January Birthday Cards - Belated

I'm getting caught up on my January birthday cards as they are late!!

The winter photo card is for my brother who's birthday is in early January.  This photo was taken near my Mom & Dad's place.  There was a bright sun and frost on the trees.  I love the shadows.  I cut it down from 4x6 to 4x5.25 inches. I mounted it to a black card.  I added the greeting made up of a blue Stampin Up Modern Label punch and a greeting punched with the Word Window.  I layered these together and adhered them to the card front with double sided tape.

This card is for my sister who celebrated her day this week.  I chose a yellow card.  I adhered a Happy Birthday embossed layer created with the Cuttlebug folder. This was adhered to the card front. I punched a large daisy from the same card stock.  I punched a black one to layer behind.  I punched a 1/2 inch black circle to provide a background for my yellow brad.  I added a bee to the flower.  The bee was a button from which I removed the shank with my cutting pliers.  I held it in place with a Bling Zot.

Share Your Cup - Light Furniture

This chair arrived today.  I purchased it several weeks ago while visiting my sister but it would not fit in my car for the ride home so I needed it delivered.  My sister and my brother in law brought it to my house today for the price of lunch. Thanks so much!  It's made of light colored wood  (maple? pine?) which matches the rest of the furniture in the living room which I have collected over the last 20 years. I have passed up several glider chairs in the last several months and I am glad I waited. The covers are removable and my sister had washed them once.  Someone in the past had washed the cushions without removing the covers which requires removing the buttons and putting them back once the covers are back on the cushions. The buttons were covered with the same fabric as the covers but the backs were metal.  Since the cushions were left wet for a while I suspect, the backs rusted and stained the fabric around the buttons.  These stains did not come out when they were washed the first time. I made a mixture of water and bleach half & half and sprayed it on the stains a couple of times making sure to rinse the fabric right away.  Success!!! I gave the wood of the chair a complete wash from top to bottom while the covers were in the dryer. Once the covers were dry,  I decided to replace the buttons with some from my Mom's collection (check out the small pics in the bottom corner).  I chose some ivory pearly ones with shank backs. With a long needle I threaded them to the back and tied them to pearl buttons with 2 holes.  This will allow me to easily remove them when I wash the covers.  Did you see the color of the fabric? They will need regular washing.

The cabinet on the left is a multi purpose cabinet. My TV lives on the top. Inside, it holds audio and video media, candle & wax, and other miscellaneous stuff. This is one of the original pieces of pine wood furniture I purchased from IKEA years ago.  The train on the floor in front of the cabinet was made by my Dad.  Not sure what the wood is but it fits right in!

The secretary desk on the right I purchased earlier this year.  It's pine. I bought it second hand because I could not find a real wood piece to match the furniture I bought a long time ago.  My niece even noted when she helped deliver it that "Auntie, it matches the rest of the furniture!" Exactly!  I store my table linens, cream and sugar set, vases, coasters and such in there.  These are close at hand when I want to change the look of the table.  I've put my mercury glass tree and the similar candle holder with a yellow candle. In the center is an angel tea light holder.  Above is my card holder which still holds Christmas cards.  The dining room table and sofa end tables are also pine from IKEA.
Sharing this post with Sharing Your Cup #182 hosted by Carol at Art & Sand. 

Friday's Hunt 1.5

I'm joining Friday's Hunt 1.5 where the prompts are start with the letter E, Favorite, Sky.

I chose Egg for the letter E.  Eggs are smooth, oval and perfect.  I nestled it in some brown rice in a small rectangular china dish. I imagine it's designed for condiments or sauces.  I used my sunflower hot spot as a background.  You can check out another egg photo I took a while ago.

Favorite: Grapefruit is one of my favorite fruit.  They are in season and reasonably priced these days.

I repeated the circular theme by surrounding the fruit with lavender loose leaf tea onto a white round ironstone plate.  The white plate was on a gold charger plate but I ended up cropping that.

I love this shot in late fall.  The sky is so animated with a storm rolling in.  The sun was setting and putting light on the far hills.  In the foreground, there are birds on the water as they prepare to migrate.  Unfortunately, power lines are pretty much unavoidable but are quite subtle in this shot.

Submitting to Friday's Hunt 1.5 hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills.

Mosaic Monday - Tea, Stills & Exercise

Today when I opened my treat box there was still a couple pieces of chocolate!!! Hard to believe but true.

I got the table ready for a cup of tea but I am just getting around to it very late in the day.

This wood stand is something my Dad made on a lathe years ago.  I was really happy to see that my cake stand top fits over it nicely.  I placed doily between the two and added a yellow candle on top.  The wood stand has great color and various woods.  I'm trying to work out how best to see it's beauty.

I have returned to my exercise after being sidetracked with bronchitis a couple of weeks ago.  To quote one of the senior ladies in my card class today. "Use it or lose it." Her comment on how some seniors in her residence prefer to just sit around and not do much.  She is in her eighties and she cuts an d glues with the best of us.

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

Card Club - Incentive - Thank You Card

Here's my thank you card for the ladies.  I started with the felt owls.  They were stuck to wooden clothes pins.  With the steam on the iron I was able to soften the glue without harming the felt and the owls were easily removed from the pins.  I chose a 12x12 inch sheet of metallic turquoise designer paper by g.c.d. studios - Cosette Collection - Kaleidoscope. This is the back side.  I cut it to 5.5 W x 2.5 T and ripped the top and bottom edges.  The greeting was color printed onto vellum and clear embossed.  It was cut to 1.70" tall.  I placed the adhesive on vellum where it would be hidden by the owl.  The felt owl was adhered to the card front with hot glue.  The metallic paper repeats the color of the wing which works great.  I'm clearing stashes of supplies as I have used these before on this project.   Really like this card.

Card Club - Incentive

When the ladies in card club sign up for the whole semester they get a small gift.  These are the cards I made this session.
They are made with Stampin Up Blossoms Abound stamp set.  I selected several of the flowers and sentiments which I just mixed and matched.   There was the square, the wreath and the rectangle.  These were done on white card stock and the colors are Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Strawberry Slush, and Wild Wasabi.  They are great cards to have on hand so when one needs a quick card they are ready to go.



























I thought there should be at least one male oriented card in the set so I chose the Wetlands stamp set. I did it in Soft Suede.  The goose and the greeting are both from this set. I love the sketchy feel to the graphics in this set.

Card Club - Jan - Doily Heart

This is my nod to those in the group who might wanted a Valentine's card.  It would do as an Anniversary card and maybe even a wedding card. 
I selected the DSP from Prima - Zephyr Collection - Zanella.  I added it to a warm green card.  I added the white heart doily to the right hand side.  I cut a warm pink heart with the Sizzix Tipsy Hearts die which I glued to the center of the doily.  I cut LOVE from pearl card stock with the Cricut and the Sentimentals cartridge at .75 inches.  It had enough width in the letters to easily glue to the card front. 

Card Club - Jan - Felt Buttons

This is a cute and playful card.
I selected 2 felt buttons in 2 sizes, the large in teal and smaller in green.  I tied them together with white shimmery fiber.  I then added a Zot in the back.  I selected a dark teal card.  I cut my white layer to 4.00" x 5.25" and then embossed it with the Cuttlebug A2 Happy Birthday folder.  I glued the greeting embossed layer to the card front then adhered the felt button accent in the top left hand corner.











Some kits have the pink and purple version of buttons as well as the Cuttlebug A2 Thanks Words folder.

Card Club - Jan - Plaid HB

This is a card for a guy.  I chose a bold navy and cream plaid DSP by Graphic45 - A Proper Gentleman Collection - Cultured Reserve.  I added a cream seam binding across the DSP and adhered it to the card front leave a bit of slack.  I then tied a short length to it in knot on the left.  I color printed the greeting on cream card stock and cut it with the Stampin Up Window Frame Framelits. I added a 2 3/8" square of navy card stock behind it.  This layer was then adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

Card Club - Jan - Prima Flowers

We start another session of Card Club.  I selected several dark card stocks - black, navy, burgundy and purple.  I placed a length of 7/8" wide gold glittered organza ribbon across the card front and taped the ends to the inside of the card.  I layered 2 Prima flowers one gold and one silver together then added a flower sequin in the center.  Using a push pin to make a hole through all layers I held all the layers in place with a tiny brad.  For the kits I used textured card bases which added a little something to the cards elegance.

Friday Hunt 1.4

This is a dictionary I brought home from my parent's house this weekend.  It's time to clear things from their home and my sister and I have decided to divide this very old book.  I do not do this lightly as I consider books very special.  I thought I would at least try to document it a little.  I will do more research and update once I have more.  It is the photo for my "D" word.


I took this photo of a church on my drive home.  It is my favorite shot this week.  and could count for the sky as well as it was not bright at all.
The third prompt this week was Beautiful.  Sorry!

Submitting this post to Friday Hunt 1.4 hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills.
Prompts are:
D
Favorite
Sky Beautiful

Update: What I have found is that the dictionary dates from 1945 that makes it over 70 years old.

Any Occasion Cards - Butterflies

I made several of these and will give them to the family today at the funeral.  At this difficult time, there should be no need to run to the store for cards.  During these difficult times people pitch in and help as needed and a card of appreciation is always a nice thing to do.  The family can do as they wish with the cards and I hope they come in handy.
Another Basic Grey DSP - Granola ripped and mounted onto a black card.  The ivory canvas butterfly was hot glued to the card front.

Sympathy Cards

I made these cards for my brother in law and his family. His father Joe had a stroke in June 2015 and has been in hospital and extended care since that time.  He passed away Sunday and the funeral is today.  I have shared many meals with this man as the families lived near each other and extended family was included in birthday and other celebrations. He will be sorely missed.  I believe he is in a better place.  

The pear paper is by Basic Grey DSP. One card is coordinated with teal card stock and the other with a brown card.  The greetings are Stampin Up Word Window punchies.  I have hot glued ivory canvas butterflies on all three.  On the 2 pear ones I have added grosgrain ribbon in coordinating colors.

The polka dot paper is by Bella Blvd - One Fall Day - Needle in a Haystack. 

HB - Pink and Blue

I made this card for a friend who celebrated a birthday recently and I'm seeing her today. 

I started with the Stampin Up Winter Bright DSP, which I chose the strips.  I then cut a layer of Bashful Blue textured and adhered it to the card front.  I then adhered the 3.25" square piece of DSP to the top half of the layer.  I cut a flower from Pretty in Pink with the Blossom Party die.  I cut a butterfly from Bashful Blue and layered it onto the flower.  I stamped the sentiment from the Perfect Punches stamp set in Garden Green on Whisper White.  I cut it out by hand because my extra large oval punch has stopped punching.  I mounted it to the card front with 3D foam tape.

Share Your Cup - This Week

I made a proposal early in January in hopes of getting an order for my photo calendars.  I had been thinking about changing the first sheet and I took the opportunity to try it out.  I replaced the front photo with a small sheet of vellum with the pertinent details.  It goes over the dates of the calendar till it's time to start using the calendar.  This will help for customers to immediately recognize it as a calendar.


The photo on the right is the first sheet for the 2106 Garden calendar.  I know it says photo calendar but I think it's better to actually let me see the calendar part.  We'll see if it helps for the sale of the 2017 ones when they come out later this year.

Check out my feature post and you could win a 2016 Up Close calendar in my blog giveaway. 

This week, I was working on preparation for Card Club which I will teach on Monday.  I wanted to create a card which would work of Valentines, Wedding or Anniversary.  I decided to use paper heart doilies.  The designer papers I had selected were all in the warm tones so I wanted to warm up the white doilies. I pulled out my trusty Tim Holtz Distress Stain Antique Linen to just change the color a bit.  This is what I got! Green!!  Needless to say I had to change my strategy to one that would work with white hearts. 
After a search on line I found this post which identifies the same problem. The Tattered Rose has turned green as well.  Once I check all my bottles I guess a call to Ranger will be in my future.
UPDATE:  My replacement bottles of Tim Holtz Distress Stain arrived today, March 3, 2016.  Ranger provides great customer service and stands by their products.

I store my 12x12 designer paper in plastic drawer organizers.  One drawer holds my DSP scraps, in hopes that they will be used in another project.  This week I just had to clear out the paper scraps I was never going to use.  Some of these I have been looking at for at least 5 years and every time I would come and look for a scrap I would see them.  I was able to let go of them this week and put them in a bag headed to the ReUse Centre.  I'm sure some teacher looking for scraps for her grade 1 class will appreciate a nice collection of small pieces which can be cut up into a mosaic, a paper strip project or something else which I can't even conceive.  I can close the drawer with out doing the shuffle.  I can easily see what I have because this is much less of it, and I'm feeling lighter.
The next task in the de-stashing is gift wrap rolls.  More about that later.

Submitting to Share Your Cup hosted by Carol at Art and Sand.

Card Order - Sympathy Cards

I made these sympathy cards by recycling pieces of used greeting cards.  Many people prefer to give me the card they receive rather than throwing them away.  I have a large collection and need to start decluttering myself.   At least these are not hitting the landfill.
I just sorted and found images I felt worked with the sympathy theme. I printed the border and sentiment on neutral card stock in a coordinating color. I then trimmed the recycled colored image to fit inside. 

I have a good variety of images which would work for guys and gals.  I'm very happy with the way they turned out. 

I have card club cards to work on next.

Mosaic Monday - Stills & Tea

While under the weather recently I decided that I would change from my regular Rooibios Chai with cream to a tea with no cream.  I found Jade Citrus Mint from Teavana which is a green tea that I could drink with just a bit of honey.  It is delicious.

I selected a clear glass cake stand onto which I placed some glass ornaments. The collection includes matte white pine cones & shiny round balls, matte silver balls, pearl hearts, and mercury glass stars.

I continue to set up tea related stills.  I have reorganized my storage of table setting materials so I can see them all at once.

I chose the white lacy edge tray, the navy tea pot with 2 of the matching cups, a yellow vase with sunflowers and a yellow candle on a mercury glass holder.

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

Card Order - Encouragment

I prepared these cards for a friend who ordered encouragement cards.  After researching the internet, most cards had the scripture on the front which was a good thing.  I was looking for some images I could use as backgrounds for the scriptures.  I don't have much in my inventory of watercolor.  I became aware of this site that offers images for free for all kinds of projects. I did some searching and found paintings there as well.  Pixabay has a lot to offer.  
I'm super happy with the way the card turned out.

Birthday Card Order - Set 2

The focal element on this card is the designer paper by Karen Foster named My Granda, My Hero Collage Paper.  I chose a layer of light blue behind the paper to which I glued the ripped DSP.  I added this layer to the dark warm blue card base.  I printed the greeting and punched it with the Stampin Up 1 1/4 inch circle punch and then glued it to a 1 3/8 dark blue circle.  The greeting was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.




This card is very similar except of orientation in portrait and the layer is grey.

I used leftovers pieces of designer paper from a calendar project last year.  I trimmed the strips of designer paper in patterned and lavendar colors.  I rounded the bottom ends with a circle punch.  I adhered them directly to the the green card front.  I added a length of ribbed ivory ribbon across the bottom half and taped the ends to the inside of the card.  I added a canvas flower held in place with Zots.  I then cut a button from lavender card stock and added thread to the holes.  The button was then added to the center of the flower with a Zot.  I printed a greeting in lavender and trimmed close to the border then adhered it to the card front with 3D foam tape.

This card is similar with the same family of designer paper in warm pinks.  It features a green layer between the DP and the soft green card base.

Birthday Card Order - Set 1

I made several birthday cards for a friend.  She wanted cards for their sons and daughters.

Left: For this card I chose double sided designer card stock by Webster Pages called Winter Wonder and placed the fold at the top.  I cut the Spellbinder A2 Ribbon Threader die in white card stock.  I added a length of pink seam binding threaded through the slots, tied a knot and trimmed the ends.  I adhered that to the card front.  I then printed the greeting which features a background I designed with the sentiment in a shaded oval.  This was trimmed and adhered in the center of the die cut.

Right: I chose double sided designer paper in this hounds tooth type pattern by Authentique - Autumn
Three.  I selected a deep terracotta color for the card base.  I tied a piece of dark chocolate brown seam binding about the DSP before I adhered it to the card front.  The  knot was placed to the right so I could place the greeting on the left.  The greeting was designed with a digital rope oval frame into which I added the sentiment.  Once printed, I cut it with the Stampin Up Window Frame framelits.  I added a square (2 3/8") of the same card stock as the card behind.  This was mounted to the card front with 3D foam tape.

I started with a light green card base.  I cut a layer from the Winter Wonder DSP as I used in the first card.  I tied a piece of pink seam binding around the DSP aligned on the right side.  I then tied another piece onto it to make the bow. This was then adhered to the card front. I created a digital version of the pop bottle flower from this project.  I designed the greeting with the digital flower, an oval and the sentiment in dark grey with a frame. It printed and trimmed to the edge and mounted to the DSP layer to the left of the bow.

This card is made with the reverse side of the designer paper from card two on the same card stock.  I tied a piece of dark chocolate seam binding across the bottom third of the DSP then adhered it to the card front.  I then printed the greeting with a tree from CKLER.  I added the square measuring 2 3/8 inches of the color as the card.  This was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

Friday Hunt V1.3

C is for Coffee Spoons - I've been looking for some small silver plate spoons to use while I serve tea.  These can be used to stir tea in a tea cup, serve jam or jelly, or to add sugar to the tea. When I went through my Mom's collection I kept my baby spoons and one from on a trip my Mom and I took many years ago.  I had hoped to find several in a similar simple pattern and a recent trip to the thrift store delivered. 
The left one is made by 1847 Rogers Bros, the pattern is First Love, and it's a coffee/demi tasse spoon which is smaller than the tea spoon. The pattern was manufactured from 1937 to 1973 which makes the spoon at least 43 years old.  I got 11 of them so that will be enough for my needs. 
The centre one is by Oneida Community silver plate, pattern is Affection and the pattern was produced starting in 1960.
The right one is made by Viners of Sheffield - England, pattern is VS34, and not sure when it was made. 

My favorite is a glass tile I bought a thrift store.  I loved the image of doors and a tile floor. It's glass on ceramic I think.  There's no tag or any documentation so I'm at a loss.  It's shiny and really pretty.

Inside: It is very cold outside and I have been feeling under the weather. This is the corner on my sofa where I spent some time this weekend. With meds I should be feeling better soon.


Joining Friday Hunt V1.3 hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills

Mosaic Monday - Weekend

I took a photo of the frost on the trees and wires.  It was good to spend time with my sister and niece for a girl's weekend.  Mostly thrift store shopping so not too hard on the budget with a delicious lunch out at a cool restaurant on Saturday.  We spending time brain storming ideas for our projects and just visiting.






I met my aunt at the Deep Freeze Festival on Sunday.  The weather had warmed up so it was nice to spend a bit of time out doors.  We had a visit over supper.




This is a thrift store find from last week.  A Royal Worcester fine bone china tea cup and saucer the pure white Serendipity pattern.  The cost was next to nothing.  My watching Antiques Roadshow paid off because I recognized the name right away.  No chips or cracks.


Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

Share Your Cup - Cards, Original Paper and Tea

I'm joining Share Your Cup hosted by Carol at Art and Sand.

I've been busy already this year.
I am working on a card order for a client and here are a couple of the cards I have made so far.  I have quite a few more to make.  I will blog the collection with it is complete.







I create some decorative paper for cards to replenish my supply of Unique Cards at the gallery. I made 15 sheets of paper with various colors.  This blue makes me think summer and blue ocean water.







I have been relaxing too!  I started enjoying the several loose teas I received at Christmas.  I received a Christmas Tea, Masala Chai and this Christmas Collection of herbal teas from Tea Desire.

Christmas Card Challenge - Jan - Gold / Star

This is my first Christmas card in 2016.  I run a challenge on this blog every month to get my Christmas cards made by December 1st.  January's challenge is Gold / Star.  I started with a deep red card.  I mounted a piece of designer paper by Carta Bella - Christmas Time by Carina Gardner - Christmas Tags, this is the back side.  I color printed my red greetings onto vellum and clear embossed them.  I ripped the top and bottom edges.  There was not enough contrast against the green patterned paper so I added a strip of white card stock between the designer paper and the vellum.  Both were trimmed to the edge of the designer paper.  I cut the star from gold glitter paper with the Sizzix Star & Starburst die.  I mounted it to the left of the greeting with 3D foam tape.

Please join me making Christmas cards every month.  You can find the themes for each month here.  If you make cards leave me a comment with a link to your cards and I will check them out.