Some New Cards

Hi there everyone, hope you are enjoying this HOT summer!!! I have no air conditioning, so it really gets miserable warm in this house. Oh, I have the fans going, ceiling fan, floor fan, little fan by the chair, yep, fans a blowing everywhere and no place to cool down. I also have one of those little artic air conditioners, but it in no means cools down a room, it does cool me down while I sit by my computer. Today, the artic conditioner is not on, as it is still kind of warm or at least not HOT in this house, but comfortable.

So, today's cards, some were made at the Senior Center and some at home. The butterfly card (above) was made at the Center. People donate a lot of stuff, and this butterfly die was a donation, I sure do like it, it made a lovely card. Think I will make some more diagonal cards at home and when I go to the Center, hunt up this die and cut more like it, hopefully it will still be there and did not walk away.

The above cards, the diagonal grey with leaves was made at the Center. The other card I made at the Center a couple of months ago. Now the bottom card, "yellow daisies on a black background" is a new die I bought from "Scrapbook.com". It came with a 3D embossing folder and the die to cut out the corner flower. My technique was to use the Tim Holtz Distress inks and with a steeple brush (hard bristles) color the flowers and leaves. I have also tried gold and silver paste and smeared it on the flowers. Those cards will be in my next blog.

Now these two cards were a lot of fun to make. They reminded me of the "Iris folding" technique. They were made at the Center and finished at home. The top card has a pattern to follow, and the strips cut out to fit within the pattern. I made quite a few of these cards last night in different colors. The butterfly card was made at home. One of the ladies that comes to the Center brought the pattern and directions to make more of these cards. Now if I can just figure it out, I will make more of these in the coming days.

Here is my new Christmas card using the iris fold techniques. The "falala" die was free with my order to Scrapbook.com. Will have to make a lot more of these in the next coming days. I have to make Veteran cards for the Hospice meeting September 1st. So, I think I will make Veteran cards using this method. Fun, fun, fun in the next few days.

Well, there you have it another round of card making. I extended my stamping room to the dining room table as it is a bit cooler in the dining room. My stamping room is a bit stuffy and too warm to make cards, so I just go in there to get supplies. I also extended the dining room table to make it a bit larger. The table can sit 12 people, well that would be about the length of the dining room, so that would be WAY too big for this room. I shall have to settle for this size in this room. Lots of fans blowing on me so it makes it bearable, making cards.

My little garden is starting to produce, YAY!!! Onions and greens, dill, 1 cucumber, got some green tomatoes that the chipmunks found and green beans!!! Hot dog and green beans for lunch today....Yum!!! I noticed I have lots of cherry tomatoes growing, if they make it, just need to remember to water them, they let me know when they are thirsty, they wilt!!!

Another funny oneliner from Brenda's blog; "Big shout out to my fingers ~ I can always count on them!!!"

Well time to close before this gets toooooo long of a blog. Talk later and keep looking up, better days are coming!!! Cheers~Louise
 

Some Cards I Have Been Working On

HI there everyone....hope your week went well. Mine was quiet....which is fine with me. Monday I went for my A1C blood test.....hopefully everything is fine. Will have my Doctors appointment next Tuesday. JP has his blood tested next Monday and his appointment with the Doctor the following Monday. I think he has a dental appointment also....but I did not mark it on the calendar....oh, oh I better get that checked out.

So lately, I have been working on some cards. 5 early Christmas cards in May.....I picked up these die cuts at the secret stamper reveal party. When I saw the card on the table I quickly ran back to the "extra image table" to see if there were more angels....and yes, these 5 were left. I had some sparkle backgrounds in my stash of paper and made my own angles. I must look for this die, I have no idea where the die for these angels was bought at a store or ordered online. I would like to make all my Christmas cards this year with this angel die.....so pretty!!!

Here we have some "Just a little note to say..." I saw this idea on the Internet. The wavy lines is a SU die and the notes I picked up at a stamping store.....I will get the name and place it here, when I look in the garbage for the package. I had originally made my own notes....but alas, they were backwards and upside down. Although the original card on the internet was the same, so I thought that was the way it should be.

