Happy Mail for us :)

First:

Happy New Year's Eve!

Second:

We got Happy Mail today from my parents! Lots of pictures and cards, yay!

Font: Chalkduster

My dad made the cards for the Fourth of July, Halloween, Christmas, and New Year's. He enjoys thinking up and making cards with moving parts. This makes receiving one of my dad's cards a fun experience. We enjoyed the pictures. The one shown is of their Christmas train set-up.

The package was a big surprise since my parents said they were saving the pictures and cards up for when I visit in three months or so. Mailing anything to here is exorbitant, but from here is relatively inexpensive. So, I enjoy sending out Happy Mail, but don't expect to receive any and when we do get something, it's an event for celebration :D

Hopefully your last day of 2015 will be as happy as ours,

Theta

ATC Titles #2

Merry Christmas!

439 HaveAGreatDay
Derwent & Staedtler

Theta

ATC Titles #1 (Full Sheet)

ATC Cards (across, down): 442, 441, 440, 437, 435, 443, 436, & 438
Pens: Staedtler, Derwent, & Letraset

Today I have a sheet of ATCs for you. I was messing about with my pens and made a bunch of titles. Since I wanted to print them out for some happy mail, I made them into a sheet for printing. If you click on the image you should be able to save and print it. Printing at 49.5% will make the cards 3.5" by 2.5" and will fit on both A4 and letter size paper.

Have a great day!

Theta

ATC Flower #35

#429 Flower Large
Micron/Letraset

#431 Flower Large
Micron/Letraset

Two lovely ATCs today.

Have a great day!

Theta

ATC Flower #34

#426 Flower Large
Micron/Letraset

I was feeling a bit cold while doodling these two, thus the heavy lines and hairy leaves.

Have a warm and wonderful day!

Theta

#427 Flower Large
Micron/Letraset

ATC Flower #33

Jingle bells, snowflakes, poinsettias, and ATCs ;) all add up to Christmas in a few days. 

#424 Flower Large
Micron/Letraset

Have a wonderful day!

Theta

#428 Flower Large
Micron/Letraset

ATC Flower #32

#422 Flower Large
Micron/Letraset

Here are the next two ATCs I finished up this week. Christmas is coming and I was thinking about poinsettias while I was doodling #425.

Have a lovely day!

Theta

#425 Flower Large
Micron/Letraset

Card: Just Because

This card I created for fun with some of the leftover paper from my purple box. This is the paper I used to cover the inside of the box. The design is stamped in silver and shines quite nicely in real life. Actually the picture really doesn't do the card justice, but so be it :D

Gems: Say It in CrystalsPaper: unknown
Ribbon: Purple sparkly - momotara; Purple grossgrain - unknown
Circle: Twin Seven packagingButterfly: stampomania

Have a beautiful day!

Theta

ATC Flower #31

420 Flowers
Micron, Letraset

421 FlowersPlants
Micron, Letraset

I've been busy making things and haven't been doing as many ATCs. Then at Thanksgiving dinner somehow potatoes contaminated the non-nightshade foods and I became somewhat incapacitated. For those of you who don't know, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia a while back, basically giving a name to symptoms I had been having for a long time, and have found that nightshade plants cause a reaction in my body of severe joint and muscle pain and in my hands symptoms that mimic rheumatoid arthritis. There are other symptoms too, but those above are the  most irritating. Anyway, the symptoms make it hard to write and walk; drawing isn't such a problem as long as I go slowly. Now in recovery and on the computer more (having been forced to slow down), I realized I hadn't posted for a while. Hence the last few days' postings of farm and house pictures, plus the crafts :)

Back to this post... These are two ATCs I did this week. They illustrate the joy of having fingers that are working again more or less like they should :)

Have a great day!

Theta

Pictures from around the house

Another day (actually assorted days, but the second posted) in pictures...

Fishy aka Pudge: we have had him now for three years. In August he started turning upside and floating at the top of the tank and all of the white spots he had disappeared. It is now December and he is still very much alive. We are surprised as he still floats upside down almost daily and expect expiration at any moment.  

The apples were stacked instead of eaten...

We can get very thick fog on occasion and this makes the school busses quite late.

The lilies along our front walk bloomed beautifully and all about the same time. It has taken three years and I have finally convinced the gardener not to pull the lilies up. He has tried every few months. This summer he pointed to them and said, "Good." and I said, "Yes." Finally! He is a slow learner, probably largely because I can't speak his language, nor he english. (Other people would disagree that his capabilities had anything to do with language)

Carmel aka: Kitty Kitty, Thunder Paws, Click-Click, and assorted other names. In this photo he has seen the dog that is walked on a cross street every day at the same time we go outside to wait for the bus. He has taken to sitting in the window instead of playing in the grass, because there are a few rambunctious 5th graders he doesn't like.

It does rain here and when it rains, it usually pours. We are on a bit of a hill so the water just rolls away... The street behind the stop sign is where the dog gets walked.

