A Word of Warning

I suppose most of you have heard the news about the passing of Davy Jones.  Some of you may be too young to remember The Monkess, and Davy but this isn't just about him.  It's about the fact that he had been experiencing breathing problems,  did nothing about it and suffered a heart attack.

On Monday, my 63 year old brother was having trouble breathing after exercising.  When it didn't get better after two hours, he called 911.  They took him to the hospital, ran a lot of tests and said he had suffered a heart attack.  They did a heart catherization and put in a stent.  He will be fine now but had he waited and not listened to his body telling him something was wrong, the outcome may have been different.

So I'm asking, no begging,  you to know the warning signs of heart attack.  It's different for women than for men but women hesitate to seek help no matter what the symptoms.  Please take care of yourself and your loved one.   Quick response it imperative to save a life. 

My Last Valentine

I have one more valentine  I made that didn't get posted.

I used a cuttlebug heart embossing folder with Core'dinations cardstock.  Then I sanded the hearts so they showed up pink.  The sentiment was printed on my computer and the pearls were colored with markers to match.

Keeping Busy

One good thing about not spending time with paper crafting is that I get other things made.  While I miss the creativity of making cards and lay outs, it can sometimes take over my time and I don't get other things done.  I'm sure you all know about that.  :)

A while ago I posted about a prayer shawl I made.  See that post here.  Since then, I've made two more.

Both of these were made with leftover balls of yarn from other projects that were donated to my church.  I had fun putting the colors together.  There's another one in the works that will use up the rest of the yarn.  I'll post it when it's finished. 

Jill's Quilt

Usually when I make a quilt, I decide on a pattern and then purchase the fabric.  This one I did backwards.  I saw this border fabric and decided I just HAD to make a quilt with it.  I had always wanted to do a border using a border print and this was it.



Fortunately I found this pattern that worked well and then I had to look around for coordinating fabric to go with the border.  I was lucky to find just what I needed.  Here is a close up of one of the squares, the border  and the quilting that I had done by a long-arm quilter.

I have been making quilts for all the grandchildren when they graduate from high school.  Between my husband and myself, we have 15, ranging in age from 27 to 9.  Two of his grandchildren had already graduated when I started this tradition so I had to make it up to them.  I gave both Jillian and Nicholas their quilts this year for Christmas.  That makes eight down.  One will get a quilt this May and then I have a few years before I have to have three done for my triplets.   It's a good thing I love to do this and have a lot of ideas for some I'd like to make.

A CTO Valentine

I still have a couple of valentines to post.  I am having trouble deciding which one to use for the Celebrate the Occasion challenge #50 - Valentine's Day (must use a heart).  I have one with a cut heart and one with an embossed heart.  Hmmm...

Okay, cut heart it is.  I cut this from Doodlecharms in white with a red shadow.  I wanted to duplicate the "holey" look of the paper so I punched little holes on each side but it didn't look just right.  When in doubt, pull out some bling.  I added 3 red stones in the punched holes on the top and it looked so much better, to me at least.  The picture doesn't really do it justice.  I need to work on better lighting.

This is a CAS card which is the way I like them, but also I needed to make all my valentines in a hurry.  In case you haven't seen my previous posts, I had to leave my trusty Expression at home when my husband and I left for the winter months on the gulf coast.  That meant all my cards, including a large number of birthdays, had to be done before we left.  The best way to accomplish that was to do clean and simple.  I like them that way anyway and since I had to mail them I'm sure the USPS does too. 

One month left and then I'll be home to make cards again.  Meanwhile, I've still been creating, just not cards.  I'll show a few of those things in later posts.

A Different Take

Last week I posted a card that I made with the Lyrical Letters cart.  View that post here.  Here is another one with the same cut done in different colors and without the ribbon.

I round the corners and inked the scalloped edges with Dusty Concord Distress Ink.  You could take this same cut and vary it in so many ways.

Pink and Punny

I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted.  Where does the time go?  Since I have very few cards to post, I've been dragging them out, hoping for a challenge or two.  Today it's two.

Here's the card.

I'm hoping this qualifies for Fantabulous Cricut #98 - Fun with Puns

and My Craft Spot #44 - Girly Girl

I made this for my granddaughter until I remembered it was her 13th birthday.  I wanted to do something special for that so this card will wait until next year.  The pun part is the "We Wi-shoe" on the front (with "a Happy Birthday" on the inside).  And what could be more girly than a pair of pink ballet slippers?  There's no bling or anything because my DGD isn't a bling sort of girl.  She's really  more of the quirky kind but she is a beautiful ballerina, now on pointe.

The shoes were cut from Twinkle Toes and I bought the cartridge just so I could make her a card like this and do some layouts of her performances. 

I know Valentine's Day is over but I do have a couple more of them to post.  I'll do one tomorrow and then see what late week challenges have in store.  



Lyrical Valentine

One of the bloggers I follow (sorry I don't remember who now) used Lyrical Letters to make a lovely scalloped heart a while ago.  The minute I saw it I knew I wanted to use that cut on a valentine.

The "love u" is also from the same cartridge cut in pink to match the ribbon that is woven through the scalllops.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
My Sheri Crafts #78 - "Love Is In the Air"
Fantabulous Cricut #97 - "Love Is In the Air"
My Craft Spot #43 - Valentine's Day
Sentimental Sunday #88 - "Feel the Love"
Paper Playtime #67 - Cricut cut with heart

Special Order

I got a great package in the mail Friday.  CricutMachines.com had a big sale on cartrigdes a week ago, including free shipping.  That's the kind of sale I like.  : )  I ordered two from my wish list - Elegant Edges and Sophisticated.  I was bummed that the other two on my list were sold out. sob sob  I am really looking forward to making cards and layouts with these new carts but alas I have to wait until I return home to my lonely Expression. 

I said one of my goals while I was away from my machine is to learn Cricut Craft Room.  I haven't been there yet but these new carts have given me the push I need.  I should have several things all designed by the time I'm back home.

I Won!

I'm so excited about the gift certificate I won from Kate at Small Bits of Paper during the Cricut Friends Blog Hop.  It's for The Craft Spot and I've been eyeing a few things over there.  I'm sure I'll spend way more than my certificate is for, but then again, that's probably the idea.  I'll let you know when I make up my mind what I just HAVE to have. : )

Be sure to check out both The Craft Spot and Small Bits of Paper.  You'll get some wonderful inspiration.  Thanks again, Kate, for picking me.

Be My Valentine

At last there are some challenges I can enter.  Yay!  This card will go to
My Craft Spot - "Anything Goes"
Die Cutting Divas - "Anything Goes"
Cardz TV - "Be My Valentine"

This is an A2 card cut in white cardstock.  The next layer is a checked paper, then a white layer punched with a Fiskars punch.  The hearts are a cut from Wild Card in a textured Core'dinations paper.  I glued the main cut down flat and then took the three off-cuts and mounted them on foam.
Here is a close-up of two of the mounted, textured hearts.

 I think it's a sweet and easy card.