~~No Exercise Today Please~~

Nope......no exercise today please.........just don't feel like it....lol.

This is my new little series of exercise cards...."Garfield's Scale" included. Been having fun coloring my exercise lady with Mark-It and Copic pens. Have a few cards made and just put this card up on my Etsy store also, go to: http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/ She is $3 + postage and you will receive a bonus card plus and bookmark and thank you card along with this card for your use. Here is a full view of the card.

Made this Seagull card, it is called "Seagull on Watch" which turned out really nice. Using Mark-it and Copic pens and my new large scalloped punch which gives the effect of a curtain, mmmm wonder what other uses it could have. This card is also up in my Etsy store as well.....$3+postage....and you will receive one free card plus a bookmark and thank you card.

I am going to try to upload a picture of my husband (if I can find it)....mmmmmm....year unknown, standing along side his 1924 model T Ford dump truck...........that sure was a fun truck to have, I think we gave it away though, if we'd have kept it and had it restored it would have been worth thousands, who knows, we would be just guessing at it's worth.

We had quite a few tractors also, that we actually used on our 20 acres.....not like this one ....>

which my friend Kandie took on her trip to MN. Here is her blogsite if you would like to see more of her lovely pictures. http://www.khixkrafts.blogspot.com/ I think this would make a wonderful painting, it has such character........aaaahhhhh yes, to have the time I would like to have, to do all things swirling around in that grey matter upstairs in my head...hahahaa.

Have a great day in the Lord.....are you getting enough vitimin D....just a day in the Sun can lift your spirits, a good vitimin pill and it is FREE!!!!!

♥1971 Barn Painting♥

Here is a painting I did in 1971. It is actually unfinished though.....never finished the forefront, meant to, but in my young years (25yrs old) I must have gotten side-tracted or something. Oh I know.....met my husband and got into racing in more ways then one. Painting was one of those things I never got back to. Still have my acrylic paints down stairs and check them every now and then. Really should try my hand at painting again. I have 3 other paintings in the house, another farm, a sea scape and a little girl. (She was my first try at painting.) Will have to take pictures of those paintings also.

