Monday, November 23, 2009

More BUTTONS and a lil' bit-o-NASH!

Hiiiiiii, dear friends!

It's extra late, or EARLY, depending on how you look at time... So, I'll make this brief and hopefully not too sloppy. Today {uurrrr, YESTERDAY...} was Nona's birthday. She's "Great Granny" to my kids and husband's maternal grandma. We've been through a lot together ~ much of it, not too pleasant. But without trotting all of that out, I just want to say, that in spite of everything, it's hard not to feel a lil' warm and fuzzy about, Nona, on her 95th birthday. She's recovering from hip surgery and will soon be back "hiking Mt. Everest...." or some such adventure... And today, I was moved to make something in honor and TO HONOR her many years. This is what I made:



It's another BUTTON celebration craft! Wahooooooooo! More buttons that I got from this guy:



If you read my last post, then this will make sense, if not... Giddy up! We'll wait for ya! Here's another shot of this layout from LONG ago!!!! (c. 2001! I USED to scrap "current time!" OMG!}



So, yeaaaaaahhhhhh. Photographing layouts is a whole different sport and I'm neither GOOD nor INTERESTED at this time, but I just had to show you this funny little scene. It cracked me up how many of you WATCHED that show! My dear friend, Subie, pictured here with the CAR and in the car.... Well, let's just say ~ you'd have a lot to talk about! hee hee Wasn't Don a love to agree to be photographed... Too bad he's a smoker, huh!

Oh, yeah. That was from a magazine. {Sorry to disappoint!} No photoshop. Old school, baby. Just glued that sucker right to the photo and I was off to the races! {Sometimes I miss the "olden" days of scrapping on the RANGE... sigh} ANYWHOO... speaking of photoshop! Lookee:

Here's Nona {Coila} with a lil' tear in the background....


And after!



Okay, I know you can still see a little discoloration, but HEY, I'm such a PS newbie... and doing this made me feel like SUCH a big girl! {I did something! ~ WITH Photoshop! It's a FESTIVUS miracle!}



Oh, and I'm finally jumping in with the JUGS challenge BEFORE it ends! Hey! That's different!

And, for composition fun, I used THIS sketch from the Sketch Artists.... at Card Patterns!




And HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEE's NONA!




To tell you the truth, making this card for dear GRANNY was a nice way to honor her. I really felt happy to be quietly toiling away, threading buttons and thinking of all that she's seen since this photo was taken.

Happy Birthday, Nona!

Thanks for visiting, friends-o-blogland!

Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Stampin' Up! & Anna Griffin
Buttons - NASH Bridges! hee hee
Gold Cord - S/U!
Die Cut circles - Sizzix & Coluzzle


19 comments:

AKiteFlier said...

Elise this is truly touching - what a LOVELY lovely tribute to a special woman - I'm sure she will be thrilled. Love the button frame - super way to accent the most important focal image here. Thanks for playing along with Just Us Girls again. It's great to see you here as one of our regulars. :-)

Vanessa said...

So touching, so beautiful, so gorgeous!!! Love everything about your creation - it`s simply fabulous!!

Hugs,
Vanessa

Lisa Kind said...

OMGosh, this picture looks like one I have of my 80 year old mom when she was about 4! It must have been the hairstyle at the time! Your card is amazing! I love all the buttons framin the picture, the layout, the stamps, the butterfly....just everything! So beautiful! I hope Nona appreciates all that went into this labor of love! Thanks so much for playing!

~amy~ said...

Sah-wheet!!!!!! OMGoodness...you are rockin' those buttons Elise..She is going to LOVE it...seriously...who wouldn't???

Rosemary said...

WOW Elise!!! This is card is GORGEOUS!! Nona is soo lucky her grandson married such a crafty and carrying gals!! She is going to be sooo touched when she gets this. This is a WINNER in more ways then one!

Karen said...

I'd say you made a mighty nice birthday card for Granny. :> Lovin' the buttons, all the stamped patterns, and that sweet butterfly....where did you dig her up?! All put together for a very pretty piece! Loved reading your story E! :>

Andi (RrlScrapGal) said...

Gorgeous card! And you threaded all the buttons? Late at night? Holy Toledo! I zoomed in... had to check out that cool butterfly in the corner near the sentiment.. It looks like a special antique find... pearly... wow!

And Don Johnson.. One of my husband's favorite bad boys... We loved Miami Vice.. back when we were younger!!!

Andrea M said...

Elise - this is gorgeous! Love the vintage look of your card - the photo, the embellies, everything. How fantastic! BTW, you did a fantastic job with PS! It's not the most intuitive program but, boy, is it powerful. I'm just learning as well and it's amazing what you can do. FYI, there are a lot of tutorials on the web regarding different PS techniques (but you probably already know that :)).

whoistracy said...

I just love how you used her photo on the card. Such a sweet idea!! She will love it!

Mona Pendleton said...

OOoo Elise! What a beautiful looking vintage card! Every single one of your sewn on buttons look GORGEOUS! You did an awesome job with the JUGS color challenge :) I hope you can join us Saturday for a fun template challenge!

Lea L. said...

Very pretty card!! Great job with the challenges!

♥ Lea

Tamaroo said...

Love the buttons! Your card is very cool!

Dana Gustafson said...

Oh Nonna! Doesn't she look sweet??? What a wonderful way to honor her 95th birthday. I love your pearl button frame...it's perfect here!

Andrea M said...

Just had to come back and thank you for your awesome comments on my blog-o! A-thank you!!!!

Claire said...

Happy birthday to Nona! Lovely card. And great job with PS

Dotty Jo said...

This is gorgeous Elise, love that little frame of buttons around that beautiful picture! Vintage perfection, and I'm sure Nona will feel very special on her big day because you have honored her with this little work of art.
Thanks for another great post, you totally crack me up and always brighten my day! Jo x

Broni said...

What a great card! I just love how you used the photo and your NB buttons!!

The Other Patti Sue said...

I love your card!Using Nona's picture is perfect! Love those buttons and the layout!

Kathryn B said...

Wow! your card IS beautiful Elise! "Great Grannie" will surely treasure her card!