Better Keep Believing in Santa!

 This digital stamp is an old one that I got from Whimsie Doodles.  I have always loved it.  I made this for the May Christmas card challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.  The May theme is to use plaids on your card.  I colored the cards with Copics.

I was wondering what my husband would think of this card.  His father passed away when he was fairly young.  His mother raised four sons on social security, which I am sure was not very easy.  His memory of Christmas was of piles of underwear and socks (unwrapped) under the tree for each boy.  They still did get one gift that they wanted.  Naturally, his Christmases are much better now.  I wasn't sure what his reaction would be, but he laughed and liked them.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Happy Little Stamper's Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes 

Love to Craft Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Merry Little Christmas Blog - Anything Goes

Crafting with Friends - Just for Fun

QKR Stampede - Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes/Christmas

Twelve Months of Christmas - Anything but a Rectangle

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes

Anticipation

This is my third card for the February Christmas Card Challenge at Splitcoast.  The image is from Mo's Digital Pencil.  The paper is from JoAnn's.  I colored the image with Copic markers. I also used Staedtler Triplus Fineliners. 

Copics:  B10, BG72, 73, C0,1, 2, 3,E000, 01, 33, 35, 

R01, 27, Y 38, YG61, 63

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Visit with Santa

I am loving making cards again!  This is for Splitcoast's February Christmas Card Challenge, Winter Activities.  I chose this image from Mo's Digital Pencil and colored it with Copics.  The paper is from a Cartabella digital collection. The worded paper is from JoAnn's.   I had forgotten that I had digital papers!  There is so much to re-discover.

I have entered this card in the following challenges:

The Holly and the Ivy-Anything Goes Christmas
Crafty Sentiments Designs-Anything Goes
Lemon Shortbread Challenge-Anything Goes
Through the Craftroom Door-Anything Goes

Father and Son

This is an image by Mo's Digital Pencil.  It's one of my favorite Christmas images.

  I colored it with Copics.  This card is for the February Christmas Card Challenge at Splitcoast, Winter Activities.
 

My First Christmas Cards for 2019

I decided this year to make my cards ahead of time  Last Christmas I had a last minute rush to get cards done and finally resorted to sending some store bought ones.  This year I ant to be done well ahead of time!  I have honestly forgotten how to do so many things that used to be so easy.  Die cutting really sent me for a loop.  I'm working on it.  I had to  go though my stash also.  I didn't remember what I had.

 

 

Thin Blue Line Quilt

The Meaning of the Thin Blue Line Flag: The Blue represents the officer and the courage they find deep inside when faced with unbelievable odds. The Black background was designed as a constant reminder of our fallen brother and sister officers.

This is a Thin Blue Line quilt I made for my son-in-law.  It was supposed to be a birthday gift in July of '18, then I decided to make it a Christmas gift.  Unfortunately, it is not quilted yet.  I am going to try to learn a new technique before I quilt it.  What an adventure this was.  My husband designed the quilt.  He plotted the star field so every star was in the exact placement.  I owe him so many thanks for all his help.  Maybe he can learn to quilt when he retires next year!

The star field took me about two weeks.  Then I sewed the quilt together.  I had cut the stripes so unevenly it was very obvious.  I completely disassembled it and re-cut the stripes.  They were perfect this time, but when my husband looked at it, he said "there is a very serious problem!"  I had sewed the star field on upside down.  So I took it apart a second time.  Final time sewing was a charm.  I loved it.  Now it has to be quilted.  I am going to try to learn to freehand machine quilt so I can quilt around each star.  Wish me luck!

This is the label for the back:


Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.  Matthew5:9

Handmade for Gabriel Brown

by Diane and Tom Ahlers

January 2019

 

Finally Back in Quilting Mode

 I actually completed two quilts this week.  I can finally say I'm back in quilting mode.  The above quilt was made for my bio mom.  I originally made this as a different quilt and hated how it looked.  I ripped it all apart, cut it up, and put it back together in a different format.  Still not a quilt I would want for myself, but I think she will like it.

