A Giveaway!

>My stash of cards has been building up again so I thought I would give some away. If you'd like a chance to receive one just leave a comment.

>If you'd like 2 chances to win, have a friend subscribe to my blog and leave a comment along with your name in the comment box.

>I will have Mike choose from today's and tomorrow's (June 29-30) comments. The reason for the short notice is I will have an announcement to make July 1, and my blog may get really busy (I hope...fingers crossed!). Good luck!

Design Team Call

Shirleys2Girls has a design team call. This link will take you to Paper Craft Planet where you can read the information. Here is their website. Give it a try girls!! I know my readers are talented ladies!!

Here is a Shirleys2Girls card I made several months ago. It is one of my favorite cards....I like it so much I haven't mailed it to anyone! LOL I keep thinking I will add it to a scrapbook layout about shopping and use the inside for my journaling. I have a friend coming for a visit in July, and we plan to do some shopping. Just need to remember to take my camera along.

The design team call requires 3 sample of work to be on my blog, so I am posting some creations most of you have already seen. Thank you for you indulgence!

This is a Bildmalarna image.

                                                                                 They can be seen here.

This is a Mo Manning digital image.

                                                                      You can see them here.

Thanks for looking!

Let's Do Lunch!

Here is another Purple Onion Designs card using 'Celebitties' and 'Sentiments'. These stamps can be found here.

Purple Onion Designs

I created a couple of new cards using Purple Onion Designs's 'Celebitties' and 'Sentiments'. These little stamps are easy to use and are great for card fronts, making background papers, and tags. The designs are simplistic which makes them easy to color. After I colored them with Copic markers, I added Stickles and Glossy Accents. Also on these cards are ribbons I dyed with Glimmer Mist.

                                                

                            

Happy Father's Day!

Here are some layouts of the daddy in this household............

Summertime

Since I have not been feeling creative lately, I thought I would bring out some cards I made last year. I thought they would be appropriate for the weather we are having. Hope you enjoy! Stay cool!

Do Fish Have Ears?

You'd think at my age the illness of ear infections would go away, but it seems I get at least one or two a year. I can remember having only a couple of ear infections as a child. One I remember very vividly; I was 12 years old. My mother had died the previous winter, and I was living with my dad in not the best situation. Our house had burned down a month before, and we were living in a 2-room clapboard house without running water, bathroom facilities, or adequate heat. It was January 1962. I remember having a terrible ear ache, trying to sleep in a cold room, and crying for my mother because she would have known what to do. At the age of 12 I understood that my alcoholic father was not likely to offer any help. I was a sad little girl.

By the Grace of God, my situation has greatly improved. I live in a nice house, can afford medical attention and medicines, and have a great support system. Mike takes good care of me. Yes, my ears still hurt, but my life is so much better!

Luckily for Mike, ear infections are not contagious. He has been well and able to wade a few streams attempting to trick a fish or two. Here is a layout I created using some pattern paper from my stash, some old metal embellishments, and a Jolee. I also added a card from a library's card catalog (pre-computer days for my young readers) and an actual fly. Most scrapbookers have a stash of papers, embellishments, and doodads waiting to be used....Ok, girlfriends, drag out some of your old products and give it a try!

I'm back!

Sorry I have been MIA. I have been fighting a cold all week. My friend in KY said my body is angry for how hard I worked it last weekend for the wedding. All I can say is I haven't worked that hard in years.

I like this time of year when the trees in our yard fill out and provide such awesome shade. We have been in our home for 25 years and have planted lots of trees on our 3/4 acre. A couple of the trees we bought, some Griffin brought home from school, and some Mike brought home from his excursions in the woods.

I'm off to help a friend with a heritage scrapbook she is working on. Have a good day!

Layouts for June Sassy Scrapper Kit

These layouts were created with the Graphic 45's 'A Proper Gentleman' collection which was the base for the Sassy June kit.

Congratulations and Happy Birthday!

I just returned from Kentucky where I worked harder than I have worked in several years. I planted flowers, watered flowers, washed a dog, washed lots of dishes, silverware, and glassware, shopped, baked cookies, tied bows, and made 100's of trips (downhill, uphill) from the house to 'the secret garden'.
You may remember this past weekend was 'wedding weekend' at my friend, Linda's, house. She is one of my 60 Influential People, and she had asked me to help with the wedding. I drove to KY on Thursday, and Linda and I met with the bride to discuss last minute details. Friday morning early it was as in M. Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are.....'let the wild rumpus begin'!! It was non-stop from Friday morning until Saturday night. By 10:00 Saturday night everyone was exhausted.

I will have to say all the work was worth it. The wedding site was beautiful with ferns, hostas, hydrangeas, and all the trees. The tables covered with white, yellow, and blue cloths were lovely settings for the ironstone plates, the bouquets of blue hydrangeas, yellow roses, and golden daylilies, and buckets of champagne. The guests enjoyed delicious food and fabulous music. It was an awesome wedding.

                                                              Rachelle Allen

Today is Linda's birthday. Since everyone was home for the wedding, her children planned a special birthday breakfast for her. It was the perfect way to end a special weekend. I feel so honored to be a part of the celebrations!

Uncle Palmer

Readers who have been following my blog since the beginning of 2010 know about my '60 Influential People'. My Uncle Palmer and Aunt Reba Foust are two of the 60. Here is my entry about them:

Palmer Foust, my uncle, who let me tag along with him on his farm in White Hall, Arkansas. I spent many wonderful summer hours sitting on the fender of his tractor as he plowed the fields. Sometimes we talked, but often we just plowed in silence. There was something magical about turning the soil getting it ready for seeds. I loved my Uncle Palmer so much.
Reba Foust, my aunt and Uncle Palmer's wife, made the best bread and butter pickles. She was a great cook. After plowing all morning Uncle Palmer and I would come in for dinner (Southern lunch). Dinner on the farm was a feast, but the foods I remember most are cornbread and Aunt Reba's pickles...and sweet tea.

This layout is a tribute to Uncle Palmer. I used materials from the June Sassy Scrapper kit to create it. The kit contains Graphic 45 papers, cardstock, 7 Gypsies tag, chipboard pieces, ribbon, and more.

A Treasure Found

Recently I visited one of my 60 Influential People to deliver the wedding glasses I had found while cleaning and purging. During the visit I observed my friend's granddaughters writing and drawing. Later, as I thought about the girls, I remembered a Fisher Price toy in our attic. The toy, a desk with magnetic letters and chalkboard, had belonged originally to Mary Dee's girls, Amy and Beth. As a little boy, Griffin enjoyed playing with the desk when we visited. Since her girls had outgrown the toy, Mary Dee gave it to Griffin.

Fast forward 25 years.........

I located the toy in our attic, cleaned it, and now it is ready to be returned to the original owners. There is plenty of fun still left in this toy. I know Mary Dee's grandchildren will enjoy playing with a toy that once belonged to their mothers.