And Mother's Day came in 2012...

While in California this spring, my sister, Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner), gave several card and embellishment classes, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.  I always learn so much from my sis!  Mom, sis, and I traveled to several crops and a three-day scrapping retreat in Chico, Red Bluff, and Shingletown.  We had an absolutely GREAT time...I caught up on my lots of my "To Do" stash and kits; some I bought and they sat waiting for several years!  One night I scrapped until 2:00 a.m., but another scrapper took the grand prize, and stayed up until 5:00 a.m.!!  The retreat crop room was open 24-hours a day...what a great place to get away!

One of the classes my sis taught was a flower-making.  We made four different styles flowers:  a Gerber Daisy,  a Carnation (with iridescent glittered netting), a small Rose, and a Peony.  I decided to use my new flower skills to make a Mother's Day card for Mom, which was a challenge with her sitting right by me cropping away!  No, Mom,  the card really wasn't for Michele's birthday, as you found out!

Mom's 2012 card...love you!

2012 Birthday for My Brother!

Mike celebrates his birthday in early May.  I had a card kit that I like the papers and had not put together.  After working with it a bit, I decided it needed to be larger, as I seem to like them better.  So, I started tinker with the design.  First, I decided to emboss the background mat.  Then I split it vertically so I could spread it out to make the card wider, turning it into a square card.  I add another border layer to give it more color and added two circle layers under the sentiment.  Now, I was more pleased with the results and it was ready to send to Mike.  (The original card inspiration was from Misty Bradley, and I thank her for getting my creative juices flowing.)

Thank You for the Visit!

It is not often that both my husband and I are in California at the same time, but we did manager to do that this spring.  We were also able to make the jaunt to visit John's brother and his wife who live away from the Sacramento area, heading toward San Francisco.  We had a wonderful catch up visit and were able to stay to have lunch out at their favorite Mexican restaurant.  It was so nice for me to be able to spend time with them and get to know my newest sister-in-law better.  She is a very friendly, gracious, and outgoing lady, and I find her delightful company.  I decided to send them a little card after returning home to let them know just how much we enjoyed our visit.

Recipe:  MME papers, SU Chocolate Chip cardstock.  Papertrey stamps.  Decorative Brad (stash).  5/8" White Satin Ribbon (stash).  Papertrey Tag punch.  (Original design by Heidi Gonzales - My Lil' Scrap Corner.  My card is enlarged, layout rearranged, striped paper added.)