Making A Comeback!

Hi everyone!  I have really been missing in action lately.  I do apologize for that.  This August was a very emotional one for me.  For some reason it hit harder this year than it has in recent years.  Just the other day I received an email update on one of my aunts is declining pretty steadily.  She was always such a strong person and when she walked into a room, you knew she had arrived.  It was just the final straw.  I decided I could not allow the sad things in life to rule over me anymore.  I am determined to find my inspiration groove and get back to crafting.  I think it will be therapeutic.  So this weekend, I plan to get a start on it.  September will be my month to get myself back into the swing of things.  Now Monday is a holiday so look for my new creations to start on Tuesday.

For today, I wanted to share a few cards with you made by others.  I took time to be inspired by some cards I found on the internet.  Please enjoy these and have a wonderful weekend.  I will see you all on Tuesday!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

On this date in 1929, my mother was born in the small town of Tabor City, North Carolina.  She came from a loving family and was the most wonderful person I have ever known.  I lost her 7 years ago and miss her every day.  I still find myself wanting to call her just to talk and laugh.  She is singing with God's choir and watching over all of her family.  It is still painful and I think I will always miss her. 

My mom loved pink and pink roses are my go to for her on her special day.  Pink roses are a symbol of grace and elegance  The pink rose is often given as an expression of admiration. Pink roses can also convey appreciation as well as joyfulness.  All of these are things that symbolize my mom.  She was graceful and elegant,  joyful and a person I truly admire.

So Happy Birthday Mom!!  May you sing with the angels a joyful song.  I love you.

Thanks for listening and for stopping by today.  I will see you all later.

Special Days Special People

Hi everyone.  Well today is a special day in my family.  It is my big brother's birthday.  It is also a sad day for me as my big brother passed away almost 3 years ago.  He lost his battle with cancer after 16 long months.  I was there with him throughout his battle and saw the ups and downs, and I was there when he left this physical world and went to be with God.  I have heard people say that when your loved one has a disease like cancer, you start the grieving prior to his or her passing.  I would say this is true.  However, some of those same people seem to think that you will have an easier time with the loss.  Well let me tell you, that is most certainly not true.  The loss I felt the day he passed is just as vivid and real to me today as it was then.

I remember so many happy things about my brother.  His laugh and smile, his sarcasm, his strength and his overall joking around to make others laugh.  I miss all of those things as much today as I did the day he left this world to go home to God.  I still have many things that remind me of him in my life but the pain of his loss is still fresh.  

This month will also mark my mom's birthday.  I lost her 6 years ago.  It sure doesn't seem that long.  I still have days I want to pick up the phone and call her to tell her about something that happened in my day.  The heartache is remembering that I can't. 

I thought that instead of posting a card today, I would post a photo of something my brother really loved. 



Growing up with a dad in the Air Force, we went and saw the Thunderbird's air show just about every year.  My brother loved them.  It became a tradition for him to take his own family to these shows and now his children even take their families.  The beauty of the precision flying demonstrated by the brave pilots is remarkable.  I am in awe of what they do.

 When I went to select a photo to share with you, I wanted one that would have meaning for myself and my brother.  This one shows the team of pilots as they guide their planes in formation.  They are much like a family, relying on one another to make sure everything goes as planned.  That family togetherness is my first reason for sharing this one. 

The second reason is the sky in the background.  I love clouds.  They have a personality to them and a beauty that only God can give them.  Seeing the vivid blue of the sky and the brilliant white of the clouds reminds me that God is with us always and now my brother walks with him in the heavens.  I guess I like to gaze at the sky and think of him.  I often wonder what he talks to God about and how much more beautiful the heavens are when you are living in them with the Lord.  I can only imagine.

Now I hope this did not depress you.  It was certainly not meant to.  I just needed to have the time to reflect on my big brother's life and to share something that brought a smile to his face.  I miss him tremendously. 

I will be back with a card to share with you soon so be sure to stop by and see me.  Thanks for visiting today and allowing me to share a bit of my life with all of you. 

I'm Back!!!!!

Hi everyone.  I have truly missed my daily talks with you.   I am so happy to be back!!

