Get Well Uncle Lloyd

My poor Uncle Lloyd has had some health problems over the years, the most recent appears to be bladder cancer, the same disease that took my Dad, his older brother.  Hopefully it's not going to be too aggressive, but he apparently is in a great deal of discomfort.  While I don't see him that often, and that is my fault because I'm lazy, I do think of him and hope he's doing well.  I figured I'd send him a get well card so he'll know I care.
Unfortunately, I have no idea who this digital image is by, so if someone out there does know, please comment and I'll be happy to modify this post and give the artist credit.  I am finding with images that I use infrequently, from artists I use even less frequently, when the time comes to give them credit I can't figure out who drew it.  I even hopefully looked at the image's properties for a clue, but alas nothing.  Suffice to say I think it's really cute, whoever did it!
Materials:  Digital Image by Somebody!; CS: SU: Embossing Folder: Tim Holtz; Sentiment: SU: Colour by Copic

Art Impressions - Happy Birthday Lindsay

My niece Lindsay's birthday is February 7, shared with Charles Dickens, although I don't think Chas has much over Lin!  Lindsay is a professor at Niagara College, and has done extremely well in her life.  She is now involved with a very nice young man, who we all hope becomes a permanent fixture in Lin's life.  Lindsay works long and hard, so I'm sure she enjoyed a welcome respite on her birthday.  Lovely young woman!
Materials:  Rubber Stamp:  Art Impressions (Gigi & Monique); CS: SU: Sentiment - typed it myself!; Bling: CTMH: Colour by Copic

LOTV Karate Kid - Happy Birthday Nicholas #9

My darling grandson Nicholas, turned 9 on March 3.  I cannot believe he's already 9!! And what a wonderful young man he is becoming.  He is kind, thoughtful, nurturing, extremely talented artist and is absolutely incredible in math - he can add and subtract into the thousands - in his head!  Much as I'd like to take credit for that, I suspect other genes in play with that skill -- likely his mom!  Nick is involved in Tae-kwon-do (?SP?) and recently received his second yellow stripe.  I thought that would be a good starting point for his birthday card!
Materials:  Rubber Stamp: Lili of the Valley; CS: SU: DP: DCWV Far East Stack; Sentiment: SU: Spellbinder Circles; Colour by Copic

JustINKlined - Happy Birthday John

Although my husband John seldom has too much to drink, and never as much as in this picture, I thought it would make him laugh.  We have found as we've aged that drinking a lot just isn't worth the recovery!  John will be 59 this year, finally catching up to me.  When my eldest daughter was younger she asked how old John was and when she discovered he was a couple of months younger said .. "well, I guess SOME women have husbands younger than they are"!  I pointed out he was a mere 2 months younger, not like I had robbed the cradle.  I don't think she cared. As the years have gone by, I am ever thankful that John is my partner in life, even though I feel like popping him every now and then!
Materials:  Digital Image: JustINKlined; DP: SU: CS: SU: Sentiment: Mo Manning; Colour by Copic

Happy St. Patrick's Day - Mo Manning &

Rather than do these 2 separately, I figured I'd just post them together.  As you know, I routinely make cards for 7 kids (4 of my own and 3 little friends).  6 of the kids are brothers or sisters so I can't send them the same card as their sibling so I usually make 2 separate cards and send them out.  The $2 is under the shamrock.  I used images from 2 artists -- the leprechaun leaping over the pot of gold is Mo Manning; the other is La La Land Crafts from whom I also got the sentiment.
Embossing Folder was Sizzix; Colour by Copic

Mo Manning - Introducing Oscar - Happy Birthday Glen

My friend Glen is one of the funniest people I have ever known, so I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy this Oscar image, and since I honestly can't remember if he is 53 or 54 this year, the question mark is more than apt.  I decided I'd also give Oscar a pink shirt and grey pants, and use a wild pinky background.  I'm pretty sure as well that Glen is not homophobic so won't mind the pink!
Materials: Digital Image:  Mo Manning; CS: SU: Sentiment: SU: Colour by Copic

Bugaboo - Stella - Happy Birthday Carol

My friend Carol and my husband John share a birthday, so I never have trouble remembering Carol's birthday.  I just love these Stella images -- they are so expressive.  The sentiment on this one is called the Perfect Man, which didn't quite fit with a birthday image, but I thought the disgruntled look on her face and the toast pose might just work.  Besides, I just like it, and this was my first opportunity to use it!!
Materials:  Digital Image: Bugaboo Stamps; CS: SU: Colour by Copic

