Retirement Thank You's

It's official!!! My mom is retired; after almost 36 years at the SAME place - voila - she's done. Now she'll be sleeping late, eating bon bon's, watching soap operas, staying up late.....that is until I call her to watch the grandbabes! HA HA
We are all delighted my mom has retired; we're praying for some great years for dad and her to enjoy one another and their grandchildren. They have 6 grandchildren, ages 17, 13, 11, 9, 7 and 1....now let me explain....I did mine all together (11, 9 and 7); it's my crazy brother and his wife that started over with the 1 year old. LOL! Just kidding; he's A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! It really is fun having a little one around...particularly when you can hand them back to someone else. **snort**
These cards are for the Board of Directors; tried to do something a bit classier than my normal 'whimsical' creations...a bit out of my comfort zone; but I thought they turned out nice and I hope she likes them.
Most are patterned paper layered on a white card, layered on black backing...some have ribbon, some have brads, some have various punches - whatever I thought looked good. ALL the "thank you's" you see on the cards are rub ons!!! :) The envelopes are stamped with "Heartfelt thanks".
I also made some others for her co-workers - they're like family to her; hopefully I'll get those posted tomorrow.
Thanks for peeking in; have a great weekend. ~M.

Liz - our oldest's blessing

This is Liz - isn't she adorable? She's a black lab, 4.5 years old; but very, very sick. My DH and our oldest went to see her at the vet's office this morning - they left at 6:45 a.m.; she's been there for almost 1 week, she hasn't eaten for 11 days and if not for the fluids they were giving her, we would have lost her long ago!!!
If you click on the picture, you can probably see that the white part of her eyes are now yellow. The inside of her ears are yellow....all signs that her liver is shutting down. After all the tests have been run; they believe she has the worst case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever possible - it's destroying her liver.
She has lots of swelling in her back legs and her stomach is horribly distended just past her ribs; but thankfully you can't see most of that in this picture. They thought they had gotten a picture of our oldest with her, but it didn't come out on the camera, so not sure what happened.
There is one antibiotic that works well against this disease; however, it is only made orally and since Liz can't keep anything down, she can't take the antibiotic. :(
Last night when I visited with our daughter about Liz's condition, she talked about the dog-walking business she had started and how she started it all because of Liz. Now mind you, she typed the flyers herself, walked around the neighborhood handing them out, hasn't had a single client; but I'm SO STINKING PROUD OF HER; what a thing for an 11 yr. old to do!
Today is Yappy Days - a big day for dogs, all kinds of stuff going on; but our DD doesn't have the heart to go and that's okay. It only makes her sad.
Will we get to keep Liz? We don't know; the vet is still very guarded and by looking at her the answer looks as if it's no. But that's okay, we believe in miracles, but more than that, we believe in prayer; so we'll leave it with God, because he knows the plans he has for us...and our delightful animal friends!!
I hope to have some new cards posted this weekend; I have lots to get done! Thanks for stopping by!! ~M.

Twins Birthday Party

Our oldest daughter is attending a double birthday party today - TWINS! She didn't want to make 2 different cards; she wanted to make 1 - so this is what we came up with. She helped with everything, from picking the papers to the colors to the flower to the cut out images (notice one shoe of each color, one handbag of each color - LOL); but it's very cute IRL! It's a slumber party with a scavenger hunt included - what more could a girl ask for? Hope they have a great time.
Nothing fancy on the card; just lots of stamping, coloring and cutting! I did distress the hot pink cardstock...which our daughter couldn't quite understand why I was doing that, she said "you're tearing it up". :)
Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Thanks for peeking in!! ~M.

Busy, Busy week - retirement party and all!

My mother is retiring....it seems surreal; but I'm so glad she can do this. She's retiring a bit early and Wednesday the bank where she works held a reception for her. It was AMAZING! You see, my mom has worked there for over 35 years - just 2.5 years ago, I had surgery and she was at the hospital with me....side note, mom is ALWAYS at the hospital with me - all 3 births of our babies, many surgeries - you name it, she sleeps there with me - take note, she's the best!!! Anyway, 2.5 yrs. ago after my major surgery, the anesthesiologist came by to check on me and asked if my mother was my sister! Hmph!!! Makes her day, makes me wonder how bad do I REALLY look??? LOL! We have been asked for YEARS if we are sisters; she's young, chic, beautiful and my best friend.

Yeah, I have a DH, he just doesn't do hospitals....he was 'in' the hospital for the birth of the babes; just not beside me - that was mom! LOL DH would have been passed out - I promise!

