Me Again, Finally!!

I didn't fall off the face of the earth....really!! I have been so busy making cards, enjoying my grandkids on March break, and living life.

I have lots of cards to show you so I have many things to put on this blog.

First, a quick update on my eye surgeries. I am having one eye done on May 25th and the other one on June 3rd. I am hopeful that I will be driving again by July. Fingers crossed that all goes well! Because of my many breathing issues (asthma and sleep apnea primarily) my surgeon can only do my eyes in an Operating Room as Day Surgery. Most healthy people here in London can have their cataracts removed in the Cataract Suite of the Ivey Eye Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital. I am glad though that all my health issues are considered and that every precaution necessary is being taken to ensure I get the best results.

So luckily for me, I am still able to do everything up close that I want to do. I am been crafting up a storm here, plus spending lots of time re-organizing my craft room in anticipation of all the new things coming in the new Idea Book and Catalogue for July 1st. I just know there will be lots of new things I will want so I have to remove older stamp sets, ribbons, paper, etc. so I have some space!! I am trying to do the one thing out, then one thing in philosophy!! Doesn't always work but I do try!!

Here are a few cards for today. If you have any questions about colours or techniques, just send me an email!

The last card is a female birthday card but the front was so pretty that I didn't want to destroy it with a "happy birthday" sentiment!

Enjoy, and I will be back soon (I promise!)

So long for now,
Chrissie

Time Marched On!!

Sorry I haven't been on my blog for a bit. I have been crafting and waiting! Waiting for what, you might ask?

I was waiting for Doctor appointments!! For those of you who may check my blog and don't know, I have to have the cataracts removed from both my eyes before I am allowed to drive the car again. Not driving has made me crazy...not that I go many places and Lewis can drive me wherever I need to go...but it is the perceived loss of independence that makes me nuts!!

So the good news is that I have an appt. with the eye specialist this Tuesday, Mar. 1st, and will hopefully get my surgery schedule at that appt. This is such a common procedure, I have discovered, but for those of you who don't know, like me, they only do one eye at a time. After the first one is done, I will hopefully have the other eye done in about 2 weeks. As cataracts only affect distance vision I have still been able to craft...Thank God!! If I couldn't craft I would be even more cranky than I already am (just ask Lewis!!)

I also have sleep apnea (diagnosed about 12 years ago) and I need a CPAP (new machine). I have been trying to get an appt with the sleep specialist for a new prescription for a new machine. This has been going on since the 2nd week of January, and I just found out Wednesday that I mave an appt for May 12th. In the meantime I have been renting a machine. Our health care system is so wasteful...I should have been able to replace my existing machine with one that worked properly and met the ON government standards right in January. But no. I had to get my family doc to refer me to the specialist and wait 5 months. However, there was no problem in me renting a newer machine. Wasteful bureaucracy!!

So now that I have these things on the schedule, I can work towards having everything all looked after before summer, if all goes well! That is freeing!! At least until the next issue comes up, and it will!!!

The other thing I have been doing that is bringing me a lot of JOY is researching my family tree. Ancestry.ca has amazing resources (just wish there was more recent census than 1911) and I have traced some of my ancesters back to Germany in the 1800's. I still have more searching to do to complete some of the newer records, like my grandparents, so I will let you know when I have everything all done. Researching family history is not only fun, it is very addictive! (The TV show "Who do you think you are?" on Friday evenings has really inspired me to find out where I came from.) ( I don't have to do Lewis' as his Dad traced back many generations (as many as 8) when he was alive so we have all that info!)

I have a pretty card to show you that I made for my daughter-in-law's birthday on Feb 13th. Brenda loves orange so I used Poppy Parade for the flower with a vintage brad in the center. The leaves were done with Old Olive. My card is almost a duplicate of the card Mary Fish (my design hero) made!
Hope you like it!

I will be back soon with more creations,
So long for now,
Chrissie

Valentine Project

Okay, so I hope this works because this was a fun project.

Thanks for stopping by,
Chrissie

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I hope you are having a fun Valentine's Day. I am just relaxing and crafting a wreath for my front door. It is so much fun being in the apartment because our front door is inside the building. I can use paper and ribbons to craft with and it won't get destroyed by the elements!

