News,,,,,,,and a get well card.

Well, the news is better than expected. Betty survived surgery, which they did not expect,,,,,her color looks good, and she's wiggling her toes :)

at the moment,,,,,,,,we can't expect any more.

thank you for your continuing prayers.

I love this card,,,,,,,paper is highly glittered and gorgeous,,,,,,K and company Spring Blossom,,,,

I made the flowers out of spellbinders Rose Creations and the tiny ones are Die-Namics mini rolled roses,

Gems are Recollections, and ribbon and lace are Offray. Stamp is Cloud Nine. And I used my trusty classic ovals nestabilities to make the window.

I hope it cheers her as she slowly recovers.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!!!!

sad day

A friend of mine is in Orlando Regional Hospital. She was found in a coma on the floor of her home. She'd had an aneurysm burst. It doesn't look good, but I'm holding fast to God right now. He can fix anything, even if it doesn't look so good. So, I'm just waiting on His will.

I haven't heard anything since 11pm last night. If you read this,,,,,,,,,say a prayer, please,,,,,,for Betty.

Thank you.

Grand Nestie Envy,,,,,,

OK, so after saying I'd NEVER want to cut the grand nesties,,,,,,,,yeah. I want to. Go figure. It's a moot point, though,,,,,,,,except maybe for ONE set, I probably can't really afford them right now,,,,still building my regular nesty stash. sigh.

However, it hit me today, when I was pining to make a shaped card with the grand nesties,,,,,,,that I DO have a cricut,,,,and about FORTY cartridges. AND a gypsy. So what right do I have to complain?????

so I whipped out the Gypsy, fired up the cricut expression and,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,



no mats LOL. Poor cricut has been a bit ignored since I started my nesties obsession,,,,,,,,


so after a pitiful look at my husband (works every time), we set off to Lakeland to hit up Joann's for some new mats.

THEN I fired up the expression and found a shape I liked,,,,,,,,,,and whipped this card up lightning fast,,,,,,,,I even cut the poinsettia's out of my Winter Woodland cartridge. That's glitter on the flowers, not sand,,,,I really detest that I can never photograph glitter nicely. ugh. And I used my oval nesties (most used, I swear, I never saw THAT coming!) to make the window. Stamp is Inkadinkadoo.

Not sure I am in love with the shape,,,,,,next time I'll try and turn it so the scallops are down (as suggested by a few friends),,,,,,,,and I later found a shape EXACTLY like Labels 14, which I am drooling over,,,,,

All I know is I am intrigued :)

Oh, and I didn't even stare at and drool over the BRAND NEW NEVER SOLD BEFORE nesties they now have in my Joann's,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,more than 40 or 50 times anyway :)

did I mention that I have a 50% off coupon from Michaels that I am almost CERTAIN Joann's will take????????

and a daughter who will do anything for a couple bucks :) Just printed up 2 coupons :)

Flower pot card,,,,,

Two posts in ONE day??? Well, I couldn't help but share this ADORABLE flower pot card I made for the weekly card challenge on scrapbook.com,,,,,,really, check it out,,it's tons of fun and very laid back,,,,,,Michelle picks awesome cards to challenge us with every week! And she posts a fantastic video for us to learn the different cards,,,,so much fun! Hop in and out of the challenge as desired, if a card isn't for you, no worries :) Totally fun!

I used the Rose Creations dies by spellbinders to make the flowers and embellished with gems, ribbon and lace. Butterflies are Martha Stewart Large Monarch Butterfly punch with simple gems in the center. So easy and SO fun! Hope you'll join us sometime!!!!

Easy Peasy Gift Card Holders,,,,,

I wanted to share my favorite gift card holders! they are a pretty close copy to the ones Sharon Johnson does on her blog (Stamp simply),,,,,,and I have to thank her for the easiest gift card holders I have ever done!!!! They are my favs, because I can whip one up in 10 minutes, and at holidays, who doesn't like easy peasy?