JustINKlined - Football Crazy - Happy Birthday Peter

My friend, and former boss Peter is soccer crazy.  He played in his youth, and continues to be very active in promoting the game in his city of Thunder Bay.  His children (adults now) also still play, coach and referee.  When I saw this image I thought it would be perfect for Peter.  Selecting colours for the shoes was a bit challenging as I'm a little out of the soccer loop and was frankly too lazy to find pictures of any on the internet to copy from!  It continues to amaze me that I continue to post my cards when nobody every comments.  I hope somebody's looking!  If not, at least it's a good record for me, especially when my memory deserts me!
Materials: Digital Image:  JustINKlined; DP: K&Company(?); CS: SU: Sentiment: SU: Colour by Copic

JustINKlined - Happy Birthday Pete

I've got to say that stumbling across the JustINKlined website a year or so ago was a godsend, and finding their CD for a mere $5.00 was even better.  I'm still not familiar with all the images on the CD, but I do find some spectacularly appropriate ones every now and then.  Like this one for my friend Pete - an avid fisherman.  My friend isn't quite as "folically-challenged" as this guy, but the fish is the ticket here.   And I must say it is ridiculously hard to colour fish!  I'm going to have to take a course or something just on wildlife.  People are easy, every other species on the planet, not so much!
Materials:  Digital Image by JustINKlined; DP: K&Company; CS: SU: Colour by Copic

Mo Manning - Eileen - Happy Birthday Lynda

My friend Lynda is living the life of Riley -- retired for a couple of years now she spends one half the year on Manitoulin Island; the other half in Florida.  She and her husband have a great time.  And, while it is freezing cold here in Ontario, it is likely nice and warm in Lynda's part of Florida so I figured a gardener with a potted plant might just work.  I also love the image, so that worked for me at least!
Materials:  Digital Image by Mo Manning; DP: K&Company; Flowers by Prima; Brad: SU: Bling: CTMH: Colour by Copic

Art Impressions - Celeste - Happy Birthday Nicole

My friend Nicole is a talented artist, a great friend, and a very deep and spiritual woman who is always seeking to improve herself and to achieve peace and happiness.  She had a bit of a rough year last year but I'm happy that she's on the mend.  Now that I've retired, I'm going to try and make a concerted effort to see her more often.  I enjoy her company so it's not going to be a hardship.  When I first started noticing these Art Impressions images, I fell in love with them.  The only thing I wish is that they were available digitally, but, rubber works too!
Materials:  Rubber Image:  Art Impressions; Sentiment: Art Impressions; Background Embossing Folder:  Sizzix; Colour by Copic

Mo Manning - Yeehaw -- Happy Birthday Steve

My son-in-law Steve turns 41 this year, and I don't think he's all that happy to be aging.  He and my daughter have two young daughters, 7 and 2 so he keeps pretty busy!  Because he is still suffering from parent of young children fatigue syndrome, I thought this sad, old, beaten looking guy was perfect for him.  He probably doesn't believe it when we tell him that things will get better, but it will!

Materials:  Digital image by: Mo Manning; Embossed background folder: Cuttlebug; Colour by Copic

Mo Manning - Happy Birthday Gaston

My friend and cousin Gaston's birthday was January 3 --- and here it is, much passed January 3 and I'm finally sending him his birthday card.  Oh well. Although I have retired, it appears that I have a bit of a backlog I have to wade through before I get back on track. At least I can do so now without worrying about work!  But, this is about Gaston, not me .... Gaston is a world traveller in his spare time, always looking for his next adventure.  Last year he and his wife went on a 21-day trip through China!  This year he's thinking of Scotland, which I highly recommended, having loved it myself.  I thought this Mo Manning image was perfect for him!
Materials:  Digital Image by: Mo Manning, CS: SU; Antique Map Background Stamp: Colour by Copic

Mo Manning - What to Draw - For Emily

My granddaughter Emily and I are pals.  We spent a lot of time together over Christmas both at her home and at mine.  It is a real pleasure to spend time with her as she is a lovely little girl.  The other night I got a FaceTime call from her, she was crying because she missed me.  It broke my heart.  I told her I loved her and missed her too and would make and send her a card.  I asked her if she wanted money on the front and if that would make her feel better --- she said yes!  So, money she got.  I decided to do a pocket card so I could include a couple of little tags on which I wrote what I love about her. She loved the card! She called my sobbing saying she loved it; and her favourite one of the reasons I loved her was "because you are you!"  I do wish I had nicer printing though. In retrospect, perhaps I should have printed them out instead!
Materials:  Digital Image by: Mo Manning; Butterfly: MS: CS: SU: Colour by Copic

