ATC Quote #4

#576 Quote 

#577 Quote

Now these two quotes are more along my line of thought, but as I've stated, I like to travel. My son's comment on #576 was that people who don't travel not only haven't read one page, they haven't even read a paragraph.

These two cards are bright. I was playing with pens and color. #577 works for me better than #576. On #576, the green became too involved with the orange and mud is beginning to happen.

Have a colorful day!

Theta

ATC Quote #3

#574 Quote

Unfortunately, I'm a little late today.

I don't find the quote on ACT #574 to be quite accurate, but it made a fun experiment.

Card #575, I agree with... it's one of the ones I made for our vacation album. In a later post, I will have a similar quote - I want to make memories all over the world. Since I enjoy traveling, both #575 and it's corollary I find to be true. Finally a quote I agree with ;)

Have a wonderful day and make some good memories!

Theta

#575 Quote

ATC Quote #2

#572 Quote

Here are two experimental quotes for today's post. These quotes do not express my feelings, but they are short and interesting.

Usually when I hustle, I make a huge mess and things get spilled all over the place and I have to spend what feels like ages cleaning up... I like the way it looks though. It came out rather pretty.

#573 is not quite right. I didn't get the CAPS quite right, but since it is an experiment, I decided to go with the card the way it was... I think I could use the top half and just cut off the bottom. I like the arrow, flower, and LIVE. Plus I agree with the top part - Live today. That makes sense. Living in caps would be annoying.

Anyway,

Have fun today!

Theta

#573 Quote

ATC Quote #1

#570 Quote

Today I am beginning a series of quotes. The first cards are experimental (well, in reality all my cards are experimental, but these are particularly so). I used watercolor paper, markers, alcohol ink pens, and watercolors, with highlights of white gel pen. I'm not necessarily in agreement with these quotes, but they were short and good for trying out color movement.

Have a colorful day!

Theta

#571 Quote

ATC Flower #53

#568 Flower Large

Two flowers today for your enjoyment.

Have a lovely day!

Theta

#569 Flower Large

ATC Laudinella Gifted #4

#566 Stuva Buffet

These are the last two cards of the series for the  Laudinella personnel.

#567 Stuva Breakfast

They serve an excellent breakfast buffet every morning [with a special omelette chef ;) ] in their Stuva restaurant. The sausages, toast, and hash browns were my families favorites, besides the omelettes. Probably because we don't have a toaster and potato products are not allowed in the house very often - I like being able to move. Sausages in Saudi do not taste anything like European or American sausages and we are not partial to them, therefore it was a pleasure to eat sausages... It really was a good thing we hiked 8+ miles every day.

The Stuva evening buffet is quite varied and has something for everyone. I think the boys favorite part of the buffet was the desert part: ice cream, mousse, torte, and lots of other goodies.

Have a wonderful day!

Theta

ATC Laudinella Gifted #3

#564 Le Carnotzet

Le Carnozet and Pizzeria Caruso occupy the same restaurant space and serve delicious cheese fondue and pizza respectively. They are our second favorite places to eat at the Laudinella.  This year I brought rice crackers to eat the fondue. Bread bothers my system and thus I decided to try rice crackers as a substitute. They actually worked quite well. I broke the round cakes into 5-6 pieces, carefully stuck them on the fondue fork and went on from there. Yes, they do taste different and have a different texture, but fondue is very good on rice cakes.

#565 Pizzeria Caruso

On another note, for the last two years I had not been eating any cheese as it was causing me to have migraines. Knowing I was going to want to eat (and at least try) different cheeses and have fondue on vacation, I tried eating small amounts of cheese a few weeks before we left. I found I could eat some cheese, but I had to be careful. For me, that is a definite 'YAY!' especially after being off of it for so long. So far that is the only reaction to food that has dissipated over time. Now I can eat cheese and crackers, have cheese on a salad, and other good things.

Have a great day!

Theta

ATC Laudinella Gifted #2

#561 Omelette 

#563 Siam Wind

Card #561 Omelette is the ATC I made for the man who makes... guess what?!?... omelettes every morning in the Stuva restaurant buffet at the Hotel Laudinella. He seems to really enjoy making omelettes. If you ask him to make an omelette, his whole countenance becomes happy, but if you decline, he seems to deflate. Since he makes excellent omelettes, we ate lots of them.

Siam Wind, #563, is their Thai restaurant. It is one of our favorite restaurants. The boys, picky eaters, have always been able to find something they like and eat their whole order. Whenever we decide to stay at the Laudinella,  everyone gets excited about their Thai food.