When JP saw the card (he plays accordion and keyboard) he smiled and said my notes were wrong. So he went and got a music sheet to show me what the notes should look like. So, I proceeded to take my handmade notes off and replace with these notes....looks much better, if I have to say so myself. I have no idea what the tune is on each of these cards....maybe someone musical can tell me?

Now here is my "secret stamper image for May" I have probably had this stamp for 4-5 years and have no idea where it came from or who I bought it from. Sorry. I thought she would make a great "Mother's Day Card" I colored her in with copic markers, the real beauty of this card is the background. I used iridescent foil. Which was really fun to work with.

There are many ways to use colored foil....I thought only a laminator could be used, which I did not have. I went on YouTube and found other ways to foil. Tim Holtz has a few techniques to foil using sticky embossing powder (I shall check that out tomorrow at Hobby Lobby.) The foil is laid on top, tapped and rubbed then the foil slides off. Now I can't remember if a heat gun was used, I will have to check that out again.

Another lady used her cuttlebug with the foil papers and embossing folders, getting the right amount of pressure, she ran the folder through with the foil. It did not look like much, but she used painters tape to rub the foil off in the places foil did not stick.

Another lady used different colored embossing powders, a stamp and heat gun. While the image was still hot, foil was laid on the embossed image, if it did not take, she heated the embossing up and laid the foil on top again. You could use words or flowers, the ideas are endless.

My method was using foil paste. Rub the paste on the card stock with an old artist spatula (maybe I will look for a plastic one, mine was metal and all rusted.) Place the foil on the paste and I used the heat gun. The top one turned out better then the bottom one. But then, it really doesn't look bad either.

Here is a question for you....do you think these cards need something more, like ribbon, sequins, gems???? Or maybe it is fine just the way it is? Or, maybe it is too busy??? I might add a "Happy Mother's Day" greeting using the embossing powders.

Let's see, what else could I talk about??? I have started a couple of blogs and saved them in a draft. I made my first cheese cake a couple of weeks ago....pictures and blog to follow and maybe another cheese cake.

Another draft, is the cards made and received at the "Secret Stamper Image" reveal party, Part 1 and Part 2. There will also be a draft for the cards I made at Betty's house last month. My how time flies, I will be going for another session next week, maybe I should hold off on last months cards till I get another set of cards made at Betty's.

Hospice is next week Friday, so I need to get cards and Father's Day favors done for that. That could be another blog....Mother's Day and Father's Day favors.....we'll see.

Well, time to close, hockey is on...Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets. I am rooting for the Predators...so far the score is 2-0 Predators leading. I am also rooting for the Vegas Golden Knights....so we shall see what happens. Hopefully next season it will be the Chicago Hawks in the Playoffs!!!

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

Cards, Hospice Meeting, Mother's Day and Pops

Hi there everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. Mine started out fine, I was blessed with a friend that gave me a personal Cricut for $30 with case and 4 cartridges and maybe even the cartridge that came with the cricut. With this cricut I will be able to use it without my computer, which will be nice. No pictures yet....I need to set it up and figure out how to use it as well.

In these next few pictures are some of the cards I made for Hospice. The cards above are the funny Tim Holtz Crazy Bird set. I got the die cuts for these birds....maybe I will use them more. No more fussy cutting for me. This yellow bird is probably my favorite of the six birds...easy to color too.

My vintage golfer about to hit a golf ball. I made these cards into Father's Day cards as were the yellow chick cards above.

These cards were what I made up for my secret stamper lady....I sent the stamped pineapple, rose and leaves. Colored them in and added a gem. Added a feather and circled die cut and embossed folder for the background. I inherited 2 rimes of yellow card stock and 1 rime of yellow paper....so yeah, you probably will see lots of yellow cards coming out of my creating mind.

In the above picture are the Father's Day favors I made. At the meeting we slipped Hersey candies in the favor. Usually we put little stickers on them saying they are from Hospice....but I guess the stickers were not made up as yet. I thought I had taken a picture of ALL the favors together, that were made up, but for some reason there was no picture.....gosh, maybe I did not press the button to take the picture??????

