Winter Weather (Again!)

Can you believe it?! We had another snow storm! This time we had a bit more snow -- about 3 inches -- and unfortunately ice. Here I am all bundled up (with my Michigan snow boots on!!!) to go out to church so that we could get things ready for the service on Sunday. (Yes, we did have church -- all 3 services -- even though the rest of the town stayed home.)

The snow was so high this time that the little lantern by the front porch was almost covered up. This view is from our driveway, looking down the street. You can see the road is covered as well. It took till today (Thursday) before all the schools in the Nashville vicinity were opened. The roads kept freezing over each night, but after 3 days of highs in the 40's, it's finally almost all gone.

They're calling for snow on Saturday...

Calligraphy Project

Granted, this picture is over a month old, but I found it again today and wanted to post it. I made up 5 or 6 of these family names for a co-worker for Christmas gifts. It's a fairly easy process -- I use a wider nib to write the last name portion and then switch to a smaller nib to write all the names. It's an easy project and has a lot of meaning for the family.

I've made these for over 7 years now! It all started when I did one up for a family I knew that had 6 children (later 7!) as I thought it was personal and something that they didn't have. I have done them off and on for people (and have had to revise a few when another child joins the family). Mat it & put it in a frame and there you go!

Bob's Birthday Wishes

I used a variety of letters to spell out, "wishing you..." The candle is popping out as I used 3-d tape to adhere it to the card. This is a very simple design, but suitable for a man.

And here's the inside -- I wrote with my favorite font "...a happy birthday!"

Hope Bob has a happy birthday!

Bunch of Cards

I decided that I needed to get on the ball with some card-making as there are several situations that are going on that I needed to celebrate or provide encouragement.


Here's the first -- all sorts of circles to go with the circle-patterned paper. I cut out three different sized circles and stacked them up. I had gotten some cardboard cut-outs for Christmas that you can decorate so I used an a and covered it with paper. I wrote a quote that she likes around the edge of the outermost circle. "We all let people into our lives, but you will find that really good friends let you into your own." - Curly Girl.

I liked this format that I've used on a few other cards lately and decided to go with it again. I paired two patterned papers and then added some embellishments to the side. On each of these I added two stars and then did another letter & covered it with purple paper. I used purple organdy ribbon across the bottom. Simple but gets the point across.

This picture shows the paper better. I don't know how the lighting changed when I had them in the exact same spot!

Isn't this cool?! I made it as a 4x7 inch card (no envelope) from some paper that is a little more heavier. I had a pattern of an owl that I traced and cut out. Then I matched a tag to the paper and threaded orange organdy ribbon & cream ribbon through the top. It's a little hard to read, but it says, "Whoo forgot your birthday?" Inside said: me (that's whoo).

This last card is using a template from CPS and 4 different red papers. I wrote Happy Anniversary! in calligraphy and think it pulled it together very nicely.

Each of these cards has been sent out or delivered to the intended reciptient. I'm glad for the opportunity to share my talents and encourage others.

Birthday wishes

I made this card for my sister-in-law who is celebrating her birthday TODAY! I used another template from CPS, but I'm a little disappointed in how it turned out. The colors are too muted, I believe. I will have to try it again, but it worked for this time. I used some Happy Birthday paper and then tried to match the colors with the stripes and piece across the middle. I used my calligraphy pen to write "Happy Birthday Lindsey!"

Here's another template from CPS that I adapted to work for me. I made a star out of the lighter green and then added the darker behind it. I used the orange paper for the strip down the middle and added "Wishing you..." The star is on 3-d tape as well as the "Wishing you..." piece. Inside it says: "a very happy birthday." This is for my head boss who's birthday is Saturday.

Dinner for Community Group

It was our turn to make dinner for our community group at church and we decided to make Italian Casserole. It's a really easy recipe: ground beef & onions, diced tomatoes & tomato paste, penne noodles, and cheese! Even though I can't eat it, Barry was excited and it went over well. We made two of these and had about half of one left for Barry to have as leftovers.

Then, here is dessert - Cream Puff Dessert. I got this recipe from my sister-in-law's mother. I got this Pampered Chef large bar pan from my friend at work for Christmas and was excited to use it. The cream puff crust is butter, flour, water, and 5 eggs. The middle is vanilla pudding, milk and cream cheese. It's topped with whipped topping and then when you have a piece, you put some chocolate syrup on top.

We had a little left over and I brought it to work. Yum!

Birthday Cookie

The new guy in my department had his birthday today. We decorated his desk like we do for all birthdays and I made this big cookie. We are holding off on the big party until next week because we have another January birthday. We all enjoyed it. I tried a little different thing with the icing along the edge and it looked half-way decent.