V-Day Stuff

Here a few pix of things I did for Valentines Day. Enjoy!

Time Flies.....

I can't believe it's been more than six months since I posted last! This fall was a whirl-wind, and the time just keeps flying! We finished up applications and interviews for Brody to attend the US Air Force Academy in October. The week before Thanksgiving, he received his letter of Appointment! We couldn't have been more thrilled. All of his hard work has finally paid off. He will graduate in May, 2009, and has to report to the Academy on June 25, 2009. I have less than 4 months left with him. I always thought sending your kids to college would be fun and easy, but the closer it gets, the worse it feels!
Dad finished his chemo in November as well. He has since had repeat CT & PET scans, and is cancer free! We have many blessings to be thankful for this year!
I haven't had a lot of free time for papercrafting, but stayed tuned... I will try to get some things posted.

Thanks A Latte!

I just LOVE this set from SU. It's an old set that has since retired. I found it the other day when I was cleaning out one of my stamp drawers and thought I mind want to dust it off a bit! A friend of mine recently gave me a gift card to our local Coffee Depot, and I needed to thank her. I thought this make the perfect card. I used Birdie Collection double-sided cardstock from Crate Paper, along with some mocha colored cardstock. The images, with the exception of the steam & sugar cubes, are stamped in burnt umber. I stamped the coffee cup three times, once on the cardstock, once on patterned cs, and once more on a sherbet colored cs. I paper-pieced the final image together. The steam and sugar cubes are stamped using cotton white Stazon. I then outlined the images with my glue pen and covered in Stampendous ultra fine crystal glitter. I tied a small Martha Stewart ribbon in Cloud around the handle of the cup by punching a hole just inside and tying the knot around the edge of the paper. The layout is last week's SCS Sketch Challenge.
Enjoy!

Mom's Birthday Card

This technique was actually fairly simple. I used a piece of patterned cardstock - source unknown - and scored it using the ScorPal from TAC. I then folded on the score lines and lightly sanded following with a light inking with both an umber and white ink. I layered the patterned piece onto brown and tan cardstock. I tied a piece of sheer tan ribbon around the entire card. I added a layered Prisma flower in a rust color. I embellished all of the intersecting folds with pearl colored Bella Baubles. Mom LOVED it - hope you do, too!

Hubby's Birthday Card

I bought this set at Archivers recently, and just LOVE it! It's called Birds Gallore by Inkadinkadoo. I first stamped the owl in a dark umber on birch cardstock, then stamped over it with VersaMark and embossed using clear embossing powder. It gives it a small extra touch. I layered the image onto a Spellbinders rectangular Nestability and embellished the corner with lime Bella Baubles. I used brown cardstock as a base, then using olive cardstock and embellished with Basic Grey's Ladies Book Club/Stella Ruby, I covered the front using triangular shapes. The stripe makes an awesome masculine card. I tied a brown ribbon around the front and layered the completed image on the front. Enjoy!

Apologies....

To all of my subscribers and visitors, I apologize for not posting lately. It's been quite a busy couple of months for my family. My father was hospitalized at the end of April with pneumonia. During his many tests, the doctors discovered both a lung mass and a small blood clot. Of course, the blood clot took priority since it could be immediately life threatening. After a lengthy stay in the local hospital, he was released on blood thinners. During his follow-up with the lung specialist, we were given two options regarding the mass.... we could repeat a CT scan in 2-3 months to see if the mass had grown, or we could take the risk of taking him off blood thinners to have a biopsy done. After much discussion and weighing risks and benefits, we opted for the later. So, in late May, we took him to Lubbock, TX, to have the biopsy. From this point, June is a blur. He was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer. We have done many other tests to see if he would be a candidate for surgery and to see if there was cancer anywhere else in the body. Luckily, the PET scan showed no metastisis of the cancer! Also, his echocardiogram and lung function tests both showed he was borderline for surgery. He went to Albuquerque this past week to see a cardiothoracic surgeon, and has been scheduled for a lobectomy (removal of one lobe of the lung) on July 15th.
Please keep us in your prayers, and I will post updates.

Carousel Notes Purse

Well, first of all I CANNOT believe that it's been 3 weeks since I posted! Where is the time going? We had spring break the last week of March. The following week, I went along as a sponsor with Brody's JROTC unit to visit the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. It was a really FUN trip! The kids kept us in stitches the whole time. While we were there, we found out that Brody was accepted to attend the Summer Seminar at the Academy! Only 720 students a year are admitted. We feel very blessed! Since we've been home, it's just been run, run, run....

So finally.... I was perusing SCS a while back and found this incredible "Carousel Notes Purse" posted by Jan. I just LOVED it! One of my very good friends, Michelle, just became a grandma for the first time last Thursday. What perfect timing... I could make one for her to put her BRAG pix in! I didn't have the actual carousel note cards and envelopes from SU, but I had picked up some of the "Yours Truly" scalloped note cards and envelopes from Archiver's while I was in Colorado. They worked just as well, plus they come in a ton of different colors. The patterned paper is Basic Grey's new Sultry collection. The body is made of two square envelopes and a piece of matching cardstock. The envelopes are left open so that you can place a scalloped note card in each side for additional pictures or journaling. In the center section, I computer generated the new baby's info and a little poem about granddaughters. I embellished the inside with some coordinating Bazzill Bity Blossoms and Cupcake Doodlebug Jewels. The front is adorned with the baby's initial on a small scalloped background. The scalloped flap on the purse is set off with Bella Baubles in raspberry. I LOVE the way it turned out and think Michelle will be just as pleased. Thanks for looking!