Happy Easter 2024

My first foray into the stamp cave I decided to try to go simple and grab dies and paper.  Some tools were nececessary to use upstairs like the Big Shot for the Lily of the Valley die and I think the wagon below, but the others were small enough for me to put my little die cutter into a basket along with the papers needed and dies for HWNSNBP to carry downstairs for me.  The challenge was to find something for the machine to stick to as it uses a suction base and I left my glass work matt upstairs, but he came through with a piece of plexi-glass that did the job.

This card I made a few of with different colored backgrounds and that of the sentiment to match.

These cards were for the GS's and were actually half of a half sheet made into a smaller card just big enough to hold a gift card for each of them for their favorite fast food restaurant as we knew we weren't going to see any of them in person for a while yet.  I've had these little bunny dies for some time and was glad to find them without too much of a scavenger hunt.  Putting them together at the dining room table was easy enough in between naps and laps.  

My birthday happens to be today also and I received a lot of beautiful BRAK cards which I have yet to take pictures of, but when I do, I will certainly share them.  I also got a couple of art works from the art site that I belong to.  I have a stash of cards that I've been using for birthdays and such that have come up the last month since I wasn't able to create something new and it's made me realize that I really should be doing more BRAK's and RAK's myself to use them up because I don't know what I'm saving them for.  I guess a change in your health situation can cause some good lightbulbs to go off too!

Anyway, though it may be late in the day for some of you, I hope that you enjoyed this Sunday!

Happy Valentine's Day

 

We picked up some chocolate covered strawberries yesterday after my PT session.  It snowed here - about 5-6" but the roads were clear enough to not have to cancel my appt.  We have some errands today and will probably have our traditional heart-shaped pizza for dinner.  

GS1 was with us on Saturday and I wanted him to help me make these penguin Valentine's for GS2 and GS3 but he had other things that he was interested in and I wanted him to pick the things he wanted to do since they'll be moving at the end of the month and we won't see him for quite some time.  He brought a school project to finish - I had gotten a head's up from his mom on what we needed to do.

He used salt dough to create landforms on a paper plate at home the day before and I supervised the painting portion of it.  

That's a snow-capped mountain with a waterfall into a lake with an island along with a volcano, some grasslands, and a river.  I think he covered more than 4 land forms with this.  He has to make labels/flags identifying each one which he'll do at home in addition to filling out a worksheet.  

He spent some time outside with HWNSNBP riding the tractors and we played a game of OINK.  The last time we were at his house he was interested in me doing some origami with/for him and he brought some paper with him, but he saw the stars I had started and I tried to show him how to make them, but they're a bit fussy for small hands and he just asked if he could have all the red stars in the jar.  Of course I said yes.  

He found some interesting things in my art cart that I keep next to the dining room table and he did some drawing.  There was an interest in my battery-powered eraser and I promised I'd send him one for his birthday in April.  He also wanted to see my Cutttlelola - the electric dotspen that I have but we had to cut that short as we had to get him back to his parents for dinner.  I'm going to miss those art explorations with him.  It was a 10 day for the three of us until we pulled away from their house for the last time.  

I totally forgot that Saturday was my blogoversary.  Sixteen years full of lots of memories.  

Jingle Bells - Rudolph the RED Nosed Reindeer

What's right in front of Rudolph's eyes?  His red nose of course, and if he takes a look at the Jingle Belles challenge for this fortnight, he and we will be seeing a lot of RED.  Yes, our cards have to be predominantly red.

Lucky for me I happened to have these stacked gnomes on my work table that happen to be mostly red and were just waiting to be used.  I sorted through my paper stash and came up with this flocked red and white background paper.  All I had to do was use the dies to cut out the strings of ornaments and the stars.  

I don't know if it was the flocking on the paper or if there was something else in with it, but I got one of those no-see-um things in one of my fingertips after I touched the paper.  I hate when that happens and everytime you put a little pressure on it it hurts.  I tried using tape to pull it out and even tried a magnet, but finally got it to stop after I ran the blade of my scissor over it.  I've gotten metal filings in my fingers before from dies, but I wasn't working with metal so I wonder if that flocking had something to do with it.  For now, I'm not going to handle that paper too much.

Time to go and check out all the red over at the Jingle Belles blog now.  You can too by clicking here.

Jingle Belles - Something Old.....Something New and a PSA

This fortnight the Jingle Belles have challenged us to use something old and something new.  I procrastinated going into the stamp cave because it's been such a mess even more lately as HWNSNBP has been trying to help with the purging of lots of accumulated stuff on the shelves we have in the hallway up there to make room for me moving unused stamps out there freeing up some space next to my craft table.  We have a significant amount of books that we no longer feel the need to have around and have donated them, but I drew the line at my collection of Christmas craft books that I have a series of and anything else art related that has actual patterns in them because the internet is good for searching but you don't always find patterns for what you see.  Anyway..... let me get to what I actually did for this challenge.  

I was lucky to have been gifted the Unity Advent Stamps both last year and this year and thought that I could pull something together with those and also used a new-to-me die and some old paper.  I stamped the images that I chose from each set, colored them with alcohol markers and fussy cut them to pop up in the openings on the stamp frame die.  The cancellation stamp was also from one of the Advent sets.

I've got to make more time to get up there to reorganize things before my surgery next month, so I can get to things more easily once I'm able to get back to working up there.  Looks like there'll be a lot of boxes for donations in the next few weeks.  It's a good thing.

Oh, and my title for this post did include a PSA.  While putting our Christmas decorations away we usually take the batteries out of things that have batteries in them and there was a set of lights on one of the little trees that I had that we emptied.  It was a lucky thing that when I took them out of the device I put them on the rubber cutting matt I have on the dining room table and not directly on the wooden tabletop.  It was later that evening, when I was working on my laptop and HWNSNBP was already upstairs when I heard this loud pop and hiss.  It was loud enough to make me jump and for a minute I couldn't figure out what it was until I looked a little past my laptop and saw this.......

One of the batteries had had a little explosion and was leaking onto the matt.  So I was luck in that it was on the matt and lucky that it happened when I was awake.  If we had left it in the light set it would have been even more of a mess.  

Now I'm off to see what else is old and new with the Jingle Belles.  You can too by clicking here.

**Edited - don't know why the link at JB only allowed a partial view of my card this time, but the whole thing is visible here.

Christmas and End of December 2023

Well, Christmas didn't quite go as planned this year, but when I think back, it's not the first time that there's been a hiccup or two.  We were to celebrate Christmas Eve Eve with both our kids, their spouses, and the grandsons.  Our traditional dinner turned into just four of us and the baby because our DIL was not feeling well and didn't come, and GS2 wound up in the emergency room after he took a header into the bathroom and split his eyelid just below the brow needing stitches.  So he and his parents spent the better part of the day going from Urgent Care to one hospital and then the next because they were told that he would need to be knocked out to stitch up and would need a pediatric anesthiesiologist and plastic surgeon to take care of him.  We were left in charge of Beckham and it took all four of us to keep him busy in the unfamiliar surroundings.  He was a champ though, as was his brother (5 stitches) and GS1 in rolling with the flow.

Papa held Beckham while I fed him his squash his mommy had left for him.

  

He was our centerpiece on the table when we ate.  I didn't even use the holiday dishes or table linens.

After dinner, Chris, Ryan, and I played a game called Go Oink! while Papa gave the baby his bottle.  It's a game like Go Fish, except that you aren't allowed to ask for the animal card by name - you have to make the sound that the animal makes.  It was fun and most of the animal sounds were discernible except for bear and lion which we couldn't tell apart. 

I was hoping to get all the cousins together for the annual Christmas picture, but this was as good as we could get.  

We went to our son's house on Christmas Day - their last Christmas in their house before they move.  I had made a last minute gift for them that I had given it to him to take home on Christmas Eve Eve - a watercolor of their house that I did using a technique I learned on Amanda Evanston's site that I subscribe to.  You need a reverse image picture of the house, a plastic sleeve, and some inexpensive watercolor paper along with a black paint pen.  It has to be the thin paper to absorb the outline of the paint pen.  You lay the plastic over the image and trace a little portion of the house outline at a time and while it's wet, fold it down onto the watercolor paper to transfer it.  The three pieces are hinged together with some painter's tape so they don't move around.  The lines are not meant to be exact, nor is the addition of the color.  When we visited them on Christmas Day my DIL asked me to sign and date it so she could get it framed.  I was glad that she liked it.  The paper makes it very bumpy, but under glass it will be better.