This is a picture of my front door with my Valentine craft. I used a 10" piece of 1/4" dowel to hang everything from. I wrapped the dowel with Real Red 5/8" satin ribbon and made bows with that and Pretty in Pink satin ribbon. The satin ribbons are my favourite and I love to use them on projects. I used all different red and pink cardstock and Designer Series Papers for the hearts and decorated the hearts with buttons, brads, pearls, etc. I think it looks really cute!

(Sorry I can't get the photo to upload...I will try a separate post!!)

So long for now,
Chrissie

Happy February!!!

I love February because it always seems to go so quickly for me! With Valentines Day, Family Day, my daughter-in-law, Brenda's birthday (on the 13th ), and only 28 days, it just buzzes along. March on the other hand, always seems to drag for me. I guess I start to get anxious for some spring-like weather, especially this year!

So is everybody got what they need to get through the big snowstorm coming tonight? Lewis went out yesterday and got groceries so we are all set...actually we are set for a week!!

So I decided to wait until Feb. 1st to show you more Valentines. Again I did the colour changes but used the same stamps, etc. The backgrounds are Night of Navy and Elegant Eggplant. I used those inks along with Melon Mambo (have to have pink flamingos!!) and various punches to add to this card. I used the stamp set "Valentine Defined" in the current Occasions Mini (clear 123057 for $22.95). I think this stamp set is so cute and has lots of versatility! Enjoy!!

Thanks for stopping by! I will be back soon with some new creations.

So long for now,
Chrissie

I'm Back with more Valentines...

Okay, so I got through all the dentist, doctor, etc. appointments we had this week and am taking a day off to chill!

I placed my big Sale-a-Bration order on Tuesday and it has already shipped. I will have all my new goodies by next Wednesday. Then I can make more projects with them to show you all!

These are my favourite Valentines and I think I will make one of these for my granddaughter and my mother-in-law (MIL has Alzheimers so really likes childish things. It is so sad.) I will have to think up something boyish for my grandson, Blake.

For these cards I used the Lap of Luxury DSP (item #120436 for $12.50) which contains the colours Pretty in Pink, Concord Crush, and Very Vanilla. I alternated the card bases and the DSP patterns to get a different look. Do you like the pearls around the oval. I used the medium oval from the Ovals Bigz die and cut out Watercolour paper. I stamped the little girl and coloured her with ink and a blender pen. I then used the largest pearls to place around the whole oval. It fit perfectly and added so much to the card, don't you think?

No more talking!!

I have one more set of Valentines to show you that I will post by Monday.

Have a great weekend, everyone,

So long for now,

Chrissie

More Valentines! and a Book Recommendation!!

First of all, if you like a good book with an interesting story, I recommend the book "Roses" by Leila Meacham. I read this book over the weekend and I didn't want to put it down. (I got my copy from the Library as an Ebook for my Kobo Ereader.) It is a generational book about three families over the years (no violence, and love, not sex descriptions). Just my kind of book and a great read over a cold January weekend!

I also made more Valentines this past weekend. Here are a few of my projects...

This card is a variation on the one I had on my last post. I wove 1/8" Real Red and Pretty in Pink ribbons to make the insert in the heart. I like this look!

The papers, stamps, and ribbons are the same sizes as the previous card. I changed up the colours and the border punch for a much different look!










This card uses the Love Letter DSP on a Vanilla card base. I wrapped black 1/8" ribbon over the two paper joins. I also used three different punches, along with a rhinestone on the heart and one of the new vanilla ribbon roses as an added touch. I changed the papers to give another different look but all papers are from the same DSP package. Hope you like them both!

I will be back in a few days with more Valentines! I still have some cute ones to show you!

I have a few busy days ahead with Doctor appointments, getting another perm so my hair looks better (LOL), and various errands.

I have not yet set up a class schedule as I have had a lot of health disruptions over the past couple of months and I am just trying to get back on my feet! My biggest issue was with my sleep apnea condition. I use a CPAP machine but mine has not been working well for awhile (it is over 12 years old and I use it every night!). I am trying to get caught up on some good sleep with a newer machine. Each day I feel my energy improving...which is awesome!!

