CASING QBEE

I came across this cute card and tutorial created by Brenda Quintana and knew right then and there that I had to try it out for myself.  I must say that the process is a little time consuming but the end result is worth it.

This card has very little stamping, but is filled to the brim with punch art.  Every now and then I like to change things up and break out those punches.  Isn't it amazing the beautiful art you can produce from punches?

If you've been following my blog you know that I am trying to mail out more of my handmade cards.  This card is no exception.  I mailed it to my friend's, Kim's, mother whose lung cancer has spread to her liver.  What's worse is that Kim's mother, Roxanne, suffered a stroke on top of everything else a few weeks ago.  She is making some progress in regaining her strength.  However, her chemotherapy treatments have been put on hold for now.  I have to say after I sent Roxanne this card, I felt really good that I actually followed through with putting the card in the mail.  Imagine my suprise a few days later when I received a thank you card from Roxanne.  Her words of gratitude brought me to tears.  She said she remembered me from Kim's and my college graduation.  That was in 1992!

Sorry for the long post.  If you stayed with this post to the end you deserve a prize!  Thanks for peeking in on me today!

ETA:  I scheduled this post a little over a week ago.  I am sad to say that my dear friend's mom, Roxanne, lost her battle to cancer on Tuesday morning.  Please keep my friend, Kim, and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

MOTHER MAY I

One of the great advantages of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is receiving the monthly publication of "Stampin' Success" in the mail.  This publication is full of business tips and techniques to help demonstrators grow their business.  I found this card in one of the Stampin' Success magazines and tried it for myself. 

 If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see a shimmery glow to the stamped panel of the card.  This technique is called "faux mother of pearl".  All you need is plastic wrap and some Stampin' Up! Frost White Shimmer Paint.  You simply place a small amount of the shimmer paint on a foam plate, wad up the plastic wrap and dab it in the shimmer paint.  Next you pounce the plastic wrap on your cardstock, let it dry and them stamp your image with Staz-on ink.  This technique adds a little elegance to your project.  Go ahead and try it today.  It's very easy to do and it'll make you say, "Wow!  Now that's pretty!"

Thanks for peeking in on me today.

EASTER BLESSINGS

Here's hoping you all are having a very blessed Easter this Sunday.

Thanks for peeking in on me today.  Sorry for the picture quality.  This card was photographed very late at night.  It's actually much nicer in real life.

EAT YOUR VEGGIES

I made these cute little Easter treats for my piano students using the Petal Cone die and my trusty Big Shot machine.  Oh, how I love that machine.

I try to make my piano students some kind of little treat during the holidays  just to let them know that I'm proud of their hard work.  I filled these carrots up with mini candy bars and fun size packets of Skittles.  These little treats came together very quickly.

Thanks for peeking in on me today!  Hope your week is going great!

HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL

This cute little basket is a project that was made in last month's class.  My basket was filled with little paper crinkly thingies, but I gave them to one of the gents in my class.  Yes, you read it right.  I had a young gentleman in my class last month.  He was so sweet.  I had dishes of jellybeans on my table for my guests munching enjoyment.  This young man took some of the jellybeans and put them in his basket because he wanted to give his basket to his little sister.  I gave him the filling out of my basket so his jellybeans wouldn't fall out of his basket.

I found the "easy peasy" directions for this basket on Angie Kennedy Juda's blog here and the instructions for the cute little bunny on Mary Fish's blog here.  Isn't the little bunny so adorable.

As I mentioned in Sunday's post, my computer is having problems and is on it's way to the shop.  I'm not sure how long I'll be without it so I'm scheduling my posts in advance.  I'm praying and hoping my posts publish as scheduled.  Thanks for peeking in on me today!

COMPUTER PROBLEMS

Ack!  (Or should I say "Hack".)  I do believe the dreaded virus has struck our household once again.  No, I don't mean my family personally.  It's our computer!  I am working on scheduling my posts while our computer is in the shop.  Hopefully, you won't even notice I'm gone.  I just hope our computer isn't out of commission for too long.  Sigh!

LIFE'S MOMENTS

Life truly is a matter of moments, isn't it?  It's amazing the twists and turns our lives take and to our amazement somehow we get through.  I'm sending this card to a retired co-worker who has sure had his share of ups and downs since his retirement.  I just want to remind him that his old co-workers have not forgotten him.  We even reminisce about the good old days, tell stories about him and even chuckle at some of the humorous "moments".

I used the Nature Walk stamp set and the Botanical Gazette Designer Series Paper on this card.  These items are available from the Occasions Mini Catalog now through April 30th. The sentiment is from the Elements of Style stamp set located in the Idea Book and Catalog.

It's a quick post for me today as I head out for work this dreary and soggy morning.  I'm looking forward to sunnier days ahead!  Thanks for peeking in on me!

OH, YOU'RE SEW SUITE!

Yes, I know the title to my post is lame.  It's hard coming up with catchy titles sometimes.  As you can see, I finally caught up with my husband to photograph some of my creations.  It's not that he won't do it, he's actually a very good sport.  It's just that I always think I'm going to take the pictures and then I wimp out and ask him.  (Nicely, of course.)

This card is one that was made in last month's card class.  I usually don't do many projects with bright colors, but I was very pleased with the color combinations in this card.  Plus, I really like the "Sew Suite" stamp set.  I avoided buying this set for a while, but I saw so many projects on the web using this set that I eventually broke down and bought it.  I'm so glad I did. 

I promised my co-worker last year that I would mail out more of my handmade cards.  So in keeping true to this promise I sent this card to an old college friend who's going through a bit of struggles right now.  I recently reconnected with her on Facebook after almost no communications for approximately 17 years. We just got busy living life and raising families.  I'm so glad to get to know her all over again and catch up on her life.  And, I swore I would never get a Facebook account.  All I can say is, "Never say never!"

I'LL BE BACK VERY SOON

Just wanted to post a quick note before heading off to work.  I'll be back very soon with some projects from my latest classes and cards I've made for friends.  I finally got pictures of my projects and uploaded them to my computer.  Thanks for your patience.