We went on vacation to California to visit my in laws.  It was absolutely wonderful.  We told them we did not want to run around doing things all the time.  We really just wanted to spend time with them and visit.  That's exactly what we did.  We have lots of family here in Phoenix so when they come see us, we share the time with everyone and it just never seems like we spend enough time with them.  By going to their home, we were able to have that one on one time that we wanted and that my husband needed.  He loves his dad a lot and needs that time with him.  We enjoyed out time so much that we extended our vacation just a bit to have more time to visit.  Luckily my hubby had the time off and could do that. 

We did go to Seal Beach one day and it was perfect.  While we did not swim, we walked the long pier and watched the waves, surfers, sea gulls, and pelicans.  We shopped in the little shops and found some really cool seashell items to bring home.  The sky was overcast, there was a breeze and the temperature was in the 70's.  It was heaven.

Once home, here is what was waiting for me:

 

Recognize this?  Yep it's the wedding cards for my daughter's friend.  Actually the top photo was taken after a day or two of my being back.  The Night of Navy card stock and the Old Olive card stock I needed for these arrived while I was gone.  So did my embossing powder.  I had all the heat embossing and card stock cutting to do once I was back.  Now I know this may not seem like a lot but when you are doing 100 cards, it takes a lot of time.  I am happy to say I completed the cards yesterday and am not able to get back to my craft room and make new things for all of you!!  

I must warn you though that my husband's charity banquet is coming up in 2 months and I am creating the invitations for it also.  I am hoping to be able to work on those as well as work on things to share with you at the same time.  However, it I run into trouble and need to devote more time to finishing those cards, I will let you know.  

I am so happy you came back to visit today.  Thanks for all your understanding and support.  Come back tomorrow to see what I make to share with you.  See you all then!!!

I'm Sorry

I am truly sorry I have been missing in action so much.  I had every intention of getting into my craft room on Tuesday and playing with all my stuff but it just did not happen.  By the time my hubby and I finished the memorial service to honor the 19 firefighters who were killed in the Yarnell wildfire, I was an emotional wreck.  I just could not even function.  I think I walked around in a daze and cried for the rest of the day.  Thank goodness my youngest daughter and her boyfriend came over to swim and play video games.  That was the only reason I did not go to sleep crying.

We are also preparing to go visit my in-laws in California next week.  It has been a while since we have seen them and I am looking forward to spending a few days just visiting and going to the beach.  I think my husband needs the break and so do I.  The time together will be wonderful.  I spent a good part of Wednesday and Thursday running errands for the trip.  When I was home, I was working on wedding cards for my daughter's friend.  So it's not that I haven't been crafting, I just haven't been getting things done to share with you each day.  I should have 3 days coming up before the trip to work on cards for next week though so please don't give up on stopping by to see me.  For now, let me share a few cards I saw that were too cute to keep to myself:



A little patriotic inspiration.  I love the ease of this card.



This is a new dahlia stamp set from Stampin' Up!.  It is one I definitely hope to get.




This is such a simple card to make but I love the finished look!!!  Can't wait to make one of my own.

Thanks for your patience and understanding this week.  Like I said, I do plan on working on some cards to share with all of you next week while I am away.  Have a safe and wonderful weekend and I will return on Monday!!!!!!!  Thanks for stopping by.

Lots of Sorrow

 

It has certainly been a somber week here in Arizona.  We have watched as a wildfire has destroyed a community and taken the lives of 19 brave wildland fire fighters.  I think it is easy to forget the dangerous job that these men do.  Like all fire fighters, they are willing to enter places most of us would not venture and are willing to lay down their lives for others.  It saddens me that it takes such a tragedy to remind us how important these brave souls are and that we should say thank you to them for the sacrifice they are willing to make.  

As a fire fighter's wife, my heart breaks for the families of these 19 men.  While they may not have been members of my husbands department, all fire departments treat each other as one family.  They are truly a close knit group and the loss of any is devastating to all of them.  This has been overwhelming.  There are no words to describe the grief and sorrow.  This event hit close to home for us as one of the 19 was a good friend of our oldest daughter.  His death has been extremely hard on her.  We are there for her as well as all members of our fire family.  

