Margaret Mary~       and Simply Neutrals Tuesday!
Hi friends!  So happy you stopped by today. We are enjoying warmer weather this week!  WHEW! : ) LOL
 Let me tell you just a little bit about Margaret,  the Great-Aunt of my late husband. 
 She was born in Philadelphia in 1926; the middle of 3 sisters~  She will be 90 years old in April!
And is currently living in North Carolina; though Cleveland OH was her home for most of her life.
Her parents were born in the USA, but her grandparents were from  Czechoslovakia. 
I have photo's of some of her family, including Alan's grandmother Catherine,  (Margaret's older sister : )
 and I hope to do more scrapbooking with those photo's sometime this year~

I just couldn't help myself when I saw her sweet face, the baby doll!,  and her shoe's and 'scrunchy' sox!  I just had to do something right away.

 

Look, Margaret even has a little bracelet on her right arm.  Such a darling pose.  PS - she always went by "Margaret" and not Marge or Margie~
She is sitting in a big dark chair, in front of a window.  I like her hair all dressed in ringlets too~  I apologize, when I copied the photo, the reprint pulled the violet hue's: ( 

The chipboard used here is from Blue Fern Studio's --->  http://bluefernstudios.com/

and I believe the large piece is called "Organic Vine Corner."

 

I painted the chipboard with Gesso, then added Tim Holtz:

*Crackle medium,

*White Liquid Pearls

*Walnut Stain distress ink

(found here)--->  http://shop.rangerink.com/

 

I love her sox & shoes : )

I dusted the project with silver German Glitter glass, Diamond Glitter glass, and scattered some pearls, beads and a few gems~
I used some beautiful vintage lace from Liz! http://lululizinlalaland.blogspot.com/
(thank you so much Liz!) and some other lace, seam binding, linen, canvas and cotton fabric I had in my basket~ 
 I hope to create a wall hanging with this - by adding it to some sturdy black board & adding a ribbon hanger; or perhaps make a true 12 X 12 lay out with it; to be framed.  I  am just not sure yet~

 

I am entering this post in Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday!   Her bi-monthly showcase of all things neutral!  Please stop in her blog to see the latest link-ups there~  Fabric projects, paper, photo's...
 http://appleapricot.blogspot.com/ 
I sure hope you know what an encouragement you are to me!! Thanks ever-so-much for the visit today~  May God bless you,  Karen

The REMAINS of a day . . .

Hi there!  And welcome to my blog today~
We had a bad snow storm on Monday and Tuesday; February 1st & 2nd in Colorado Springs, CO USA~
I finally got out and around to take some photo's; but these are from Friday Feb 5th.
And here it is, Feb 11th! and I'm just now posting~ *sigh*  Lots of the snow has melted; but really, a majority of it  is still here - probably till spring~

I apologize for the signs and wires in some of the pic's!  but I could not find a place to park where they could be avoided.    God has blessed us - as inconvenient as I know it was for so many - but we needed the moisture so badly!  I am grateful for the 'melt' and the water that is now soaking into our land.  We are semi-arid and always welcome snow or rain.

We often have beautiful blue skies like this!  Isn't it so pretty!?

 

(in the photo above) - We are looking west.   I work about a mile west from here; down in that valley~

 

Above, can you see the snow-covered road traversing horizontally across the mountain!?

Below is our beautiful Pikes Peak mountain -The Rocky Mountain range runs vertically through (basically)  the western half Colorado.  We have 52 mountain peaks that are over 14,000 feet!
Many people make it a mission in life to climb them all~  WHEW!  (no, I haven't ; ) but some of my family, including my father, have climbed a good many of them.

 I thank you for taking a peek in today!!!    I hope you enjoyed these photos of our beautiful part of the country~  Blessings to you for a wonderful week!   ~Karen

Sharing some Valentine's cheer!

Hello friends and welcome to you today~

Just a quick post to share a few Valentine tags I made for my family.
I wish so much I could stay and really 'chat!' but *sigh* work is calling my name.  So I will leave you with these photo's and wishes for a wonderful week ahead!  I think we will be warming up a bit here in Colorado; so I am happily looking forward to that!  ~Karen

Using a black (small size) Graphic 45 Tag with metal eyelet. Also using Graphic 45 papers.
Here is their website:  http://www.g45papers.com/products/time-to-flourish-category

I love round and full bows; I know - I've mentioned that before ; ) !!
My inspiration for bows often comes from these 2 great ladies:
http://iralamija.blogspot.com/  Beatrize Jennings (who is currently on the Frank Garcia design team)
and
 http://cherrysjubileehome.blogspot.com/  Cherry, who is on several design teams as well.
Both encourage and inspire me with their retro/shabby-chic styles and use of ribbon in their designs~

Don't you like a bit of twine?  And the bow is layered; with thin and wide ribbon and twill tape. 

 

Below  I'm using Graphic 45's "Raining Cats and Dogs" paper collection!

Such a sweet retro-vintage look .

 

The tag  is a large  base (black) from Graphic 45. 

I created a pocket on the bottom; to insert a gift card  or a few tags & photo's.

A bit of Washi tape along the side.

And finally another large tag with some papers from Graphic 45's "A Time To Flourish" collection.  This is February paper.  I 'fussy-cut' the 'pocket' and inserted a couple of tags inside~

THANKS Ever-So-Much for peeking in today.  Hugs to you and may God bless you this week!
Karen

Delight in the Lord . . .

 

Hello and welcome today! 

I have been 'stuck inside' my home for 3 days! - waiting out the big snow storm~

I shoveled 2 times on Monday; and then - -just gave up!  It snowed so much,  it blanketed us with 18 inches.

I finally made it to work today and was able to find some blogging time~

This is a card I made for my sister; she is going to a Ladies Retreat soon, and I wanted to tuck this into her suitcase : )

 

The papers are from (click >)  Liz, from a generous give-away I was so blessed to receive a while back! 

They are all vintage paper layers. And the laces are also from Liz; purchased through her latest auction in December~

 The center 'frame' is a chipboard piece; and so is that sweet little bird in the party hat!  Isn't he so cute?   : ) He looks delighted~  The Chipboard is from My Mind's Eye brand.

 (I added tiny bits of Washi tape to the chip)  I stamped the postage; using a pale blue ink from:

http://timholtz.com/    (weathered wood)

 

I will be entering this in Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday link up party!

 

http://appleapricot.blogspot.com/2016/02/simply-neutrals-16.html

 

I hope you will HOP right over (^) to see the neutral links she has in store! 

 Always beautiful and inspiring~ 

 

  

 

 

Dear friends, I am wondering, second guessing  my decision to stop my internet @ my home.

I miss it much more than I thought I would; and I am finding my spare time @ work does not feel sufficient to do my blog, AND my dear blog friends,  justice!  I so want to take my time; visiting and enjoying blogland - while taking careful pains to make sure my own blog is something enjoyable and uplifting.

Hmmm; I am wondering now if I did the right thing . . .

I will give myself a little more time, prayer  and re-evaluate! 

 

I am so thankful to you for stopping in today~  Your visits' are so much appreciated!

 

Take time to enjoy the weather! : )  I keep telling myself I need to carry my camera with me at all times.  The snow covered mountains were so beautiful on the way into work - I wanted to show you what I saw~  Perhaps tomorrow I will have time to stop and click ; )

Hugs to you,  Karen