WOYWW 6-27-18

Another week, another WOYWW! First, I have to apologize for my lack of visiting a few weeks ago. I was having a lot of technical trouble posting and viewing others' blogs, and had to give up. Hopefully today will be much better!

Life has been busy. On Sunday we had our commissioning service for our new pastor. He's a very nice and mature young man. Here is the card I made for him.

Would you believe that there are ordination cards on Pinterest? Such a great resource for ideas! The lighting still isn't very good. I need to start dragging out my photography set-up when I take pictures.

The day before our service we went to two parties, one of which was a graduation party for a friend's daughter.  I decided at the last minute to throw together a card for her.

I got the you shine brightly stamp for free a couple of years ago at a scrapbook expo, and thought I'd never use it. But I have, many times! It works well for a variety of occasions.

Here is a picture of my workdesk.

The blue basket behind the lamp holds items for current projects. On the cutting mat are labels with my email and website to put on the back of my cards. The rest is clutter I need to put away!

That's all for now. Have a great crafting week and be sure to stop by http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/?m=1 to check out the desks of some really talented people!

WOYWW 6-6-18

Another WOYWW and another chilly day in Chicago! I keep packing away my winter clothes and getting them out again! Though I'm not complaining. I prefer cool weather to hot any day.

This Sunday marks our kick-off for our children's ministry, and we're heading to my daughter's house on Saturday for a birthday barbecue for my two grandsons. So this week is extremely busy! I don't think I'll have time to make cards for my grandsons (and they won't really miss them), but in two weeks we will have a farewell/welcome party for our outgoing and incoming pastors. Here is the first card I made yesterday:

I have a lot of travel stickers to scrapbook our trips from last year, and they seemed appropriate for this card. The pastor is from Miami, and he and his family are moving there this summer. I apologize for the poor photo quality. I try to use my phone because the photos are easier to upload,  but I may have to switch to the camera.

The next card will be a congratulations card which will be a completely different style.

Yesterday hubby and I went to the Chicago Botanic Garden,  where I spent a bit of time relaxing by the pond.

That's it for this week! Have a great crafting week and don't forget to check out the wonderful talent at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com. Thanks for stopping by!

WOYWW 5-30-18

Hello there! It's been a while since I posted. My youngest daughter had knee surgery, then we got sick with a stomach bug, then I caught a cold! So I haven't had much time for crafting. But now daughter is healing nicely (as am I) and able to drive, so things are settling down.

The other day I was going through and closing some browser pages, and came upon a Wikihow article about making ATC cards. Uh-oh! I had committed to send one, but completely forgot. So yesterday, after doing some much needed cleaning, I spent the afternoon making 3 cards. Here is a picture of my workdesk and the cards.

I can't show you a close-up of the cards, because I have to mail them to somebody in our group, and I don't want to spoil the surprise!

That's it for this week. Our church moved and we are revamping our children's ministry while also changing pastors. Between ordering new supplies, trying to get volunteers, and revising procedures, it's been interesting! The new pastor is out of town until June 7th, and we will have our first children's church on June 10th. Whew!!

Have a good week and keep on crafting. Be sure to check out the talented people at www.stamping-ground.blogspot.com for some cool inspiration.

WOYWW 3-28-18

Hello to all! This week is a busy one as we prepare for Easter. The next 3 days we will be out of the house at least part of the time, so I'm writing this post on Tuesday afternoon!

I finally got around to making another scrapbook page this week. I'm trying to experiment with different formats and textures. For this page I used some previously embossed cardstock to layer underneath the matted photos.

And I FINALLY finished those death announcements. Not exactly a fun job, but all they need are stamps, and I can mail them - woohoo!

This is how my workdesk looks this week. The announcements are sealed in their envelopes on the right. The rest is mainly clutter that I need to clean up.

That's it for this week. Stop on by at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com to check out the desks of some really talented people! Have a great week!

WOYWW 3-14-18

Greetings! I haven't posted for a while because there hasn't been much to report, and life has been quite busy! My youngest daughter has flown the coop again. Hopefully this time it will all work out. I'm enjoying my newfound freedom, but I still get to spend time with this cutie when her mom works evenings or weekends.

