It's really Spring!

I am loving the warmer weather and all the beautiful flowers in my yard. We've had a bunch of rain and those April showers are working to green everything up and make my flowers bloom like crazy. On one of the recent warm days I took a few photos of my flower bed and of the back yard. God has promised that no matter how bitter the winter, Spring will always follow!

Rachel and Reesie

Reesie won't hold still enough for a photo unless someone holds him, so I had Rachel grab him around the neck so I could take a new photo! He's almost as cute as she is in this picture. He is a real sweetie, but he is still apuppy and is in the "chewing" stage. He goes through a rawhide bone in about 15 minutes! He has also nabbed a few shoes that the kids haven't put away. He especially fond of flip flops and has ruined 3 or 4 of them, of course they weren't sets, but the girls have many pairs, so I'm not too worried. He did get a pair of Clark's that were Kristen's, but hopefully the girls will remember to put their shoes in the closet now!

Rachel's Birthday Card

I made a simple card for Rachel's birthday and decided I didn't like it at all, so I decided to start over. She decided to visit my craft room about that time and I let her decide what papers I would use. After she picked the papers I made her leave while I worked on it though! I cut the 15 about 4 or 5 times in yellow cardstock and layered them together, then added the patterened paper. They were cut with the Cricut from Story Book. The butterflies were made with a Martha Stewart punch and are all double layers. All the patterned papers are from the Berry Sweet stack from K & Co. The ribbon is from my stash. The sentiment stamp and the ballons on the inside of the front cover are by A Muse. I liked how this one came out MUCH better than my first attempt at her card. She liked it too!

Birthday Cards

I saw a challenge to use yellow, bright pink, lime green, bright blue and black together for a card. I just got these stamps recently and thought they would be good with these papers I've had for ages. I made the same card twice with different background cardstock. The cupcakes were stamped twice; once on patterened paper and once on white cardstock. I cut just the frosting from the white cardstock and popped it over the patterened paper for depth. The scalloped circles were cut with the Cricut from Mini Monograms. The sentiment is from the cupcake set (by Inkadinkadoo), and the photo corners were cut with the Cricut from Jasmine. I inked a bit and used stickles for the sprinkles on the frosting.

Prom is coming up!

Amy's senior prom is coming up in about 6 weeks. I am making her gown this year. I've made numerous gowns for the girls to wear to dances and they love it that NOBODY else will have a gown like they are wearing! Amy's gown is ivory brocade and gold satin, with sheer gold sleeves. I am just in the process of cutting the material right now, but I will post it when it's finished. I haven't sewn much lately, but I have lots of fabric and patterns and all the girls want a few new summer dresses, so I think I will be busy with that for a while.
I have been working nearly full time the past few weeks and as I work different shifts all the time it really wears me out to work so much. I'm glad to have a job I like! If I didn't enjoy my job it would be so much harder.
I spent the day with my friend Jenny today. We have been friends for 20 years and I so enjoy being with her. We went out to lunch and then she went with me to the fabric store to pick up a few things I needed for Amy's dress. We had a great time.
I've made a few cards recently that I haven't had a chance to post yet. My photo program wasn't working and when I got it fixed, I was too busy to upload the photos. Now I need to find the camera! I think I'll work on that tomorrow....
Danielle

More sad news.

In the past 3 days, 3 young men from our area have died in unrelated accidents. They were all the same age as my oldest daughter. One she went to school with, Ryan. He was engaged to be married and we also know the young lady and her family. The second, Nick, I didn't know, but my daughter had seen the man's family the night before he died. The third, Ben, was a distant cousin of my husband's. We didn't know him, but my husband keeps in touch with his granparents. I grieve for their parents, as my children are the same age and I just can't imagine the pain they are experiencing right now! Please pray for these families, that God will help them in their grief. Make sure you tell the people you love how you feel as often as possible, and give them a hug!
Danielle

I haven't posted lately, but I do have good reasons!

It has been super busy around our house lately and we have had some sad news also.
My Uncle died yesterday. He has been ill for several years, but the last few months he went downhill rapidly and he was hospitalized several times. His wife and children and several of his siblings were able to be with him in his last hours. We grieve, but at the same time we celebrate his life and have joy in knowing he is with his Savior and Lord in Heaven!
My father was hospitalized yesterday. He also has been in poor health for several years, but the past several days he has been very weak. He is already feeling better after receiving treatment for one day in the hospital and we are hopeful that he will be able to return home soon. I spent yesterday evening in the hospital with my mother and dad and when Daddy was finally settled in his room for the night, I took Mother home. My sister was coming to stay the night with Mother and I told Mother I would wait until she came. Mother insisted that she was fine, but a few minutes later she hugged me and said, "I really am fine, but I'm glad Lori is coming to stay!" I know she had a terribly hard day yesterday, losing her brother and having her husband in the hospital. In the past year my father's brother and sister-in -law died and 2 of my mother's brothers died. My mother also lost a cousin that she was close to.
I've been working a lot of night shifts lately, as one of the full time nurses had a week of vacation. I don't like to work nights too often, but I got through the week and next week I am only working day and evening shifts.
I have made a few cards lately, but I haven't gotten them posted due to problems with my photo software. I am going to try to get that fixed this week and hopefully I will able to post my cards soon. Blessings to all!
Danielle