Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas

This is wishing you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS... filled with lots of love, fun and laughter.

We had a great time yesterday with family and friends. I roasted a turkey and was in charge of the veggies... I decided to try something new for both and they turned out great... everyone loved it.We had lots of good food, snacks, played games and of course opened our presents to each other.

Today, we head over to our daughters to spend the day with them and the little munchkins... it will be fun to watch them play and have fun... kids are always on an adrenaline 'high' on Christmas.

May God bless you with a glorious day and all through the next year.
Hugs, Karen

Monday, December 19, 2011

Happy Monday

Hard to believe that it is almost Christmas... oh my, how time flies. I have been busy doing all the pre Christmas activities and enjoying it. Presents are all bought and wrapped, house decorated.

Now I am working on Christmas cookies. I have found some new ones that I am trying out, including sugar free ones for my hubby. Had to laugh, my first sugar free cookies turned out like hard hockey pucks but this last batch of a different cookie has turned out much better except that they want to crumble easily. I think it must have some to do with the sugar substitute for it is much dryer than usual sugars.

Hate to say that I did not make many of my Christmas cards this year. I just could not get my mojo going in time.  I do have plans for this next year and so I hope to be all ready much earlier.

Well, much to do but wanted to pop in to say 'Hi' to everyone. Hope you are all having a very merry Christmas holiday season so far.

Hugs
Karen

Friday, November 18, 2011

Stay warm

Hope this finds everyone warm, happy and healthy.

Not sure about where you are but is starting to get much colder here.... not really ready for winter weather but it was bound to come our way. Of course we do not have it near as bad as others in the US.

Well I am excited for the weekend... this Sunday will be my dear husbands '65th' birthday... not that he wants to be reminded of that, LOL. We are going to my sisters for a little lunch and get together, should be fun. He is one of those people that when you ask him what he would like as a present... absolutely nothing comes to mind so needless to say, he is hard to find the right gift.

I know it is before Thanksgiving but I have been enjoying listening to Christmas music.... there is something inspirational about them and they make me smile.

So have all my crafting friends been busy making Christmas cards... if so, I would love to see them... need some inspiration. Just leave a comment and I will check them out.

Well it is time to head to bed, a big day tomorrow.

Hugs
Karen

Friday, November 11, 2011

Happy Friday

I hope this finds everyone healthy and happy.

I am on a mission to improve my health and it will be a difficult one for I am not good at developing consistent exercise. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.
I have ordered a juicer and will integrate a lot more vegetables and fruits into my daily diet. Plus I plan to reduce my meat intake to a very low amount and increase more beans instead... then there is the challenge of cutting down on breads or the high level carbs. I do not plan to go full vegetarian but closer... I just want to be healthier.

Is everyone getting ready for Thanksgiving? Hard to believe that it is almost here...time goes way too fast.

This is a short post... just wanted to let you know I am still alive.

May God bless you all.
Love
Karen

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Sleep Study

Greetings on this fine cool but damp Saturday.

Have any of you ever have a sleep study done? My doctor ordered one for me and I will have to say, that was quite an experiment. I read the data they sent and it described a little on what they will be doing and that it was an overnight stay at the hospital. Now I decided to bring my 'cool' looking pajamas that has little blue flowers on yellow (lol), not a real fashion statement but comfortable.
The process started by the tech attaching two monitor patches on the inside of each of my lower legs which I had to put down through my pants. Then they put two straps around me, one around my waist and one around by chest. They attached more monitors to my chest and neck. Then came the fun part, they attached with some gummy glue, a bunch of little wires to my head  and used some tape to the side of my face so they would not get in the way. Then finally was one of those air breathing tubes that usually provides you oxygen but this one actually reads data instead.  I just HAD to look in the mirror and I kid you not, I looked like some experiment. Were they nuts, how could anyone sleep with all that stuff on but the tech said that most usually gets used to it. They also fitted me for the PBAP mask in case it was needed during the night - it felt rather odd as long as you do not talk. I asked the tech where the clock was but they said there isn't one for they do not want us looking at any clock, including watches during the night.
So I took my normal evening meds which helps me relax and get sleepy... then I read for awhile. I wasn't really sleepy yet but decided that I would try anyways. They turned the lights off and said we have to do a few alignment tests to make sure everything is hooked up right. So first I lift one leg and move it, then the other, did a few other various things and the last one was to snore three times.... I had to laugh and said 'are you serious', he said yes so I made the snoring sounds but was laughing afterwards, seemed so silly.
Oh, how I tried to sleep.... I laid there for what seemed like hours and I think I finally fell asleep but then I would wake up again, my back hurting from the bed and then it took forever to get back to sleep.... my mind just did not want to shut down. By the time morning came (with one potty break during the night), I asked the tech whether I even slept enough for the tests and I guess I did.
I have an appt to go over the results with my doctor and am curious to find out what she says.

