A Valentine for Mother

I got a little something for my mother for Valentine's Day.

And put it in a bag,

which seemed a little plain.

So instead of making a card to go with it,

I decided to just decorate the bag.

Think she will like it?

Better question might be will she remember

 what Valentine's Day is?

Doesn't really matter

as she loves the attention most of all.

Cause for Paws

This past Friday I stopped by my local quilt shop

to help support a fundraiser for

a no kill animal shelter.

Last year they raised more than $20,000.00

from selling donated fabric postcards

sent from people all around the world.

The shop provided the machines and all materials.

All I brought was a little of my time.

Literally!

Because I had never made these before.

I had never sewn on any of these new machines.

So this was a win win win for everyone.

Wish I would have had more time.

Maybe next year...

Then again maybe I will make up a few during the year

to bring with me next time.

Now that I know how.

But here is what mine looked like.

Not terrific photos but hey, aren't cell phones wonderful little gadgets?

Remembering Vanessa on St. Patrick's Day

I have lost a number of friends over the years.

Vanessa was a very special one who left us too early.

She was a fiery Irish redhead

who could cut you to the quick

in that way only a true southern lady can do

if you needed it.

She was also as beautiful as a model on the outside

and perfect as an angel on the inside.

You couldn't even be jealous.

Vanessa was an artist

and I have every decorated envelope 

from every letter she sent.

She made even those simple things special.

She was my self appointed cheerleader

and my friend.

She loved dogs and kids and flowers and words and the beach,

and St. Patrick's Day was her favorite holiday.

So I remembered my friend, Vanessa, as I made these cards.

I have been picking and pressing four leaf clovers for several weeks

 now as my mother used to do.

I lightly glued them to cardstock which I then laminated 

so they can be used as bookmarks

and slid them into the front of these cards.

And I will keep one to remember how lucky I am.

There are angels who walk among us.

Treasure them while you can.

Dove cards

These cards were fast and easy.

I die cut the doves using a Sizzix

and some bank envelopes I had saved.

I intentionally cut them in different directions but the overall effect remained the same.

Have you ever noticed the variety of patterns

inside security envelopes?

Ones that catch my eye get saved to use as backgrounds.

But when I saw these I immediately thought they would be interesting with this die cut.

I know the current fashion is to use numerous inks and stamps and embellishments.

But I tend to favor simple.

The only glitz besides the glittery background paper is the jewel eyes.

And these are adhesive backed.  

Peel and stick.  It doesn't get any easier than that!

So next time you open your bills or statements 

take a peek at the inside of those envelopes.

You might find something interesting to spark your imagination.

Cards for the hospital patients

My granddaughter is involved with a project where the goal is to make 300 cards to be given to hospital patients.  They will display the cards in the gift shop hoping people will be interested in donating to this cause.  The money raised will go towards grief carts but whether they sell or not all the cards will be given to patients.

So I offered to make some cards as so far they only have 60.  

I made 30.  Doesn't seem like a very big contribution but it is 10% of the goal so if each person gives 10% it won't take too many people.

I had intended to host a card making party on Sunday but we ended up spending the weekend helping my daughter set up her classroom as she took over a kindergarten class on Friday. Another worthy project that included the family and friends as they were available.

There is still one more weekend before Valentine's Day

 so maybe I can induce some friends this weekend and get more cards finished.

They are simple cards but I hope they will bring a smile to a face and a buck to the coffer.

What are you doing for someone this year for Valentine's Day?

Have you considered doing something for someone you don't even know?

Happy Valentine's Day

I enjoy making Valentines just like when we were kids. As my friends and family and I age, more and more are finding themselves single again and so we are revisiting sending these out to each other and not reserving it for our beloved husbands.

How about you? Who do remember this holiday?

More cards

Yes, I do make cards rather frequently. My mother enjoys receiving them as much as I like to make them, as do some of my friends.

These were fun because I cut up some old security envelopes that I received from banks etc. to use as the patterned bands. They can easily be colored but I liked the black, white and yellow.

Mail's in

And who doesn't love getting mail from a friend or family? I try to make a new set of cards each week and send one to my mom and save the rest to send to special friends when I write to them. Yes, write. I still send letters and cards. Call me old fashioned. But not too loudly. I started texting with my new phone last week! Whoo Hoo!

I am not sure if you can see it or not but the white on the previous cards was embossed and there was a 2" x 12" strip left over so I cut it in half and added solid pink card-stock to the back, rounded the corners and punched a hole in the top. That was the easy part. Trying to remember how to tat these flowers with beads took hours and digging through numerous, baskets and tubs looking for beads and books. I found my notes right off but they assumed I remembered how and were just design specific... Hmmmm it has obviously been too long since I tatted. I need to work on that! Anyway, I think they made pretty bookmarks. If I had intended to include them with the cards I would have used a yellow variegated thread and yellow beads and backing.

This is the other card. Can anyone tell me a trick for rotating the photo on here? Darn. Anyway, this card is twice as large as the other one so I can send photos. I am anticipating lots of baby photos. LOL

making cards

I continue to make cards to send to my mother. Recently I purchased a stamp that said "April showers bring May flowers", thinking I might make a card using some tatted flowers. I still plan to do that but almost immediately afterwards I saw a card and directions for using pressed flowers over at Eileen's blog.

I then dug out a stash of old pressed flowers from a few years back and made this. Very plain and simple and fast. I rarely manage that combination. But it was great as I am still sorting paperwork and files so do not have much time to be creative. Which explains why my inspiration was so much more detailed than what I whipped out. Besides, she had small flowers for her 'window' and all of mine were large ones.

However, I really think this needs to wait for April to be sent so that leaves me needing another card to get made and in the mail toot sweet! Never fear, I have a couple of others I want to try and ran up to Michael's for a new punch set yesterday so I will get right on those.

New Card Techniques

I have recently seen several new techniques and products for making cards and have been so eager to try them out. Here are the ones I have managed to find time to make so far. The flower may not show the hint of gold dusting on the background. Or the glass beads for the flower center but it was certainly fun to make.

These two cards used a border punch in different ways. The shiny green paper below is actually wrapping paper from a dollar store. I got a variety of colors each with it's own 'pattern' so I look forward to having fun with those.