Happy Birthday!

Hello there!

I hope you all here in the USA had a wonderful blessed Thanksgiving!  We went to our son's and had a great dinner.  He does the Thanksgiving meal and we do the Christmas meal.  We managed to fight the crowds on Black Friday shopping.  It really seemed to be more crowded this year.  My left hip felt it and I was happy when we were done!  I'm afraid I'm going to have to have the left hip done some time this year.  I was really hoping I wouldn't have to have it for quite awhile.  I was lucky at one store and got a free charm when they pulled out my son's friend's name for a drawing.  And, my son found a good sale on a suit jacket for himself.  

The above card was made for a former sweet coworker.  The card was made using a Simon Says cardinal die.  The bow and greenery is from Spellbinder's.  The sentiment is from Honey Bee.  I only embossed the lower portion of the panel with a folder from Spellbinder's.  

We were supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow over the weekend, but we only got a dusting of snow.  We now are due to get 2-4 inches of snow tomorrow night.  Maybe it will only be a dusting of snow once again.(fingers crossed)  I like snow, but only at Christmas!

Ok, well off to see your lovely creations on your blogs!  Thanks so much for taking the time to drop by today!  Take care!

Hugs!

Arigato!(Thank you)

Hi, Friends!

I've been wanting to make the above thank you card for awhile since our Japan trip last month.  We met Dustin and Susan's friend from Japan, Mari, and her husband, Kuzo.  Mari was so sweet and gifted me Japanese candy and a towel.  I just love the pretty background paper from Scrapbook.com.  The Japanese girl die is from Spellbinder's.  I hand wrote the word, Arigato, which means thank you.  The clear washi tape and covering the black strip at the bottom is from Japan.  The gold bow is from Japan, also.  The gold bell is from our Japan trip, which is a symbol of good luck!  I'm entering this card over at Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge.

Just a couple more photos of Japan...

Nikko, Japan

I don't know about you, but I am wishing for last month's weather back!  This November gray rainy weather is for the birds or ducks, lol!  Anyways, tomorrow and Thursday will be better thank goodness.  We may get out and do some shopping.

Ok, well, I thank you so much for taking the time to drop by today!  Take care and have a wonderful rest of the week!

Hugs!

Autumn Blessings!

Hi, Friends!

It's been a bit since I've been here.  As usual, life gets in the way.  I have been doing some fun things, though.  So, it's been all good!  I spent the weekend at our son's celebrating my birthday.  We went out to a nice restaurant and played card games.  Today is actually my birthday, so hubby took me out to lunch.  And, last Wednesday, my one sis had all my sisters over to celebrate my birthday.  It is always filled with good food and fun!

I had a couple more Thanksgiving cards that I wanted to get done.  The above card was made using the autumn garland from Sunny Studio.  The image was colored with copics.  The scalloped panel is from The Greetery.  Gold ink spray and gems to finish the card.  

We got some snow here yesterday.  Our first snow.  And, brrrr it is cold in the 30's.  I guess winter weather has arrived.  I'm ready for spring already, lol!

Ok, friends, that's all for now.  I thank you for stopping by today and I thank those who have sent me birthday wishes.  It is much  appreciated!  Take care!

Hugs!

Maria

Autumn Blessings!

Hi, Friends!

It's been quite awhile since I've been here.  This card was made before going on vacation and sent to a friend.  The leaf die is from Simon Says and the scalloped panel was made using a die from The Greetery.  I used some beautiful design paper from Spellbinder's.  Gold spray, gems, and bow to finish the card.  I'm entering this card over at Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge.

So, I mentioned that I went on vacation and I'm still experiencing jet lag.  But, it was certainly worth it.  We went to Japan with our son and his friends.  Dustin and Susan were our tour guides.  This is their tenth year to Japan. Dustin was such a blessing to us with the train stations.  My husband and son were starting to figure it out, but I didn't even try!  It was quite the experience and I miss some things about Japan already.  The people were very kind and helpful.  Everything was orderly and clean.  The shopping was amazing!  I visited the Itoya store and bought quite a few copics for my friend and I.  The copics were about $3.00 so much less than they are here.  We visited Mt. Fuji, Nikko, Nagoya, and Yokohama where China town is.  I tried a little of the food and it wasn't bad at all.  My husband eats anything, so he had a lot of fun trying new foods.  My son had fun looking for sushi places.  Here are a few photos of our vacation...

Ryan and Jeremy

Dustin and Susan

Dustin's 40th Birthday!

Nikko

Nagoya Castle

Well, I will close here for I'm having trouble downloading vacation photos for some reason.  I'll have to post more later.  Thanks so much for dropping by today!  I'll be taking a visit to your blogs now.  Take care!

