Beautiful

Hey there. I have been busy lately with family matters. Sometimes our time is not our own and that's been happening these past few weeks. If you look at my facebook you'll see some of what is going on with our family.

The card above was super fun to make. I used one of my favorite products, Ranger Acohol Inks in lettuce, orange sunset, sunshine yellow and red pepper. I put just one drop at a time of the color I was working with onto glossy card stock and then used the canned air (for computers) and blew the color to make a flower-ike shape. I worked with the various colors of ink until I thought it looked finished.

The card is beautiful and I can't wait to make more.

I hope you'll try this technique because you get a work of art with not much time and effort. Ahhh, that is so gratifying. What a great idea for (dare I say it?) Christmas gifts for your girls.

Love,
Lorelei

What's Up??

Isn't this just the cutest little elephant ever?  She is a Penny Black stamp I bought recently and I'm having a great time making a fun card every now and then. The little bird on the top of her ear is chirping "What's Up?"  He could also say "Happy Birthday" or "Great Job" or almost anything really as this card can be used as a kids card or a fun card for an adult friend.

 This card was made with one of my favorite paper collections ever: Stella Rose by My Minds Eye. The collection has the colors that I love and it's a little girly but not too much so.

We went to the dunes this weekend and this was a sunset we caught on Saturday night. The weather was so lovely. I went to Memories of Time in Coos Bay while I was there. I really love the store, but sadly it too is closing. I've been known to shop on-line now and then, but nothing beats being able to see the paper in real life. 

I thank you for taking a look at the blog today and welcome you to come back and check in often.

Love,

Lorelei

Cards, cards, cards class YEAH!!

Here's a small sample of the  cards that I've made for the card class at Anna Bearden's house on Sat., June 4th. Here's the link annabearden@msn.com if you'd like to join the fun.

The card above would make a great Father's Day card or how about a birthday card for your brother or favorite Son-in Law. (We promise not to tell ;~).

This is probably my favorite card. I love strawberries and these look good enough to eat. There are 10 cards in the class for $20. They are all fun and unique and you'll have a card for all reasons and all seasons!

My next post will share my new favorite new product, Smash Journals by K & Co. Mine will record our adventures as Empty Nesters!

Please pray for Chris.  He has reported for duty to the USS Mahan somewhere out on the open seas!

We are also thankful to Karyn and her daughter, Amanda, for giving Nathan a job at the YMCA in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He is going to attend OIT in the fall and so a job is a VERY good thing. He'll be moving on June 12th. I can already hear the echo!

Love and may you be richly blessed,

Lorelei

Could Valentine's Day be the birth of scrapbooking??

 Did you ever wonder how we came to celebrate Valentine's Day? Since I am a member of the order of the "Women of the Perpetual Question" I looked it up.

One theory of how Valentine's Day came to be goes back to Rome in 270 AD!! The emperor at the time, Claudius II, ruled that soldiers couldn't marry because it made them weak.  He said married men were more emotionally attached to their families. Valentine, a priest of the day, thought this was unjust and he secretly joined lovers in holy matrimony. He was caught before too long and thrown into prison where he fell in love with the jailor's daughter.  It is said that just before his execution he signed a farewell to his love "From your Valentine," a phrase that has lived ever after. He is believed to have been executed on Feburary 14, 270 AD.

By the 18th century, gift giving and exchanging hand-made cards (yay!!) on Valentine's Day became common in England. Cards made of lace, ribbons, and featuring cupids and hearts were made and given to one's lover. It wasn't until the 1840's that Valentine's cards, intially made by Esther Howlanda Mount Holyoke, were made commercially available. They were made of "scrap." Hmmmm, was this the beginning of scrapbooking?  You certainly know my thoughts on the subject.

Here's to spreading the love today my dear Valentines.