Farms were always intriqueing to me for some reason. Wasen't till 1976 we actually moved to the country on 20 acres with cows, chickens, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, a big garden and lots of hay and corn and oats for the animals.................we really enjoyed that living, alot of work and alot of tears, but also alot of good times and memories. Oh that we could have back "the way we were" maybe change a few things so as not to end up where we are. Would it have made a difference, I wonder. Well time to shut down for the night.

~~~Facebook~~~

Well, as you can see I am on Facebook. It has been really amazing to me to find so many people that I know and have known. I shall have to look for a few more people, never know who I may run across. Still learning the ropes on facebook. Tonight I just figured out how to make the badge/button. NOW if I could figure out how to make badge/buttons from other blogs and bring them to my blog and visa versa. Got Etsy onto my Facebook page, now if I could just figure out how to get Etsy on my blog. As you can see I have much to occupy my time.

Don't you just love this barn???? My friend Kandie in Indiana took the picture of this barn, I love old barns and I believe this barn was found in Wisconsin someplace. You can go to http://www.khixkrafts.blogspot.com/ and find her other lovely pictures and many ideas for cards and other treasures.

Some day I will have to take a picture of the barn I painted back in 1971..........a real painting in acrylics.............I wanted to be an artist........well, I wanted to be alot of things, but somethings just did not pan out......like gold I guess, am still panning away. Anyways shall have to figure out what I shall do with this barn, once I print it out. Any suggestions?

Well, you have a great day.

Easter Sunday Card Making

Well, we had a great time making cards for Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa and the Pastor.

I had much to much to choose from, but the kids had a great time using everything I presented before them. You would have thought it was Christmas the way their eyes lit up with all the stickers, pens, paper, stamps and ink. They followed directions very well and made the front of the card the way I showed them. Then I said do the inside anyway you would like..........WOW did they have a ball decorating the inside with stickers and butterflies, stamps and christian sayings and scriptures and crosses.

Following is another picture of the fun. We decided that we will do this again for Mother's Day. So will be fun to come up with something for that special day also. Lord Willing.

I read a little poem to them about the jelly beans and what each color meant. And we talked about what the cross of Jesus Christ meant to them. We talked about the New Jerusalem and what it might be like. It was a fun morning for us, hopefully it will be remembered. I still remember things I did in Sunday School and that was years ago. Well you all have a great day.

Easter Cards of Kids.

Here is a picture of the two cards I will be teaching the Sunday School kids at church to make. Hopefully they are simple enough for them to do. I am sure the kids will have their own ideas on what they want to do........that's okay, we are all individuals with different ideas on how to do things. I will have to take my camera along and take a few pictures. Will be fun to see what they come up with.

I have most of the cards folded, the clouds are made and I just bought some construction paper tonight, cheaper then cardstock, will be using the construction paper for the ground, (green, gold and brown). They will be able to put the cross, sun, flowers and stamp the words Hope, Faith, Rejoice and Happy Easter where ever they want.

Well, I think I will close this blog for tonight, it's getting late. Almost 2:15 am. Bye Bye~~Louise

WOW~~MOM Cards

These three Mother's Day cards were designed last year, I sold the green card but still have the blue and yellow card in my Etsy store. This was my first attempt to make a stamp, can you tell which stamp I made..................no not the flowered stamp.........yup that's right the MOM stamp! It was fun, but took me all night to make...........one thing that's good, it can be a WOW stamp too.

Anyways, I used versa mark on the card with the flower stamp, then layered and punched the white and black cardstock to give it the laced effect. Then stamped the flower and colored in with Mark It Sharpies.

Made some Children's Easter cards for this Sunday. Pastor's wife asked me to have a class teaching the kids how to make an Easter Card for their parents. There will be about 10 kids if they all show up. So I made two different cards. I will take a picture of them tonight and add to my blog tomorrow.

Have to go now and get ready for work and exercise at Inches A Weigh. Still at 10 lbs and holding and 26 inches. I found that I consume too much salt. 2000 mgs should be
what I take a day.............I must have exceeded that. Now I am shocked to see how much salt can be consumed a day if we are not watching it. Maybe this has been my hold-up in losing weight. I will see after this week. Reading labels has been a real eye opener for me.

Well, have a great day~~~~~Louise

♥Busy makin' cards♥

My sediments exactly!!!! Everytime I get on the scale it is lying to me, UP and DOWN and all around. I dislike the scale like I dislike the devel himself!

This was a fun card to make and I will probably take it to Inches A Weigh to see if it sells from my box of cards. Plenty of people look at my cards and say how wonderful they are..........but alas.....just nibbles and no bites.

