Hello?? Anyone There????

Hi there everyone. I know, I know, it has been awhile...like January 7th that I last blogged??? I have no excuses, just trying to live life without Jay and wonder what my next step is and still try to keep sane in an insane world!!!

In the above picture, those are my Lilly of the Valleys, always pick and bring them in for a touch of spring in the kitchen to look at whilst I do the dishes. And even though JP is not here, for some reason I "still" have many dishes to do???? But eventually they do get done, in phases.

I have been doing some cards here and there. Still make cards for Heartland Hospice along with a few other ladies. The last couple of months we have been able to meet together, otherwise we were following "Covid 19 Protocol" and not meeting or just dropping cards off at a place and they were picked up by the Card Coordinator.

The cards above were from a "Stamping Up" kit from 2017. It was a fun kit, apples, strawberries and blueberry cards. I still have some checked background left over so I can make more cards like this. 

The card below is a die I have had for years....makes for a very pretty card. I can't remember how I made the colored background. Experimental ideas using different techniques that get stuffed in a box and forgotten about. This is going to be my challenge this summer...take old dies and stamped images and turn them into cards. I really have a lot of stuff. AND, 3 months to make cards for Hospice meeting September 2nd. I have a feeling that time will go FAST!!!! 

Below are my Irises that grow in the front yard. It was so windy the last couple of days that the poor flowers blew over. So, I cut them down and brought them in to enjoy for a few days. I have so much to do around this house. The neighbor next store cuts the grass in the front of the house. During the winter he was shoveling the snow. I will tend to the backyard with my manual push mower....I can handle that. If I do a little bit each day, I may catch up, by that time it will be fall.

I am going to make a few more of these cards, so pretty and they can be any kind of card I want them to be. The one below is a sympathy card. I am going to use a Thank you card like this for the main post picture. You should see it in the next day or so.

So my life has been up in the air for the last 10 months since Jay's death. I have not been able to handle being a "widow" that still sounds foreign to me. I have been told not to make any big decisions for at least 1 year. After that, not sure where I am going. What with the way this world is going, do any of us know where we are headed?? I only know, through this all, my faith in Jesus Christ and Him Crucified is the only way to go...there is much comfort in knowing him as Lord and Savior of my Life. I think I am learning how to depend on Him and Him alone...which is where He wants us all to be. 

That being said, I shall close here. Hopefully I can keep up with this blog and add new cards maybe once a week. I have moved my stamping space from the basement to Jay's old room. So it is handy just to walk in, sit down and make a few cards. Works for me and I don't have to climb stairs.

You all take care and take JESUS!!! ~ Louise
 

Received Some Fresh Eggs

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying the last days of summer....where did it go??? I never did get all the things done that I wanted to do. I give myself so many things to do and when I comes time to do those things....I sabotage myself and don't do any of it....no wonder I am always tired!!!!

I finally sat down and made some cards. Hospice meeting is in a couple of weeks so I need to get my 40 - 50 cards made. Well, I am sitting at 35 made. When I hit 50, I will take some pictures of the newer ones.

So the card below is one I made last night. I got the idea from Pinterest. The pastor's wife gave me some farm fresh brown eggs. So I thought I better make her a Thank you card. She likes my cards and always enjoys receiving them. She calls my cards "candy to her" she saves them all. That is always nice to hear, that someone enjoys the cards I make.

So this card is made from the Stampin'up set "Hey Chick" probably had these stamps for a couple of years and have never used them. BUT, have thought about using them many times. Finally found a reason to use them. So the card above is stamped with the funny chicken in the corner and colored in, "hey chick" is stamped in the upper corner. The lines and dots are hand drawn. I then splattered the card with silver ink.

The inside of the card, again I drew the lines and dots and added "for the" and the "S". Stamped the "Thank you, eggs and You're a good egg!" Turned out really cute.

Well, I am going to close here for now. Have to go get some dishes done and JP's dinner cooked. Tomorrow is our 46th wedding anniversary......wow....talk about time flying. Never thought we would make it to this number. Well, Happy Anniversary to US!!! I bought a little cheese cake, will defrost some strawberries and whip cream. Also going to make a beef roast, potatoes and asparigus…...Yum!!!

