Gone, Gone, Gone

Last week our retired teachers' local group had an auction. Each year we do this to raise a little extra money. Many of the ladies bring wonderful fattening baked goods. I decided that I'd do something different, so had been working on most of the cards that I've posted lately to give as my donation to that auction.

I'm proud to say that the auction went well. I avoided the baked goods as am trying not to eat everything that will go straight to padding. I was very pleased with the sale of the ten cards that I took. They were bid as 'for each' items and the highest bidder took what they wanted at that price. The rest went to the second bidder. They raised far more than if I'd taken a baked item, and I was really pleased with the amount donated.

I came home and realized that all my new cards are gone, gone, gone. In some ways, it made me rather sad. I'm going to have to get busy soon and make new ones to replace those.

In the meantime, I've been working on a project taking digital pictures of really old family photographs. I'm planning on making a family history album and having it printed in hardback form. I put a little about that on my Humor and Doings blog. I think helping my friend with her scrapbook has jump started me back into this project. I have found that it is difficult to find enough hours in the day to do everything I need to do. Welcome to the world.

A Little Help for a Friend

Something happened in my dining room yesterday. I'd promised to help a friend with creating an album of her mother's birthday celebration. It's amazing how hard it can be at times to just get going. I finally called Mary and we set a date for her to come. Yesterday was the day. I took this first photo after she had been working for awhile getting things organized. I believe she had run to the car for a Pepsi at this point, so her chair is obviously vacant. I also took the opportunity to quit working and grabbed the camera thinking of my blog. I think she also needs a picture for the end of her album, just to show how hard she worked on it.



Mary has returned and is again hard at work. She was so tickled with how this is going and has decided that she is really enjoying herself.

She has a ton of pictures. She purchased a Creative Memories Premiere Album with extra pages. We finished the first set of pages and started on the next set. I think she was surprised that I didn't expect to finish the whole album yesterday. I had to laugh about that.

She finally gathered up her album. It had been raining hard, and I was a bit alarmed about her carrying everything off in the rain. She just couldn't leave it at my house as wanted to take it home to admire her work. I sent her home with a few tools and pictures and album wrapped in a trash bag for protection. She looked eager to carry on with the project. I hope to see her and the album again soon.

It is a wonderful thing to capture life's little moments and use a little creativity to tell stories. I know that she is going to happily share her album over and over. Of course, she is taking it to her Mother to enjoy. I'm probably going to give her a call soon and check to make sure she is journaling. We talked about that a lot.

A Little Bit of Happiness

Using Stampin Up's set A Little Bit of Happiness, I decided to make something colorful. Markers are from SU's Bold Brights. A little ribbon purchased at Hobby Lobby during one of their half price sales and a touch of embossing with a Cuttlebug small folder and this is complete. It is blank for personalization.

Viola

I've been madly trying to make some cards to include in an auction. Our retired teachers' group is having the annual fund raiser this week, so I've been busy.

I dug out my Stampin Up Viola set and made a new birthday card. I used some dotted paper that I'd picked up from good old Hobby Lobby. I also used my new SU photo corner punch to add some interest in the corners. I layered SU Soft Subtle colors. I think this guy is a cutie.

Flowers and Friends

I dug out my 2002 SU 'Flowers and Friends' set yesterday. Stampin Brenda sold this little set and wonderful Daughter I-Needa bought it for me. Thank you!!

I had purchased this paper from Hobby Lobby awhile ago and decided it would work well. I loved the fact that the dots on the paper are carried out in the stamps. Even the rustic feeling of the paper is carried out beautifully in the flowers. I used markers from SU's Earth Elements. I also used dimensionals to add some depth and interest.

I recently bought Stampin Up's photo corner punch and used the smaller of the corners for this card. I punched them on white card stock and used the dabber to color them to blend in with the paper. I rather like the effect.

Saturday's Card

Today I've been messing around trying to find enlightenment to create a card. I finally finished this, but not without a lot of thinking and trying.

I started with some paper I'd found at Hobby Lobby. It's nice to have my paper samples on a ring to help match. Then I took some colors from SU's Soft Subtle collection and started working. The flower and snail are from SU's Whimsey. Love that set! I added some flower brads and a bit of ribbon. I ended up embossing the Thinking of You on white paper and dabbing on some ink for a little texture. I also like to edge my papers as think it looks more finished. I seem to use the heck out of SU's Ticket Corner Punch. I have a feeling that I'm going to try working this up again with some different papers.

Updating Flowers

I made this card previously, but dug it out and decided to add a bit to it. I darkened the orange framing around the flowers and added self adhesive rhinestones that I found in a cute new scrapbook store. I rather like the addition.

The flowers are Stampin Up's Sassy Stems, which is no longer in their catalog. Words are from So Many Sayings. I used SU's Word Window Punch, which works perfectly for these short phrases. I used SU's Ticket Corner Punch on the flower paper.

I also love the Cuttlebug and the texture embossing adds.

A New Birthday Card

At last I have a new card. I've been so bad, but am on the road to getting some crafting accomplished. I decided to take a picture of this before putting the front on it.

I used the Stampin Up Birthday Whimsy, some SU bold bright papers and ink and a bit of ribbon purchased from Hobby Lobby. The cute little elephant is an SU stamp from 2004. I used an SU Earth Element color for the cake as that seemed more natural. I'm not sure a bright green or yellow cake would do. =)



I decided to make another one, then realized that my lighter green paper was a tad too small. So, I got a larger white card and applied some paper I'd picked up from Hobby Lobby.
Tah Dah!