This is my first week back to work full time in two years.  I’ve been working 1 day a week for 5 hours and then handling anything else that came up remotely from home.

Yesterday,  I didn’t get home until 8:00pm.  You know how it is when you move a business and then ramp it up for big business.  There is all these little quirky things that go wrong and then for me there are all these cobwebs in my memory banks.  I’ll look at something and think, “I know how to do that”, or I knew how to do that at one time.

Hopefully, I’ll get to make some cards this weekend and have something to post other than me rambling on.  So stay tune and give me a little time to get this “working” thing under control.

And yes, the yellow Day Lilly is another one of my flowers blooming in the flower bed….in this Texas heat.  Absolutely amazing.

This is a blue lilly that is just beginning to bloom in my flower bed.  It was a difficult picture to take because the wind was blowing so hard.  So it is just a little fuzzy.

I didn’t have a picture to go along with this post, but thought I would share the talent of an awesome God.  The word says there is not a king that is arrayed with more splendor than the lillies of the field.  To recall the words of the song “Consider the Lillies”, He is not too busy to care about you.

My #1 Daughter’s work had an event where they made cards of encouragement for children that are seriously ill.  Their goal was to make 144 cards to be sent to a Children’s Hospital in NY.  I was invited and between her and my supplies we were able to deck out their conference room with paper, stickers, ink pads, bling, stamps, children’s joke and pages to color.

You know when you get right down to it, it really doesn’t take much to make a card.  The talent in the room flowed from the very simple to the elaborate.  I kept chuckling to myself as I heard the women agonize over how to make a beautiful card and was surprised when the men put three of every sticker available on a single card.

In the end, time was spent sharing a talent or gift that God gave to each of us for those who are going through a hard time.  I’m sure some prayers were being said over those cards as they were being made. Those cards will be the wings that the prays fly on to some children that need some laughs or encouragement.

Thank you Brandy for the opportunity to give back to others.  I left richly blessed.

Tags: Daughters, Thoughts

I knew it was coming but I thought I had a few more weeks before I had to go to work every day.  I was hoping I could ease into it.  But things didn’t work out that way and it is out of the leisure life back into the working life.  I’m hoping it will only be 5-6 hours a day, not a full 8 hours a day.

This is a pink Day Lilly that has started blooming in my flower bed.  It looks to good to be real but it has that beautiful chartreuse throat and the petals are ruffled.  There are so many different kinds of Day Lillies and if I as I find new colors and types I hope to add to my collection.

This is a short post because I haven’t had a chance to work on anything.   However, I need to start thinking about the card I’m making for the July Swap on the Paperwishes MB.  It may take me an entire month to get it made.

Thanks for stopping by and I’ll try to get a new card up this week sometime.

Tags: Thoughts

I love organization and I have noticed that I will spend endless hours getting it there.  Hence, today’s post is scary!

If you own one of these, you understand the drive or “need” to use it and label everything in site.

This was a Christmas present one year by #2 Daughter and I have enjoyed not only owning it but using it to put labels on anything that stays in one place too long.  Sorry about that Henry (he’s the cat)!

So this is my endless row of Jet Max Cubes.  These are excellent for the Scrapbooking/Card making hobby and all the endless things it takes to keep these hobbies flowing.  All the various versions of the Jet Max Cubes allow you to custom design the system you need.  I never pay full price for these, there is usually always a 40% off coupon from M’s, JoAnn’s or HL.  Ever so often M’s will have them on sell for 40% off and that is when I purchased most of mine.

After I finished the craft studio, I filled the drawers but never took the time to label them.  I will tell you, this served an unintended purpose.  It allowed me to shift items around until I got them in the place that was efficient for the type of tool or element I was trying to store.  That wasn’t the original intent for leaving them unlabeled, it just worked out that way.  The original intent of leaving them unlabeled was ….well I wanted to get busy making cards and days turned into weeks and weeks into months.  However, it finally got to me as I repeatedly had to open the various drawers to find what I was looking for.

So the size of the inserts are 1″ x 2″ and then I just made a label with the P-touch of what was inside that drawer.  I didn’t try to list everything but just enough to jog my memory of what was in that particular drawer.

I did try to center things as best I could, but I didn’t get tied up with that “perfection” thing.  As long as it was close and I can read what is in that drawer was good enough for me.

I also did the inserts and labels in white.  This keeps the eye moving across the labels and also helps them blend into the Jet Max Cubes.

Now with that done, I feel like I have really accomplished something today.  Hmmm, maybe I’ll go take a nap or better yet go treat myself to some ice cream……Yum-mo!

Tags: Organization

My Mother got her hair cut the other day and was so excited she ask me to take a picture.

She wanted the picture for a number of reasons, one so she could send a copy to both her brother and sister, two so she could have a picture to show her hairdresser the next time she went to get her hair cut.

After I took her picture she asked me how long it would take to get the film developed.  I then explained that the camera didn’t use film it used a SD card and how you could upload things to the computer and then download them to Walmart, Walgreens, or CVS.

I told her I could even print the picture from the computer, but to do it that way was expensive because of the ink it requires.  She was so amazed how everything had changed from what she knew and she said it was difficult for her to keep up with it.

I don’t know about you but sometimes when I think of how far and fast we have come, there is something comforting in knowing that you can get by with the simpler way of life.  That means more time for each other and stopping to enjoy the beauty that our God has given to us to enjoy.

Hats off to you Mom and your new do!  I ordered several copies and they will be mailed directly to my house.  Wow!  You don’t even have to go anywhere to get them.

Tags: Mother, Thoughts

Hmmm!  I received this in the mail the other day.  Strange, I don’t think I ordered it.  Note the key words “I don’t remember”.

The return address said Kable Products out of Fairfield, OH.  I don’t remember ever ordering anything from them.  I went onto the internet to look them up, I didn’t have any luck with finding the business.

So, I put it in a drawer (with the envelope) waiting on someone to let me know where they came from.  Maybe, there will be a message that says, oops we mailed you something that you should not have received.

The package they came in says “Wordz Danelle Johnson, Self-Adhesive Designer Embellishments.  Oh well, I like what I got  and I’m going to be using them since I haven’t received any notification.

If you sent these to me, thanks a-lot!  If you didn’t send them, then stay tuned as I use them in either a card or a scrapbook layout.

Thanks for looking, and be sure and leave me a comment.  I love hearing from you!

Tags: Acetate, Musings

Sometimes all you have to do is look at the picture and you get the very feeling that it wants to evoke.  When I look at this picture I see pure bliss.

These are my two Grandchildren.  Gareth will be turning 4 this month and Rylan turned 1 in May.

These children are the delight of Papa & NaeNae’s and Granddad & Granna’s life.  They are the first grandchildren on both sides.  Yes, they are spoiled and we like them like that!

I had all girls, so when Gareth came along I have had myself a ball playing with a boy.  In NaeNae’s eyes he doesn’t do much wrong and I’m always willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  Gareth has had a talent for drumming ever since he was able to pick up two things that even slightly resembled drum sticks.  So I’m sure there will be lessons in the future to cultivate that talent even more.  Right now, his voice is music to my ears when I hear him calling me NaeNae (he named me).

Rylan will rule the roost, so the picture is appropriate that she is “Queen” of the hill.  Yes, you are seeing correctly she is one healthy little girl and she enjoys trying all kinds of foods.  Right now Elmo is one of her favorites and loves to dance to Elmo’s World.  She also has that disapproving “grunt or growl” down when you are trying to get her to do something she doesn’t want to do.  However, nothing gives your heart quite a thrill as you walk in the door and her little arms start waving as she shows her excitement to see you.

I just want to say thank you to an awesome SIL (Travis) and a beautiful daughter (Brandy) for giving me and Papa two wonderful gifts.  They are a bundle of fun to play with and they are beautiful children inside and out.  That is because their parents are trying to teach them well.  So far guys you have done a great job.  Keep up the good work, yes it will be wearisome and tiring but the end results will be worth it; after all look how well you both turned out!

Tags: Gareth, Grandchildren, Rylan

I participate in a card swap on the Paper Wishes Message Board.  The idea is they give you a theme each month and they randomly draw a name, from everyone that agrees to participate, and you make a card using supplie you have  from Paper Wishes. 

You send the card and when the receipient receives it, they go to the MB and post a picture and a thank you.  Mary at CardzforU, got my name and sent me the card she made.  The theme this month was “anything” and she did a great job.

The picture does not do this card justice.  That could be because of my picture taking lacks something or my camera is just not high powered enough to capture the beauty.

The colors are vibrant and I love the sentiment.

She left the inside of the card blank for a personal note, if I wanted to send the card on to someone else.  I don’t think so!!  This will be one of the cards that I place on my inspiration board so I can look at it often.

There is a matching envelope too!  She uses the same technique I use on envelopes.  Use two sided paper that way the inside of the envelope is just a nice as the outside.

Thanks Mary, for such a beautiful card.  If you haven’t visited her website, be sure and go check out her videos and other cards.  You can find her at www.cardzforu.blogspot.com or you can find her in my Blog Roll on the right hand side of the page.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure an leave me a comment, I love hearing from you!

Tags: Card Swap

I confess, I love the $1 bins at Michaels and I also love the $1 Scrapbooking supplies at JoAnn’s.  You have to watch, pick and choose, and monitor often, but if you are patient you can get some cute stuff.

We have several Michael stores close to either where I live or where my #1 Daughter and I work, so there is no lack of incentive to check them out.

So, just because one Michaels doesn’t have it doesn’t mean the other won’t.  I found these cute $1 stamps this week at Michaels.  Six $1 stamps and lucky me I had a coupon for 20% off the entire total purchase.  I like to use these type coupons on these type items rather than using a 40% off coupon on one item that only cost $1.  So that equaled out to me only paying $.80 for each stamp.  Wait it gets better…I still had over $5 dollars on a gift certificate from Mother’s Day.  By the end I got all of these stamps and still had $.35 left on my gift card.

So at JoAnn’s they have $1 Scrapbooking Supplies.  I like to purchase the rub-ons because they are usually the right size for the cards I make and have great sentiments.  Bonus, some of them were only $.50.

As you can see some of them are colored and some black and white.  They are just a good all around sentiments touching on different things like friendship, get well soon and inspirational words.

As I started to check out at JoAnn’s I looked down and they had these clear $1 stamps on a bottom shelf of the impluse buy line.

They are nicely detailed and well worth the $1/pkg they cost. 

So, I think if you just keep your eyes peeled you might be surprise what you can find for $1.  Oh by the way, I already had the Friend to Friend stamp from Michaels…no biggie, I’ll give that to my Mom, she loves stamps also!

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget you can click on the picture to get a closer look.  Be sure and leave me a message and let me know how you are liking the site.

Tags: Musings