Sisterlines Space in Time: May 2009

Off to the picnic!!

Just a quick post so you all know I didn't forget to post today! We are off to hang out with Granny today at the Annual Family Picnic they hold at the nursing home she lives in.

We all bring our own little picnic and then the nursing home provides refreshments and the entertainment. I believe it is Crystal Gage this year again.

Last year she got Jay (my sister's boyfriend) up dancing with her and most of our family participated in one way shape or form!!!!

She is pretty good. She reminds me a little of Amanda Wilkinson. The residents like her so that is the main thing.

I'll post more on the day tomorrow.

Have a great Sunday. I hope the weather is nice where ever you are.

Chow for now

Jacqui

Our Craft Lounge Kona Sneak Peek

Kona Kona Kona - he gets cuter everyday! Remember this is an eP exclusive set available for a limited time. This one didn't turn out as nice as I hoped. I hate when that happens...you have an idea in your head and when you try to put it down on paper something just doesn't look right. That's what happened with this one. The base of the card is Bashful Blue card stock by Stampin' Up! The next layer is a piece of glitter designer paper from Die Cuts With A View. I used my Nesties to cut the pieces that Kona was stamped on and then matted with another piece of Bashful Blue. I tied on a piece of Pumpkin Pie ribbon and used the arrow punch to punch out the word birthday. I sponged some Pumpkin Pie on the edges of the arrow....not sure I like how this looks......I wasn't sure what colour to use to colour Kona. What colour are sea turtles anyway? I do like the way the water turned out though. So I guess all is not lost!! There was one thing I liked on the card.

Don't forget to check out Our Craft Lounge and see all the other great sets they have!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Goofy Kona! Our Craft Lounge Sneak Peek

I think sea turtles are very quickly becoming one of my favourite animals ....er creatures. Kona has got to be the cutest sea turtle out there. Those little swimming trunks and that totally cool surf board...

The base of this card is Barely Banana card stock from Stampin' Up! The next layer is another great piece of designer paper from Die Cuts With a View. Kona is stamped with Memento Ink and coloured with the Copic markers. They were then placed on Barely Banana card stock and cut out with just enough Barely Banana showing so they stand out a bit from that flowery green paper. The sentiment is also one of my favourites from Stampin' Up! called Smarty Pants. I used my Nesties to make the 3 jagged circles. I like the way Kona's hands are both up in the air kind of pointing to the sentiment. Almost like Kona is saying you are never too old to do goofy stuff - like standing on a piece of fiberglass on top of a wave with no protective equipment! Oh I know you have quite the visual now don't ya?? Well first off Jacqui in a bathing suit....that's the start of this visual/nightmare.....and then add on the helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, mouth guard, nose plug, oh yeah and water wings!!!

Talk about the creature from the black lagoon!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Happy Birthday Joy - Our Craft Lounge Sneak Peek!

Today is Joy Kennedy's birthday! Joy is one of the co-owners over at Our Craft Lounge. Kona - this cutie patootie sea turtle is one of Joy's favourites! This great set is an eP exclusive set available for a limited time, releasing tomorrow May 29, 2009.I made this little ditty to help celebrate Joy's birthday and to celebrate the release of this set. The base of the card is Whisper White by Stampin' Up! The next layer is glitter paper from Die Cuts With A View. The next layer is Whisper white again, but I used the scalloped circle Sissix die for that layer. Kona is stamped in Memento Ink and coloured with the Copics. A little bit of white gel pen was used for some highlights here and there. My oval punches were used to punch out the Kona and to layer with the designer paper. I used the Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Write marker to make the squiggly lines around the edges of the scalloped circles. The bubbles are little stickers I have had for quite some time.....like many of my embellishments and bling!!!!! The words are rub-ons made by Stampin' Up!I hope Joy enjoys my interpretation of Kona!

Another very exciting thing happened last night. George Strait was named artist of the decade by the Academy of Country Music. Only four other acts have been honored as artist of the decade. They were Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988 and Garth Brooks in 1998. George Strait is by far one of my favourite country music stars. His voice is pure and his calm and controlled stage presence is one that will never be duplicated. He looked great sitting, watching the show with his beautiful family. I often wonder what it must be like for the artist that made the song famous (George in this case) to hear another person/group sing his song. Not only that, what must it be like for the person/group to stand up there and sing a George Strait song right in front of George Strait. What an honor. Going to a George Strait concert is definitely on my bucket list!