Hugs!

Happy Halloween!

Hi, Friends!

Happy October 1st!  We had another perfect day here in NW Ohio and enjoyed a visit to a pumpkin farm.  We had hot apple cider and pumpkin donuts, so yummy!

I decided to make another Halloween card with inspiration of my two black cats, Nicky and Coco as seen above.  Coco is on the right stirring up trouble as she usually does, lol!  Nicky is having fun watching her and trying to keep out of her way.  I just LOVE those cute little cat images from Lawn Fawn!!

Coco is in the chair and Nicky is on the floor.  

They keep us busy and they are so loveable and cute!! 

 

  All images for my card were colored with copics.  The background was made using distress ink and black splatters for interest.  I'm entering this card over at the Lawn Fawn Challenge.  

 

Supplies:

Lawn Fawn:  Die:  Outside Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Stackables

Lawn Fawn:  Stamp:  Purrfectly Wicked

Thanks so much for taking the time to time by today!  Take care and have a wonderful rest of the week!

Hugs!

Autumn Blessings!

Hi, Friends!

Happy Fall!  We have perfect weather here in NW Ohio right now!  The temp is in the low 70's with plenty of sunshine!  We did a little yard work and checked our tomatoes.  We have some yummy ones to eat for dinner tonight.  I love fall, don't you?!

I'd like to share with you two fall cards today.  I struggled with this first card.  I had a different design in mind, but when I looked at it the embossed leaf background was going the wrong way. So, I started over and ended up with the above card, which will go to a friend.

I started with a cream card base and used distress inks for the MFT leaf image.  The leaf background was made using a stencil from Lawn Fawn.  The leaf paper is from Newton's Nook and the sentiment is from Sunny Studio.  I'm entering this card over at Stencil Fun Challenge.

Next up...

This card was made using the sunflower die from Lawn Fawn.  Usually, I wouldn't have the leaves blue, but that's what I see in the design paper.  I actually like the contrast with the oval navy background behind the light blue leaves.  The sentiments are from Altenew.  Gems and bow to finish the card.

Ok, friends, I thank you for dropping by today!  Have a wonderful weekend, take care!

Hugs!

Happy Birthday!

Hi, Friends!

I just LOVE this new butterfly die from Alex Syberia!  I'll be using it as a fall birthday card.  I didn't put a sentiment on the front of the card for I wanted the butterfly to shine.  I used distress inks for the background, butterfly, and flowers.  The background panel was made using a die from The Greetery.  

I'm entering this card over at NBUS Challenge.  

I started with a new crochet project with making a pumpkin.  I made one small pumpkin and it was a practice one, which turned out a little wonky, but still cute.  The one seen below is much better.  The pattern is using the wheat stitch and single crochet.  The stem is a cinnamon stick and a bow with twine to finish the pumpkin.  I'm already making another one.  It's so addicting!

Ok, friends, that's all for now.  Thanks so much for taking the time to drop by today!  Have a great rest of the week, take care!

Hugs!

Happy Halloween!

Hi, Friends!

How are things your way?  I'm still having fun creating Halloween cards.  I couldn't resist the fun spider shaker from Pretty Pink Posh!  I had a mishap with all those tiny beads.  Our son called and I had half the spider done without the backing on it.  I was in  a hurry and didn't realize it was stuck to a piece of paper.  I took it downstairs with me to talk to him. Hubby for some reason said this is stuck and pulled on it and beads went flying everywhere!  He felt bad, of course, and helped me pick up all the beads.  Message to myself...keep beads away from hubby, lol!

Anyways, I did like how the card turned out with the designer paper from Whimsy Stamps.  All dies are from Pretty Pink Posh.  The band on the hat, spider and brew is actually a light green and not yellow as it appears on here.  Googly eyes added to finish the card.

Next up...

Another Halloween card made with more Pretty Pink Posh dies. 

Ok, that's all I have for now.  It's a beautiful day here in the 70's!  We enjoyed lunch at Barnside Creamery and ate our lunch outside.  We topped it off by sharing an apple dumpling with ice cream, so yummy!  Thanks so much for dropping by and have a wonderful day!  Take care, hugs!!

Eek! Happy Halloween!

Hi Crafty Friends!

I managed to get some Halloween cards done this past weekend and had a lot of fun creating!       

I usually don't make too many, but a few friends and family do enjoy receiving them.  

For the above card,  I started with a black card base and paired it with patterned paper.  The frame die is from Recollections and the cat is a wood stamp from Stampabilities.  The sentiment die is from Pretty Pink Posh.  Googly eyes, dots, and bow to finish the card.  The cat looks like our cat, Coco, when our son's dog, Maverick, comes for a visit, lol!.  Maverick is a German Shepherd.  I'm entering this card over at A Cut Above Challenge.

Ok, that's all for today.  I'll post more Halloween cards later.  Thanks so much for dropping by today!  Take care, hugs!!

Maria

Happy Birthday!

Hello there!

It's been a little while since I've been here.  Appointments and a camping trip kept me busy for the last two weeks.  Anyways, I'd like to share with you the above card that I made for a friend's birthday.  

I started with a white card base and paired it with an embossed panel.  The cloud embossing folder is from Altenew.  The clouds are from Spellbinder's.  The sunflower and sentiment is from Lawn Fawn.  The fence and grass dies are from MFT.  I used distress ink on the sunflower for interest,  Gold stems to finish the card.

I thought I'd share just a few photos of when we went camping this past weekend to Hocking Hills here in Ohio.  I did well with hiking Old Man's Cave with my walking sticks.  It's been nearly three months since I had my hip surgery.  I almost didn't do the hike, but I was up for the challenge and happy that I did it!  The weather was perfect and we had a great time!

Ok, that's all for now.  Thanks so much for dropping by today, take care!

Hugs!

You Are Spec-taco-lar!

Hi, Friends!

I just posted the other day, but here I am again because I checked out some awesome inspiration over at Lawn Fawn!   I recently purchased some goodies from them with the Treat Cart Add-on Tacos.  I just love all the darling critters from Lawn Fawn!  Those critters are having a taco fest and one is celebrating a birthday!  My son often goes to a Mexican restaurant with his work friends, so I thought he might appreciate this birthday card.  I combined sets of Reverse Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Window, Critters in the Desert, Treat Cart Add-on: Tacos, and Cactus Hillside Border.  I colored all the images with copics.  And, I used distress inks for the background.  I'm entering this card over at  Lawn Fawn Challenge, NBUS, and Cardz 4 Galz

Supplies:

Lawn Fawn:  Reverse Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Windows

                      Critters in the Desert

                      Treat Cart

                      Treat Cart Add-on:  Tacos

                      Cactus Hillside Border

Ok, friends!  That's all for now.  I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, take care!

Hugs!

Merry Christmas!

Hi, there!

How are you doing on this fine Friday afternoon?  I'm doing well here and had a nice lunch out with hubby before going to the grocery store.  I usually don't like to go to the grocery store on the weekends, but it wasn't too bad at all.  I came home and made a banana cream pie.  So, we will have a yummy dessert this evening!

Anyways, I'm here to share with you a card I made to enter because my friend, Greta, is the guest designer over at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge.  I got to thinking that I haven't made any Christmas cards yet.  And, to think that Christmas is just a few months away!

For my card, I started with a red card base.  The wreath stencil that I used is from Altenew.  I used glossy accents on the berries.  I used distress inks for the wreath.  Gold gems and a sparkly bow to complete the card.

Ok, that's all for now.  Thanks so much for dropping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs!

Thank you!

Hi, Friends!

I had a busy weekend of crafting at a crop with some friends.  I had fun making a few cards using the rose stencil from Simon Says.  I wanted to make this card using the alpha dies from Close to my Heart from a friend who gave me the dies.  I just love the pretty rose stencil that makes for an easy card, which can be used for so many occasions. Gold dots and a bow were added to finish the card.

I'm entering this card over at I.D.E.A.S. by Darnell for Anything Goes.

It's still hot here and very humid.  It feels like Florida!  We will have cooler weather this weekend, though.  I'm looking forward to visiting with our son and going to the Ohio State Fair on Saturday.  This old gal can't take the heat and humidity for too long, so I'm happy to see that the temps will be much cooler!

Ok, I'll post more cards later.  Thanks so much for taking the time to drop by today!  Take care!

Hugs!

Happy Birthday!

Hi, Friends!

I'd like to share with you a masculine birthday card that I made.  Lots of bright shiny stars on this card to help celebrate the birthday guy!  The stars were die cut using dies from Sweet 'n Sassy.  The paper is from MFT.  And, how sad that MFT is going out of business.  I have lots of MFT stamps, paper, and dies.  I certainly wish Kim lots of luck on her next adventure! 

We made our first camping trip last weekend to one of the state parks here in Ohio(Alum Creek State Park).  We had a great time even though we had a couple rainy days.  Our son, his friend, and son's dog came along for the camping fun.  We are planning another trip to Hocking Hills next month.  We are looking forward to it!

Here are a few camping photos...

me

(making cherry pie)

Husband, Randy

Son, Jeremy

Friend, Ryan

(enjoying smores)

Son's dog, Maverick

Ok, friends, that's all for now.  I thank you for taking the time to drop by today!  Take care and have a great rest of the week!

Hugs!