Workdesk Wednesday 196

Another week has come and gone and it's Wednesday again.  Julia keeps us grounded and I believe heading in a forward direction.  I just checked in on the WOYWW and there are already over 100 brave folk posting their desk...it's only 9:00 AM here in the Pacific Northwest.  Check out Stamping Ground and see who's there that you might already follow, or who will inspire you to join in.  So, here's what my desk(s) look like.  Not too impressive, but a bit is going on.  Here's my sit-down work space...

My buddy Cathy and I played a bit with napkins.  We wanted to see if adhering napkins with decoupage glue would be better than ironing one layer of napkin to freezer paper.  We pick freezer paper.  We had a problem removing wrinkles from the paper that the glue was directly applied to.  We then used the glue to adhere the freezer paper to the card stock.  After thinking this through we realized that was certainly not necessary.  A Xyron machine would have done the same thing with no drying time....Senior moment in action!  Dah! 

Here is my standing desk.  Doesn't look too impressive, but I want you to know....I just finished 20 card kits....of course no photos of that because....I forgot.  Is that another senior moment? 

Those who have followed me in the past know that I've been working on a shadow box that my sweet husband made for me.  I'm in Sloth mode on this project as it is taking me forever and on occasion my honey walks past it and muses about my attention to detail, which is the excuse I'm using for why it is taking so long....I'm trying to fill the little 4x4 space, but not have it look too busy, or too empty.  I haven't glued down the July slot as I'm still thinking that space needs more, but I don't have exactly what I want to add....a little beach ball.  But I am still looking....

So here it is.  any ideas for things to add to July?  And here's the entire shadow box.  The paper is all from Graphic 45.  I love this collection. 

So, this is what I've got.  Not quite half way to the finish line.  But I'm getting there....

Before I go I want to share a family photo.  This is my cousin Pete and me.  I haven't seen him in 50 years or more.  He came to California on a business trip and through another cousin that I just reconnected with found me.  Long story short, I was raised by  a fantastic foster family, and lost contact with my birth family.  It's nice to reconnect with my birth family and I'm lucky to have two fantastic families.   Actually, I have 3 fantastic families.  I've lived in California for most of my adult life, which puts me thousands of miles away from most of my family....my extended family is a very important part of my today life.  I am truly blessed!  I'm sure so many of you also have extended families because of how we have all managed to move from our birth homes to where we are today  My cousin Pete said it so well, as we get older we want to know about our birth families and having and knowing cousins becomes much more important than when we were children.  So here's Pete...

 I do wish I had known him when we were kids.  Especially since we went to school together and knew many of the same kids.....life is strange sometimes.  I also learned that his mom lives on the same street as my life long friend lived.  I can't tell you how many times I visited Lynette and never knew I had an aunt living only a few houses away. 

And to my internet family of followers.....thank you so much for taking the time to have a cuppa with me at least once a week....

Off I go for now....Hugs to all, and happy crafting.....
Mary AKA:  Glitter Grammy

Happy Birthday Dan and Bridget...Welcome Spring

This will be a quick post...I wanted to tell my youngest son Happy Birthday.  His card has sentimental meaning to me....here it is:

My son taught English in Japan and while he was there he sent me a gift wrapped in the paper I used to make his card.  I've been hoarding this paper for years, and felt it was time to re-gift it to my son.  Mind you I still have a large piece, which I will again hoard!  So, wishing Dan and very happy birthday. 

I posted Bridget's card awhile ago.  But I do want to say, Happy Birthday to my sweet little grand daughter...she is growing up way too quickly!  I'll see you soon!

I made a quick card this week for our neighbors.  They have become first time grandparents.  A while ago I made a Grandma brag book for them and with the paper left over, I made this card. 

Congrats to both Grandma and Grandpa.  I hope they get to spend much time with Nolan as he grows.

I'm going to link both cards to Pixie's Crafty Workshop.  Both cards are snippets, some bigger than others!  I wonder if these little guys are playing on the playground...they sure could be!

Today, I spent a good amount of time outside. I love spring and the flowers in our yard are beautiful this time of the year.  I do worry that they have blossomed too early and they might get a big surprise with some bad weather...so, I shall enjoy them while I can. 

Off I go for now.  Have a most wonderful week.  I hope, in your world, you will find a bit of Spring weather.

Hugs,
Mary AKA:  Glitter Grammy

Workdesk Wednesday - Hopping Down The Bunny Trail

A bit ago (when I say bit, it could be a week or 10 years, I honestly don't remember) , I purchased Easter paper that I had planned on using for Easter cards....Well, long story longer....I couldn't bring myself to cutting into it.  Well, I did it and this is the result.  My friend and co-crafter Mary Jane cut out the eggs.  I do not do well cutting with a scissors.  My tool of choice is an x-acto knife, which I did not bring with me.  So, thank you Mary Jane.  The dies I used were two grass dies, and  a fence.  I rubber stamped the sentiment using a 1994 SonLight Impressions stamp and cut the cloud from the paper (yes....I cut this one!  Don't look too close!)

