that would fit perfectly for the giraffe.

April's card was the flower. I have this stamp, but she also had the die cut to go along with the flower. Her card is on the left and my card is on the right.

I know I did not get the months straight, should have put them in order when I was taking these pictures. Well, next group of cards will be better....I hope!!

So there you have it. there is another Part 2 to these cards. The images that I sent to my secret stamper. That will be my next post....maybe in 3-4 days or so.

I am still working and planting my gardens....planting flowers, tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans, lettuce, zucchini and what ever else I can get in my planters. When I am finished, I will take pictures of the things I have been working on.

Time to close, church tomorrow and I need to get some sleep, that's if I can sleep, drank too much iced tea. Talk to you later, keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Hey.....7 Days into March Already!!!

Hi there everyone!!! Wow....7 days into March already, "time do fly by fast when we're having a good time???" I'm not so sure about that saying and if I believe it.  As I sit here typing and looking at my calendar, which is right be side my computer. The days are filled and I guess I have been busy.

Today we took our income tax stuff to the accountant. I have been going through papers, bills, receipts, etc. since February and working right up until this past Saturday (with a lot of procrastination in between) I finally finished.....YAY!!! We celebrated with a piece of chocolate cake last night. No, it didn't look like this....but was just as good.

Today we celebrated again by stopping at "The Taste of Windy City" and got fries, Gyro and Windy City Special with hamburger and gyro meat.....whew....the special was all I ate for today, filled me up good!!!

A tray of food at the Taste of Windy City in Appleton.

Windy City's Gyro and the fries below.

I think when we go to pick up our tax stuff.....and if....we are getting a refund, there will be another stop at "The Windy City"....yes there will!

Been working on cards....a new batch for the Hospice meeting this next month, April 7th. Our past meeting was on the 3rd. of March. I took a lot of cards that were already made up and used those...now I have to get some new ideas for the next batch. I will be working on Easter and Mother Day cards this time around.

The Chicago Blackhawks played Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and won all 3 games. So I was glued to the TV watching the games, although I could only get the 3rd period for the Friday and Saturday games. It's almost as good as being there, but not quite. #72 is my favorite player...Artemi Panarin.

Went shopping Thursday, on the north side of Appleton to Shopko and Festival and Friday, on the west side Walmart, Sam's Club and Hobby Lobby. I have to keep my shopping down to a minimum, only a couple of days a week.

Tomorrow, I will just do some house work....I finally took down the Valentine decorations and now have St. Patrick decorations up. Maybe tomorrow will be a "surprise day" and just do whatever comes up....seems like I have a lot of those days.

Time to close, JP will be home in 10 minutes, so I better get something going for his dinner. You have a great evening and keep looking up~~~Better days are here again. Cheers ~ Louise

Cookies~~Cookies and Taxes

Hi there everyone. Hahahaha funny little pug dog, he's not exactly what you were expecting for tech support....right? Thought we could all use a little bit of humor on Monday's. Yep, even though it is still Christmas Cookies. Tech support is on the way!!

Not much going on here. Worked on income taxes Saturday. Got the bulk of it done, now I just have to figure out medical expenses and medicine, then I am done. Whew, what a job!!! Would be nice if we got a refund...then I could pay a few bills........it's a never ending circle of paying bills. Thank God for COOKIES!!!!

We got some good news the other day. The "Rebuilding Together" people that fixed our roof in October will be coming again to fix the kitchen ceiling and put a new fan in. I suspect there was a lot of water damage so they feel a new fan needs to be added. Fine with me. I suspect they will let me know how much work is ahead of me as to what I must move out of the kitchen, dishes, food etc. They will be also putting in banisters down the basement and a few other small details....I think the porch might be painted too. We will see. This will all take place in May, so I have much to look forward to.

Well, I guess I must take down my Valentine Tree....guess it is time. It's been fun....I will miss the pretty lights. I suppose I could leave the tree up till St. Patrick's Day.....hummm....we'll see. I am not sure Mr. Elf wants to take that long nap till Christmas as yet.

