A Birthday Card for Ruthie!

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  My mom asked me to make a birthday card for her great granddaughter, Ruthie. I am not sure how old she will be.. I think she is in the fourth grade. Anyway, I got some great ideas from Pinterest and from Splitcoast Stampers. I gave this card my own touch, too.
   I used Stampin Up's owl punch. I think he's adorable. I used patterned paper for his vest. I didn't have a pom pom for his hat, so I used a glue dot which I dipped in glitter. I thought it looked cute, but I need little pom poms: Shopping Trip!!

   I love the balloon punch from Martha Stewart. Again I used some patterned paper from my scrap stash. Good to use up the left over pieces. Anway, I added Crystal Effects to make each balloon shiny.

   I just purchased the "Happy Birthday" stamp from A.C. Moore as part of my gift card from my son for Mother's Day. First time I have used it.  Love the look...It's from Art Expressions. The sweet little ribbon is from Tate's in Bath. It seemed to add a nice little touch here.

Inside the card

   I added balloons to the envelope to give it a birthday look.
   I found the poem for the inside of the card on a greeting card site. I thought it was perfect for Ruthie. More balloons and a little string give it a festive look.
   I hope Ruthie likes this card and has a Happy Birthday, too.

Finally Finished!!

watering

tomatoes

 Russ and I planted this past Memorial Day weekend. The raised beds are done and the plants loved the recent rains we just received. The sun is starting to shine as I type this new post. Russ did a great job with the design and construction of the beds. Hopefully, we won't have any midnight visitors looking for a meal.  It is so nice to be done with this major project. Next year won't be so tough.

Relaxation place..

   We also mulched the area in front of the potting shed. I was tired of moving the Adirondack chairs; so this worked out perfectly. I added the ladder I found at a fleamarket last year. It is perfect for potted plants and garden items.  I love the look: a little shabby chic...

The corner by the side door

  


 I also finished the cascading planter by the side door steps. You just stack pots and plant your plants in the front section. Here I have used a begonia plant at the top, an ivy in the middle, and I think a lobelia for the bottom pot.  It really did come out great. I got the idea from a pin someone pinned on Pinterest. What a great site for new ideas.

  Two of my sisters and I  got together and started working on our new found interest: Quilling. I guess its been around for awhile, but we never felt we could do it. We are all on Pinterest which was showing some amazing designs. My sister, Chris, looked into it and thought it would be a neat skill to add to our cardmaking  talents. Here are a few of our beginning shapes. We did end up with some finished designs. I thought they came out pretty darn good... if I do say so myself.

Our finished products

quilling shapes

quilling

   What would Memorial Day be without a barbecue. Here are a few pictures of our day at my sister's home. We had great fun....

Shrimp on the barbie

My cabbage salad

Family......

Yummy.. goodies

Chris's raspberry tarts

Memorial Day 2012

   I can't believe it's already Memorial weekend this weekend. Spring has been a beautiful time here in Yarmouth .  We spent a whole day going to cemeteries to place flowers. We noticed the flags that are placed next to veterans. It really makes you think about the sacrifices so many made for their country.

Dad would have liked these flowers.

   Dad was a veteran. We placed red and white flowers at his grave. It looked really nice. We lost him a little over a year ago. We all miss him terribly, but know he is with the Lord. That is a comfort to us.

Pretty in PInk!!

   The crabapple tree above our patio is blooming now and it's gorgeous. Even  though I have to sweep up the petals as they fall below onto the brick patio, I still love those pink blossoms.  I love how we can now leave windows open during the warm days and hear the birds singing as we eat breakfast. The nights are still a little chilly, but I love it. It's still a beautiful tree. It gives us shade during the hot summer months.

Get well card

     I made a get well card for our hair dresser. She has been sick the last few weeks. I hope she will be getting better soon. She is such a nice lady and awfully good to my mom.  I love making cards to try and cheer people up...

Happy Birthday, Mom..

  I used my Stampin Up embossing folder for this one. I inked up one side of the folder and then ran the paper through my Big Kick machine. It colors the paper and raised the design upat the same time.  It's really quite nice. I also used a new punch from Stampin up that I think I will using alot. I didn't want the sentiment to hide the embossing, so I stamped on acetate. The stamp is from SU's Curvy Verses. A ribbon finished the look.

   Mom celebrated a birthday this past week. We went to Bugaboo Creek for her birthday luncheon. It was a lovely time for everyone. She got many cards and well wishes.
  So you can see that this week has been a busy one. The family will get together for a Memorial Day barbecue and my sister, Rochelle's home in Falmouth. Summer is right around the corner... Maybe 80 degrees soon...

  

Mom's Day

   It's my mother's birthday coming up this Sunday.  The family is planning on getting together for a birthday luncheon at Bugaboo Creek. There will be eleven of us to wish Mom another "Happy Birthday". I made this card from a card I had pinned on Pinterest. Nendy did a great job with the directions. They  are clear and easy to follow. Check out her card here.     Nandy's Creative Corner

Mom's Birthday Card

   I used different colored paper, but essentially I cased her card. I wanted to put "Happy Birthday" on the front of the card, so I used a Spellbinder's banner die cut.
   I added bling to the corner for a little pizzaz. I used the same Cuttlebug embossing folders that Nandy used.
  I think Mom is going to love this card . She has been living with us a year come the end of July and it's been great.  It's nice to have her near to talk to and ask questions about family history. I am so thankful and blessed by her.

Mom loves to read.....

  So Happy Birthday, Mom!!  May you have many, many, many more.

Spring is Here....

Along our driveway

   The weather is starting to warm up here in the Northeast. Russ and I are out working on our raised bed gardens and putting our touch on our new home. We really are enjoying seeing all the Spring  plants coming up which we did not see last year since we moved in in July. The beautiful pink crabapple has become a favorite.
  Russ changed our screen door which opens onto the patio,so that we would get more Spring air  and light into the entry way. I really love how welcoming it looks.

Leading out to our patio.

  The lovely hanging plant we purchased from The Garden Spot in West Pownal. We have just discovered this nursery and it's wonderful. It has ten greenhouses and their prices are great. This hanging plant cost $28.00.  The white leaves shrivel up when spent and you don't have flower droppings all over the porch. Love that..

View from the dorrway

 



 We are now ready for grilling and eating. We hope to start our deck on the back of the house this summer. Not sure when we will get that started. We hope to sell our condo in Brunswick before we begin this major project. Until we do we are grilling on the patio out front. It's really a nice area anyway.
   We are still working on our raised beds. Our next step is putting mulch around the beds outside after putting screen down to keep the critters out. Hopefully I'll have pictures soon. Russ put the screen door in that leads to the raised bed area.. Looks great.

Mom on Mother's Day

   We got together at my sister, Andrea's house and had a great time. Mom opened her gift and all her cards. I love Mother's Day and really any family get together. We will be together again this Sunday 'cause it's Mom's birthday. We are meeting at Bugaboo Creek. Then next weekend we have a barbecue at my sister, Rochelle's home. I just love May... 

Mother's Day is a coming!!!

   My back is better since I have been back in my craftroom working on a Mother's Day card for Mom, and making an Accordion File Folder from Splitcoast Stampers resource pages. It really helped my back alot.

Pink for Mom....

   I got my inspiration from a card I pinned on Pinterest. I really love this new site. You get loads of ideas on so many topics that you are interested in exploring. This inspiration card is from Becca Freeken from Our Daily Bread Design.
   I used the tassel/bling strips from a sale at Tate's in Bath, Maine. The pink paper is from Stampin Up. The patterned paper is called Lemonade from Basic Grey. The stamp is in the SU stamp set called " All Holidays".
   I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to help me place the" happy mother's day" stamp correctly. I really love this tool for me because I am so bad about getting things straight.

Inside sentiment

  The inside of the card is a poem I got from a greeting card site.
   I forgot to mention that I used a Martha Stewart punch to punch out the bottom of the four strips. In Becca's card, she used a round punch on each strip.
   Due to the rain, I have had lots of time to work on another project: An accordion file folder. I got the directions from Splitcoast Stampers. It also has a video tutorial which was very helpful to me:    Accordion File Folder directions .

The front of this "book".

   It takes a bit of work 'cause you are decorating and embellishing a whole file folder. Now I did mine a little differently. I did not glue the back sides together to make a book like project. I wanted mine to open up. It's up to you which you prefer. I like both and will do a book one eventually.
   I also cut off the tabs that tend to stick out just cause I wanted a different look. It looks fine to leave them on, too. I discovered that it works better to use a file folder that has the left sided tab at the top. The directions use this file folder, too.

The inside of this accordion file folder.

 






    I used Cherry Lynn's Doily die cut in green here. This is one that I had just purchased and really wanted to use. I love the look this one give the front.
  On the inside I really had fun using stamps, bling, and some hearts. 

Really love this face stamp...

  I have made one tag to go inside. I plan on making more tags for each pocket. I used a stamp I have had for awhile but hadn't used. It's this face stamp from Rubber Stampede. I love the Tim Holtz technique which uses his inks and blending tool to rub the ink  on which softens the image. The other stamps are from Tim Holtz , too.  I got to use my Crop-a-dile tool which I don't use an awful lot lately. The eyelet at the top hold a piece of ribbon.

A tiara for our Stampin Up party

My sister, Chris, and my niece, Emma  enjoying their tiaras.

 
  I recently hosted a Stampin Up party for my sisters, niece,  and a few friends. This is just one company that we really love to buy from for our papercrafting projects. My sister, Chris, from Calla Lily Studios made a tiara for everyone.  Calla Lily Studio/tiaras   We all wore them during the party. Cathy Britton is our consultant. She did a great job. Stampin Up is coming out with new stamps and products the first of June. Can't wait.




  We are going to have a barbecue on Mother's Day at my sister, Andrea's home in Kennebunk on Sunday. We should wear our tiara's then, too. I don't think I can talk them into it, though.  We had a great time. I think my back is ready to finish up the raised bed project my husband and I have started. We finished filling the beds,so now we have to "critter proof" them. We will lay chicken wire around the outside of the beds and cover with mulch. Hopefully this will do it. I hope to have pictures of the completely finished project maybe next post....

Mom with her tiara on. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!!