I stamped Garfield with versa mark then embossed him with black. Colored him in with my Mark it pens then layered on black cardstock then a blue card. Punching each corner for a little excitement. The inside of the card says "I have been dieting for the past month. All I've lost is 31 days!"

Here is one of my fun Easter Cards. I found a little lamb at Hobby Lobby 40% off and had to buy her. Learned a fun technique making clouds and thought the little lamb would look cute jumping in the clouds and that she does. She is stamped with black ink, then I used a glazed gel pen and outlined her then place sparkles on her wooly parts and gave her a blue bow.

The card is blue with clouds, Happy Easter is done with versa mark and blue embossing powder. The inside of the card is stamped with two crosses on either side of the word Faith.

Well, have a great day..........can you believe March is almost over...........where is the time going.
Louise

Another Group of Mother's Day Cards

So here is another group of Mother's Day Cards I have been making. All fun to make and each one is different from the other. I will be selling these cards seperately on Etsy and at Inches A Weigh at the end of this month. Each card will be selling for $3.00.

If you are interested in buying my cards as a set, let me know by emailing me at http://www.louisellen@juno.com and let me know which cards you desire. Scroll down my blog to another set of cards I put up for Mother's Day. I am getting quite a varity of Mother's Day Cards.............makes me wish I still had a mother, gosh, I don't know which one I would send her.

Well, it's Daylight Savings and I turned my clocks ahead, my computer says 12:13, the clocks say 1:13, so I think I shall close this blog for tonight...........

Happy Mother's Day Early,
Louise

mmmmmmmm...mushrooms

Yep.......these are portabella mushrooms. Grown in my basement!!!!! They are delicious, saute'd with vegies and imatation crab or over chicken or hambergers or steak or turkey.........you name it MUSHROOMS are always a part of the meal!!!!! I took the largest mushrooms and broke off the stem, put them in a pan and when they were cooked I put a piece of cheese on top and let it melt..............oh gosh it was like eating a hamberger. I was in heaven for a few minutes.

Well, I have another wave (the above mushrooms are the second growth) of mushrooms growing in my little box in the basement. Will be looking for them in the next few days, right now they are the size of a little button. In a couple of days they will be eating size.

I just read that mushrooms are very good for you. Although they've gotten a bad reputation for being largely nutrient-free, they're actually a great source of selenium, a mineral that helps to boost your immune system and decrease your risk of cancer. They're also extremely low in calories (about 20 in a cup), so they help you feel fuller at little cost to your weight loss program.

I have been a mushroom fan for many years. But there was a time I snubbed my nose at them. Looking back now I wish I hadn't. Remember the mushroom and gravy bowl being passed around and I would look for the gravy cause there were so many mushrooms in the gravy..........and these were the mushrooms found in the woods. My stepfather's family would go mushroom hunting and come back with baskets full of mushrooms. My mother's chore was to clean 'em and wash'em and cook 'em and bag'em and freeze'em. Then cook'em when the family got together every Sunday for the big meals. Out came those mushrooms..............gosh I wish I had loved them then.................but I didn't.

Now I can't seem to get enough mushrooms which need to be a part of my many meals, breakfast, lunch or dinner. With so many varities to choose from, you can add mushrooms to soups and salads, or saute' them with a little bit of olive oil and seasongs for a wonderful side dish.

Well, you have a happy mushroom day!
Louise

Three St. Patty's Day Cards

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Louise

Something NEW in the making..............

This is frame #3 (and my favorite)...........something new I made tonight.........a frame that can hold a picture of your favorite person, a poem, a scripture, an affirmation, or a saying. This frame is actually hanging on the refrigerator.

I was given a challenge the other day at Inches A Weigh by Dave. "Make an affirmation and put it on a card, something that you can look at and read and make it a part of you to help you lose weight"..............I thought, that's a good idea.

Well, while I laid on one of the excercise beds at Inches A Weigh, this thought came to my mind, "Make a frame and decorate it" It can then hang on a wall, or put magnets on the back and hang it on the refrigerator decorateing it anyway I would like.
This is frame #2...................... This is the first frame I made........frame #1

They were alot of fun to make and I am sure I shall make more frames. I am planning on making a few frames for my Etsy store in the near future, so that will be something new for http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/ I probably will sell them for $10, with this you also will receive a one free card and/or a bookmark and thank you card.

Well, time to go to bed, it's getting late and tomorrow comes early~~~~~~Louise

More Peeks at some Mother's Day Cards

Two more different Mother's Day Cards for you.

I may make a few more Mother's Day Cards with different fancy papers and continue using the spirelli art technique. Stop back again.

Louise

A Peek at a Few of My Mother's Day Cards

Here's a spirelli card, the idea came to me as I was laying on an exercise bed at Inches A Weigh.

A scalloped punch was used and embroidery thread wound around the circle. Then I scalloped one side of the fancy paper and punched a hole in the middle using that as the beginning point drawing the string around each scallop.

The card on the right is two scalloped circles taped together and I used gold thread and embellished with a yellow button.

The three cards on the left are glued on a brown card, the fancy paper glitters from different angles and each corner is punched with a different punch with different colored bows embellishing the front of the card. In each flower is a rhinestone.

I am thinking I will sell the cards as a set of 6 cards (3 pink, 3 green) with one free card at $15 plus postage.

The inside of each card will have the saying "Thinking of you on this special day"

I have a few more ideas for Mother's Day Cards. So keep checking back as I make more and add more to this blog and eventually to my Etsy store.

Have a great day and talk to you soon.

Louise

Mother's Day Cards

Hi y'all.........well, been busy lately making Mother's Day Cards. They are turning out really pretty. Was going to try and get them down-loaded tonight, but alas, the Olympics took priority tonight. So I shall try and get them up in the next few days. They are sitting on the dinning room table ready for their picture.

We went on a date tonight. JP bought me some seeds for Valentines Day (belated) Candycane Zennias.......I love Zennias, like to plant them along side the house and they just bloom all summer long...............oh I can hardly wait to see what they look like. We also went to Mary's for dinner........good food. I had a ceaser salad and tomatoe bisque soup and JP had fried shrimp and french fries.

Well, it is getting late, better hit the bed........church tomorrow and 8am comes around pretty quick.
Hugs.............Louise

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Valentines Day~~~~~~
Louise

♥ Last Week of 2009 - Thanks for the Memories♥

Here we are, in the last week of 2009 with the NEW YEAR - 2010 peeking right around the corner. I have no way of knowing what will be happening in this new year............I could only hope that things would get better for us all..............but then with the economy the way it has been, I just am not sure where we are headed.

I guess that is why God has said........."take one day at a time". Yesterday is gone and you can do nothing about it, and the future is not ours to hold. Only live for today and live the best you know how. Good advice.........now the trick is to live it. Enjoying everything that God has blessed us with, good health, a nice warm home during the winter, and cool during the summer. Two sweet dogs, two cars that are paid for BUT need lots of TLC. We both have jobs that keep us busy and it pays the bills. We have food on the table and clothes on our back. The husband has his ministry to the truck drivers and I have my little card business on Etsy. God has been good to us.

Did you have a nice Christmas..........it went all too fast..........all that planning and now it is all over but the shouting. I managed NOT to charge anything and paid for everything with cash. That was a mile stone............but alas I still have charge bills to pay........we will be forever in debt at least for another year.

My husband and I spent a quiet Christmas. His family is down in Chicago (Obamaland) and my only family (Pops) is in LasVegas. My daughter Tiffany whom I do not hear from anymore lives in North Carolina............I think she fell off the face of the earth. Anyways we had a nice day, opened a few presents, had a ham dinner with sweet potato pie, baked potatoe, broccoli, relishes and stuffing and gravy. Pulled out Grandma Gatti's old Bavarian Dishes, they must be close to 90 years old...........so that made it kinda fun. We shall do that again for New Years Day Dinner......though the dinner will be different......like steak and shrimp, salad, broccoli and oven fries..............now that sounds good!!!!!

Well, I think I shall close this blog for a while and talk again in 2010...........it's been fun keeping up...........have a great rest of the week and see you next year.
(Hugs and Kisses) Louise

BIG STORM TODAY...........WOW!!!!!

We sure had a big storm today..............most snow in 24 hours since the 1920's. Woke up this morning to find 2 people trying to dig their cars out of the snow..........sure was a mess, they finally got unstuck after about an hour.

I went out for a little while to brush off my car, or should I say shovel off my car, there had to be over a foot of snow on my car. Then to my shock, I noticed my car door slightly opened, I then opened and shut it, thinking my husband had gone in there for something and just didn't shut the door properly. Thinking not too much about that incident I kept on shoveling. Then we had to move the cars to get the snow plowed and I got into my car and noticed my sunglasses on the floor................that was strange............then I noticed my walking shoes were out of my 'inches a weigh' bag...........that was strange...........seemed like things were a little disaray in my front seat, tapes were moved........that was strange.........I sure felt like someone had been in my car.

WELL.................then I opened the back door to get the car brush, I noticed my black leather merchandising bag was missing?????????? Where did it disappear to???????? I do believe I was robbed..........I think the robbers thought there was a computer in the bag BUT, there was nothing of value in that bag, just pens, notebook, change purse.....maybe with a few pennies, pliers, hammer, tape, water...........nothing of value.............I guess what bothers me is that someone was rumagging around in MY CAR!!!!! At first we thought the laptop computer was still in the bag, cause my husband thought he had used it at the library..............but that was the other bag. Soooo, no, the robber did not affscound with our old laptop computer.

I know you will say................."well, lock your doors from now on". I was going to do that, but the doors freeze during the winter months and I will never get into my car then. So I just will not keep anything of value in the car, if I do have something of value, I will put it in the trunk.

LESSON LEARNED............................

Well, we are all dug out now, it was a nice day off. Got some candy made for the cookie container I am sending for my stepfather in Las Vegas for Christmas. Little round pretzels, with a hersey kiss melted and a red or green m&m placed in the middle..........fun to make.

Christmas is fast approaching.................16 days away...................still feel scattered, got my cards made and in the next couple of days will get them out to a few people........I am really cutting back this year. Christmas has gotten so commercialized, I am tired of being so caught up in all this stuff. The true meaning has gotten so watered down................shame on us............FOR JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON. How have we gotten so far off into left field??????

Well, I shall end this blog for now............you all have a great day and take time to smell the roses and enjoy the day.
Louise

"Christmas is a comin' & the Geese are gettin' fat"

Please to put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny then a hey penny will do.
If you haven't got a hey penny........then God Bless you!!!
God bless you gentlemen, God bless you, if you haven't got a hey penny, then God bless you!

That song always goes through my head this time of the year.........where ever it came from, I do not know, cute little jingle.........I must have an old LP record.... oh I remember now "Bonanza" that is where that song if found..........someday I shall get a record player and play all my old records..........dinasours, but gosh they were something in their time.

Well, here is some pictures of some of my Christmas Cards...........hope you like them. You can find more at my little store at http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/

You have a great day and enjoy your life!

Bye bye - Louise

The Autumn Leaves ~ they are a fallin"

Just don't know where this fall is going...........way too fast! We got our summer ornaments in the shed and pulled up the tomatoe and squash plants. Squirls got my onions....good grief, never knew squirls liked onions!! Brought in my geranium plants, have them down stairs. This year I want to try and keep them over the winter, so I shall water them more then what I did last year. The geranium plants did not survive last year.........maybe 2010 will be the year of the geranium!

Well, I have a little bad news..........a friend of mine, have known her since the early 90's has just been diagnosed with 2 different cancers, she is getting Chemo now. Saw her yesterday for the first time in a long while. She has ovarian and limph-node cancers - 4th stage. What more can one say.........I will leave it at that. So far the cost is running into the hundreds of thousands, and she has no insurance...............BUT GOD.......has taken care of all that, so far they have only had to pay 5K and the rest is being forgiven........talk about Jubilee..........BUT GOD owns all the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps. 50:10)............He is True to His Word!!!!

Been working on making some Christmas cards, I have an order coming up and want to get as many cards made as possible as I do not know how many cards will be needed for this order. Plus I need to make cards for my christmas giving. I love my cuttlebug, and have been able to turn cards I had sitting around for a couple of years into new and revived looking cards. Amazing how just the turn of the handle and a Christmas folder of snowflakes can take on new demensions.

Nothing much more going on.......still trying to lose a few pounds that don't seem to want to come off. Still going to inches a weigh 3-4 times a week, which does take a big chunk out of my afternoons but I do feel better after doing it. I am still at 12 lbs and 26.75 inches...........I guess that is good, considering I did not put the weight on fast and it will not come off fast either. But I will still work at it, eventually it will come off when I least expect it.

Well I think I better close this blog for now as it is getting late and I need to get ready to go to Inches A Weigh to get some more exercise in and get weighed too.
BYE-BYE-Louise

New Cards Added to Etsy

"Fall is in the Air" & "Mr. Pumpkin Man"

Been a little busy lately making cards. Do check my Etsy store @ http://www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com/ and see more of my cards. I have two more cards to put up and then I will start with a few Christmas cards............which is just around the corner.

Have a great day ~ Louise