One more week of February and we are entering March...my goodness these days are flying by. Maybe March will come in like a lion and go out like a lamb and could it be "spring is right around the corner" YES...yes....yessssss!

 

Well time to close this blog for the night. Need to get downstairs and get some cards made for Hospice. The next meeting is March 6th....so I have some work a head of me. But, it is fun and relaxing work.

Don't forget to leave a comment on my blogs...every comment is worth a chance to win a St. Patrick's Day card from me. Even if you just stop by and say "Hi Louise" that's good enough for your name to be dropped in the bowl. March 10th will be the day to pick 4 names.

So have great night and good week, keep looking up.

Cheers ~ Louise

Before and After Steak and St. Patrick Cards

Hi there everyone....this will be a short one....just wanted to show you the "before" and "after" pictures of that wonderful and de-lish-ous heart shaped rib-eye steak.

So here is a picture of the steak in it's "before" state, fresh out of the package from the butcher....I salted and peppered it and poured some steak sauce on top, letting it sit in the frig for a few hours.

A picture of the steak "After" it was pan fried in coconut oil with some onions and mushrooms.....oh my was this ever a good piece of meat....not sure if it was the coconut oil that did the trick, but it sure did smell good.

Here you see the whole meal....salad, mashed potatoes, garlic bread and left-over cod fish from the night before. There was steak left over for Sunday's meal of Steak and eggs and English muffins. Oh Yum!!!!

I will be doing another Card Give Away....this time a St. Patrick's Day Card. Starting today....all you need do is leave a comment, even if it is just to say "Hi". I will put your name on the list and every time you comment, is a chance to win one of my cards. On March 10th I will pick 4 names and then send those 4 a card.

I so totally enjoyed the Valentine give away....I wanted to do another one. Well, time to close for the night...have a good evening and keep looking up....warm days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Tooo Much Snow and a Etsy Sale!

Hi everyone, how is it going??? As someone said to me the other day, "Life is full of changes, and they come without notice". Sometimes it would be nice to have a memo once in a while, but then again, if there was a memo, maybe I wouldn't want to see a change come!!!!

Today we had another change.....or challange.....or maybe it's an inconvenience???? JP and I had to go to the UPS store in Neenah (which is 10 miles away) and return the at&t DVR that stopped working. At&t sent a new DVR on Tuesday, the old one had to be back in their hands in 10 days...or else we would get charged $150!!!! Yikes!!! So needless to say we wanted to get the DVR back asap. We got back to Appleton, went to the Post Office to mail the Etsy order. Dropped JP off at home and I took off again to go pay the Electric/gas bill and to the grocery store. Here is where life changes.....I get back in the car and...gosh the brakes are feeling kind of strange??? So each stop I came to, I found the brake peddle becoming more squishy. Suddenly the brake light comes on........oh, oh, I better go home, will I make it home??? Dozens of questions filled my mind!!!

Thank God I got home with no mishaps. I told JP what had happened and he called the service station, they said to bring the car in....when JP drove the car to the garage, there were NO BRAKES!!! When you think...how a gazillion things could have happened. Apparently the brake lines are rusted out and fluid had leaked out. We will be with out a car for the weekend. JP is at work right now....someone from the company came to pick him up and take him to work. The service station will let us charge the $400.00, which is okay....but we still have a bill with them for $600...so there you have it $1000 bill for car repairs, and a loan on a car for $4000. I am wondering, how in the world does a person ever get ahead in this world....I probably will always wonder that, till Jesus' return or the day I die!!!

So here you can see how much snow we have had already....so much snow, but there are lovely flowers growing under all that snow. Tulips, roses, crocuses, peonies, lavendar, daisies, mums and misc. perrenials......it will be lovely when things start to grow again.

The snow is almost up to the porch....gosh that is deep, I don't remember seeing the snow that deep in all the 22 years we have lived here.