Papercraft Magazine - Digital Image - Happy Retirement Juha

My colleague Juha retired at the end of October, after a long career with the Ministry (government) as well.  He is a rough, gruff kind of guy who has a tremendous soft spot for his daughters and his wife.  He is a grandfather now and will be enjoying the extra time he can spend with his family.  He also recently moved to a new house on the shores of Lake Superior so he'll get in a lot of fishing and golfing time!  I got this image a few years ago from Papercraft Magazine, which occasionally has free digital downloads.  It's the first time I have used it, so I'm glad I got it at the time!
Materials:  Digital Image:  Papercraft Magazine; Brads by Eyelet Outlet; Colour by Copic

Mo Manning - Happy Retirement Bart

My friend and colleague Bart retires at the end of January 2014.  He has about 30 years service, and always gave his all at work.  He has a heart of gold, which he is lucky to still have because he gave a bit too much of himself at work and had a few heart problems a couple of years ago.  I'm relieved that he has made it to retirement so now he can ride his motorcycle; golf; and generally enjoy life -- something we all deserve after a long career.  In typical Bart fashion, he did not want a gift, instead wanting a donation made in his name to Threads of Life, an organization that assists families of those killed in workplace accidents.  I was happy to arrange that for him.  As usual, I drew on Mo Manning for the image I wanted for Bart's card.
Materials:  Digital Image by Mo Manning; Golf Ball Brad - Eyelet Outlet; Colour by Copic

Mo Manning --- Retirement - My friend Rick

October, November, December of 2013 and January of 2014 saw a lot of retirements at work, mine being one of them.  I did not, for obvious reasons though, make my own retirement card!  I did get a fabulous painting done by one of my friends though, which I'll post in a few days.  However, this post is about retirement cards.  I'm starting with my friend Rick's.  Rick was a fabulous manager, and an even better friend.  I could always count on him to make me laugh, and I really miss him.  Rick is very active - and loves to scuba dive.  I had always hoped that Mo would come up with a Scuba Diver, but a snorkeler was as close as I could get.  So that's what I picked.  Rick loved it.  In addition, as a give we got him a personalized bobblehead of himself, in diving gear.  It was the perfect gift for someone with a great sense of humour and who has pretty  much everything. Not all that visible on the picture is the glass-like covering on the goggles which I did with SU's Crystal Effects
Materials:  Digital Image by: Mo Manning; CS: SU: Swirls by SU: Fish by Eyelet Outlet; Colour by Copic

Christmas Cards Kids - JustINKlined

Of the 7 cards I made for the kids this year, 4 were Mo Manning images (posted a couple of days ago) and the other 3 were JustINKlined -- which have tons of beautiful images I have found.  These are the last 3 I made for Christmas 2013.  I'm hoping I can get an earlier handle on making Christmas cards this year so I don't end up hating every recipient as I rush to complete them!  Now that I'm retired, I'll have no legitimate excuse to goof off!

Christmas - Cards for the Kids - Mo Manning Images

I have 7 kids that I make cards for now - for various occasions, Christmas obviously being one of them. This year I didn't put money on the front, wondering what kind of reaction I would get.  Only one negative one, my 5 year old grandson who asked where the money was.  His older brother (8) told him he'd be getting presents, so he didn't need money too!  There is hope.  Here are the cards I made using Mo Manning Digital Images.  All were coloured with Copic Markers.

Christmas 2013 - An assortment

Rather than post each of these cards individually, I'm going to do Christmas in 2 batches.  This is the batch I sent to family and adults.  Because I was a bit pressed for time last Christmas I tried to simplify my life by making quick and easy to duplicate cards.  The snowman one --- the one with the dots and dashes is one I lifted directly from Pinterest.  Unfortunately, I don't know who the artist was, just that it was posted on tickledpickle.  I modified it slightly for some cards by adding the hats, but that's about it.  The other snowman is an embossing folder by Sizzix and the stamp is by SU: The ornament is a Memory Box die.   And that's about it.  I sent out 45 of these.  I might start cutting back as I don't appear to be getting 45 coming in, but I must remember the spirit of the season is to give, not to receive!