**this added after the show... George even said...I don't know if I could have done what y'all did, singing your songs with you sitting right there looking at me!! So George and I are on the same wave length***

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Inspiring for sure!

I was having a little cat-nap on the couch the other day and when I was in that "do I really want to wake up" stage, I heard a song on the television. I had CMT on while I was napping. I kept my eyes closed for a while just to listen to the beautiful sound of this person's voice. It was a pure melodic sound and the words to the song were impressive as well. When I opened my eyes, I must admit I was surprised to see who was singing the song. It was Justin Hines Justin is a Canadian who suffers from, (well I don't want to say suffers from, because when you read his website, he states he was born like this so he knows nothing different). So I will take the words from his site ...."Justin copes with a rare genetic joint condition called Larsen Syndrome".

This keeps him bound to a wheelchair. After watching him on the video, I made a mental note to myself to look him up online. Later on that day, I was sitting at my table stamping and a commercial came on television and the music was very melodic, and then I looked up to see who was singing and it was Justin again! He was singing a theme song to a commercial we have here in Ontario, which is "Ontario, Yours to Discover". They are very nice commercials, they show some of the beautiful places Ontario has to offer ( I don't get any kick backs from the Ontario government for promoting our Province!!! - but hey...If you've never been here!!! come on over for a visit!!!). Isn't that the way it goes. You buy a new car, that you have never seen before, and then as soon as you drive it off the lot.....you see them every where you turn!

Anyhow, I'm not sure if I will get a card done tonight to post on here for you, so I thought I would share Justin with you. He has a CD coming out June 2nd!!!

If you click on his name near the top of this post, it will take you to the video part of his web site.

The very first video called Say What You Will, is the song that I woke up to the other day on the couch. I have written the lyrics here for you.

Say What You Will - By Justin Hines

and if I were to die today

my life would be more than OK

for the time I spent with you

it's like a dream come true

and if this was the last goodbye

no more tears to dry

I would say it one more time

s'been more than fine

but how could I have known

and how could I have shown

so say what you will

before it's too late

say what you will mmmhmmmm

say what you will before it's too late

say what you will mmmhmmmm

and if you were to walk away

no you couldn't stay

just think of all the times we've had

all the good and not the bad

but how could I have known

and how could I have shown

so say what you will

before it's too late

say what you will mmmhhmmm

say what you will before it's too late

say what you will mmmhhmmm

and all the time that I was holdin' back

just trying to protect myself

well I want you to know

that I loved you more than that

so say what you will

before it's too late

say what you will mmmhmmm

say what you will before it's to late

say what you will mmmhmmm

say what you will before it's too late

say what you will mmmhmm

if I were to die today,

my life would be more than OK.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Quick Thanks

I had a bad migraine today so did not go to work, and I had my Christmas Card class at night. So no stamping done to post a card today. I did some colouring the night before and so I have some images ready to make some cards!

Since I don't have a card to post...I thought I would share with you a bug......My sister always posts all these cool critters that she has in her yard...

well here are two cool critters that we had.

This one was on our beets in the garden

The bunny is the latest addition to our back yard family - I hope he leaves my garden alone when I plant it!!

Today - I am thankful for migraine medication.

Chow for now

Jacqui

Ketto Kick Off

Well I pondered and pondered what I should do for Donna's birthday card and this is what I came up with. I wanted it to be an original design, not something I cased from someone else. I wanted it to be colourful and it had to have some texture too.

The card is 6 X 6. The base of the card is Very Vanilla card stock. The designer paper is by We R Memory Keepers, the Tiffany's line I believe. The daisy is made with the Sissix die cut I just got on Friday!!! The images are Ketto's by Stampin' Bella. They were stamped and coloured with the Copics. The butterfly and bees are rub ons I purchased from Michael's ages ago...and actually found a chance to use them.

I'm pretty pleased with the way the card turned out.....hopefully Donna will be too.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Happy Birthday Donna!

Donna is one of my very close stamping buddies. I met her through our mutual friend Jennifer, and I have been blessed ever since I met her to call her my friend. She is a very talented stamper, a wonderful mom, and a super friend. Her birthday was actually yesterday, the same day as my Dad's but he's my Dad, so he got the first post!!

I'll be honest...I haven't made her card yet...I find it hard to make cards for fellow stampers cause well......they have to be "the bomb". So I am tossing some ideas around in my head and when I come up with what I think will be the perfect card then I will make it and show you!!

Donna's hubby planned a surprise birthday for her yesterday. I was unable to attend, but from a few pictures I have seen elsewhere - it looks like they had a good time.

Happy Birthday girl!

Today I am thankful for my sister Diana - she never ceases to put a smile on my face - and those days when you are just feeling blah and sorry for yourself...those smiles help! (lots)

Chow for now

Jacqui

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday! Believe it or not, I even had his card made before his birthday! And I got to hand deliver it this year! Every Friday I go and visit my Granny in the nursing home and this week, my Mom asked me if I wanted to come over for supper after my visit! Mom's cooking....free meal.....no need to ask twice!!!!! Of course I said yes, so after a very nice visit with Granny, and very nice visit with my friend Marion, I went out to the farm for dinner with my parents! This time of year it's always questionable if you are going to see Dad or not. He is a farmer and this is a busy time of year with the working ground, planting, chores etc. Mother Nature was on my side a bit last night and it was a little too wet for Dad to work, so he was able to hang out and visit.

I love my visits with my parents, we always have good conversations, and they always give me 'lots' to think about.

So for dad's card this year, I did a Hanna Stamps meets High Hopes card!

I stamped the straw bales in the front from the Barnyard Hanna set and the High Hopes scene in the back and coloured with Copics. I sponged colour around. Then I stamped Pin up Hanna and the sheep from Barnyard Hanna and coloured them with the Copics. I cut them out and put Hanna on the bale of straw and the sheep in front of the bale of straw. Then I just stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment and punched it out with an oval. I struggle with sentiments and greetings sometimes....where to put them...making sure they are grounded. But all in all, I'm happy how it turned out.

Today - I am thankful for - My Parents.

Chow for now

Jacqui

Sometimes it's just hard......

You know, sometimes, it's just hard to be happy.

On April 8th, Victoria (Tori) Stafford, an 8 year old girl from the town I live in, Woodstock, Ontario, was abducted while she was walking home from school. The high school which is situated right next to the school Tori was leaving, actually captured some video surveillance of her walking with someone. The police indicated that she had willingly left with the person, so she must have known her and so the case was being classified as a missing person's case instead of an abduction case. Tori's Dad and Mom, and many of the local communities planned searches, vigils and many other events to get the word out there that Tori was missing. Posters, flyers, Facebook sites, daily press conferences, vigils, even songs on the radio were all aimed at getting Tori home safely.

Earlier this week, the police made two arrests and charged the individuals with murder. That almost made me ill.

All through this horrible ordeal, there was much speculation on what had happened to Tori, but I think the majority of the people were holding strong to the hope that these horrible people who had taken her, would come to their senses and just let her go. Not once, did it even cross my mind that she would be murdered. The two people charged, one was an 18 year old girl and the other a 28 year old man. My mind is just reeling trying to wrap my head around how an 18 year old girl (who is still closer to a little girl than an adult) could think in any way possible that it is even remotely 'ok' to go to a public school and take an 8 year old girl from her family and friends. What is this world coming to? Can no one think for themselves any more? Where have our morals gone? What has happened to make it not 'ok' for your children to be able to walk home safely without having to worry about someone taking them or bullying them or worse, killing them? I'm not certain I want to live in a world like this. Don't take that the wrong way, I'm not thinking of doing anything drastic, I'm just very sad.

I feel very sad for Tori's family. I feel very sad for Tori's friends, and I feel very sad for the world in general. Why are people so angry? Why do people put their needs in front of the needs of others? Why are people always in such a rush to put someone down, but never in a rush to tell someone how nice they look?

We really need to make some drastic changes. I know it sounds corny...but I am gonna make a conscious effort to take the time to smell the roses.