Here's a picture of our backyard.....snow is up to the back of the chair....so much snow and there's still 6-7 weeks of winter to go.

Well as I said in the title of this blog, I had another Etsy sale....so happy am I. She is a return customer and hopefully she just might return again and again. I am planning on getting more cards into my store. St. Patrick's Day is coming up soon, so I need to get some "green cards" in my store also!!

Time to close this blog and get some cards made and ride my bike for some exercise. Talk to you all later and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

We Three Kings of Orient Are....

Hi everyone, how are you all doing? Hope you are keeping warm or if you live in a warm area like Florida or California, you are keeping cool. Time sure does fly, it's been 6 days since I last blogged, that's a long time for me, I have been trying to go every 2-4 days. Guess I didn't have much to blog about, if that could be possible. Oh I was doing the Etsy Tap Dance on Sunday, got an Etsy sale, so I was pretty happy about that, took me a couple of day to prepare the mailing. Then the weather got REALLY cold and a little snow fell on Monday. Been busy decorating the house for Christmas and getting my Christmas cards mailed out also.

We took our car in for an oil change and it seems to need a couple of belts and a thermostat...oie vey...to the tune of $350+ not exactly what we need at this time. But, I guess it is a neccessity. Otherwise if not taken care of, the motor could blow. Then it would cost even more.

So in the above picture is my 3 Kings which I made back in 1968.....geez 45 years ago. They are made of paper mache'. I must have been going to an art store and they were giving classes in different art media. I have completely forgotten how these Kings were made, can you believe, I still have the paper mache' stuff from back then. Guess I always thought I would make something else with the stuff, some day maybe.

Anyways, my 3 Kings come out every year and are placed in some royal spot. Every year when they get put away, I think, is this the last time I will see them??? Then here we are for another Christmas. Who knows, someday they will get put away never to be seen again. So I will just enjoy them this season and shed another tear as they get put away. Who knows, maybe in 20 years they can collect Social Security...lol!

So in this picture is my little Christmas tree. I like this tree, easy to put away and easy to take out and decorate. I like the lights, it goes on about 4pm and goes off about 3am. I have been known to keep my tree up into February. Last year I had Valentine hearts hanging from it and was even thinking of making a St. Patrick's Tree....but there comes a point that it is time to take it down. I left the lights on the table for another month....so I was satisfied into March and April. Maybe this year I will get Easter lights to replace the Christmas lights.

I still have my village to put up, probably this weekend. Then I can sit back and enjoy Christmas, make some cookies and stuff. I still have to get a package off to my Step-father in Las Vegas...that package might be late. Need to look for a stuffed animal to pack with the cookies...what do you get an 87 year old for Christmas????

Well, I think it is time to close, have to go ride my bike and make some thank you cards. So you all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh, oh and stay warm. Cheers ~ Louise

Valentine's and Smoothies

Something new added to my Etsy store. A sweet little candy or cookie box for that special person or lover♥. It's the only one I have, so it would be considered a "one-of-a-kind" Valentine box. I priced the Valentine box at at $10 + $4 shipping.

I will be adding these Valentine cards to my Etsy store today. I think I will sell them for $1.50 a card or $9.00 for the set + shipping which will bring them to $12.00. Three of the cards say "Happy Valentine's Day" inside the card. One is blank and two cards say "hugs and kisses". I am working on a few other Valentine cards and will have them up in my store this next week. Hopefully in time for someone to see them and buy one or two cards for their lover ♥.

Today JP and I made a trip to "Pawn America" and finally picked up his new "used" accordion that was on lay-away since November. He is a happy camper now, and is going to see if he can play it at church tomorrow. We also hit EyeMart (an hour wait to get my glasses fixed), Woodman's (busy, busy place), Citgo to pay the Electric bill  (whew~that's off my mind) and Post Office (mailed a Netflex Cd back). When we got home, JP pulled out his accordion and started playing...nice!! Then he took off to go to church to clean and play his accordion.