HWNSNBP made a TV stand for our daughter and SIL for their bedroom according to her specifications.  They couldn't fit that in their car when they left on Christmas Eve so we took it to them on Wednesday and brought GS2 back with us for a couple of days.

We were also able to pick up GS1 to come for the day on Thursday and had both boys together.  They had a blast.  We played Go Oink! again - this time Papa and Maverick were teammates (because of the age difference....they both needed each other!).  The boys pulled out all the cars, trucks, and Legos.  They built pillow forts on the couch and took turns burying each other under the pillows (and me later).

They found a roll of painter's tape on my art cart and had me wrap them up in tape so they could break free.  We went through almost a whole roll of tape.  They found the paint pens in the art cart too, and while that wouldn't have been my first choice for them to use, I let them as long as they kept their paper on the matt I put out.  GS2 came back to his picture to add to it on Friday - he was drawing red mountains.

Our annual New Year's get-together with our Table 7 friends was at the LBI residence so we headed to the condo early in afternoon and did a few errands after I prepared the appetizer I was bringing - cocktail meatballs - which consist of a package of frozen meatballs (52 in the pkg. I use), a bottle of Heinz chili sauce and an equal amount of grape jam.  Just heat until the meatballs are warm.  

On our way back from the errands we were around the corner from the condo and caught the sunset.  HWNSNBP pulled over so I could take some pictures.  (The condo would be to the left.)

And after our wonderful evening with friends, I was too lazy to get out of bed and open the blinds for the first sunrise of 2024, but you can see the orange hue.

Once we got packed up, we took a quick ride back to the island because I wanted to find the lobster trap Christmas tree in Barnegat Light (as taken through the windshield as it was dead ahead).  There are lights strung on it, but obviously not lit during the day.  Maybe next time.

I had a whole slew of appointments last week which is why it's taken me this long to say...........

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I'll be back to share the handmade cards and gifts that I got soon.

Merry Christmas!

 

Pre-Christmas Treats

I wanted to visit Hens & Honey before the end of December to be able to try their Grouch Flight so HWNSNBP made an adjustment to his work schedule and we headed out to our destination lunch on a Friday a couple of weeks ago.  We had a delicious artisan toast lunch and shared this treat.  When the box is delivered to your table, each one has different Grinch-related treat. We got a bookmark that we passed on to GS1.

On the way home this car was in front of us on the highway for a while.  I don't think I've ever seen one decorated like this.

The following week, we made another destination lunch trip to the Flying Pig Tavern.  I remembered that the waitress that we had during our visit there in the summer told us that at Christmas their tree was decorated with flying pigs, so you know I wanted to check that out in person.  

This was a small Christmas tree they had in a corner with a few pigs on it.

Their main tree had more pigs on it, but it was a little difficult to photograph with the sun where it was at the time.  

I had brought a flying pig solar dancer (I still have a few in my stash from a few years ago) to add to their flying pig collection.  The waitress was the same one we had before and she remembered us once we got to talking and called the owner over to show him what we brought.  Even though we were already done with our lunch and had just paid the bill, he insisted that we choose dessert on the house and we opted for the salted caramel apple pie tartlet which was definitely a nice treat.

I've been busy trying to pull some last minute projects together and getting ready for family to visit and have once again found myself without the time to complete some of the things that I wanted to try but I'm glad that we made the time for these two excursions.  There is still one more new place that I want to visit and maybe we'll get there next week.  

It seems, although I try to stay ahead with my Christmas card creations and usually do, there is an onslaught of new ideas that hit the "airwaves" in November and December and I find myself wanting to try some of them out.  I did manage to get those little bell gnomes done and I have a couple other things that I'll be posting after Christmas, but I also have lots of ideas (along with some purchased supplies) that I did not get to.  I will have to refocus for next year and be like my blogging friend MaryAnne who adds to her Christmas box year round instead of putting things off until the fall.  

What Can You do With a Bell?

Found these little wooden bell shapes in $Tree and saw an idea posted somewhere to make them into little gnome ornaments, so of course you know I had to give it a whirl.

I painted the body of the bell red, the clapper a light fleshtone, and the hanger white.  Both sides.

Added some faux beard fur and a metallic cord hanger to finish them up. (The fur is what I looked for for 2 days before ordering again and then finding it an hour after I placed the order.  Thank goodness for returns.  I still have several sheets from the original package to use up!)

I'll have some to gift and some to hang on my lemon tree with the triangle gnomes I made last year.

My dining room table is currently overflowing with "ideas" as I'm simultaneously trying to get the house in order.  The trees are up and decorated.  Well, the lemon tree isn't yet, but I'll get to that today hopefully.  There always seems to be more to put away each year....... things that I don't mind having out like books and craft supplies that seem to multiply but need to be hidden away to make the place presentable.  And therein lies the problem of remembering where such things have been hidden.  Yes, I have a craft room, but that's upstairs and I keep a lot of stuff downstairs so I don't have to climb those stairs so it's my own fault.  

We finally were able to find the cinnamon candies I use to make my marshmallows so that will be put on the agenda for either tomorrow or early this week.  I have one cookie recipe that I want to try that uses a cake mix and a container of Cool Whip which I have waiting in the wings.  Whether I get to make any other cookies is left to be decided.  My kids don't particularly like to have a lot of sweets around for the little guys contrary to what they had growing up which was a smorgasbord of holiday cookies and candies, so we've really cut back on that aspect with just a couple of special things.  It makes it easier with less preparation but more difficult in the choice of what to make.  We all have different favorites.  

So I'll close with a question - what's your favorite Christmas/holiday treat?

Christmas Card Round Up

There it is.  The pile of this year's Christmas cards.  Thank goodness for the Jingle Belles keeping me on track throughout the year so I only had a few to make this month.

I dipped into my box of duplicates and scraps and cobbled some cards together.  These birds and snowflake wreaths found a home.  One on some patterned paper and the other on a stamped background.

Extras of these little houses and die cut trees paired up on some die cut panels with the little sentiment.  (Those buffalo plaid card bases bought a couple years ago on clearance have come in handy also.)

This one is really cobbled together but it's among one of my favorites.  I found this index card in my stash that had the lines of washi tape across it and I must have been practice punching those stars for another project on it and trimmed it up to be a background to the die cut patterned trees in the scrap box.  I sponged on some blue ink above the tape and then cut a piece of yellow card stock to give those punched stars some shine.  Peace is handwritten in gold gel pen on the blue card base.  

These two used an embossed panel that had Peace on Earth already stamped on it.  The nativity scene and the dove were in the scrap box leftover from a few years back.

The pieces of these cards (I made 6) took me way back.  The background, snowman, birds, and even the torn paper snow were extras leftover from swaps that I made when I attended my first regional stamping workshop.  (And I still have a few more of those snowmen and birds believe it or not.)  This wasn't the exact duplicate of that swap  but it came together pretty easy.  I just added the glitter paper diecut snowflake spray in the corner.  

The image on this card was stamped onto kraft card stock and colored with my Prismacolor pencils.  There is a little sparkle on the package ribbons which prompted me to put it on the gold card base (another clearance purchase from the past).  The sentiment was stamped and embossed in gold - "I just want them to remember YOU - the greatest Gift".  I did a few of these also.

This card started with a die cut you'll see in pieces further down.  After I assembled them, I found this background paper in my stash and chose two different colors for the card bases.  I also did them in 2 sizes so I could use those background scraps accordingly.

Here is the motif unassembled minus the white pieces for the letters.  You may not be able to see that I used 3 colors of green paper for the little branches and leaves that are simply glued over their place on the background.

And lastly (I think), Rachel asked me to make a card for her school secretary with blue trees and there's a little message about being blue and dealing with grief on the inside.  The poor woman's son was murdered this year and the holidays will be hard I'm sure.  

I'll have to get that one in the mail to her today so she gets it in time before school ends for the holidays.  I made a couple of fumbles with getting my cards out.  I decided to order my postage stamps on line and usually they come within a day, but I guess they can't keep up with their orders because I'm having to wait longer than expected.  Also, I very rarely include pictures with my cards, but I wanted to send a print of our family picture from the wedding to a few of my cousins who weren't there, but they won't come in until the 21st and I really didn't want to wait that long to get them out.  Decisions!  

Now to find my labels so the envelopes will be ready when the stamps get here!