**********************
Can you believe that it is already October... oh my, how time is just flying by. I pulled out some of my Christmas stamps and papers and have been playing around with some simple card designs... I will post one when I get them done.

Hope you all have a great weekend.
Until next time.
Karen

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Happy Sunday

Well yet again, I have let too much time pass my by and have not posted anything on my blog.

Let's see, what has been happening.
This has been a busy summer and I did a lot of yard work. Of course it never ends for it will not be long before the leaves start to fall, actually they are already starting.

This has been the year for everything to break down... my goodness, we have had to replace our furnace (actually that was at the end of last year), our water heater, had two rounds of major plumbing done, irrigation repair (I think we may have more for next year), plus a few other things... it seemed like it was never going to end. Of course that put a nasty dent in our retirement but it comes with owning a home.

Lately, we have been trying to get our grass back into shape by thatching, adding lime and re-seeding. The first round of seeds did not do as well as expected so we just put another round of seed down and will hope for the best.... may need to do it again next spring.

My hubby's seizures have not improved, I was sure hoping this new trial medication would be the answer but it has only helped the seizures to be not as intense... which is a good thing too. I thank the Lord that he wears his helmet around the house/yard for he has fallen many times and it has saved him many head injuries. Now he has had injuries to his ribs.... sometimes I feel like I would like him to wear patted gear but I know that would be going too far... LOL. I praise the Lord that it is not more serious which it could be.

My kids and family are doing great.... 3 of the grandchildren are in school and they seem to enjoy it. The oldest granddaughter called us about a couple weeks ago to let us know that her first tooth fell out during school, she was SO excited and so she had to tell everyone - so cute.

I will have to admit that I have not touched my craft room all summer. I know that I need to get myself back in there and start creating again. I have been thinking and browsing the blogs, looking for simple, yet nice looking designs to make Christmas cards. I had better get that started or I will never complete them. Since most of them will be mailed out, I will have to keep the accents flat.

I have been reading a LOT lately. My sister and I both love to read and she cannot go into the library without help so I wheel her in when I go every 3 weeks so we can get new books, etc. It has been fun and will continue to do this. I find reading relaxing and enjoy the stories... for me, I love mysteries or fiction stories that have a lot of intrigue and fast paced action.

Time to sign off but will be back later.
Hugs
Karen

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Lavender Bouquet

Hope everyone is having a great start to a wonderful weekend.  At last, we are having a nice sunny day, although I am grateful that we are not among those were are being hit hard with the heat blast.... my heart and thoughts go out to each of you - find someway to stay cool and safe.

My son is taking a 2 week class in Washington and has popped down for a visit this weekend. This is a real treat for us since they live in Hawaii and we do not see him much. We are planning to spend the day at our daughters farm and it should be a lot of fun... more on that later.

I would like to share with you a card that my sister made. It is so pretty with the soft greens and lavenders. I hope you enjoy this delightful Tilda.



Have a great day
Karen

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Rainy Sunday & Beach Trip

Hello everyone.
Can you believe it, we are halfway through July and we are still getting rain - where is our SUMMER !!! Mother Nature is flirting with us by giving us one or two days of nice weather and then 'wham', we are back to our cloudy and sometimes wet days. Although I will say that it is not really cold outside, it just makes it more muggy which I do not like.

How is your summer going so far? I am doing well and we took a fun trip to the beach, oh it was so nice to smell the ocean air and listen to the waves - how relaxing. One of my favorite stops was at Cooks Chasm, located south of Newport. It was along a rocky section of coastline and you could hear and see the waves crashing up against the rocks. It even had little cave areas where the waves would crash into them and cause a geyser. Here are a couple pictures for you to enjoy. This first one was taken at a park (forgot the name of it) way up on top of the hills which gave a perfect picture of Cooks Chasm below.





Earlier in the day, we were at Newport and walked along the waterfront. They have a lot of shops and other activities to do. We especially enjoyed the art galleries, oh so many beautiful things. Here is a couple pictures of my hubby 'Doug' with my sister 'Doreen' and the other picture is of me with my sister. The weather was sunny but cool and breezy. The last picture is of the Yaquina Bay bridge in Newport.




I am looking forward to another beach trip soon.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy weekend.
Hugs, Karen

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Sunny Days

Happy Saturday everyone.

I have been silent for quite some time, so many other things that have taken priority. I have a busy summer schedule, both with fun trips and needed projects around the home. I had a feeling that this would happen since we only usually get about 3 months of nice weather a year and that draws me outside most of the time.