I commute every day to work, approximately an hour each way. During this time I do an awful lot of thinking (singing too!). Today when I was driving along I took the time to look at things as I was driving and think how beautiful the things were. Like how beautiful a Red Maple tree is and how rich the colours are when it planted beside another Maple tree. The contrast of red and green was amazing. When I look in my rear view mirror and see the beautiful colours of the sky as the sun is coming up. Or when I get frustrated because I am sitting in a line of traffic behind a school bus, and then look over to see a Mom with her teeny tiny little Chihuahua waiting for her daughter to come bouncing off the bus. Not only is Mom beaming with pride the little dog is bouncing too!

So.....I am going to try something that my little sister Courtney started on her blog a while back...things to be thankful for. ( no matter how corny - if it put a smile on my face....I am thankful for that!)

So today - I am thankful for Red Maple trees.

Chow for now,

(stepping down off my soap box now........)

Jacqui

Final Lucy Post

On Tuesday when I went to work, I had my corn all ready to throw to Lucy (the goose - check back a few posts if you don't know who Lucy the goose is), and she was gone. I thought that the hatching of her eggs was going to be soon, but I was hoping when I gave her some extra corn on Friday when I was done work, that she would wait until the following week. All I got to see when I got to work were these 2 lonely eggs. I wish I knew how long she had not been there sitting on the eggs, because I would have brought them in and tried to keep them warm and see if I could get them to hatch. Monday night was very cold, so if she was not there at all that day, then it would have been too late to help them. It's sad that the poor eggs were left there, but I hope the other 3 hatched fine and somehow made it down to the river for a swim.

Here is the final card for my Christmas Card class on Monday. I really like the Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red colours together. I got a package of Rockabilly Designer paper today. What nice paper. It's embossed and feels great. The base of the card is Riding Hood Red. The next layer is Kiwi Kiss, then the Rockabilly designer paper. I used the square scallop punch and the 1 1/4" square punch to make the 3 squares across the bottom of the card. Shimmery White card stock was used to cut out the snowflakes with my Big Shot. Three dew drops were placed in the top left hand corner of the car. I like the way it turned out. Hopefully the people coming to my class will like it too!

Chow for now,
Jacqui

It's BBQ season again!

In April when I went to Kingston to spend some stamping time with my girls, we all stamped off images of stamp sets that we did not have so when we got home, we could make lots and lots of cards. I was going through some of these images on the weekend and I came across this one. Diana (my sister) had started it, colouring the clouds and the grass and was not happy with it so she tossed it aside and said do what you want with it.

So this is what I did with it! I finished colouring Riley and the barbecue's and I did my best to make a BBQ cook off card. I'm not sure if it was the same cook-off that Timber was competing in, but the burgers and dogs, still look a little raw for my liking!

Chow for now!

Jacqui

Blue and Silver!!!

Here is another card I will be doing with my class on the 25th of May. I like the colours blue and silver together. I think it is elegant looking.

The base of this card is Night of Navy card stock by Stampin' Up! The next layer is Brushed Silver, the next is Night of Navy which was embossed using the snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder. The tree from the Lovely as a Tree stamp set is stamped and embossed with silver on Shimmery White card stock and layered on silver and navy paper. An eyelet was added in each corner, and the sentiment was stamped in silver craft ink in the bottom right hand corner.

Woodstock's annual Victoria Day parade took place yesterday. I think Joe and I have watched every one of these parades since we have been together. The first year it went right by the apartment that we lived in and Joe tried to convince me that he had that much "pull" in Woodstock and knew that many people that they changed the route of the parade to have it go by our house....of course I didn't believe him...even though pretty much every single person who was dressed up as a character in the parade came over and shook our hands and said hello...so it actually did seem possible!! The fact that he knows so many people has always been a cool thing for our kids when they go and watch the parades; whether it be the Victoria Day parade or the Santa Claus parade. Most of the floats have someone on them that Joe knows or some of the characters walking the parade route know Joe and they would make a point of coming over and shaking hands with the kids when they were little or yelling at us and waving from up on the float. That always made going to the parade fun. This year.....well..the kids had friends over last night and were up late.....so were still in bed when Joe and I went to watch the parade this year. I guess they will have to catch it on the local cable station!

Here are a few pictures from the parade.

