Merry Christmas everyone!

  Well, I know I haven't been around in a very long time, and I hope to improve that soon.  very busy summer and fall around here with working on the house and things  Didn't even make Christmas cards this  year.  But I kept up, mostly, with all the birthday cards I send.

I intend to try and send out New Years wishes to most of my list.  Then I also intend to start learning more techniques and I hope you'll get the chance to see what I learn!!  I hope to blog much more in the coming year.  AND, I intend to start using that Silhouette Portrait machine that's been just sitting for 2 years.  Shame on me.  Wanted it so bad, and  had hoped to find someone in the area that I could convince to help me learn it.  No such luck so far. 

So, please do come back and visit  me and I'll even have a few blog candies planned for the year.  Seems like not many people do that any more, and it was such fun.

So, wishing all my crafty friends a wonderful holiday season, and a very crafty new  year!!

Wow! Been a long time since posting....

And so much has changed.

First, my kitchen is done, and  has been for a while, nearly a month now.  Sorry for such a delay in letting everyone know.  I had two great friends (Laura and Chris) who came and helped me reload everything (well, nearly everything) back into and arrange things pretty good.  That's still a work in progress as I have been trying to sort through and discard a little bit as I go!  Yea, image that?!!  Necessary evil that I hardly ever do.

I LOVE MY NEW KITCHEN!  It was a lot of money spent, but so worth it to me.  So now I'll include a few of the pictures.  The messy table is where I'm still sorting through boxes, not that it's perfect otherwise, but truly usually better than this!


I promise to try and be back more often to update.  For now I'm making some other changes as well.  Trying to get back on track with the Lifestyle Change to converting to Ketogenic diet and getting healthier.  And a few other things as well.

Stay tuned.

Progress on Kitchen....

Here is some of the progress on the kitchen.  Still has a couple weeks or so to completion.  The cabinets shoiuld go in early next week, followed by the flooring and the counter top fittings.  Then it is supposed to move pretty quick to the end and lighting and pulls and knobs and trim paint and finalized!!  Can hardly wait.

I can't believe a month has gone by....

since my last post.  Wow, time flies.   But it's all good.

I've been busy working on things to get my kitchen ready for remodeling.  It is now supposed to happen on Tuesday, and I can't wait.  There have been a couple delays including missing the start date last week because my contractor had a death in the family, which I fully understand takes precedence but I am more than ready to begin.

It's a lot of work clearing everything out of the kitchen!  In fact, my granddaughter Dahlia asked me if I was moving!  I teased and told her yes, but then clarified that's what is sometimes feels like!  But I've also had someone come in and paint out my kitchen chairs and table legs and also the bottom of my hutch and those projects look great.  I still have a couple of choices to make to get my part done, but I'm almost there.  It's tough choosing the correct color of yellow I want for the walls.  The lower cabinets will be Espresso (nearly black) and the uppers are going to be Stone (gray).  The flooring is changing to a kind of gray driftwood look and the lights are all stainless or brushed nickel.  I'm excited, can you tell?

I also bought a new clock that's easier to read!! (yea, I'm aging and admitting!)
I'll share more as things happen.  Wish us luck on completing this before my birthday on July 3

Closing out my UNITY time with Winning names....

EDITED*:  WINNERS;   Please send me an email terriavidreader @ yahoo dotcom, no spaces etc., of course.
And Niece, I never received your info on messenger.  This Yahoo is how I keep in touch.
            Also, Dorothy Green, I am sorry but I did not follow the rules correctly and you are ineligible at this time for the Unity prize.  Please do contact me and I'll still send you something from my stash.


OK, I've drawn the names of the winners from those visiting my blog during my Unity Week, and the Main Winners are DOROTHY GREEN, and NIECE.  Congratulations on winning a grab bag of goodies from Unity.  Please get me your contact information ASAP so that I can share it with Unity.

I've also gathered up a few items from my stash, to fill a fairly large padded envelope, and to share with a secondary winner in appreciation of visiting and commenting this week.  The secondary Winner is:  WINDYCINDY.   Please contact me ASAP with your contact information so that I can get these goodies mailed out to you to enjoy.

Again, thanks so very much to everyone who commented and dropped by my blog to see some of my projects this week.  The past few years I have not shown a lot of my work, and heard much feedback, and so it's been fabulous to enjoy that this week.  It's so very appreciated.  I sincerely wish I was able to send something to everyone who dropped by.  Who knows, maybe I'll gather up some more things during this new kitchen construction and have a celebration giveaway in a few weeks!  Stop back by and see what's going on.

Have a wonderful new week everyone!!

Wow. Day 5 is here and it's rather sad.