My hubby was lucky and had a stretch of 5 weeks without a seizure - Praise God!! But he is back to his old pattern of every 1 - 2 weeks. This past weekend, he had a run of them (4 seizures) and the extra medicine did not work so I had to call his doctor for advise. He told me what he wanted me to do and that seemed to stop them.

Even though I have not been making any cards lately, my sister has and I will be sharing with you some of her creations. This first one reminds me of my mom... she loved to collect frogs (not real ones) and they used to be hard to find. Now I find them everywhere and they are so cute. I know she is in heaven having a blast creating all these wonderful frogs for our enjoyment.


I do not have the stats on what she used but I thought you would enjoy seeing them. She is wanting to start a blog of her own but until then, I will share with you her creations and mine when I can get myself back into my craft room.

Have a blessed weekend.
Karen

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Happy Birthday to Me

We are having very nice weather this weekend.... oh how I am soaking up the sun before it goes away for a few days.

Well today is my birthday... not that I want to be a year older but I really do not mind. We do not have any definite plans... we will be getting a web cam call from our son and family, which is fun... then I think we may go buy a few flowers to plant in the yard.

Yesterday I had a really fun day... my sister planned a birthday party at her place and we all played Mexican Train, ate pie and of course - presents. We had a lot of laughs and fun.

Well I am off to play a little of my 'addictive' facebook games and clean house.



Have a wonderful day and stay safe!!

I leave you with a picture of one of our cats... her name is Abby. Very sweet and energetic, she can jump high and has the longest stretch I have ever seen on a cat.
Hugs
Karen

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Challenges in Life

Hello everyone.

Have you ever struggled with getting up as tired as you were when you went to bed and not feeling like you could tackle the world or even get excited about doing what you had planned. Well that is what has happened to me.. I have felt this coming on for quite some time.

Lately, I have noticed that it has been getting worse for I have a hard time getting myself motivated to do anything, including the things I love. I went to see my doctor and she confirmed that I am depressed.

With the very long extended crummy spring weather, we have not had any sun to help perk my spirits and with caring for my husband, it all has taken a toll on me. She gave me a presciption for some meds to help, which I just started taking so I am looking forward to feeling better in the next couple weeks.

That is why you have not seen any new craft projects, just could not get myself motivated but I am hoping that I will be back to my old self again soon and crafting.

I appreciate all of you that has stopped by to check my blog. I will return.....

I hope you like this cow, I thought he was just too cute.   :-))

Hugs
Karen

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Swirls and Flowers

Happy Wednesday everyone !!! 

I do not know about where you live but where I live, it just seems like spring is having a hard time coming out of hybernation. I do take advantage of any days nature provides so I can get some yard projects done. Oh so much to do and so little time.

I have an easel card to share with you today. I made it in a nice sunny yellow to bring in a little sunshine at least on paper. I mixed in some purple... I love these colors together. You cannot see from the picture but the swirls are punched out of a shimmery cards stock. I found a small flower and it fit perfectly in the center of a flower on my designer paper.



Supplies
CS & DP - DCWV
Image - SU
Sentiment - Hero Arts
Dies - Spellbinder
Punch - EK Success & Martha Stewart
Flowers - Silk & Prima
Others - Rhinestones, brads and beaded spray

Thats about it for this one, I hope you like it.
Until next time...
Have a great day.
Hugs, Karen

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Calm Before the Storm

Happy Wednesday everyone. I hope that this finds you all well and happy.

Yesterday, we decided to clean up the patio, it had items that should have been put away last fall (I suppose that is part of my lazy side...lol) and just a few misc trashy items... oh where do they come from...lol.
Then we cleared everything off and used the blower and then the power washer to really clean the patio.. oh my, it was a lot dirtier than I thought but it looks so nice now. So now everything is in it's place and awaiting the finishing touches which will be pots of flowers that I will plant later this month when I KNOW that the weather is cooperating with us.

Today, we (my sister, friend, hubby and I) took a lovely drive around the various neighborhoods (especially the larger expensive homes) to get ideas of what plants they used and how they looked after they have matured. We need to replace a few of our shrubs for they have or are dieing. I think we have some in mind and will do some on line research to decide which ones we will get. We also went to a LARGE nursery that we have always wanted to go to and they had just about any type of plant you would want.... oh so cool. We will go back there again soon. We drove to a nice park to eat our brown bag lunches and enjoyed watching the people and kids playing.