Have a great day!

Theta

ATC Laudinella Gifted

#562 Housekeeping

For the next few days I am going to be posting the ATCs I doodled and gave to the Hotel Laudinella staff.

This one I gave to housekeeping. They always do a great job keeping our room(s) clean. We try not to bring in mud, sticks, rocks, and leaves, but inevitably we do and every afternoon/evening when we come in from our latest escapade on the trails, the room is nice and clean.

Have a lovely day!

Theta

ATC Flower #52

#559 Flower Large

These are the last two flowers before the Restaurant posts, enjoy them.

Have a beautiful day!

Theta

#560 Flower Large

ATC Flower #51 (flower and mountain)

#558 Mountain

As you can see I've one flower and a watercolor mountain for you.

Note: #556 I gave away before I photographed it. I believe it was a Flower Large.

Have a great day!

Theta

#557 Flower Large

ATC Flower #50

#554 Flower Large

Here are two more flowers to enjoy.

Have a lovely day!

Theta

#555 Flower Large

ATC Flower #49

#552 Flower Large Multi

These two are a bit different, both have multiple flowers. I'm not sure I like #553, it reminds me too much of fuzzy caterpillars.

Have a great day!

Theta

#553 Flowers and Leaves

ATC Flower #48

#550 Flower Large

The next few posts are going to be flowers, and then there will be several posts of cards I made for the restaurant staff at the hotel Laudenella, Switzerland. Most of the cards, from this post through the restaurant card posts, I gave away to hotel and restaurant staff and to airline stewards and stewardesses. I enjoy giving my cards out to people who have been really helpful, to random people, and to people I like.

#551 Flower Large

It never ceases to surprise me how happy people are to receive a card, especially when they have been watching me doodle one. Sometimes it takes them a few minutes to understand that I don't want anything in return. It seems that it is more unusual to be given something without any expectations of return than I realize. I get joy from giving the cards out and that is good.

Have a beauitful day!

Theta

ATC Birthday

#548 Happy Birthday

These two ATCs went out with Birthday Happy Mail. The names were in the empty part of the leaf. I scanned them before putting in the names so that you can print them out and write in a name :)  Enjoy them.

Have a happy day!

Theta

#549 Happy Birthday

ATC Flower #47

#546 Flower Large

Here are two flowers that I doodled in April. They finish 2016's first quarter of ATC's. My backlog of cards is getting smaller, but in the meantime I'm making more.

I want to use some hand-lettered quotes in the album I'm making of our vacation. So... I am doing some experimenting and making some ATCs with quotes. Some quotes are applicable and some are just for fun. I will post them after I'm caught up... That's funny, since I keep creating, I'll never be caught up on posting.

Have a creative day!

Theta

#547 Flower Large

ATC Birthday and Mother's Day

#544 Happy Birthday

The two ATCs today are special flowers for special people.

The bottom half of the leaf on the Happy Birthday card is blank so you can print it and fill in a name.

The Mother's Day card is the last ATC I gave my mother. She really liked receiving the cards and often printed them off of my blog onto 8.5 x 11 photo paper. Sometimes she colored them in Photoshop before printing. She liked having lots of color in her environment.

Have a lovely day!

Theta

#545 Mother's Day

ATC Bunny #3

#542 Bunny 2016

Here are the last of the half-dozen bunnies I made for the Easter Happy Mail, a fuzzy one and a pink one.

Have a great day!

Theta

#543 Bunny 2016

ATC Bunny #2

#540 Bunny 2016

Day 2 of Easter Bunnies :)

Have a hoppy day!

Theta

#541 Bunny 2016

ATC Bunny #1

#538 Bunny 2016

The next three posts are of the bunnies I doodled for the Easter Happy mail I sent in March 2016. Everyone received a copy of each rabbit and one of the originals.

Have a blessed day!

Theta

#539 Bunny 2016

ATC Flower #46

#536 Flower Large

Today is the start of catching up on my posting of my ATCs. These are two flowers I doodled in February.

Have a beautiful day!

Theta

#537 Flower Large

Happy Mail - Outgoing

Front

This happy mail is for my dad. I started it using the birds and then found out he was having trouble with pigeons... so I added pigeons :)

The envelope in the first flip has a couple of photos and the envelope at the second flip has a letter. The first flip pocket also includes ATC sized cards with pigeon pictures, just in case the pigeons leave and he gets lonely ;)

I started out with two 12 by 12 sheets of scrapbook paper glued together (they weren't double sided) and began by cutting it like some of the file folder flip books I've seen, but then things went sideways... Anyway the flip book is 3 in by 6 in with a central pocket. My dad doesn't really like taking small things out of little pockets and putting them back in, so most things are solidly glued down and the pictures and letter don't need to go back in their envelopes. I glued a belly band to cover the ribbon that goes around the back of the folder and ties in front. I put washi tape around the edges of the folder largely because two sheets of paper glued together often fray and pull apart. With the tape around the edges, it will hold up better.

Back

Have a wonderful day!

Theta



Materials:
Dies - Sizzix; Crafter's Companion, Downton Abby; Spellbinders, Leaves 2, Feathers, Heart Circles; Cardmaking and Papercraft, Thank you Die Cut; Immediate Media Company Bristol Ltd., Paisley Die Cut; ART-C, Feathers, Lace
Washi - Michaels and Daiso
Paper - Graphic 45, Mother Goose, Humpty Dumpty; Colorbok, French Prep; scraps
Punches - Fiskars; Recollections; EK Success; China
Printables - Kathy Holden, Vintage Button Collection; Paper Crafts Inspirations Magazine, printables; eclecticanthology, jpg printable;
Diecuts - Recollections, Gold Butterfly, Color Splash Feathers; Pebbles, Summer; Doilies, Dom
Sticky Notes - Daiso, Sticky Notebook, Travel
Stamps - TPC Studio, Girlfriends; Martha Stewart; Studio G
Card with quote - technologyrocksseriously, pigeon quote
Cards (not shown) - Pintrest Pigeon board; note - I didn't end up using the black and white pigeon paper, I drew my own pigeons (instructions here) and cut them out

First flip

First flip, Pocket inserts

First flip open

Second flip

Second flip open

Interactive Birthday Card - the last one of this design for the year

Inside cover and first page

I haven't posted in a long while and have a bit of a backlog. Hopefully I will be able to get some more stuff posted soon...

Onto the Birthday Card - Under the ribbon is a crown pop-up card. The second page has a flap and a bunch of tags and quotes. On the divider is an envelope with a happy birthday banner. The large envelope under the flap holds a note or picture from family members. On the page under the divider are more quotes and confetti. The last pages have a rosette and a pocket with lots of goodies.

Second page

Happy Birthday Interactive Card 

Materials:

Paper: Recollections - Michaels; Cardstock - Fabriano; Orange - Leeno; Light blue and White - ROCO

Elements: myplannerenvy.com; Bring on the Cake Journalers - katehadfielddesigns.com; Project life Cards - onevelvetmorning; Lunchbox notes - ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com; Birthday Wishes Freebie 1 - Kath K Designs; Label - blog.worldlabel.com; tickets - sgtstamper; Happy & Bright Birthday Tags - iheartrosemarywatson.blogspot.com; motivational planner stickers - beautyholicsanonymous.com/2015/08/free-download-motivational-printable-stickers-planner/

Gems: SBC and China

Second page with flap open

Stickers: Twin Seven, Modern, SBC; Gold Notarial - MACO

Pens: Silver and blue - Jelly-Gel, Sikorea; White - Gelly Roll, Sakura; Black - Micron; Letraset Promarker

Pop-up crown - littlegreenbox.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/a-royal-crown-pop-up-card/

Cover Label, pieced - Dove

Ribbon: Blue Satin - Moonflower, China; Blue Sparkle - Momotara

Second page with divider turned

Glue: Glue stick and Power contact adhesive  - UHU; 2-way clear glue - Scotch

Envelope patterns: mine :)

Ink: all ink - Memento, Tsukineko

Stamps: Happy Birthday - Fiskars; Star - Classic Wood Stamp Set, China

Binding: CombBind, GBC

Front Closure:

Bead: Old World Beads - The Beadery

Elastic: Red and White and Blue and White - UI LI, China

Last page

Life Notes - I ended up sending this card out from the States. It was almost done when I got the call that my mom had died. She had cancer for the second time and had felt great until just before her birthday. She died a few days after her 80th birthday. So that tells you the main event that has lead to why I haven't posted for a long time. Then, I spent some time with my dad while my husband and the boys went on our vacation. I joined them for our vacation and we got back a few days ago. Hopefully I'll collect myself together and get back to posting at least intermittently.


Have a great day!

Theta

Spend time with those you love. One of these days you will say either, 'I wish I had', or 'I'm glad I did.' - Zig Ziglar

P.S. People like Happy Mail when you can't be with them. For a short time, when they receive your mail, you are with them and they know you are thinking about them often enough to take the time to send them a note, a card, or even a postcard.

Goodies from pocket