Today is the final day of my time with Unity.  A little sad but it certainly was fun! 

I decided to go ahead and make this card today as I had need of one sadly, but also because this is the type card everyone needs sometimes.  And I think it's sort of fitting with my final day also.  

I love using these dies and this is a sentiment (not the stamp, as I didn't get that until later) that the boys and I used in a frame at my husband's funeral.  I find myself using it for sympathy cards a lot.

I find using this is a good thing especially for when the card is going to a man.  They aren't into the flowers and such so much, ya know.  

Please leave a comment if you'd like to be entered to win a grab bag of goodies from Unity.  I will draw a winner either late tonight or early tomorrow.  I wish each visitor the best of luck in that drawing.   And to sweeten the pot just a little, I intend to pick a number 2 winner to get a little padded envelope of goodies from me also.  Surprise!

Have a wonderful day everyone and thanks again to enriching me by commenting and visiting and bringing more joy back into my crafting world.

All ready for day 4 in my Unity week

Well, I've been using a lot of the girls for my cards, and of course they are special.  But I think that tomorrow I'll try something entirely different.  We'll see. 

This is another card I've made for a special friend who sadly lost  her  hair due to Chemo, and I wanted to cheer her up a little by reminding her how lovely she really is always!  She never had long hair anyway so hopefully she'll appreciate it!! ha ha.

I definitely feel for someone going through that.  Luckily I didn't have to have chemo with my breast cancer, I just had a mastectomy and radiation.  And I'm at my 6  year mark after surgery, so all is good.

I honestly don't have many cards saved back because when I make a card, I usually have someone I'm planning to send it to, and I make it a point to mail it very soon after.  I kinda weave thoughts of that person into how I make the card, and the colors I choose and also the images and sentiments.  That's what seems to work best for me.  I have sometimes made up a card following a viewing of someone's videos or tutorials, but they don't seem to come out quite right usually.  That does help me learn the techniques and tricks, but something seems to be missing.  I think that's just how I roll!

Anyway, don't forget to comment below to be added into a drawing to win some love from Unity at the end of my week, which is sadly tomorrow!   As I said, I hope to do something different, but we'll see how the mood strikes me!!  See ya later! And thanks for dropping by my blog.

My UNITY Day 3 post

Here's day 3 card.  I saw this technique (sorry, I'm  not exactly where I saw it) and wanted to try.

 I think this turned out great.  Using Vellum and using a stylus on the back side to make it look like the white coloring of this little girl.

The background base isn't showing through as nice as I'd like, but I'm still working on blending those distress inks.  And I really should have put 4 brads into the vellum I think.

I make a lot of Thinking of You cards,, and this seems to be one of the most perfect images for that card.  And personally I love the fact that I don't have to color in the face.  I'm not good at that yet.  I have to admit that I've signed up quite a while ago for a Kit and Clowder class but haven't taken it yet,

I'm so glad my week is this current one, as I'm about ready to start in on a HUGE kitchen remodel.  I'm hoping that being able to retreat into my craft room will help with a lot of the stress of this.  I can hardly wait for it though.

Well, I hope to see you guys tomorrow and Friday with 2 more of my cards.  Don't forget to comment, as there will be a prize at the end of the week!!

Day 2 for Unity

One of my favorite images.  I tried to do an image without a black stamped image background, but I'm not sure I like how mine turned out.  This card was made for a friend who is going through a bad patch and I wanted to encourage her to hang in there, Keep breathing and things usually do get better.  I think the sentiment comes through, but the coloring not so much.  I apologize to those doing a much better job with that style.

However, it remains a favorite image for me.
I'm already working on tomorrow's card, and it promises to be better!

Please remember to comment and a winner will be chosen later this week to win a prize package from  Unity.

I am a Unity Girl this week!!

First time being a Unity Girl, and I love those stamps.  Wish I had many more of them!

Today I am showing off a card I made for my Bestie, Laura, who has been a wonderful friend since the beginning of time.  I consider her my sister, and luckily for me, she feels the same.  During our lives we've lost touch a few times, but when we get back together, it's like no time is missing.  She just recently drove across state lines to come and  help me get my Kitchen emptied out, getting ready for a remodel.  What a buddy!  Hopes she comes back to help me reinstall it all!!

Anyway, here's the wonderful image I used from Unity.  PERFECT.

I've been into making cards this way since about 2009 and I Love it.  I've been a crafty person my whole life; doing sewing, and lot of misc projects.  Making things, did some oil painting for a while.  But this cardmaking is by far the most fulfilling for me. Although for years at a job I made cards, I started this style mostly when a cousin of mine was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I needed to get cards to her since I couldn't visit, and there didn't seem to be much out there to send to her, so I devised some of my own, and then found out about this hobby.  And I continue to make cards for people who are ill and to remind them and help cheer them maybe that someone is thinking of them and praying for them.  I use it also to stay in communication with some of my older relatives who I don't get to see often.  I'm not in the best of health myself, I'm on disability and use a walker and oxygen 24/7, so this hobby keeps me out of trouble, well sometimes anyway.

I became a widow a couple years ago, and I've now turned my husband's old TV viewing room into my craft room.  I was amazed at how much stuff I really had.  When it's all in one space it was a little overwhelming, but what fun I had discovering all that I had accumulated!!

I hope you enjoy some of what I make this week.

Terri (terriavidreader) Scott

Edited to say:   I am tickled to death by all the lovely comments, nearly overwhelmed.  Thank you all so much. It will take me a while, but I'll be by to visit you one day, I promise!!

finally figured it out...

I was taking my pictures wrong.  I got a new iphone, and I was taking all my pictures with the phone/camera held the wrong way.  Turns out to use the pictures on this blog I had to hold it a specific way. So, I can now post a few photos of some of the cards I've made recently.

Just got a blog candy

in the mail today!! Came all the way from Australia.  Sorry that it cost a pretty penny to mail, but I love it.  Happy Blogaversary to Sammi of http://stuffbysammi.blogspot.com/

.

Drawer (or desk) of Shame....

One of my very favorite and inspiring crafters is Vicky Papaioanou of Clips N Cuts,  and right now she has a giveaway on her blog called the Drawer of Shame.  You can enter by taking a pic of your own.  I don't currently have a drawer, but a desk of shame.  In my new craft room, I cannot seem to keep my desk cleared off the way I had hoped.  It continues to be the Desk of Shame.

I swore it wouldn't get like this.  By more than tripling my work area I wanted to try and do better, but I guess this is hope I work!!  A friend asked me why I don't show (video) how I make cards, and this is one great big reason!!  The other is that I'd talk wayyyy tooo much!
Have a nice day everyone!!

Happy 2017.

I hope this is a very good year.  I'm extremely glad the last few years are over with and looking forward or trying desperately to do that.  It's been a rough time, and I know many others have had even worse  years and that thought makes me very sad.  I'm striving to keep the future in my face.  Those little grandbabies of mine help a lot.  And having my new craftroom set up almost completely is helping as well.  I'm finding I'm spending a little more time in there, although my little dog Brady isn't too thrilled.  Every so often he nudges me to remind me to get up and move.  

I think I've managed to send cards to all my Aunts and Uncles this year for their birthdays, and a few extra occasions as well.  I want to continue that.  I also have sent cards to a lot of my former classmates for their birthdays.  I continue to send cards to people who are ill especially those who are battling cancer (which affected both my husband and myself) and even more sympathy cards as I've learned personally over these past 2-3 years how important they are!  I try to follow those up in a few weeks or even months later with another.  Those I received quit a bit later helped so very much.  

I urge you to consider doing that as well.  Sadly, it took a note a few  years ago from a widow, gently reminding me that she was still alive and she loved getting my cards when her husband was so ill with cancer.  I put her name on a reminder in my yahoo to send a card every 3-4 months.  And I constantly thank her for that reminder -  even more so now that I am a widow and know first hand how very alone you can sometime feel.  Such a simple thing like getting a "for no obvious reason" card in the mail can be such a happy note for the whole day - or even sometimes week!!

 I see all the time on blogs how people are hoarding their cards, not sending them out, and it breaks my heart.  So many people could use those for encouragement to just simply continue to take things one day at a time and getting "surprise" cards is a nice way to help them.  I know.  If you've ever been in those situations I would hope someone helped you get through it in whatever way they could.  This is something that I've tried to do in the past, even before I felt it first hand,  I have a couple of friends who I often send cards to just "out of the blue for no reason" and have later on learned that my cards seemed to arrive at just the right moment they are needed for extra encouragement.  Boy, does that ever make me feel good to hear.
  SO STOP HOARDING YOUR CARDS.  Send them on their way.  You never know how much getting a card might cheer someone up and just simply make their day.  And you got the enjoyment of making it, let it bring joy to someone else.

OK,  I'm done preaching.  Back to making a couple more cards for my stash so I have a few ready when that feeling hits me to send some off.

I hope if you've bothered to read this to this point that you have the most marvelous 2017 that can possibly happen.  And if you need me to add your name to my list to receive a card, just drop me a note with your snail mail and I'll do it.  My email is  terriavidreader at yahoo dotcom