In this picture we are looking through the cards each one of us brought.....maybe getting new ideas from each other and oo-ing and ah-ing the cards as we looked. Next meeting will be June 2nd, so we have 3 weeks to get some cards together.....I better get my rear in gear....then we will have the summer off till September and we need to have Halloween cards made......yikes!!! I think that is why my days fly bye.....I am always on to the next holiday before this one even comes.

I did not finish my Mother's Day blessings. After the Hospice meeting, I drove Betty home, but before we went to her house, we stopped off at a second hand shop and I bought myself a purse and a couple of tops.....oh and a cute little teapot which I mishandled and dropped on the ground and it broke. I will glue it back together and just use it for decoration....maybe it won't be usable again. (that part was NOT a blessing)

We went to Woodman's, a really big store that I very seldom go to. BUT...I probably will go there again, I found my favorite bread there. A big loaf of Turano Bread that makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches...oh yum!! Oh and I just saw a recipe using this bread to make (French) Italian toast......trying this tomorrow morning.

I bought a few other things, that I don't see at the other stores I visit...I always have fun shopping!!! I was really enjoying my Mother's Day weekend and thinking, gosh....what did I do to enjoy all these blessings?????

Then Saturday came.....the phone rang. A call from a lady that has been in contact with my step-father in Las Vegas. He died in his sleep, in his own apartment on his easy chair. That's the way he wanted it and he got it. I won't be going out there....no reason to. He had made plans with this lady that she would take care of everything....she sort of adopted him and my mother and became their daughter. Taking my place.....oh well, I never did have good feelings about this whole situation. But who am I......nobody!!!!

Can you sense some anger there??? Yes, there probably is, when I think back on all the things that Pops did to me, the things he said to me, the way he controlled me and made me angry, to the point that I would only stuff the pain and say "he will never hurt me again" only to be hurt again and again. Nope, I am not sad for him, nor do I really care.

He wanted me to call him "Dad" one thing he wanted to hear me say....I said you are NOT MY DAD and I will never call you DAD!!! I had one Dad....You are Pops and that is what I will call you. He said, I figured you would say that and chuckled. ERG....he made me so mad!!!! And when he said he loved me, I was always forced to say....I love you too....but did I mean it??? I am not sure.

So here we are today....I hope he is happy where ever he ended up. The lady is going to take his ashes and spread them in the mountains of Las Vegas along with the ashes of my mother.....hope they meet again, where ever that might be.

Sunday came and we went to church...good service and lovely worship....our gift on Mother's day, two little red petunia plants....I shall plant them tonight in between the rain drops. I think I will get some white and blue petunia's and organize the petunia's in red, white and blue in the planters.

Well, time to close here and go walk Kylie....the sun is out now after a little rain. Talk to you later and keep looking up better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

3 Blue Apron Meals

Hi there everyone. How are you all enjoying the first couple of days of May......already it is the 3rd day of the "Merry Month of May"!!!

Monday I took Kylie to the Vet for her shots and a check up. They intended to do a full panel of her blood, but their machine was acting up. So all that blood they took from Kylie, needs to be taken again. We went in today for more lab work. Poor, poor Kylie, they have to poke her again.

But hopefully things will be well with her. They are going to check to see why her hair is so yukky...she might need vitamins. Plus she has gained 4 pounds, not good. Kylie is also blind in one eye and the other one is not so good. She needs to have her teeth cleaned this next fall.....I better save some money for that. Otherwise, for the age she is...she's doing well I guess. We will know more after the blood work.

The blood work came back, everything is normal except the numbers were a little high for her liver and kidneys. We need to go back the first of June for another blood test and if the numbers are still high, there is a medication they can give her....but otherwise everything is OKAY!!! Doctor said she should be getting enough vitamins in the food she is eating, so no extra vitamins.

Blue Apron sent me a box of food....these meals really looked so good to me and they actually were very tasty. This first one "Spiced Beef Pitas & Garlic Labneh with Arugula & Date Salad" I wanted to do this meal because it sounded like a Greek Gyro and it sure tasted like it too. Very good, I will definitely make this again, using beef.

