Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday and I want to thank family and friends who have taken time to make this day a little more special than the rest of the year. I have discovered that as I become older, the priorities change. One reason is that "children" are grown and on their own and that leaves plenty of time to do whatever pleases me, which is being with my wonderful, kind, and thoughtful husband, or doing fun things with friends.

My husband, Efraim, asked what I wanted to do today, but we've been celebrating for a few days and plan to do more tomorrow, so I thought we should simply relax at home until dinner time. We took a day trip to a small quaint town, Middleburg, on Thursday to enjoy a delicious lunch at a historical site called The Red Fox Inn. Middleburg is in horse country, so you can imagine the gorgeous homes and horses we saw during the drive into Main St, Middleburg. We browsed through shops and found a beautiful pendant Efraim bought as a birthday gift; I'll post a picture later. Another gift of time was driving to a scrapbook store that wasn't too far from Middleburg; I browsed, drooled, and purchased some papers while Efraim sat patiently looking at maps (he LOVES maps :-) When I got home from work yesterday, after putting in 10 hours, there were more gifts from Efraim: a delicious ice cream cake (he remembered how much I enjoy eating ice cream cakes from birthdays past :-), he saved me time in the kitchen buying a yummy pizza from a favorite restaurant nearby, there was a HUGE bouquet of flowers sitting in a vase, the cutest birthday helium balloon with "Elmo" hanging on :-) The birthday card is precious, too; my husband has a wonderful way of describing his feeling with words. I thank God for bringing Efraim, family, and wonderful friends into my life to love, enjoy, and praise!

I'm going to enjoy the day watching golf on television and playing in the "studio." Some new stamps arrived the other day and I can't wait to ink them up!

Hope you enjoy the day, too,
Gigi

Happy Birthday, Liesel!

A couple of years ago, I worked as an administrative assistant for a casino in Blackhawk, CO. The first and last friend I made there is named Liesel; she's an engineer for a large construction company. We enjoyed taking breaks together, especially during the morning hours, while the air was crisp and while we risked breaking our necks walking across the street to the casino where all the good stuff was waiting. Our breaks normally lead us to the employee break room area where we indulged in homemake cookies, large ones I may add. Anyway, when I saw this stamp (there were bakers wearing similiar jackets, minus the yellow plaid), I immediately thought of the delicious cookies Liesel and I enjoyed in the mornings together and had to buy it. So this birthday card goes out to Liesel in celebration of the Big 40; congratulations, my sweet friend! By the way, Liesel and her husband are expecting their first baby in April and you can only imagine all the excitement in Colorado right now.

Recipe:

The jacket and cuffs were paper pieced. The entire image was painted with Shimmerz for a more festive effect. The birthday cake has Liquid Applique for the frosting (doesn't it look yummy?) There is doodling around the main image while the bg was made with a CB Happy Birthday folder. The skin was colored with a Prismacolor marker (peach) and blended for a healthy glow. The blender pen was also used on the birthday cake (have so much more to learn about shading, but I continue to strive for perfection :-)

Stamps: Viola (SU!)

Ink: Versafine onxy black

Technique: Paper piecing (jacket and cuffs)

Paper: White (PTI), black (SU!), and embossing paper bought several years back when I actually dried embossed with a stylus.

Accessories: Blender pen, SU! markers, Prismacolor (peach), Angel Wings Shimmerz, ribbon, dimensionals, oval punches (SU!), Liquid Applique, black fine tip marker for doodles.