So my sister Sue is always telling me that she loves my cards but I needed to make things that you can hang.  Since she opened it I can now put it on my blog.  This is my 12 x 12 - 12 Days of Christmas by Stampington & Co.  I loved doing this for her.  I know she'll enjoy it for years to come.

 

A friend of ours asked me to make her some cards for some of her dearest friends.  This is the assortment that I made for her from the descriptions she gave me.  I love doing that!!



My sister was telling me the other day that I hadn't put anything on my blog in awhile.  The other day was my caregivers meeting and it was my turn to do a project.  I picked these cute little favor boxes from Taylored Expressions.  Everyone loved it and walked away with 2 each.  I even made Chai Spice cookies to go into each of them.  Good time was had by all.

Today we are having a very hot day, so I was working in my sweatshop making these bridal favors for my friend.  I'm sure they will dry quickly and I'll be able to get them ready to ship. 

Last week when I was on Facebook there was a story about a young boy in Arizona who was turning 13 on the 28th of this month.  He has some form of cancer and his wish was that he got a lot of cards for his birthday.  I checked out the post on their local news and got the address.  He said he like funny and animals.  This is what I  came up with.

 

Wedding Cards that I worked on yesterday...loved the outcome.

Between a Rock and a Card Space

 

My neighbor asked me to make her 10 "cheetah" themed birthday cards.  She's a teacher and their school mascot is the cheetah.  She wanted to have special cards to share with her fellow teachers.  This is the array that I came up with.  I'm pretty happy with all of them!

When I was gluing an embellishment on one of them I had put a rock on top so that it would stay.  When I went to pull the rock off it was completely glued to the embellishment.  Mark came in at the moment and he said, "I guess you're stuck between a rock and a card place".  (insert groan here)



Made this card for my great-nephew Ira's 7th birthday.  The sentiment inside is with help from my husband Mark,

 "Most happy I am not that I am missing your birthday young Padawan". 

 

I made my first sample board for a class that I'm going to be teaching in Mission Valley Oasis in the Fall.  Not sure of the date but was pretty excited to come up with these cards.  As soon as I know the date I'll let you all know.

Doggie Heaven

 

Today I found out that our dear friends dog Swanson had died.  He was a wonderful retired guide dog.  He demeanor reminded us so much of Musket.  I understand what they are going through.  You know that your beloved dog has gone over the rainbow bridge and he's no longer in pain but it still hurts.  This is the card I made for them.  I put a lot of my doggie love into this card.  



60th Anniversary

 

Next week my friend Fran and her husband are celebrating their 60th anniversary.  Since money is tight right now I made their gift and I just love how it turned out.  I also loved doing this.  I was with a wonderful friend the other day and she gave me some wonderful insight.  She said to make things with my heart.  I just started working on this and I was in the zone and very happy with how it turned out.

I had some really great card making pen pals for awhile.  I truly learned a lot when we were all writing back and forth.  One time I got a card and it said “I absolutely love CAS cards.”  I had no idea what they were talking about.  Thought I’d share just a few that I’ve learned in the past just in case you go to a class you’ll know what everyone is talking about.

Common Papercrafting Acronyms

 

ATC	Artist Trading Cards
ATG	Adhesive Transfer Gun
CAS	Clean and Simple
CASE	Copy and Share Everything
CS	Cardstock
CHA	Craft & Hobby Association
DP	Designer Paper
DSP	Designer Series Paper
DT	Design Team
EP	Embossing Powder
LSS	Local Stamping Store
PP	Patterned Paper
WS	Workshop

I love playing with Stampin Up Stamps and dies, they make such a gorgeous card.  I used Bloomin with Kindness and Butterfly Basics for this card.

Well today with the help of my wonderful pen-pal friend Bonnie Szwalkiewicz of CraftiBlog I learned how to put my name on the bottom of my cards.  Thanks Bonnie you're the best!  Here's a fancy congratulations card I made for a friend that I thought I'd share with you today.



I have a ruff (pun intended) time around Mother's Day.  Even though I lost my Mom over 4 years ago I still miss her like crazy.  So I decided since I'm not a mother that I'm a Poochie Mama!  And I'm going to see if anyone else out there wants to have Poochie Mama day with me.  What do you all say to a National Poochie Mama Day?  I've made this card for a few of my friends who fit into the category.  The inside says...It's Poochie Mama Day!

 

Saw this on FaceBook today and it really spoke to me.  Everything in this is how I feel when I make a card or a mini-album or just a tag.  



Yesterday I was making this card for a friend who lost her Mom.  I was thinking that all of my friends are at that age where we are either taking care of our parents or losing them.  I have a feeling that I need to stock up on these. 

I'm thinking of an Indian proverb that goes:  Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down to let us know they are happy.  I know when I look at the sky I feel my parents shining down on me. 

Okay, enough of waxing philosophical, time to get back to work!

My good friend Suzanne has a 96 year old mother.  

She mentioned that Jane (her mom) was a SPAR in the Coast Guard in World War II. 

I asked, "What is a SPAR?"

We discovered SPARs was the nickname for the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve, created November 23, 1942 with the signing of the law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The name is the contraction of the Coast Guard motto:  Semper Paratus...meaning "Always Ready."

The 1940's bring memories of tearful goodbyes, war bond drives, ration cards, and much feared telegrams.

For the women left behind, the reality of the war was close to home.

These mother's, daughters, sisters and fiancees wanted to do their part, too, and became soldiers, sailors, and airmen.

The US Coast Guard paved the way for Coast Guard women of today by creating the Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARs).

Filling US shore jobs with women allowed more men to serve elsewhere and hastened the war effort.

Jane will be honored at the World War II Memorial in Washington DC with ninety-six men and three other women May 2, 2015.

A "mail call" will be held:  friends and family were asked to present these honorees with cards and letters to be delivered on the flight over.

As a paper crafter extraordinaire, it was my privilege to design a special card for her.

Her courage was an inspiration to me, and for this card!