XO,
Lorelei

A little Graphic 45 Alice in Wonderland Halloween

Graphic 45 "Hallowe'en in Wonderland" is so much fun to work with. This may not be my last card from this collection either.
  Can you tell that the Alice, Hallowe'en and Mad Hatter cards to the right are in a little envelope. I folded it from one of the papers in the collection so the Queen of Hearts would show. The Cheshire cat got a spot on the card and I love the Tim Holtz arrow and key to help tell the story of Alice and her
Hallowe'en in Wonderland.  Hope you like the card.

XO,
Lorelei

Thank you Kendra

I got the inspiration for these cards from Kendra Wietstock at Kendra's Cards. I follow her blog here. She is such a sweetie and makes great cards. So.... I borrowed (with permission) her design idea and I've made 4 cards for my Simply Cards class on Oct. 12th,  from 1 pm to 3 pm at Krop Paper Scissors.  Both of these cards are made with 7 Gypsies, which has some pretty awesome papers.

I've been playing around with my blog while I'm taking an online Blogspot Design class from Jessica Sprague

It's a bit over my head and has made my brain expand (very slowly, I might add), but I love it and if you want a blog to display or share yourself, you should check it out.

I hope your day is going super and you are accomplishing what you set out to do today. Remember it's never too late, John Gielgud at age 71 said "I think I'm getting a little confidence now."

We have to grow with the times, we don't necessarily have to join in all the time. I guess that's kinda my theme for now.

XO,

Lorelei

Which Came First?

This is a card that I made for my class at KPS. I

used Tim Holtz distress inks: Tumbled Glass and

Crushed Olive along with Chestnut Roan. The

Stamps are from Stampington, Technique Tuesday and Tim Holtz.

This card was inspired by a china box that I saw
at a store in Bend. I love to look at things that I
see while I'm out and about and turn them into something I can keep in the form of a card or scrapbook page. It's almost better than a photo of the memory because I have added creativity to the memory.

Dreamy over Dreamstreet paper

Oh did I have fun making this card and another one that is not quite finished. The paper is in such pretty tones for an autumn girl like me. The stamp I used is from American Crafts.

I think its going to be beautiful day, even though the heat is back. We're going to see the Hidden Valley vs Del Norte football game tonight. They've beaten us the last 5 times, but maybe this time will be different because we have Nathan on our defense ;-). He's an animal. Last week he had 15 tackles, a fumble recovery and a blocked point after!! (Does this sound like a proud mama or what?)

I hope you have a great day, living the life inspired by the many blessings from our Heavenly Father.

Hey there..

This will be my last post until we get back from San Francisco on Monday night. We are all so excited. We'll be going to Santa Cruz on Friday, San Francisco and the Giants vs Phillies game on Saturday and shopping and a barbecue on Sunday! We get to see Linsecom pitch for the Giants!! For a sports fam it doesn't get any better than this.

Here's another card I made on Friday night when me and my peeps were playing (our pic is at the bottom of the page). It's another excerise in distress ink and stamping. The stamp is Inkadinkadoo and the inks are Broken China and Peeled Paint. I love the color combo.

I'm lovin' Graphic 45 paper!!

Hope you're having a happy Saturday!

I made this card for the Graphic 45 card contest at my LSS, Krop Paper Scissors. Our store was chosen the featured store for Graphic 45 for the month of July! Karyn is having the contest to show that our store loves the paper. I had such a great time making the card, beginning with my own sketch and then just placing the paper in the right spots. The paper is so easy to work with! TFL.

Got Sketch

HI, I am lovin' the Got Sketch 104 classes that Val and Janna are giving over at Got Sketch.blogspot.com. I am so inspired by all the talent that is displayed by the ladies that are taking the class and I'm getting pages done as well. I'll share the one I made this morning. I think it came out pretty good and it's clean and simple, just the way I like it. I've also got some cards to share with you that we made at Midnight Madness Friday night over at Krop Paper Scissors, which by the way is my fav LSS. Ok so I work there, but I have to say there's lots to brag about. There are some great gals that some might call groupies but they are my favorite peeps.