Dude in a little black dress...

Well, actually it's a card for a dude (who wouldn't be caught dead in a dress by the way...even a cute little black one).   I know I'm not the only cardmaker who struggles with cards for guys.  I mean if you're lucky, they golf or fish or love old trucks or cars and you at least have some kind of theme going on besides lace and flowers and pretty bling.  Anyway, here's my guy card starring Basic Grey's Little Black Dress.

Hugs,
Kathy

base is kraft, the paper is Basic Grey Little Black Dress, the stripey grosgrain ribbon was perfect, MS punches, Nestie ovals, sentiment stamp is Stampin' Up.

Birthday Girl

Lily's 6th birthday card, thanks to inspiration of my sweet friend Wendy (Mrs. B)--a gatefold card with a Sassy Cheryl digistamp (sooo cute) perfect for a birthday party girl.  Colored with Prismacolors and embossed with Cbug.  DP BG Indie Bloom, SRM sticker, Magnolia die, some ric rac.    We took everyone miniature golfing on Saturday for her birthday treat.  Happy Birthday dear Lily!

Cruise Portfolio Album Gift

So, I've been busy the past month making Christmas gifts and I thought I'd share. (warning: heavy graphics ahead)  Kathy Orta of PaperPhenomenon is an incredibly gifted designer or paper engineer and offers tutorials for some amazingly beautiful and creative projects.  She calls this an "Occasion Folio" and I ended up making 4 of them so far (3 Christmas themed and this one for my sweet mom-in-law of the cruise we took her on last year).  The Christmas albums were given ready for recipients to add their own Christmas photos, but I finished this one for her.  

This project is completely made of chipboard, paper, lots of scoretape, some magnets, a bit of ribbon and a new (to me) great product called Rub 'n Buff which is a tube of waxy gold numminess that dries quickly and leaves a beautiful gilt finish (see edges). It also comes in other colors and I will definitely be using it on future projects. 

Anyhoo, I had so much fun creating these albums and the family members who received them seemed genuinely impressed. Each of the center landscape pockets hold mats for additional photos and there are pockets inside the covers for tucking memorabilia or larger photos.

I'll share another one of Kathy's designs I made as a gift soon. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and area ready for a great New Year!

Kathy

xoxoxo

Tribute

High school photo of my mom at about 16 years old.

It is a month ago today that my mother passed away and I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting while adjusting to the loss of a dear parent.

As I’ve mentioned before, in May 2010 we brought my mom here from California to our home in Arizona to care for her. We had fun preparing one of our sunny guest bedrooms for her and making it homey with lots of family photos and comforting possessions. Our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations last year were wonderful despite her growing weakness, and she loved being here enjoying family, particularly frequent visits with Lily and Rowan, the great grandchildren. The hospice angels who became part of our family made it possible for us to avoid hospital visits and to keep her at home despite her serious decline in recent months. For that I will be forever grateful.

My mother was fiercely independent and incredibly active. I have memories of her baking bread and cookies weekly and usually sharing a loaf or a batch with a neighbor or friend. She was incredibly generous, kind and loving and I will probably never know all the many lives she touched. Family and faith were everything to her. She lived her life with grace and courage, complaining little and with continual gratitude. Every day as I took her meals to her or helped her change clothes, she thanked me over and over again telling me how much she appreciated the sacrifices and hard work it took to care for her. Honestly, it was a labor of love and an opportunity to give back to a mother who gave so much to her own family and to my little girl self who needed her.

Now I catch myself listening for her call or planning her lunch tray and I wonder how long it will take to really adjust to her not needing me any longer. My faith assures me she is reunited with her dear Stan-- my wonderful Dad, and her parents and brother and sisters who have all gone ahead and there is true rejoicing on the other side. How I would love to sneak a peek.

Verlene Baker

July 3, 1925 - November 5, 2011

Baby you're a star

For weeks I had been trying to come up with an idea for Allison's birthday card.  Then one night I had a light bulb moment...I did a google search for vintage astrology images and found this beauty.  My halloween stash contained a sheet of sparkly black cardstock and my dear friend Wendy had sent me some die cuts of this fabulous corner design (it's supposed to be snowflake flurries, but to me it looked like stars) and my easel card went together very quickly.  I punched a few tiny pin point holes and added some random bling.  The image is fussy cut and shaped to give it dimension with silicone (which doesn't show very well in the photo).

Happy Birthday Allison!

lily can read...

My sweet granddaughter Lily Anne who started kindergarten last month has always loved books and being read to.  Suddenly, she is reading and writing simple sentences.  We're a family of avid readers so of course everyone is quite excited for her!  When I saw Tammy's beautiful "free" digi of a child reading and her ADFD challenge " Use your noodle and add some doodles" I thought I'd play even though I'm bad...I mean really BAD at doodling.   I think the sweet image makes up for it though.

Hope you and yours are all happy and productive.   I've been postponing grocery shopping for at least 4 days now and have no choice if we are to eat tonight....so off I go now that the important stuff is done.
Hugs,
Kathy

Basic Grey Little Black Dress dp & brad; Prismacolor, & Copics & piecing, nesties label  and flower dies, EK edge border, Just Rite alpha stamps, ribbon and buttons from stash.

A Day for Daisies - doodling
Anything Goes Challenge - use lettering (in the book)
Make it Monday - Anything goes
Simon Says - Be inspired by a nursery rhyme
Creative Craft Challenges - Fancy edges
Moxie Fab World - Tuesday Trigger (inspired to use autumn colors)
By the Cute and Girly - Anything goes

a little Christmas...

So the postman delivered this pretty Teresa Collins dp ("Christmas Home") which I have now decided is my current favorite Christmas paper so far for 2011.  Of course I'm fickle and may have a new fave tomorrow.  Mo's little sparrow urchin, colored up with my poor Prismacolor efforts,  a pretty silken bow, some bling and a computer generated sentiment.   I thought the kraft base played nicely with the image and paper.  Nothing fancy...nothing popped but it pleases my eye.  Got to use one of the new Spica pens that I recently won to add some sparkle to the snowflakes...subtle but very pretty.

April and the grandbabies visited today and we got a preview of their Halloween costumes.  Lily will be a lovely purple butterfly fairy (adorable) and Rowan a pirate.  He wasn't in the mood to model it for us,  but we did get some lovely kisses and hugs which more than sufficed.  Lifted everyone's spirits considerably.  Hope you are all enjoying your weekends too.   

Hugs,
Kathy

Kraft cs; TC dp; Image Mo Manning; EK border punch; CB corner diecut; Magnolia flourish and snowflake diecuts; SB circle and oval diecuts; sentiment computer generated; bling by BG, Spica glitter pen; silk ribbon from  my stash