"Seared Cod & Crème Fraiche Sauce with Potato, Cabbage and Olive Hash" Now this was a really delicious meal, I think what I liked the most about this one was the combination potatoes and cabbage mixed together. The potatoes were diced then browned  with olive oil, salt and pepper for about 5 minutes till the potatoes were slightly softened. Then the sliced cabbage was added, a little more oil, salt and pepper. Stirring 5-7 minutes or until the cabbage has wilted and the potato has softened. Chopped up green olive was added then topped with chopped up almonds. This was so good, I made it again the next day. (but without the olives and almonds.) 

The fish was coated with rice flour and fried...the whole meal was delicious!!! The sauce was marinated shallots and lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. The crème fraiche was added to the shallots and served as garnish for the fish.

"Taiwanese-Style Chicken with Jasmine Rice, Crispy Shallot, & Cilantro" This dish was really yummy. The rice was cooked. Shallots were fried in rice flour then set aside. I then fried the red sliced cabbage in the same pan the shallots were fried in and set that aside. The chicken was cooked and shredded.

 The sauce was magic.....2 Tbsp. Soy sauce, 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar 1/2 cup water and as much Chile as you like....I just used 1/2 of the Chile without seeds....there still was a slight hot taste but not overwhelming. I loved the fried shallots....had a nice crunch to the whole dish.

If you are interested in any one of these recipes, you can just type in the name of the recipe in your browser, click and up will come the recipe, look for the one that will take you to Blue Apron.....I just tried it...works.

Well time to close here for now. I already started a new post about the Stampin'up Paper Pumpkin Kit I received a week ago, but have as yet to make the cards....that is coming. Friday I am getting my new Tim Holtz Crazy Bird die cuts AND something new....Brusho's, I can hardly wait to play with them, I can't wait to show you the backgrounds that will be created by brusho's....oh boy!!!

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

A Card Making Kinda Weekend

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good and productive weekend. Saturday I went to Betty's for a card making session....the next 4 cards are from Betty's. The last 2 cards are from today's Stampin'up Camp at Kathy's. Lots of great ideas for future use.

As I look at my calendar....I am wondering why I have not posted anything since the 6th....nothing much has been going on....just living life I guess. Keeping house, cooking, making cards, shopping here and there, sleeping.....is this retirement? I have no idea. JP started a new job this past week...same company...different building, instead of 3 buildings, he does one building....hopefully it won't be so much wear and tare on him or our car. We shall see.

Wednesday I have a appointment with the eye doctor. He is going to do a procedure called Blepharoplasty (surgery to lift the eyelids) I have been told it will only take 20 minutes for both eyes and is a very easy surgery. I have confidence in Dr. Neilitz, so I shouldn't worry. He will also be able to remove the yellow patches over my eyes....so maybe I will look like a new spring chicken. NOW if I can just drop some weight in the next few months....I'd be a happy camper.

So following are the cards we made at Betty's. She is going to have knee surgery on the 25th and then the other knee March 8th. So she will be out of commission for a couple of months. I told her I would bake her a pumpkin pie.....can't forget the Kool Whip!!!!

The "Happy Bird-Day" card was fun to make....we colored in the flowers and birdie with copic markers. The birdie is from the Tim Holtz Crazy Bird Set. Betty stamped the bird on cork then it was cut with the Crazy Bird die. I still want to get that die set for this set of birds....otherwise "fussy cutting" will have to do for now.

"Peek-a-boo bear"....he is colored in with copic markers. The background is punched out and run through the cuttlebug. Flowers are placed where flowers are embossed on the card. Wonder if I should have moved the background over a bit more...

This "Heart" card was easy and fun. Betty drew a heart and we stamped around the heart with little stamps, added embellishments of gems and butterflies. I already made one card like it....need to make some more for Hospice.

I like this card very much....the black cat looking out the window at a cardinal. Do you like my pink background??? I brought some material with me so I could take pictures of each card after we made them....Betty has better lighting at her tables, so the pictures turned out better then usual.

These next two cards were made at Kathy's Stampin'Up camp. (I took these pictures at my dinning room table....light was okay, but not as good as at Betty's) So the above card was the Dancing Girl....sure did like this set and was seriously thinking of buying it. The girl is colored in with watercolor pencils. Who knows maybe in a couple of months I buy her.

This was a lovely card, just simple pairings of paper and the dragon flies are a die.....I bought this set...just thought it would make a great card for Hospice. The picture does not do the card justice.