After we were home, I mowed the lawn since it was the day before our lawn recycle day and before it is suppose to rain again. While I was pulling weeds, my hubby was edging and then decided to use the blower to tidy up a few areas.... while doing this, he had a seizure. I am so thankful that he wears his helmet for he did hit his head on the curb and it could have been so much worse. After he came out of the seizure, I helped him into the house to sit and rest. Unfortueatly he has had three more since then.... he had low blood sugar and so we tried to balance that but after dinner, it shot way too high and I had to give him insulin to balance it yet again. By his normal bedtime, his blood was looking better but I have had to give him two doses of this special medicine. Now I pray that the seizures will stop and he will be able to rest during the night. We were going to do some errands tomorrow but looks like we will be staying home so he can rest... seizures take a LOT out of a person.

Well I will sign off for now. Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs from the Pacific Northwest.
Karen

Monday, May 2, 2011

Tilda with Peach

Happy Monday everyone... at least here it still is for a little longer. I hope this finds everyone happy and well. We are FINALLY starting to get some normal spring weather and have been taking advantage of it. We had been so cooped up for so long, I enjoy to get more fresh air and be outside.

I apologize for not sending a post sooner, been busy doing other things. I have completed a card that I want  to share with you. I colored up this Tilda image and liked how the colors blended together but struggled at finding the right papers to compliment her. I punched out some leaves and put them together to create the look of tree branches, a perfect combination for Tilda who is picking some peaches. I colored a white little flower to better accent the card.



Supplies
Image - Tilda picking peaches from Magnolia
Sentiment - Dream Impressions
Card Stock & Designer Paper - from Stampin Up
Flowers - from Prima
Punches - Leaves (Martha Stewart), Corners (EK Success), Circle Dies (Spellbinder)
Ribbon and Pearl to finish it off.

I hope you like her and would love to read your comments.

I will try to get a new card posted at least once a week unless something requires my attention. As I had mentioned in an earlier posting, my husband has epilepsy and it can be challenging for they (doctors) have not been able to find anything to control them. He struggles with multiple seizures every 1-2 weeks and I need to keep an eye on him and help as needed. It can be stressful for his congnitive abilities are continueing to decline. I am not complaining, just stating a fact that affects my daily life.

Hugs,
Karen

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter & Conner's Birthday

HAPPY EASTER to everyone !!!

What a truly BLESSED day and my heart is filled with joy to know that our Lord gave His life to save mine and all of yours too. I do hope that you will take a little time to reflect on how much He sacrificed during His life and at that final hour to save each and everyone of us.

To my followers.... I apologize for not posting anything for awhile - we managed to get about 4 'rare' days of dry sunny weather and so had to take advantage of that and do some much needed yard work. Due to these activities, I strained my back so now I am also struggling with back pain, it can really get me down.
I have been coloring up some images and eager to start making a card so you will see one soon.

Meanwhile, I thought that I would share with you some pictures of my grandson's (Conner) birthday. He is such a cutie.... I just LOVE his freckles which are a little hard to see in the pictures. My favorite is the one with his new baseball cap on. I also have a few of my new granddaughter 'Faith' and another of my oldest granddaughter 'Isabella' with her mom.




This is Conner with his new baseball cap on and he looks really nice in his plaid flannel shirt.









This is Conner, contemplating whether he is in the mood to eat his lunch or go outside to play.










This is Isabella and a friend being silly during lunch.... when kids see a camera, then they feel a need to 'pose'.











This is Isabella and her mom showing her how to use their new baseball bat/ball and tee. I am sure they will get a lot of use out of this.










This is Faith with a neighbor friend holding her... while grandpa is making faces at her to get her to smile and we caught one - oh so cute.









This is the creek that runs by the house and through their property. It looks so pretty but right now, it is deeper and runs faster due to all the rain we have been getting. This picture was actually taken from 'inside' the house.





Hope you enjoyed these pictures and I will go spend some time today making a new card for everyone.
Until then,
God Bless you ALL
Karen

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Edwin with Butterflies

Happy Saturday everyone.

It is hard to believe that it is taking me so long to send you another post. I was working on a card but was not done with it and so I wrote a different post... I guess it was not meant to be for by the time that I was just about done, the system went down. I was NOT going to start over. Has that ever happened to you??

Anyways, I have been working on a birthday card for my grandson for the past few days. I kept changing my mind on what I wanted to do but in the end, I feel it has turned out pretty well. It reminds me of him, since he is 5 years and love to run and play on the farm.

I made it 3D so that it looks like he is running in a field of grass and flowers, chasing butterflies. I inked around the edges of the wings and put a little glitter on the wings of the butterflies so that they stand out a bit more. I inked and cut out three layers of grasses and used pop dots so that they stand out, also had to use pop dots on Edwin.







