Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Santa's List

This is my last Christmas card for this year. I didn't use half of my Christmas images, and I couldn't resist making my last Christmas card with this image from Whipper Snapper!
Thanks for looking and have a wonderful and Merry Christmas!
I may not be posting again until after our ski trip. I'll be back on the 4th of January...So Happy New Year too!
xoxo
Lorraine


This is a money envelope that I made for all of my kids! Into their stockings they go! The image is from Stamping Bella!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Reindeer Games

Hey everyone...
I finally mailed out the last of my Christmas cards today! I am really behind here!
Yesterday we had our family Christmas with nieces and nephews and cousins from my husbands side of the family. We were only 35 this year. My inlaws couldn't make it this year. They live in Florida and my father in law was in the hospital. He's home now, but they won't be making it up to the New York area this year. They haven't missed a Christmas with us ever!...not that I can remember anyway. We missed them yesterday!
I still have a few cards to make. I save the ones that I am making for my husband and my children last. Not a good idea this year!
This is a card that I finally made for my husband. I had an idea in my head using this image and I think it worked. I had to walk away from it for a day. I wanted to add more embellishments and it just wasn't working. When I went back to it today I thought that it looked fine the way it was so I put it all together.
The image is from Tim Holtz ( is it Tim or Jim? I can't tell from his signature! lol)
I used My Minds Eye Signature Christmas paper and matching Bazzill signature christmas card stock.
The image was heat embossed. The heidi swapp ghost snowflakes were embossed with pearl ex. I added some May Arts sheer polka dot ribbon, attached the snowflakes and the prima flower from the Belle Fluer Christmas collection to the ribbon with a pop up.
I hope you all are ready for your holiday and are keeping warm. We are in a deep freeze....with lots of snow and ice.
If I don't get a chance to post again I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy Chanukah!
We leave on the 28th for our ski trip to Smugglers Notch for the week. I can't wait to play in the snow!
All my love,
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Do you see what I see?

Sorry I haven't been posting, but it's been so crazy here!
I made this for my husbands cousin, Patti. She loves snowmen.
Every year, the Sunday before Christmas I have my husbands side of the family to my house to celebrate Christmas. Last year his cousins were ohhing and ahhing over the cards in my card rack. I told them to take what they wanted. Pat fell in love with the snowman from the Chin Up set by Firecracker Designs, but her sister in law, Roseanne snatched it and claimed it. Patti asked if I would make her one and I guess that I said I would! lol
Fast forward a year...I get a phone call the other night, Patti is RSVPing to the Sunday before Christmas and she starts talking about "do you see what I see" She remembered the snowman card and she remembered that I was supposed to make one just for her. If you could have heard the conversation it was very funny. There was a tremendous amount of hinting going on for me to make her the card.
So this is what I made for her last night. I know she's going to be very happy to receive this.
Have a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy Chanukah. May your new year be blessed with health and love, and may you always be creative in whatever you do.
xoxoxo
Lorraine



Recipe:
Image...Firecracker Designs, Chin Up
card stock...White, Bashful Blue, Night Sky Shimmer by Papertrey Inc
ink...Momento Black, SU markers
embellishments...Prima Belle Fleur Christmas, Heidi Swapp Snowflake Ghost Shapes, brads, pearls, rhinestone brad, rhinestones, Snowflake Cuttlebug folder, Nesties Label 2, Martha Stewart punch, pop ups

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Update



Here she is. All in pink. She has to wear a tshirt to cover up her stitches, it's so much better than having her wear one of those cones around her neck. This way she is comfortable and fashionable. I want to buy her a Victorias Secret t shirt for Christmas. That's on my list my next stop at the mall.

