Today I wanted to show the cards I made for the people at the Vet's office. My Westie, Lucky, is groomed at the vet's office each month and although a quiet dog at home he barks in the groomer's quarters when I leave him. Everyone knows Lucky. He doesn't like to be confined in the pen while he is waiting. As soon as he is out of the pen he stops barking. This dog knows what he wants. He is quite opinionated and makes sure you understand. Most of the time he is allowed to walk about while Tressa finishes the other dogs. He is not aggressive but if another dog who is being groomed is, Tressa has to put him in the pen then he starts barking again. Anyway, Tressa has the patience of a saint. His vet loves terriers so she has a special place in her heart for him and Lucky loves her. He never barks while he is visiting Dr. Sue. Each year I make a set of cards for them. Last year I made dog cards. This year I made cat and bird cards for them. Then I put the cards in a clear box and made tags for them. I altered a Tiddleywinks stamp and drew on a Christmas sweater, scarf and earmuffs. The cat stamp was made by Simon Says Stamp- the bird stamps were made by Lawn Fawn.

It's December and I made a batch of Christmas cards using Simon Says Stamp kits and dies I have accumulated. I love the kits form SSS.  There are a number of items in each kit and I love playing with the materials. I like to do collages as well as stamp. I'd like to share two collage cards that were inspired by Shari Carroll(my muse). I can't get enough of her stuff now that she is designing  for SSS. Ever since I took a few classes from her when she was visiting Buffalo, I caught her vibe. When she was here she gave countless artistic tips. Her cards are always finished to perfection, are well-designed and so creative.

Here are the two cards. the first is a copy of a card that she did on a video with some minor changes I made. The second is a card I made for my nephew, Mike, who is away at school and will be coming home for Christmas.

At our most recent Card Club meeting we completed our monthly challenge. We receive a plastic bag with a few elements in it at the September meeting. Each person in our group uses the elements to make a piece of art. The products shown at our October meeting were wonderful I'd like to share a few here on the blog. What a great group pf creative people. We received our next package which has elements of fall. Looking forward to the end results.

I did the first one with the Halloween theme. I used the Tim Holtz Stopwatch die which was given to us and used the brass metallic Distress paint and Black Soot Distress ink to color the watch. I used a variety of Halloween Stickers from my stash, Martha Stewart ribbon and a variety of Halloween papers.

How things change suddenly

How things have changed since my last post. I designed a card for my mother for Mother's Day and unfortunately it was the last one I spent with my mom. She had a massive stroke at the end of May and died a few days later in June. We will all miss her very much because she was a very special woman. Her last day was spent in hospice. They provided a massage therapist who massaged her arms and shoulders followed by a music therapist who brought her guitar and sang all my mother's favorite songs at her bedside. A chaplain followed and our family prayed a prayer of Thanksgiving for a life well spent. There were wonderful, compassionate nurses and doctors who took care of her. I made thank you note cards which I sent to the doctors and nurses who took care of her during her brief stay in the hospital.

I have not blogged for a few months. It is remarkable how time flies. I've taken a few online classes with Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner. I also took a journaling class with Dyan Reavely and a paper mosaic workshop at our local stamp store.  I really got excited about making mosaics with bits and pieces of craft paper. for grout we used glitter, embossing powder and also used a variety of stamps to stamp on our projects. I am getting ready for Mother's Day. My mom is almost 88 years old and she is a special lady. I am so lucky to still have her in my life. So I made a card for her, for my sister and a friend whose mother passed away a few month's ago.

The cards were made with the Simon Says Stamp May Stamp Kit and the second card also used a stamp from Stamping Bella called " Flower Garden"

Yesterday I attended a Stamp Camp at a local stamp store. We made a number of cards. When I got home I started to catalog all my inks and placed a stamped image for each ink on a tag. (It was one of the things on my To Do list). I think this will help when matching papers and inks. I got this idea from a class I took on Onlinecardclasses. com called Kickstart. It was about organizing your craft materials so you can be more creative. I think it will be a helpful tool when I'm card making. I just finished 20 wedding shower invitations for a friend They came out great. I'll post a picture soon.  Last Friday I also attended a stamp club meeting and worked on a challenge kit the club has been experimenting with this year. Each member takes a turn to put a few items in a baggie for each member. The following month we share what we created. It's great to share the unique creations and techniques everyone uses. I made a tag. People made cards and a coaster booklet. It's been a busy week so I need to get my camera out and take some pictures of the creations. In the meantime, i just wanted to post an update.

So this is my second attempt to upload pictures to my new blog. Yay! I did it. Now I have to work on the format of the blog. One step at a time. This is a card I made for the Clean and Simple 2 online coarse taught by Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire and Julie Ebersole.

I've been taking an online course with Onlinecardclasses.com. It's been great viewing all the videos and seeing the cards in the galleries. I haven't had much time to play last week but todays the day to craft. We had m mom's birthday last Saturday at my home, card club and Super Bowl party yesterday.  the Philharmonic last Friday.  I'm looking forward to getting some ink on my hands today. Hopefully I'll post some pictures. We'll see.

Hurray! I figured out how  to use my new Mac to share pictures of my cards with Flickr etc.  This was after a course in iphoto at the nearby Apple Store. It's been a learning experience for me.  I'm just getting into digital photography. I've been in the PC World for the last 10 years and relearning the new MacWorld has been an experience.  So here's my first attempt. 

Yesterday I went to my Stamp club meeting. This year we have decided to do a challenge each month. Members prepare little baggies with 3 or more components for each member and at each meeting we share what we do with them.  Our bag for yesterday's meeting consisted a cut out die dress form, spool of thread and button by Tim Holtz. Each person created such great artworks using the form: a butterfly lady, an angel, a scrapbook page with a granddaughter's prom picture, a card, a diorama, a pink breast cancer support card. I made a tag for Valentine's Day.  I'm still figuring out the best way to post pictures on the blog. I'm still not quite there yet as I get familiar with the blog experience. I'm looking forward to an online class which starts on Monday with Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner and Julie Ebersole called Clean and Simple 2. Can't wait.

Today it is snowing gently. The temperature is dropping and the it's a good day to stay inside and do some art.  Last night I took my nephew and his girlfriend to a new steakhouse that opened in our neighborhood.  The decor was a beautiful Western theme.  My favorite Borders store closed and turned into this restaurant complete with large fireplaces. It was amazing to see the transformation. It was packed. Great evening!

Today I am scanning Pinterest as I do each morning and there seems to be quite a few valentine cards going up.  They are just beautiful.  In addition, I found several Westie boards. I'm enjoying seeing Westies in different stages of development.  Westies are a wonderful breed. They are sassy, opinionated and very strong willed. Those puppy pictures bring back lots of memories. Lucky has been the best dog I've ever known. As soon as I figure out how to post a picture, I'll put it up here.

I'm beginning this journey today in starting this blog.  My intention is that I will begin to post card creations. Hopefully I will get in the habit of using the art materials I have been acquiring over the last few months. This past Christmas I made over 70 Christmas cards.  Many of the ideas were obtained from cards makers blogposts but I did put my own little twist on them. I really enjoy making greeting cards. It's been a hobby for over twenty years.