Left alone, I made myself a smoothie for lunch...........I am getting a little daring with these fun drinks.
1/2 can coconut water
1 large mushroom
1/4 cup red pepper
1/4 cup avocado
Wasn't bad at all, not sure what the benefits were but it sure was fun to drink. I really needed to use the avocado up cause when I cut it open there were a lot of brown spots..........oh well, froze the rest in Saran plastic, hopefully it won't turn brown.

Well, I guess it is time to take down my Christmas tree and Village...(sniff, sniff) I am actually thinking of leaving up my tree and just take the Christmas stuff off and put Valentine hearts up....sound sweet??? I like the lights.........oh I'll see. Here is a picture of my village and Christmas tree, just in case you are interested.

My little village...I like to add something new every year, whether it is a building, people. tree  or accessories.  This year I added a building. See the garage, far left with the man on top the roof shoveling snow. I picked up the garage for $1.50 at the thrift shop.......not a bad deal. 

  Here you see my little Christmas tree. Not even sure how long I have had this tree.....it sure has been handy, it's a fiber optic tree and this is the first year the optic lights did not work, I thought I would miss them, but I strung lights on the tree and I think I actually enjoyed the tree more this year....guess that is why I don't want to take it down. If I decide to leave it up for Valentine's I will take another picture of it so you can see my "Valentine's Tree" and who knows.....maybe I might make a "St Patrick Tree" and an "Easter Tree".......hummmm that might be pushing it though :)

Well, I guess I will close this blog for today, you all take care and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

♣Some New St. Patrick Day Cards♣

Added some new cards to my Etsy store today. Here is a sampling of them. The two Irish boys were made last year, had never put them in my store. Must have made them after St. Patrick's Day. The two new ones on the right were made in the last couple of days. The card on the bottom, right, I found in an Antique store, in a packet 9 postcards $.50 and marked "reproduced vintage replicas"....thought they would make a nice card....I was right. After embellishing it with more shamrocks and a gel pen, think I will make some more, thought they turned out rather fun!!!

Will be adding another set of 4 cards on Wednesday and possibly a third set on Friday. Hopefully they will sell. The price of each set is $10.00 + 3.00 postage. I am selling my cards for $2.50 a piece, that's cheap cause I usually sell my cards for $3.00.

Can't think of too much to write tonight......so I think I will close......you all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Ground Hog Day and a "Thanks" Card!!!!!!!

Yep.....it's that day of the year that we find out if we have 6 more weeks of WINTER!!! Personally, I am not really caring.......if the groundhog sees his shadow or not. Guess it depends on which groundhog you are talking too.....hahahah......and which one saw his shadow, the one in Wisconsin or the one in PA, Ohio, Ill or Mich. (Note: just on the news....a couple of them did not see their shadow, does that mean an early spring????? whatever). So many people seem to think they know how to predict the future in some way or another......hummmmmm.....me thinks no one knows the future except God!!!! For isn't His ways higher then our ways and His thoughts higher then ours??????? "If God says", I will tend to listen to what HE says and not man or groundhogs.....so there!!!! I have no pictures of a groundhog.....they aren't that pretty or cute like my puppy dogs..........soooooo this may just be a picture less blog for today. Who knows maybe I will come up with something as I write.

Some bad news yesterday.....we had to get rid of our second car, had too many things wrong with it, needed brakes, new fuel lines, rusty lines, tyrods, etc. would cost more to get it fixed then what it is worth....junk yard paid us $400....that was good. Paid part of our bill at Van Linn's, the rest will go towards another "old car" and more bills till that one wears out and becomes "undriveable".
Here's a picture of a card I made with my new Cricut machine, (used this picture in a previous blog) I really like my Cricut, it's fun to play with. It is a gift from a friend. Bought some new mats on Etsy, ordered them on the 28th of January and they arrived yesterday......gosh that was fast delivery. Have an idea for a St. Patrick card, "Kiss me I'm Irish" card. Really need to get some more cards in my Etsy store for St. Pats......sort of lagging behind. But I did notice that last year, this time I sold some St. Pat's cards, 4 of them, starting the 21st of February.......soooo, guess I have a little bit of time to get some cards made and up in my Etsy store. Take a peek, go to http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/