So....after I finished this card my desk looked kind of like this....well, actually like this!

Sad isn't it....I'm not a very neat crafter and, while I think of one thing to make, other things come to mind....before I show you that, let me show you the inside of this card.  The card stock was cut to 6x12.  The inside is made from half of that piece.

I like this card....yes I do.

Now on to another Easter card and a Boy/Man's Birthday card, which will be my March Card Class.   Carolyn shared an Easter napkin and I decided to use a portion of that napkin.  The bunny graphic is so cute, and the napkin has several different bunnies.  For this card I chose...

The mailing of this card will not break the bank.  It's flat.

This brings me to something that happened to me this week.  I was mailing my son's birthday card (which will be shown next week), I didn't want the US Mail bending this card, so I wrote on the envelope....Do Not Bend.  Those 3 little words added about $1.25 to the price.  I should have said....hand cancel.  That would have added about 20 cents to the postage...lesson learned!

Back to my March class.....and here is my Boys/Men's card:

Karen brought in these fish tail dies...well, what's a girl to do.  I had to purchase them, and then, I needed to justify my purchase by making this card.  The girls have been asking for "boys" birthday cards.  Well here it is.  And for those who don't want the sentiment on the bottom of the card...I have a plan.  I'll show you when you come to class...give Karen a call if you want to join the class.   Speaking of class,  I'm going to start something new.... I am going to be available on class day from 11:00 to 4:00.  I think this will make it easier for everyone to fit the class into their schedule.  So, If you come at 11:00, I can get you started with your card.  I will take a lunch break from Noon to 1:00 feel free to join me or you can continue to work. 

I think of the year by holidays and birthdays and my goodness....this year is flying by.  We're already looking at spring and Easter and I still am thinking Valentines Day....and birthdays...my goodness all of my family and friends are getting older...well, almost all, I've decided to quit counting birthdays.  I shall remain the age I am today...and I'm not sharing that date.  (Amy don't you dare!)

For now I'm off.  Lots to do today.  I started doing spring house cleaning and then decided to take a break...that was Sunday, I guess I should move my tail and get back at it.

Before I go I want to give a shout out to Julia.  I'm sure she's been working hard this week organizing her ribbon.  I'm going to head over to see what her desk looks like today.  Why don't you join me... shall we?  Here we come Julia.

Check out Karen's blog page to see what else she's brought into her  shop.  I'll give you a hint.  can you say Graphic 45?  I love both the Secret Garden and French Country.  The hard part is deciding which one I need to buy right now...if you know me you'll know I'll probably be getting both.  Plus, CartaBella was already in my bag (that's what one of my Easter cards was made of.)

Ok....I'm closing for now.....
Hugs to all,
Mary AKA:  Glitter Grammy

Rudolph Day and Pixie's Crafty Workshop

Well Happy 10 months til Christmas....or.....Happy Rudolph Day!  Thankfully, I am kept on Christmas Card track by my friend Sarn at Stamping For Pleasure so, here it is another napkin card.  Enough already with the napkins!  Nope, I've got lots more, I just haven't put them together.  Yet another item on my bucket list!

This was fun....The napkin was quite large and I wanted to make this card 6x6....so, I cut all the pieces and put them together on a 6 x6 card.  The background, especially the sky, has a few holes from where I cut the bird and Mr. Snowman is covering a hole where the bunny once lived.   Then I added glitter and lots of it.  The photo doesn't show all it's glittery wonder!   This is what the napkin originally looked like:

I used the border on the inside of the card.  It too was pieced together:

To cover the piecing, I added a Memory Box "Frosty Border" snow die.

I'm hoping this qualifies as a snippet.  I had the snow people ready to go onto a card, when I looked over and saw how unhappy the little bunny was without them.  That's when I decided to close cut all the figures and put them onto one card front.  Di, if I messed up, give me a long time-out on the playground.  I think my time out should be behind the shed...I think I hear lots of giggling coming from there.  Check out Pixie's Crafty Workshop to see what's going on there and tell Di I sent you. 

I'm off to play with the girls today.  Always lots of laughing, quietly working, and a little learning.
A bit of exciting news before I go.  

Before I go, one more thing....Bridget from Photography and Me found out I'm traveling to Australia.  Guess what, I'm FINALLY going to meet her.  We haven't finalized the plans yet, and we've got 4 months to plan, but it should be fun, even if we only have a short time to visit I'm sure we can cram a lot of chatting into it.  Am I excited?  Wait tell I tell my travel buddy Dee Dee!  

Have a most wonderful Monday and let it be the beginning of a fabulous week.

Hugs from a chilling northern California.
Mary AKA:   Glitter Grammy

WOYWW 194 and Napkin Day

Well here it is.  Not much going on, but trust me, this desk has had a busy week.
So....check out Julia and her desk-mates and if you're brave, join in and share What's On Your Workdesk.... Have a peek here.  Well, here's my desk....

