Baby Shower Invitation

I made 40 of these invitations for a baby shower next month. I deleted the name and phone number before making up this sample to post. The ducks were colored with a Sakura Glaze pen in yellow for the ducks and orange for their beaks and feet. When this ink dries it has a raised effect. I did the writing on the computer, printed out a master copy and took it up to Office Depot to be printed onto ivory cardstock. The backing is pink. I used 2 different punches on the corners. Very simple yet I like how it turned out.

Opportunity to Teach a Card Class

I wanted to share with you I have the opportunity to teach a beginners card class here at the mobile home park where we live. I stopped at the office last week to speak with the park manager and in the course of our conversation, a class was mentioned. I told her I would be willing to teach a class. So far there are 3 people that are interested. I need to decide on a date, probably sometime next month. We'll do some really simple cards. Also, in December they are planning a craft fair here at the park and I am going to have a table to see if I can sell some cards. Along with making more cards for Denise, I will be very busy for the next couple of months. Denise said to me today "so I guess I won't see any Christmas cards from you again this year"! LOL. She's rubbing it in because last year I started my Christmas cards while I visited with her last October, however, did not get them finished to send out. LOL!! I am just about finished making 40 baby shower invitations for the daughter of one of my church friends. I'll post those this week.

Update on Boldly Going in Enterprise, AL

Boldly Going in Enterprise, AL is open for business!!! PTL!!! I spoke with Denise earlier this afternoon and she told me they opened for business on Thursday of last week. They were open Thursday and Friday and then had to close on Saturday so Stephen could do a renewal of vows for a couple that are part of their Bible Study group. The ceremony was done on the beach in Florida which is about 90 miles away.

They will be open from 6 am to 6 pm and tomorrow Monday, 9/22, will be the start of their first full week. I asked her how business had been and she said "we have some great friends"! Several from their Bible Study group came in and others from the community. It's been 3 long months getting things together.

A month or so ago a realtor whose office is there in Enterprise left a comment on my blog. I am not sure how she found my blog; she said she had seen the post of the cards I made for Denise and wanted to know where the coffee shop was. I forwarded her email address to Denise and Denise emailed her. Last night I got another comment on my blog from her and she is going to try to visit the shop this week and is interested in seeing the cards I've made. Her office is actually just up the street from where the coffee shop is located.

I am excited for them and wanted to share this update with you. I know that the Lord will bless this endeavor. Continue to keep them in your prayers.

Happy Birthday Cupcake

I made this card a couple of days ago. I used some liquid applique for the frosting on the cupcake and it needed to thoroughly dry. This is a neat product. After it's applied, a heat gun is used to dry it and it turns puffy. It still needs to air dry preferably for a few hours or overnight. You then have fluffy frosting. I used a red rhrinestone over the cherry on the top. A white gel pen was used for the dots on the pink scallop. The flowered layer is designer paper from Basic Grey. Cute card!!

Price: $3.50

Boldly Going in Enterprise, AL

I believe I have mentioned before about the coffee shop my daughter and son-in-law are opening in Enterprise, AL. Well, it will be open in just a few more days. They had their inspections yesterday, Monday 9/15; there were a couple of things that they needed to correct and should have that taken care of by the end of this week if not before. God has provided all their needs to get the coffee shop together and the finished project looks fantastic.

Click on to their link on the bottom right hand side of my home page - CC Enterprise Plant - Home Page. Then click on "Pastor's Blog". Pictures of the coffee shop are posted. Denise does an excellent job in decorating and the colors she used reflect what she enjoys. All of the wall decor she found on sale. She's also a great bargain shopper!! It's a good thing Stephen likes whatever she picks. :) On one of the shelves is a light colored basket. She told me that's where she is displaying the cards I made for her.

Keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they continue on this new adventure that God is leading them on.