Hope you all are having a great day with better days ahead and keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Last St. Pat's Card of the Season

This is my last card for the St. Patrick's Day season...............but it was the most fun to make. Using different colored crayons and smearing on my iron then onto a piece of white glossy cardstock made this technique quite unique! The background looks marbalized, I used two different greens and gold. In the next few days I will be putting a couple of cards up in my Etsy store with different colors...........so you must check it out if you have a hankering to. Go to: www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com Most of my cards go for $3+postage. I will also add an extra card to the order along with a bookmark.

Not alot going on lately, looking forward to seening Spring coming and working outside again, green grass and flowers popping up. So talk to you later and have a great day!!!!!

~Louise~

Etsy Dance and Some New St. Patty Cards

Added these cards to my Etsy store in the last couple of days. Will be adding a few more St. Patty cards in the next few days and that will be it for St. Patrick Cards till next year. The first card with the House Mouse is one of my favorite cards.......I am a huge House Mouse fan so I have lots of stamps with the cute little mice..........just don't like those mice running around in my basement!!!! One night I was working at making cards and I opened a drawer and WA-LA there were pieces of dog food in the drawer......now how could they have gotten there???? You got it, a friendly little mouse was finding hiding places for her food and my stamping studio seemed the perfect place!!!! I finally caught her along with her babies!!!!!

This is another card I put up on Etsy the other day.......Irish enough?????? Did the Etsy tap dance the other day, so I was pretty happy. Sold a St. Patrick Card, soooooo, thought I better get another few cards up for the Irish!!!! Next on the agenda will be a few Happy Birthday Cards and then comes Easter..............my how the seasons fly by, before you know it Christmas will be here!!!!!

Well time to close this blog, have to go to my Etsy store and put up another St. Patrick card if you go to www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com I tell how I made these cards and the others that I will put up. So you have a good day and take care.

~Louise~

Three St. Patty's Day Cards

This St. Patty's Day card is my spirelli (looks alittle blurry, but I am sure you get the idea). I used a scalloped punch and ran embroidery around the punch topping it with an irridescent shamrock. I then used two pieces of fancy papers, running the marbled paper through a cuttlebug. Happy St. Patrick's Day is stamped on white paper, scalloped and outlined with a gel-pen and 4 green studes placed in each corner. The inside of the card is blank.


This second card is layered with two large shamrocks and 4 little punched out shamrocks taking up the slack. The Happy St. Patrick's Day is stamped on paper and the edges scalloped and then outlined with a gel-pen. The embellished with black yarn. The inside of the card is blank.

This 3rd card was made alittle different then most of my cards, I got the idea from a tutoral on YouTube. They were actually showing how to make the bow, which was really unique. Really not sure if I can explain it but I will try. Take a piece of ribbon and tie a loose knot then draw another piece of ribbon through that loose knot and tighten from both ends. The bow will actually lay flat, then you can secure the ribbon to the back of the card. The card measures 5.50"wide X 4.25"tall. So the green part of the card is glued to the white and opens length wise. The top end is finished off with a scalloped punch. The inside of the card says "celebrate your blessings".

The shamrock is stamped with a heart stamp and then embossed with green and layered on fancy paper. The corner Happy St. Patrick's Day is stamped on paper and outlined with a gel-pen and glued on shiney scalloped paper.

All three of these cards are in my Etsy store and are selling for $3.00 each plus postage. Go to: http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/

I am so looking forward to St.Patrick's Day. Hopefully this year I will be able to buy a slab of corned beef....mmmmmm....so looking forward to some REAL corned beef sandwiches on rye bread. OH and don't forget sourkraut and mustard.