Here's my workdesk.

On the right is a new pink cutting mat I bought. I accidentally burned my old one while using a heat gun. This mat had rave reviews on Michael's website. It has specific guides for certain sizes of cards, which should be useful. On top of the mat are the bases for some more death announcements I need to make, and the sentiments. I just need to fold and stamp the bases, and attach the sentiments, and they will be set to go - finally!

There are also some cardstock sheets with letters printed on them that I use for our Sunday School class. I'm in charge of our children's ministry at church, which keeps me pretty busy!

The Buffalo Sticks can is empty. I need to decide what I want to keep in there, but it was too nice to throw out.

That's it for this week! Have a great crafting week and don't forget to check out the multitalented group at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com.

WOYWW 1-17-18

First post of the new year!! For the past couple of weeks, I've written "blog post" in my planner, and then forgot about it until evening. Since I'm in the States, that seemed way too late to start, so I would resolve to remember next week. And next week is finally here.

Some of you may remember that we have had what could be termed an "interesting" year, which included 2 semi-unexpected family deaths. I say semi-unexpected because both family members were ill, but the deaths were still sudden. Well, you know how they say it comes in threes . . . (If you don't want to read anything depressing, you should stop here.) My brother-in-law, a great guy, died very suddenly of a heart attack while using a snowblower on Christmas Eve. He was only 63. He and his wife Betty had planned to retire at the end of June, and take a long trip in the fall, similar to our fall trip when we visited Yellowstone. He was in apparent good health, with only the aches and pains that come with age. It was a great shock to all, especially his wife, two sons, and my husband. So we spent Christmas week dealing with that, along with the usual family celebrations. His funeral was the day before New Year's Eve. It had an unexpectedly great turnout, in spite of the holidays and the cold. Like I said, he was a truly great person, friendly and down to earth and very helpful.

And the beat goes on. This weekend we are attending the funeral of a friend. I really didn't know him well, only met him a few times, but my husband knew him. This poor guy was on dialysis the past few years. Every so often we would get word that he was about to pass, but he would somehow rally and hang on! Both he and my brother-in-law are dancing in glory in perfect joy, but it's hard for those of us still on earth. We would all appreciate your prayers!

Now on to more cheerful things. I forgot to take an actual picture of my desk, just some projects I have been working on. Here is a picture of a card I made for my daughter, who shares a birthday with the late, great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The quality is not great with these photos, but I took them very quickly with my cell phone. I hope to use my camera for photos next week. For this card I used a pink base with a lavender panel and a white die cut.

Here is a scrapbook page I did. I'm scrapping our trip to California in February to be with my brother. I'm at the point where I'm pasting in a few pictures of his life.

So far I matted the pictures, added some journaling, and put on some stickers. I may add some washi tape to jazz it up a bit. This is his early life. I will have four pages of pictures when I finish with this section.

Here are the front of the death announcements I made for my mother-in-law.

The base for the card on the left is white, even though it looks bluish. The one on the right is cream. I stamped butterflies and leaves on the bases in corresponding colors. Since I need to make several of these, I kept the design simple. These are smaller than the usual size I make for birthday and other cards. I'm a bit behind - she passed in June! But I was waiting for Christmas so we could get people's names from the Christmas cards people sent to her. Unfortunately, I will have to change the wording inside to include her son.

That's all for now - sorry for such a long post! Be sure to check out some very talented people at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/. I hope you had a merry, uneventful Christmas and New Year. Like I wrote in our Christmas letter, I know that whatever comes in 2018, God will be with us and will help us through it. Nevertheless, here's to a boring 2018!

WOYWW 8-23-17

Yay - another WOYWW! I just feel glad about that, for no particular reason!

I've had a busy week, as usual. I forgot to mention last week that I was planning on going to the Scrapbook Expo in Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago. It's a big deal around here. Not only can you find some great bargains, but they also offer classes and space to crop. So far, I haven't been able to take advantage of the latter two, but I do enjoy the shopping! I promised my husband that I wouldn't spend much since we're trying to save for our trip. Here's a photo of my (rather small) haul.