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

Hello????? A Few Hospice Cards

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good April so far. Guess I have been missing for awhile as this is my 1st post for April. As I look at my calendar....there has been something going on just about every day. Doctor appointments, the Stanley Cup playoff Hockey games on TV (now that is VERY important), Doggie appointment, shopping, card making, etc. Little things that take up a lot of time. I had to miss my Hospice meeting this month as it conflicted with JP's Doctor appointment. Hard to be at two places at one time. So I took my Hospice cards to Betty's and she took the cards to Hospice for me. I will make the next meeting though.....Lord willing.

Oh...I made something different last week...a carrot pie. Yes, it was very good too. The pie actually tasted like a pumpkin pie. So if you ever want to make a carrot pie, just use your favorite pumpkin pie recipe and it will work out fine. The only thing I did different is I made it an "impossible pie" using a 1/2 cup of flour mixed in with the liquid, it will settle down to the bottom to form a crust. Don't forget the whipped cream!!!!

Following are a few cards I made for Hospice this month. Below is my Llama....love this guy. I think he can adorn any card I make. In this card I used glue and laid foil on top to make the strips. Laid the die cut Llama on top....and that was that.

The card in this picture was made by using a butterfly die and black embossed "Happy Birthday." The beautiful colored bookmark was covered with silver plumber's tape, embossed with an embossing folder. Then drops of different colored Distress inks and smooshed with a sponge to get the effect I wanted. Pretty, pretty. I need to make more of these cards. Probably for my Secret Stamper.

Here is my Llama again, this time he is on a "Thank You" card. I used a rainbow foil to give it a different effect.

This is a die cut....palm leaves I think. I make different backgrounds then just lay this die cut over it....makes for a very lovely card. The sayings are "Thinking of You" and "Happy Birthday" stamped on vellum. If I remember correctly, I used "brusho's" a powder like substance and spray the paper either before or after and sprinkle the brusho colors on and the little beads spread and mix with the other colors and make for a lovely back ground.

In this picture are the favors for Mother's Day. We make 20 favors, different assorted colors and ribbons. Then we put chocolates inside each favor. We will do this for Father's Day and Veteran's Day also.

Well, time to close here, getting late and this hockey game is about over, Calgary 2 and Colorado 6, it's been a ruff and tumble game, of playoff caliber!!! I wish the Chicago Blackhawks could have made the playoffs.....but that will be for the 19-20 season...for sure.

I am rooting for the Washington Capitals, my favorite player is  Captain Ovechkin. The other team I like is the Las Vegas Golden Knights....favorite player, Mark Stone. There you have it....it will be interesting to see who gets the Stanley Cup this year.

You all have a great rest of the month.....keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

A Few Cards For Hospice

Hi there everyone. Well it has been awhile, been missing since February 13th....thought I would be back sooner. But you know, sometimes I just don't have much to talk about. I know a lot of blogs I read....there is something going on everyday. Me....not so much, I am guessing this is just a small lull in my life. Maybe when Spring comes around, I will be more active. 

Card making has been at a minimum lately. It's been like a whole month that I even went downstairs to make a card or two. Have not felt very inspired I guess. So today, I went downstairs to get some cards ready for Hospice tomorrow. I had a bunch made, but last month I did not make it to Hospice meeting....weather was bad and we could not get the car started....we needed a new battery to the tune of $179...just what we needed, but where can you go without a car now a days....no place.

So the above cards are some I made today....easy peasy kind of cards. Just embossed with the Cuttlebug. Stamped the saying and used Speckles to color in the middle of the Daisy. This card can be most any card you want. Turned these cards into Thank You's.

The cards above and below....I made these last month. Embossed with the Cuttlebug, then I covered it with black ink then clear embossing powder and heated with a heat gun. The technique is called "Black Ice". I used gold card stock and red card stock. Using the same embossing folder for both. I added a few gems to all the cards along with a ribbon and Thank You tag.

The cards below, were cards I made with the Stampin' up club kits I was getting once a month from Stampin'up. Cute cards, everything is in the box to make 8 cards. You can use their ideas or come up with your own ideas. I chose to use their ideas. I decided not to get the kits anymore....$20 a month, became to costly.

Again, here are a few more cards using the daisy embossing folder.....using the Thinking of You verse. Easy, peasy simple card to make. Need to make some more of these cards to have for extras.

Well that about covers it for now. This weekend I need to start working on income tax....(not a favorite project.....BUT I have to think, the refund will help us quite a bit.) Since JP went part time in August, we have been living on the edge and just barely getting the bills paid. Oh well, I pray every night....."Give us THIS Day, our Daily Bread" and God has been faithful by helping us daily to get through....with a roof over our head, food on the table, clothes on our back, a car to drive. We are rich then most, so I better NOT complain!!!

You all have a great Month of March....I may be back for a few posts....but then again, I may not. I am thinking of taking a "Hiatus" for a couple of months until something exciting happens. So in the mean time, keep looking up cause better days are coming ~ for sure!!! 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

7th Game - They WON and a Few Cards for Hospice

Hi there everyone....how are the first few days of November treating you??? Ours not so good....we got the results of my husband's prostrate biopsy. It's not a good report. He has cancer, but it is a "slow growing cancer" maybe that is a good report. At this point we are not sure what will happen. The Doctor says this could go two ways. We can watch it and see how fast or slow it is growing by doing more biopsies. Operation, and take the prostrate out. Or radiation, but he did not think that would be a good option.

Next week we have another meeting with the Doctor and if we have questions that is when we will talk things out. JP wants to talk to his brother first. John called tonight, so I was able to fill him in on a few things and he will call JP tomorrow.

The 7th game of the World Series is playing right now. So I thought I would blog a bit. I guess I could have gotten fancy and put the Cubs decal up or something. Maybe next post....(darn the Indians just scored 1-1, okay, that's enough Indians!!). Yeah...score is 5-1 Cubbies just scored again and while I was on the phone with John.

Our Heartland Hospice meeting is this Friday. I've got 75 cards put together, Christmas, Birthday, Thank You, Thinking of You and Thanksgiving. Following are some of the cards that are included in the box...these are not all of them. I simply would bore you with all the pictures.

In the picture below a card made with a Christmas napkin. The napkin is peeled down to the first layer then glued on card stock and smoothed out and left to dry. Then I glue the card stock on a card and embellish the card with speckles...see the glittery look? I made quite a few cards using this technique. Christmas trees, a few different snowmen and Santa too.

Here is my Great Blue Heron....I sure do like this stamp....will probably make lots more of these cards. The Heron is stamped and colored in with copic markers. The layered on card stock and lacy material paper (the name of this paper escapes me at this moment), then I ran some washi tape down the side and added a greeting.

The card below is a recycled card....layered it on sparkling wrapping paper and card stock. The card might have been a post card then I embellished the card with speckles for that glittered look.

The card below was a card I made at Betty's house. The flowers were stamped with different colored  inks, it was not necessary to huff on the inks to make them stamp, as they were special inks allowing you to ink and stamp. I think the flowers were then die cut and raised on the card.

Now this card is my favorite Christmas card....die cut sleigh and houses. "Silent night" is stamped and a pretty trinket added. The background is snowflakes run through the cuttlebug and silver speckles embellish the snowflakes and the edge of the card where the sleigh rides.

Last but not least are these Christmas cards.....I made a whole bunch of these cards a couple of years ago. The scene is embossed with gold then the card was run through a cuttlebug, cutting out the Christmas tree. I layed some sparkly wrapping paper under the scene to pop out the tree. Pretty simple, but very pretty.

Well, the Cubs and Indians are still playing....the score is 6-3, Cubs winning and we are in the 7th.

I think I need to turn the heat on...getting a little bit chilly in this house. Love the weather for November......maybe it will stay nice like this till my Birthday....but then, there is always snow falling around my birthday.......we shall see, as the 21st will draw near pretty fast.

Oh-OHHHHHH Not good, the Indians just scored, it's 6-6!!!!!! Will the Cubs win????? Now we are in the 9th and Cubs are up. It's starting to rain now in Cleveland.....what next!!!

YAY!!!! The Cubs won the World Series....how exciting!!! 8-7....what a game. 1908 was the last time they won the series....that is a very long draught!!!! You have a great day and keep looking up cause better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Just a Few Cards......

Hi there everyone. May 31st....the last day of the month, here comes JUNE!!! Thought I would post some cards I made yesterday. It was one of those days where all it did was rain off and on. I thought about going outside to plant some plants.....but I guess....just too lazy and didn't want to get rained on.

This next Friday is Hospice meeting....and I do not have any cards made....yikes I better get cuttin'. Since I had been sick (April 12th) have not made a single card...gosh talk about taking time off....this was ridiculous. So, I went down stairs to make a few.

I basically wanted to make some "Thank You" cards to send off to "Rebuilding Together" people for all the wonderful work they did on my house and yard. There just aren't enough thank yous in this whole world to go around to thank them all for the work and all the wonderful improvements. I think, every time I use something, I ask God to Bless those that did this and that improvement. It is just amazing to me that all these strangers would take time from their busy schedules to help me and JP with our problems. I guess all these years of helping others.....the tables have turned and now we need the help. It's strange, being on the receiving end.

So here we go....a tour of my card making. In this picture (sorry for the darkness....guess there are a few light bulbs missing in the light fixture....shall have to fix that this week.) The top 3 cards are Thank you cards.....the set is from Stamping Up. The bottom 3 cards are Happy Father's Day cards.

In the above cards, the idea is from a card I saw on the Internet using the goose and washi tape. This stamp set came with the little birds....so I thought, why not make a card using them too. Makes a nice card for a man.

Now in this card I was using a technique that Frenchie used. Using wax paper and making a reflection in the water.....I always wondered how to do this. Here is the link.

These last two pictures are the Father's Day cards. Again using the "reflection technique" and wax paper. The silver side is a metal tape I got at the hardware store and ran it through my cuttle bug then smeared some Copic markers on top to POP out the flowers with color....kind of neat huh?

I have about 4 more cards to make using this technique....most likely will send one of these cards to my step-father and maybe one for JP from Kylie our dog.

So probably this next week I will be busy making cards for Hospice....funny how we go through phases in life.....after not touching or making a card in almost 7 weeks, now I am ready to make some cards. Course my house was turned upside down, so it has taken this long to get things back to a "sort of normal". Still have the basement to re-organize, as I had to move everything away from all the basement windows so "Rebuilding Together" people could install the basement windows. Needless to say that is what I have been doing this past month....moving, re-moving, packing, unpacking and uncluttering my little house. I may be doing a garage sale in July.....my neighbor will be doing a monthly sale....so I think I will join her. Geez that means the garage needs to be cleaned.....yep, I have lots of things going this summer.

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

PS....The Hawks won Game 7!! Yay!! Now they go to the finals!
PSS..I had my Deep Cleaning at the Dentist....the appointment went well....second half will be July 7th.

Silent Saturday and Sunday

Just keep looking up!!!  Cheers ~ Louise

Hospice Care Group and Cards

Hi everyone. Hope your day is going well. It's been kind of rainy all day and the roof is leaking "AGAIN". Leaky roofs do not make, for a good day, no matter how you look at it. Anyone know where I can get $30,000 to fix a roof, a ceiling fixed because of the leaky roof, 2 big trees cut down in our back yard, get a new snow blower???? Oh...that's just what I am looking at right now it's not including a few other things that need to be fixed. We are not among the rich of America (for those of you who live in other countries and are reading this blog) no, we are among the poor and getting poorer everyday. We are in serious trouble because of this Obama Administration.......very serious trouble.

Well on to better things. Tomorrow the Hospice group meets at Atlanta Bread Co. at 9am. Whew, pretty early for me, hope it is a more cheery, sunny day. I look forward to getting a cup of coffee there...it is always a good cup. I might have enough for a muffin too!!!

I have all my cards done...77 of them. I made some cards and some of the other cards people sent to me. I seem to hold on to them for a while. Hooray for Hospice, it is a good place to donate those cards that seem to accumulate that I don't want to throw out. So I re-design and rearrange them or put them on new card stock, making them all fresh and new looking. The inside of the card has a verse of blessing and saying it is from the Hospice Care Group. In the picture below are the cards all filed and ready to go, from Birthday, Thinking of You, Thank You, Christmas, Thanksgiving.