This one shows Janna Polzin. She is a local resident who competed in the How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria television show that had people competing to be the person who would portray Maria in the theatre production of The Sound of Music in Toronto. I believe she was the runner up and therefore got to be an understudy. Many people from Woodstock went to see Janna perform the dates she was playing Maria. She was chosen as the Parade Marshall this year.

This picture shows 3 of the members of the WDDS (Woodstock & District Developmental Services) This organization supports developmentally delayed individuals find employment and live actively in the community. The fella on the end with the ball hat waving, is Roberto, he used to be our neighbour before we bought this house. The fella on the opposite end is Scott and has been very active in our local baseball community. Both of these guys have participated in the Special Olympics as well.

This picture shows a cow! For those of you who are not aware, Woodstock is the Dairy Capital of Canada. There are many of these cows that show up at different events in Oxford County.

This picture shows one of the band leaders - I think it was a Shriner's Band. Check out that knife!

This picture is one of the Shriner vehicles. It has the Ghostbusters symbol on the side of the vehicle and it pumps out the song all along the parade route.

This pictures shows some of the tiny cars that the Shriner's drive. It looks like Lightning MacQueen from the movie Cars.

Hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek of our parade.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Blue Christmas

Oh wow...I started typing up this post and like always the television is on and a commercial came on for Domino's pizza and they were showing their new Pasta in a bread bowl - wowzers do they ever look good. How the heck am I supposed to get skinny with that kind of food being released!!! I had a hankerin' today to spend some time in the kitchen, so I whipped up some potato salad, some macaroni salad, some nanaimo bars and a blue berry cheese cake. I don't do a whole lot of cooking, my husband seems to enjoy it, so I let him do his "thang". But every once in a while, I like to strap on the apron and whip up some goodies!

I whipped up this card yesterday.

It will be one that my class will be making on May 25th when they come to my Christmas Card class. I like to make Christmas cards that do not use the typical Christmas colours (red and green). So this one is done with blue and white.

The base of this card is Bashful Blue card stock. I used the set we got at Regionals to stamp some random snowflakes. The next layer is Bashful Blue coloured using the Direct to Paper technique. The top edge was paper pierced and the bottom edge was shaped using the scalloped edge punch. White dots were drawn in using the white gel pen. The white layer was embossed using the Stampin' Up! texture plate. The snowman image was stamped on Whisper White card stock and coloured using the Stampin' Write markers. The snowman was then cut out and popped up on top of the original image. Blue ribbon was tied under the image for an embellishment.

Half pearls from the Pretties kit were placed in a couple of spots on the card. You can see how the snowman is popped up as well as the dots from the texture plates.

Thanks for stoppin' in ,

Chow for now

Jacqui

It's been a while....

Well it has been a while since I have put up a post. I haven't been stamping very much lately. I've been pretty mellow this past week. I needed to do some stamping this weekend though, as I have a card class coming up on the 25th of this month and I have to get the cards designed.

(Well, I'm not really doing much designing...so far....I am doing more casing, so I am very thankful for all the wonderful stampers that share are their great creations!)

Here is one of the cards my class will be making on the 25th. The base of the card is Bordering Blue Stampin' Up! card stock. More Mustard layered on Chocolate Chip is the next small layer. Then Bordering Blue layered on Chocolate Chip. The snowman, presents and penguin are stamped on watercolour paper and coloured with the watercolour crayons and the blender pen. This card was cased from one made by Mercy Kerin.

They were then cut out and stuck to the Whisper White card stock with dimensionals which has been stamped with snowflakes in Bordering blue. Some hemp twine was added for an embellishment. The sentiment was stamped on Chocolate Chip, as well as on Bordering Blue and on More Mustard. It was then punched and layered with dimensionals.

I hope they will like to make this one.

This picture shows a close up of the images that are layered.

