In Memorium - To those who gave their last full measure...

In Honor of Memorial Day, let us remember those who died so that we could live in freedom.

I found this information on the Poppy.  I wanted to share it with you.

The Story of the Poppy

Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day are often confused as both days are designed to remember those brave men and women who have fought to preserve freedom world wide. Memorial Day was originally for the remembrance of those individuals who have given their life in battle or died as a result of battle injuries, whereas, Veteran’s Day is for the remembrance of those who have served in the military and are still alive.

A couple of years ago, I entered our local grocery store and there were two retired servicemen selling poppies in honor of those who died. I noticed that several people just walked by them and hardly gave them a second glance and I instantly felt sad at the treatment they were receiving. After all, we were able to enjoy this beautiful day with our families because of them. I guess it had been a few years since I had seen anyone selling poppies for this purpose so I walked over to the older of the two and asked for a poppy and gave him my donation. I will never forget the sincere look of gratitude in his eyes as he gave me the poppy to pin on my shirt. He was so happy that someone cared!

The wearing of the red poppy has a very interesting story attached to it. It is most often associated with a poem by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery, called ‘In Flanders Fields’ or ‘We Shall Not Sleep’. It was largely through the efforts of two women, Moina Michael of Georgia and Anna E. Guerin of France that the poppy came to be officially recognized as the remembrance flower world-wide. The first poppies worn for this remembrance were on November 9, 1918 in New York City. The poem was written three years earlier in May when Colonel McCrae lost a friend during a battle near Ypres-Yser canal in Belgium. He was moved by the sight of poppies that were springing up between the crosses in the disturbed battlefield grounds. (Poppy seeds can lay dormant for years until they are disturbed and then germinate and grow which is what happened the spring of 1915.)

After reading the last verse of the poem:

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
 If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
 In Flanders fields.

Molina vowed to “keep the faith”. She quickly scribbled on the back of an envelope a poem titled,

"We Shall Keep the Faith"
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
 We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

I hope we too can keep the faith of those who have gone before us by wearing the red poppy.

Poppies growing on the Somme battlefield near Thiepval in France
Info taken from: http://www.greatwar.co.uk/article/remembrance-poppy.htm and http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/flanders.asp

 

Let us all keep the faith and carry the torch.

 

Lis

I Love You HoneyPOP Paper Card!

Hi everyone!  Boy do I have something for you today!

Apparently I was not paying attention last year in February when InkyAntics came out with HoneyPop Paper pads.  I don't know how I missed it but I found them on http://www.franticstamper.com/. I ordered one to see what was up.  Below is the result of my fun! 

You can also click HERE to go directly to the page.

Click HERE to go see the Webisode on HoneyPop Paper. Paper Wishes has some great examples.

HoneyPop paper is actually honeycomb paper.  You cut half a shape, glue it to both sides of the inside of a card, and when you open the card - surprise - you get the whole shape!  It's very light, and only 1/8 inch thick - I was able to run it through my die cutter without any problem.  I used regular steel rule dies.  The thin etched dies won't work with this.  I did use an xacto blade to carefully cut a strip off and that worked too.

So, here is the front of my card (it's actually the inside that is so exciting!)

 (I got that darn tint again!)

Close Up of the Inside of my Card with the Honeycomb Paper!

Is this not too cool?  Remember that when you either hand cut or die cut you paper, all you need is HALF a shape.  When you open it up, you will have the whole shape!

This is a nice side view.  All I did was use glue stick to attach this to the inside of my card.

Here is a great view of the dimension of the heart when it is opened.  The total dimension closed is about 1/8 inch.  So, its ok to mail.

I hope that you enjoyed today's card!  Stop by again for more inspiration!

Lis

Categories!

Hi everyone!

I now have categories for my work!  If you look on the right side of my blog you will see a listing of categories for my cards and other artwork on my blog.  If you want to see a specific theme, all you haved to do is click!  (What can I say, I am behind the times! LOL!)

I spent today going through my work and labeling each for easy searching. 

Enjoy!
Lis

Elegant Invitation

I was looking through some blogs and found one that does really pretty, feminine work.  AND it's all monochromatic (same color).  Her cards actually reminded me of wedding cake decorations.  This is her blog: http://crookedcardcreations.com/

I was SO inspired by Cathleen's cards! - I decided that I just had to make some cards of my own!   I hope you like my Elegant Invitation.

This card is simple to make but very fancy!  In fact, I didn't even add a ribbon. It didn't need it!  I left the tag blank for this sample but you could stamp a name or sentiment.

Close Up!

I love the spellbinders fancy tags. They are just the thing to really accent this card!  As you can see I added 2mm pearls just to the corners to continue the design I started below on the bottom border of the card.

And....here is a close up of the tag edge with the pearls.

And, here is the border!

I hope that you enjoyed this card. I hope to make others (how can I resist?).  I hope that you hop on over to the blog that inspired me and take a look at her work!

Lis


Palm and Crab

Hi everyone! 

Well I think summer is on it's way!  The temperature is getting warmer and I am thinking about a small vacation to the beach after making these seashore cards!

My next card is called Palm and Crab.  I didn't have any ideas when I started and it just kind of came together.  I've been having some terrible creative block lately and being busy at work doesn't help.  But I know it always passes so I don't worry too much!

Palm and Crab

The background paper is this really pretty sandy brown and has palm trees on it.  All I did was add a grosgrain dark brown ribbon and two stickers.  The stickers are three-d.

I hope you enjoyed these three days of sea shore cards and that you are inspired to make some of your own for summer!

Lis

Under the Sea Card!

Hi everyone!  Lis here with another sea card. This time we are going under the sea!

Under the Sea:

I used another one of K&Company's background papers, this time a fish back ground.  I added a couple of stickers of a seahourse and a fish.  The seahorse actually has some metallic finish to it (grey) which makes it very pretty in real life.  It doesnt show very well in this picture.

I added shell stickers to the bottom of the card.  This helped to cover up the stems of the "sea ferns".

Have you noticed my "sea ferns"?  You will never guess where I found these beautiful holographic die cuts...MICHAELS!  And they were with the Quincineras stuff.  I was visiting Michaels and they had just gotten in all these Quincineras things.  They were really pretty and had all lot of different items including crowns and banners and such.  Then I saw these wired leaves.  The way that Michaels has the items are color - so there is a block of blue, a block of orange, and so on. These leaves are done in a sturdy plastic and come with a florist wire attached (easy to remove too).

I see all kinds of possibilities with these leaves:  adding them to my rose cards and mixed among the matter green, using them as a borner...wow.  So I got one of each color (I think the cashier thought I was a little nuts).  Anyway, you are going to see more of these!

Close Up!

Don't you just love these three-dimensional stickers?  I wonder how the company makes them. Are there people who sit with tweezers and put these together? Is there a machine?  I would love to find out some day.

I love the way that adding the fish to the front with mounting tape adds to the three-d effect of these gorgeous "sea ferns".  They seem to wave...

Thanks for stopping by!  One more card tomorrow for our seascape journey!

Lis

She Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore

Hi everyone!  Can you say that five times fast?  I sure can't!  But I felt in an islandy mood and so I've created some pretty sea shore cards for you!

A Balmy Travel!

I chose all the K&Company Sea themed papers and stickers this time around.  They are really wonderful and I was able to create some really pretty cards with them!  They even had a sandpiper!


I bought a background paper pad that was the perfect size for A2 cards.  I really like this seashell background paper, don't you?
I punched out an oval and added a bright yellow to my tag (kind of is like the sun, yes?)

I took some ivory cardstock and tore it, creating two pieces. I used these for "sand mounds". I added some frayed burlap distress ink to darken the edges. And I ruffled a brown ribbon to add to the idea of sand.

Close Up!
This got a little messy when I stuck my arm in the paint pen while it was still wet...(note to self...don't stick your arm in your work!)
I do love the turquoise blue.  I reminds me of the sea.

Come back tomorrow for another seashore card!
Lis

Spring !

I was experimenting this week, trying out some ideas.  I'm not sure they were good ones though...LOL  I like the tissue flower at any rate!

Lis

The Jasmine is Blooming!

I love jasmine.  The scent is wonderful and I look forward to each Spring when it blooms.  My employer planted jasmine in front of the employee parking lot.  These are pictures I took of the jasmine there. It had just finished raining so you can see the raindrops on the leaves.  Just beautiful!

Take care, Lis