Challenges:
Midnight Madness MMSC99
Papertake Weekly - Truely Dimensional
Cute Card Thursday - Weathered Inspired #160
Just Magnolia - Happy Birthday #102

Supplies:
CS - Stampin Up
DP - Basic Grey
Image - Edwin (do not know name) from Magnolia
Sentiment - Stampin Up
Grass images - Onyx Expressions
Punches - Leaves by Martha Stewart, Swirls by EK Success, Butterflies by Cutting Edge and Scallop circle die by Spellbinders
Flower by Prima
Others - brads, glitter glue, Prismacolor color pencils, CTMH ink pads.

I hope you enjoyed this one... it sure took me a long to time to complete.
I would love to read your comments.... until next time.

Hugs, Karen

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Tilda with Roses & Sketch n Stash

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Yea!!!! We are getting a very welcome dry spell, I was even able to get out and mow the lawn. Although the rain is due back tomorrow.

I have a big PRAISE to share with you all. My son in law struggles with severe back pain due to his disinegrating discs in his lower back. He is not able to work, it is challenging enough to keep up with farm activities and the kids while my daughter is at work. Today he had his disability hearing with the judge and it was approved... Praise God!!! This has answered many, many prayers. The next struggle will be surgery, they really want to have the disc replacement surgery but the insurance companies will not cover it... the only other option is disc fusion but this will cause him to have limited mobility. They are not sure just how much longer he can wait but God will guide them to the next step.

Today we went out to pick up a birthday gift for our grandson who will be '5 years' tomorrow. They have a large creek that runs through there farm and so we bought him his first fishing pole. I cannot wait to see him use it, the only challenge I see is whether he will have the patience to wait for the fish to bite - time will tell. His party is this coming Sunday, so I will have some birthday pictures for you next week.

                                             *************************************

Onto my card... I have been playing around with my colored pencils with a blending pen. It actually turned out really well.... the picture does not give it justice at all. The layout is from Sketch n Stash, stop over there to see all the great cards the DT made. I made the corner designs using a corner punch and snipped them out and layered to help them stand out. I used the same punch accent poking out from the sentiment. I used flowers, leaf punch and a teeny, tiny butterfly to finish it off.



Here is a close up of Tilda but it still did not bring out the true colors and details on Tilda.



Supplies:
Image - 'Tilda with Curls' from Magnolia
Sentiment - Unknown
DP - DCWV
Punches - Corner Swirls by  EK Success, Butterfly by Cutting Edge, Branches by Martha Stewart, Image cut out with Spellbinder die.
Others - Prima flowers, brads

Hope you enjoyed stopping by and would love to hear your comments.

Blessings
Karen

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Bunny and Soccer

Happy Sunday everyone. I tried to put together a post a couple days ago but for some reason, the program would not let me download any pictures... well I did not want to publish the post with out the picture so I just deleted it and decided that I would try later. Just hate when that happens....

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. We had a great time yesterday watching our grandkids 'first' soccer game. The oldest is in first grade and really enjoyed herself. Her father is the coach and the main goal 'at this early age' is to learn to work together as a team and have fun. It was pretty cold out and the ground was wet and muddy but that is normal for soccer games. I remember when I took our kids to there games, so much fun. At this age, they are fun to watch since they are 'all feet'. Here are a couple of pictures of there game, Isabella is the one in the middle with her leg in the air just after a kick.


This is Isabella with her littler sister 'Faith'.  









This is our newest grandchild 'Faith', who is all bundled up since it was pretty nippy outside. Oh so cute.








Hope you enjoyed those pictures of my grandkids. I did not manage to get a one of my grandson for he was too busy playing over on the playground. He was on another team but when it came time to actually go out to play, he could not do it. He started to cry, took off his shirt and took off... so they will try to see if he wants to play on Isabella's team next week. He is only 5 and struggles with social scenarios.


Now I have a card to share with you. I colored this little bunny up so it is bright and sunny and decided that I wanted to keep that bright and cheery feeling throughout the card. I decided that I wanted to keep the card a clean and simple design and even though I could have added a lot more bling, I decided against it.



I hope you like it and would love to hear your comments.


My God Bless You
Karen

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Tilda with Bird in Cage & Blog Candy Offer

Today, I thought I would spend some much needed time doing housework... I know, BORING!! After the floors were mopped and a nice coat of 'Mop n Glow' was used, they looked so much better. Well as better as they can since they desparately need to be replaced.

After my chores were done, I was going to go into my craft room but then decided to spend time blog hopping. Oh it is so much fun to look through all the wonderful blogs and get inspiration with all the fabulous cards. So many ideas and so little time... as the saying goes.

I have a card I made yesterday, it is Tilda all in green and purple. I like that color combo and I try to challenge myself to use only the papers and supplies I have and I found one that I liked. Have you ever bought some papers that you fell in love with and when you go to use it, you cannot find a complimentary papers to go with it... that is something I tend to run into many times. So I decide to stick with a solid with this one. I made a ribbon circle and put a flower in the middle to add design and texture. This one was pretty simple to put together using some ribbon, flowers and pearls to finish it off.



