Here comes the judge...

My daughter's father-in-law was elected to serve as a District Judge in North Dakota last November. We are all so pleased, as we are certain he is going to be a tremendous judge and will serve with distinction. We need more public servants like him!

My husband and I were invited to attend his investiture, and we were so very sad that we couldn't go. At that time, we still had a Christmas guest staying with us and we also live 500 miles away.

I certainly wanted to make him a special card, however, to let him know how pleased we were for him.  Here's what I came up with:

I cut the scroll image from some papyrus-like paper (hard to see in this photo) using the Heritage cartridge and inked the edges to give it an aged appearance.  "Judge Greenwood presiding..." was computer-generated.

The ink bottle was also cut from the Heritage cartridge. The cut included a feather quill sitting in the ink bottle. I cut the quill off, punched a tiny hole and then added a real black feather. The tip of the feather was sandwiched between two cuts of the ink bottle, which were adhered together. To make the bottle look a little more realistic, I used a metallic silver pen around the rim and then added some glossy accents.

Both the scroll and the ink bottle were popped up on foam tape. The terra cotta cardstock that I used as the background was embossed with a Sizzix  embossing folder for some added dimension and adhered to a black mat. A black self-adhesive pearl was added to each corner on the front of the card.

 

The inside was kept very simple. The sentiment was added with my computer on the same papyrus-style paper that I used for the scroll. I inked the edges lightly, adhered it to a black mat, and that was it!

 Thanks for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day!

Cheryl

 

 

"Owly" nurse card...

During the last week of December, my brother-in-law had surgery on his shoulder. He's a very lucky man because his wife (my sister) is a practicing registered nurse and an excellent caretaker. I was thinking about what kind of get well card to make for him and decided on this one:

 

Now, my sister is not at all an "owly" person.  She's actually a cheerful, kind and caring person, and that's what made this card kind of funny. I'm sure she has her moments, as we all do, but I haven't seen her in a bad mood in years, maybe decades.

 

I cut the owl and branch from the Hoot 'n' Holler cartridge. The only addition to the cutout is a pair of googly eyes - girly ones with blue eye shadow!  The nurse's cap was cut from the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge.

The sentiment on the front of the card was computer-generated, cut out with a Sizzix die and popped up on a layer of foam tape..

 

The inside of the card was simply decorated with some scored lines at the top and bottom and two bands of ribbon identical to the ribbon used on the front of the card.

I hope you enjoyed my card today. I had a lot of fun making it.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl



Sympathy in purple..

My stash of  sympathy cards is down to just one card, so I thought I ought to make some more to have on hand. It's doubly hard to make these cards if you have to do it in a hurry, so I always like to have a few done ahead of time.

For this card I used a deep purple cardstock for the base card and the matte behind the scalloped oval. On the matte piece of CS, I stamped a delicate lace border with Versamark ink and then heat embossed it with white detail embossing powder. Doesn't it look like real lace? I just love lacy stamps like these!

The poppy image was stamped with purple Versafine ink onto a lightly speckled white cardstock. I shaded the oval a bit with some of the ink.  Then, I used only a pearl in the center of the poppy and three below the sentiment for embellishments.

I always think that a deep purple, like this one, elicits a feeling of peace and strength. Those are exactly the kinds of feelings I wish to convey to the receiver of a sympathy card, so I think the color works well for this purpose.

The stamped sentiment on the inside of the card also expresses my wishes for strength.


While it's always sad to think we will need these cards, I feel that it is so important to have them on hand.


Thanks for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl

A couple more thank you cards...

This card was quick to make, given that the gold/yellow patterned paper came with the narrow pink stripe next to the sparkly green scalloped edge. This was actually a circular piece of DSP, but since I don't do much scrapbooking, I decided to cut it up and use it on a few cards.  I embossed "Thank You" with clear embossing powder and then highlighted it with a little white chalk. It actually shows up much better in real life.

 The flower was from a selection of Martha Stewart flower embellishments I received in one of my Christmas gifts. I added the liquid pearl dots in the center. It matched the pink paper so perfectly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This next card used some of the same materials. I added a clear self-stick flower border (also from Martha Stewart, also part of a Christmas gift) and stamped "Thank You" on a Spellbinders label shape. I lightly chalked the label with pink chalk and added a bow made from narrow green ribbon.

 

 



I decorated the inside of this card with a couple small pieces of the DSP in the corners. I always try to use an entire piece of paper, if at all possible

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Time to say thanks...

I got so many wonderful gifts for Christmas that it's time to let everyone know just how much I appreciated them. I was a little short on thank you cards, however.

My neighbor came over right after Christmas and asked if she could have a selection of thank you and sympathy cards (I had told her some time ago, "whenever you need some cards, please ask"). Well, after sharing some cards with her, I needed to get busy and replenish my stock.

I decided to use some of the discarded ribbons, tags and gift embellishments for my Christmas thank yous. Here's what I came up with:

This tree and snowman was an embellishment on a gift for one of my grandchildren. The little tag tied to the snowman's "hand" had orginally had his name printed on it. I simply cut a new tag and handwrote "thank you."

The tree was cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge and the snowman was cut with the Create a Critter 2 cartridge.

For the snow at the bottom of my little scene, I simply ripped a piece of white cardstock.






This next thank you card used the snowflake from a gift tag and the ribbon from the same gift. I carefully pried the snowflake from the tag (see this post if you'd like to know what the tag looked like when it was made), and secured it on top of the ribbon. The "Thank You" sentiment was heat embossed with white detail embossing powder.

For this next thank you card, I used the entire gift tag from one of the gifts. I didn't change the tag at all except to cut the ribbon a little shorter.



The striped paper on the bottom of the card base is the backside of some of the holly patterned paper you see on the tag. The red border was one my sister punched and gave to me. We occasionally share some borders in assorted colors with each other. They're so easy to mail back and forth and I always try to check my "border box" before I punch a new one.

The "thanks" is cut from a Cuttlebug die and inked around the edges.



I did make some thank you cards from all new materials, but I'll share those in another post.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl



Merry Christmas...

It's hard to believe that today is Christmas Day. We have had a lovely holiday so far and we are looking forward to another family gathering tonight.

Yesterday was filled with lots of "kid fun." The afternoon was bright and sunny and perfect for sledding! It is our family tradition to go sledding, if Old Man Winter cooperates with enough snow, on Christmas Eve. Here are a few photos of yesterday's fun:

 

 

Granddaughter Sophie enjoys a turbulent ride down the hill.

 

Five-year-old Patrick is helped to get started by his older sister Francesca.

 

 

 

Polly is clearly having a good time in the snow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Even Grandpa wrangles the orange sled and digs in his spurs for a wild ride down the hill.  

Looks like he couldn't stay on his "steed,"though! 

 

I was relegated to photographer (from the car) this year, as I am still trying to recover from the flu which seems to have morphed into a deep cough that continues to hang on.

Christmas Eve is, of course, the last day to receive mail until after Christmas. The postman delivered a lovely handmade Christmas card all the way from Germany on Christmas Eve. It will definitely be going into my "special cards" box to save and look at from time to time. We're so grateful to Nadine and Ulrich and their family for thinking of us, with a special thanks to Nadine, because I'm pretty sure she made this card.

The card base was made from some beautiful rich brown cardstock with a decorative edge cut along the top of the card. The wreath was embossed onto a small piece of ivory card stock and then inked with a beautiful bronze-colored ink. My picture at left doesn't to it any justice at all! So sorry I'm not a better photo taker.




The greeting is stamped with gold ink. I think the font of the greeting is particularly lovely. The photo below shows it in much better detail. It translates "Happy Christmas."










The bronze satin ribbon across the bottom of the card adds a lovely rich detail that finishes it nicely.

Even though it is very cold outside here in Minnesota, we are having a warm and wonderful Christmas. We hope you are, too.

Thanks for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl

Rosettes for Christmas...

When my children were all young, I almost always made Rosettes as a special Christmas cookie. I didn't make this cookie any other time of year, because they're a little putsy to make and my chldren loved them so much that they would disappear in a nano-second if I didn't dole them out.

In case you've not heard of them, here's what they look like.

Rosettes are made from a thin batter that is deep-fried on a special "iron." This year at Thanksgiving, one of my daughters and her family came to stay for the holiday, and she asked about my old Rosette iron. Luckily, I was able to find it and hand it down to her so that a next generation of children can enjoy these delicate, sugared treats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The recipe for Rosettes is very simple - eggs, milk, flour, a little sugar, dash of salt and some flavoring such as vanilla or almond.  You need to heat up the iron by setting it in your hot oil for awhile. Once hot, it is dipped in the batter and then back into the hot oil. They fry up very quickly. In the pictures you see my daughter making her first batch of Rosettes.

 

After frying, the Rosettes are drained on paper toweling and then sugared. I always used granulated sugar, but I know some folks like to use powdered sugar.

 



 My daughter always has several little Christmas elves helping her in the kitchen--especially when she's cooking such a tasty treat.



Because I enjoyed having Rosettes as a child, I made them for my children, and now my grandchildren are enjoying them, too. What a fun Christmas tradition!

Thanks for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl