Count Your Blessings

Hello, friends, Mindy here today with a card for this week's challenge at the Classy Cards 'N Such blog, #42 Buttons and Bows!

I started this card by embossing an A2 size sheet of card stock with the Daisy Flourish embossing folder sending it through my Cuttlebug machine. I then took the Memory Box designer Stencil Garden Stems and added Embossing paste to use as stems for my button and bow flowers.

To give the background some definition, I highlighted the embossing with a white pen, a touch of gold glitter and some Cantaloupe colored Liquid Pearls. It was then set aside to let dry.  I then took some ribbon, and made three small single bow flowers and adhered a single gold colored small Medallion Sparklers button in the centers. The bows were then adhered to the background at the ends of the stems to look like a bouquet of flowers, with a double loop bow tied at the bottom of the bouquet.

I also stamped a saying, Count Your Buttons (. . . and Blessings) on a banner strip and used  Joy! Foam Pads Large to give the banner some dimension and adhered it to the front of the card.

The whole time I was working on this card, the song "Button and Bows" sung by Doris Day was going through my head.  It was a little before my time, but parts of the song were familiar to me, and those parts kept repeating over and over all day.

I hope you will join us at Classy Cards 'N Such, by creating a card or two for our weekly challenge. They are so much fun, and you can possibly win a wonderful item sold in our online store. Be sure to visit our online store, and when you are ready to check out, use the coupon code MINDY-10 (all caps-no spaces) to get your 10% discount off your entire purchase. See you again soon!

Kate's Garden Tag

Happy Hump Day!  The week is just speeding along. Today I am featuring a tag using one of the New Julie Nutting Doll Stamps from Prima.  Her name is Kate, and this tag reminds me of a garden scene.

I started this tag by adhering various printed papers on a Prima Doll large tag. I also did a little stamping on top of the papers with Ranger Archival Inks. Decorative ribbons were also attached after the collage papers were dried. I stamped the doll stamp on Julie Nutting "Buff" paper pad by Prima, and colored with Copic markers. This paper pad consists of perfect colors to use with Julie Nutting's popular doll stamps. After coloring and shading, I fussy cut around the doll and set aside for the next step.  I then ran the New Spellbinder's Card Creator die called "Tranquil Moments" through my Cuttlebug and die cut the frame from primitive white card stock. After adhering the frame to the tag with foam tape, I adhered the doll figure to the side, and a Prima Natural Flower next to it.  To complete the tag I embellished it with two Maya Road resin flowers, some cotton cluny lace trim across the bottom of the tag, and a ribbon bow at the top.

These tags are so much fun to decorate with Prima products, and my favorite Julie Nutting Doll Stamps.  I hope you purchase a stamp-or-two and give it a try!

To Be Fond of Dancing. . .

Happy Saturday! Today's post is another entry in the Classy Cards n' Such challenge #21- Vintage Hues, using three colors from their posted image, and the 6X6 Elementals Doily stencil available in their shop.

I started out by spritzing the doily stencil on a sheet of silver gray card stock using the Tattered Angels- Patina spritz.  I then fussy cut around the doily shape and adhered it to the card front using a permanent adhesive. I then attached a strip of sheer pink two-toned ribbon and a strip of lace ribbon vertically on the card front.  The sentiment label was pre-printed on a sheet of  12X12 scrapbook paper from the Dear Jane collection from Die Cuts With a View.

I popped up the sentiment label with foam tape to give the card dimension, then attached a piece of silk ribbon tied in a bow to the top of the label. A butterfly die from Hot Off the Press was then cut from metallic white Neenah card stock and a background of pink.  It was then attached to the sentiment label with pop dots.  I left the wings loose so they would wiggle in the breeze.

 I hope you all had a wonderful day. The weather was wonderful here in So. Texas. Spring is on it's way, but at least one more shot of winter is expected tomorrow.  Stay happy!
Mindy

Saying Hello, with Love!

