It has been a while...

...since I last posted on my blog. My life has changed dramatically.

In July I received a frantic phone call from my sister in New York telling me to come asap, hat our mother was in the hospital with pneumonia and was undergoing some tests to determine the underlying cause of her condition. I made an airline reservation that evening, flew out the next day, got there and my life will never be the same without my mom. She passed away, peacefully and painlessly with my sister, brother and myself taking turns to make sure that she would not be alone when her time came. She went in her sleep.

It has been almost two months now and I still can not believe that the woman whom I shared so much of my life with for the 51+ years that I am alive is not longer available to call and tell her how much I love her.

My faith in God is steadfast and still I am feeling the loss so deeply. This is something that I have no idea how to handle, only to do what I love as much as possible...which, of course, is to stamp and create cards and send them out to people that I care about and others through the RAK group at Splitcoaststampers.com.

All of my close friends have been very supportive at this particular time in my life. I have received nearly a hundred cards from friends, relatives and fellow card crafters.

What else can I say? Life goes on...

The most recent card that I created was from a Stampin Up set Summer by the Sea. I reminded me of when I was little and our family would go to the beach for the day and picnic, swim in the ocean and have fun.
Those are wonderful memories that I have from my childhood growing up in New York with the best parents anyone could ever want to have...both of them gone now...forever...together...again...in Heaven.

~ Dine and Swap ~ Celebration ~

This past Wednesday evening, June 20, I attended my Dine and Swap group gathering for the month. It was held at our coordinator's home and what a splendid home she has. Along with creating some very precious and beautiful cards, she also paints. These were display throughout her home. Her speciality in that modality appears to be rugged western scenery. Truly awesome!

We all had a great time. She cooked delicious burgers along with salad, beans and lost of treats!
The cards that I received in trade are fantastic! I am so inspired by these get togethers to create more on my own to send out to family and friends in Celebration of our great country's Birthday!

My DH and I are planning to have an Italian evening this Saturday. It is a small dinner party and we enjoy having some of our closest and dearest family and friends over to enjoy my DH's favorite hobby of gourmet cooking. He will be making lasagne, not your ordinary one though :)
And I will be creating an antipasto dish...one that I remember fondly while growing up in Brooklyn, New York and Bay Shore, Long Island, New York.

Although I might not have much stamping time this weekend, I will be thinking of what to do with what I have in anticipation of my next themed swaps and projects...ABC and Paper Dolls.
So, if any of you have any suggestions, I would definitely appreciate your comments.

Au Revoir!

~ Fleur de la Dame ~

Now that I have learned a little more French, I decided to name this post "Flower of the Lady".

Over the past few weeks, I have been extremely busy with getting cards ready for a few swaps that I am involved in, beginning with the Music cards with the little birdie in the middle. I had so much fun with creating those cards, they came together quite effortlessly.

Then on to another project of creating red white and blue themed cards for my Dine n Swap group which will be meeting this coming Wednesday evening in celebration of the 4th of July.
I am very excited to see what everyone else has created. This is a group of very talented card artists and all of the swap events that I have attended were so much fun!

And, to top it all off, perhaps I have saved the best for last...a stamp that I truly love and dedicated this blog post to...Flowahbella!!! I joined a Bella swap on splitcoast and these lovely ladies are ready to be sent off to other bella loving card artists. I have to admit that this little lady is the most loved of all of my stamps...perhaps she and I have something in common...well, some of you may already know how much I love flowers...truly, I do. I was able to use some scraps of floral backgrounds for these cards, therefore there is some variety to this set. I find it difficult to create too many cards all exactly alike.

That's about it for now. I may need to rest my weary little fingers for a few days, perhaps making a card here or there. My DH and I and another couple are taking a trip to Telluride, CO in ten days to participate in the Wine Festival there. We are so looking forward to the cooler temperatures and fresh mountain air.

Hope that you all are enjoying Life as much as I am...

Au Revoir!

~ Birthday Thank Yous ~

These are the ~Thank You~ cards that I have been working on today.
They will be going out in the mail in a day or two to all whom have
celebrated my "29th" Birthday with me again this year :)
P.S. It is not over yet...there is another celebration this Sunday...

TTFN,

Linda

Happiness Is...

...a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

That is such a profound quote. When I came across the stamp with those very words etched upon it, you know I just had to have it! I enjoy using it over and over as a sentiment in the cards that I create. Those are the words that resonate in my heart as I create cards for family, friends, and loved ones.

~ God Bless You All & Keep You Safe ~

Linda

~ What a Week! ~

This week started off somewhat slow and easy paced as I intended it to be ~ after all, I am another year younger :). I enjoyed a nice, relaxed morning with my stamping buddy, Anne.
We met at a local stamp shop to do their make and take, a rooster! She came out cute. When I got her home, I really dazzled her up with some stickles, one of my favorite embellishments, among primas, ribbons, brads...the collection is reaching proportionate heights...literally :)

I do not think that I have ever received so, so very many birthday cards for one birthday in my entire life...I will have to count them all...any of you that read this can take a wild guess???
In the next few days, I am hoping to take photos of some of my latest creations and one of the collection of birthday cards. I also enjoy sending birthday cards to people from the varying circles of friends that I belong to, and also randomly on the SCS website: www.splitcoaststampers.com It is a wonderful way to meet people whom enjoy the same hobby.

Well, it is getting late and I need to wind down another great day of living in the sunniest state in the country.

TTFN ~ Linda

Sassy Stems ~ Wedding Wishes

Bon Jour!

Another fun project completed this morning! Tomorrow night my Dine n Swap group meets and each of us were to create eight wedding themed cards to swap. Not wanting to over do the card, the photo to the right is what transpired. I enjoyed the entire process, as always.

My DH got me Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 this past weekend. Yea!!! Another toy to play with. I need to spend some time learning what it can do...what I really wanted it for is to create my own personal watermark. Alas, I am happy than it can perform so many other wonderful, creative tasks, along with organizing some photos to place into my scrap books.

Au Revoir!