More creativity!

I used 7 types of paper, a flower embelleshment, and some green ribbon.

This one I used paper with flowers on it, a piece of vellum with a cool quote on it. I attached the vellum with a brad & put a piece of white organdy ribbon underneath it.

This one I covered with a piece of paper with dots all on it. I put a piece of red organdy ribbon criss-crossed around it and added an embellishment. I wrote, "happy birthday" below it.

Here is a yellow-themed card that I added ribbon and a sticker that says, "celebrate!" I also added two die cut flowers and three orange stars.

So, I'm trying to build up my stock of cards so that I can advertise at work. I made these 4 birthday cards to add to my stash. Hopefully, I'll get a few more made up and can offer them for sale.

Then of course, I have my 2x3 inch cards that I just write a short note on. Two I have specifically in mind for people and one is just for whoever God brings to mind. I used ribbon, letters, a die cut flower & sequin center, and a sticker. They turned out pretty cool.

Couple Projects

We have a good friend who is having a birthday Sunday. Obviously this card isn't going to get there by then, but I wanted to let him know we were thinking about him. Ric is a friend from Michigan & we saw him in April.

I used my standard square/rectangle theme, but this time I used stars and a cardboard r to embellish the biggest square. On the inside I wrote Happy Birthday!

We have a family that we're close to that had a baby in June. Obviously I'm way behind in getting the gift out to them, but I wanted to include something for each of the kids. These are my standard 2x3 business cards. I covered each one with stuff that I thought each of the kids would like.

I worked all day making up cards and fixing the baby gift for this family. More pictures to follow.

A card for Grandma

Unfortunately, life has been so busy that I've gotten behind in my normal letter writing to my grandma. Barry's been working overtime for the last 2 1/2 weeks and we've not been getting home until after 7 -- usually 7:30. We've been eating dinner at my office and then just been trying to pull things together at home. So, I decided to make up a card the other night to send to my grandma and let her know that I love her.

This is becoming one of my standard styles -- various sizes of squares & rectangles and then some sort of embellishments added to some of them. I added a sticker that says love and put it on some cardstock. I put this on with 3d tape over top of a piece of ribbon. I also used a heart punch and then wrote Grandma with my calligraphy pen. This is just the normal 4x6 card.

Visiting my new nephew!

Every time we would slow down, his head would move... It's amazing how small he is!

Nana's got a lap full!

Awww! Nana & the new grandson.

He had his first bath at home! It wasn't too traumatic. :)

Hanging out with Emma & Uncle Jeremy

We came out to visit my youngest sister's first baby - a boy! She had him on Monday, so the pictures you see are of him as he's 4 & 5 days old. He had a little trouble with jaundice now that he's been home, but his color is much better even today than it was Friday night.

My brother made a 14 hour drive from Sioux Falls to us in Lebanon and then rode with us the rest of the way to Cleveland. It was a surprise to my parents who didn't arrive till Saturday. The only ones not here are Ewell (brother-in-law) who had to work. And also, Lindsey & Chelsea (my brother's family) as Lindsey had to work and it would have been difficult to have Chelsea (who's 20 months) ride the whole way with Jere.

Mostly we're just hanging out and enjoying the new baby. Emma keeps calling him a her and loves to sit and hold him. Luke doesn't do so bad holding him either.

I'm sure I'll add more pictures in the next few days!

Get Well/Thinking of You Cards

I should have taken pictures of the 3 cards that I made Tuesday night, but I neglected to do it. You'll just have to imagine with me how great they turned out!

A former co-worker has found that cancer has returned and the prognosis isn't too favorable. Another co-worker came up with the idea of showering her with cards. So, on Friday, everybody is supposed to send Sarah a card. I capitalized on this event and decided to make up cards specifically for Sarah and the theme and have had them available at my desk. (God is so good to provide just when we need it!)

Here is the second round of cards and I expect that the words of comfort that are written inside will be an encouragement, just as the hands that made the cards.

Couple friendly notes

My creative juices were flowing well and I thought I'd crank out a few notes for some co-workers. I used the 2x3 business cards and covered the one side so that there was a blank side to write a note. You'll see my favorite font and then several different embelleshments. I love making little notes of encouragement! :) Hope you're off to a great day!

Sherry's Run

Judy & I before the race. Isn't her shirt cool?!

There were lots of runners -- the first one in was at 18:25 (a 35 yr. old man).

Here I am struggling to make it up one of the hills.

The last turn -- I ran the whole way!

I had wanted to run Sherry's Run last year -- as my first official race -- but I ended up having surgery unexpectedly in August 2008 and was not able to run it. So, this year, I was extra excited about being able to compete in it. I had been training for a 10K in July, but that didn't happen, so this was my chance!

My friend, Mallory Cook, organized a team from our church with 50 some people in it. Most were walkers, but there was a handful of us that ran. My time wasn't the best for me, 36:55 & I was 29th in my age group, but I guess since I hadn't ran outside in a good while and there were a couple good hills, it wasn't so bad.

There were over 3,100 participants, 1,000 of which were runners & 83 teams. They strongly emphasized competing with a team and one of my co-workers joined the church team so that she could compete. I think that it made it easier to keep going, seeing people that I knew and hearing their cheers. Part of the race you went back on the route so you passed people who were still coming up behind you. So, all the walkers were cheering me on as I ran past them. That was much better than the sleeping animals at the zoo run! :)

Check out the site for Sherry's Run!

Sherry's Run Banner

I'm participating in a 5K run on Saturday with a team from church. My friend who's leading asked me to come up with a theme for the team and make it into a banner. Since we go to Crossroads Community Church, I wanted the them to have cross in it somewhere. So, the boxing theme is where it's at!

Stay posted for results!

Turkey anyone?!

Don't know how this one turned upside down, but, here's the turkey with the steam rolling off it as we cut open the paper bag!

It actually stuck to the bag some which was a little different.

There was lots of oil on it, but I guess it must have rolled off the legs.

Here's Barry's favorite part -- the stuffing!

It is a little weird to be making turkey & dressing at the beginning of September, but... Barry got this turkey for Christmas last year and since we already had plans to be in Sioux Falls, it didn't get eaten. Month after month has passed until we are at a critical juncture and this turkey was going to help us through! We used 2 family recipes -- my mom's stuffing and our sister-in-law's method of cooking the turkey -- in a paper bag!

We've got big plans for the meat -- sandwiches for lunch and a turkey casserole or two! Yum!!

Busy Beaver

That's me! Guess I've been extra creative this week cuz I have another set of 3 cards that I made.This card was made for a co-worker who has recently been out because she had foot surgery. I used 5 different papers for the various sizes of squares/rectangles. I put a vellum border across the purple at the top. Then I added a capital T for Tammy and adhered that rectangle with the 3d tape. I added two hearts that I cut with the punch. This is another one of those 3x4 inch cards that goes with the envelopes from the $1 spot at Target. Pretty nifty, huh?!

This is a business card that I covered on one side so it's about 2x3 inches in size. This time I did it vertically and used 4 different papers. I guess I was on a kick with the vellum borders because I used one here as well. After this picture, I ended up adding an l for Laurie to make it complete.

Last but not least, this is for another friend. I covered a business card and added four squares about 1/2 inch in size. Then, I put the letters to his name on the squares. I think it turned out okay for a masculine type card. This is a neat design, but will only work with so many names!

Big to Small

We're starting with big -- a 4x6 inch card that I made for my grandma. I added pink organdy ribbon across the bottom. Then I used 3 different types of paper cut into squares to put on the left side of the card. I used 2 different papers and cut out hearts with the punch I have. Then, I wrote "we love you!" on the middle square.

Now, we're to the mid-sized card. It's about 3x4 inches and I used the same paper as the top card. It was reversable paper so you see the other side - pink with darker pink polka dots - underneath where it says Mary. I used my heart punch again to make blue hearts and then some white alphabet stickers for Mary. I wrote, "Always be joyful. Keep on praying. 1 Thess. 5:16-17" around the big orange flower. I also put 2 hearts on the inside of the card. This one was for a co-worker.

Finally, the little one! This is the size of a business card - 2x3. I designed the front and then wrote a short note on the back. I used 4 types of paper, 2 orange metallic dots, and a brown "H" sticker. The H square sort of looks like a Scrabble piece. I adhered that with some 3d tape. I wrote the name in the square in lowercase letters. I think it turned out kinda cute. This is also for a co-worker.

Thanks!

We went to my boss's house for dinner on Saturday night and I made up this little card to say thanks. It was a fun evening!

I used brown patterned paper with flowers, a green gingham, a solid brown, and a tangerine colored paper. Then I added the butterfly and wrote the word thanks in brown. Turned out pretty good! It's about 3x4 1/2 inches in size. I got these cool small-ish envelopes from the $1 spot at Target -- a set of 8 for 25 cents.