Sharon does hers a little larger (A6 size), and I prefer A2 size for gift cards, so I had to play with the measurements a bit,,,,,,,,but I absolutely LOVE them!!!!!! Hop on over to the Stamp Simply blog and see some of Sharon's wonderful stuff! (http://notimetostamp.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/)

Making these is really simple,,,,,,,,really, you can NOT screw this up,,,,,even if you're not creative at ALL (and we all know you are!),,,,,,,,

start with a piece of patterned paper (cardstock weight) 5.5x9.25. Outside should be down.
score at 3 1/4 and 7 1/4
the 2 inch flap at the 7 1/4 score line is your pocket,,,,,,fold up and secure with double sided tape on the sides only.
Fold the front flap down.
Embellish as desired.

I like to secure mine with clear velcro dots, but you could simply close as a normal card as well,,,,,,,

I also like to put windows in mine with nestabilities,,,,,,,but that's not necessary, and if you're in a hurry, it's faster to just embellish and sign the inside.

VOILA! I told you it was simple,,,,,,and you can make it as plain or as fancy as you want!!!!

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed!

Windows to the World,,,,,,

I have a couple cards to share today,,,,,,,I've been having SO much fun with my new nesties that my friend Tiffany was kind enough to pick up on clearance in CA and ship to me,,,,,, THANKS TIFF!

One of the sets she picked up for me was classic ovals, a shape I've been resisting because the shape is so simple that my cricut could cut it,,,,,Now I love my cricut,,,,,,but nesties are just phenomenal,,,,,,it's not a one or the other proposition, IMHO,,,,,,,,both do different things and I love them both! Nesties can do things that cricuts can not,,,,,,and one of them is illustrated here,,,,

making simple window cards is MUCH easier with nesties than it is even with the Gypsy,,,,,

So today, I have two window cards to share,,,,,,my first,,,,,,and I have to say,,,,,I love them! I'm going to be doing plenty more as the holidays approach!

Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for looking!!!!!

Baby Card,,,,,,,,and a lovely compliment!

Today I have a baby card to share. EVERYONE is having babies LOL. My neighbor down the road had a baby girl, so I put together this RIDICULOUSLY simple card together. Paper is DCWV baby girl paper, stamps are a sheet called SPECIAL DELIVERY and I used that stamp for the front. Gems are dollar bin and ribbon is basic basic from Michaels.

My favorite part of this card is the inside. My Special Delivery stamps included both hand and feet print stamps,,,,,,,and it struck me that one of the very special deliveries you receive when you receive a baby,,,,,,,,is hand prints,,,,,,on EVERYTHING, So that's how I did the inside of the card. I left just enough space in the center to sign it. I am thinking it might have been even cuter with pink ink. Hm,,,,,,I need pink ink LOL.

I also received a LOVELY compliment from one of my dear friends who asked how much I would charge to make her some of my snowflake cards pictured below. She's a good friend, so I didn't want to charge her at all, but she insisted, so we worked out a swap instead for some scrappy supplies. She is so sweet,,,,,,,I can't think of a nicer compliment and she made my week!

Hope you enjoyed the baby card, and thanks for looking!

Here's a bit more of a close up comparison,,,,,,the one on the left is my own stamped paper, and the one on the right is pre-printed. Lots of fun!

Christmas--And Hanukkah--in July!!

I decided to get a jump on my holiday cards this year, and wanted at least some that were simple, easy, yet somewhat elegant,,,,,,,and also could be easily adapted to Christmas, Hanukkah and even non-religious folks :)

I had a 12x12 piece of cream paper with pre-printed gold snow flakes on it, and really went to town. I cut the paper to the proper card size, and then embossed with my Big shot using the Tim Holtz snowflake embossing folder. Then I added gems, pearls and ribbon to match.

I made blue for Hanukkah, pink and red for Christmas, and I plan on doing more!

But I ran out of the beautiful cream paper with the gold snowflakes,,,,,,,,

so,,,,,,,,,easy peasy, my husband was sweet enough to buy me some snowflake stamps (Inkadinkado) and I made my own with cream colored paper, and embossed just as I had the pre-printed paper,,,,,,,The one standing in the back is my own stamped paper,,,,,you can see the cream is a bit darker, but I am really happy with the way it came out! I plan on buying some silver ink to play with as well,,,,,,,,Hanukkah cards with silver ink and blue gems would look GORGEOUS, I think!

Hope you enjoyed!!!!!! And thanks for looking!!!!!!

Danger Will Robinson,,,,,,,Danger!

I just felt the need to share,,,,,,,


Nestabilities are addicting and dangerous.


That is all.

Curiouser and curiouser

So last night at work, I made these two cards. The second one I made for my mother-in-law. She lost her husband about a year and a half ago, and I've been popping her cards ever since,,,,,,I worry about her. The first will probably go into the sell pile,,,,,,,,,

the funny part? I didn't realize until they were both done, that I made them using the SAME EXACT two papers,,,,,,,and I was amazed that I pretty much got two different looks. The first one I used a LaBlanche stamp on. I love LaBlanche stamps, but they did take some getting used to. A couple of tricks for really good stamping with LaBlanche,,,,,,,,use GOOD ink,,,,,I like either Versafine onyx black or Memento Tuxedo black,,,,,,Versafine beats out Memento just a teensie bit, but I have more colors of the Memento,,,,,,but when I want a nice, deep, dark, crisp stamp,,,,,,I pick up my versafine. (It was a bit too juicy when I bought it, so I had to sop up some of the ink with a paper towel, but now we are getting along just fine!)

The papers I used on both cards is K and Company botanical. GORGEOUS paper,,,,,,love it. I stamped the Lablanche bunny stamp on water color paper so that I could use my water color pencils without warping,,,,,,,another trick for stamping and water coloring with LaBlanche (or any stamp). Watercolor paper is FANTASTIC for this! Nice and heavy too! The butterfly is a punch by Martha Stewart,,,,,,,,large monarch butterfly punch, and I've used it a TON in just the two weeks since I bought it. Flower is recollections that I tipped a bit with purple water colors. The Nesties are Labels 4.

I like the bunny card,,,,,,,,but it looks a little "Easterish" to me,,,,,,

which is why I surprised myself when I made the second card for my Mother in law,,,,,

it doesn't look the LEAST Easterish to me,,,,,,,must be the bunny. Hm.

anyway, on that card I used the daisy fan deep edge punch by Martha Stewart and then embossed with the Textile embossing folder,,,,,the ribbon treatment is easy once you practice a bit,,,,,simply run a line of good adhesive and fold over and over again, keeping the folds to roughly the same size, sticking down as you go,,,,,,simple!

I layered my favorite black 3/8 inch velvet ribbon over the ribbon treatment,,,,,and then layered a string of pearls on top,,,,,,,finished off with some Recollections pearls and gems,,,,and a stick pin which, IMHO, is one of the biggest bang for your ELCHEAPO buck there is out there,,,,,and voila,,,,,,,easy, simple card,,,,,,I hope my Mother in law likes it,,,,it's being mailed in a clear box because it's simply too bulky for a regular envelope or a clear envelope.

Hope you enjoyed!

Welcome to The Looking Glass

So, I decided to try this blog thing. Everyone seems to be doing it these days,,,,,,God only knows who's going to read it LOL. For someone who talks as much as I do, I'm surprised I haven't been blogging for years.

It wasn't as hard to create as I thought, surprise, surprise. I decided to name my blog Through the Looking Glass, because creativity and creation is a reflection of the joy we feel. Daily joy,,,,,,,daily creativity. What form the creativity takes doesn't matter,,,,,,what matters is that you create. Some paint, some craft, some sew, some organize! I like to make pretty things, mostly from paper. Just BUYING new paper makes me smile,,,,,,the feel of satin ribbon is a joy. It calms me, recharges me, and makes me feel closer to God, the creator of ALL things.

With that said, I thought I would share a card I created recently, one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy!!!

the gorgeous seed packet image was courtesy of the Graphics fairy,,,,,,,,,really, check her out, she's WONDERFUL! You can find her button which will link you right to her blog over there ~~> ribbon is basic sheers from Michaels and the larger flowers were made from the Rose creations dies by Spellbinders (one of the BEST things I ever bought). Smaller flowers are Die-namics mini rolled roses dies from My Favorite Things. LOVE those too! Paper is K and company Water Colors paper pad.

I hope you enjoyed!