* * * *  CANDY  * * * * * *
Now to let you know about some awesome blog candy over on Tracy's Stamping Corner. It contains all kinds of wonderful items. Please swing on over to her blog and check out her lovely cards and sign up for the candy. I have it posted on my side board for quick reference.

I hope that you enjoyed your visit today... I would love to hear from you.
Blessings
Karen

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Easter Bunny Carrots

Happy Tuesday everyone. Today I had a fun day for my sister came over and we spent the day being creative on our paper crafts. I could not think of a better way to spend the day.

I used a different light source to take my pictures. It appeared to provide better lighting but I am still struggling with pulling out the acurate colors using my photo s/w program. I guess I need to spend more time playing around with it.... if anyone has any tricks to share, I would love to hear your input.

This card I made for a Penny Black challenge. I love all the fabulous images that Penny Black has but my favorites are the adorable animals but then I tend to lean towards anything 'cutsy'. I had fun making my own flowers which is the challenge over on Our Creative Corner. The butterflies are actually prettier than they are in the picture, they have glitter around the edges and the body are beads. The additional accents of swirls, ribbon and leaves, it finishes off the card.



I am submitting this to these challenges:
Penny Black Challenge 145 - follow sketch
Our Creative Corner - Girl Power - Handmade Flower - ribbon - bling
The Secret Crafters Saturday Challenge 128 - Butterflies

The supplies:
CS & DP - Stampin Up
Image - Penny Black
Senitment - Peddlers Pack
Punches - Leaf and Butterfly (Martha Stewart), Swirls (EK Success)
Die -Spellbinder Scallop Oval
Others - Brads, Glitter Glue, Beads, Ribbons

I am glad that you dropped by, I would love to hear from you.
Have a wonderful Blessed Day
Karen

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Springtime Tilda

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope that you are having a wonderful day. It is still cool and wet here and the forcast does not sound like it will be improving anytime soon.

Since it is determined to be cloudy outside, I decided to make a bright and cheery card. It came together fairly quickly. I used bright background paper and colored Tilda to match. I used a silk white flower and put it under the small roses to add a little extra deminsion. I also added some netting behind a spray of white flower buds so it would stand out a bit more. I added some glitter glue to the outside edges of the small white circle and larger white doily - it gave it that litte extra 'pop'. From there, a little ribbon and pearls finish it off.

I am submitting it on the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew - Child
Charisma Cardz Challenge - Bling & Sparkle
Stampin for the Weekend - Mum
Allsorts Challenge Blog - Blooming Blossoms
Paper Sundaes - Spring Blossoms


Supplies:
CS - Stampin Up
DP - DCWV
Image - Tilda (Magnolia)
Die - Spellbinder Tulip
Flowers - Lg (Prima), Sm (Recollections), Sm white silk and buds.
Others - ribbon, pearls, netting, doily and glitter glue.
Prismacolor Markers (Copic equivilent) for Tilda

The picture did not turn out as well as I would have liked. I need to find a way to create better lighting but I hope you will be able to see it ok.

I am glad that you dropped by and I appreciate your comments.
Blessings
Karen

Friday, April 1, 2011

Blowing in the Wind & some CANDY!

April Fools Day!!! Did you have a fun day today... I sure hope so. Can you believe another month has passed and we are already in April.

I want to share a card I made but I did not edit the picture correctly and so it turned out too small... so sorry for that. I had fun making it, as I do all cards. The image and sentiment is from Stampin Up, Spellbinder scallop oval dies and a border die as well. A touch of trim lace and that is it... oh, I color with Prismacolor Markers.


I want to share with you some AWESOME blog candy from Jacque's Joie De Vivre. See my sidebar for a link to the candy,  hurry and sign up for it ends April 4th. A big thanks to Jacque for offering this to us.

Well that is all for now...
Have a great evening/day or whatever it is in your neck of the woods.
Blessings
Karen

Epilepsy

Hard to believe that another week has slipped by. I am looking forward to the weekend and plan to spend some time in my craft room. I have been looking through all the different amazing challenges that are out there... now to decide which ones I will tackle.

Do you have a loved one or friend who suffers from epilepsy? I do, my husband has epilepsy and he has had it since he was little.. They were somewhat controlled for many years until about 12 years ago where they started getting more frequent and the petite mals turned to partial and gran mals. He was laid off work and the seizures has affected his congitive abilities which along with his seizures, he can no longer work.

From that moment on, I knew that my role was changing to be his caregiver. I was trying to check in with him while I worked but had to either go home or stay home when he was having seizures. I luckily had a great and understanding boss and was able to work from home.

