More Birthday Cards!

I've taken a couple days off from making birthday cards.  I got out the glue gun and foam core board and made a unit to hold several of my card making and finishing items.  The things I put in it are Stickles, Flower Soft, Memento Dew Drop inks, glue dots, acrylic blocks, full size Memento Tuxedo Black ink pads, Glimmer Mists, Shimmerz, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Crystal Effects, Tack It Over and Over, hand sanitizer and a small basket to hold my scissors and bone folders.

My hope is that with all this wonderful stuff right in front of me, I will use it more often on my cards.  Here's a picture of it.





Ok, now on to the next three birthday cards that I made recently.
 
 This one of Tilda in Rubber Boots was a lot of fun to make and went to my older daughter.  Reminds me of being a kid and wearing boots to play outside after a rain storm.

This card was originally created by Peggie Wilkins.  You can see Peggie's card here: http://stampingwithpeggie.blogspot.com/

I put the Open Gate and Spring Lamp Post behind Tilda to build a background.  The lavendar DP has faint flowers on it to go along with the spring theme.

The flowers were from Wild Orchid Crafts and the ribbon from my stash.

I used my Copics for coloring, of course!
E37, 35, 33, 31, 25
YG06, 03, 00
R21, 20, 11  G94, 82, 40, 99 
Y02, 23, 02   YR23   B000
C5, 4, 2    V15, 12, 000

I think that's all the Copics used.

My friend Kim received this card.  She is the one I blame for my addicition to stamping.  She did a quick class for our Creative Women's group at church.  Then she invited me to a workshop at her house.  This has become very contagious and I am doing my best to spread it everywhere!!

I used several Maggies on this card - Tilda with Puppy, Swing, Little Birds, and Butterfly.

The lace around the circle and the ribbon were from my stash.  The leaves and swirls were cut with Doohickey dies.

The image background was sponged with SU inks.
Copics used were - YG03, 06, 00
B99, 97, 95, 93, 23, 21   YR02, 21   Y06   R29, 27, 24, 20   W3, 5  C7, 5, 3, 9 and E57, 55, 53, 37, 35, 18, 15, 33   Sure doesn't seem like that many colors when I'm doing it.

The inside is pretty simple.

The last card for this post was for my friend Roxy. She is the one who made the Master Chef certificate for me.  So you know that she loved this card! 

I didn't have the small wall shelf, so I cut the bottom off another kitchen image, put a piece of Tilda lace under it and added the items on top.

Instead of Tilda dropping the egg, I replace it with a cupcake. The cake, cupcake, piece of cake, tea pot and candy tray were all cut from glitter designer papers.  The flower is from Magnolia.

I used Crystal Effects on the window glass and drawer pulls.
Copics used were E18, 15, 11, 40, 25, 31, 50, 13, 17, 29  BG000, 10  B24, 28, 21, 16, 14, 12
R85, 83, 81, 00, 89, 00   Y06, 00   Y06, 00   C00

This image was Yummy Muffin.  The ribbon daisies were from my stash.  Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The DP are SU Paisley Petals.

Sure hope you have enjoyed your visit.  Please leave a comment and lots of Maggie hugs!

Huggeroonies,

Lots of Birthday Cards

January through April are the peak months for my family to have birthdays.  At least it seems that way!  I had six birthday cards that were late or very late due to my being away much of the winter.  Last week I managed to get four of them in the mail - three to the same family.

 The first one was for my precious daughter-in-law.  She is such a joy!  She lives in Georgia, but I sure wish she was closer.
Here is Tilda with her Bunny.  The papers are from Magnolia, flowers from Magnolia and Wild Orchid Crafts.
Copics used for coloring are -
R81,83, 85  E30,33, 35  YR20,21,23  W2 ,4, 5, 7
C2  Hair E25, 49, 53, 59
All skin in all cards are E000, 00, 11 and R21

The Magnolia Tag is perfect for this neat sentiment from a birthday sentiments pack.


