A Bridal Shower Card

Hello - and happy stamping to you!  I am attending a bridal shower this weekend for an excited bride-to-be!  Her name is Carlyle - and her new last name will begin with an "L."  I couldn't be happier for her!  She has found a really special guy (and I think he's pretty lucky to have found Carlyle, too!) and they are tying the knot very soon and I was delighted to be invited to her bridal shower!  This card is a direct case from Becky Jensen.  I had to improvise with a Big Shot alphabet that I already had, but I love the idea of hanging a monogram down from the bow - after all, it's all about her new last name, right?  I'm happy that I kept a couple of those "Pretties Kits" from Stampin' Up!  They contain all sorts of pearls and clear jewels and a hat pin to string them on.  It came in handy for Carlyle's card and I think it's lovely!  I used all Stampin' Up! merchandise for this card.  Best wishes to you, Carlyle.  You're going to love my gift and I can't wait to give it to you!

A Wonderful Valentine's Day!

Isn't this one of the most gorgeous bouquets of flowers you've ever seen?  With the silver vase, it kind of has a vintage feel to it - and I seem to be ALL about vintage lately.  I can't seem to get enough of it.  My sweet husband gave me this bouquet for Valentine's Day, along with a beautiful yellow beryl and diamond necklace.  I'm one of those lucky gals who has a husband who recognizes Valentine's Day.  I have several friends whose husbands don't buy in to the whole idea.  I don't think I'd get along very well with a husband like that!  Thanks, sweetheart, for always making me feel special with your gifts of love!  I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

Bella's Birthday Card

Today is Isabella's birthday!  Bella is my son's girlfriend!  She's adorable, sweet, and drop-dead gorgeous and I wish I could be celebrating her birthday with her!  I made this card for Bella.  She loves scrapbooking, paper-crafting, and making cute little things, so I enclosed a Hobby Lobby gift card inside.  I think she'll have fun spending that!  I hope she likes this card - it's sweet and elegant - just like Bella!   I cased it from Pinterest and simply used what I had on hand. 

A Sympathy Card

Hello!  Today I had to make a sympathy card for a dear friend who lost her father.  I think sympathy cards are challenging because if they're not "serious" enough or "deep" enough, it seems as though they aren't appropriate for the occasion.  Although they're tricky, I think simpler is better for an occasion like this.  I saw a card very similar to this on Pinterest and used the supplies I had available to mimic it.  Funny how this card seems like it could be used for a wedding card or even a birthday card, but I think it's very nice for a sympathy card, too.  I hope my friend will feel the love that I felt while making it.  I know how sad it is to lose a father.  The supplies are all from Stampin' Up! except for the card stock, which is from Papertrey.  The twine and ink are Early Espresso.

Valentine's Day Cards and Treat Boxes

Hello!  With everything that's been going on in my life recently, I feared that I would miss out on being able to stamp cute little things for Valentine's Day this year, so I stayed home today and made some cards and treat boxes - and it was a wonderful and quiet "me" day to just enjoy stamping!  There are so many people at The Solana that I would like to thank for all they do each day, so I made 20 little treat boxes filled with chocolates and candy to give to those special people.  I also made a few for my mom, Nan, and Connie - two of my mom's friends there.

I have a die from My Favorite Things - it's a paper bag treat box die - and it came in handy today!  It folds in on the side like a paper bag from the grocery store, so it allows room for candy, but it's not so big that you'll break the bank filling it with candy.  I used designer paper and stamps from Stampin' Up!  I think they turned out really cute!

I also made some Valentine's Day cards for my mom, Haley, and some of my special friends and relatives.  I think this card is to die for.  I copied it from Angela Maine, but used what I had on hand to mimic her card.  I'm totally in love with it.  Although I like the pink, I can only imagine how beautiful it would be to use vanilla ribbon and a vanilla flower.  It would make a gorgeous wedding card - and I'm going to need one of those in April, so I'll try it out then.  The heart is a Sizzix die, the flourish is from Impression Obsession, and the greeting is from Papertrey.  Isn't it fabulous?

Since this card is a bit girly-girl for my husband and son, I made another card for them that is a bit more masculine.  I used my Papertrey stamps for the card below - and I love it, too!  I cased it, of course!  This card is perfect for my son since we have always loved drinking coffee together - especially iced coffee!  A Starbucks gift card is perfect to place inside the card.  I LOVE MY STAMPS AND ALL MY TOYS!  I am one happy gal right now!  Stamping can make you feel that way!

Okay, here's one more that I just HAD to make because it's so cute!  This is a CASE of Maile Belles' card and all of the supplies are from Papertrey.  I'll have to save this card for next year to give my husband!  I feel better now that I got to do some Valentine's Day stamping - now it's on to St. Patrick's Day!  

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!  May you love and be loved!

Mom's 85th Birthday Celebration!

Greetings!  2015 started off on kind of a bad note.  My mom has been in the emergency room twice since the New Year and she was hospitalized for several days with bronchitis and walking pneumonia.  At one point I needed to stay with her in her apartment for several days to help her, so January was a bit challenging and we were glad to see it go!  February was welcomed with open arms!  I was happy to get that nasty January over.  It was cold and wet and, well, just nasty weather most of the time.  February is now here (YAY!) and my mom turned 85 years old on February 6th, so we had a huge birthday party for her on the 7th.  With friends and family here to celebrate with mom, we had a wonderful time!  It was a great day and I'd love to share some of those pictures with you!