He was starting to have more gran mals and he would end up in the hosptial several times a year. This was stressful for both of us for I could not give him the attention that he really needed.  About 3 years ago, I was laid off and it actually was the best thing for both of us.... for now I am his caregiver. Even though he will get a cluster of seizures every one to three weeks, they are all partials for I am there to help him and so far, he no longer gets the gran mals.

He see's an epileptic specialist and he has tried everything in the books (literally). He even had a VNS (vagular nerve stimulator) implant and while it helps most people, it did pretty much nothing for him. He was tested to see if he was a candidate for brain surgery but again, they could not identify the precise spot where they occur which is required for this type of surgery. He has tried all the different medicines on the market and while some seem to help 'slightly', none have been able to stop the seizures. Now he is on a trial medicine program and we were so hopeful that it would see signicant improvements but yet again, there is not much change. We even took him up to the Seattle Epileptic Clinic for a second opinion but in the end, the diagnosis was the same. This gave us even more confidence in the specialist that he has.

So what now..... I try to make adjustments as he runs into potentially dangerous situations. Like a shower bench and handheld shower in the tub, he wears a helmet now since he has had a few head injuries while falling during a seizure and others. Even though I really should be working due to financial constriants, I cannot and I look to God for strength and encouragement for He will provide. Here are a few of the scriptures that can help....

John 14:27   Peace I leave to you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.

Mark 9:23  Jesus said to him, :If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."

I John 5 14:15  Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the peitions that we have asked of Him.

There are many more that I will share later...

If you are unfamiliar with epilespy, I encourage you to visit these sites. Many people do not understand that there are over 3 million people who suffer from epilepsy and the number is growing by about 200,000 each year.
http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/
http://www.epilepsy.com/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/epilepsy/DS00342

Well that is all for today, I would love to hear your comments, words of encouragement, your stories and struggles with epilespy.

God Bless
Karen

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Deer in the Woods

Hi everyone... I was surprised that over a week has already gone by since I wrote my last post. My, where does the time go??

I struggle with neck/back pain and when it gets the best of me, I get headaches. Then after a visit to the Chiropractor, I am good to go for awhile. I am still having pain in my shoulder but I am starting to think I may be getting arthritis - do you think that is a sign of getting older.... nay!! Not Me......

I have made some cards and wanted to share with you one that I made with a masculine theme. The image is from Our Daily Bread and colored it with chalks so I could create a soft look... hard to see that in the photo. I used a corner punch and punched a small scallop circle and cut them to fit over the corners. I also used some Spellbinders dies to create a layered design. Of course I love to use pearls and ribbon.



I made a mistake when I was touching up the photo and it ended up too small. Unfortuneatly, I cannot fix it but at least you can still see it.... LOL

Wishing you all the best
Karen

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Twinkle Toes

Happy Tuesday to everyone.

I have been working on this card for a couple days... just struggled with what papers to use, etc but I think it turned out pretty well. I had fun following the Friday Sketchers 146 challenge, what a wonderful sketch. I loved all of the DT's inspiration. I am also entering this card on A Spoonful of Sugar challenge 144 where we needed to use ribbon, pearls/rhinestones and flowers.

I used Radiant Pearls on the butterflies and larger green accent which adds a nice shimmer. I added glitter glue on the edges of the butterflies, small flowers and around the sentiment to add some shinny accents.
I know that most everyone uses Copic markers but due the higher prices, I chose to use Prismacolor markers. The advantage of Copic's is that they have more colors to pick from.



The recipe for this card:
CS - Stampin Up
Paper - floral (unknown), all others DCWV
Flowers - Lg (Prima), sm (unknown)
Punch - Butterfly (Martha Stewart), Scallop circle (Stampin Up)
Image - Pink Toes (Penny Black)
Sentiment - made on my computer
Others: pearls, ribbon, glitter glue, Radiant Pearls & Prismacolor markers

I still have not perfected being able to take a good picture of my cards. Any hints you can share would be helpful.

I would love to hear from you so please send me a comment.

Have a great day
Blessings
Karen

Friday, March 18, 2011

Gecko Magic

I bet many of you are glad that it is Friday... for me, being retired, one day seems to run into the next and at times I seem to forget just what day it is... hmmm, it could be my age too.

I went to use the printer and I ran out of ink - YIKES!!! I am amazed at how depenent we are on our computer, printer, camera, etc. So off I went to go buy a replacement at Best Buy and right next door is Michaels... well I just could not pass up the chance to go take a looksy at what they had. I can ALWAYS find something to buy... this time, I picked up a butterfly Martha Stewart punch (used my 40% coupon) and then some accent pearls and small paper flower roses.