 My grandson Jeremy turned 16 this February.  Where has the time gone?
I used the Magnolia Sea Background, Sea Banner and the Howser on the inside.  This adorable little aviator is from Penny Black and was a "miss you" gift from my friend Roxy. 

The Copic colors used on this card _
G24, 21, 20, 82,  R11, 17, 14, 12, 20, 000, 46,   Y08, 02, 11, 26, 21,  000  C0, 3,  W0,
E01, 00, 13, 17, 37, 43, 42, 41, 30,
B95, 93, 91, 0000, 24,  BG10,  BV20,  

The inside was very simple.

This was my son's card.  They really aren't into boating, but these just seemed like really great cards for guys.

These image are all from the Bon Voyage collection.  The eyeltes, pearls and ribbon lace are from my stash.  Stickles cover the tops of the waves.
The Copics I used for this Sea Background  are BG000,   B91, 93, 97, 99,   C1, 4
E25, 21, 27, 29, 50, 51
Edwin Copics - E000, 00, 11, 29, 25, 31
R20, 17,  Y19,  C0, 1, 2, 5

The sentiments were stamped in Chocolate Chip SU ink.  The DPs were all from my stash.  The sea shells were from a K&Company stick-on assortment.

These three cards all went to the same family.  It was a real feeling of accomplishment to pack them up and get them mailed!

Thanks for stopping by.  Please take a minute to leave a little Maggie love in a comment.
Huggeroonies,

My Flower Beds Are Dressed for Spring

After a long, cold, snowy winter, my flower beds are looking forward to spring.  All of the pictures in this post were snapped on May 1.

The bleeding hearts are loaded with buds.  In another week or two they will be almost to the top of the skirting.

This flower box around our deck has a few crocuses, tulips and grape hyacinths for early spring color.  When they are done blooming, the hostas begin filling in and will get high enough to hide the open spaces where the deck supports are.

There are two pipe plant holders on the deck rail. I put a hummingbird feeder on one and hang petunias on both of them.  The birdhouse on the corner has a sparrow nest in it now.  We also put nest boxes on the top peak of our mini barn and in the triangle (next pic).  Within an hour of my hubby putting them up, the one on the mini barn had sparrows moving in!

This is what we call the "triangle".  There are several early spring flowers here.  The crocuses are done for this year.  The grape hyacinths are all around the edge.  The tulips and daffodils are even more beautiful now. 
The green spikey plants are yuccas.  They get gorgeous buttery yellow flowers on tall spikes mid-summer. 
I plant annuals around the edges after the flowers in this pic have died back.  The are also a couple heather plants, euonymous, amd foxglove that are getting started, but don't show yet. 

The birdhouse in the triangle has housed bluebirds for several years.  Just yesterday we saw the first bluebirds and hummingbirds of 2011.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying my flowers.
Huggeroonies,

Belated Cards

I have been on a real tear getting cards made for the last few days. 

This is one of two identical sympathy cards I needed to make.  My dad's only brother passed while I was in Florida and couldn't make it home for his memorial service.  He was in his late 80's and was in very good health until the last 6 months.

The second one was for a friend whose father passed a couple weeks ago.  He had been ill for several years and had dementia.  His memorial was on a day when I had another appointment, so didn't make that one either.

This card was for Lillian Abrams, who was my January Mingle partner.  I sent her an email explaining the Florida situation and she excused me from having to do the card then.  I made this one and mailed it out to her this week and she has it already!!
Snowy Hugs is such a cute stamp and seemed appropriate with all the snow that was in this region in January.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and some that our precious Diana included as a gift with one of my orders.

This one is an oldie.  My pictures are labeled "Wendy Bradley".  She was on my BRAK list for November, 2010.  I mailed the card back then - I have the post office receipt for it, but just didn't post pics of it.

The silver metallic is embossed with a Cuttlebug Heritage frame folder.  Isn't it just beautiful?

