Some cards I've been working on

Finally Finished!

Some of you may recall that awhile ago I altered a box and was going to use it to fill with assorted occasion cards for my sister's birthday.  Her birthday is January 1st so I needed to have her gift ready to give to her at Christmas.  Well I finally got it done and it's now waiting to be opened.  I hope she likes it! 



Her Birthday Card.  Made of Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary paper collection. 

The box and her cards were made using Graphic 45's On The Boardwalk paper collection.  Fingers crossed that she likes her gift. 



Birthday Card for a Friend

I've put together a birthday card for a friend of mine and thought I would share with you before I mail it/drop it off.  It's a little bulky so I haven't decided how I'm going to get it to her.  I've used Graphic 45's gorgeous, gorgeous, did I say gorgeous paper "A Ladies Diary."  I received my very first order from Wild Orchid Crafts the other day and the flowers were stunningly gorgeous and I just thought this card was the perfect opportunity to try them out.  Some of their flowers are so tiny and yet perfectly exquisite in detail!  I loved working with them and will order more from them in the future. I used Glossy Accents to adhere the flowers and lace and everything else used.  I made the stickpin that's inserted into the middle.  The lace also comes from Wild Orchid Crafts as well as the paper doily.  The cardstock I used was Gina K's heavy weight cardstock.  I knew I was going to be adding a lot of embellishments so I wanted a good weight cardstock to build my card on.  I used a very light weight cardstock to use as a liner for the inside of the card.  When I asked my sister what she thought of the card, her response was "every card you make seems to be getting better and better than the last." 

I can see that.  When I look back on the first set of cards that I placed in my Etsy shop, as well as the first cards shown on here, I do believe I've gotten better.  That is my goal. To get better and better.  Next year I'm going to start entering a lot more challenges.  Those can only help me to get better as well.  My other goals for the New Year are to eventually try out for a Design Team, (I know I'm not good enough for that yet), I would like to submit some of my cards to some of the card magazines and see if any make it.  I do need to still focus on my photography skills as well.  I never feel like the true essence of my cards shows up in the pictures I take.  Well here it is, I hope she likes it! I'm proud of it. 

Surgery Update and Some New Cards

Surgery was a month ago...can you believe it?  They say time flies when you're having fun, only problem is that I don't remember having any.  LOL
Everything went well.  I have been on a pureed diet for the last couple of weeks.  It's been really tough to cook a beautiful chicken breast and then have to put it in the blender.  However the good part is that I've pretty much tolerated everything that I've eaten so far.  I haven't been sick at all but have noticed that some things sit better in my tummy than others.  I really have to work on getting enough water and more protein.  It's not such an easy thing to do because of the way my schedule is.  I can't drink for 30 minutes before or after meals.  Meals generally take me about one and a half hours to finish.  Quite often I'm just not hungry and I almost feel like I'm forcing myself to eat just to stay on schedule.  Anyway enough about that, I'm sure it will all get sorted soon enough.  Long story short; I've lost 41 lbs so far.  Yay me!

I have managed to make a few new cards.  I'm quite happy with them but I'm definitely not happy with my photography skills.  Every picture I take I've noticed that the card looks better in person.  There's detail, essence and a personality to the cards in person and it isn't being picked up by the camera.  I have tried fiddling around on different settings but nothing helps.  I'm almost embarrassed to put these pictures on my Etsy site because they are so bad but for now it's all I've got. 

Someone did suggest that I visit a camera shop and see about purchasing an hour or two worth of lessons.  I'll have to look into that.  Oh and I did manage to do a few things while I was in the hotel after being released from the hospital but not a lot.  I really don't even have any totally finished product to show you.  I guess I wasn't quite as 'up' to working on cards/bookmarks as I thought I would be. 

Just a few of the cards that I've made