Today, I have a card I made for the Stamptacular Sunday challenge 102. I had to do some thinking on what  image I wanted to use to make this card and found a stamp that I have not used in a long time.



Recipe for this card:
CS & Papers - Stampin Up
Image - Stamp a Mania
Sentiment - verse I created on my computer
Punch - Martha Stewart & Fiskars
Decorative Scissors - pinking
Lg Flower - Prina
Sm Flowers - unknown
Pearls, silk flowers

Hope you like this one. Please drop a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Blessings
Karen

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sunshine & Laughter

Hope this finds you all well and happy. Today was a low key day and I just puttered around the house.

Also, today is my grandson's 6th birthday, they live in Hawaii so we were not able to join in on the festivities but we were able to have a web cam visit this past weekend and watch him open his present from us... oh what fun. I thank the good Lord for web cams, we are able to keep in touch and the grandkids get to know us too.

Meanwhile, I did finish this card for this weeks Mojo Monday challenge 182. I love what the DT members did, they are all so very talented.



This was a great layout and I had fun doing this project.
The recipe is super simple.
CS - Stampin Up
Paper - DCWV
Sentiment - DOTS (DOTS was the name before Close to My Heart)

I finally was able to get my photo s/w program working... yea!! So now I have a watermark on my card.

Until next time,
Blessings
Karen

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Birthday Wishes

Hope everyone is having a great day... hard to believe it is already half way through the week.

The irrigation company came by today to get our irrigation going again for the year... oh my, luckily we can turn it off for now, for we have been getting so much rain and it is extremely soggy out there. Oh where is the sun????

Today I wanted to share with you a card I made that I will submit for two different challenges. One is for Sketch 'n Stash 57 and the other one is for Simon Says (anything birthday).


The recipe for this card is pretty simple...
Paper - DCWV
Image - Darcies (this is an older stamp)
Sentiment - created this on my computer
Brads - Bazzil Basic Paper (I bought these from Queen & Co. a long time ago)
Decorative scissors

Until I can fix my photo s/w so I can add a watermark, please follow my copyright rules... many thanks

My sister and I share a Cuttlebug with all of it's accessories, including Spellbinder nesties. They are too expensive for each of us to own one so while she is using them, I have fun challenging myself to use some of my older tools, like Fiskar scrapbooking templates (circles, ovals, etc) and decorative scissors for a finished look. 

Hope you like it and I would love for you to leave a comment.
Blessings
Karen

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Pirate Party

Morning everyone... yesterday we had a reprieve in our rain but today it is suppose to hit us hard again. Well that just gives me more time to play, 'right'??

Today I thought that I would share with you a card I made for my grandson's birthday... he LOVES pirates and I could not pass up this adorable digital stamp I found at Bugaboo.


It was a lot of fun to make and I noticed that it fit into the new challenge over at Papertake Weekly where you had to have something in '3's' called Trio Tastic... make sure that you look at the DT cards, they are works of art.

I wanted to add a watermark on my picture but my photo software is not working right now so I will have to see how to fix that, meantime... please follow my copyright rules listed on the sidebar... many thanks.

I look forward to any comments that you would like to share.
Also since I am new to blogging... I would love for you to let others know I exit out here in cyperland. :-)))

Until next time,
Blessings
Karen

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Blessings Through the Rain

Hello everyone.... today is a very rainy and blustery day outside, oh so gloomy and I cannot wait until our sunny spring days return.

I decided it was time to start my own blog so I can share with you about my adventures in life and I thought I would start out with sharing with you a little about myself.  I am new to blogging and so I will be learning as I go along.

I have a special love for crafts and so you will see many of them here. I also love to garden, read, spend time with family and friends, take nature walks and most important is my close walk with the Lord.

God has blessed me with a wonderful husband of 36 years and counting, who is a very compasionate soul which is a good thing since he has to put up with me. 

I have two wonderful children who are now all grown up with families of their own, including a total of 5 grandchildren ranging from ages 3 months to 6 years. My goodness, time is going by so quickly.

We have two cats that bring a lot of enjoyment to our lives and each with their own unique personalities - more on that later.

I am a Christian and the Lord has blessed me more times than I can count and I pray for His guidance every day. One of many verses come to mind... this one is from Proverbs 16:9 "The mind of the man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." I tend to be impatient and am always in a rush to make decisions before seeking God's wisdom and in turn pay the price by not having things turn out well. I need to learn to be patient and to first ask God for His guidance. I know that is easier said than done but the rewards are well worth it. I pray that you too will seek Gods guidance before making your own decisions in life.

Did I tell you that I am retired.... well that provides me with a lot of free time and I look forward to sharing with you what I craft, explore, learn or just what tickles my fancy.

Until next time.

Blessings
Karen