I've been working on several cards, some finished, some I can't show for a few days/weeks and this one....

A few weeks back I did a card that Carolyn shared from her friend Lori.  What I liked about Lori's card was how the images matched on each layer.  I've had this paper forever, and it's one of those that you just don't want to cut into because you love it so much.  Well, I did it and I'm thrilled with how well it worked.  I drop cut each layer from the previous layer and for the front I only used a 5 1/4 x 4 inch piece.  The green frames make this technique work...

And then....Our girls get-together was a day of napkin art.  Again, thank you to Mary H for reminding me of how much fun this is.  I have to giggle at this photo.  It was taken as the ladies patiently worked on pulling the layers of the napkin apart.  Seconds later, I showed them the easy way...

Here is one of the cards I made....another will be shown on Rudolph Day (Feb 25), more about that later.....Mary Jane thought her napkin graphic might be too large for a 1/4 fold card.  I had to give it a try and I think her napkin worked very well....I like the card I made.

and here's what the inside looks like.  The rose bud was an after thought, but one I'm glad I had...

I'm not a great fan of snow, but it's one of those things that just happen and today it happened.  I was walking past the living room window when I saw this pigeon.  I think maybe the pigeon feels about the same as I do...

On the up-side...tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and in the 50's.  Gotta love northern California weather.

See you again soon....
Mary AKA:  Glitter Grammy

What's On Your Workdesk 193 and Valentines Day

 Here's my desk.....but before I talk about it....let me share this card....

My friend Dee Dee made this beautiful Valentine card for me....I've been saving it to share....so, Happy Valentines Day!  And thank you Dee Dee for the beautiful card. 

 And now on to  my workdesk:  Wednesday again and you know what this means....Julia's place is filled with desktops and it's .time to show off your workdesk.  How about joining in...it's fun.  Today mine looks fairly neat...oh yes it does....I'm not showing the ironing board and my second desk...not so neat!  So, a few weeks back Mary H and I exchanged some napkins.  Having seen her blog post about making cards from napkins, I reflected on a time gone by, when I loved making napkin cards.  I sent Mary some from my stash, and she generously sent me some beautiful napkins from her treasure box.  Above are two napkins I used to make these cards.  Check out her blog to a link to directions.  They are easy, fun and quick to make....

Pretty neat yes?  I think so.  I want to thank Mary H for reminding me that I have napkins that make beautiful graphics for cards.  And I want to thank her for sharing a great selection of her napkins.  I'll be showing more cards later.

Look at all the extra pieces I have for more cards.....

 The past week was a busy one.  I finished the scrapbook I made for my kids.  It will be going with me  in June.  Lots of love went into the scrapbook and it was fun spending time with the kids and grand kids through photos.  My Granddaughter loves to craft, and making little projects for her is what I hope will encourage her to love paper crafting.

A few weeks back I was looking in on Sarn's blog and I noticed that she had a section on Zentangles.  I've had the "How to" books for quite awhile I sent her an email and she "sort of" challenged me to make one.  Well, who could ignore a challenge.... I'd tried my hand at bits and pieces, but never put one together.  My pieces were more doodling than completing a 3 1/2 inch tile....Well, another item I can check off my bucket list....This may be a collection of one, or maybe I'll be doodling away, who knows.  For now.....here's my Zentangle.

 I've had my nose stuck to the grind stone lately and though I've looked at blogs on my ipad, while watching TV with my honey....I feel like I've been away from one of my favorite blogs for far too long.  The girls on the playground are probably running wild and I'm not there to join in....so, I'm headed there now.....I'm not sure my napkin is a snippet, but the cardstock and frames are from bits and pieces so, Miss Di....I'm comin to play.  The snippet card she's showing this week is oh so sweet.  Check it out!

I'm posting this a few hours early because Wednesday is my card class...It's going to be a busy class as there are many dies to cut.  Because I will be there very early, I won't have time to post before I go, so, I'm posting right before I head off to bed.   If you're in Chico on Wednesday, head on over to Paradise Scrapbook Boutique and introduce yourself.  For more info...check it out here.

Hugs and chat later.
Mary Mac

Workdesk Wednesday 192

This will be fast, fast, fast.  I took this photo in the morning, and now it's time to think about dinner.  Where does the time go.  Plus my dogs brought me their tennis balls, so I'm thinking a game of keep away is in my future.  As it was last week, I'm  still working on the scrapbook for my son's family.  Today I was on a roll and got quite a few pages done.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to get at least 2 more done.

Well, I should get moving....I have a bit of a mess to clean up.  Check out Julia's blog and see what everyone else is up to.  I'm going to head on over there to link my blog to her blog and tonight I'll be snooping around seeing what everyone is doing.  Thank you Julia for hosting this fun "challenge".

Whew, can you believe how short this post is?  I can't....

 Note to Di....you should see the pile of snippets I've created....let's hope I get busy and get some cards created!

Happy Crafting,
Mary