I do hope you understand that the priorities for this week have shifted and while I am trying to get some crafting done, my family must come first.  One good thing is I was asked to make wedding invitations for my oldest daughter's friend.  It has given me something to focus on other than the grief.  

I will keep you posted on how we are doing and will hopefully be posting some new cards before long.  I have to say I have walked through some dark times in my life filled with grief, sorrow and pain but this is one of the worst.  I ask that you keep Arizona and these families in your prayers.  Thanks for all your support. 

Look Familiar?

 

Does this card seem familiar to you?  I am sure if you have been following my blog for awhile you recognize this one.  It is one of the get well cards I have made and let me tell you if fits my life the past week or so.  My youngest ended up at the doctor and is being tested for strep.  We are still waiting for the test results.  Her boyfriend had an infection that caused facial swelling but he seems to be doing better now.  A good friend of ours has a daughter fighting strep throat.  She has been running fevers as high as 106 degrees!  To top it all, my hubby is have his usual sinus problems and has been in bed all weekend.  

I bet it would not surprise you to know that I have not been crafting.  I am so hoping to be on the recovery side of all these illnesses this week so I can get back into my craft room.  I did want to share this one with you again since it is probably my favorite get well card I have made to date.  

I hope to be back with a new share for you in the next day or so.  Until then, please stay well and thanks for stopping by to visit.  See you later.

It's Friday Already?

Hi everyone.  Well I have been one absent blogger this week.  I really thought I would have time to craft and it just did not happen.  I spent most of Tuesday running errands.  With the temperatures around 110 degrees, I was exhausted by the time I reached home.  I unfortunately also suffer from migraines and the intense heat seems to bring them on.  Wednesday, my hubby and I spent the day with our youngest and her boyfriend.  They had other plans on Father's Day and Wednesday was the day they wanted to celebrate with my hubby.  We went to lunch and shopped and really had a great day.  My hubby bought a new grill so of course we had to break it in by bar-b-quing that night.  by the time the kids went home, it was after 10 pm..  The day just flew by.

Thursday was my sister's birthday so I wanted to take a moment to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her on my blog.  I did get her birthday card made for her and plan on sharing it with you on Monday.  I just want to be sure she sees it first.  I spent part of the day cleaning because today (Friday) I get to spend having lots of fun with my sister.  So once again, I am going to share a few cards I came across when I finally took time to catch up on my computer time last night.



Very elegant don't you think?




I LOVE this flamingo!!!!!!

Well that's all I am sharing today.  Like the flamingo, go have some fun in the sun.  I will share my sister's birthday card with you on Monday so be sure to return to see what I made.  Have a wonderful weekend.  See you later and thanks for stopping by today.

OOPS!!!!!

Hi everyone.  Sorry I missed posting a blog on Monday.  I had a fairly busy weekend and the time just seemed to fly by.  I was lucky enough to spend Friday with my 2 girls.  We got to go to lunch and spend some time just catching up.  I am afraid there just was no crafting time that day.

Saturday brought a whole new challenge to me.  My youngest daughter who just turned 21 was planning to spend the day with her grandmother and the evening with friends.  She really did not want to leave her 9 month old puppy kenneled all day and night so she asked me to doggy sit for her.  Now my dog is 5 years old and quite enjoys being an only dog so spending 10 hours with the puppy was not exactly her idea of fun.  The puppy happens to also be bigger than my dog and is a herding dog.  She tried all day to herd my dog and was so energetic there was no time for rest.  According to my daughter, her puppy sleeps all day.  Well not here.   I think she slept for maybe 45 minutes.  By the time she went home, I was exhausted and so was my dog.  Bed was calling and we answered quickly.

Sunday being Father's Day meant I spent it with my hubby.  We had a very relaxing day and sat in our little inflatable pool a lot.  It was nice to just not have anywhere to run.  He really needed the break and after Saturday, so did I. 

Needless to say, I am very behind on my crafts.  While playing with the puppy Saturday, I accidentally got my arm in her way and she stepped on it.  My fault, not hers.  Anyway it is my right forearm and it is quite sore.  Punching and stamping are a bit uncomfortable so I am really slow.  I do plan to try to craft for you this week but for yesterday and today, I am afraid there was nothing to share.  I do want to show you a few cards I have come across recently.  I will do my best to have something for you tomorrow. 

 

I like the simplicity of this one.  I intend to give this a try soon.

 

Toy Story is one of our favorite Disney movies.  I just love the little green guys!!!

 

Here is another pop up card.  I do like the color scheme used on this one.

Well that's it for today.  Hopefully I will get a card finished for you today and be able to post it tomorrow.  I hope you stop by to see if I do.  Thanks for dropping by today.

Taking a Break

Hi everyone.  It's Wednesday.  I updated my post from yesterday but in case you did not see the update I wanted to share it again.  I am cutting my week short this week.  My hubby has a couple of days off and we have not had a lot of time together in weeks.  I am going to spend some much needed time with him for the rest of this week. 

Here is a card I found on Pinterest that I really liked this week:


I will be back next Monday with another share for all of you.  Thanks for stopping by today and I will see you all next week. 

Hello Darkness My Old Friend.........

Hi everyone and happy end of the week.  Do you recognize the song lyrics in my title?  Well while I know the lyrics I cannot for the life of me tell you the name of the song or the band who sings it.  Oh well.  It might seem like a strange title for my blog but I have become great friends with the darkness. 

On Tuesday evening, I could tell I had a small headache but had no idea it would erupt into a full blown migraine over night.  I had baby Jackson on Wednesday and was able to play and care for him just fine because the small headache had become a little bigger and did not intensify fully until Wednesday night.  I could not sleep well at all and by Thursday morning, I could not stand the light.  Even wearing sunglasses did not help me.  It was still way to bright outside.  Thankfully it eased off a bit by late evening and I could stand to look at the computer screen to type this for you.  I just wanted you to know I had not fallen off the face of the earth!!

I am going to get a good night's rest hopefully and have fun once again with little Jackson in the morning.  I am sorry I did not get a card ready for you for today but I will return on Monday. 

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!!

Where Did The Day Go?

Hi everyone.  I had every intention of having a card to share with you today.  However, I failed in my mission.  Nothing went the way it was planned and the next thing I knew I found myself sitting here just after midnight typing this to you. I haven't even been home a whole hour yet.  The best thing about today was I spent time with my daughter and my nephew, Jackson.

I hope you can forgive me. Today will have craft time so I should be back tomorrow with a card to share. Thanks for understanding.  See you tomorrow.

Where Did The Week Go?????

Hi everybody!  Did you think I was lost?  I thought I was.  I have not been in my craft room all week - mainly because I cannot get to any of my supplies.  Let me show you what I mean.

 

So here are all my stamps........

 

and here is all my paper/card stock........

 

and here is everything in front of it!!!!!!

In my blog Monday, I believe I told you that my youngest daughter is preparing to move out in a few weeks and has begun the process of collecting everything she will need for the apartment.  My craft room is now a storage room for all this.  I spent all day Tuesday running errands with my husband and Wednesday we went out to the park for some peace and relaxation before heading to a toy show.  Of course that meant I did not even attempt to get in there to move things around to access my stuff.  I had every intention of doing it yesterday but I spent the day taking my daughter to the doctor for her work physical and ran a few errands with her too.  I then came home, cleaned the house, and got ready to have a special little visitor on Friday.  No it's not my nephew Jackson.  It is the daughter of a good friend of mine.  She happens to have the day off from school and is going to spend it with me.  That means lots of crafts to plan to do with her.  It will be a lot of fun.

I am sorry I have been missing this week.  I do intend to unearth my card stock and punches so that I can at least make some punch art to share with you next week.  I do hope you will understand and come back to see me.  Until then I will share another card I came across that I thought was really beautiful:

 

Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you Monday!!!!

 

Weird Weekend

Hi everyone and welcome to the start of a brand new week.  I sure hope your weekend was better than mine.  I spent most of mine in bed or in a big comfy chair.  Last Thursday night, my anniversary night, I started not feeling so well.  My stomach felt weird and I was really tired.  I went to bed hoping the feeling would pass and unfortunately I was wrong.  I was up all night so sick I did not know what to do.  I ran a high fever all day Friday and could not even get out of bed.  By Saturday I was a little better but still not 100%.  Sunday was about the same.  Needless to say, there was not fun crafting time for me. 

Meanwhile, my youngest daughter has decided it is time to spread her wings and fly the nest.  She will be moving into her first apartment early next month.  The gathering of items to take with her has already begun and unfortunately my craft room is the holding area.  I cannot get to my stamps or card stock right now.  I am going to have to work to make a path for myself.  I am hoping to feel well enough today to do this so I can get back to crafting.  You will have to stop by for daily updates as to how it is going.  Until I do I thought I would share with you a card I found on the internet and really liked.  I am going to have to make one of these soon.  I promise to share mine with you when I do.  Please stop by tomorrow to see how my progress is going.  See you all tomorrow.

Always Expect the Unexpected

Well I wish I could say it's a wonderful Wednesday but I cannot.  The gasket on the tank of our toilet decided to wear out and rain down on the bathroom floor last night.  We made a late night emergency run to Wal-Mart to get a new one.  Murphy's Law held up for us and when we got the new one home, we put it on, reattached the tank, turned the water on and drip drip drip it started.  Then it began to stream out.  Apparently, we did not get the right shaped one.  So instead of doing any crafting that I wanted to do for today, I will instead be running to the hardware store to get new parts and hopefully getting the tank on again.  My hubby is at work so I will have to rely on myself and my sister to get this done.  But first I have to take my sister to her eye doctor appointment.  So I will have the queen of hearts card for you tomorrow.  Since I am running on 2 hours of sleep due to coughing with my cold, I do not think I should play with sharp objects today.  I wish all the plumbing problems would just go away so I could get some rest!! 

Please come by tomorrow to see the card and thanks for understanding.  Thanks for stopping by today an for understanding. 

We survived a wet Wednesday and have made it to Thursday!! Not only was it wet but it actually snowed in areas and we had a lot of hail!!!

 

Here is a photo of our back yard!  My dog does not like getting her feet wet from rain.  Try getting her out in this!! 

 

This photo is looking into the street from our carport.  The hail came down fast and furious.  It was crazy how much we got in under a minute.  Everything was covered!!!   We, of course, were fascinated by this because it is not an every day occurrence in Arizona!!  Having grown up back east, it brought back memories of playing in the snow and having so much fun.  I do miss it sometimes.

I spent part of the day with my nephew Jackson.  He is getting so big now!!  I had a ball with him.  When I went to stay with him, the rain had let up and it was actually showing signs of some blue in the sky.  By the time I came home, it was raining again and we had out first round of hail.  It did not last long but I waited to come home until the hail had stopped.  It was still raining but I did not mind that.  Once home the rain stopped and the sun actually came out.  I thought we might be out of the storm but I was wrong.  I was relaxing from my day of play when I heard what I thought was rain coming down.  I got up to look at it and the ground was quickly turning white in front of my eyes!!  It was crazy!

Being gone for a good part of the day did leave me with little time for crafting, especially with all the crazy weather distractions.  Tuesday night I received a really nice email from a reader of my blog.  She asked about the Bugs Bunny icon I have as my photo on the page.  I thought I had made him and posted him but it turns out I did not.  Here is what he looks like:

 

Isn't he cute?!  I went through my past blogs and could not find him.  Now I was delusional and did think he was a birthday card but as the photo shows he is an anniversary card I made my hubby a few years ago.  I still could not locate the blog with directions on how to make him.  That is a terrible mistake on my part.  Of course I meant to share this with you I just spaced it.  Well I decided to show the old photo of the card to you today as a teaser.  I am going to make him again and do a post with all the instructions for you.  This will either post tomorrow or early next week.  My goal is for tomorrow and as long as there is no more crazy weather I should have plenty of time to make him.  But as with all days of life, we never know what's in store.

Thanks for stopping by today to visit.  I hope you will return to see if Bugs makes it on the blog tomorrow.  I will see you all then!!!

