Today I am posting more Anna Griffin card making efforts from the last week of the Create contest (last week of September 2018). No, I did not win a "golden ticket", but in the effort ~ I actually made 30 card entries to up my chances, I did gain a good deal of happiness in creating again. Being creative is such a wonderful outlet to increase the joy factor! And utilizing the sheer beauty of all the products sold by Anna Griffin, Inc. is guaranteed to make anyone a success. The products are all wonderful quality.

My sisters and sister-in-law have created many holiday and special occasion cards gifted to family members over the years. All of them are deemed "keepers" and go straight to be saved in our memory boxes. Actually, when both of my parents passed, we went through their saved cards and returned each one to the maker. What a beautiful keepsake to keep their memories alive.

Below is a share of the Anna cards made the last week of September...

Made with Anna's new jacket Dies debuted on October 9th HSN Craft Day

Another made with Anna's new Jacket Dies

Anna Griffin Inc. new Jacket Dies

Made with Anna's new Jacket Dies

Anna Griffin Create Contest

During the month of September, Anna Griffin, Inc., is having a weekly contest to give away 4 all inclusive tickets to Anna Create in November of this year.  Each week there is a new contest theme, from which a winner will be chosen. Now these tickets come at $1,500 a pop, so it is a really big deal to win! During the first week, we were challenged to use Anna's Treasury dies to create projects.

These are just a few I submitted.

The 2nd week, we were challenged to create projects with a product called Terial Magic. It is a fabric stiffener that allows fabric to be treated, ironed, and it will become more paper-like.

Here are a few of the projects I submitted for the contest the 2nd week.

For the third week, we are working with Anna's Christmas acetate cards.  They are just so gorgeous and very unique.  Here is a peek at one of the ones I submitted today.

The weekly contest closes each Friday at 2 PM. No, I have not won yet.  Wish me luck!

At work, merchandise display (vignette) styled by the gifted Debbie Henson!

How to move on from a broken heart.

Posted by Trent Shelton on Thursday, May 14, 2015

Vintage Valentine's Day Postcard

The front is just as pretty as the back, isn't it?!!! In my travels and treasure hunts while up in Indiana last year, I always looked for antique postcards to add to my collection. There was only one valentine, but I have several awesome Easter ones to get up in the next month or so. As always, these images are free for your use, personal or otherwise, no strings attached. They were scanned at a 300 resolution so would be suitable for printing nicely up to its original size of 5 3/8 x 3 1/2."

Mom, You've Really Been Gone a Month Now?

I am having an awfully hard time with the loss of my mother. Today it has been a month, and the realistic measure of that time has no meaning for me. My 2 brothers and 3 sisters aren't doing much better dealing with the loss either. Let's face it ~ there is no one else in the world quite like your mother. My sister asked me this week if I thought it was going to be this hard when we lose our Dad. I told her, uh ... probably as bad, if not worse, because that will be our last parent. And really, who isn't a Daddy's girl? Ugh, life just sucks sometimes.

This past week I spent with my Dad in Atlanta. His doctors were concerned about his health, fearing pulmonary hypertension (don't Google stuff like this if you don't want to be scared to death), and fluid retention turning into congestive heart failure. He had doctor appointments and tests scheduled for every day but one. While I was there, he came down with a bronchial infection ~ not good when you have COPD to begin with. So it was fortunate I was there to help him get through a busy and taxing week. Come Friday, the last appointment with the cardiologist bore good news. Test results did not support a diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. Yay!

Dad, with his deeply rooted faith, seems to be coping with the loss of his life's partner of 58 years very pragmatically. The decline of her health was slow and steady for the 4 1/2 months leading up to her passing on October 17th. While we, her children, supported her every step of the way and expected to bring her home from the hospital on 3 or 4 occasions, and help nurse her back to health, that was not to be. I am struggling to focus on the happy memories instead of those of the last few months spent fighting, I felt, just as hard as she was to stay with us. Close to the end, after enduring numerous diagnostic tests, the unconfirmed diagnosis was pancreatic cancer, and, 6 days before the end, the prognosis was "it won't be much longer." At that point, as was her desire, she was released from the hospital to go home under hospice care. I still would not believe. Denial. I started reading the Hospice booklet. Realization started creeping in. It is so terribly hard to let go. Now she is no longer in pain.

Objectively, she was 86 years old and had enjoyed a full, beautiful life, surrounded by loving and devoted family: her husband, 6 children, 13 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. To us she was THE best mother in the whole wide world. We will miss her smile.

Please pray for me. She doesn't need it ~ she is an angel now.

Till next time,

Apple Pickin' Time

It is such a blessing to have happy childhood memories. You don't realize, until you go out in the big wide world and interact with people from all walks of life, that not everyone is so fortunate to have had this.

With the recent loss of my dear mother, our big family rallied round. My father's sisters from New York state were able to come and be with him in Atlanta, due to the generosity of one of their sons, who paid for the airline tickets, and my brother, who paid for their hotel stay for almost a week. What a blessing that my Dad was able to have his sisters with him to help get through the initial bereavement process of wake, funeral service and interment to the final resting place.

This intense family time stirred up such fond memories of our family traveling each Fall for several years in a row for a tradition of apple picking in Comstock, NY, to the home of my Dad's eldest sister. We had 6 kids and they had 10 or 11, so imagine the mayhem! To this day I have a strong preference for the apple variety we picked back then ~ McIntosh. Til next time,

Missing Gardening

Last summer we didn't have a garden because we were in Columbia, SC for James' job, so I enjoyed other people's gardens, like this one on a neighbor's small apartment porch. I really liked how she incorporated the use of a vintage cupboard for her potted plants. The riot of color really made my heart sing! But, these days I'm really missing my own garden and porch ... Hope to get home soon.

February Desktop Digital Design

I used to download the Free Digital Desktop design every month from the Shabby Princess Blog, but found that I would have a hard time matching the photos I wanted to use with their design. So through trial and error, and with my stash of digital scrapbooking kits I've been gathering, I have started to do my own, like the one above for February!

The main kit used was "Chocolate Kisses" by Sugarplum Paperie, found at the Digichick website.

I also used a few elements from one of my favorite designers, Natali Design, from a free kit she is offering to people who "like" her Facebook page.

The pretty brown flower was found at Delicious Scraps, from a minikit called "Sweet Valentine 3," which was also snagged as a freebie. You should be able to find it easily by googling it ~ I think I found it just last week.

'Til next time,

Mary

Another Winter to Get Through

This was last Winter ... around Christmas, in South Carolina. This Winter, however, we find ourselves in Lafayette, Indiana, where we should now be experiencing "real" Winter! Ha! Just a dusting of snow so far that hasn't stuck, treating us to a "green" Christmas instead of the "white" one we all like to sing about. Doesn't hurt my feelings at all. Just perhaps, after the coming week of mild temperatures forecast, we will get that horrible Winter they have been warning us about. I hope not since we are far afield from home (South Carolina), in Indiana, where hubby was offered work after finishing up his last project at the end of October at USC Columbia. And after having moved South in 1990, I have to say I am one southerner who does not miss those harsh northern Winters one bit!

I do anticipate hibernating like a big 'ole bear here in Indiana till Spring. Probably while away the hours checking out Pinterest or reading my new Kindle Fire that hubby bought me as a reward for quitting smoking. I have a feeling it's going to be a long, long Winter.

'Til next time!

Secret Stash Digital Scrapbooking: Sneak Peek: Be Merry

Secret Stash Digital Scrapbooking: Sneak Peek: Be Merry: It is going to be a very merry Christmas indeed with my newest festive kit on the way! And what a more merry way to celebrate than to give a...

Goodbye Summertime!

