Happy Easter!

Sending everyone Easter wishes for today and the whole year through!

This is a shadowbox card I made while on the design team for the Creative Critterz Imaginations blog, which is sadly, no longer updated.  However, you can view my original post here.  The card was made using my Cricut Imagine, which I still love using. 

You can see how I created my own shadowbox effect.

And this is the inside of the card.

For all of the details and my supply list, please visit my original post here.

Have a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Merilee

Sharing a little bit about my life.

Hi Everyone!  Today is Thursday and it is beautiful and sunny here in Atlanta, without a cloud in the sky!  As I recover from pneumonia, I thought it might be nice to share a little bit about myself. 

My husband and I are "empty-nesters" living in Atlanta, Georgia.  Our kids are grown with children of their own, all living in the Midwest.  We miss them all terribly, but we know that they each have their own lives now. 

Hubby and I have four dogs to help fill the "empty-nester" void.  I thought you might enjoy seeing photos of our furry little family, so here goes!

This is Chloe Bernice.  She is our little Toy Poodle.  I thought this was the cutest picture with her little tongue sticking out as she drifted off to sleep. 

Although I chose Chloe to be my fru-fru "purse" dog, it wasn't long before we realized that she didn't really fit in that role at all.  Instead, she is my hubby's best fishing buddy!  :o)  Poodles were bred to be water retrievers, and that breeding is well established in Miss Chloe.

Next up is Mr. Rusty Paws.  He is from a small rescue in Tennessee and is a Beagle/Black and Tan Hound mix.  

 My hubby picked him out as a 10 week old pup to be his fishing buddy, but you know what they say about animals--they pick YOU, not the other way around, lol!  Since Rusty really HATES the water, he chose to be my loyal guardian and companion.  He won't even go to bed without me.

This is my sweet Summer Breeze.  Summer is a special girl who came from a rescue here in Georgia.  She is a Papillon rescued from difficult circumstances. It hasn't been easy for Summer to trust, but over time she has blossomed into a sweet, loving dog. 

Can you see her smiling?

Last, but certainly not least, is our little Sweetpea.  She is a coarse hair Jack Russell Terrier.  She was rescued in Oklahoma and came to us as a little, scraggly pup--so ugly she was cute, lol! 

This little stinker loves her entire family and shows her boundless affection to everyone, humans and dogs alike, by slathering them in kisses.  She has brought sunshine into our home and is happy from the moment she opens her eyes in the morning, until the time she finally drifts off  to sleep at night.  What a blessing!

I hope you enjoyed a little insight into my little furry family.  My daily inspiration is, in large part, due to them.  They are certainly the ones who keep my husband and I going when we live so far away from loved ones.

I will be visiting each of your blogs, enjoying your creativity until I get a little energy back to create again myself.  Have a great rest of the week and thank you for visiting!

Merilee

A bit of a cautionary tale...

Hi everyone!  Hope this finds you all happy and healthy--some of you making springtime snowmen, lol!  We haven't had any snow here in Atlanta, but we sure have had a lot of wind and rain and even hail. 

A week ago this past Saturday my husband and I were enjoying a beautiful evening at our friends house, all of us sitting around the bonfire in their backyard.  Our friends have a pretty house on a lake.  The weather that night was cool and crisp--perfect for a bonfire.

I have asthma.  Up to this point it hasn't been too hard to live with, but I know that smoke is a trigger for me. Nevertheless, I decided to take a chance and join the fun.  The wind was blowing and shifting the smoke back and forth.  I held my breath, got up, and even moved my chair when the smoke blew my way, but it wasn't enough.  By the time I got home, my throat felt raw and my lungs hurt.

During the next couple of days I used my inhaler faithfully, but things only got worse.  I began to run a fever, my energy level went down to a new low, and a dry, hacking cough ensued. By Thursday I felt so bad I didn't want to get out of bed, so I made an appointment at the doctor's office only to find out that I was having a severe asthma attack which had turned into pneumonia.  I have been very, very sick ever since.

The reason I am blogging about this incident is to warn those of you with asthma not to take it lightly.  Even if you haven't had problems with smoke before, this can happen to you.  Remember, breathing is essential to your daily life.  Asthma prohibits your ability to breathe very quickly.  I have learned a new respect for myself, my asthma, and the simple act of breathing.  I will never take it for granted again.

I am now on several medications to help me recover from pneumonia.  I've been very, very sick. It all happened so quickly and so innocently.  It seemed perfectly harmless to sit around a nice, warm bonfire with friends and enjoy the evening.  I put my health and my life in jeopardy in just a couple of hours.  It wasn't worth it. Enjoy your life, but please don't take chances with your health in the process. 