This quilt was a kit started by my daughter several years ago.  She decided not to finish it after piecing the top.  When I retired she gave it to me in case I wanted to complete it.  It's been two years, but I finally took it out and finished it.    Getting productive again!

Now on to gift quilts for Christmas.

Halloweeen Table Runner

Just a quick project.  Cute Halloween fabrics.

Tom's Quilt...Finally Finished!

Finally finished hand sewing the binding.  Washed it and it didn't fall apart!  The fabric is Grand Traverse Bay by Minick and Simpson.  The finished quilt measures 64 X 64.  Now on to the next project.  So fun!

WWII Plane Quilt for Lucas

I just completed this quilt for my grandson Lucas.  The fabric has images of WWII fighter planes.  His room is decorated with planes so this will fit right in.  The back is finished with dark blue fleece so it's nice and soft.  My goal is to make a quilt for each immediate family member.  Two down!

Quilt for Karena

I just finished this quilt for my future daughter-in-law, Karena.  She and my son, Tim will be married June 4th.  I am so excited.  She is an artist and an art teacher.  As soon as I saw this fabric I knew I wanted to make a quilt for her.  It is supposed to resemble paint strokes.  The fabric is called Vincent VanGogh.  It was designed by the Vincent VanGogh Museum.  The quilt pattern I used was a freebie called "Gateway to Paradise."  I love the stained glass look of it.  It was a relatively quick quilt to put together thank goodness, especially since I am a beginner.  Although, there was a major learning curve in piecing the black strips.  My brain had a really tough time figuring those out!  Longarm quilting by Into the Night Quilting (Marsha Pennington.)  Next quilt I will be doing the quilting. 

Tim and Karena

Robert Kaufman Vincent VanGogh 2 Collection


 I didn't use all the colors in the jelly roll.  I wanted to stick to the brighter ones so it would look more like stained glass.

Seems Oliver has made himself right at home.  Good thing she isn't allergic to cats!

 

Now on to finish the first quilt I started.  No more getting sidetracked!

Quilt Top in Blues

First quilt top done.  Of course, it is blue, is there any other color?  This had so many seams to match!  Not a good choice for a first quilt, but it was chosen by the quilting instructor.  I was forever taking out seams to rematch corners.  They are matched for the most part.  Now on to learning how to quilt.  Hope it's a tad easier than the top was.  I will re-post when it's completed.

First Quilting Project

 I recently started a quilting class to see if I like quilting.  This table runner was my first project.  It was fun to make.  I used some fabrics that I had sitting around for years.  I made a few mistakes, but this is a learning experience.  Today I will start cutting a lap quilt.  This retirement thing is fun!

Happy Birthday, Dear Friend

This is the first card I have done in a very long time.  Boy, am I out of practice!    Hopefully, I will be able to get back into crafting now that I'm retired.  I have forgotten so much I feel like I'm starting from scratch. The Silhouette was about to cause me to have a stroke.  I finally looked up my error message and was able to figure out what I was doing wrong.  Of course, it was me and not the machine!

The image and sentiment is from Art Impressions and it is colored with Copics.  The numbers were cut with the silhouette.

Unusual Wedding Card and Baby Card

I made this card for two teachers that will be getting married in a few weeks.  They occasionally wear capes in the classroom to get the kids attention, hence the superhero wedding card.  Very different card, but suits them.  He is quite a character.  The images are from Mo's digital pencil and the digital papers were purchased on Etsy.  The images were colored with Copics.  I haven't made cards in so long.  It was like learning all over again!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Cards and More  Use Lots of Color

Cardz 4 Guyz   It's Hip to be Square

Creative Card Crew  Masculine

Inspiration Destination  Anything Goes

This card was made for a teacher at my school,  His wife is due to have a baby this week.  I chose this image because our school mascot is a dragon. I wanted the sentiment to say "Welcome Baby Dragon."  My husband didn't like that idea at all.  Once I brought it in to work they seemed to think that would have been a really cute sentiment.  Oh, well! The image is from Cuddly Buddy Crafts.  It was also colored with Copics.

I'll have to check later today to see if I can find any suitable challenges ,