Princess Tilda is colored with Copics, but I haven't a clue which ones.  Wish I knew - I really like them!
The flowers are Magnolia and Wild Orchid Crafts.



Thank you for stopping by and taking time to look. Hope your weekend is fun filled and relaxing.
Huggeroonies,

The "Master Chef" Lives at My House!

My dear husband was so understanding while I was in Florida with my daughter.  He had to learn a whole new group of domestic skills.  I have royally spoiled him for over 25 years.  He rarely had to fend for himself.  So doing any cooking was a new learning experience for him. 

As my daughter and I were watching the Top Chef competition on TV, I got this idea of having my friend Roxy make me a Culinary Master Chef certificate for him.  Here is the Certificate!

He has Mastered the following techniques -

Freezing of Ice Cubes

Boiling Water

Thawing of Meatballs

Preparing Jell-O

Cooking Box Mac & Cheese and Spaghetti

Whipping up a Western Omelet.

Succeeding in these techniques in such a way that he is capable of

staying by himself for an extended period of time without starving,

qualify him as a Culinary Master Chef.

He laughed when we presented it to him in the Cafe' after church the first Sunday I was back home!  He was a very good sport about it.  When I would call him with updates from the hospital, he would tell me about something he had just figured out how to make like Jell-O. 

Of course this doesn't cover over-the-phone instructions for operating the washer and dryer.  He never did go for the vaccuum and very minimal use of the broom and dustpan.  He did keep the dishes done every couple days.  He did a great job and I am proud of him!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have enjoyed the Culinary Master Chef certificate!

Huggeroonies,

Riley and Sophie Try to Visit Santa

I started this Riley card about Thanksgiving time. 
I just finished it this past weekend.  With all that was going on with my daughter, I just couldn't focus on making a funny card.  I feel so bad that Nate hasn't received any Riley cards in a long time. 

This is the Stand image from Magnoli-licious.  I though it looked like a great place for Santa to set up for visits from the little mooses.  The Santa hat is from Edwin as Santa that I colored and cut out.


When Riley and Sophie arrived, Santa had left for break for 10 minutes.  At least that's what the sign said.





They were very patient and waited for about a half hour.  When Santa didn't return, they went off to play.

There weren't any other mooses around to play with.

Riley loves skiing and found a hill nearby to try out.



Sophie is a little more cautious.  She made a snow moose.  It was very difficult for her to resist the temptation to throw snowballs at Riley though.  She remembered the last time and how hard Riley could throw them back at her!

When they got chilly and tired, they went home.  Sophie was such a sweet moose.  She made some very yummy cupcakes and a pretty birthday cake for Jesus for Christmas.


Like most of us, they had so much snow.  Riley got very tired of having to replenish the hay supply.



Here's an overview of the opened easel card showing Riley and Sophie waiting at the Santa House and off playing.  I made the figures stand up using plastic strips taped behind them.


I know this isn't one of my better Riley cards, but at least it's done and in the mail now.

Thanks for stopping by.
Huggeroonies,

More Easter and Miss You Cards

My friend Roxy makes the most gorgeous cards.  We did the Delft Tile technique at her SU workshop the beginning of April. 

She used that technique to make this fabulous card!  Her sponging on the tiles is perfect.  This is one very elegant card and she made it for me!!

This is the Easter card I made for Roxy. 
Not nearly as elegant as hers was.

Roxy made me this card while I was still in Florida and had my hubby put it in my Stamp Mansion so I would find it when I got home.

She used a beautiful DP - can't remember where she said it was from - maybe Basic Grey.  The pink strip was embossed using SU's Square Lattice embossing folder and edged with the SU Scallop Trim Border punch. 

She also included a Penny Black stamp of a boy holding an airplane, his puppy with a flying helmet on and the sentiment "Wish You Were Near..."  I don't have very many stamps that are "boy" type, so it is greatly appreciated.  She is just sooooooo good to me.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.  Please leave a comment so I'll know you were here!

Huggeroonies,