Friday, March 22, 2013

Welcome Baby

Baby Boy!
 
This card was one  of the first I ever made. The stamps, inks, markers, dies and punch were from someone else's craft studio. The paper was my own - something from a pad I picked up at WalMart. I used the card to accompany a gift for my niece when her fifth child was born. Welcome, Carpenter William Moore!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

St. Patrick's Day




Just a fun card for a St. Pat's Day with the following Irish Blessing inside:

May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel,
So nothing can harm you.

A little Irish history:
My family tree and DNA testing has revealed that I have plenty of Irish ancestry. But then, we're all Irish on St. Paddy's Day! My family came from both Northern Ireland (aka Protestant Ireland and part of the United Kingdom) and the Republic of Ireland, which is predominantly Roman Catholic. These countries have suffered great turmoil over religious and political differences for centuries.

Most of us know that the three leafed shamrock represents the Holy Trinity and St. Patrick's ministry, as he preached to pagans and brought Christianity to Ireland. Most of us don't know that the "wearing of the green" is representative of the green "Harp" flag used by Roman Catholics in Ireland since the 1640s and that the color orange represents the Protestant movement in 1690 when William of Orange defeated the army of the Roman Catholic king, James II, at the Battle of Burgoyne during the "Glorious Revolution."

So with that in mind, I always use both green and orange in my cards and I use a shamrock, not a four-leafed clover.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Slipcover & Upholstery

Slipcovered Sofa (& Upholstered Chair)

 
 
My niece, Carrie, has a sofa that had been ruined by a cat she was keeping for someone else. The sofa was still good but the fabric was ruined. We made a trip to the fabric store - Jackman's. Oh, how I wish there were a Jackman's in my area! Carrie selected the fabric and I proceeded to make her a removable, dry-cleanable slip cover for the sofa. The four sofa cushions have zipper closures so they can also be easily removed. Because the cover is custom made, it fits the sofa like a glove and gives the sofa an upholstered look.