I bought 5 pages of stickers, which are on the left. I don't have dies or stamps that are very interesting for boys, but have two grandsons, so I rely heavily on stickers to make their cards. The sticker pages were only $1.00 apiece! I also got an embossing folder with a nice floral pattern, two adhesives ($2.00 apiece!), some magnetic sheets to store dies, and last but not least, some Christmas sentiments, since I will be making our cards this year (guess what I'll be working on during vacation!).

I also got some cardstock on sale at Michaels.

I use 110 lb. weight for my cards' bases, but only had cream and white, which was getting a bit boring. Since I mainly make cards for female recipients, I chose this package of delicate pinks for some more colorful bases. It was on sale for $10.00, not bad at all!

Here is my second scrapbook page for our California trip.

This is the house where we stayed. It is set up for families who have relatives in the hospital and need a place to stay. It was very beautiful and comforting. Unfortunately, I am having some trouble with my photo editing software, so the colors in my printed photos are way off and require several attempts before they are even passable. I'm trying to figure out what to do about that.

That's it for this week! Be sure to take a look around at some other workdesks from a group of very talented people at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com. Have a great crafting week!

WOYWW 8-16-17

Another week, another WOYWW! My husband and I are busily preparing for a long road trip, this time for fun. We are traveling West from Chicago to Yellowstone, and circling back further south, with plenty of stops along the way. I'll post some photos during future WOYWW's. Meanwhile, I have one birthday 5 days before we leave, and two while we're gone, so between that and preparing for the trip, I'll keep busy!

I've also had some other birthdays to keep me occupied. Here are two cards I made for my grandsons.

Their birthdays are 9 years apart on the same day, in June. I only recently got around to taking care of them due to all of the family drama this year.

Here is a card I made for my daughter. I am at her house now. She went to the Cubs game last night to celebrate, so I watched her three youngest children, and spent the night.

It was my first time using distress inks. I think I need more practice!

I finally remembered to take a picture of my actual workdesk. Here it is!

I took it at night, so it's a bit dark. In the blue basket are things for current projects, with my paper cutter laying across it. The basket on the left holds stamps that need cleaning. The other baskets hold miscellaneous items, like stamps, wipes, glue, etc. The green coffee container holds my adhesives and is sitting on a cardboard box that holds various inks. There is also a beverage glass and a container that held some grapes that I enjoyed as I finished my daughter's card. Eventually I plan on putting a storage rack on the wall to the right, to relieve some of the clutter. The rest of my supplies are at different places around the room.

That's it for this week! Check out some other talented crafters at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com. Have a good WOYWW!

WOYWW 4-5-17

Well,  it's been a while, and there have been a lot of changes over here!

First, I changed the name of my blog from Papercrafts by Suzanne to Ingleside Home, after one of the Anne of Green Gables books. I eventually want to write about other things besides papercrafts, so a name change seemed to be in order.

I deliberately put aside writing and crafting during the holidays. Some family illness took care of January. Then in the middle of February,  I got a call from my sister-in-law that my brother had been hospitalized and was not doing well. To make a very long story short,  my husband and I made an unexpected road trip to California and were with my brother when he passed away on March 3rd from a very aggressive cancer. So that took care of February and March. And here we are in April.

I can't say I've been working on any cards, though I should be making an Easter card for my mother-in-law, since she always sends us one. We are having a memorial service for my brother in early May, so my writing/crafting abilities are going to that. It will be at our church, and I want it to be nice, since it will be the only one he'll have. Relatives are coming in from out of town to join us. Here is a picture of the photo collage I'm working on.

It's not really done, the pictures and writing are not pasted down yet. But that is the general layout. I think I will add some blue cardstock underneath the photos, and embellishments. I'll post a picture when it is done.

Here is a photo of my workspace, soon to be only our dining room.

My youngest daughter will be moving out soon, and I will take her bedroom for my office/crafting room. It's a small room, so it will require careful planning,  but I'm excited about decorating it. It's nice to have the distraction right now.

Well, I hope your Wednesday is going well. Please stop by http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see some really talented crafters. Have a great week!

WOYWW 10-26-16

Whew! I finally made it here! I'm running a bit late, which I'll explain in a minute.