As soon as I recover, I will get back to creating.  In the meantime, I will be visiting all my favorite blogs to see what you've been creating. 

Have a great week and take good care of yourselves!

Merilee

Happy March!

Hello everyone!  Hope you are doing well.  My apologies for not posting since December.  There has been a lot going on in my life and I felt I needed to take a short break. 

With springtime upon us, I've got my creative mojo back and I'm ready to begin again fresh and new.  You will be hearing from me very soon with more projects. 

In the meantime, thank you for hanging in there with me and I look forward to sharing a piece of my life with you again.

Have a great day!

Merilee

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of my blog friends.  I wish you hope and joy and love during this holiday season and especially on Christmas Day.  I would like to share the true meaning of this beautiful season.

May The Lord give you peace and harmony on this Blessed Day.

Merilee

Clean and Simple Snowflake Card

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season.  I'm not quite ready for my family to arrive, but I'll finish things up this weekend, I hope!

Today I have a clean and simple Snowflake card to share.  This card was a little difficult for me.  I am a "more is more" kind of gal and it was hard not to add more detail.  However, I refrained as best I could and this is the result:

I entered this card in the Cardz TV Design Team Challenge #21, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas".  I wish you could see the details a bit better.  Instead of adding a lot in the way of embellishments, I added different textures.  The background is dry embossed in a snowflake pattern.  I used my fine tip glue pen to add a bit of glitter to only a few flakes.  Then I used a tiny brush and some pearl paint to add a bit of iridescent shine to a few others.  Hopefully you can see that detail a bit better below...

The embossed background was matted on white cardstock and wrapped in silver satin ribbon.  Then I cut a very thin piece of embossed silver metallic cardstock to apply to the center of the ribbon. 

The focal image was stamped twice, once on white copy paper and once again on vellum. The vellum image was then immediately sprinkled with ultra thick embossing powder and heat set. I wasn't sure how this would turn out, but was pleasantly surprised by the perfect dimension it provided.

I used my MFT Wellworn die to create the frame for the focal point. I cut the background in flat gray cardstock and then the center frame was cut from embossed silver metallic cardstock. I then added rhinestones on either side to finish off the look without taking too much away from the focal image.   I layered the two stamped images on top of each other to add a bit of depth in color, and then set the frame atop. The entire focal image is adhered with pop dots for dimension and a simple bow tied and adhered beneath.

Here is another view so you can see the dimension. I'm sorry...the sparkly and iridescent snowflakes in the background don't seem to photograph very well.

I also kept the inside of the card simple and clean.  You may be able to see the detail in the snowflakes a little better below...

I added the same ribbon around the cardstock and topped it with a thin strip of metallic cardstock to match the card front.

And, of course, the back wouldn't be complete without my company logo.  The frame around it was cut with my Cricut Expression and Lacy Labels cartridge in the same embossed, metallic cardstock.  I usually always add a rhinestone above the banner to add a bit of personality.  (There goes my "more is more" again, lol!)

I hope you enjoyed my card!  I will be back soon with another project!

Thanks for joining me and happy holidays to you and your family!
Merilee

Recipe:
Cardstock:  Recollections; AC Specialty Paper-Foil
Stamps:  Stampin Up-Christmas Lodge; Flourishes-Sentimental Christmas-SS179; PSA Essentials Personalized Stamp
Die:  MFT Die-Namics-Wellworn
Ribbon:  Really Reasonable Ribbon
Ink:  Memento-Tuxedo Black

Adhesives: Zig Two-Way Glue, Pop Dots; Glue Dots; Zots; Scotch- ATG, Mounting Tape

Other:  Ultra Thick Embossing Powder

Tools: Fiskars-Paper Trimmer, Easy Stamp Press; Scotch ATG Gun; Cutter Bee Paper Snips; Martha Stewart Score Board; T-Square; Sizzix Big Kick Machine; Cricut Expression; Cricut Lacy Labels Cartridge

 

Prayers for Victims in Connecticut

Today is a sad day in our history.  My heart is extremely heavy thinking of those victims of the shooting in Connecticut.  So many innocent people killed...so many innocent children who lost their lives before they had even begun. 

I will keep the families, the children, and everyone involved, in my prayers.  I ask that you do the same, as this tragedy is unthinkable.  I pray for those taken from this earth before their time; I pray for those broken families left with a vast hole in their lives that can never be mended; I pray for those children who lived through this horror, and I pray for the lost soul who committed this heinous crime.

Please join me in prayer at this sorrowful time in the lives of so many people.  Together, with the strength of prayer, we can reach out to help make a difference.

Thank you,
Merilee