Now I'm into doing dry embossing. I seem to find a new technique that I just have to try every so often.

Well, I found that these great embossing boards are finally available in the United States and so I had to get one! And then I had to make a card or two.

This first card is copied right out of the instruction book with very little variation on my part. But that's how I learn best and it really came out pretty well.

When this turned out so well, I decided to try another one. This time I tried not to follow the idea book quite so litterally. It's based on a card shown in the book, but I did a lot of things differently. But I'm proud of how it turned out, too.

I'm still doing the embroidery on paper and still love that, too. Perhaps my next card will combine the two techniques and we'll see what kind of fancy-dancy card I can come up with.

So here's my latest "craze". My sister was selling stuff on eBay and I saw this book she was getting rid of called "Embroidery on Paper". I thought that could be fun for my cards so bid and won the auction and have been having a great time with the process ever since. I love doing it, too. Here's my very first project, a Thank You card for some friends.


I couldn't stop there, so I made this birthday card for another friend. Both patterns were from this new book.


This was a little more complicated than I really enjoyed doing. But it's a learning process and I learned I don't like doing this much detail.

I was poking around on eBay (as I do frequently) and found a card that I fell in love with. So I went looking everywhere for a pattern - but couldn't find one! So I copied the photo of her card and printed it. I used tracing paper to get the hole placement correct. I transferred the pattern to my own paper and started stitching. I must say I'm kinda proud of it.

While searching the internet for more patterns, I came across a template for what you see below. The problem is that it's only sold in Australia and the UK. I could not find a shop that would ship to the US. So I printed out all the templates and sat down with dot paper in various DPIs until I figured out how to make this one happen. I already had the square flower punch, so just needed to get all the size ratios set up.


Anyway, I've just been stitching away and having a great time learning the process. So I thank my sister for needing to get rid of a craft book. And I thank my teachers for helping me learn how to figure out stuff like this! I must have paid attention in the right math classes at least!

Boy! Did I have fun this afternoon! We're sending a little Easter chocolate to our grandkids soon, so I decided to make them a card, too. As luck would have it, a pattern for this card came in to my email box just this morning. I couldn't wait to try making it.

Again, as luck would have it, we had some shopping to do at Wal-Mart where I found this great rick-rack. It was just perfect for this pattern. They had some in primary colors, too. I wanted to get that, but it's a bit pricey and decided not to get it -- at least not right now.

Another "plus" in making this card was that I could use up scraps that might otherwise just sit around and get old.

Here's a picture of the inside, too. I have tons of the acrylic peel-off stickers and finally found a cool use for these Easter ones. I just stuck them onto some white paper and used colored pencils to fill in the colors I wanted.

Now I'm anxious to send off the package and wish I could be there to watch when they open up the package and this card.

I've been scrapbooking like there was no tomorrow. Since the page shown in the last post, I've done twelve more pages. Some are pretty rudimentary and will not be shared here, but there are a few that I worked extra hard on and am very proud of.

This first pair is done on pre-cut templates that I bought at a craft show well over a year ago. I actually took the first 2 pics while the coach was still on the sales lot but after we bought it. Everything else was taken over the first few months we were traveling in it.

I had to figure out picture sizes and reprint just about every single one so they'd fit in their allotted spaces. That was part of the fun, though. So here's our motor home!


This next pair is of our grandkids in February of 2006. Sha'Micah was about three and a half months old. She was such a little sweetie. We SO enjoyed her.


I found the design for her page in a craft book I recently added to my collection. It was a lot of cutting and hoping and when it all fit together, I was VERY happy.

I couldn't do a page of Sha'Micah without doing a page of Chrislon, too. He's not quite five in these photos and WAY full of energy.


I had so many pictures and wanted to get as many on a page as I could. So I was very happy when I remembered the alphabet templates I have. I had to use my (mediocre) math skills to figure out how big to cut the colored squares. That hurt my brain! But the rest of it fell into place pretty well. At least I'm very happy with it. And that's what counts most I guess.

Ok, no big tips on how to do what. I'm just showing off here, both my grandkids and my scrapbooking ideas.

I know I haven't posted anything here in ages. It's not that I haven't been paper-crafting, but that I have worked on things like Christmas cards that couldn't be shared until after they were mailed.

I also completed the album of our 3-week trip to Europe in 2005. I'm a bit behind in my scrapping, wouldn't you agree?

But I did get a couple pages done at the last scrapbooking day we had here at Royal Highlands. This photo was taken in October of 2005 when the five of us siblings were together after our mother passed away. It's a silly picture and I don't even know for sure what the object is that we gave to him. But the photo is priceless in our expressions of totally having fun at Bob's expense.


Be sure to click on the picture to read some of what the background paper says about family. It's all SO true.

Anyway, once the holidays pass, I know I'll be paper crafting a lot more again. And that will mean a few more postings to this blog, I hope. Since I have nearly two years of pictures to get into albums, I think I'll have to go into overdrive if I ever want to get caught up.

My earlier withdrawals have been satisfied! I just finished my fifth scrapbook page since leaving home. It feels good to finish a page or two after so long a time off.

If you read my previous post, you know that I planned and sketched out a number of pages before leaving home. In fact, I wound up with 31! I was amazed at how many I did get organized. And once those are all finished, my European Vacation album will also be completed.

We seem to have free time here in North Carolina (see my travel blog for details). We're busy, but there are days that feel best just hanging around at home. So that's when I try to work in a little paper crafting. And that's been working out just fine.

I'll be making a couple cards in the near future and I just might post those pictures here. I guess that partly depends on how they turn out.

From time to time, I drag out my sewing machine and make something that isn't paper based. It's true that this doesn't happen with any great frequency, but when the need arises, I'll answer the call.

During our RV travels this summer, we will be stopping in Texas to see our grandkids. Chrislon is six (his birthday is today) and Sha'Micah is about 20 months at this posting. Anyway, grandparents can never come to visit without bringing something for the little ones, right? So I have made this teddy bear for Sha'Micah. (I had made one for her big brother when he was a toddler, too.) We'll have to pick up something for Chrislon while we're traveling.

I did all the sewing and stuffing, but I had a good friend paint the face onto the bear. She is quite a bit more artistic than I am and, besides, she has the paints and I don't.

We won't be in Texas till October, so this little bear will see a lot of the USA before she gets to meet her new owner. If only she could talk, right??