You know how when you are watching a movie and there is a statement that is made and you just laugh out loud and say to yourself, "I have to remember that one".
I am watching the movie Armageddon with Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler - and a bunch of others as well..
For those of you who have not seen the movie it is about a large meteor that is about to crash into the earth and Bruce Willis is gonna drill into it to blow it up so it does not kill everything on the earth.
There is an older fella who has a large telescope and he saw a bunch of meteors burning through his telescope...while he is looking at the sky through his telescope his wife comes out and starts nattering at him, they have a screaming match and then she ends up slamming the door and walking away. Later, the fella is calling and talking to someone at NASA telling them about what he saw through his telescope. He makes a comment to the fella from NASA saying "the person who finds it gets to name it right? The fella says yeah sure. .so he says
"I wanna name her Dottie, after my wife......(the camera zooms to the wife who is now smiling because he wants to name something after her......) and then he adds....."She's a vicious life-sucking bitch from which there is no escape"
Now THAT....is funny!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Patch.....Rest in Peace

It is with a heavy heavy heart that I make this post today. My beautiful cat Patch passed away this morning at the vet's office. We took him there yesterday because he was getting very sluggish and was moving really really slow.

When we took him in, the vet felt his belly and immediately determined that he had a blockage because his bladder was very distended.

He said he would have to be kept at the office while they catheterized him and hopefully he would bounce back. The vet was very upfront about the whole situation and said that the anesthesia may be too much for him to handle. I guess that was the case.

I am going to miss him alot. He had a great personality and was the best cuddler.

We brought him home and buried him in the back yard. The kids put some toys that he liked to play with in the box with him. We are going to get a nice little stone and a remembrance ornament to place over his grave.

Jacqui

Garden Dude

On Saturday evening my hubby Joe, my Mom Linda, my sister-in-law Lorna and myself went to a dinner and a show. My son won the tickets by being able to identify the face of a movie star or our local cable television station a few weeks ago.

The event that he won the tickets for was a fund-raising event for the Mental Health Association. It was called Stand Up for Mental Health. The show was a stand up comedy routine and all of the participants suffer from some type of mental disorder. As part of their therapy, they have enrolled in the Stand Up for Mental Health class and they write jokes and do performances based on their struggles with their mental health disorders. The show was great and I have a great deal of respect for the participants. I am not a public speaker by any stretch of the imagination. I hated it in school - got nervous as anything, so I can only begin to imagine how hard it is for these people to get up and speak about the issues they have with their mental health. They got a lot of laughs from the audience and all in all the night was enjoyable.

The dinner was delicious. With the event being a fundraiser, they had a number of balloons you could purchase. Balloons were $20 each and inside the balloon was a number. At the end of the evening we popped the balloon and we got the corresponding prize.

I got this little garden dude. Joe thinks he looks like a starved reindeer - but I think he is kind of cute. I also got a plant trolley, which I did not take a picture of but basically it is a little round tray on wheels so you can easily move a potted plant around.

I didn't do any stamping on Sunday....I know bad girl.....but I just took advantage of the fact that is was Mothers' Day and got all caught up on my TV shows that I taped last week and I even had a little nap! Will get back to stamping this week....I need to organize my second Christmas Card class to be held on the 25th of this month.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there who have the pleasure of being a Mom. For all of you who are not mom's yet, take a moment to tell your mom how much you love her and how much she means to you. It will mean a great deal to her. (Don't forget your Grandma's too)

I love my Mom more than she will ever know. We have had some rocky times over the years, but we are past that. It's water under the bridge now. I think it's all part of growing up and becoming your own person, and unfortunately, sometimes along that path of finding yourself, you hurt the ones you love. And then one day you wake up and think..what was I thinking, and then you work on getting that relationship built back up to what it should be. I think we have a good relationship now. I love spending time with her. We laugh and act silly and just have a genuine good time. I wish we lived closer so I could just buzz over any old time I want, but we are not too far away that I can't see her quite often. She is coming over today in fact and we are going out for dinner and to a show!

This picture was taken on the farm a few years ago. I love it. I don't have a whole lot of pictures of me and Mom together, so I cherish the ones I do have.

Here is the card I created for her for today.

Another very important woman in my life is my Granny! She just turned 90 on the 12th of April and we are so very happy about that. She had a bad turn a couple of years ago and we are very thankful she is doing so well. She is living in the nursing home now, but she *thankfully* has all her faculties and is still as sharp as a tack! I went to see her Friday afternoon and took her out for a stroll in her wheel chair down the street. It was a beautiful warm afternoon and the scent of the trees that are in flower right now was in the air and it was warm and just a plain great day. They have a program at the nursing home called "Summer Bucks" to encourage the residents to get outside and get some fresh air. So for every 20 minutes they spend outside, they get a Summer Buck and then at the end of the summer, they get to use all their bucks to buy items in the auction! I will be going up to see her every Friday, so hopefully I can help her earn some bucks! This picture was taken when Diana was home for a visit. I don't have a lot of pictures of Granny with me either; she does not really care to have her picture taken. This one turned out well though.