In the next picture are some birthday cards I made months ago. Found a tutorial on how to make tissue paper flowers using a round punch. Gather all the circles, punch a hole in the middle and fasten with a brad or something that holds the circles together. Krinkle up the layers of tissue and "WAH LAH" a pretty flower. The cards were stamped with Happy Birthday and Washi tape was placed on the card at different angles and the edges dabbed with ink.

Thinking of You cards are in the next picture. The picture on the right is a photo framed with card stock. I had that card laying around for a couple of years...good time to give it a new home. I am thinking of using some of my flower pictures to make cards for Hospice...that may be in my next collection of cards. The other two cards in this photo, the top one, was a picture from another store bought card and I framed it with some fuzzy stuff. The card on the left, a simple stamped card.

Thank You cards below. The card on the right was in my Etsy store which never sold. The top card was made with the cricut machine except for the turtle. The left card is just a simple stamped and layered card...I like that pretty lady, very elegant.

Christmas cards below...the top card and left card were in my Etsy store and never sold, but I am sure they will be appreciated now. They were colored with pens and layered and stamped. The card on the right....a mystery...made it years ago at a class, I forgot the technique...will have to ask the lady who made the card originally how it was made, as she will be there tomorrow.

Thanksgiving cards below...I made none of these cards...just refurbished them. I have not started on my Thanksgiving cards....can you believe it??? I have 3 thanksgiving stamps.....soooo I better get creative as to what I will do plus I have thanksgiving cards to send out to different people.

So, it will be a busy month again...getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas card giving. Plus keeping my Etsy store stocked....hopefully with a few sales.

Well, you all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

My December Special on Etsy

So, I just put these cards in my Etsy store today. A special deal if I have to say so myself. A set of 12 cards priced at $21.00 + postage and shipping will bring the price to $24.50. I usually sell my cards for $3 a piece so I am selling these cards in this set for $1.75 a piece. My inventory has gotten so large, thought I could do this as a special for December. Maybe this will be "Special" for every month in 2012.....just to keep the Post Office busy with cards and letters in the mail.

Please check out my etsy store at: http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com.

This is a pretty short blog for today, have to go do some decorating of the house. My Christmas cards are in the mail, as a matter of fact, just recieved the card today that I sent JP and the dogs. After decorating the house I can think about baking. I have only one gift to send in the mail to Pops in Las Vegas. Not sure what I will send yet, maybe zuchinni bread and cookies and a crossword puzzel. Well, I shall close this blog as it is acting really silly today so you keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

New Set of Cards Listed Today

Finished these cards the other night and just listed them in my Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/listing/76107609/set-of-6-everyday-cards There are 2 Happy Birthday cards with the seagull, 2 Happy Anniversary cards with the roses and 2 Thank You cards with the lighthouse. The technique is called "Direct on paper" where you take an ink pad and swipe it across the paper, then stamp the image and saying. I used the copic marker to color the lighthouse and roses. Didn't color in the seagull as I thought it looked fine as is. Perhaps I might color just one in just to see what it looks like. Made lots of these cards and may make more as the technique is quite fun.

The Lighthouse

The Seagull

The Pink Rose

Hope you like my cards. Please leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by. Check me out at http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/ https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Cards4ubylouise/ should take you to my facebook page, "like me" please. For Twitter go to http://www.twitter.com/louisellen/ Have a great day ~ Cheers ~ Louise

My new Card Set

This is my new card set..........."Thinking of you" a set of 6 cards. I priced them at $15.oo (2.50 a piece) with $2.00 postage, as postage just went up on Monday, I suspect I will be eating some of my profits.........oh well, such is life, everything is going up. You can go to http://cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/ to buy my cards.

My next set will be "Thank you" cards. A set of 4 cards for $10.00. Have already taken the pictures and downloaded them to the computer, so in the next couple of days they will go into my store.

Well, I think I am going to cut this blog segment short, as I have a merchandising job to get done today.........going into two Dollar General stores to take down the Mother Day cards and put up the Father Day cards..........that should take me all day to do.............it's a fun job, but alot of steps to accomplish in the short time you are given to do it.

You have a good day and keep your best foot forward and don't look back........nothing you can do about it anyways♥

Louise