Matchbook Valentines Cards

I made these little cards tonight. They are called matchbook cards. I cut them on my Cricut (Plantin Schoolbook) and put the ribbon on & then added the rub ons. It took me a bit to figure out the dimensions but finally came up with a 4x5 card. I have seen sewn edges in scrapbooking & card making so I thought I'd give it a shot. I learned I can't sew a straight line to save my life. So only the Hugs & Kisses card has stitching. I pretty much ruined it and didn't want to do the same to the Love card. I had fun making them & will play with the design a little more & think I will make some matchbook birthday cards.

Love of My Life Page

I made this page to frame and hang in my girl cave. The tag has the dictionary.com definition of the word "love". On the vellum strip at the bottom I just printed lots of "love" words. Slapped them and a photo of Mike & I on a pretty valentine sheet and put it all on a black page. I kind of like it......Be gentle - remember I am new at this!

Oh Happy Day!

Matthew called today and said. "You know how much I love you don't you?" I thought "oh no, what does he want?" He told me he found my camera! It was at his apartment all along. It just so happens, we both have identical cameras. He was cleaning up the place and picked up the camera and put it up where he normally keeps it. He went on cleaning and came across it again! He said he thought he was going crazy. Luckily, he and everyone else in the world knew I was missing my camera so he called with the good news. I am a happy mama tonight!

New Shelving

My sweet guy put some shelves up in my Girl Cave while I was at
work today. Don't they look nice?
Every time I turn around he gets me another cool something for my scrapbook room. The pretty (and super comfy) leather chair was a very thoughtful anniversary gift from him. I feel very loved today.
Gotta go do some creating! I will keep you posted on the continuing transformation of my play room.

Photo Collage

I put this collage together tonight. I used my Cricut for the designs and put a few photos in. Simple elegance! And lots of fun to make!

Painting Project

Last Sunday I took Hayley's white, little girl furniture and painted it with milk paint. I loved the process. It was easy to work with and is water based so clean up was a snap & is not harmful in anyway to the environment. So the black & red paint I used is green! I wish I had taken a before picture but you can probably picture the typical little girl white furniture with pink trim. That was what I started with.

I am pleased with the finished product. She is redoing her room in black & red. It looks very sleek! I painted a coat of red first and then several coats of black on top. I sanded several spots to show the red popping through then painted a couple of coats of top coat. In the first picture above, you can see a little red table to the right of the lingerie chest, that is the color red I painted under the black. I looked like I had war paint all over me.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is the 23rd anniversary of my marriage to Michael Wayne Neel. We were married 1-11-1986 at 7:00 p.m. at St Paul Lutheran Church by Rev. Carlos Boerger. The wedding was awesome and our marriage has been simply beautiful. God picked Mike for me long before I knew God or Mike. I look back over the years and see His fingerprints throughout my life and I am just so humbled by all He has blessed me with. I deserve none of the blessings He has bestowed upon me and I am not always grateful. God just keeps on giving and forgiving me every day of my life. WOW! Thank you, God for all you are and all you do. Today, I especially thank you for my loving, gentle-hearted & faithful husband, Mike.







Our sweet, generous son, Matthew gave us a very well thought and extremely generous Christmas gift this year. He booked a Plaza Suite at the historic Emily Morgan Hotel for our anniversary weekend. Mike and I stayed at the Emily Morgan on our wedding night and haven't been back since. What a great kid! Matthew is a sentimental guy and he really touched us when he gave us this gift. We had a great weekend. The hotel is right next to the Alamo and our room overlooked it & Alamo Plaza on one side & the old Post Office on the other side. (The hotel is triangular in shape and our suite was on the corner so the view was amazing.) We bundled up and walked through the Alamo grounds then along the riverwalk, had a drink at The Landing and after more walking, we finally finished up the evening with dinner at Boudros. What a fun night! This morning we got up early and had breakfast at the Guenther House. We had never been there before and really enjoyed it. Thanks Matt! (honorable mention goes to Hayley for letting me borrow her fancy camera.)

The Emily Morgan at Night

IN FRONT OF THE FIREPLACE IN THE LOBBY

A New year - NO CAMERA

I had intended to clear my camera of Christmas pictures and post some Christmas happenings. But.... I cannot find my camera. I remember using it on the day after Christmas and then it is all a blur. I hope it turns up soon so I can get back in the blogging world. Do you know where it is?