Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my mom's birthday. She would be 97 but died in 1995 at the age of 76. She was not only my mother but my mentor and friend. I am so thankful I fog to know her as an adult. I'm also grateful that she got to meet my daughters - the last of her grandchildren.  My girls were 5 and 4 when she died so they have limited memories of her ( the younger one doesn't really remember her but has seem videos and photos of them together). 

My mom always considered this tier wedding picture. They did not have pictures of their wedding but this was taken a couple months later. 

Here they are many years later. This was probably 1990.  I see more and more of my mom in the mirror every year. Others often tell me I look like her and those who knew her sometimes tell me I remind them of her.  What a great compliment! She was a wonderful woman - loving and giving. Often sacrificing for her family and not minding at all. 

More cards and another recipe

I played with some more balloon shapes and arrangements this evening.  This time I used some retired card stock - Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Lucky Limeade, Not Quite Navy and Poppy Parade.

I found the easiest way to tie the strings and anchor them was to take another piece of twine and lay it under the balloon strings. Using a small piece of tape, anchor the ends below where you want to tie them.  Tie the loose piece of twine around the balloon strings and make a bow.  Remove the tape and use a mini glue dot to anchor the bow on the card front.

I added heart balloons to some for anniversary cards.  Something different.

Another anniversary card.  I used the Decorative Label punch for the tab with the sentiment.

On a couple of the cards I used a white gel pen to draw the strings for the balloons rather than using the twine. 

Made these yummy veggies for supper tonight.   Roasted Squash - zucchini, yellow squash, sweet red pepper and green onions.  Topped with basil and mozzarella cheese.

Everyone else had spaghetti with the meatballs but I put some of the sauce on the roasted squash and had my meatballs on the side.   Very good!  Didn't miss the spaghetti or the carbs :-)   The only bad thing was everyone liked the squash and there were not many leftovers.   We will definitely have this again.

Happy Balloons

I made some birthday cards today and loved making the balloons using the small oval punch and a foot from the owl punch.

Aren't they cute?  I made 65 balloons (for 13 cards) using scraps of Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Calypso Coral, Marina Mist and Wisteria Wonder. 

I had fun trying different arrangements for the balloons. 

The backgroind is embossed with the Cloudy Day folder.   

Some had Baja Breeze as the background color. 

I used some retired DSP for the bottom of the card. 

Some had Bashful Blue as the background. I have used up most of that retired paper. 

I used the candy dots to add an accent to the sentiment. 

Just can't get enough of the balloons. 

I have a couple more ideas for balloons. Can't wait to try them this week :-) 

Creating cards and a new recipe

We recently visited friends in Louisiana and they have a bluebird house in their front yard.  They have bluebirds and several beautiful eggs in the birdhouse. They have already watched one set of egg hatch and the baby birds grow and leave the nest and are excited to watch this set. 

This inspired me to make some bluebird cards when I got back home.  I cased a card I saw on another blog - but don't know whose. If it was yours, thanks! 

I used some retired DSP and chose coordinating colors for my cardstock. 

Another one 

This one got two wing tips. I punched too many so put one flat on the background card stock before gluing the bird down, then using a dimensional put the second on do just a little bit tilted from the first one.

And I was creative in the kitchen tonight. Started out with a Tuscan Chicken recipe then noticed I still had some chipotle chilis in adobo sauce in the frig so decided to make something southwestern. I used 2 chilis and it was a little hot so will probably only use 1 the next time. 

I call it Southwestern Chicken with Salsa Jam. I served it with creamy broccoli slaw (to cool off the taste buds ) and vinegar cucumbers. 

Hexagon Hive Case

In card making , when you find a card you like you CASE it (copy avd share everything).  This week I have been casing a card received from my sister for my birthday. 

I just loved the hexagon give cutout with the contrasting hexagons layered in it. And the petite flowers!   So here are my cards - 

Blushing Bride hexagon hive with Pear Pizzazz hexagons. 

Baja Blue hive with Riding Hood Red and Pear Pizzazz hexagons. A few Blushing flowers scattered around. 

Pear Pizzazz give with Baja Breeze and Island Indigo hexagons 

Pear Pizzazz hive with Blushing Bride and Riding Hood Red hexagons. 

There is no end to the possibilities. Thanks Jane for inspiring me!  

Love Love Love

Finally getting some cards made.  Starting to run low on some - especially anniversary cards. 

Also have lots of new toys to play with. 

It's kind of hard having my office in my craft room. I have to pick up the office stuff if I want to make cards and then put all the card stuff away so I can work. At least on weekends I can leave it out longer. 

 I got out some retired DSP and cut out the word 'LOVE' using my new Letter thinlits. It was so easy. I did have to save the center of the O and add it after mounting the DSP to the cardstock. 

For this one I cut the paper so the border was on the narrow edge. I layered the two pieces of DSP together and cut the letters out of both with one run through the Big Shot. 

This piece of DSP was smaller but worked perfectly with the curve layout. 

So in a matter of about 20 minutes I had 3 cards plus ...

These letters let to use on more cards. Reminds me of a Beatles song.  The letters look yellow here but that's just the way the laugh hits them. They are the orange DSP design. 

What other words would you spell on a card?