Christmas Printer's Tray

It has been a looooong while since my last posting. Apologies to my hundreds of followers! Anyway, took a class this past Sunday at Inspiration Station in Stafford Springs, CT. My sister went with me. Donna taught the class. I don't know her last name but this is the third class I have taken with Donna and I just love her style. She is patient, organized, creative and enthusiastic. So, a couple of photos of the latest work of art. I have already hung it up in the dining room. My first decoration of the Christmas season.

Rock and Shock

This weekend in Worcester, MA, is the annual Rock and Shock Convention where both horror movie and heavy metal aficionados get together to create mayhem (kidding!). My husband has a table that he shares with Mark M. They sell various items and Mark draws zombie portraits of people for a very reasonable price. Michael is selling black wrist bands with I Hate People on them. I made some skull earrings and GF Kim made the coolest cards. Don't you especially love the 13 card? She made a whole series of them and each one is cooler than the next. Here is a shot of the display on a tree from Ikea.

That is Juliet sitting on the window ledge.

new addiction

My latest addiction is animoto. Free, 30 second videos. My sister will kill me as I have a shot of her eating pho (soup). I am considering the paying version because I can make longer videos and include actual video clips.

at the temple

at the temple

New Beginnings Graduation 2010

New Beginnings Graduation 2010

Halloween Cards

Just loved this class! Donna is patient and organized and extremely creative. We blended alcohol inks and then heat set them. Then we stamped on the bird and then glittered. Messy but fun! We masked the cat stamp after embossing it so the lamp looks like it is glowing. I love that effect. I also really like the look that embossing gives to pretty much anything.

I bought the spooky bird stamp but the cat with the lamppost is on order. That gives me another excuse to drive back down to Stafford Springs and visit Inspiration Station.

Donna is teaching the Xmas printer's tray on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I think that I will sign up for that one too.

Halloween Card Class tonight

Tonight, I head back to Inspiration Station in Stafford Springs for a class on Halloween cards by the same teacher, Donna, who taught the printer's tray class. So, I'm very much looking forward to it.

Also, very excited about the customer tag sale that I went to on Sunday, also at Inspiration Station. I am especially glad that I went with BFF Kim, who is an expert shopper. She found me a Sizzix. I am just thrilled to have one. I also picked up a Xyron. And stamps galore!!!

We also found a great little coffee shop, Middle Ground Cafe, right on Main Street in Stafford Springs. This town is becoming my new hangout so definitely needed a coffee shop!

I'll upload a shot of my card for the tea bag and card swap that I'll be sending out this weekend. I'm still looking for a spooky tea; thinking maybe licorice!

Printers Tray

Made this in a class with Donna at Inspiration Station. She was so nice and helpful and encouraged everyone to personalize the trays. They all ended up just a little bit different.

Now, my husband wants us to make one that would be all horror movies produced by his friend Richard Gordon. More on that later.

At last

My poor, ignored, pitiful blog. I had grandiose plans when I started to add photos and projects every week. That just didn't happen. I did manage to confuse my blog with my work blog and share info on Social Security. Wasn't that fun?

Anyway, we went to the infamous Kim and David Fishing Tournament last week. Youngest daughter, and our goddaughter, Katie, helped us all to make wooden fish ornaments. Katie is so clever and almost as creative as her mother. They were tons of fun. My sister Josephine, made cup cakes for kids and adults to decorate. Don't have those photos yet, but will share some later.

Also sent out my tea card with tea bags to Indiana. Of course, I am so organized that I lost the first card (still haven't found it!) and had to quickly put together another one. The theme was primary colors. I have learned that those are not my fave. Who knew?

Social Security Turns 75.

Read or subscribe to the Economic Policy Institute, a D.C. based entity whose mission is to inform and empower people to seek solutions that will ensure broadly shared prosperity and opportunity. They have a report on the state of Social Security that is pertinent no matter how old you are.
http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/social_security_and_the_federal_deficit/

birthday photos

Forgot to add photos of the birthday boys, Frank and Gordon. And my sister made the cake. Delish!

August birthdays

Wow! It seems that just about everyone has an August Birthday. Today, the 12th, is my Dad's birthday. Of course, I made him a card. Forgot to take a photo though.
My brother celebrated his b-day on the 6th and brother-in-law, Gordon, was 49 on the 2nd. We had a very nice barbecue at Gordon's to celebrate both guys. Michael brought cigars for the men. Very manly!
I am working on some Halloween cards because, not only are Halloween themes my fave, but I visited Inspiration Station in Stafford Springs, CT, with BFF Kim last week and they are having a Halloween card class next month. I am so going! And Kim searched for two stamps for me because Inspiration Station didn't have them; a skull and a dancing skeleton. How cool is she??!!!! I will definitely post photos of projects.
Michael is going to Rock and Shock in Worcester and I am working on Halloween projects that he can sell at the table, including some skull earrings. I think they are pretty cool and will definitely keep a pair for myself.

We will hold a home fair, "Pathways to Homeownership" on Saturday, September 25 from 9:00 till 2:00 at Springfield Technical Community College. Bankers, realtors and various housing experts will have informational tables.

We will of course, have information about our own housing related programs like our Weatherization Assistance Program, our Individual Development Program that helps you save to buy a house and matches your savings.

More information as we go along so, stay tuned.

Aloha RAK round card

Here is a photo of my first round card. My husband thought it looked rather Victorian. He could of course, be trying to be nice. It was for my Aloha RAK (that's Random Act of Kindness), which I sent to my assigned partner in San Fran. I think it is just so cool meeting (via email and swapped cards and other little goodies) people around the country this way. And it is thanks to Jen Young (http://www.expressivelyme.blogspot.com/) for organizing it. BTW, I took the photos of the daylilies in my garden. They are one of the few flowers enjoying this heat. Well, daylilies and of course, weeds.

Card

I sent this to my mother-in-law, who has been having some health issues. I forgot to take a photo so had to wait till we visited her in Virginia, shortly before Independence Day. It reached 102 degrees for three days in a row, so Pray was appropriate.

I made the card in a class with BFF, Kim. The multiple textured layers really adds a lot to a simple card. Just love the butterfly paper.

portfolio class at Life's Memories and More

Last Saturday morning I took a class with Katherine at Life's Memories and More in Palmer, MA. It was great. I loved the various techniques and especially the Smooch glitter spray. Katherine made a box for us to use for spraying that reminded me of a mini body shop. A car shop, people!! Anyway, the Smooch spray really added a lot to the projects and I finally learned the proper way to use the bone folder. I had not been using it correctly and had pretty much given up on it. I also used some of the leftover materials to make a mini card for a coworker who is crazy about butterflies. I thought it came out nicely.

Lilies in the Garden

Here are some photos I took of my garden the other night. They are close up shots so that the weeds are practically invisible. My poor husband has been fighting with the weeds and the humidity, trying to keep everything presentable. We have quite a big yard so it is a lot of work.

Recent cards

Made some adorable cards at the Make and Take last week at Life's Memories and More. Also signed up for a class while I was there.

Anyway, Dee designed the card with the dragonfly on it, and it moves. There are two buttons glued together under the dragonfly and they are inserted in such a way that they glide along the card. Pretty clever, I think. Of course, I made one for my sister, Josephine, who loves dragonflies.

I made a Father's Day card for the old boy, but the photo didn't come out well. It is a cut out of a beer stein. I think he will like it and I'll get him some N/A beer to go with it because that is what he drinks. We are going to our daughter's house in West Springfield, for a Father's Day barbecue. Hopefully, I'll remember the camera this time.

And BFF, Kim, had three dress cards for the Make and Take. I made two of them. She had us doing all sorts of techniques - stamping, cutting, punching, embossing, it was great fun. I do like the little black dress card especially, even though it is the simpler of the two.

I also made a beautiful card with a pretty blue bird but I already mailed it to a friend in Long Island and forgot to take a photo. Oh well...

Ginger

I took a shot of The Fat Man, aka Ginger, before I snagged him to bring him in for the night. He would stay out all night if he could but I like to have all eight of them in at night. I sleep better knowing they are all safe and accounted for. Ginger is the entertainer of the cat world. We never know what he will do next.

Random Acts of Kindness

I was confused when BFF Kim D. suggested I participate in the Aloha Fun Rak, not having a clue what that acronym stood for. Now I know! Thank goodness for Kim, my scrapbooking guru. I am making a card with a button theme. And RAK for those like me, stands for Random Act of Kindness, meaning that you send something additional and theme related with your card.

So, within the next few days, I will have a photo of my card. I'll also post the cards from yesterday's Make and Takes at Life's Memories and More in Palmer, MA, the best scrapbooking store, ever!!!!

birthday celebration

Last Saturday was Michael's birthday so of course, I made him a card. He is a lover of Hawaiian shirts, althoug I'm not sure why. He's never been to Hawaii.

My sister made and decorated a cake for him using her son's Star Wars figurines, because Michael is a fan.

Douglas, the one with the Star Wars figures, just got his purple belt in karate so I made my first popup card for him. I played to my audience, naturally, with many shots of Douglas.

I am hoping that Michael, my personal computer guru, can show me how to intersperse my photos throughout the text instead of having them all appear at the beginning, which I really don't like.

Anyway, next posting will be of this amazing cat book that my BFF Kim made for me and personalized the pages for each of my eight (yes, I know that I'm insane) cats. Wait till you see that.

Sara Jane's card swap

Wow!!! The cards in this swap are just so amazing. Check them out at:

http://www.sarajanesstudio.com/

I will not be able to part with any of them but will definitely be using them for inspiration because my own card is much too simple for these creative ladies. Leaves me lots of room for improvement anyway.

One card swap

I received a beautiful card from Sharon in California via Teri Suzuki's One Card Swap http://bigideasfromalittlegirl.blogspot.com/

Sharon had to make two for me because the first card was lost in the mail! Without ever having met me, Sharon somehow knew that I had a little dog and am a coffee fiend! My dog, Lucky, is actually a Bichon, but everyone thinks he is a poodle. He doesn't mind as long as he gets treats.

So, here's her card. I love it and it is up on my mantel.

Mothers Day

My goddaughter, Katie, sent me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers for Mothers' Day. She is just a sweetie. I worry that she is spending all her allowance on flowers though.

uploading a freakin video

So, my attempts, several now, to get this video uploaded have been frustrating. I might just abandon it if it doesn't work this time. And it's just a short video of Michael and the wonder Bichon. Trying the link first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbBUJS9_84A

Kim's card

Kim D. sent me the cutest ever card and she added a little sparkle because she knows how much I love that.

Isn't it adorable?

World Asthma Day at American International College

Attended a very nice event at AIC last night with about 100 other people. Springfield Partners (my agency) worked with Baystate Medical Center to put on a very informative and interesting event around asthma. Springfield, and the Pioneer Valley as a whole, has an extremely high rate of asthma, especially in children. Dr. Kaslovsky, pictured here, of BMC's Pediatric Pulmonary department, gave a really interesting presentation around asthma triggers and various medicines. Very interesting but pretty scary stuff for residents of this area.