So there you have it.....it's always fun to make cards, very relaxing and good therapy for the soul. Hope you have a great week and watch Trumps Inauguration, it should be exciting to watch. Keep looking up cause 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

Some Hospice Cards

Hi there everyone. This will be a quickie post. (I am thinking) As you can see, I have been busily working on some cards for Hospice. The meeting is next Friday, sooooo, I need to get a stock pile of cards made and get some Father's day cards made also.

The stamps above are from Stampin'up, I really liked the way the cards turned out, I may not give them all to Hospice, as I can think of a few people that need a card on my end.

When I was rummaging through some old card stock, I ran across this froggy and thought he would make a cute card. "Never, never throw things out, you never know when you can use them again." That should be my motto, as I think this guy has been hanging around for a long time and he finally got made into a card.

In the above picture is my new die cut from Stampin'up called "Rose Wonder" I have the stamp that goes along with this die cut, but I rather like the effect that this gives. Makes for a nice Birthday card.

Here are my "crazy birds" from Tim Holtz.....I had them laying around also and thought they would go good on these cards....again, never throw anything away.

These are some quick Thank you cards, using washi tape and graph paper for the background and my die cuts and butterflies to embellish the cards with a few sequins.

Well that about covers it....next post, maybe some Father's day cards. So tomorrow I am getting a box from Blue Apron....I look forward to that once a month. It's like going to culinary school for 3 days and learning and tasting something new.

You all have a great couple of days, I'll post something about Blue Apron. Oh and by the way.....I am still in mourning about my Chicago Blackhawks losing and not going on to win the Stanley Cup (sob).

Keep looking up....better days are coming (I keep telling myself that, but I am still waiting.)
Cheers ~ Louise

Birthday Card and Chicken Schnitzel

Hi there everyone. Well, the first 3 days of March have passed by....such a whirl wind of things to get done, I tell ya!!!!

So in my first picture is the birthday card I made for grand nephew, Evan, he will be 7 years old on Saturday. I am sure they are planning a big birthday party for him. My card probably will be late, as it has to travel down to Chicago.....I sent him $7, a brand new 5 and 2 dollar bill.

I saw the idea of this "crazy bird" by Tim Holtz on the internet and thought he was so cute.

Below is the bird I saw in the internet....not sure where I found it, but the above is my take on the bird below.

He was stamped on white card stock and colored in with copic markers. Also stamped, is the lady bug. I drew in the leaves and stems of the flowers. The flowers are fabric flowers and a candy dot placed in the middle of the flower. I ran sticky tape across the card and poured green glitter on it. My google eyes are smaller and I placed red sequins around the bird. So, those are the differences. It is always amazing to me how one card can have so many different looks. No one card is alike......same bird different, looks. 

Here is my last Blue Apron meal.....yum, this was really good, "Chicken Schnitzel with Fingerling Potato Salad and Lingonberry Jam". Not sure if I talked about this meal before, but it was really good and most likely I will do this again. The chicken was flattened, then dropped in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs then fried in oil till browned. The potatoes were cooked, cooled the mixed with mustard, demi glace and a shallot-vinegar mixture and seasoned with salt and pepper. Really a good potato salad....all in all this was very good. 5 stars here and a keeper for sure.

I so look forward to my Blue Apron meals, my next 3 meals will come on the 17th....by then I will want a change from corned beef and cabbage...that's if I buy a corned beef this year.

Saturday, I have to finish up my income taxes and take them into the accountant.....whew, what a job, don't think I could do that 5 days a week, no, accounting is not my nitch. Not sure what my nitch is accept for cooking and making cards, that seems to be what makes my world go around. When summer comes, maybe I will be playing with my flowers and gardening.

Well, time to close here, and I want to finish up my cards for Hospice as the meeting is tomorrow morning. I have about 50 cards made and just have to put the inserts in tonight.

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

Some Hospice Cards

Hi there everyone, how is your day going? Needless to say, this is kind of a lazy day for me. Just not feeling like doing anything special. Oh, I had a plan....like work on taxes today, but nope, not in the mood, actually not in the mood to do anything. So, here I am showing off some of the cards I made for my Hospice meeting yesterday. I put together 63 cards of various kinds. These were the highlights of my card collection to Hospice.