I thought I was finished making Valentine's Day cards this year, but I was wrong!  Some friends of mine started their own stamp company, Winnie & Walter, LLC.. As of the first of the year, 2014, they kicked off their opening with four beautiful clear stamp sets with coordinating downloadable Cut Files.  One of the sets I fell in love with,  The Big, The Bold, and The Happy was sold out almost immediately.  I patiently waited for it to come back in stock, and then placed my order.  While waiting for the stamp sets to ship, I received the coordinating downloadable Cut Files, and immediately made these lovely cards. 

I printed out the "love" and "hello" files with the black backgrounds in the 3"X5" size, and then trimmed around them to leave a small white border.  I then mounted them on colored card bases and used some dies from Impression Obsession and Hot Off the Press to decorate each one.  For the Love Card, I used the decorative Hearts die from HOTP/ Paper Artsy to cut the filigree heart, added a strip of hearts washi tape across the top, and tied a bow with a white ribbon.

For the Hello Card, I used the IO Grapevine Wreath die, and decorated it with the Memory Box tiny Flock of Birds die. Again I used a strip of polka dot washi tape across the top of the card to tie in the black board look color.

Today, (Friday) I received my stamp sets in the mail, and cannot wait to start stamping with them.  I hope you will go by their web site at www.WinnieWalter.com, and see what they have to offer. Also, check their blog, because they have the most wonderful design team assembled, who have shared sample cards using their beautiful stamp sets. I hope you all have a wonderful Super Bowl weekend, and if you aren't into football that much, maybe you can make some beautiful cards to send for Valentine's Day!

Let's Rodeo, San Antonio!

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo begins February 6, 2014. I have created two cards featuring the Pure Innocence Cowboy and Cowgirl stamps from My Favorite Things.

The cards are both 4 1/2" X 6 1/4" and are made from card panels with front rectangular openings. Both of the images were stamped on Neenah white card stock and then colored in with Copic markers. Then they were fussy cut around each image and mounted inside the rectangular openings with foam tape to give the image more dimension. Accenting each card, the ribbon used on the Cowboy card was a fuzzy velour rick rack, and a dotted grosgrain ribbon knotted on the Cowgirl card. Phrases from each stamp set were used below the images, stamped on coordinating tags.  

I think they made really cute cards, celebrating the Cowboy and Cowgirl in all of us. Enjoy your week!

A Few More Thelma Tags

I finished a few more tags with the "Thelma" stamp my friend Mark Jetton at Deadbeat Design Stamps sent me.  He also promoted my blog on his post yesterday, so I thought if someone came looking for his link I would have more than the one little tag I posted yesterday.  Thelma is so much fun to stamp, color, and even paper piece! 

I have been adding scraps of scrapbook paper to tags for backgrounds for several weeks now.  If you viewed my blog last year before Christmas, you saw the tags I made to decorate a Christmas tree for our church group.  This year I am doing something different with the church group, but we haven't quite decided yet what it will be.  I do, however, like to have some tags prepared for decorating, "just in case I need them!"  Since many of Mark's stamps are Texas themed, I thought I would use another themed set by Paper Wings Productions (also Texas based) for the Texas sayings. These were from the Texas Quotes set.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, preparing for Thanksgiving which is not too far away. These tags also make  wonderful place cards for your Thanksgiving table. So why not make up a batch to decorate your table, "and let your creative juices flow!"  See you soon.
Mindy

I Love You, Prima Dolls -

By now you have probably seen where I am participating in a Prima doll Blog Hop starting August 6, 2013. It is going to be so much FUN, I can hardly wait! I have never really loved a special set of stamps like these Prima Doll Stamps from Julie Nutting's designs, and it all goes back to my love of dolls and paper dolls when I was younger.  My dolls were my playmates, and I loved making clothes for them and my paper dolls.

