Mother's Day Cards and Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a wonderful Mother's day. I am a little late at wishing you all a great day. Finally got my pictures into the computer. A little slow here. We had a nice day. Went to church and watched Jimmy Swaggart on the big screen. Always a good service even though we are not in Baton Rouge, I can still feel the Holy Spirit in Forest Junction when watching on TV!!!

Usually on Mother's Day the ladies are given a gift for Mother's Day. Being I am the only lady there plus the Pastor's wife, I got two bags of pop corn and two Giant Pansies, one purple, one red....so pretty!! We went home and I made gyros and oven fries....yum so good. Wish we could have gone out to eat....would have been fun to not have to do the dishes afterwords.

Mother's Day has sometimes been hard to deal with as even though I had a baby....I was told, that baby had to be given up for adoption. A decision I still regret to this day. That baby is now 49 yrs old....wow time does fly!!! She has two sons and one son has had a son.....I guess that makes me a mother, grandmother and great- grandmother. Three labels, I have but don't have....oh well that is life, we make decisions, or they are made for us, then we have to live with those decisions for the rest of our lives. 

Okay....on to my card making. I recently purchased this embossing folder from Stampin'up which makes beautiful 3D flowers and roses….I fell in love with the image the moment I saw it. You had to buy $50 worth of product and got this floral embossing folder for free. I asked my Stampin'up lady if there was some way I could buy the folder without having to buy $50 worth of product. She checked into it and said I could buy her folder and she would order another one for herself.....nice lady.

So in the above card, I used gold card stock then rubbed black ink on the flowers and a little bit of green on the leaves. Placed the image on brown card stock.....such a pretty card. If you can see it, I stamped and embossed a Happy Birthday verse. This floral image can be used for just about any kind of card, Thanks, Birthday, Thinking of you, Sympathy, Mother's day etc. 

These next two Mother's Day cards, the card on the right, I used silver card stock, rubbed black ink on the flowers then versa mark and embossed with clear embossing powder. Made for a very smooth finish. The card on the left was black card stock and I rubbed silver paste on the parts I wanted to shine the most. 

I looked on Pinterest and found lots of ideas using this embossing folder.....the ideas are endless, can hardly wait to try them all. Chalks, copic markers, water color pencils, Twinkling H2O, lots of ideas on the horizon.

In these two pictures are the chocolate covered strawberries. They did not last long, I made them Friday night and ate the last of them 30 minutes ago. Yes, I shall make these again....maybe for JP's birthday this next Friday. He will be 72 years old.....when did we both get this old?????

I melted the chocolate in the mic and added butter to make it creamy then dunked the strawberries in the chocolate and sprinkled the strawberries with coconut flakes. So good!!!

Well, time to close this post before I get too wordy and start boring you. You all have a great rest of the day. Tomorrow JP has an appointment with the foot Doctor and Tuesday I have an appointment to find out what my A1C is. JP has to renew his drivers licence on Wednesday....gosh this will be a busy week and I have to decide if I am going to bake a cake or buy one....that is something I am not too good at.....baking cakes and decoration....I am no Cake Boss!!!

Take care and keep looking up, better days are coming.
Cheers ~ Louise

Some Donated Cards for Hospice

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a great Saturday.....I did, although Saturday's go much too fast! The weather was much cooler today and much more comfortable. As I get older, warm, warm weather bothers me more and more, as does cold weather. Wish there was a happy medium, don't you??? I do like the 4 seasons, but not so hot and not so freezing cold. Guess Spring and Fall is my kind of weather....wonder where that is???

So the following pictures are cards I made for Hospice this past Friday (June 1st). The cards above are my 4th of July cards. Which were fun to make. I used a technique I found just recently using Sakura Cray-pas.  Using a star, draw a line where you want color, then using your finger, spread the color over the card stock. Depending how much color or how little color depends how heavy you press the cray-pa. Then after I got the affect I wanted, then layed the star down and stamped with another star. Added silver stars and a Happy 4th of July stamp.

This is a neat card....these were the only 3 I made....really need to make more. The leaves are a die cut. The back grounds.....the top left was a Brusho painted background, using different colored crystals and water. The top right, is patterned paper. Now, the bottom card...which is the prettiest, honestly forgot how I made it. Sorry!!!

These cards are flowers that were pasted onto velum, very simple cards. The Happy Birthday is embossed on velum and glued on the card.