Here is a picture of my workdesk, aka dining room table. 

As you can see, I've made some minimal progress. I need to clear off the other end of the table. I have now found out that we will be hosting Thanksgiving for the immediate family, and perhaps my daughter and her family, so it will get done!

Two of my granddaughters have birthdays 6 days apart. Since they are small, and I was in a hurry, I made one card for the two of them, using some cute stickers I found in a discount store. It's kind of a lazy way to make a card, but I liked the stickers! 

See, I put two bear cubs, since it's for two girls!

Now, as to why I'm running late . . .

It starts with the fact that we moved six months ago. We're still unpacking, and the living room is the worst room right now, with a lot of stuff that needs to be moved/stored/shredded etc. Yesterday I wanted to work on that, so I went into the living room and proceeded to unpack a large box of linens I had already started a week or two ago. While sorting through various said linens, I noticed a very unpleasant smell wafting around me. I investigated, and found that our cat had a couple of small accidents in that area (of course). Unfortunately, I only noticed one of those accidents at first, then saw some footprints, made by me. I sat down and looked at the bottom of my brand new shoes that I bought a couple of days ago to wear exclusively in the house. Alas, they were brand new no more. I removed the shoes while in the living room, and embarked on some vigorous cleaning - no more unpacking for me! The shoes were very inexpensive, which is a good thing, since I now have a bleach spot on the toes of one foot, from a bleach solution soaking through the sole to the upper part of the shoe. 

Last evening, I noticed the same familiar odor in my bedroom, which puzzled me. I had removed my shoes in the living room, so as not to track my cat's lovely present all over the house. So why did my bedroom smell? I thought perhaps the smell had traveled down the hallway into my room. But after going to bed, the smell became much stronger. Finally at 2:00 a.m. I had to start poking around, and found out that the cat had also left me a present under my bed. On the far side, against the wall. After an hour of cleaning, I turned off my alarm and went back to bed. The originator of the problem must not have liked the smell either, because he was laying outside of my bedroom door, rather than sleeping on my office chair, as usual. As soon as I finished cleaning, he resumed his regular spot. Here's the guy who caused all the problems: 

See how innocent he looks!

That's all for now! Time to get started on the rest of the day. Be sure to check out some talented crafters at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-386.html?m=1  who hopefully have had a less exciting night than I did. Have a great rest of the week!

WOYWW 9-7-2016

Another week has flown by! I hope it was a good one for you. We had a barbecue with some friends on Saturday to celebrate Labor Day, a holiday that celebrates work by having everyone take the day off.
I have a picture of my work space on my phone, which is refusing to send the picture to my email. So, I can either write this post from my phone, in which case I can't upload the edited picture of the card I made, or write on my computer, sans workdesk picture but with my card, which really is much easier and faster. I opt for the latter. There isn't much difference from my picture from last week, except that we got new chairs! My husband's aunt had to go into a nursing home. We needed new chairs and his cousin took the table. They don't match the table, but the old ones that did were flimsy and the rungs on the legs kept coming apart. Another aunt made the seats.

Aren't they pretty? And sturdy too. Finally, my phone cooperated and I have a picture of my table. 

I've made a lot of progress in getting it cleaned off, and hope to have it completely finished by next week.

My oldest granddaughter turned 14 2 days ago. I can't believe it! Here is the card I made for her: 

I chose a background paper with some light, cheery colors, that a teenager might like. I hope she does!

That's all for this week. Enjoy your day and check out some very talented people at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1  

WOYWW 8-31-2016

Just a quick note today. My husband and I are at an office party where he used to work. He's visiting while I write this post!
I got a bit more cleaning done on my work desk/dining room table.  At least I got rid of the big pile of mail that was there!

The goal is to eat dinner there very soon! I did have it cleaned off earlier this year, but the table is a convenient midway point between the living room and kitchen, and has a tendency to accumulate a lot of stuff, especially since we are still unpacking.

I haven't made any new cards this week, but did get some much needed cardstock on sale at Michael's (I love Michael's). This month I have 3 birthdays (2 for these cuties

).