Here are a few Thinking of You cards....don't they just remind you of a bit of Spring. I picked up these two stamps at Micheal's for $1 a piece last week and this is the end result. Love those pink FLAMINGO'S Pelicans and the Pineapple is fun too. Makes for a nice colorful card. I think I shall work on some more cards with Pineapples and Pelicans Flamingo's for our next meeting, just cause, I like the way they look.

So in this next picture is my Tim Holtz stamp, a cupcake and candle......I think this shall be my go-to card when an unexpected birthday comes up and I need a card....quick!!!

             Here are my pelicans Flamingo's again, saying Thank You.....

In this picture is a winter card.....someone else made it and I just put the background on purple card stock and added the "Thank You so Much." I took the picture because I want to remember to make this for my next batch of cards.....very simple, snow flake embossing folder and a die-cut snowflake....I like the white on white effect, very eye catching.

In my next blog post I will show you the cards I made at Betty's house last week....yeah, I am a bit behind the 8 ball in posting on my blog, guess I am just taking a few blog breaks here and there.

Well, this will be a short one today, need to get dressed and take Kylie out for her walk today. It's our daily exercise together. It's not too cold out and the sidewalks are clear, until the next storm that is coming on Tuesday. At least the storms will be less and less cause SPRING is just about around the corner!!! Feels a little bet springy out there today.

Tonight's dinner will be roast beef in the 500 degree oven and baked potatoes, salad and beans. That will be it for me today. I need to shake off a few lbs. in the next few week......just cause.

You all have a great evening and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louse

Cards and Blue Apron Steak and Apple Salad

Hi there everyone. Oh my, was it not a BEAUTIFUL day today??? Tomorrow is going to be even warmer and sunny....hard to believe this IS November!!! But you can bet....by the 21st of November, (my birthday) there will be snow....some place and most likely there will be snow here!!!

Been working on some cards lately. I got this idea from Lydia @ "Understand Blue" her address is: http://www.understandblue.com I fell in love with this card and the technique she used with distress ink, water and brush. My card does not quite look like hers.....but that is okay...no two cards can be a like. She did not use sequins and I did. I think it turned out nice, probably will make some more of these for Christmas this year. This card, will be going on my Etsy store tonight. Will be selling this for $3.50 + shipping.

This is one of Tim Holtz's birds...I just love them and they can say anything you want. He is pretty fun, colored him in with Copic markers and sponged the edges with ink. He too, will be going on my Etsy store for $3.50 + shipping.

This is another Tim Holtz stamp set. The leaves are from Stampin'up.  The technique used was shaving cream and alcohol inks. After the card dried then I stamped with Tim's stamps. The leaves are gold embossed to add a touch of elegance. Putting this card in my Etsy store for $3.50 + shipping.

Okay...this was another tasty meal from Blue Apron. "Sumac-Spiced Steak & Honeynut Squash with Pickled Onion & Apple-Walnut Salad"

I loved the apple salad, so simple but tasty. One apple was cored (skin left on) and diced small, toss with the juice of 1 lemon wedge to prevent from browning. The rest of the lemon was zested, and added to the apple salad. Also added to this salad was 2 tablespoons of chopped up walnuts, 1/4 cup feta cheese and mint, finely chopped just before adding to the salad. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Yep, this is a 5 star salad!!!

The steak was a little tough and the butternut squash was good, but I put too much spice on it to make it a little too hot.....guess it was the sumac seasoning (ground up sumac and crushed Aleppo pepper), salt and pepper would be just fine. The squash was sliced, drizzled with oil, salt and pepper and roasted in the oven for 20-25 minutes till browned....yep, this was good too.

The pickled onions were very tasty on the steak....I would do the onions again, but less sugar. The pickled onions were made with onions, sugar, a pinch of salt, the juice of a lemon and 1/4 cup of water. Heat to boiling on medium-high. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onion has softened and the liquid is slightly reduced in volume. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside to pickle for at least 10 minutes.

Well, time to close this post for today. Need to get a few more cards made for Hospice this Friday. It's been 4 months since my last meeting....been a while. Will be fun to see the ladies again.

You all have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise