Our Annual Kentucky Derby!

 This is the centerpiece for the table on Kentucky Derby Day which was May 3rd.  I made the favors from a tutorial which is called tent boxes but I made the flap go over the top for the closure.  The Gold image is from my Cricut. I added the roses and the bows.  I think it came out great!

Here is a picture of the table for the 8 of us! Plus this past winter our friends and I found Kentucky Derby glasses in flea markets in Florida. The picture below is just one of the glasses we found but we did end up with 9 of them. None of us like Mint Julips so we made gin and tonics! Our friend Lynne, makes the best Gin & Tonics!  Thank you!

Eclipse Day

Today is eclipse day and my husband and I were lucky to get the eclipse glasses from a neighbor who was so generous in letting us have the extra pair of glasses that they had. It was a beautiful sight to see. Thank you so much Meyer family! We are leaving tomorrow for Denmark so I wanted to share a couple of wooden cigar boxes that I have been working on for the past couple of weeks. The first one is from Graphic 45's Couture paper collection. It is a gorgeous collection

The inside of the box I made a pocket and put a card in it so it can be given as a gift if so desired to do so. For the second cigar box I used Graphic 45's Enchanted Forest another beautiful collection. I also made a pocket inside the box but haven't made the card yet but will do so for the same reason. I need to give a shout out to my brother-in-law for saving these cigar boxes for my sisters and I to decorate and sell. Thank you so much Lenny!!

Happy Leap Day 2024

I am taking advantage of an extra day in the year to get ready for our annual St Patrick's Day celebration. I have started with this tiered decoration for the centerpiece on our table. I made the "eat drink and be irish" sign and the little pocketbook. Happy how it all came together. I still have the favors to make and a banner for the festivities not to mention a boiled dinner! Glad that I have done a jump-start on the dinner party. The other night I was up a little early and got a picture of the full moon. It lighted up our backyard! Happy Leap Day!

Mother's Day Envelope Flower Cards

This is a beautiful envelope card with flowers that can be artificial flowers or paper flowers. I love making these with artificial flowers! The tutorial for these envelope cards is using the We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board. Sam from Mixed Up Crafts does a great job explaining how to make these. I have also made them for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas! Such a great idea for most any holiday! Here is the tutorial from Mixed up Crafts

Here is a birthday one that I made.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Crafting

I love having a theme to make a birthday card for someone. This one is for my husband. He can't start a day without his coffee! Love this set from Stampin up "Coffee Cafe". It has been used a lot! The bridge style card is an easy one to make and worked perfectly! Happy Birthday to my best friend who happens to be my husband, lucky me!

The coffee bean stamp is so cute! My husband pointed out that it looks like lips! I think so too!

I have been doing some crafts with my pom pom maker. Love all the ideas on Pinterest especially the bunny bottoms! They are so adorable! It was easy to make two cute chicks with Easter eggs for Easter and little gnomes with their hats for anything. Lastly I made a vignette with a pom pom bunny in a garden that says "Hello Spring"! Can't wait for spring! I also made the carrots for the little bunny. It won't be long before spring is here!

Birthday Cards & Projects

These 2 cards are for very good friends birthday which is this Thursday. They are twins and, believe me, it is easier to make the same card but I didn't do that because they are twins. We have been friends since the age of 9. Flowers and bees are summertime themes for birthday cards which is what I did here. The flower card is a double Z fold and the bee card is made with Tim Holtz stencil and paste to make the hive. My sisters and I are getting ready for a craft fair that we are doing in Kennebunk on August 14th. Here are a few projects that I have finished this week.

I might have showed these "Welcome" & "Hello" signs before but I love making them with pizza tins from the Dollar Store! Enjoy your day!

Oceanside Diorama

Love using all my sea/ocean dies! Living in Maine it is a popular theme for birthday cards especially summer birthdays! The Diorama style is fun to do too! This one is for a friend's birthday in a couple of weeks. The paper collection is the Beachhouse from DCWV.

My sister's and I are also making Farmhouse/Shabby Chic items for a craft show that we are going to do this fall. Here are a few items that I have been busy working on to finish up. The IOD stamps and moulds are great to use on these items that I changed up and had around the house.

April Cards

This is a tunnel-type card with a nautical theme for my brother-in-law's birthday which is this Sunday!  His birthday is April 12th which is Easter Sunday this year.  I love making tunnel cards and also beach/nautical themed cards. The paper collection is from Joann's that I got last year when I was in Florida and just love this paper pad!!  I got some new shell dies in March and I wanted to use them along with this paper collection.  Happy Birthday Lenny!  Love you!

Another view

Front of the card

This card is a tunnel/diorama card that I made for my sister.  She lives in Georgia so I wanted to get it done and in the mail because her birthday is April 17th.  The paper collection is Graphic 45 Imagine. It is such a beautiful collection and I had to use it!   I used a lot of the images from the collection, fussy cutting them.  I have seen a card similar to this on Pinterest and wanted to try and re-create it for her.  I couldn't find the dimensions so I did my own.  It isn't quite a center tunnel card like the one above.  It is more of a rectangle for the center fold of the card.  I have another picture below to show this a little better and also the front and back of the card.  Happy Birthday Sis!  Love you!

Happy Birthday Phillis!

Oh that's right she is also turning 60!

Easter Box!

Today I am mailing an Easter surprise for my son and his girlfriend who live in a "hot spot" for the coronavirus, San Francisco area.  I worry about them but my son calls or texts pretty regularly to keep us informed about how they are doing.   Everyone at this point needs their spirits lifted, right!!! I made this drop down box from Mixed Up Crafts for them.  Here is some pictures of the inside of the box.  Graphic 45, Secret Garden is the collection I used for this. I only had a few papers left so I used them up and it is a good springtime collection. 

Here is the tutorial that Sam from Mixed up crafts did.  She does a wonderful job explaining this project.    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/34832597107643332/ 

Also in the Easter Box, I made a quilted tabletop runner for their dining room table.  Eric likes quilted things so I thought this would be cool for them. Sabrina is also a craft girl and thought she would get a kick out of it too.

Lastly, I have been keeping busy in my craftroom and I made these two thank you cards for my daughter who has been out of work for 3 weeks because she works in a restaurant.  Some of her regulars have sent her tips during this hard time which was so sweet of them. I thought it would be a nice gesture to send them a thank you card. One of them is a dance teacher and the other one loves golfing.

I just want to say to everyone, things will get better.  Please stay safe and stay away from one another, we will get through this.  God doesn't give us things that we can't handle.  We can do this!  God bless you all!