Layla is going to be ok. They took out all the cancer with the surgery and it has not spread. However, she has diseased kidneys. The good news is that with a controled diet she can live for many years. We just have to keep an eye on it.
Thanks for all your well wishes. It really means so much to me.
Now, that I'm happy again I've got to finish decorating my house and get ready for all the company that is going to be coming and going in my house for the next few weeks. I didn't feel like doing anything, and now I have to hussle! The first round of company is coming this weekend.
Thanks again!
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Taking a Break

First of all I'd like to apologize. I haven't been doing much blog surfing lately. I am usually pretty good at visiting and leaving comments. So I do apologize about that. As soon as this rough patch is over I'll be back.
My dog, Layla has been diagnosed with cancer. She had surgery two weeks ago to remove the tumor and we have found out through a biopsy that it is a stage 2 cell which means that it is the type that spreads. We are having further tests done today to see if it has spread through her body. Her sutures were removed on Friday and I had to rush her back to the vet on Saturday to have the incision restitched. The wound was wide open. Apparently this type of cancer does not want to let the skin heal, and even with the sutures being in for two weeks it just didn't heal. So we are starting all over again with Antibiotics and extra strength benadryl to try to help her stay calm. Layla doesn't know she's sick and is still acting like a puppy.
I am not a real animal lover ( I do love my dog!) and I never thought that I would be like this over an animal, but she's mine and she's a part of my family and I really like Layla more than some people I know!
So in short I may be MIA for a few days. Thanks for understanding.
And thanks for letting me get ramble.
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Monday, December 8, 2008

Wildest Expectations

I made this card for my niece Dana who is graduating from college next week.
I think that this card qualifies for the SC205 sketch!
The image I used is from Stamping Bella called Dandelion Bunches. The image comes with a mini image and that's what I used for the image on the card. I stamped the envelope with the larger image. I colored the image with Stampin Up markers and huffed!
The paper is from Basic Gray, Urban Couture and SU card stock chocolate chip and certainly celery. I added a bow using certainly celery and chocolate chip ribbon and attached a button with some twine. On the inside of the card I used a sentiment from Verve Stamps called Great Expectations. The inside says " Wishing you success beyond your wildest expectations."
Thanks for the visit!
mwah
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Another Belated Birthday

I am scheduling this post so that my sister does not see the card that I made for her before she receives it in the mail!
I made this card for my sister, Marlene. Her birthday was on Monday, Dec 1st! She was here at my house for an extended period of time over Thanksgiving and I couldn't get away from her to get into my room to make a card for her! However, she did manage to get into my stuff and find the time to color! LOL! I on the other hand was too busy cooking for 8 people everyday, and cleaning up after all of them.
The image is from MFT, and the sketch is SC204
It's so easy this time of year to do everything for the upcoming holidays. I tried to keep away from the red, green and any other Xmas colors that came to mind! lol I ended up with a color combo that I love, yellow and blue together!
Thanks for stopping in, and have a great weekend.
I'm going to spend my weekend getting all my Christmas cards ready to send out. The tree and the house need to be decorated which means endless boxes of stuff coming out of the attic! It's not easy work for an old lady like me! lol
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Recipe:
Stamps...MFT. Chamomile
paper...barely banana, bashful blue, SU DP
ink...Momento Black, SU Markers
embellishments...ribbon, baubles

Friday, December 5, 2008

Thanks a Latte

People who know me know I really love my coffee. But I am very particular about the coffee I drink. I know that everyone loves Dunkin Donuts, but for me it's all about Starbucks...and not just any Starbucks, it has to be French Roast...OMG, my mouth is watering thinking about it! LOL!
I have not been able to find the French Roast anywhere...I usually have my sister pick it up for me in the 2 1/2 pound bags but BJ's hasn't had it at all lately! My SAMS club only has Breakfast Blend and that is just not doing it for me....anyway, getting to the card...while we were playing Mahjongg I mentioned that I have not been able to find my FAVORITE Coffee and my friend Grace she would look for me at Costco. Well they had it and she picked up three bags for me...so I made her this card to thank her...I really need the French Roast fix!
And I figured if I'm really nice to her and show her I appreciate what she did for me, she won't mind going on another French Roast run at a later date!


This is a picture of my new sewing machine.
My sister Marlene bought if for me. We are swapping machines. She is going to take my Janome Sew MIni and I get this great big monster! LOL! It is bigger than the sew mini, and weighs more too, but I can handle it. It also does a few more detailed stiches than the sew mini so that makes me happy! LOL! I like to sew so I can handle this machine. It really does go zoom....and it has a light switch...I so missed that on the mini.
You can see some of the stitching from this machine on the card.


mwah to all!
Lorraine
Recipe:
sketch...SC205
image...MFT, Hot Stuff
ink...chocolate chip, versa mark, blush blossom
paper...chocolate chip, very vanilla, Chocolate DP from SU
embellishments...SU ribbon, choc chip grosgrain and very vanilla satin, prima flower, heidi swapp mini heart ghost shape, brad, sewing machine

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Never been Kissed?

Sweet Sixteen and never been kissed? ...humpf....wdyt? lol
My daughter Zoe has been invited to a Sweet Sixteen party for one of her bff's! I love her friend Jamie and wanted to make a special card for her. I knew that I wanted to use black and pink but struggled with what image to use. While digging through my stamp stash ( I really need to organize them a little better) I came across this set from SU that has never seen ink! I had to have it at the time, but it got stashed away and forgotten! :(
I stamped the image with Momento Black and decided to give it a little tint of pink, so I watercolored the dress. Not enough bling, so then I added Cotton Candy stickles, and when the stickles dried ...I am so bad letting things dry...I covered it with crystal effects. (I really need to get that UTEE stuff that I see everyone using, but what the heck is it and how does it work?) lol
I added some pretties kit flat white pearls, and some large Heidi Swapp flowers. The heart is also by Heidi Swapp and is a ghost heart shape. I covered it with tinted Pink versa mark, covered it with heat and stick, heated it and then added some iridescent embossing powder and heated again. I hand wrote 16 with a black copic marker.
I made a puffy bow using SU's sheer pink ribbon (why did they stop making this ribbon?) added a pearl and a charm that says follow your dreams.
I then hand wrote sweet on the side of her dress.
The card measures 5 1/4" sq.
I hope Jamie likes it as much as I had fun making it for her! ...instead of a gift she asked that a donation be made to a charitable foundation in her name. That really is one special young lady!
Have a great day!
xoxoxo
Lorraine


Recipe:
stamps... SU Haute Couture
Paper...Black, Pink Pirouette, white, Ebaony & Alabaster DP by BM Paper Society
Ink...Momento Black, tinted pink versa mark, pretty in pink
embellishments...Heidi Swap flowers and ghost heart shape, SU sheer ribbon, Pretties Kit pearls, charm, stickles, and crystal effects

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

My Minds Eye

I made this card for the Monday House Mouse and Friends Challenge. The challenge was to glitz up your card. Usually that is not hard for me to do. I love dazzling diamonds and the more bling the better! However, I had a hard time with this card. I wanted to use the paper from My Minds Eye, Festive & Frost that I purchased at Michaels for 40% off. There's lot of sparkly paper in this pad and the colors really appealed to me. Not your typical christmas colors, ykwim? I coordinated the paper with Sage Shadow, Chocolate chip and blush blossom.
I embellished the card with some May Arts Velvet Ric Rac and some lucious chocolate chip satin ribbon. I added Prima flowers and some Prima Center Kisses. And then for the finishing touch I added some Heidi Swapp Ghost Snowflakes! I am loving these Ghost Shapes. You can embellish your cards without having to worry about them coordinating with colors! You all know that I am color challenged at times! lol!
I hope that you are enjoying your day and find the time to create all those beautiful projects that I love to see.
xoxoxo
Lorraine

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Whipper Snapper for Gianna

It's been a little crazy over here...that's all I'll say for now.
I made this card for my God Daughter, Gianna. Today is her birthday, and since this is going in the mail today it's going to be late so I used Sorry Pup from Whipper Snapper. The sketch is SC204. I loved this easy sketch!
The image was colored in using copic markers.
Thanks for paying me a visit.
xoxo
Lorraine

Recipe:
Stamps...Whipper Snapper, Sorry Pup
paper...Certainly celery, choc chip, Basic Grey DP, SU DP
ink...Momento Black, Copic Markers
Embellishments...ribbon, heart glitter sticker

May Arts Ribbon

May Arts Ribbon
A few of my favorite things