Well the big game is tomorrow.....USA and Canada Hockey game at the Olympics. Gonna be a great game no matter which way the outcome.

Well, time to close this blog, have to go to my etsy store and put up another card.

Louise

Time Flies......................

Wow......talk about time flying by where have these days gone????? Thought I would update alittle bit.

Been busy making cards, lots, lots, and lots of Valentine cards lately. Now I have been focusing on St. Patty Cards. Will have to add some to my next blog. Also have been focusing on making Mother's Day Cards. Bought a few stamps today for Mother's Day, can you believe I did not have a Mother's day stamp. Now I can start next week making MD Cards. Gosh then comes Father's Day..................time goes fast when you go by the seasons.

Been getting into more cooking lately, I don't know why, like making different breads, soups, chillis, mmmmmm oh and stew the other day. Maybe it is just the winter that brings out the "cooking bug" in me, or could be I say "Julia and Julie" what a special movie, I really enjoyed it. Bought some wonderful spices today at Penzeys, bought some French Basil, French Tarragon, French Thyme and Vindaloo.............vindaloo you say???? That's what I said, what is Vindaloo?? It's hot and spicey but not overwhelming, good on pork, beef, lamb or poultry. I just sprinkled a little on a piece of meat tonight. The ingredients are: coriander, garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, brown mustard, red pepper, jalapeno, cardamom, turmric,tellicherry black pepper, and cloves. I think only a sprinkle will do, because the sales lady said it is really Hot. So yeah, a sprinkle will do for now.

Still exercising at Inches A Weigh...........not much weight loss...........of course I usually gain weight during the winter months and that has not happened as yet..........so maybe I am on the right track.

Still doing my merchandising job, which keeps me busy every week, not a big money maker, but it is busy work AND it is a job. Selling my cards on Etsy, here and there and also at Inches A Weigh.

Well, I shall close this blog for today and hopefully come back in the next few days.

Happy Valentines Day~~~~~~
Louise

Wass' hap-ning????

I don't know?????? Not much going on at this end. But thought I would add a little something to spice up my blog. Have been making some earrings and a few new cards. Made a set of lovely note cards with the inside verse saying "I thought of you today", bought the stamp last week. I thought that was kind of nice, just to send out a card when I thought of someone............it is always nice to receive cards in the mail for no reason at all. Why wait for a special day when you can send one any old time.

Decorated my dinning room table with St. Pats stuff......I like decorating my dinning room table according to the seasons......kind of perks up my spirit. Been moving a few pieces of furniture around too. I heard that when you move your furniture around, subconsciencely you want to travel someplace. I guess that might be right, I need to take a vacation someplace, somewhere, gosh, even if it is up to Door County or even Algoma.................someplace.

Well, I am off to take some pictures of the earrings, and cards so I can add them to this blog or the next one..........not sure, it is all pending. Who knows what I will do in the next few days or hours for all I know, I may not go take some pictures and this blog just might be pictureless. Gosh, a pictureless blog, not sure how to react.

Have a great day,
Louise

New St. Patrick's Card

Well, here is one of my new St. Patrick's Day Cards. I just added to my collection of cards on Etsy......actually right now this card is my "Avatar of the month". I like changing my avatars and banners according to the season. Just added the orange card last night. I probably will add the green card in the next few days. Here is the orange card.
I am not Irish.........German, French and English. Soooooo, maybe that is why I like a good cup of tea and french fries and brats????????? {{{laugh,laugh}}}

Anyways, sorry this is not such a good blog today........I need to get ready to go and do some stores today, don't usually go out on Mondays, but I have a switch out of cards to do at the two Dollar General Stores. Taking down the Valentines cards, and putting up the Easter, St Pats and graduation...............here we go again. Time sure does fly when I do cards.

Well, I guess I should close this segment of the blog for now, and go get ready for my job. You have a good day and talk later.
Louise