More rain puddling at the bottom of the steps and flowing away into the sand.

Have a fun filled day swishing through puddles or enjoying whatever weather you have!

Theta

Boxes for things

I also made two boxes out of foam-core board and covered them in patterned paper.

First I measured (twice ;)  ) and cut out the top and bottom. The purple box was small enough that it took only one piece of foam-core for the top and one for the bottom, so I cut a trough to account for the thickness of the board. I glued it all together with UHU glue and used straight pins to hold it together while it was drying.

After the two pieces were dry, I covered them in patterned paper and added hinges and a clasp.

Here is the purple box finished.
Gems: Say It in Crystals
Paper: unknown
White Pen: Gelly Roll White
Hardware: Zamix

And now for the red box. I added a pocket to the lid, boxes for the little cards, and a divider for the big cards.

Materials are the same for this box and the purple one, excepting:
Purple Paper: Fabriano Cartacrea
Ribbon: Sunflower, China

The purple box was my first try to see how making a box out of foam-core would work out. I wanted a box to keep my cards in, but couldn't find anything suitable. Since my first box worked out well, I decided to make one for my cards. It's perfect, except I think I am going to have to make another one since this box is full.

Have a wonderful day!

Theta

A visit to the farm

I haven't shown pictures of the farm and its goings on for a long time (and I have a working camera that I need to experiment with), so I thought today we would visit the farm...

Saba wondering if the carrots really are all pau, or if I found more in my magic carrot producing pocket.

Teema in her new halter

Peaches: she and Honey-Pie are the only two females left and their kittens are all male...

Saudi Sheep: the owner bought some western sheep and people wouldn't buy them, they didn't look right, so he ended up having to butcher them himself. Now he only has this type.

Sunrise over the desert

Oleanders grow quite well here

Worry-Wort: one of Honey-Pie's kittens, about twice her size now. He always looks worried and this is about as close as I can get to him.

Plumerias also grow well, but smell much better than oleanders

These flowers turn into bean things used as vegetables

We call these apples because their texture is similar, but they are the size of an extra large olive with a similar pit.

Yep, there are cows and a bull on the farm...

Well I hope you enjoyed the visit to the farm. I liked it because there were no flies :D

Have a wonderful day!

Theta

Paper purse

I made these purses last month and I think I'll send them out in some spring Happy Mail.

Purse Template: Fun-Stuff-to-Do.com
Leaves: Crafticious
Flowers: melstampz
Butterflies: stampomania
White and colored paper: ROCO
Cream Cardstock: SBC
Ribbon: China
Ink: Tsukineko
Crystals: Say it in Crystals, China

They turned out really cute. I printed out butterflies in different colors for each purse. I wonder what I'll put in them... hmmm, that will be a surprise.

Have a great day!

Theta

Happy Mail :)

I sent out Happy Mail in October with a bunting, a letter, stickers, mini cards, tags, The Incredible Moodbear, pipe cleaner heart, confetti (enclosed in a clear pouch so it only flies everywhere if the recipient wants it too ;) ), and I can't remember if there was anything else. This was 4 days before I got my new camera; my old one having decided not to charge on the first day of our summer vacation. Therefore I don't have any pictures of that first Happy Mail, except for the mini cards which I made extras of:

Mini Cards
Patterned paper: Michaels Recollections Tattered and Worn and Colorbok 6in Hootenanny
Chamois cardstock: Indonesia 2/S Pepper Perfumed (and boy does it stink!)
Word/Quote Sticker: K & Company Sheri's Garden Word Swatch Book
Crystals: SBC Say It in Crystals
Metallic Puffy Sticker: China PUF-304B
Dark Brown cardstock: Fabriano Cartacrea
Diecuts: Sizzix
Holograph paper: unknown
Satin Ribbon: Sunflower/Moonflower
Tickets: http://sgtstamper.com/ (pinned)
Butterfly: http://www.thelilacgarden.co.uk/
Butterfly Stamp: Classic Wooden Stamp Set, China

Two weeks ago I sent out Christmas Happy Mail, yay! and I even took some pictures, double yay! The folders should be arriving soon, I know one recipient received theirs, so I'm going to post the pictures :) First I made these clips, hats and trees...

The hat I clipped to the outside and the tree went on the inside of the folder.

Stamps: Tree - A Stamp in the Hand Co.; Word - Michaels Recollections Christmas Noel; Dots and Small Trees - Stampendous; Snowflakes - TPC Studio Girlfriends
Brads: Generic
Twine: Retail, Inc.
Glitter Sticker Tape: Twin Seven
Cardstock: Red - Sbc Bristol (180gsm, should have used heavier stock but couldn't find it in red here); Green - Fabriano Cartacrea (220 gsm, much better weight)

And here's a picture of what I included in the folder:

Materials for stuff inside:
Inside: Gold contact type paper - probably by 'China' as there is no name
Satin ribbon: Sunflower China
Sparkly ribbon: momotara
Bling: See above
Stickers: Kwang Ping Self Adhesive Labels (finally a China product with a company name)
Paper for tags: ROCO Brief Card
Other paper: See above
Stamps: See above and Swirl Tree - Denami Design
Tags: Heidi Swapp, Ephemera's Vintage Garden,  Decorator's Notebook Blog, and modernmomentsdesigns.com (actually takes you to pintrest because I couldn't get their website to load)
Bunting: Simple As That (tags I printed two sheets to a page and used as the bunting)
Envelope closures: ScrappyStickyInkyMess
Holly: West World Trading
Stamping ink: Tsukineko Memento

Fun stuff inside: 

Advent bunting, assorted tags for gifts, stickers, confetti (all sealed up), 2 shaped clips and a mini binder clip (actually there are 2 one is on the bunting tag keeping the bunting from unrolling), bling, and a sprig of holly leaves. I also put in Santa and Mrs. Claus magnets (not pictured, but I do have the couple on my refrigerator) I made from paper dolls found here.

Hopefully the Christmas Happy mail will brighten up some Christmases :)

Have a great day!

Theta

Happy Halloween Bookmarks

Corner Bookmarks

We don't celebrate Halloween, but for the few kids that come around we give them something. For the last few years we have given out glow-in-the-dark bracelets which the kids love. Several have asked if we're giving them out again this year, and yes we are :) We have quite a few, but we needed something other than candy to give out if we run out. (Candy in the house is bad for me and actually for the rest of the family too.) So I thought about bookmarks and looked for some to print out. I found a bunch of corner bookmarks that are super cute on Pintrest, but they were pieced, not printed. Thinking that that wold be easy enough, I made a pattern (it looks like a fox), found my googly eyes, and proceeded to piece some. I made 25 which should cover what the bracelets don't. As an added bonus, I can give the extra's to tutees who have done a superior job on something. My husband and kids even wanted one, so they should be popular.

Have a great day!

Theta



Materials:
Paper: DCWV - 8x8 cardstock stack neutrals; Fabriano Cartacrea
Glue: UHU all purpose; Leeno white glue
Googly eyes
Pen: Letraset Promarker; Micron

Journal Book

After finishing the Summer 2015 scrapbook and getting it mailed off, I made myself a Journal and a planner, but more on that in another post. Since I usually make my things fairly uniform, I decided to make my journal a junk type journal so I could journal and put ephemera in it and be happy. As I started adding more pages, I kept having to change the binding to be wider and wider. An advantage I have found with the Combind is that it's easy to swap out the old coil for a new one. I alternated paper types and put in some pockets, both small for journaling cards and large to hold stuff not yet put in. I decided to use 5 tabs to break up the book into sections. I have labeled two of them Journaling #1 and Journaling #2 (inventive, I know) the other three I haven't labeled, but one will probably be 'Bible Journaling'.  I have peppered positive quotes and Bible verses throughout and bound in 1 cm tabs to attach journaling or more quote cards. You can see one of the tabs attached to the bottom of the plaid envelope.

Sometimes I journal every day and sometimes I go for weeks without writing a word. I am truly enjoying the freedom of this book :)

Have a great day!

Theta


Materials:
Ephemera
Combind
Paper: Binder paper, graph paper, cereal box cardboard for cover, Cardstock - ROCO, scrapbook paper - Recollections - Michaels
Washi tape: Longking Corp, Twin Seven, Somi Tape
Journaling Cards: Vintage Writing I - Vintage Glam Studios, Heidi Swapp's Sugar Chic Collection - Canon, Pure Happiness - Ashley Ann, Printable Tabs and Printable Journaling Cards - Sweetly Scrapped, Labeled for Travel - Creativity Prompt ( all these can be found on my pinterest boards here )

One Card 3 versions

Yesterday I made these cards from a card design I saw in Stamptington & Company's magazine Take Ten or Stamper's Sampler. I can't seem to find the card I took the design from which is a bit of a bummer, because I really like the way my cards turned out and I'd like to give my source credit. I also stamped the animal inside the card.

One of the twelve cards is already in an envelope ready to give my neighbor. During Eid they brought over some mutton for us. It was a mixed bag of ribs and backbone. I ended up cooking them like my mom does spareribs: boil for an hour, smother them in Mrs. Chans (an old neighbor of ours) sweet and sour sauce, then bake for another hour. They were quite yummy and interestingly enough, after all the cooking and baking, they had lost most of their sheep flavor.

Have a wonderful day!

Theta

Note: I found the card design! - Take Ten, summer 2015, pg. 19: Relax and Chair Up - Beverly Sizemore

Materials:
Patterned paper - Colorbok: Hootenanny
Ink - Tsukineko: Memento
Cardstock - White and Cream: ROCO; Brown: Fabriano: Cartacrea
Rhinstones - unknown
Stamps - Owl, Cat, Butterfly: Inkadinkado