The first picture is of my oldest grandchild holding the youngest grandchild. The older child in the second picture is my middle granddaughter celebrating the impending birth of the baby. The other birthday is for my mother-in-law , and I really should make a sympathy card for a friend. I hope to make the first birthday card tonight. Family and friends sure keep you busy!

That's it for now. Have a great day, and stop on by http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-378.html?m=1 to see some very talented crafters.

WOYWW 8-24-2016

It's been a while since I last posted, thanks to a cold that turned into a rip roaring sinus infection! I was under the weather for a few weeks, and last week hubby and I went away for a few days to do some nature photography at Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin. The interesting part is that we brought our 2 year old granddaughter with us, since we couldn't find a sitter and Mom had to work. I was a bit apprehensive about the whole arrangement, but it worked out pretty well. She isn't a fussy child, and pretty much goes with the flow. Her favorite thing was to play with gravel on the roads and paths!

Anyhow, back to cardmaking. I still haven't made much progress in cleaning off my dining room table. Illness and traveling will do that. It does look a little better, though. I not only want to get it cleaned off for crafting, but also for family meals!

In spite of everything, I did manage to make a card for my daughter's birthday. I'm quite proud of it. I definitely think it's one of my better ones!

I don't usually like to use ribbon and bows, just because they can be difficult! But I couldn't find my washi tape, and the bow was made of a specialty ribbon, where you pull on a thread and it ties itself up into a bow. Not bad, huh?

That's all for now! Hop on over to http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1 and check out some really talented people. Happy Wednesday!

WOYWW 7-20-16

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I've posted! Time sure does fly when you're busy unpacking and taking care of a cutie pie granddaughter. Here's a picture just to prove my point:

My work desk (aka dining room table) is still a mess.

As you can see, it's a waystation for a lot of stuff. However, I'm determined to get it cleaned up. Last night, I was working on that big pile of mail.

In spite of the chaos, I managed to make a few cards. Here is one:

This is a sympathy card that I made for a friend whose husband had passed away. I finally got around to using my Cuttlebug to make some die cuts. I still don't have a sympathy stamp, so thinking of you will have to do.

Then it was my grandson's birthday. Here is his card: 

He is 9, so I made a simple card with some boyish stickers I had bought specifically for his cards.

So, my 2nd grandson (6th grandchild overall) decided to be born on his brother's birthday! 

I used some stencils I got at Walmart for the elephant and lettering. And here's the baby: 

Pretty cute, eh? I could show you lots more pictures of my grandkids, but this blog is supposed to be about cardmaking! Be sure to check out some very talented crafters at stamping-ground.blogspot.com.

WOYWW 12-9-15

Another week has gone by on our march to the holidays! Does anyone else feel a bit overwhelmed? I sure do!

So here is my desk this morning. I finished the cards for the residents of the facility, for the most part. I also went to a Christmas party/crop on Saturday. Right before leaving I realized that I had forgotten to print the photos for the scrapbook gift I was planning on working on. So instead I worked on some more bookmarks. I still need to punch holes and tie ribbons to them.

And here is my desk yesterday. We have a system set up in our Facebook group where members who are blessed with too much stuff can bless others. This is the contents of a package I received on Monday. Needless to say, I am a happy camper!

Well, my email doesn't seem to be working well right now. I've sent the picture twice and still don't have it. But there are a lot of stamps, a pad of paper, and some precut cards with envelopes. If you see a picture here, it means I finally got it to come through!

Well, that's all for this week. I'm going to try to visit a few more blogs this week than I have been able to recently. Be sure to check out some talented crafters at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/.

Cute Birthday Card for Little Girl

Here's a cute little birthday card that I made for one of my granddaughters who was celebrating her first birthday. Three white ovals with the stamped sentiment (Happy Birthday) are set on top of lilac ovals, positioned on a pink and lavender plaid panel. Pink and purple embellishments adorn the corners. Inside, a white panel set on lavender is blank for a personalized message. The card is 5 1/2" x 7 3/4". Now, off to make two more birthday cards for two more granddaughters! Whew, my family keeps me busy!

'Tis the Season!

Are you ready for Christmas yet? It's coming on fast! Coming soon to my Etsy shop - Christmas cards with a Christian theme. Check them out!