Here again, Sakura Cray-pas. Using the same technique of rubbing the cray-pas onto the card stock, this is the affect I got. For sure I will be making more of these cards.

These cards are from my stampin'up June card kit. Fun to make, and all the papers, ink and stamps are in the kit to make 8 cards. These were the two styles for this month. I am thinking of canceling my subscription....I have about 6 kits I have not touched, so I am sure I have enough card making along with a few other ideas for cards I want to try making......will keep me busy for the summer along with my gardening.

Watching Hockey right now....Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights. I thought I was rooting for the Knights.....but I like the Capitals also....they are both good teams....BUT....the Capitals have yet to win a Stanley Cup. I have been known to be for the under-dog. I guess this is one of those times. I like Alex Ovechkin the captain for the Capitals...he would like to be the first Russian Captian to win a Stanley Cup....that would be fun to see.

The Capitals just scored, it's 2-0......GO CAPITALS!!!!! But you know, if Vegas wins....it won't be such a bad thing. Both teams have great stories behind them. The next game is Monday, June 4th. Stay tuned.

Don't have much planned for this next week, but that could get filled up in no time. It's time to get things done in my gardens and get my ceramic animals out of the shed in between the mosquito bites. Just as soon as I get bite, I hightail it into the house and spread Icyhot cream on the bites....that soothes the itch and pain away after 5 minutes, must buy another tube soon.

Well, I think I will close this post for tonight, there is one more period left and I want to give full attention to it.....it may be a rough and tumble game. You all have a great weekend and keep looking up....better days are coming, here, there, or in the air!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

PS....Washington Capitals won 3-1 GO CAPS!!!!

Some Wednesday Card Making from 2 Weeks Ago...Already!!!

Hi there everyone....can you believe it....May is almost over!!! This sure was a tough month on all sides. Physically, financially and emotionally....still trying to come up for air!!!! We had Doctor appointments, a tooth pulled, extra $$$ spent for co-pays and teeth, taxes due on the house, sometimes it seems like I just get done paying a bill and it shows up in my mail box again! How does one keep their emotions at an even keel??? I don't know, have not figured that out yet and here I am...71 years old!!! My mother never told me....everything was always "calm and quiet" by her. Geez....I'm still waiting for calm and quiet days.

Well, probably the only thing that keeps me sane is my card making. At least I can make sense of that. Made these cards 2 weeks ago at Betty's. The top card was interesting. Sponged in the brown, then stamped the trees and embossed. Then colored in the brown with copic markers...stamped the ducks and Thinking of  you. The bird is a die cut. Really nice card, maybe this could be a sympathy card also.

These next two cards....I have always liked these two girls....they come from Stampin'up. Betty got these stamps from www.wish.com for 1 dollar for the set. The only thing different is that the girls are smaller then the original set AND you have to wait 4-6 weeks for the stamps to show up in your mail box. Guess they come on a slow boat from China. They still make for a nice card though. I really like the bottom card the best, the girl and saying are stamped on a grey card stock then white and grey pencil used to color in the girl.

The above card was embossed with a folder, sponged in the blue and then speckles to outline the swirls. The girl was stamped, a second stamped girl was colored and cut and pasted to the original girl....cute huh??

The card below with the birthday mouse was cute...just colored in with copic markers. Sweet and simple.

Now this card.....was not made at Betty's. I have a friend whose birthday was coming up, and found this pug saying and doggie at the Revealing party last month. This is what I came up with for a card for her. She loved it!!! 

The side panel is braided. I had seen this technique a long time ago and wondered how it was made. Finally found the directions to make it myself. Colored in the pug with copic makers, the blue is iridescent blue taped on white card stock, then run through the cuttlebug with a doggie paw print folder.

It has been SO warm here...we go from cold and snow to warm and 90 degrees in about a month....how crazy is that. But I guess I will take this weather change, it's a breeze compared to being in flood areas and volcano areas!! That's for sure!!! So much going on all around the world, such devastation everywhere. Do you think God is trying to get our attention???? He has mine!!!

Well time to close here....need to get something done around the house...like maybe the dishes in the sink. I have some planting to do....a few tomato plants. Got my onions planted, radishes, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, pepper plant. We did something different this year. I got 2 big planters and dirt. I have one on the drive way, where it will get more sun. The other planter is along side the fence, it should get about 4-6 hours of sun. I don't have to bend down to plant....the ground is not so far away at least!!! I took pictures of the planters...JP and I were putting wheels on the planter in the driveway, so I can roll it around to catch the sun rays....we'll see how that works. Next blog I will show you how my garden is growing.