Here is the card I made her for today. The image is stamped on watercolour paper and coloured using the watercolour pencils and a blender pen. The butterfly is popped up and some tiny bling was added along the bottom of the card. The white satin ribbon was tied in a bow across the card.

Another important woman in my life is my sister Diana. She supports me no matter what I do and even though we live far apart....to far apart.....we talk/chat/text/email every day, so it helps with the distance. We used to fight when we were growing up, but I think every kid did that. Then you get older and realize how lucky you are to have a sister that loves you unconditionally, no matter what. This picture was taken when she was home a couple of weeks ago. The visit was a whirlwind and did not last long enough. I miss her like crazy.

Courtney is another woman who I am blessed to have in my life. She is my little sister and I love her to pieces. I don't think she will ever know how much I do love her and how very proud of her I am. She is a very talented musician and can sing like an angel. She is beautiful and funny and I could go on and on. Bottom line....she's my sister and I am blessed that she is.

Another woman who is very important to me is my BFF Vicki Garrett. She is not my mom, but she is a mom (and a very good one at that). I love her to pieces and am so happy that I met her and call her my friend. I can tell her anything, anytime and she will support me in any decision I make. She asks me the questions that only friends can, to make me think of the big picture before I do or say something that could be a mistake. She makes me laugh and I recently learned that I can keep a secret from her.....even though it was painful!!! (I surprised her recently and I knew about the surprise since November.....that was a long time to keep a secret from her!)

So to wrap this novel up......have a very Happy Mother's Day.

Chow for now

Jacqui

Hanging with my friends and stampin'

I know I have said this before, but, there is nothing better than hanging out with my friends and stamping. I have met some very wonderful women through this stamping addiction that I have and I am blessed to have them in my life.

Last night I had the pleasure of stamping with my girls Tami, Kim and Donna.

Kim shared with us how to make these cool paper flowers - easy as pie - and a great way to use up some scraps.

I love ideas to use up scraps...cause well......the girls mentioned above can attest to the fact that I do not throw out even the tiniest scrap of paper.....who knows when you might need that teeny tiny piece of paper for something!!!!

So it is awesome when someone shows me a card to use up some scraps!!! This is a close up picture of the flower!

Thanks Kim!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Lucy Update

Thought I would give you a quick Lucy update. She is still in the flower bed.....Drake is still by her side the majority of the time. She still hisses at me when I take her food....but I think secretly she is saying in her best goose voice...."thank you human".

At last count she had 5 eggs. I am concerned about what is going to happen when the eggs hatch...how she is gonna keep them from falling out of the flower bed down onto the street...I'll never know.

I think I should call the "bird people" and tell them of her dilemma and maybe they will come and put a big net underneath the flower pot to catch the babies if they fall out of the nest. We can call it Bird Watch 2009 and have live updates on YouTube every day!! lol

I actually stamped tonight!!

I'm going to visit my Granny tomorrow. (my weekly Friday visits that I have started)

I will be taking her Mother's Day card to her tomorrow when I go to visit so that is the card that I stamped....but I think I will show that to you tomorrow!!!

I'll leave the spotlight to Lucy today!!!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Blog Candy! Give it a shot!

I clicked on some links from another blog and found a whole bunch of cool blog candy!
You can check out Maria's Blog to win a whole shed load of awesome candy!

You can also check out Fiona's Blog to win some more great blog candy!

And Vivienne's blog where you have a chance to win Carl Cupcake!

this also looks like a cool blog for all those Copic users out there! scroll down when you get to that site and check out that awesome purple house mouse card. It's fantastic.

Chow for now,
Good luck
Jacqui

Colour Challenge

Wow, I'm having trouble getting back into my routine since Diana was here. I could kind of get used to not going to work every day! My 4:00 AM getting up time...is feeling a little too bloody early this week! I hope to get some stamping done and get ahead of my posts again.

This card is one I created for a colour challenge.

We had to create a card using Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Regal Rose and black or white.

I was not sure of the colour combo when I was creating the card but I am pleased with the result.

This was added after my original post - Don't those buttons look awesome?? Well my sister, Diana Gibbs, said NO MORE NAKED BUTTONS!! So she took tiny little strips of paper and threaded them through the holes to make it look like thread!! Is that not cool?

She is my little "tips and tricks" girl!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Happy Birthday Mark

Recently when we were at Vicki Garrett's for Victopia, Kristi Ferro was also there and she let us know that her husbands birthday was coming up. We all decided to make him a birthday card! Who doesn't like to get mail....even if it is from some crazy women he has never met before....come to think of it...that might even be good....I'm sure there are lots of men that would like to get cards from women...maybe not crazy women..but just women......not like a boil your bunny in a pot of water, Glenn Close, creepy psycho women....just a bunch of nice stampin all night long women!!

For my card, I decided to let Stampin' Up! and Hanna Stamps meet! I used the trees from the Hanna set and the dog in the Jeep from the Stampin' Up! set. I don't think the picture does the card justice, but here is a picture of it anyway!

I hope you enjoy having a look at it!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

And the winner is.......

Drum Roll please....tatattaattatatatata (okay yeah that's my poor excuse for a drum roll!)

The winner of the Flyin' Birthday set from my blog hop post is Marla

marla said...
awesome cards. I love this stamp set it would be perfect for my hubby who loves to fly.
May 1, 2009 5:30 PM

Marla, please send me an email with your specs!!!
Name
Mailing address

send it to me at jlines2180@rogers.com
and I will send it off to Our Craft Lounge, who will send out your set!!
Congratulations!

Chow for now,
Jacqui

It's Noon - I'm off to draw a winner!!!

It's now noon - so I will be drawing a winner for a lucky comment poster to win the newly released set Flyin' Birthday!!

Stay tooned...I'm off to draw a winner - I think I'll take the ballots outside and let Lucy the Goose pick the winner!!

Here I go.....good luck to you all....and thanks so much for all the nice comments on my blog!!

Chow for now,
Jacqui

Bubbles!! Our Craft Lounge

Wow - these past 10 days have been a whirlwind. To Detroit to pick up Diana (which was a huge secret.....check the couple posts back for the whole complicated story!), then to Kingston to stamp with my bestest friend Vicki and all my other wonderful stamping friends that I love more than words can express. Then back to Woodstock, then to Killworth to check out Sheila's great scrappin' store, then to London for dinner at the Mandarin!!, then back to Woodstock, then to Markham to have dinner with our little sister Courtney, then to Parkhill to visit the farm and spend some time with Granny, then to Lucan to drive down the road we used to live on and relive some old memories...posts about that to follow in the next few days.... then back to Detroit to take Diana to the airport. That was the saddest trip of all. I love having her here. I wish we lived closer. Oh well, I will just have to save my pennies and get on a plane and go and see her!

Our Craft Lounge has released some awesome new sets. Cami let me play with the Bubbles set a bit!! How fun! I loved these little sea turtles the minute I saw them....and the little fart bubbles!!! How stinkin' cute (hhm..do fart bubbles in the water have an odour??) There's an experiment for the next time you are in the tub!!! ha ha

I had this "underwater creature" paper for ages and this set just fits perfectly. The base card stock is Stampin' Up! Bordering Blue and I don't know who the designer paper was made by.

The image was coloured using the Copics.

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed making it!

Chow for now

(a lonely girl since Diana has gone home)

Jacqui

Our Craft Lounge Blog Hop!!

I have been asked to participate in the Our Craft Lounge blog hop today!!! How fun is that!!!

Our Craft Lounge is releasing a bunch of new sets today! They are all awesome images and will make fun cards and scrapbook pages.

The set I got to play with is called Flyin' Birthday. This card was made using that set! I love this little airplane dude - flying along with his fancy green scarf blowing in the wind.

The coloured image shown here is the entire set.

Leave a comment on my blog today and you will receive a ballot to win this set! (only one ballot per person) The winner will be drawn at noon on Monday (May 4th).

Make sure you take a look at all the great and talented stampers who are participating in the blog hop.

Cambria Turnbow

Joy Kennedy
Diana Gibbs