Manly Happy Birthday

I know I have been absent from the craft posts for quite awhile.  I've been working on lots of little things, but keep forgetting to take pictures!

November is a busy month for birthdays in my family.  My dad, brother in law, father in law, husband and godson are all born in November - it's a busy month!  Today, I wanted to share some cute cards I made for my dad and father-in-law for their birthdays.  These cards would also make great Father's day cards!
The idea is based off of a cardmaking class I took once, but I adjusted it based on what I had on hand.

First you will need to cut your "suit" fabric.  One piece should be 3 1/4 inches by 5 1/2 inches.  The other side should be 1 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches.
Inked edges of both pieces of paper.
Now you need to create the fold for the lapel.  To do this, on the top of the larger piece of paper, make a mark 2 inches from the top left corner, and a mark 3 inches on the left side from the bottom.  Score along this line to connect the two marks and fold back.
If you are using double sided designer paper - you are all set.  I was using designer paper, and didn't like the coordinating side, so I cut a piece of the teal paper to cover up the folded back piece.
On the smaller piece of paper, make a mark on the left edge, five inches from the bottom.  On the right side, make a mark 3 inches from the bottom.  Score between the two marks and fold back.
Using a tape gun or your adhesive of choice, adhere the narrow piece of paper.  Then apply the larger piece of paper, overlapping the smaller piece of paper slightly.
Trim off the overhang from your lapel on the smaller piece of paper.
Stamp on your Sentiment.
Adhere buttons using glue dots.
For the bow tie, use a punch or trace a bow tie shape and adhere using foam squares. I traced mine as I don't have a bow tie punch!

Buttons are from Jo-Anne's
Sentiment is Paper Smooches

I've been away much too long!

After being away from my blog for quite some time I thought I needed to get back into it because I've missed it and all of my blog friends.  Hopefully those of you who have been my loyal readers will comment and say "Hi".

I guess you could say "Life has given me lemons these past months and I finally decided to make
some Lemon Aid and get myself back together.... but, I went to look at my Lemon Tree and several new Lemons were missing!  The critters have taken them and all I have is one green Lemon left

 As I wandered through my soaked back yard I noticed the Hummer Feeder was still full, "Where did they go?"  I have not seen any this year?

 My home is one of may Town Houses on this block and it's being painted now for three weeks so I've had to move so many potted plants but this one hanging basket with a succulent  I found in a garage sale over a year ago has a bud poking out,,, I had no idea it would flower!!
If anyone can tell me the name of this beauty I'd be ever grateful!  I'll do my best to not let anyone bother it until I can get a photo of the actual flower in bloom.
While searching I found the same plant, in bloom.  How pretty

 The butterflies have been flittering around the Pony Tail plant for weeks now and that is due to the many flowers growing all around it.   Look how tall this Pony has gotten.  It was about 12" tall in a little pot when I first planted it out in the yard.  Taller than me now!

 Of course the Black Eyed Susan's are blooming... for some reason they normally thrive in  my garden but this year not too many came back?  Rainy season here in South Florida reeks havoc on my garden each year and we have been into the third week of daily Thunder Storms and heavy rain that knocks all the plants down. Some days you can find me out there while the rain falls with sticks and wire trying to save some.. it's rather funny to see really but I'm so afraid the lightening will get me one day

I  have missed blogging and will do my best to keep it up when I can.

I'm sure it will not be as often as in the past but I've missed my friends here and today will be reading all your blogs and hopefully leaving a comment on each.