Birthday Cards

Here are 3 birthday cards that I made this month. I needed to wait until after the birthdays were past before I posted them. The first two were for our twin daughters, Jenni and Joyce. The third one is for a girl that I use to work with. She resigned a week before I did and entered the academy to become a California Correctional Officer. She is presently assigned to the prison in Vacaville. Jenni works for a company that is a subsidary of Wachovia Bank (I think). She worked for The Money Store until it closed. It all has to do with home mortgages. Joyce teaches 3rd grade in Baldwin Park (So. California) and is the mother of our 2 youngest grandchildren. This was a big birthday for both of them. I won't say how old they are because they probably would get upset at me. :)

This pink card is the one I made for Joyce (pink is her favorite color). After I colored the image, I used a clear glitter pen to go all over the image. It's real sparkly.

Price: $3.50

This is the card I made for Jenni. The card is red which is her favorite color. I used one of my Cuttlebug embossing folders on the larger white layer. I absolutely love the Cuttlebug and find myself wanting to use it on all my cards. I used the clear glitter pen again on the image after I colored it in.

Price: $3.50

This is the card I made for Monica. The card is pink with a dark green layer. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on this one too. The next layer is a piece of designer paper from Basic Grey Sultry. I put pink Stickles in the center of the larger flowers and used the clear glitter pen again. The butterfly was cut from another piece of designer paper from the Basic Grey Sultry pack. The clear glitter pen was used on all the lines of the image. I put a thin strip of foam tape on the back side of the middle of the butterfly, folded it's wings up and then placed it on the card. The butterfly looks like it's in flight. Too Cool!! It looks a lot nicer in real life. One of my friends at church saw this card and wanted me to make one for her.

Price: $3.50

Notebook for Card Recipes

Last month some time, Stephanie at The Paper Garden had a Make 'n Take covering these composition notebooks. I didn't get to go make one that particular day. I thought this would be a great idea to write my notes in for each card as I make it. I have been writing my notes on little slips of loose paper. I went up to Target today and purchased 4 of these notebooks at 50 cents each. While I was there, I looked to see if they had any scrapbook or stamping supplies. They did have some of each, however not a very good selection. I did find this pack of paper and diecuts by Making Memories. So I covered one of these for myself. I did the title on the computer then cut it out and layered it with more paper and cardstock. The flowers were part of the package.

Here's the finished product. I left the black covered spine as is. The corners of the book are rounded so I used my corner rounder on the paper but it makes a larger corner cut than the corner on the book so does not cover it completely. I cut the first one a little too narrow so put it on the back. It's for my use so it doesn't really matter. I think it turned out great.

Black & White Card w/Red Flowers

My friend Michelle and I along with little Liberty went out to a scrapbooking store in Rocklin called Green Tangerines this past week. They have a really nice selection of Bazzill cardstock and I enjoy going out there to look for different colors. I also wanted to try and find some black and white patterned cardstock to use on this card that I made a couple of weeks ago. There were several choices, this is the one Michelle and I thought would work real nice. It is heavy cardstock whereas the first card I made, I used black designer paper that had a pattern on it. I came home and made this card that afternoon. I really like it and think it is nicer than the first card I made.

Price: $3.50

Strawberry Party Favor

Here is the Make 'n Take that I did at The Paper Garden's 2nd anniversary celebration this past Saturday. It is a Strawberry Party Favor; there are some candies in the middle of it. We put stickles (glitter glue) around the edge of the leaf, edged the oval with red chalk ink and after coloring the strawberry, a Sakura clear glaze pen was used. This pen gives a puffy look to an image after the ink dries.

Here's a side view. I apologize, the picture is somewhat fuzzy.

And the back view. This picture is fuzzy too. Sorry!! This is a really cute idea for a party favor and it could be filled with all sorts of candies before putting together.

Three Cards for Fall

The last card I posted was a Sympathy card that I made for the family of Mary Jo Welch. We were able to be in San Diego on Saturday, August 29th for the memorial service. It was held at San Diego First Church of the Nazarene which is on the campus of Pt. Loma Nazarene University. We saw Dr. Welch (Reuben) as soon as we got there. I don't think he recognized me at first, it had been at least 20 years since we have seen each other. I did call him when my mother passed away 6 and a half years ago. When he realized who I was, he got the biggest smile. He was getting onto an elevator with another couple to go upstairs to the foyer of the church. He gave me the biggest hug and a kiss on my lips. He once told my husband that a kiss was okay because I was family. :) The service was absolutely beautiful. It was held in the chapel which is referred to as The Eclipse. It is a rounded room with floor to ceiling windows on both sides of the front of the chapel. One side looks down on the entrance of the university and the other side looks out onto the city of San Diego. I told my husband it would be so hard to concentrate on a worship service held there because a person would want to be looking out at the scenery. A reception was held after the service and we got to visit a little more with Reuben. I also introduced myself to his daughter whom I have never met. She and her brother were born after the Welch's returned to the mainland from Hawaii. Before I could tell her who I was, she said "you're Betty". She had heard about my family during her growing up years and had read the card I sent. As I mentioned previously, the Welch's were my first pastor in Hawaii. I found out that he was 24 years old when he accepted the call to pastor in Hawaii and had just graduated from the Nazarene church's seminary. Mary Jo was 23 and their first daughter was a toddler. Unfortunately Pamela was a special needs child and passed away several years ago. In January of 2009, it will be 60 years that I have known Reuben. There will always be a very special place in my heart for him. He told me that my daughter had sent a card and a very touching letter. I remembered later that she had told me she sent a card.

We stayed in LaPuente with my husband's daughter Joyce and got to see 3 of our granddaughters, Geraldine who is a sophmore in high school this year, Katie who is 3 and a half years old; she started pre-school and is having a great time and Emma, our youngest granddaughter who is 10 months old. We got to visit with Wendi, my husband's youngest daughter and of course, George, Joyce's husband.

It was a quick trip with lots of driving and dealing with the horrendous traffic of Southern California, however, am thankful we got to go.

Well, this is suppose to be about cards so I wanted to make some cards for fall. On the first card, I used a stamp from Savvy Stamps. After coloring it, I used a clear glitter gel pen on the pumpkins to give it some sparkle. I did a "booboo" by scoring the card at 4" instead of 4 1/4" so I put a strip of patterned cardstock at the bottom. It looks like I planned it that way. It's the same cardstock I used to back the pumpkins and is by AMuse. The ribbon and saying is also by AMuse. I took my cards to church this morning and a friend of mine wants me to make this card for her. So I have a sale before even posting the card. PTL!!

Price: $3.50

Here's another fall card. This stamp by JudiKins is the closest stamp I have to a mum. The flower is actually a peony which is a spring/summer flower. The cardstock by SU is cranberry and the flowers are cranberry and rose red ink by SU. I stamped the card base first with a background stamp called Antique Cracking then stamped over it with another background stamp called French Script in cranberry ink. Both stamps are by SU. The ribbon is by May Arts. I love the ribbons from this company. I put some tiny pearls in the centers of the flowers. I didn't like the tiny leaf at first, however, I think it's growing on me. :)

Price: $3.50

The third card really makes me think of fall with the colors. I saw the layout on SCS and modified it. All of the cardstock is SU, really rust for the card base on which I stamped the two background stamps I used in the previous card, stamped in really rust ink. The layer is more mustard and very vanilla as the top layer. I stamped the background stamp French Script in amber which is a chalk ink. I used 5 different chalk inks for the leaves. I added the brads and gold cord around the stamped image a few times. Because the layers were bulky with the cord, I used foam tape to adhere the layers to the card base.

Price: $3.50

I think all three cards turned out quite nice. I will have some other fall cards to post in the next few days. I also have 3 birthday cards to post, however will wait until the particular birthdays have passed. My friend that wants the pumpkin card also wants me to make one of the birthday cards for her. :)

Oh, yesterday, Saturday 9/6, The Paper Garden, my LSS, celebrated it's second anniversary. I will post the make 'n take I did tomorrow. Linda Carnell, the owner and designer from AMuse Art Stamps in Seattle, WA came for the celebration and did a make 'n take. I didn't get to make that one, however, Stephanie told me she was doing it for a Saturday make 'n take in a week or so. Linda was here in Sacramento back in April and did a few classes. I was able to take 2 of her classes.