Have a good evening and keep looking up.....better days are coming, here, there, or in the air!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Cards Made Today!!!

Hi there everyone, how did your day go for you today? My day was fine. Always fine, when I know I am going to be making cards at Betty's. She comes up with such great ideas. Today's cards were all Christmas cards.

 The card above.....so very pretty. We placed a cut out circle on the card stock, then sponged around the circle with blue and violet ink. The trees are from Stampin'up.  We then dotted the picture with glue for snow, then sprinkled with glitter. The deer's were die-cuts...guess I shall have to fine out where they are from, cause I don't have any deer's in my stash to duplicate this card.

 This was a neat card, it folds and does fit in an A2 envelope for mailing. The snowman is colored with copic markers. Cute card. I also like the sparkly back ground of the material I brought to take these pictures with. If I take the pictures right after they are made....no doubt I will get them on my blog quicker.

 This was an easy card to put together. You can see that the blue background is a little village. The white are the snowflakes. Then the 3 lights on a post and cats roaming the street.

This card was done with water color pencils, I got the back ground too yellow, should have been a lighter yellow, then it would have looked better. Maybe if I could have done another card, could have done better. Oh well, live and learn.

I stopped off at GFS to do a bit of shopping. Picked up some olives, JP's chocolate donuts, some ham, instant mash potatoes, nachos and a pretty copper plastic plate for Christmas cookies or a picky plate of cheese, salami, deviled eggs and olive plate. Still thinking on that plate for next months card making session and Christmas snacks at Betty's.

I will be home for the next 4 days......not going no where!!! Hopefully the furnace man will come and fix our furnace and tune it up. We also have 3 gas leaks that were temporarily fixed by Wisconsin Electric when the new gas meter was replaced. I guess they do that every 5-10 years.  

I still have some tomatoes to can, they have been sitting in the fridge....so yeah, that is on the agenda for tomorrow or Friday. I suppose I could find some other things to do....maybe I should just get lost downstairs and make some cards for Christmas, now that I am in the mood.

Time to close this post, need to go do some dishes before JP comes home. Dinner is cooked, pork steak, potato, fruit and rhubarb pie. So you all have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Labor Day Weekend

Hi there everyone....hope you are having a nice and relaxing Labor Day Weekend. Well, as of 1/2 hour ago, our relaxing Labor day weekend ended. I saw a few bees buzzing around in the basement as I watched TV. OH NO!!! We have had a problem with bees the last couple of weeks outside, along side the house. JP sprayed them a couple of times....but I guess the can of spray was kind of old.

So, I bought a new can at Walmart. I told JP tonight....don't forget to spray the bees....he did and guess what, they found a way to get into the house. Now they are buzzing around my stamping stuff. JP sprayed the lights where they were buzzing around and naturally the spray went all over my papers, stamps and ink and stuff....erg!!! He swatted a few bees and the lights above my stamping desk went out. Geez........

So we shut things down and came upstairs. I went to the computer to see if there was some home remedy we could use.....yep, mountain dew and dish detergent, mixed together. The sweetness of the dew draws them and the soap coats their wings and they drown cause they can't fly. So we put 6 bowls of the potion out in different spots to see if that will solve part of the problem. I don't carry much soda in the house and only had a few cans of 7-up....so that is what I used.

We had this problem maybe 10 years ago and we called the exterminator, he set a smoke bomb out in the basement. I just don't want to call the guy over the weekend....could cost and arm and leg to have him do what we might be able to do....oh well, we'll see.

I told JP he is going downstairs tomorrow morning to see what the damage is.....Hopefully they are gone.

So we celebrated 44 years of marriage on the 27th of August. This is the card I made for JP. Was kind of fun to make. I used the left over stuff from my Stampin'up kit for August.  Not sure if I talked much about our anniversary. I did on Facebook and got lots of "likes" and comments. We didn't do much, it was raining that day and kind of dreary. I cooked a steak, fries and salad later on in the day.....nope, not much of a special day.

Today would be my Father's Birthday. He would have been 99 years old. He has been dead for 56 of those years....my how time does fly. He was the love of my life when I was a little girl....the sun rose and set on my father. No one could take his place. My stepfather tried, but to no avail. My stepfather wanted me to call him Dad....but I couldn't. He was pops and that's all he was to me. Pops died in May....he will always be Pops. Least I didn't call him Pete.