I hope to bring you more cards by Thursday!!
So long for now,

Chrissie

Valentines!

Okay, so I am 2 days late!! Sorry about that!

We had a wonderful Stampin Up Quarterly meeting last night, always hosted by our amazing and fun upline, Alicia. Besides learning new things, I got re-energized about my hobby business by everyone there, especially Heather S who spoke about being a successful demonstrator!

We then had what is called a "Shoebox Swap". We each cut and prep all the supplies plus our sample card for 10 others to make our card. We then get to move 10 times to our right and get to make 10 other cards. It is such a hoot!! Plus we get some beautiful samples to use for our own classes, etc. If you have a group of stamping friends, try this idea some time...it is so much fun and you will have a bunch of different cards for your stash! I would suggest that you pick a theme (birthday, thank you, etc) or everyone use the same stamp set but make totally different cards. You will be surprised and pleased at what you get to take home! (It is along the lines of a cookie swap for those of you that bake!!)

Here is the card that I brought for 10 people to assemble...

This card uses the new Real Red glitter paper (121790...$4.95) and the Letterpress Plate ...Heart Pressed (121814...$9.95) from the new Occasions Mini. The glitter paper is sparkly but not at all messy like using real glitter is and you get 2 - 12 x 12 sheets per package. The Letterpress Plate is used in the Big Shot. I used white craft ink and applied that to the Plate and then put my paper on top. It is not really obvious in the picture but all the white hearts and circles are impressed into the paper, ie indented into the paper. It is a really cool effect!

The next card is one I made to sell...on this one I punched the heart out of a 2 3/4" square white paper and then layered Real Red 5/8" satin ribbon pieces behind it. It too is a cool effect. I will have another one to show you that is similar but not exactly the same tomorrow! The white has a layer of the Real Red glitter paper behind it which really pops on the card. The "Be Mine" heart stamp is from "Sweetheart" stamp set on page 58 of the big catalogue and the heart punch is on page 203 of the same catalogue.

I will be placing an order on Tuesday,January 25th and will be expediting the shipping so I expect the order by the next Monday at the latest. If you want to order anything...remember a $60 order before SH and taxes, gets you a free item from the Sale-a-Bration catalogue...please let me know by Monday evening the 24th! The order will be here in plenty of time for you to make your own Valentines!!

(Your order can be from any current catalogue!!)

So long for now,

Chrissie

Happy January, Everyone!!

So sorry I haven't been around to post lately but I am working on some Valentines and will have some to show you this week...hopefully by Tuesday!

I think all that Lewis and I did last year with downsizing and moving has finally caught up with me. I am not very motivated at the moment but it is coming back! I love January as a restful break after the hectic fall season, and also a time to rejuvenate!

I plan to be back with classes later in February and I would like to hold them on a Sunday afternoon for the next couple of months. That way there is no problem with parking as we can use Lerner's lots on the weekends.

I plan to get a schedule out to you all by January 24th!

Don't forget that Sale-a-Bration starts on January 25th. For every $60 you spend on product from any current catalogue (before S/H & tax), you get to choose a free item from the Sale-a Bration catalogue! It is a great deal!

I am placing an order on January 25th but you do have until March 31st to get in on this fun, free stuff!!

I will be back soon with some Valentines!

So long for now,
Chrissie

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2011!!!

Hey Everybody...

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe holiday season. We did!! The warmer weather over New Year's made it easier for everyone to get where they wanted to go, but the dampness made it hard for me to breathe. I am loving the cold weather that has returned...you, maybe not so much!!

I plan to get crafting this week again and will work on a class schedule that will take us into the spring. There are so many fun occasions to make cards for in the next few months, Valentines, St. Patricks Day, Easter, etc. along with the regular birthdays, thank yous, etc.

This is one other painting project I did before Christmas (unfortunately there is a glare off the top coat of sealer so the patterns are not totally clear). It is a cute set of 3 snowmen in different colour sweaters and different body designs. They are really cute in person!!

I will be back soon with more cards!

So long for now,

Chrissie