3 X 3 EASEL CARD

Today's card is a simple 3" x 3" easel card.  I came across this style card on Julie Leblanc's blog.  I have a fabulous friend, Teresa,  at work who is always leaving me little gifts on my desk at work especially after "year end closing of the books", State audits, crazy and stressful days and anything in between.  (Did I mention that Teresa and I are the only women in an office of approximately 30 employees?)  I handle the finances and human resources and she handles the grants and assists our County Engineer. 

I thought it would be nice to return the favor to her sometime.  After all, she has crazy and stressful days too!  This little card would look so good sitting in front of a big, 'ol cup of Tim Horton's cappuccino or better yet - chocolate!!!  (Yep, sadly we have no Starbucks here.)

This is going to be a short post for me tonight.  I've got a sinus headache and upset stomach.  I hope my son is not passing his illness to me.  The school nurse called me at work on Monday to let me know my son's right eardrum was "bulging".  She suggested he see a doctor right away.  Of course I took him right away.  (He didn't say much about his ear.  He's almost 16, so I thought he would speak up.  I felt terrible, of course.)  His doctor told us that he had an ear infection and strep throat.  Oh, and that his eardrum would most likely rupture!!!!  He's much better now that he's on mega-antibiotics.  Let's just hope he didn't share the love with me.

Thanks for peeking in on me tonight!

QUILTS IN THE ATTIC

I created this card for a swap at the Stampin' Up! Regional in Columbus, Ohio this winter.  It was cased from the very talented Julie Leblanc.  You can view her original card using My Digital Studio here.  If you look very closely, you can see that I used the quilting technique (Oh, the technique has escaped me.  Is that right?) on my card.  I love the results of paper piecing and running the panel through the Big Shot with an embossing folder.  Awesome idea!  As you can see, my Big Shot was my best friend for making this card - the butterfly die, the labels die, the embossing folder.........You get the drift.  I tried to limit my use of accessories because I made approximately 30 of these for swaps.  Trying to keep it simple without the "embellishment overload" was challenging for me.  How about you?  Do you like to keep your projects simple or are you like me - queen of the dripping with accessories paper crafter?

Have a great day and thanks for peeking in on me!

Vintage Mixed Bunch

Wow!  It's been too, too long since I've posted an actual project.  Here's what I sat down and created over the weekend.  Boy, am I really rusty!!!  Please take it easy on me.

Originally, when I perused the Stampin' Up! Mini catalog, I told myself that I was not going to purchase the Mixed Bunch stamp set or the Blossom Punch.  No, I didn't need either of them!!!  Then I went to the Stampin' Up! Regional in Columbus, Ohio this past winter.  Well, so much for that thought. 

I'm not usually one who creates using pastel color palettes, but you can't grow unless you push yourself, right?  And, staying true to my "embellishment overload" habits, I just kept adding and adding to my card.  In my defense, I super adore the Pearl Basic Jewels.  They call to me when I'm creating.  (I think they say, "Pick me.  Oh, pick me."  They just add a little something, something to any project.  I'd hate to see them retire when Stampin' Up! reveals the retired list in a few days.

Thanks for peeking in on me and hanging in there with me during my blog absence.  I'm never sure how much to blog about my personal life.  I'm afraid it will turn some of you away.  For those wondering about my father's health, I have an update at the bottom of this post.  I'll try to keep it brief.

Update on Dad:  Where do I even begin???  My father finished chemo and radiation treatments for esophageal cancer in mid-October.  The treatments were very harsh and my dad was in and out of the hospital over the fall and winter months.  In January, he had surgery to remove his esophagus and have part of his stomach stretched and reattached into the neck region to create a make-shift esophagus.  Surgery went well, but my father's desire to live is not so strong.  It's been and continues to be an emotional roller coaster ride for us all.  In March, my older brother, who's 46, underwent triple bypass surgery.  He has always been in good health, but after some questionable symptoms and a heart catherization it was revealed that he had a condition called the widow maker.  He was very blessed that it was detected early and his recovery process is moving nicely.  Thank you for all the prayers and kind thoughts over the last several months.  They have meant so much.