Guess it's time to put away the whites ... but maybe not if it's long sleeved. :)
There is something bittersweet about saying goodbye to Summer. Although I won't miss the steamy, humid, blistering heat of Columbia, SC. I swear that place seems to be the hottest on earth. At least it feels that way to me. Just this past week it has started to cool down in the mornings and late evening, with the sun setting earlier than usual. Yes, the crisp autumn air will be most welcome. If we are very, very fortunate, we will be back "home" quite soon, able to get back into a routine and get some much needed work done around the house. Please ... please ... NOT Los Angeles. Some times we don't get much say in which way the wind blows us. Good thing we are made to adapt to an ever changing world!

'Til next time

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

If you're in the market for some good deals on quilting fabric, I'm listing 1 yard pieces and a "French Country" set of 2 yards this week on eBay. Just go to the link over on the top right hand side of the page and click on "Sew Dear To Me".

I hope to continue to go through my quilting studio this weekend and sort out more to list. Gotta finance the "Sisters" Girl's Retreat to Myrtle Beach for our Scrapbook Bash! :)

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a blessed, happy Easter with family and friends!

For the first time in several years, we stayed home and worked on household chores ~ Mr. Sew Dear finished the electrical outlets and fixtures in his work shed. And I completed the dreaded task of turning over the Winter clothes to Summer, getting the Dressing Room reorganized. I wish there was enough closet room in the house proper without having to haul the seasonal clothing up and down from the attic, but that's in the future renovation plans. Once you finally own a house, the re-do list gets longer every year, I believe. By the end of this July, when hubby's project is complete, there may be changes brewing in our place of domicile. It depends on what his company has in store for him, and since that's not very far away, I find myself becoming anxious. We have put so much of ourselves into many projects in and around the house, and have become so attached to it. It will be hard to move, but change, as they say, is inevitable.

My sisters are planning a family "Scrap Bash" for next month in Myrtle Beach. It sounds like a blast, and I could use a break from the normal routine! Who doesn't love the beach?!!!

Til next time,

Mary

What's Blooming in South Carolina Now?

(Click on photos for an Enlarged View)

My parents had Candtuft in their garden, and I was so thrilled to see it pop up about a year after we moved into our house. To this day, 5 years later, I am discovering new volunteers that mysteriously appear each year!

Usually I can identify what they are by googling them ...



These Star of Bethlehem popped up in the grass last year and I dug them up and moved them to a proper bed!


Last spring I planted Forget Me Nots from seed and transplanted them into the garden. This weekend I was thrilled to see how beautifully they have blossomed this year!



And of course the dogwood are blooming ~ we have 2 large white ones, but my favorite is the pink one of course!



A couple of weeks ago I was at my parents' in the Atlanta suburbs and shot some wonderful photos of their gorgeous daffodils and narcissus!









Happy Gardening!

Free Vintage Easter Tags

It seems like ages since I've played with graphics! I've been playing all day and decided to end the day with a quick couple of vintage Easter tags to celebrate the upcoming Easter season. These would look so cute tied on a child's Easter basket. Who doesn't love polka dots!




Just click to open the image in a new window, click on to download to your computer, print out on cardstock, cut out, and punch a hole in the top for your ribbon or string. Enjoy!

2011 FLW Bass Fishing Tournaments

(Click to view larger image)
I was so excited to hear the news from my baby sister Peg that my nephew, Josh, has secured a sponsorship this year for his 2011 bass fishing tournament season! His sponsor, a local Chevrolet dealership wanted some photos, so she called me to design some layouts. We'll be rootin' for you Joshua!

(Click to view larger image)
This Winter has been so awful for sickness, and I, for one, am glad it is over. It started with hubby's Bronchitis he had while on vacation the week before Christmas, and then we passed it around a couple of times. Dad was in the hospital twice since New Year's with Bronchitis and/or pneumonia as well, but he's on the upside now and started pulmonary physical therapy yesterday to improve his lung function due to COPD impairment. Mom was also in the hospital with that stomach virus ~ a pretty severe case for someone in their 80's. But I'll be heading out tomorrow to Atlanta for a visit with them under much better circumstances! My sister Patty is coming down from Watertown, New York, so I'll get to see her during her annual Spring visit! Maybe we'll get to do something fun like visit a few of the antique malls. I haven't done anything fun in ages!

'Til next time,