Fun day at the grocery store

I had an interesting day yesterday at the grocery store. I thought it might be a good thing to seek the advice of a dietitian since, working shifts, it's very difficult to regulate meals and eat healthy food rather than convenient food. I started seeing a girl from Nutrition Housecalls and she has been wonderfully helpful and patient (I'm sure they must absolutely hate picky eaters like me). Yesterday, we did a grocery store tour where we went up and down each aisle deciphering labels, distinguishing the good from the bad foods (pretty well anything that tastes good falls in the latter category) and finding stuff from all the food groups that I will eat.

Now to the card.....the paper on this card is from a kit I bought at Michaels' after Christmas sales. I added the flowers, stick-on pearls, rub-on, ribbon and gold frame from Making Memories. It's getting on to 2 in the morning so I'm off to bed. Thanks everyone for looking.

The countdown is on....

I'm starting to get a little stressed about how quickly Christmas is approaching and how much I still have to do. I wrapped about 30 gifts the last couple of nights, got some non-hand-made Christmas cards written and managed to get these two projects done tonight. I still have more shopping to do which means more wrapping. I do like Christmas, so I'm not complaining.....just saying it's a lot of preparation for one day. Maybe we should have Christmas week and then all the work we do beforehand might be worth it.

Anyway........this is a pretty card made with some of my favourite paper (do I say that for every card?). The little girl on the front is one of those where you layer the images....there's a name for that but I can't think of it. Probably paper layering. It's all very fiddly as some of the pieces are so minute you can hardly see them. Certainly not a hobby for a person with a very short attention span.....ME. The brads on this are by Anna Griffin, paper trim was cut with a Martha Stewart punch and ribbon and lace are from my evergrowing collection.

Afternoon Tea

A friend of mine and our mothers had a lovely afternoon tea a couple of weeks ago. This is the Glen Erin Inn in Mississauga and for $21.00 we got tea, sandwiches, scones and desserts. The atmosphere and surroundings are lovely and it's a nice way to spend a relaxing afternoon. This is actually where we had my parents' 50th Anniversary luncheon so it's always been one of our favourite spots.

Secret Santa

We are doing our Secret Santa gift exchange at work on Tuesday to enjoy along with our Christmas dinner. It seems early but it was the only day we could find where everyone is in. In order to get my gift wrapped, I had to dig all the wrapping stuff out of my locker and drag it upstairs where it will from now until December 25th remain in a disorderly heap.

This is the second card I made, using BoBunny papers, Prima flowers, Making Memories metal frame, lace, ribbon, stick-on pearls and a Merry Christmas rub-on. Lots more to do - whether I get to them is another story. Have a great week everyone!

Gearing up for Christmas

I can't believe it has been a whole month since I last posted. For the last week and a half, I have been struck down by what feels like a speeding truck but is more likely some combination of the common cold and/or flu. Suffice it to say, it has taken a bite out of me and I have done very little except to lay around and feel sorry for myself. I am still not back 100% and today was the first day I have felt a little more approaching normal. On top of the cold, the bursitis is back in my knee (Good God, could I sound any more ancient?), most likely from all the healthy walks I have been taking over the past couple of months. Apparently, if I sloth around, my knee should be fine.

Since Christmas is fast approaching, I have got busy with a couple of projects. I love this card and the traditional Christmas colours. The Jolees wreath is all sparkly and doesn't need much adorning as it pretty well stands on its own.

For years, I have gone without a Christmas tree mostly due to an unfortunate incident we had shortly after I got Kenya. That year, I had spent hours putting up the tree and trimmings, only to have a young Kenya knock it over in the space of 10 minutes sending everything scattering. This year, I finally gave in and bought a small pre-decorated, pre-lit tree that will hopefully remain upright for another month. Kenya has been an angel and sleeps peacefully for hours "under the tree". Kona just looks at it and walks away. Fine by me.

Beautiful Blossoms

A very quick post today as I am on my way out but wanted to share another project. This card is made using paper from the echo park paper company, beautiful flowers from prima (aren't ALL their flowers beautiful??), Making Memories metal frame, lace, ribbon and pearl stick-ons. As October comes to an end, I must get going with my Christmas projects not to mention move my Christmas shopping along a bit.

Well....I'm off for my walk. Will try to catch up with everyone in the not too distance future. Have a great weekend and thanks for looking.

Autumn Leaves

Just as my days off started last week, I was blessed to find myself struck down with a dreaded cold. For the past three days, I have barely made it out of bed and, worst of all, missed Thanksgiving dinner. So, it was with great determination that I willed myself to go for a nice long walk today along part of the Culham Trail which goes along the river here in town.

It was the perfect day for a walk - not too hot or cold and hardly anyone out and about. The trail is quite heavily wooded in some areas. This scares me a bit when I hear rustling as I keep expecting some large animal to leap out and attack me. The most I have seen is a skunk, a chipmunk, a small snake or a large worm, one frog and a bunch of squirrels. I'm loving this fall weather and vote that we just skip winter this year.

Paws for thought

I was asked to make a sympathy card for "Ben", a dog who recently passed away. I thought the black paw prints and sparkly bone were so cute and reminiscent of a beloved and sadly missed pet. Our animals certainly do give us "paws for thought" and become such an integral part of our lives.

65 Years Young

When I was a kid, 65 years of age was a lifetime away. As I edge ever closer to that number, it really doesn't seem that bad. What a busy few days I have had getting caught up with chores and appointments. I had a dental appointment in the city yesterday and, rather than taking the subway as I normally do from the train station, and because it was such a beautiful day, I decided to walk the I-don't-know-how-many-blocks to the dentist's office. That felt pretty good so I repeated it on the way back to the train. However, given that the shoes I was wearing were not at all meant for the long haul, my back is feeling it today. Now I know why you see people in New York City wearing proper walking shoes and carrying their office shoes.

This card is made with some beautiful K&Company floral paper, Making Memories metal frame, Prima flower, Anna Griffin satin photo corners, Melissa Frances rub-ons and some lace, ribbon and stick-on pearls. The metal frames are so versatile and really add a vintage look to the card.

Victorian Vintage

I love the look of this card - very old-fashioned, romantic and slightly shabby and worn - perfect for a wedding. The paper is all bits that I had laying about from other projects, metal frame and rub-on are both Making Memories, flowers are Prima, satin photo edges are Anna Griffin.

I'm afraid I must run as I have so many things on my plate today that I was hoping to get done before the weekend ran out. It's a beautiful day - hopefully everyone is out there enjoying!

Congrats

Fifty years together is quite the achievement and certainly deserves a special card. I used lots of frilly ribbon and lace on this, along with some black embossed and gold glitter paper. The foam numbers are EK success, rub-on Melissa Frances, flowers are Prima, and gold sparkly brads Making Memories.

Tag Card

This is a pretty tag card I made for an 80th Birthday. The ribbon and flower are Making Memories and the paper and nother embellishments are some I had from earlier projects.

My car was giving me headaches today in that it didn't want to start. I was taking a quick run up to my mother's and it took about 10 cranks to get the car to turn over. Against better judgement, off I went only to have the problem repeat once I stopped it in mom's driveway and tried to get going again. Thank God for CAA who came out relatively quickly and installed a new battery.

I cannot believe how fast these days off are going and how little it seems I have accomplsihed Tomorrow, there will be no excuses!

The British are coming.....

I had a request to make a card for a themed wedding shower where everything is going to be British. I wasn't really sure how an English shower would differ from a Canadian one so went for the obvious - the British flag. Hopefully the girl likes the card - I think it's kind of cute. The flowers are Prima, rub-on is Melissa Frances and the lace, ribbon and pearl stick-ons are from my collection of stuff and more stuff.

Happy Holidays

Yes, it's that time of year again just around the corner, if you can believe it. Last year, I vowed this year to get an early start to my Christmas projects so here I am. One down and many, many more to go.

This was a fun card to make. The embellishments are all from a card kit by Paper Magic. The paper is a mixture of imaginisce and Making Memories and the border, which you can barely see, is from a new Cricut cartridge called "Elegant Edges". I swore I was not going to buy any more cartridges as they were too expensive (Michaels carries them for $119.00 and Walmart usually just below $100). However, I was in Michaels yesterday and they had some on for $39.99 so I caved and got one.

I had planned to wash the car today but it's all stormy out there so there is no point. When the weather is nice, I forget all about washing the car and just want to sit out and relax. Guess it's an indoor day - I may have some more to share with you later.

Thanks

I think when people do something nice for me, it's important to acknowledge that something. Does anyone but me (and my friend, Sandra) even send cards or notes by mail any more or has it all gone electronic? That just seems so impersonal.....I'm just saying.

I got this pretty Pebbles paper the other day so was excited to try it out. I didn't add much because I have to send the card through the post and they sometimes don't travel well if they are too embellished. Anyway, the sentiment is there and I think it's bright enough paper that it stands on its own.

I had a lovely day today, celebrating a family birthday. Everyone is always so busy that's it nice when we can all slow down for a few hours and just be together. Unfortunately, the weather was not the most cooperative; one minute the sky would be tornado-like and the next minute bright and sunny. I'm hoping we can squeeze a few more weeks out of summer.

Birthday Joy

I'm always much better at creating feminine looking cards that I am masculine but I gave this one a stab and it turned out not too badly. The paper is Bobunny (not particularly masculine sounding), rub-on is Melissa Frances and the ribbon is Making Memories. I also hammered in some eyelets. The whole art of hammering, so I rationalized, seemed to make the card extra macho.

Thanking the vet

I took this picture of Kona a few months ago with my Ipod and thought it was perfect to put on a thank you card for his veterinarian. The brown and striped Kaisercraft paper goes perfectly with the photo then I added just a few embellishments - a rub-on, ribbon, a button and a few stick-on beads - as I didn't want to take away from the focal point. Simple but personal.

Though I had promised myself time to relax in the great outdoors, that didn't happen and it will have to wait until next week as I have a busy weekend. I have been reading a lot lately and like nothing better than to sit in the sunshine with a good book. Before you know it, summer will be gone and then I'll be moaning about my procrastination. On that note, I'm off to get some of my chores done. Have a great weekend.

Tooth Surgery

Poor Kona had to have surgery yesterday to remove three teeth. He started doing weird things with his mouth over the weekend to the point that I took him into the emergency vet on Saturday thinking he may have something caught in his mouth. They couldn't find anything but, when I took Kona to his regular vet on Monday, there were two abcessed teeth and one more with a cavity that had to come out. How the emergency vet missed that is beyond me.

So, Kona was not very happy with me yesterday and continues to give me the stink eye every time I walk by him. He was sent home with a not-very-manly pink bandage on his arm which came off very shortly after his arrival home.

50th Anniversary

We have a 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration to attend this weekend so I wanted to make a special card commemorating the milestone. Gold paper was a must and I combined it with some ivory embossed paper covered with a black swirl overlay. Finishings include black velvet ribbon, black lace, Fiskars punch for the heart border, EK Success foam numbers, Making Memories rub-on, black stick-on pearls and Making Memories flowers.

Summer has been hot and steamy but we finally got a good day of rain yesterday which the grass badly needed. I don't know why but summer seems to fly by while winter just drags on and on. Hopefully, I can get myself outside tomorrow to enjoy the warmth.

Thanks for looking!

Summer Hiatus

As my good Illinois friend points out, it appears someone has given me the summer off. I must say that was inadvertently self-imposed through sheer lack of time and a little bit of procrastination. I do apologize for my lengthy absence and though no promises, will attempt to make amends with more attention paid to my loyal blog watchers.

So....having said that.....I present to you my latest creation, a very pretty bridal shower card made with some beautiful paper from the echo park paper company. The request was for a pink and sparkly card, hence the rhinestone "Bride" and and pink accents. The sentiment is also by echo park, stick-on black pearls are from Making Memories and black ribbon from my stash.

I had a lovely day trip yesterday to Niagara Falls, hitting casinos on both the U.S. and Canadian sides and faring particularly well on the 5 cent Monopoly machine. Add to that a trip to the U.S. Walmart and it was a day in heaven. Things would have gone better had the one member of our party entrusted with bringing the GPS actually brought it though I must say Grand Island is lovely this time of year had that been within 25 miles of our intended destination. Let's just say, a 10 minute drive took us about an hour and a half factoring in all our detours. You gotta laugh, otherwise you'll cry.....

Happy weekend everyone, especially those Canadians with a holiday Monday. Talk soon.

Country Wedding

The nice thing about making your own cards is that you can personalize them to your heart's content. I had a request for a wedding card with a bride, groom, pitch fork and a tractor. That's something you're never going to find in your local Hallmark store.

I made this with some "echo park" paper, Jolees embellishments, Prima flower, Melissa Frances rub-on, some gingham ribbon, white lace and a crystal brad. Cute card for a special couple.

For You

I am such a fan of Beatriz Jennings whose blog I faithfully read each and every week. Her work is amazing and I thank her for the inspiration for this card. I picked up this Jolees birdcage in Michaels the other day and couldn't wait to use it. The paper on the card is Basic Grey, flower is Prima and the rub on is Kaiserkraft. It was such fun to make and am quite pleased with the results.

I must run as I have a thousand things to do. Happy Victoria Day to all my Canadian friends and enjoy the long weekend!

Butterflies are free

I love the butterfly on this card. It reminds me of springtime and sunny days and gentle breezes and all those good things a great spring day brings. I am trying to use up some of my paper stash which appears to be bottomless; in fact, I think it borders on the "hoarders" level. This stuff is so easily accumulated, something I must remember next time I am out and find some "must have" paper. Just say no!

Speaking of spring, it is that time of year when long-neglected chores must be addressed like cleaning the windows, truly one of my most despised tasks. It's not so much that I don't like the work but more the fact that, no matter how much I fiddle, the windows still have streaks. I'm sure there's some sort of trick to it but, for the life of me, I can't figure it out.

Rain, rain go away.....

It's been raining straight here for about 2 weeks now with a day or two of sun in between. It's also been quite chilly so it's certainly not enjoyable being outside. This card reminded me of bright sunshine and what I would like to see when I look out the window.

After two days of watching every Royal Wedding programme I could find on the dial, I decided it was time to do something else so I made a pretty birthday card. The black paper is embossed and is the perfect contrast to the yellow floral. I added some white lace, black and white gingham ribbon, some black rhinestone embellishments, a matching yellow flower and some rub-ons. I had to make a quick trip out for some thread as I played the thread-the-sewing-machine game again today for half an hour before I decided I just needed some thinner thread. That did the trick.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!