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!

JustINKlined - Poetry Books -- Happy Birthday Jane

I found out to my horror this past year that my niece Jane's birthday is December 18 --- the horror part is that for years (30 or so) I have thought it was December 16!  Damn Facebook!!  Anyway, Jane is a professor of philosophy and I thought she likely does a lot of reading so when I say this stack of books I figured it would be perfect for her. Coupled with the background paper which I've had for years, I think it turned out pretty well!
Materials:  Digital Image:  JustINKlined; CS: SU: DP: SU: Spellbinder Die; Colour by Copic

Art Impressions - Asleep on the Job - Happy Birthday Margaret

My friend Margaret is cursed with the inability to say "NO", consequently she ends up with way more work than she should.  To make it even worse, Margaret is extremely good at her job so she is naturally a "go-to" person in her office.  She produces, produces, produces.  A dream employee for sure, if you don't care that your staff are working themselves to death!  Margaret deserves every good thing that happens to her.  I hoped that by sending her this image for her birthday she'd take heart!
Materials:  Rubber Stamp:  Art Impressions: Spellbinder Die Circle; CS: SU: Colour by Copic

Art Impressions - Lazy Boy - Happy Birthday Scotty

My friend Scotty is not lazy, but I'm sure he does spend a little time lounging about, eating chips, and anything else in his vicinity.  He is a prodigious eater, claiming he has his buffet price down to 60 cents a plate -- if anybody should be profoundly overweight, surprisingly he's not.  He does have a bit of a belly happening, but on the whole, he's pretty lucky!  His birthday is in November, and again, while I did send the card on time, I didn't post it here on time!
Materials:  Rubber Stamp:  Art Impressions; Spellbinder Die; Cardstock: SU: