COUSINS

His mother and my mother were sisters.

And that's what made us cousins!

Ohhhhhhhhh, don't let this picture fool you.

We look like we're happy and like each other.

That definitely was not the case growing up.

We squabbled constantly.

I don't recall physical fighting

but definitely verbal!

Especially when he demanded

we play "car school" and he was the teacher.

I could do nothing right!!!!!

Our families spent a lot of time together

during those years.

All I can say is that the adults

must have really enjoyed each others' company.

Enough so that our fighting didn't bother them.

As years passed, we learned to love each other.

Really!

Happy birthday, Billy!

The Birthday Line-Up

Yesterday, my friend's husband celebrated.

Bettcha ya can't guess

what he likes to do in his spare time.

Today my cousin celebrates.

He belongs to "the old men's club"
(his words, not mine!)

but he's certainly not old enough

to have been a student

at Penn State in 1930!

Happy birthday, Billy!

I believe it's this weekend

that Dee's cousin celebrates.

With the high temps were having,

a scoop of this would work perfectly!

Happy birthday to all three!

Keep celebrating.

Something her grandmother probably crocheted

Well, maybe not any of these pot holders

but I'm betting Lori has some in her kitchen drawer
that her grandma crocheted.

I had to use this image

because it reminded me so much of my Aunt Peg

and Lori's grandmother.

 Happy birthday, Cousin Lori!

Birthday Greetings to My Cousin

... from Texas to Arizona.

If you know Lisa, you know she's well deserving

of the best birthday ever. 

Happy birthday with lottsa love!

One more cousin celebrates

Hmmmmmmmmm ... if she's not a blood cousin,

but married to my cousin,

does that make the two of us cousins?

Doesn't matter.

In my eyes, I love her like she's blood.

Happy birthday, Lois.

Enjoy your day to the fullest.

Happy birthday, Bill

For all he put me through growing up,

he shouldn't get a birthday card from me!

Bet you couldn't find two cousins

that fought more than we did.

Some of those arguments

were because of what he made me do.

You see, he loved (and still loves) cars.

His dad used to take him to all the car dealerships

in the small town where we lived.

He'd collect all the brochures

one for me and one for him.

And then he used to make me play

"car school."

You heard me right.

Car School.

WHO plays car school?

He gave me homework and told me
to study the brochures.

Then he'd give me written tests.

He loved his red pencil!

And his favorite grade was an "F" - must have been

his favorite because that's what he always gave me.
I'm still traumatized!

Now that we're a little older,

we don't fight any more.

And we don't play that silly car school either.

Now we recommend good books to each other.

Hence, the image on his birthday card.

!! Shocker !!
He spent Father's Day going to a car show.
Suppose he's surprising me with a new car?
For all of the bad grades he used to give me?
Well he should, don't you agree?

Happy birthday, Billy.
You see, he'll always be Billy to me!

I'm not gonna lie

I want this little girl.

How sweet is she just a-marching down the path

wearing her little plaid skirt

and tights and sweater?

She's definitely on a mission.

It was my cousin's mission

to have a happy birthday.

I hope you enjoyed your day, Lori.

He celebrates

My cousin's husband's birthday

is today.

How do I know he'll celebrate?

Because his wife will make sure of it.

Hey Mike ...

DON'T FORGET

DREAMS COME TRUE

Happy birthday!

Today ...

Yes, today my cousin celebrates.

He's two years older than I am and lives far away.

Couldn't send a birthday cake

so I sent a stack of panCAKES instead.

Happy birthday, Billy.

Errrrrrr - Bill.

Funny how names change when we grow up.

Happy Birthday to my Cuz

Here we go again.

This is going to my cousin's daughter.

One of these days, I just might figure out all the

"once/twice removed" ...

Maybe.

 

Lisa works in home warranties

so I chose this image.

Perfect, isn't it?

 

I hope your birthday was perfect, Lisa.

I didn't post this on your birthday because I wasn't sure

when your mom would give you this card.



Happy Birthday, Billy

Well, it's BILL now, but he'll always be Billy to me.

We spent many hours playing together as we grew up.

In all actuality, probably the majority of those hours were spent fighting, not playing.

 

He is two years my senior and always wanted to be "the boss!"

Especially when he made me play CAR SCHOOL.

WHAT?  Who plays car school?

 

Cars were his whole life.

He couldn't wait until the new cars came out so that he could go to the dealerships

and collect all the brochures.

Didn't matter what make.

His daddy took him to all of the showrooms.

 

And he brought home the brochures - two of each.

One for me and one for him.

 

Did I care about cars?

Nope - not in the least little bit.

Oh - he wasn't being generous so don't be giving me the "awwwwwwwwws."

 

He brought them home for me to STUDY.

Yes, study.  I was probably the only eight-year-old girl that knew

all about engines, tires and upholstery.

 

Not only did he make me study them, he was the teacher in our car school

and he gave me tests.

Yes - tests!!!!!

 

PS - I always flunked.

 

He also had a parakeet he named Squeaky.

And squeak he did - after I "accidentally" stepped on him one day.

So, when I saw this little boy and girl and the bird cage,

I knew it would be perfect for his card.

Happy birthday, Billy!

 

Ketchup ... catch up, that is!

Losing a loved one is very difficult.

And it's not a great way to start off the year.

My daughter's friend lost her mom.

Here's the card that was sent.

 

If you remember reading this then you'll see that I am trying really hard to abide by

my 15 for twenty-fifteen.

 

I've really been pretty successful in most of my 15.

I fell a little behind on number 6

but I didn't let too many days go by before creating my first thank you card for the year.

 

My dear friend, Carol, celebrated her birthday the other day.

In addition to this card, we had a great phone conversation.

I miss you, Carol!

My Aunt Margie was so good with identifying
cousins, second cousins and all those "once removed" ...

 

I'm not good with those.  As a matter of fact, I have no idea who's who.

This is about as good as I can do.  This card went to my cousin's daughter's son.



Anybody out there know what label to put on him other than "just cousin?"

Happy 18th birthday, Logan.

 

Our friends, Pat and Don, celebrated their 10th anniversary.

Congratulations.

 

Happy 91st birthday, Leta.

She loves to watch the birds and I'm sure she's waiting for Springtime

to see some eggs in the nest.

 

The Runner wanted to thank his friend for some guidance about school bus driving.

Jim was the driver when The Runner first began as a monitor.

I guess he's helping me out with my number 6.

 

And one more birthday card.

I hope your birthday was all you expected.  Happy birthday, Sheneen.

 

This was supposed to be a birthday card

but Nancy's son sent this to her for Valentine's Day.

What a guy!

 

Saving the best for last.

As requested ... a "girlie" card.

I had a good time with this one, starting with the garter!

Happy birthday, Donna.

 

Sympathy, thank you, birthday, anniversary.

I hope these cards put smiles on a few faces.

Nothing like getting a real card in the mailbox, right?

 

 

July, August and September

July was a busy month.  Lots of birthdays, lots of cards.  And, as you can see, lots of favorites!  The first one went to my friend, Vicki ... you know Vicki.  She's the "nest lady" so when I saw this image, it had her name all over it.

Many times my cards do not say "happy birthday" ... I leave that for the sender to write their sentiment inside the card.

There's just something about these vintage photos that make me melt.  When I see them, I just have to use them on a card. 

 

I'm sure it was a happy day for my special friend when she got this card. 

No doubt in my mind, this was my absolute favorite.  The picture is of my great grandmother and I created this for my cousin to give to her daughter for her birthday.  I pulled out all the stops on this one and enjoyed the process.  My cousin actually had it framed before giving it to Lisa.  I hope she enjoys it every time she looks at it.

August was a busy month, too.  Lots of birthdays and here are a few of my favorites:

A hand-made apron deserves a thank you card!!!  Thank you again, Julie.