OK, so I'm rambling....the night before her reception, I headed to the basement about 10:10 p.m. to make her a card. Well...my card wasn't like any other card she received - LOL! She loves pink and the pink and floral papers were some I had picked up several months ago and was hoarding. Do you do that?? Anyway, the base card is Certainly Celery, layered with a rose/pink color which I embossed with the D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug Folder. The paper is lightweight, so the Cuttlebug kind of went 'through' the paper allowing some white to show. It looks neat. I then layered another piece of Certainly Celery with the edges distressed, then the floral paper. I stamped the wagon, masked it and added the flowers. The outline of the flowers was done with SU Markers and then colored in with an aquapainter. I love the colors!

I LOVE the wagon, it's a brand new stamp from Gina K. Designs. I adore Gina K....well...I kind of worship and stalk her silently! Just kidding (but more on this later). Isn't the wagon adorable. I recently purchased several of the Marvy Oval Punches and one was broken so I had to 'work it' to get the oval shape around the wagon - don't look too close, it's not pretty! Then the rose/pink scalloped oval was punched. I added Certainly Celery and So Saffron ribbon from Taylored Expressions. I dig her too.

The inside says "Happiness Always" a stamp by SU. A fun, quick card. I hope my mom enjoyed it. I'm excited for her and somewhat anxious. Isn't that the way it works? They worry about us as they are raising us; then we turn and worry about them as they move through life. :)

And now....if you've stuck with me this long and aren't snoring, I'll tell you what really made me smile today - and cry. I received a comment on my blog and it said it was from Gina K. WELL there is only ONE Gina K and I knew she certainly wouldn't be visiting my blog, little lone COMMENTING ON IT....so I clicked the hyperlink and it was HER........IT WAS GINA K. FROM GINA K. DESIGNS. CRUD, I thought I was going to wet my pants...instead I cried. Her comment was so kind and I was just floored. I still am. I sent her this stalker type e-mail saying I couldn't believe she had visited MY site and COMMENTED on my cards. Talk about making a girl walk on clouds - I'm still traveling up there...not comin' down for awhile cause Gina K. rocks the stamping world!!!

Thanks for stopping by!! ~M.

Pheasant Hunting

I've never been really good with 'manly' type cards; but let me go girly and we'll have a hey day!!!! BUT my DH needed several thank you cards to send to friends after a recent trip he took. I found a card similar to this on Splitcoaststampers by "pamelak"; so I tweaked it a bit to work with a background I had and went to town. The coloring isn't the best; need to learn to use a lighter touch; but overall I was pleased with my manly attempt. LOL!! We made 4 of them into Thank You cards and the other 2 into Birthday cards.
Hope you're having a great weekend - the weather has been beautiful here!! Thanks for peeking in!! ~M.

Teddybella

Well...I made it two posts before I included another bella!!! Oh yeah, pretty proud of me huh? Admit it, you were 'kind of tired' of seeing my bella friends; but hey, I love them! This one is called "teddybella"; I purchased her from Em at www.stampingbella.com; isn't she adorable - looks like she's about to pop! I need to do a boy card too; just haven't had time yet.
The one background is embossed with a cuttlebug folder; the other isn't; one uses ribbon as an accent, the other uses a prima & rhinestone. I love them both - it amazes me how the cuttlebug gives a whole new look to the card.
Thanks for stopping by; I have a few more cards to upload...maybe this weekend; then it'll be time to get to work on some new things. Have a great weekend. ~M.

Are you cured yet?

Isn't this little pig sooooo cute! He reminds me of Wilbur from Charlotte's Web....and I'm amazed how many other people say that! I stamped him on Whisper White paper and colored with odorless mineral spirits and Prismacolor pencils. I then punched him out with the Marvy Jumbo Circle, then layered onto a Marvy Mega Circle in Certainly Celery and finally onto a Marvy Giga Scalloped Circle in pink. I purchased the paisley and striped paper from Michael's, I just love the combo and the oh so funky ribbon. Got that at Michael's too! It's all layered on Certainly Celery and then layered again onto a pink base card. The side of the card says "hope you're cured soon". This stamp is by Gina K Designs; I just think it's so cute - surely it would cheer SOMEONE up, right?
Thanks for stopping by; hope to see you again soon!
~M.

YOU live in a zoo?

I've been really busy the past few weeks creating new cards for the craft show last weekend. Well...this one wasn't for the craft show, but I had been thinking about it and got a chance to put it together tonight. The base card (pink and layer of floral paper) was already done and set aside till I found something to use it with...and this is what I came up with! The alligator is stamped on the inside of the card. On the outside it says "Happy birthday to you"; I cut it out with Stampin' Up's Word Window and extended the punch to include all the words. The inside says "You live in a zoo. You know the rest."...crack me up - I LOVE it! I added white dots for 3/4's of the oval - but kind of hard to see in the picture. I added googly eyes to the alligator and stamped the white heart on his body because my 7 yr. old (boy) said he needed it - thought it would give it some "bling"....hmmm....guess he's listened to me too much. <**wink**>
The inside and outside words are from Gina K Designs; my first purchase of some of her stamps - she has great stuff at www.stampingfreak.com.
The 'button's' on either side of the "Happy birthday to you" were actually white - had to grab a Sharpie and make them pink!
Thanks for stopping by - check back often as I have a few more cards to upload. Have a great hump day! ~M.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Wow; I'm really gearing up for the craft show this weekend. Due to sheer lack of time, I've decided to scrap a few things and move on to other things; it's all about how much I can get done in the next 2 days - LOL! Wonder if my full-time job will understand if I take my craft work with me?

I made a couple pig cards tonight; the pig says HI! and the side of the card says "hope you're cured soon!"; the sentiment is from Gina K Designs at www.stampingfreak.com. I just love reading her blog and checking out all her fun things; I've learned so much from her.

I have to say I'm beyond addicted to the new Clever Lever Punches by Marvy; I now have the scalloped oval and two more smaller ovals....I'll be going back for more really soon - LOL! Seems like my stamping goes in cycles; really addicted to 2 or 3 things and then I move on; they're never forgotten, but eventually I do move on! I'm sure you'll all be glad when I get past my punch passion - ha ha!

Have a great evening, thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I'll get some new items uploaded soon...maybe not till after my craft show; but I've got quite a few saved up for you! Stop back often. ~M.

Sympathy Card

See that base card? The hot pink layered with the green, floral paper? I had made the base card weeks ago and didn't like a thing about it; couldn't figure out what to do...hmph....I finally put it away and decided I'd think about it another day.
I got a call, well really an e-mail, for a sympathy card and ta-da...there it is! I love the way it turned out! The pink scalloped circle on the front has white dots added to the scallops, although you can't see them in this picture. The flowers are two different colors, so between the flowers and their stems, it pulled all the colors together nicely.
I love the saying inside...but no, I can't remember what it says! :) AND I'm not in my stamp room to look it up....AND it's much too late to go and look! Gotta get to bed and get my beauty rest. I've been working very hard to prepare for my craft show this weekend.
Thanks for stopping by to take a look; hope you have a great hump day!! ~M.

Retail Therapy!

OK....so I really love these *bellas*!!! Last one for a few days; I promise! This one is called "Imeldabella"; she can be found at www.stampingbella.com. Again, the base card is a pre-purchased striped card; I added the lime green striped paper layered with Imeldabella and two primas - green & blue with a little "bling" glued on. I wanna go shopping!
The outside says "Ahhh...."; the inside says "Retail Therapy". :0 Always makes a girl feel better, right? Imeldabella was colored with Prismacolor Pencils and Odorless Mineral Spirts (OMS).
Thanks for stopping by; enjoy the weekend! ~M.

Java - YUMMY!

Having some fun playing with my new *bellas*; I just love so many of them and Em is making even MORE! Check out her website at www.stampingbella.com. Em is great to work with too; I love reading her blog!
The base card was pre-purchased with the outside stripes; I added the chocolate spotted background paper from Stampin' Up; then stamped the javabellas on Whisper White cardstock; added the A*Muse Oval in Tempting Turquoise, then colored the ladies in with Prsimacolor Pencils and Odorless Mineral Spirits. I added some white polka dots to the *bella* on the right-hand side. The inside says "I get by with a little help from my friends"...and isn't THAT the truth?
Anyone have a big weekend planned? Ours will be very busy - we have BB games, and a huge b-day party for all 3 kids! Should be lots of fun. Enjoy the weekend and thanks for stopping by! ~M.

Golf Anyone?

My co-workers asked me to make a b-day card for another co-worker. Of course I asked "what's she like - what colors, do you know?" Their reply? "Golf". Oh my.....hmmm...haven't done a golf card yet - better figure it out. Well I did figure it out and I really liked how it turned out - what do you think? Alyssa, our oldest, helped me pick out the papers - of course we had to go with argyle - isn't that ALWAYS golf related and then we chose the pink and green so we could stay a bit girly! :) The background is Regal Rose layered with Certainly Celery. The Certainly Celery is sponged with Regal Rose ink. The striped paper on the left-hand side was cut free-hand with an X-Acto knife. The polka dot ribbon covers where the argyle and striped paper come together but it gives it a funky feel eh? The golf ball is colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS, then I used pop-dots to give it some pop - pop - get that, pop dots? I crack myself up!
The inside isn't golf related at all, but says "My advice? Pick an age you like and stick with it!". I love that saying!
Thanks for stopping by; have a great day! ~M.