Moody Monday

 I am in a Monday mood.  You would think that getting to be home and just get to take care of a small apartment, craft all day, take walks and LIVE in Italy, I would have absolutely nothing to be "moody" about, but I am.  I've tried all day to figure out what it is, but I think it is just that I have a lot of people on my mind who are going through hard things.

I got an Italian Bible yesterday and I have been looking up and reading scriptures that I know. It's a very cool way to learn more of the language.

I got these two cards done today. The first card, the ruler, measure of a man.  I dreamed about doing.  It did not turn out like I envisioned it so, I won't be entering it in any contests.  The second one I did with my new Walk in the Garden cartridge.  It's an old cartridge as far as cricut is concerned but I waited until I could afford to get something I wanted and not just something I needed.  I am a huge FLOWER fan, so this cartridge is right up my alley of cuteness.

  Inside says, "Hope you're back in the "pink" again soon."

Hope your Monday was not as moody as mine. Have a great week!

Giggle A Little

It's Friday, the 13th!  I have always had great days on these "scary" appearances.  I think we need to fear Monday, the 13th more! Ugh.  Last night I entered this card in a contest at this blog: CricutCardzChallenge
I wrote this poem to go with the card (my son Austin, helped me with the last line).

I made this card to send to some sick kids.  I made two of them and they took all day because of the many many layers for each animal.  Then I wrote this poem to go with it:

The giraffe said, "I am tall, that makes me the best."
The lion said, "I am king, I'm better than the rest."
The kangaroo bounced around, "I am better than you."
The chicken clucked, 'I lay eggs, what else can you do?"
The elephant began spouting, "I am very strong."
The camel said, "I'm the best, I believe you are wrong."
The goat began to giggle, "Now, I must confess,
we are each our best, in our uniqueness."
by Penny Light

I am looking forward to the weekend with Tom.  We are really enjoying being around each other.  Every marriage goes through those ups and downs where you aren't in sync and then you are.  We have been in sync a lot since we got back from the U.S.  Our bikes being stolen this week made us really talk to each other about our experiences here in Italy.  We couldn't believe we were feeling exactly the same way and hadn't talked about it. I have the best husband in the world!  That started me on the animals each thinking they were the best and how we are all "the best" for someone.

Onward and Upward,

Manic Monday

Someone stole my bicycle AGAIN.  I'm so upset that I'm crying this morning. It's hard enough to be a foreigner in this country and to have my only transportation stolen twice is making me crazy.  So, I had to create something that would make me smile.  I did these two cards.

First I chopped up the pregnant woman from New Arrival cartridge and made her not pregnant, then I cut her legs off so I could make it look like she was whimsically riding in the cart. The cart is from My World, the lettering from Storybook and Lyrical Letters.

Made this twilight card for my daughter-in- law.  The author said the broken ribbon (from the cover of Eclipse) is meant to mean the choices that Bella has to make and that we all have to make.

This OCD remark is just funny.

Super Saturday

Tom came home last night!  I'm so happy!  I made a Twilight card for my daughter-in-law, but I don't want to post it until I mail it to her. Then I made this Lemon card and with the left overs from the tree the other day, I made a little tree and trike card.

**UPDATE** My lemons card was mentioned in the Provocraft Cricut Newsletter.  I'm so excited!  I am coming along in my card making skills and that was such a boost to my ego.  Especially since I have had such a bad week.  Here is the link to that newsletter. Cricut Chirp Newsletter

Praise God in all things.  He knows how to lift you up!

First Thursday in November

I finished 3 cards today.  Two of them aren't worth posting, but this one is one I worked really hard on and has a lot of layers.  It is memorable of how it looks outside today on the first Thursday of November.

Christmas Crazy

While I was in Sweden, I worked on my Christmas cards.  Here are some of the varieties that I made.  I got about 15 cards done while I was there.  No distractions, just working on cards and walking around Sweden. What a joyous week it was.  I really had such a great time that I didn't want to come home.  It was so beautiful there!