 

Right out the chute in September I had to create this card for The Runner's friend that was diagnosed with cancer.

On a happier note, this special 90th birthday card was for a very special friend of our family.  These little girls reminded me of Charlotte.

She asked for "colorful" and this is what she got.  I love every single color on this card.

Not only did a 50-year-old receive this card, but his wife surprised him with a trip to the beach for his birthday.

Only three months left.  Please come back tomorrow and see my favorites!

Happy birthday to my cousin ...

Glenda is getting three of my cards this year.  This first one is from me.  I know she likes all things "rusted" and this little tin works perfectly.

This next card is from her daughter.  This card tells a story: a year or so ago, Glenda sent me a box of "stuff" and in the box was a ton of costume jewelry that belonged to her mother.  For sentimental reasons, I try to use some of the pieces on the cards that are for her or her family.  This card is no exception.  See the hand?  That used to be a pin - I snipped the back off and covered up the lackluster finish with several products.  Now she'll have a little something of her mom's on this card.  Oh - and you can't really see it on here, but the little leaf above the orange flower is rusty, too.

This year, her sister Nancy said "lets do funny instead of serious" ... oh boy, was I ever in for a treat.  A decade (or so) ago, gag gifts were requested at the birthday party and Nancy decided to wrap up our grandmother's wig.  Yes!  I understand that gift was the hit of the party - so much so, that Glenda's husband wore it ... until he was told where it came from - then it instantly came off.  Well, talk about a challenge!  Much deliberation later - not to mention all the supplies and embellishments I dug through, this is what I came up with.  I just have one question:  WHY in the world would you ever keep that wig?  Why?

Happy birthday, Glenda ... I hope you are enjoying your day.

Cards, Cards and More Cards

Oh yeah ... I've been busy!  And I'm not sure the light really is at the end of the tunnel.  Not complaining - I'm doing what I love to do and it looks like I can keep on keepin' on.

This sweet little girl sure is popular.  I believe this is the third or the fourth card I've made using this precious little girl; all different, of course.  Julie was drawn to her because of the red hair - gee ... I wonder why!?!

One more popular image.  Who doesn't love a beautiful butterfly?  Must be several people, since I've created several cards using this same picture.  Thanks, Julie, for loving this one, too!

 

This special card went to a special cousin for her birthday yesterday.  Nancy, I hope you enjoyed receiving it as much as I enjoyed making it for you.  I know your sister wrote something special inside, too.

 

I still have several cards that are sitting on the dining room table but not ready to post here yet.  Stay tuned ...

 

I'm not slacking off ...

I've been on a non-stop merry-go-round since coming home from the retreat.  I can't believe I've been home for 10 days already - time for another retreat, right?!?

Day one was spent unpacking and doing laundry, the next few days were spent putting everything away.  And then I hit the ground running making cards.  Here are just a few:

This sweet little girl is going to Kayla - happy birthday!

I love the femininity of this one.  The softness of the flowers, lace and feathers juxtapose perfectly with the rusted heart.  Happy birthday, Tasha.

This is one of my favorites!!!  I found this photo of my great grandmother and decided to put it on this happy birthday card for my cousin, Lisa.  My regret is that I didn't make a copy of the picture first.  Enjoy, Lisa!  Lots going on here and I enjoyed creating it every step of the way.

Good friends are like stars.  You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.  Happy birthday, Pete.  I hope you enjoy this year's card.

This will be given to a happy couple that just became engaged (in Belize - lucky girl!)  True love stories never have endings.  May your love story continue forever.

The remainder of these were made while I was on my retreat.  Thank you Vicki and Julie for supporting me.  I appreciate you!  I hope the people you send them to enjoy them.

 

Oh - and that's not all I've been doing - I will fill you in another time.  You won't want to miss it.  My next post is where I'll share an exciting opportunity and a giveaway.

I leave you with this:  hold someone's hand today - we all need each other.