Susan Ewart

That's so beautiful and touching. As you said he is reserved and might not cry, but I sure did. Thank you for sharing such a personal gift. I would love to know about the ordering process. Do you choose the type of book (binding style, soft or hard cover, matte or glossy etc) and the type of paper and is it templates you put your layouts into?

OMG! This is precious. Fabulous shot, you can see how she savors it. It must be quite funny when she falls over. It is fun to watch all the antics out my dining room window too.

Oh man, we gotta wait a whole year!? hahaha, it will make me wish for Christmas every day. And thank you for the Countdown gift. It's delight to click on the number and see that I'm getting your word art. You have such a natural ability for word art design. You would have been a brilliant Calligrapher.

That's a beautiful commemorative of your husband.

I know, right? 🤣 I gave myself long hair, different color and *GASP*...LIPSTICK. I'm ready for a night on the sleigh.

Not sure where to put this. It is Christmas related. At least I put some lipstick on! Even thought I never wear makeup; today was special and just for you all. This is exactly what I look like (NOT). Yikes on the GrumpyFingers part. Makes a perfect excuse..."I'm sorry, I can't come to work today, my fingers are feeling grumpy". 😋

What a great card this would make.

Beautiful and thank you, I'll head to FB, havent been on in while.

I was thinking of starting my 2024 cards in January/February, well, the photographs for them and that way I can be less rushed that I usually am, since it's also the busy time at work. Your word art is something to behold. You are such a natural at the design of it from choosing the fonts, the elements and the balance of the layout.

Beautiful words Ann. I love that 1910 photo. A handsome young man just starting out in life (18 yrs old?).

That date blows me away. What changes he must've lived through. Sorry, I'm kind of a youngster here in this group....feel free to reprimand me, I'll toe-the-line. Kidding of course. I cant really tell how old people are here, they just seem my age or younger. Funny how the written word only reveal age when certain words are used that aren't used anymore. Like the word: Rumpus Room (we'd call in a Family Room now), that dates me to the 70's (presuming I knew the word when I was 4-5 yrs old).

Thank you Julie. They are my pictures from over several years. I went all out this time for decorating inside. Mostly to purge some decorations (which wasnt much at all) and to have some photo opportunities for future Christmas cards. It's a lot of work and I find it harder and harder to find the energy to do it. This is coming from someone who loves Christmas. actually I love Dec 20-24th. The 25th I am indifferent to, but grateful it's an extra day off. So I guess I love the "lead up" to Christmas, not so much Christmas itself, I think because it's over on that day. I do listen to Christmas music throughout the year though.

This is Christmas card #2, the one that took me quite some time. Again, I used the techniques from the Lab 13-1(and the Vector Workshop) and made a grid with Vectors. Boy, that was hard to get all the squares even. If you think grammar isn't my forte, well, math just makes my head spin. At first I forgot to account for the thickness of the edges to know where to put the inner grids, and of course having to centre the thickness of those inner grids came into the equation too. Whew! It's exhausting to think about it. I'm sure I went about it the hard way, would love to know a faster easier way to make grids and get them even. Next time I'd make the outer frame thicker than the inner grid part. Same as the last two cards, I cut off the bottom sentiment and put it on ivory cardstock with a deckle edge. Cards are all out except a few to yet to hand deliver. The other main concern was making sure I got the inner photo spots centred within the squares. I used the magic want to make a selection and then contracted, add new raster layer, flood filled with black then turned them into mask groups so I could position my photos how I wanted. If you wondering what that cheeky cat is saying (with that look on her face): "Move along human, nothing to see here."

Christmas Card #3, not another fall back, but a card I made in one of the Challenges I think last January. I'm guess because the pictures are from that time. I added the snowflakes and "WINTER" to the front. Again, printed as 4x6, cut off the bottom and put the sentiment on the inside. The sentiment is thanks to the Vector Workshop where I learned how to use "text on a path." (notice the correct use of the period here, I'm on a grammar roll). Also, attached to warm white cardstock (Strathmore) with a deckled edge.

Christmas Card #1. The top square portion is the outside of the card, the bottom is what went inside the card. I printed them as 4x6 then cut off the bottom and put it inside. This went on a warm white textured cardstock with a deckled edge (Strathmore). This is also Lab 13-1 I believe, and was my fall back card if I got too busy to make cards. I ended up making two more. I found the inner sentiment color is too strong. If I did it again, I'd make it lighter, and change that one darker blue circle as it seems quite out of place.

Thank you. I thought that too, but wasn't sure. Grammar was not my strong suit. ( You probably have that figured out by now)

I have never heard the word before (either brolly or bumbershoot). They are super cool words if you ask me. Wish I knew all the cool words like the old people do...hahaha, I know I'm one of the old people when I "think" I'm not "one of the old people". Question for Ann: when you have words in "quotations" and it's the end of the sentence, where does the period go, outside the quotes or inside?

OMG! this is so cute! I love it. I'm glad you can create to keep your mind busy with more pleasant things.

At my worst (with my back) I could walk and stand for about 3 minutes before the pain made my break out into a sweat and felt like I was going to throw up. Weirdly I could still work out with weights and ride a bike, but not walk or stand for any distance or time. When I was humming and hawing about surgery a guy I knew (who also had a major surgery on his back) said "get the surgery and get on with your life, you aren't 'living' the way you are now". My 4hr surgery turned out to be 5.5 hours long and the surgeon told my husband it was much worse than the MRI showed. So I am extremely thankful to him and that I got it done. Surgery is a very serious consideration and I did not take it lightly. I was and still am a very active person, I couldn't live with what I figured was coming (wheelchair) so I took the leap. I was lucky and had a fabulous surgeon and am pretty much pain free. The surgery took the compressed disc pain away. I did deal with soft tissue issues for some years after, nothing major just annoying (piriformis issue's) that didn't even need any pain meds (I cant take pain meds more than two days in a row , so I tend toward icing pain, then heat). If you ever want any specifics of what my pain was like before and after and what I went through I am always open to chatting via email or phone. You can private message me if you like for my email addy.

How exciting to have a new camera. What a pretty view that is.

Surgery is for sure the last option. Let's hope yours is soft tissue related. I am still doing recovery for a partial hamstring tear. I didn't know I tore it and left it for over a year before I got it checked out. I was told surgery is not an option since I'm not an athlete (hmph! we are all athletes is our own mind aren't we?). Anyway, I turned to massage as that helped when I twisted a QL (back muscle). It helped but I still couldn't do certain things, then my massage person suggested Dry Needling. It's one needle that inserts into the knot in a muscle and relaxes it. Without this I'd not be able to do much, just swinging my leg to get out of the car was agony. The dry needling worked, but it does/can take many sessions. And you need a good practitioner who uses the smaller gauge needles. I just go in for touch ups now and have 90% mobility. I will tell you, it can hurt (I'm a baby when it comes to any needle), but it's worth it for me. I hope you find a good resolution because any injury really sidelines you and chronic pain really messes with your mind.

That is beautiful Julie. I love your natural style. I hope your back pain subsides quickly. I know back/nerve pain all too well. Surgery in 2011, L4-L5 with rods, screws and a bouncy new disc (disk?), just call me Tigger. I'm pain free and active. Let's hope you get back to that point too.

Perfect! I used this stencil too this year for one of the 3 designs I did. Nice to see you back in the Campus Marie-Claire.

I haven't either. And looks like another busy week. Hopefully I finish before this year is over.

Loved it as much as the first time I heard it. Love the end, "I forgot to hit record" and of course the obligatory kitty cat in a banana box.