Now Don't Be Mad

Hi everyone and welcome to Thursday!!!  Now I did tell you yesterday that I had a fairly full day so it really should come as no surprise that crafting time was not in the equation.  My husband's meeting turned into 2 meetings so we did not get away from his work until much later than I thought.  We also added at least 2 extra errands to the day than originally planned.  By the time we got home, I was exhausted and there was still no rest.  Instead we found an electrical problem at our home that had to be fixed immediately for safety reasons.  When we finished that, it was definitely rest time.

Now I could tell you to check back tomorrow and see if I have something to share but I think I will be honest with you and myself and say I will return on Monday.  Today I am going to spend the day with my aunt helping her organize a few things and then my aunt and uncle along with myself and my husband are going to dinner.  Needless to say I know I will not have time to craft.  When I do get home, I will be making sure the house is picked up and cleaned for Friday when I will spend time with one of my favorite boys in the world - my great nephew Jackson.  He is 5 months old now and too cute for words.  Anyway, I plan on playing all day with him.

I will be back on Monday I promise with something to share with you.  I hope you get to have some fun like I am having.  Thank you for coming by today.  Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you Monday.

Sorry, No New Share Today

Hi everyone.  It's Wednesday and I am sorry to say I do not have a share for you today.  I spent most of yesterday in bed with a horrible migraine.  It was the kind where the least bit of light made me cringe.  Needless to say crafting was simply out of the question.  I hope you understand that I would rather have been crafting.  Please come by tomorrow.  I hope to be back in my craft room at some time today.  Thanks for understanding. 

Memories of a Friend

Hi everyone and welcome to Tuesday.  As promised I am going to share a project I worked on for my husband.  This was a special project that he is taking to his fire station to hang up in their day room.  On January 16th, 2012 we lost a very good friend who passed away very unexpectedly.  His name was Mike and he was my husband's 2nd engineer on his ladder truck.  To say we went through a hard time is an understatement.  The entire crew was devastated and lost for many weeks.  His loss is still felt today and he is greatly missed.

To have a day to remember him, the crew and their spouses got together to have dinner and share stories.  We all brought something to remember Mike by and my project was my contribution this year.  See the crew wanted to display something in the station as a remembrance and I was more than happy to help.  We decided on a shadowbox and I am going to share it with you today.

 

I wanted to show you the background out of the box frame so you could really see how it looked.  I used several items that were given to me by my hubby as well as a few sticker sets that represented things he loved such as fishing and hunting.  I made sure to put a friendship saying on it since this is a remembrance made by and for friends of his.  I also put an Irish Blessing that was read at his funeral. I attached everything down using ModPodge adhesive.  I added brads to the matted sayings and photo.  These stuck straight in but will help keep these secure.  I allowed it to dry completely prior to putting the lid on it. 

 

Here is a picture of the finished box.  Yes that is my hand and arm reflection that you see in the glass.  That is why I made sure to take the other photo first to show you.

Well that's it for today.  I am off to my annual doctor's appointment but I will return tomorrow with another share for you.  Please stop by to visit if you can.  Thanks for dropping in today!!

Happy Martin Luther King Day

Hi everyone.  I totally forgot today was Martin Luther King Jr Day today.  While I should have something to share with you I am afraid I don't.  We spent Saturday going to a toy show here in town.  My husband is a toy collector of the He-Man series from the 1980's.  He has an entire room (his office) devoted to this collection.  There are figures everywhere as well as vehicles and structures from the series.  When our oldest daughter moved out, I took her bedroom and made it into an office for him to use with plenty of shelf space to display his collection.  After all what good is a collection that sits in boxes never to be scene out in the light. 

I will admit I am always on the look out for items that I collect too.  Wizard of Oz and I Love Lucy are my favorite things to look for.  I must say that neither one of these is any where near as large as Dave's.  I don't think I could ever collect as much as he has.

Sunday we spent with out youngest daughter since she needed some help and guidance looking for a car.  Well actually, my husband and her boyfriend helped her.  I just stayed out of the way which was fine with me.  I did not feel great and needed a day to just relax.  So I did not get the photos taken for today's blog.  I will post the project I worked on for my husband's fire station with you tomorrow.  For those of you who have to work today, thank you for all you do.  And to those who have a day off, take time to do something you love.  I will see you all tomorrow!!!