thankful....

A few weeks ago I was making my Breast Cancer postcards for a swap I was in.. I had extras and had read about Melissa Frances' fight with breast cancer and so I sent one to her.. not ever expecting to receive an acknowledgment. Imagine my surprise today when a large envelope was delivered to me.. It contained a sweet thank you note from her along with her Thankful line of products..What a wonderful treat and I am so very thankful..especially since I am not able to find her products anywhere locally.. So here are a couple cards I made using some of the papers and stickers.. the one with the knotted ribbon is "spring-boarded" from one I saw on another blog.. the other is totally my idea!

Penny for your thoughts..

I have had this stamp for years.. I think it was the first stamp I ever bought.. Used some scraps up to make this card.. Daisy D's and Creative Memories. offray ribbon, a little clear baggy and a penny.

Kindness..and Gratitude

When I think of my children and what I want them to be and how I want them to live, "happy" is what I think and what all parents want for their children. However, more often than not the word that first comes to my mind is "kind". Of all the words I use to describe my four children, Kind is at the top of the list.. I feel so thankful and grateful that I can say without hesitation that each and every one of my children is kind to not just family and friends but to people they meet. This card I made using a piece of velum with clocks on it and behind it was a scrap of MME.. (My all time favorite papers!) USed the metal embellishment I found at the dollar store and a scrap of ribbon..

First Birthday..

A good friend is here with me this weekend and she has twin great grandchildren.. They are celebrating their first birthday next week.. I made a card for each of them .. a boy and a girl.. Still need to tinker with the boy card, but here is the girl.. She has some pictures of them that were taken in a vintage setting.. Thought they were so cute.. so I made the card kind of like that.
Used some old Basic Grey paper from the Jack and Jill line, some hydrangea petals with pearls in the centers and printed the photo onto vellum.. aged some lace with chalk inks and then did a little sewing and inking and .. Voila!! this is Sarah's card.. I used a number one from a set of thickers that I got from American Crafts..

Sweet. Sweet Daisy,..

My good friends little black pomeranian, Daisy, passed away very unexpectedly.. I had to make up a little album for her to put some of her precious photos in.. She was the sweetest little thing.. only weighed three pounds and they are so sad.. Used the Rainbow Bridge poem.. I just love that.

Finally, a couple of cards

I think we are on our way to wellness! Patrick is still on antibiotics for the next three weeks, and will start physical therapy tomorrow. Hopefully that will help him get to using his arm..William has his wisdom teeth out today.. yukk..Another week of spring break and then I am so ready for everyone to get back to their routines.. they are too!
Had a super surprise the other day.. Got a neat box in the mail from American Crafts. It was full of ribbons, thickers, rub ons, paper and all kinds of goodies.. Used some of them on the flower card. I love the gathered ribbon.. makes great stems and leaves for flowers!

Needed a thank you card for one of Patrick's doctors.. Used the new MME papers. I so appreciated all the well wishes for Patrick... conveyed them all to him!

Been a rough week.

Just a quick post.. I hope we are on the downslide here.. My little guy, Patrick who is 12 and has had his fair share of surgeries in his short little life, is again in the hospital.. To make it quick, he got up with a very sore shoulder last Sunday. He had done nothing to injure it.. Took him to the pediatrician on Monday who said just give him aleve.. Got home and didn't feel comfortable.. He was in too much pain.. so I called our wonderful orthopedic doc who got him in right away. he was concerned, but gave him pain medicine and said he would check with us the next day.. at least he did an xray but it showed nothing.. More pain for Patrick ..and this is from a kid who never complains so I knew something was wrong.. finally got an MRI done on Thursday and it looked pretty good.. but Friday.. terrible pain.. they admitted him and did an aspiration of his shoulder.. and voila! It was filled with horrible infected fluid.. lots of staph.. he had surgery on Saturday morning and is finally feeling a little better.. They are afraid there may be some infection in the bone and are doing some more tests tomorrow.. for now he is on lots of antibiotics.. hoping he comes home in the next few days.. I need sleep!! Keep him in your prayers..

Thanks!

Elaine

Susan G Komen - Race for the Cure

The Race for the Cure will be in May this year, in Boise and I decided that I wanted to make something special for all my women friends.. This is it!! It is a fabric postcard that I made using the pink fabric with the pink ribbon on it.. I added some pink beads and put sparkle modge podge all around the edges.. It is hard to see but it has a pretty glittery edge! On the back I printed my favorite Cancer Quote.. Cancer is such a devastating disease and has touched several of my friends.. BUT.. cancer IS limited,,

Cancer is so limited...

It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot corrode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot kill friendship
It cannot suppress memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit.
Cancer is so limited

Friends..

""God saw a tear and kissed it away with the smile of a friend" I have had the wonderful pleasure of having my best friend stay with me for the last five days.. She is 65 and I have known her since I was fourteen.. She comes and spends a few days with us every now and then.. my kids love her and my husband enjoys her visits too. We always get so much accomplished when she comes.. This time, we cleaned out closets, my scrapbook room and she LOVES to iron.. I hate it.. She HATES to cook.. I love to cook.. so I cook her wonderful meals and she irons for me.. we visit at the same time.. anyway, I had this MF vintage label and it just seemed perfect for a card for her.. She left this morning and I sure miss her already!!

We love chocolate chip cookies..

and I love a challenge.. The kids and I watched Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the foodnetwork the other night.. He was doing chocolate chip cookies and the throwdown was with Levain Bakery in New York.. Their cookies looked so yummy the kids and I decided to make some, but no luck in finding the recipe.. We did find a blog where several people were trying to copy it and I think they were successful!! Made the Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies this morning. and My oh My!! These are not cookies for the faint of heart..Each one weights 4 ounces and are great big, fill your tummy cookies.. the kind where you almost need to share one with someone.. Some of these babies are going to making their way to the vet's office (need to run and get dog food for the diabetic dog!) the H3 Petfoods (need for for the "non-diabetic" dogs) and to the lady at the book mobile (she always saves me the newest books out by my favorite author!!) These cookies ought to keep me in good stead with all of them!! AND, I love sharing!! Give them a try, if you dare!!

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups AP flour
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp baking soda
12 ounces (2 cups) chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
1 cup walnuts

Cream butter and sugars until just mixed.. Add eggs and dry ingredients.. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.. You may have to mix by hand.. Dough should not be real sticky.. Divide into 12- 4 ounce portions and bake at 350 for 23-25 minutes.. Don't overbake..