This week JP and I have to get the porch cleaned off and furniture moved and get the backyard fence and shrub down. Because Habitat for Humanity is painting the porch floor and putting up a privacy fence in our backyard. I can hardly wait. So, I will have some new pictures for you. Stay tuned. Here is what our fence looks like now. JP is going to mow all the greenery down and we will take down as much of the green plastic fencing that we can. I will be sure to take before and after pictures of everything.

Well time to close....it's almost 11:30pm....maybe time to close shop....I wish I could be downstairs making some cards.....but the bees have invaded our home. So I guess I shall say good-night.

Cheers ~ Louise

A Few Cards and Vegies From the Garden

Hi there everyone. How you all doing today??? Hope you are enjoying August. July was kind of a rough month for us....so I am taking August one day at a time and trying to get over the hurdles as they come. In between the hurdles, I found some time to make a few cards. Sorry about the lighting on a few of these pictures. I tried something different....guess I won't do this again. I thought the lighting from above and the side lamp would do the trick....but no, it didn't.

So anyways....these cards are from the stampin'up  Paper Pumpkin Kits. They are really neat cause all the supplies are in the box to put these cards together. I probably will donate these cards to Hospice, maybe keep one for a sample. The "hooray" is a wooden piece that really adds to the card. The circle is covered with washi tape. The card itself already had the watercolor mark on it and the I stamped the star bursts and saying "it's your day" on the card.

The American Flag card is a napkin glued on card stock. I just added the Thanks stamp. I have made quite a few of these cards for Hospice. They will be given to the War Veterans in October.

Another couple of cards from the Stampin'up Paper Pumpkin Kits. This was July's kit....Watermelon's. Again, all the supplies are in the box to create these cute cards.

From the same box, the stamp to make the watermelon and the inks too. I like the watermelon stamp. You could make a gift bag with the supplies or turn the bag into a card like the two cards on each side of the bag. The two cards at the bottom, used the left overs from the bag.

AND....vegies from the garden!!! I can't believe I FINALLY got a zucchini!!! I have tried so many times to grow these guys....to no avail. I planted this plant right on the side of the house. There happens to be a bee nest real close by....I guess they pollinated at least ONE zucchini!!! The tomato's are doing wonderful in the front of the yard....two bushes are producing more then I ever have seen I will take a picture of the tomato plants tomorrow. I have so many stakes trying to hold the tomatoes up with lots of old nylons.

Well, time to close, it's going on 2am and I am just finishing this post, (took me all night). JP is home and eating his dinner. Chicken soup, steak, potatoes, corn, cucumbers and a bagel. You all have a good night and keep looking up better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

How 'Bout Some Cards????

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying the day. I went shopping at Gordon's  today and got 2 1/2 dozen eggs for $2 along with bread, cheese, sliced turkey, fruit, salad, tomatoes and chocolate donuts. Total bill was $42...not bad. I like Gordon's, but it was a quick trip today. Had to be home by 3:30pm the latest to get JP off to work by 4:00pm. So his quick meal was 2 corn dogs from the gas station, mashed potatoes from last night and frozen fruit (thawed) from Gordon's. His lunch box was packed with the 2nd corn dog, chocolate donuts, fig bars, 3 Hersey nuggets, and 2 chocolate chip cookies. I know, I know, so much chocolate, he says it gives him energy?!?!?!?! It would give me a tummy ache....for sure.

I have not decided what JP's dinner will be when he gets home from work at 1:20am....probably some eggs and ham, fruit and chicken soup, I will make that tonight. Quick and easy.....heat water and put chicken bouillon soup in and boil, add noodles, then canned chicken and some curry for spice....makes for a nice soup.

So today I am showing you some cards I made recently. The Minion above was a card I saw on Pinterest.....cute card and simple to make. This card was for my grand-nephew, Dominik who turned 5 years old on July 1st.....hope he liked it, of course I put a new crisp $5 dollar bill in it....that, I am sure he liked. Who doesn't like $$$ on their birthday???

The next 3 cards were from my Stampin'up Paper Pumpkin Kit from April. I finally got all the cards made, most of them will go to Hospice. I will keep a couple for samples.

The kit came with watercolor pencils and brush. So what you see in pink, yellow and blue is the pencils colored in and then I brushed the cards with water.....I like this effect. The washi tape, stamps and ink are sent along with the embellishments and card stock.

Three different ideas using the products inside the box. These were fun cards to put together, must keep these cards in mind using the techniques here.

This last card was from the Stampin'up Paper Pumpkin Kit for June. Watermelon stamps and ink, cards, string, banner, stickers. I made a card and sold it already....better make some more.

Did you notice the American Flag/4th of July card in my banner?? That was made from a napkin. A very fun technique. Needless to say, I am always checking out napkins at the store to see what's new. So I found these napkins, cut them down to size, peeled the first layer off, glued white card stock and layed the napkin down and smoothed it out like wallpaper. Then it needed to dry before I played with it. All I added was the Happy 4th of July. I think I will make these cards for Veterans Day and add "Thank You" for Hospice.

Well, it looks like it is going to rain, so I better close here, and think about taking Kylie for a walk. Talk to you all later, 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

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

Secret Stamper Images

Hi there everyone. Well....I should be outside in this beautiful weather spreading mulch in my gardens. But chose to do a quick post while watching the Chicago Cubs.....win.....it's only the 5th inning and the cubs are winning 7-5. Hopefully the Cubs will do better then the Chicago Blackhawks. Sorry the season is over for them....as my Step-father always said, "maybe next year."

So tomorrow, I will be going to the "Image Stamper Revealing Party." I will find out who had my name and sent 12 images a month (she missed April altogether). And who I was sending 12 images to for the last 6 months. In the pictures below, are the images I sent and how I turned them into cards and the images my secret stamper sent and how I turned her images into cards. I will let you know which is what and who as we go.

NOTE: If you go to April 5th post you will see the other cards I made, turning my images and secret stampers images into cards.

In these two pictures are the 12 images I sent to my secret stamper. I kept two images and turned them into cards as you can see below. So the images (above) were in black and white. With the two I kept, I distressed inked the House Mouse image then used pearl-ex to make them shine.

Here is the finished product. One card for the secret stamper and one for me to keep or send. I just layered the House Mouse mice on black card stock then the orange back ground is crinkled up tissue paper and layered on glued up card stock. The scalloped edges were run through the cuttlebug with a boarder die cut. A gold heart embellishes the corner.

In these two pictures are the images I sent to my secret stamper.....I love this snowman....so cute. In the picture below is what I did with the snowman. I have a die cut that cuts him out. I used speckles for his nose and buttons.

Sorry about the lighting, I was using a lamp, I thought it gave a fare amount of light but didn't. I should have taken these picture  downstairs where the lighting is better. Anyways, I turned the snowmen into jugglers of snowballs....I think he turned out cute. The snowballs are just punched out circles and then I outlined the circle, they are on pop-ups. Embellishments are a die-cut Hi, gems and string. The snow is a Stampin'up embossing folder. The white layers are just ripped up card stock to look like layers of snow.

Now whoever has my name.....sent me these Bunny heads. All I did was color in the background, his ears and nose and tie. I was at a loss for what to do with them till one day I just decided to put a picture frame around them and layer them on crinkled up tissue paper that was glued on card stock. Turned them into Thinking of you cards. So I will keep one and give the other to the secret stamper.

In this card.....for the life of me....could not think of what to do with this image. My secret stamper sent me 12 images of the "golf ball on a tee with a bird and the word "Birdie." Finally I remembered I had a vintage golfer and just turned the cards into this. I will give my secret stamper the card on the right. I did end up making 5 more cards like this and will probably send my BIL a card for his birthday. He's a golfer.

Now in this card, I sent my secret stamper 12 pink Flamingo's....I saw a sample of a Flamingo card and liked it....so here it is, cased and turned into a card with my Flamingo. Cute card, it can be most any kind of card I want and simple to make too.

Now, I was completely at a loss with this image and almost did not want to make a card with these 12 images of a dress. Finally I just colored the dress in with red, making a red polka dot dress, adding red feathers, gems and a "Happy Mother's Day" greeting. I actually made a few more cards using this image. For Mother's Day of coarse.

Well, as I said before, the secret stamper lady who had my name, did not send me April's images, so she will only be getting 5 cards from me. That's the breaks I guess. I hope my next secret stamper holds up her end of the game and follows through. Why ruin it for someone else. It does take the fun out for others.

It was a fun game and a challenge to turn these cards into something, I never would have thought to do. I do hope the next session of 6 months is more fun.

You all have a great weekend and enjoy the weather. I shall go work outside and spread some mulch in about 30 minutes or when this Cub game is over.

Keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise