By Golly, It's Monday

I made it through the weekend and I'm here to tell about it! Ok, so there's not much to tell, but I made it anyway! We laid low yesterday. I needed a few things at WalMart, so we went there first thing and then it was the wash, wash, and some more wash. I finished it up this morning! I had a busy morning. I was up bright and early, well, maybe not so bright since the sun is hiding, but early and got the dishes finished from last night, the wash from yesterday done, and I got more cards made! This is one of those. I love these little Pure Innocence girls. They are so sweet. I pulled out some more of the designer papers that Pat sent and made this card. I saw this layout on some blog and loved it and the color combo came from another card I saw on a blog. I don't know what happened in the picture, but it's not really as dark as it looks. It's a nice Camel Hair coat with matching boots!
Nothing else is new with me today. Barry is at school and I'm hoping he stays there all day. Night would work for me. I do have to figure out what I'm going to make for dinner. I think Hot Dogs and Beans sound ok. I wish I had beef stew because it feels like a winter day and that's always good. Maybe next time.
Take care and if you want to see all my new cards on ebay, just follow the link!
Hugs,
P

Touched By Kindness

I can't believe the kindness out there in the world by people whom I've never met except online. I know if I should have the great fortune of meeting them in person some day I will be able to pick them out from the glow they have around them! This week has been unbelievable to me in the form of caring about us from beginning to end. First VA took care of Barry, with no fee. Evan took me to lunch the next day and gave me a check to help us out. Then I got a wonderful box of goodies from a stamping friend and now this morning I woke up to a gift of money to top my week! Yes, I know I'm a lucky person! Barry and I have always tried to give back to our community and made sure our children knew that's what you do, but when it happens to you, it's very humbling. I thank you all for caring about the Bloom's. My heart is filled with love and good wishes for you all.
Do you like this card? I'm always looking for new layout idea's on the web and saw something like this. I can never get mine to look "just" like someone else's, but I'm happy with this card. I used some of the new papers I got in the mail from Pat to make this. These colors were fun to work with. It's nice to get out of the holiday mode for a while and think Spring! The verse is from Verve and the flower is made using several layers of CS.
I'm off to do the wash today. Barry has no clean jeans for the week. This week was hard on him with all the times his bag broke and he had several changes of clothes a day. We try to make light of it when it happens, but I know it takes a toll on him. He had a great dream last night. He was working and we were living in Maui! That's one I would like to come true!
Blessings to you all!
Hugs,
P

A Gift of Friendship

As promised yesterday, this is one of the cards sent to me from my friend Pat in WY. I LOVE IT! I've seen them made up over at SCS but never thought I'd have one. I know I wasn't making one myself, so you can see how wonderful I feel getting one for myself! The picture really doesn't do the card justice. It's even prettier in person! Thanks again Pat. Look in the mail early next week for something I made special for you!
Yesterday was a bargain day for me. I was looking for a Hobby Lobby coupon over at SCS. Someone always posts a link, but instead I found a thread about an envelope sale at Staples. What a deal! They are selling the boxes of 100 A2 envelopes for 5.00! Yes, you heard me right, so hurry on over to your local store and check them out. I heard they are not re-ordering this one again. I don't know the whole story, nor do I care, all I know is I got 400 new pretty white envelopes in my stash now! The way my cards are selling, that should last a good long time!
I broke open some of the papers I got from Pat yesterday as well and made a few new cards. I'll post them later in my ebay store, if you're interested in them. I was so happy with one of the cards. I love the digi images and I love to paper piece images. The trouble was how to do both. I worked it out on the computer yesterday. I first printed the image on plain paper and then marked the top of the page so I would know where to place a small strip of printed paper and then printed the digi stamp off the computer. My little girls dress printed out perfectly! All I had to do was cut the dress out and place where I wanted it! The hardest part was figuring out the top and bottom of the pages in my printer!
This afternoon Madelyn is marching in the holiday parade in our city. She's a Daisy, which is below Brownies, but it's a start. Tina is the troop leader so they get to do lots of fun things. It's not until 3 today, so I'll still have lots of time to play. Barry is working at a Lion's Eye Clinic this morning and then he thinks he's coming home for Turkey Salad Sandwiches. Not unless I buy some bread! Oh well. I guess I better get a move on it. The post office is calling me. I packed up all the thing I sold in the last day or two to go out. Not enough---but I can't make people buy any more then I could have made it snow in Dallas this week!
Have a great weekend!
Hugs,
P

Teacher Gifts

No I don't have any need for a "teachers" gift, but I made this one yesterday and added it to my ebay store. Won't this be a perfect little handmade gift for a special teacher? Well I think so and I'm hoping someone else will think so too and run right over to my ebay store and grab it up! The set was made using My Mind's Eye papers and a MFT image. The apple stamp on the postcard cards is from SU.

We didn't wake up to snow this morning. In fact, the sun is trying to come out! What a bummer when I thought I would see snow today. The weather got it wrong again! What a big surprise! Remember how it felt when you thought you'd have a snow day off from school and all you got was a big fat 0! That's me this morning. It's not like I didn't have things to do, it's just I thought I'd have a reason NOT to do them!

