Some Cards I Made at the Senior Community Center

Hi there everyone, Hope you are having a good summer. It's going way too fast though, before you know it August will be here, and the kids are going back to school again. When I was young, time went sooooooo slow and I always wished time would go faster. Saying to my mother, "I can hardly wait for my birthday, I can hardly wait for Christmas, I can hardly wait" for whatever exciting experience was coming up!!!! My mother would say to me, "Don't wish your life away Louise, it will all come soon enough!!!" Never knew what she meant, but now I do, time does fly by fast!!!!!

So, I thought I would give you a small taste of some of the cards I have been making at the Senior Center every Tuesday. It's like my field trip once a week and meeting up with lots of other people my age and have a little fellowship with like-minded card making people. Most of the cards here will be going to Hospice, a few I might keep, and send to people. 

BUT....that might be less, as the price of 1 stamp is now $.66 cents. Price just went up yesterday, how crazy is that. Pretty soon we won't be seeing the mail man visit us with bills or cards anymore. Will be just TOO expensive to send in the mail. 

I took a bunch of pictures with my cell phone the other day of how my garden is growing. But don't know how to transfer those pictures to this computer, I suppose there is a way, have not figured it out yet. That might be my next blog...."How is my garden growing" Looking forward to my Italian green beans and tomatoes. BUT that means the summer is rolling along FAST!!!!! Fall is right around the corner!!!! Aren't you having fun reading my blog..........TIME IS FLYING!!!!!!

This is kind of a rough month for me, I suppose if I let it be that. JP will have passed 2 years ago this month on the 25th. Not too sure how I will handle this memory. Most people go to the grave site and put flowers on the grave. JP's ashes are still here in the house, so he is in so many ways, still here. I told the in-laws that when I pass, to cremate me, mix our ashes together in a bag and drop us in Lake Michigan. I always liked the water.

Well, here we are at the last picture. As you can see, I used Copic markers to color most of these cards. The fisher boy included at the very beginning.

Our next meeting for Hospice is September 1st, so there is still 7 weeks to go...how fast will that go????? I need to get some Veteran cards made and then everyday cards along with Fall cards and then start thinking about CHRISTMAS AGAIN!!!

There you go one blog that covers the whole year...lol!!! Oh, I must tell you, I had another miracle in my life. God surely does take care of the widows.

I had a tree growing next to my foundation and the neighbor cut it for me and then I mentioned the limbs hanging over my roof. I wondered how I was going to get that taken care of without calling a tree trimmer and spending 1-2k that I did not have. The neighbor said, "let me take a look" and he said, "I can do that"....well, he cleared off the roof of branches!!! Oh my gosh, that was a load off my shoulders. God is so good!!! I asked him what I could give him $ wise and he said, "nothing" that again was a miracle to me. 

Now mind you, I have not talked to this neighbor or his wife for 7-8 years because they crossed the line and complained about the fence, we were having put up was taller than their fence. The people were not even done with the fence building, they got 3 warnings from the neighbors, and it caused a lot of trouble for the project manager. I thought it was very rude of the neighbors....they should of kept their nose in their own backyard till the job was done.

Well, that's about all for now, I have a funny one liner for you that I read on another blog today, thanks Brenda!!!

"Never use a GPS when going to a cemetery. It's too scary to hear, "You've reached your destination."

That cracked me up, talk to you all later and have a good one.

Cheers ~ Louise
 

Some Flowers Around the House

Hi there everybody!!! Been a while since I last blogged. Thought I better get something going here and flowers came to my mind. Been doing a lot of cards lately but have not taken pictures of them yet. So, a few pictures of my perennial flowers should be in order. 

The below flowers usually bloom around September 1st. The vine is still growing and is not even quite up to the banister. I like this flowering vine; I call it a "Star Clematis" because the flowers look like stars. It gives me lots of privacy on the front porch.

These guys, JP used to call them the "choir" their real name is "Bee Balm" they have taken over the whole garden. The red flowers make for a good tea. They should be blooming in the next few weeks.

Here are my "Black-eyed Susans" I love them. They have been showing up every year in this spot for the last 8 years. The bottom is this year's growth this month. The top picture is from 2016. The blooms will last 4-5 weeks or until a bad storm knocks them over.

Here are my lovely pink peonies, the plant has gotten very big, I really need to cut the plant in half and put the other half someplace else. Never have done that though, the thought is there though. Well now the blooms are done blooming, and it is time to cut back the plant.

Now, this is my "Mystery Rose Bush." I think when I planted it, it was supposed to be a white rose. 2002 when we had the porch replaced, it got trampled on by the workers and did not grow for a couple of years, I was going to dig it up but then the next spring, it started to grow. All it did was grow green branches which we would cut down....I guess it went wild for quite a few years. The last couple of years it started blooming these pretty red roses near the bottom of the base of the plant for the last few years. This year it has bloomed more flowers than ever before. I hope it blooms all summer; we will see. I never took very good care of it all these years cause I did not know what it wanted to do. I have been watering it now and maybe I will give it some "Miricle Grow" just to see what it's next step is. Yes, it is a "Mystery Rose."

Now, here are my ever-faithful purple clematis. They are right next to the "Star Clementis" so these bloom way ahead of the white flowers. Wish they would last all summer, but no they don't.

Well, there you have it a slight change from the cards but all so pretty as cards. Flowers growing around my house (ha, along with the weeds). I will miss these flowers if I should have to sell this house, hopefully not for a while though. We will see, glad I don't know the future, that is in God's hands.

You all take care and enjoy the summer if I don't return to blog. But if I do return to blog, it will be about cards. Talk to you later. Cheers ~ Louise

Cards Made for a Birthday Gift

Hi there everyone, hope all is well with you and your family. So, in this post I am showing you some cards I made for a friend for her Birthday to send to Senior Citizens. She always liked my cards I made, so I thought why not make her a bunch of cards to send to others.

The above card is a die, I glued on white cardstock and colored in with different colors, mostly alcohol inks. The card looked a little plain, so I decided to emboss the card with clear embossing powder. I then embossed it a second time and it was so much smoother looking. Had a lot of fun doing these cards.

These two cards are my butterfly cards, both butterflies were embossed twice, with clear embossing powders. Same for the "smile". Simple little cards placed on backgrounds. The poka-dot background is a foiled background.

Now this "thinking of you" card, the flowers and birds were done years ago and I finally turned it into a card using some sticky background that was sitting around in my stash for years. Sort of fun to use up stuff that has been sitting around for years, turns into quite the challenge.

These two sets of cards, again they were sticky back, a metal type material which I ran through the cuttlebug. With just a simple "Thinking of You" tag place on the front.

Again, another card using a die and colored in with copic markers. The "Happy Birthday Blessings" was also dies and embossed twice with clear embossing powders.

In this picture is the birthday card to Mary, it is a flower I found at the Dollar Tree, made 6 cards with these flowers, think I will pick up some more of these flowers, makes for a quick card.

Last night another friend said he wanted me to make him a bunch of "Thinking of You" cards. He said he would send me the money and whatever number of cards he could get for the amount he sent would be good. He wants the inside of the cards to have scripture, (yes, I can do that). He wants the cards to have nice sceneries on the front, like farms and rolling hills, (yes, if I have the stamps to do that). He wants cards with pianos and pipe organs on the front with musical notes, (I think I could do that). Well, I have quite the order, will see what I can do. FIRST and foremost, I need to see the money!!!

I got involved with a Senior Center and go for card making classes for free every Tuesday.....I am really liking this class. Yesterday the other teacher was showing us how to use the Cricut (the older version, which I have). Wow, I learned a lot and now I have brought the Cricut from downstairs upstairs, and it is sitting on the dining room table. I have NO excuses, to NOT play with my Cricut now!!!!

One of the cartridges has a piano on it....there you go Bob, I have some old song books from church, I will cut out a page, glue it on cardstock and place the piano on top of it with a "Thinking of You" tag. There, a couple of those cards in his portfolio already.

Let's see, what else is on the agenda, I guess do some gardening, the grass is really growing, it already has been cut and needs another cutting. I am going to buy a tomato plant and cucumber plant and put them in the front of the house....they will get lots of sun all day!!! My backyard is in all shade because of the big tree behind the house. 

Well time to close this blog, bet you thought I was going to retire from blogging, guess as long as I am making cards, I shall always show you what I am up to. You all take care and take Jesus!!! Blessings ~ Louise
 

Hospice Cards for May 5th

Hi there everyone, how you all doing??? I've been busy with life, guess that is why you have not been seeing me on this blog, sorry about that. I do keep busy though, it's been a long hard winter and not going anywhere. Life changes quite a bit when one becomes a "widow" it's not the happiest place to be in the world. I guess you make your own happiness and I have not figured out how to do that as yet.

These two cards, I apparently colored these turtles a couple of years ago, ran across them and thought, let's make some cards for Hospice with this girl. Yeah, so the background is an embossing folder that I inked and ran through the cuttlebug. I covered the corners with black cardstock because I accidently ripped one corner while cutting it, so to camouflaged it, I covered it.

This card was run through the cuttlebug with a 3D folder on black cardstock. Then I covered with it gold paste with my finger. The white star like pattern is what is called Spirilla (thread art) and a gold dot for the middle. I need to add a Happy Birthday or Happy Father's Day at the top yet.

This card is just sticky back shiny paper. I added a flower that I embossed with 3 coats of embossing powders, gave it a real glossy look, kind of hard to tell in this picture. Again, I need to add a Birthday, Thinking of You or Happy Fathers Day greeting on it.

This card was fun. The black background was run through the cuttlebug (flowers). I used 4 different size circles of different colors, glued them together then cut them in half. Then you place the half circles on the card and it looks like swirlies, kind of a cool look.

This card, the embossing folder was inked and run through the cuttlebug. I added butterflies where the folder showed butterflies, simple birthday blessings.

This flower, along with 3 other flowers, apparently, I colored a couple of years ago and again ran across them and thought they needed to be used for a Hospice card. I think I used pearl-x powders but not to for sure.

Now this card was run through the cuttlebug with a tin looking paper that I had for YEARS stashed away and pulled out.....lets use this for a card, then it sat on the counter for a month or so, turned out really neat, wish I had some more of this stuff. The "Thanks" was stashed away and I added it to the card...guess I am just using stuff that's been laying around for years. Never know when stuff comes in handy.

Here again, these giraffes were done years ago and I just added them to these cards that I had foiled and ran through the laminator.

So, there you have it a bunch of cards I have made for Hospice this month. I should have between 60-75 cards when finished. I still have tomorrow to work on them. The meeting is Friday at 9am. We pass the cards around to each other so we can see what the other card makers made and get ideas for the next meeting which will be June 2nd. We sit around and gab and this month we will be putting together Father's Day favors and we put a Hershey's candy in each favor. We are usually done about 11pm

I suspect this month will go by pretty fast, most months fly by in a twinkling of an eye almost. A friend said, she closes her eyes Monday night and it's Friday morning already!!! That's how fast time flies for her!!!

Well, it you are still with me, I hope you enjoyed my review of some of my cards, the creative juices are running finally. You have a great month and hopefully I will be back again with some more cards. Take care and keep looking up, better days are coming. Blessings ~ Louise

Hospice Cards for February 3rd.

Hi there everyone, been awhile since I last blogged. No sorry's, just not much to talk about, I guess. Since Jay's death 16 months ago (now where has that time gone?) life has been quiet but there has been a lot of hoop jumping for me. And I do so hate the hoop jumping at times. Going around and around and getting no place.

Making cards has been at a minimal because the inspiration has been probably at about 45-50%. I look at a lot of ideas, but none click. I had a lot of Christmas cards made for Hospice, but then, I came down with the flu, or was it Covid, or was it a virus....I just don't know, but I was out of commission for 6 weeks, after which I finally started feeling better. It took a lot out of me, wonder where I would have been if I had not gotten that one shot, no, no boosters, just one shot and I got it when Jay was about to enter the assisted living. I thought, better get the Covid shot or assisted living people won't let me in to see Jay. I did run into a couple of times that the nurses almost did not let me in to see Jay, but only after they realized who I was and who I was visiting.

So, I missed the December meeting and now the next meeting is on the 3rd so for the last couple of weeks I was into making Valetine cards and using different techniques as you can see by some of these cards.

The 1st card is embossed, and I just added a cardinal at the bottom....pretty simple. The 2nd card is an old valentine card that I ran off on my copy machine, then fussy cut and glued onto some fancy background cardstock.

Now the above cards were kind of interesting to make as it was an idea from Simon Hurley. I found my stencils and placed the stencil on cardstock and taped it down so the cardstock would not move. Then smudged with ink where I wanted color, lifted the stencil and "wah lah" this was the result. Check out Simon Hurley on YouTube, he has lots of great ideas.

"Sending BIG hugs" card is from a card kit from the UK. I have had this in my stash of stuff to make for a couple of years and finally put them together. Sent 2 cards off to someone in VT and one to WI. They were so cute; I could not resist.

Valentine cards are so much fun to make. These are a few I put together with odds and ends I had sitting around. Of course, the bottom two are copies from the original Valentine cards which I copied, fussy cut and glued to the background.

Now these were fun, the backgrounds are from a pad of cardstock, probably in my stash for a couple of years and finally used the cardstock. The flower is from Stampin Up. Embossed with gold, pretty flowers with many ideas for using it.

Now this was a fun technique and another Simon Hurley idea. Using a 3-D embossing folder, the inside of the folder was inked (ink the indented side) then spray with water, place cardstock in folder and run through the cuttlebug or whatever machine you have. Take out of the folder and let dry and run the process over again. I am going to try this technique today with another 3-D folder I have using multi colors. Want to see how it works.

Last but not least, I had these 4 prints from wherever I received them, cut them out and placed them in a frame, simple but pretty. Well, now I suspect, if you are still with me, you probably got bored and clicked on to the next blog....that is okay, this is getting pretty long and anyways I am ready for it to come to an end. I need to get started on doing some work around the house.

So, I had 61 cards made for the January meeting and now that I have an extra 4 days to make cards, I shall try for 75 cards total. That would make a record for me as I usually make 50 or so cards.

Well, I shall close this blog before it turns into a BOOK!!! Here's hoping the weather by you is not so cold and with little snow. It's supposed to be sunny and cold here for the next 5 days, that will be nice. You all have a great February and keep warm and looking up, Jesus is coming soon!!!! Cheers ~ Louise
 

Merry Christmas - 2022

 Hi there everyone, hope you are all enjoying the activities of Christmas and all that come with it. I am thinking this may be my last blog of this year. 2023 may be a complete mystery as to whether I continue or not. I have no idea what the days in 2023 have in store for me or this United States (or should I say this "Divided States.)

So today, I shall just add some old cards from past Christmas's, and a few new cards from this Christmas, hope you enjoy.

An old card from 2017 but probably one of my favorite cards of all times.

A new card for 2022.

Another new card for 2022.

And another snowflake card for 2022.

Just a few cards from the past. And today I added some cards I made for this year. Gosh I almost forgot how to add these cards to this blog. I guess it is true, "if you don't use it, you may lose it. 

So have a nice Christmas, and a Happy New Year. 

Cheers ~ Louise

PS, sorry for so few words, not very wordy in this blog.

Ohhhhhh Is Anyone There???

 Hi there everyone. Thought I would drop a line or two. Yes, I am still alive and kicking. As you can see by the dates on the pictures below, they are 5 years old, but they are Fall pictures, so I am using them today.

I have not been much into a blog mood, only because not much is happening in my life. Since JP's death, (1 year, 2-1/2 months) everyday just seems to blend into another. I have tried to get a lot done around the house, but sometimes I just find myself sleeping. I get plenty done in my mind, but my body does not cooperate.

Next month, 11/21 I will be 76 years old. WHERE did that time go to?? Never thought I would make it to this age.

Well, to update you all. I had my garage sale and made about $140.00 which did help in paying some bills. The sale was back in June. I thought I would have another one in July, August and possibly in September. But I decided not to. June was enough for me. I am still in the process of cleaning the garage and ridding myself of all the old garage sale stuff that did not sell. I gave "Good Will" 6 banana boxes of stuff already with 2-3 more boxes to go. 

I have decided I am NOT going to sell and move out of this house. And would like to stay here for as long as I can. To down-size, pack and move just sounds like too much stress and a hassle at this time in my life. I am not under pressure now, as I was even 6 months ago as I have made plans with the City to begin paying my property tax which will now keep me from foreclosure in two years. 

I have had a few other financial situations cleared up, so my future looks a little brighter, that's if this country does not go down the tubes with inflation, high gas and food prices and every other crisis that comes up. 

It has been hard to keep my nose above water these last couple of years what with the Pandemic, JP's sickness and death, trying to make ends meet has been a challenge. But God is Good, and He takes care of His own.

I had a really good garden this year with tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, onions, dill and basil. I am in the midst of drying the dill and basil. I think the beans are done as it was my second planting. I brought in my green tomatoes, and they are ripening in a dish pan. 

My card making has been at a minimum lately, have lots of ideas, but seem to find other things to do. Cooking for myself is not fun. When JP was alive, I cooked much more, always trying something new and different. Now I just cook what is easy, fast or not so healthy. Hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, fries, steak, beans, broccoli, and corn. Chicken when I can and porkchops anything that can be made in the Air Fryer or microwave. My Air Fryer is my new friend.

My car has a gas line leak, so it has been sitting in the driveway this week. Monday, I have to take it to the service station, hopefully there is enough gas to get it there and has not all leaked out. Then the guy won't be able to work on it till the 20th, maybe sooner. Hopefully the bill will be affordable.

Well, I guess that is all for now, this was going to be a short blog, but I guess I am just too wordy. You all have a great rest of the month...I am sure it will go fast. The days are flying by, enjoy them while you have them. Keep looking up!!! Better days are a comin'. Louise

Time is Flying By Quickly

Hi there everyone, hope you are having a wonderful 4th of July with family and friends!! Mine is quiet, very quiet. It will be a year tomorrow (July 5th) that I took JP to the Assisted Living. 20 days later he died.... lots of memories this month, hope I can make it through without crashing

So, the last couple of weeks, I have been busy with a Rummage/garage sale. Sales were slow on Thursdays, so I cut that day out. Friday seems to be a busy day and Saturday not so much. Course maybe July 4th had something to do with it. But in the 5 days $172.85 was sold.... not bad. I am going to do 4 more days this month, a Friday, Saturday weekend and then the following week. I have an extra bill this month so hopefully enough stuff will be sold to pay that bill.

In the top picture I wanted to mention my little garden...just noticed today that the bean plants are starting to make little beans...gosh I can hardly wait. I will have beans, tomatoes, onions, radish, basil, dill and cucumbers. I meant to plant some flower seeds, but time got away from me. I did plant some marigold seeds and have transplanted them to other places. Going to put some in planters on the front porch.

So here are some pictures of some of the stuff in the sale. I hope this manger scene sells, because I sure don't want to pack it up again. I brought a lot of stuff out from the house, plus I still had stuff in the garage to sell boxed up from several rummage sales before. I need to really sift through all this stuff and down-size a whole lot. As I may have to move in the next year or so. Will be hard to leave because we've been here 31 years this month.

I still have lots of stuff in the basement to go through. I think some of this stuff, I will just go through and take to the thrift store or just throw out. Will see how radical I get.

In the picture below is a card I made for the nephew, he is a golfer and fisherman and only 10 years old. Did you see the saying...."Always golf with extra socks in case you get a Hole-in-one!!! I thought that was pretty funny!!

So here is my first rose of Summer.....so pretty. 

And, my peonies were in full bloom this spring, wish they lasted longer than they do. I did cut a lot of flowers and put them in vases and brought them in the house or left them on the front porch.

More peoni pictures. I actually inherited these flowers from a neighbor. They no longer wanted them in their backyard, and I said, I will take them and so they landed in my yard!!!

I did another radical thing this past month. June 9th, I called Spectrum and asked to cut the cable because I could no longer afford their prices for TV. So now I just have internet and landline. I bought a Roku and installed that on my TV. I am really liking it, lots and lots of movies. I don't get ABC, CBS, NBC, or FOX or my NASCAR....to get that all I would have to spend $70 a month. now that would completely defeat the purpose of saving some money. For now, I will settle with Roku and when I have extra $$$ to spend maybe I will get my channels back (which are supposed to be free, but aren't)

Well, time to close, I need to get some bills paid and dishes done today. It's only 1:30pm so I guess I have time yet. But time does fly by quickly, don't keep your eyes closed to long, you might miss something spectacular!!! Cheers ~ Louise