Here is my mom on her 85th birthday!  Although the festivities were to happen the next day, I felt we needed to do a little celebrating on her actual birthday, so I took her to lunch at Baker Street Bar & Grill for a hamburger and then we did a little shopping at La Centerra.  We had a wonderful time and stumbled across some amazing freebies from the new coffee shop at La Centerra, which was having its grand opening!  We're still laughing about that!

On Friday night, we met at Carrabba's Italian Grill for a nice dinner.  Doesn't my mom look spectacular for 85?  We gave her a birthday present there - a beautiful pearl necklace from James Avery.  She loves it and has been wearing it every day!

Here are some of the pictures from the party.  It was held in the KT Club at The Solana at Cinco Ranch.  It was a perfect room for the party!

Mom's friend Margie sent me this old "calling card" that belonged to my mom from years and years ago.  I mounted it onto card stock, outlined it with pearls, and placed it into a vintage frame.  I think it looks very classy - just like my mom!

 

This is the official invitation that we had printed up.  I thought it would be a nice touch to include it as part of the party decorations.

Since I went with a vintage theme for the party, I loved including old tags, old keys, and old pictures of my mom.

Utilizing all of my stamps and accessories made decorating a breeze for this party.  I love this new stamp set!  I'll be making some note card gift sets with it later on when I have a chance!

My mom's first name is Jimmi - a good old Southern girl name!  They used a lot of boys' names back then, kind of like Bobbi, Billy, etc.

I had apothecary jars filled with pink and white candy, so I used takeout boxes and put mom's initial and a small pink flower on the front so the guests would have something to put their candy in.  I love the feminine look of this!

 

 A good old standby - Hershey's Nuggets wrapped in decorative paper of your color choice!  It always works!

These were the centerpieces that went on all the tables.

To hold all of the forks and straws, I used Mason jars and created vintage tags.  They were a cute touch and added some color and a nice feminine feel.

The pink and white candy was a perfect decoration!

Using old pictures of my mom in vintage frames was a great way to decorate the tables!  The vintage trunk was a great place for everyone to put their birthday cards in.

 

These are the beautiful vintage tags that my sister Pam D'Urso made for all of the family members who attended the party.

LOOK AT THIS CAKE AND CUPCAKES!  Aren't they beautiful?  They were made by my mom's granddaughter and my niece, Kim D'Urso.  We were amazed at the fabulous job she did and how perfect they went with the vintage theme!  Kim does custom cakes, so if you live in the Katy area and need her services, I know she'd love to make some cakes for you!  Not only did the cakes look beautiful, but they were delicious, too!  I love the edible pearls around the top layer!

We had three bouquets of beautiful pink and white flowers, one for each table, which added an elegant and feminine touch to the tables.

For the centerpieces, I used little vases filled with greenery and placed four pictures of my mom at different stages throughout her life around the centerpiece.  It was a nice nostalgic touch and we enjoyed seeing all of those old pictures.  This is a picture of my mom holding an Easter basket when she was probably around six years old!

Of course we had to have pink and white straws!  Everything was pink and white and vanilla - the colors my mom wanted. 

To house bottled water, I used an old galvanized tub and put lace bows on the handles with a key and a vintage tag.

People are starting to arrive!  This is my sister-in-law, Janece.  You can see my sister Pam and her daughter Kim behind the cake table.  We had four dozen balloons, which made everything seem festive and bright!

My brother Scott is visiting with Nan Olfield.

This is my mom in the pink, visiting with some of her friends.

 This is Ms. VanAmburg and Marie Leach.

Mom with more of her friends!

This is Arlene and Arlene and Nan!

 This is my nephew Josh and his girlfriend Jeannie!

 This is my son Hunter visiting with a guest.

This is my daughter Haley serving Champagne punch!  The punch was composed of pink lemonade concentrate, white cranberry juice, champagne, and orange liqueur.  It was soft pink and bubbly - and delicious!  We also had a coffee bar, pink lemonade, and bottled water.

Even the pink lemonade was served vintage-style in a white pitcher with lace and a vintage tag attached!

 My mom gave a speech halfway through the party to introduce her family members.

This is my mom and her friend Margie.  They have known each other for 80 years!  The picture they are holding is the two of them sitting on the front porch of Margie's home around the time they were in first grade.  Can you believe that?  We love Margie - she is like a family member!

Here is a larger picture of Margie and Mom.  Margie is on the left and my mom is on the right.  Isn't it cute?

I spray-painted all of the frames silver and had so much fun selecting the photos to use.  They were all very small pictures, so I had them blown-up to a 4X6 size so you could see the people in the photos better.

As a secret and for a very special birthday gift, I started working two months ahead of time contacting people in my mom's past.  I asked them to share with me memories they had of my mom.  This included all of our family members, as well as friends that my mom had.  It was a super-fun project to work on - and we ended up filling two notebooks.  One person would lead me to someone else - people that I didn't even know - and they would then lead me to another person, too!  Some of the memories dated back to when my mom was in first grade.  I've always just seen my mom as "my mom," so it was enlightening to hear some things about her as a person long before I was around or even thought of.  Some of the memories made me laugh and some made me cry.  Many people mentioned what a great cook my mom was and how talented she was at sewing and with handwork.  We felt this was a very special gift to give her and I'm so glad we did it!

HAPPY 85TH BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Additional Christmas Decorations

Hello!  In going through my pictures, I found more of my Christmas decorations that I want to remember for next year! 

I love decorating for Christmas and I didn't really want to take allof the decorations down after Christmas!  Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas season!