Can you believe it's Friday already. Where did the week go? I cooked our bird man yesterday so I don't have to cook again for a few days. I know, you're saying to yourself, and not out loud I hope, bummer! Yea, me too!

I have to make a trip to the office supply store today and buy envelope's. The are so darn costly! I looked at Office Max yesterday and they wanted 12 bucks for 100! Gold is cheaper! Down at the supply store, I can get 250 for that amount! Not cheap by any means, but cheaper! Walmart stopped carrying the A2 size, so now you have to plan it out!

I'm off to create something for my friend Pat. She sent me the most FAB box of stuff yesterday. All kinds of printed papers from SU, ribbon, flowers, and the most beautiful cards! Today I'll take pictures of them and post them tomorrow. You will love them! And the best thing ever came in the box as well. A new SU bible! Barry looked at me as if I were a "bit" off in my head when I said that last night, but he just doesn't get it. I haven't seen the new catalog in person this year and I love to keep it next to by bed and read it. Isn't that just like a Bible for crafters?

Have a warm and happy day!

Hugs,

P

A Little Birdie Told Me...

Yes, it's another image from Heather Ellis http://www.heather-ellis.co.uk/index.htm. This is the link to her website. She also sells the images on Etsy, but I found they are a bit less on her site even with the UK price. I used some stamps from SU to go along with the little girl. Perfect? Well, I think so anyway! I got this paper some time ago and since I only had a tiny piece I had no name of who made it. The polka dot is the other side of the plaid. You know how I like plaids!

I thought I'd show the inside today as well. I used to finish up the insides of all my cards, but lately I've become lazy or cheap! Don't know which one really. Since I lowered the price of my cards I feel that if I don't cut back a little, I'll be losing even more on the sales, but this one just seemed to "need" finishin up!

My lunch with Evan was so nice yesterday. We went to Sweet Tomatoes. It's a salad buffet that we have in our area. We like it a lot. So much so that for my birthday Evan gave me a gift card for there. After that I hit the natural food store for some fruit. We had none, so I added oranges and grapefruits. They are on sale this week. It's the season.

Today I'm off to CCA for my food shopping. What a blessing they are to have. I don't know what we would have done these past few months without their help. Barry is at school today and hopefully that will be for the day. When I come home I've got to work on some cards to sell. I'm getting low. I told Barry last night I've lost the will to stamp so much. I thinks it's because my sales are so slow so my mind thinks it's ok to slow down! I just can't believe how SLOW sales are this year. Isn't that just how it works, when you need it the most, it leaves. That's true weather it's brains or control!

Have a great day!

Hugs,

P

It's Beginning To Feel Like....

Winter! It's cold and dark down here in Dallas. Winter is really trying to make itself felt today, but this is nothing compared to what cold weather is coming later in the week! I like the cooler weather up to a point. It's nice to have around for a few days, even a week or two, then I want warmer weather back. I guess we'll just enjoy the fresh air for now! Do you like my soft and pretty Christmas card? I saw some pretty pink and purple holiday cards while hopping the blogs the other day and knew somewhere in my stash of paper there had to be something to make this color combo work! Ms Pure Innocence was the perfect choice for a stamp with this card. Now if it would only sell in my eBay store---today---would be nice!
Yesterday we spend hours at the VA with Barry's appointment. They checked everything out and he's lookin' good. By the time we got home, it was really nap time! Between the early morning's in our house for school and the drive and waiting, we both were beat. Today I'm feeling a lot better. I still want to shoot myself, but only a small wound would be OK!
I'm going to meet my son Evan for lunch today. It's a nice treat for me. I don't get out too much lately and even if it's cold, it will be fun!
That's about it for me. If you know of anyone who would like to jump at the chance to support a rather older age family of two really likable people, we're available! We come cheap!

Love and Hugs,
P

Love Letters

The thing I feel the least like doing is writing love notes to anyone, but she's so darling, I might make an exception! This little girl is from the pen of Heather Ellis Designs. Can you tell I'm a big fan? I liked her work before she started designing for My Favorite Things stamps and I'm so happy that she sells her images by themselves for about a third of the price. I used some old BG papers for this card as well. Even the pink layer is BG. I love being able to use up some of the papers left in those 6x6 little things.
Today Barry has another appointment at the VA. This time it's in Dallas, so we don't have to travel for hours. It's a follow-up last months to check out how he's doing. They should now have all the paper work from the surgeon and we'll go from there. I'm meeting him at school and then we'll drive down to the hospital together.
I made lots of cards yesterday and added them to my ebay store. I just wish I would have sold some last night. I was hoping to make a few bucks with them. Momma needs gas money! I wish I could say that in jest, but not this time. I really don't know when I've felt this down before. If you know me, I'm usually a happy person. Even if all the stuff around me going on, I don't get down on life. I think it's a waste of time to always feel bad, but between you, me and the bedsheets, I feel so bad right now. We're running out of money, we're running low on hope, and I wish I had the energy to run! I apply for jobs almost everyday and nothing! Sometimes I've got to wonder what is wrong with me? The one thing I know I can do well is make and sell my cards and even they're not selling well. Oh well, I guess you don't want to hear anymore about me feeling sorry for myself today. I think I'll just go and do something. I am in NEED of a shower before I go out of the house today, so I'm off.
Have a good day and think good thoughts!
P