I'm particularly proud of this snowflake wreath.  I did this one at home today (Not in Sweden)  Again something I don't normally do; work with Vellum. On this one I cut the vellum in a scallop shape, cut the same scallop shape in the card front and made the snowflakes in different sizes around the opening.  The snowflake on the inside can be seen through the vellum.  I fixed the jewel of the snowflake inside (in the middle) after I took the picture and realized it was crooked.  I might do another one of these, it was easier than it looks.

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These are some of the pictures I took while walking around in Malmo, Sweden.  It was so beautiful.

Card for my Dad

My dad's birthday is coming up and I wanted to send him something "spectacular."   I've never wanted to try one of these tri-shutter cards because they are so complicated looking.  But, I decided to try, thankful to OkieLadybug for creating a .cut file for it.  She made it so I didn't have to measure, because measuring would have been my downfall.  She made it easy for me to create this wonderful card for my dad.

November Goals

So, one of my favorite bloggers:  YeahWrite put some goals up on his blog and challenged others to put up some goals as well.  I thought it would be good for me to do that and then look back at the end of the month.

1.  Create at least one card a day on the week days and post at least twice.    Done

2.  Get ahead on the Cricut Card Fairy list by at least 4 cards.     Done
3.  Finish my Christmas cards.
4.  Cook three new meals for Tom when he is home. Well, I got 2 new meals done.
5.  Register for school. Started School.
6.  Practice my Italian at least 3 times a week and then speak to a stranger in Italian at least once a week. This is a funny one because, I didn't practice much but God made sure he brought them to my door when I decided I wasn't going to go out., so..... I'm crossing this one off.
7.  Keep up on the housework daily..
8.  Ride my bike at three times a week despite the cold.
9.  Comment and encourage other's creations on their blogs and on the message boards.
10. Pray and read the Bible every day.  Missed only a few days, so I half-way crossed it off.  I've been reading the Italian Bible.

That is lofty for me since I don't really have goals on a day to day basis, I just bum around in the day doing whatever I feel like at the moment.  Added structure is goof for me though since I live a dream life of being in Italy without a job and getting to travel.

Off to accomplish the first thing of the morning. Eat breakfast and get ready for my morning appointment. Then get home to create cards.

Onward and Upward.

Swedish Swept

We are leaving for Sweden in the morning and I have been cutting like crazy on the cricut to take some things with me to do while there.  Especially to get my Christmas cards mostly done. Between Wednesday and Friday I got these two cards done and some others that I got in the mail.  The first one, the snowman I scraplifted from Jeanne Phillips.  I liked the non-traditional colors of the snowflakes and the "let It Snow" in the arc above his head.  I also like the bottom part of his face on the inside. :0)

The inside says Happy Holidays.

This second card I am very proud of because I am not very good at using different kinds of prints together but I did on this one and  I liked how it turned out.  I plan to try using more.  It is also a JoyFold card.

So, we are Swedish bound and I am excited! 

Wednesday Wanderings

Well, we're back in Italy and I'm almost over my jet-lag.  I got back to making cards today and I was fairly productive finishing up four cards. We are heading to Sweden for a week and I will have cricut withdrawl again.  I did buy lots of "idea" books while I was away and combed through them on the plane rides and car journey's.  I found that inspired me but also made me have greater withdrawls. 

So these are the ones I finished today:

and the inside:  Let It Snow

This one for a little girl battling cancer:

On this card, the ballerina is a cut with her legs together, but I cut them apart and reglued them  for a little different look.

This was my first time to try a Joy Fold Card. No idea who invented it, but they had a tutorial on the Christmas with Cricut site.  It didn't turn out too bad.

This is the card unfolded.

That's it for my Wednesday Wanderings.  I hope to get to create again tomorrow if I don't have too many chores.  It's been raining so getting outside has been a bit difficult as it has already turned cold here.

Bueno Notte.

USA and more

We are almost done with our trip to the US to see our grandbaby.  It will be sad to go back to Italy, but good to be back in our own space again.  Ellis is beautiful and his parents, albeit tired, are doing a great job.  Thank goodness for Skype.  While I kept up on the Cricut Card Fairy cards, I didn't create any new cards that were worthy of posting, so I haven't put anything on the blog.  I'll be back to work when I get home since I have new papers, and two new cricut cartridges to explore.

Onward and Upward!

Tom with Ellis