For this tag, I started by covering the Prima Doll Tag with patterned paper from the Botanical Paper Collection from Paper Wishes. The colors in this print are so rich and jewel-like I knew that it would be gorgeous with the Doll in the strapless dress. I stamped the doll on white card stock and colored her with my Copic Markers. After fussy cutting,  I adhered the image to the front of the tag and added a 3-D bow at her waist. I used a rub-on for the message "I love you" on the top right hand corner, and added two strips of printed ribbon across the bottom 2/3 of the card. I also added some "bling" using tiny acrylic stones to the top of the tag, and as accents at her neck and ankles. Next, I stamped a flower using a waterbased marker to ink my stamp then stamped it on watercolor paper.  I used my waterbrush to blend the colors of the flower, cut it out, and added it to my tag between the layers of ribbon. To complete the tag, I added Mermaid Glitz Stickles to the center of the flower, and a strip of ruffled ribbon to the bottom of the tag.

Before I close today, I just wanted to let you know that there will be more information coming on the Prima Doll Blog Hop in the weeks ahead. Be sure to tell your friends about the hop, and invite them to check out the posts, especially if they enjoy dolls, stamping, and paper arts. See you again soon.

Mindy

Frame - Let Freedom Ring!

I Love Independence Day, The 4th of July, or whatever you call it! I love America, the Red, White, and Blue, God Bless the USA, Let Freedom Ring, and all of the other phrases we use to celebrate out great land.  With the holiday right around the bend, the end of this week, I decided to create a Home Decor item that would blend in with any decor you may have. Celebrate our country year-round with this wonderful frame.

I started with an unfinished 5 X 7 frame with glass, and a 5 X 7 frame die cut from Daisy D's designs.   I also had a roll of 4" wide patriotic sheer ribbon with stars and stripes on it. I took a 12" long strip of the wired edged ribbon and accordion folded it along the length of the ribbon.  I then took a small piece of wire, and tied the ribbon about 1" from the bottom of the folds. After tying it tightly, I cut off the bottom inch and set it aside.  I then fanned out the top folds to form the banner.  I glued it to the top of the frame with hot melt glue and then adhered the frame die cut over the face of the frame, thus overlapping the ribbon edge I glued down. To decorate the outside, I glued a satin ribbon bow on top of the banner and added a velvet flower to the ribbon.

For the inside of the frame, I took the middle section of the die cut that had the phrase "Let Freedom Ring" printed on it, and die cut around it with the Worn Edge Die from Die-namics (My Favorite Things).  I took another strip of the sheer patriotic ribbon and glued it to the back panel of the frame unit.  I then used temporary tape to adhere the sentiment to the center of the opening, leaving it available for a photo if needed later on.

This could also be a great housewarming gift to present a friend when attending their July 4th barbecue. Then you could take a photo at the get-together, have it printed, and present it to the owner to put in their frame. What a wonderful remembrance gift!

I am entering this in the DL Art Thankful Thursday June Challenge 112 - Patriotic. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, whenever you get to celebrate it.

Fiesta Time in Texas

Fiesta 2013 is coming to a close this weekend. Scheduled is the Battle of Flowers Parade, and the Fiesta Flambeau Parade, and several other events that are so much fun to attend.

My project for today is a tag, made with the julie Nutting Tag Pad from Prima and one of her Doll stamps; Doll with sleeveless dress. I stamped her on the tag with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored her in with my Copic Color Markers. I paper pieced her dress, also colored with Copics, and popped  it up with foam tape so that I could add a colored lace border at the top and bottom of the dress. I also added a Prima rose at her waist, and several sticky pearls on her crown to embellish her attire.

 I cut the letters of Fiesta from various colored card stock with the Folk Art Festival cartridge from Cricut, and backed each with a paper banner cut from the Firefly card stock 6" X 6" paper pad. I then adhered them to the right side of the tag and tied coordinating strips of grosgrain ribbon for bows at each end of the banner, and tied a white bias tape bow at the top of the tag for accent. To finish off the tag, I stamped dots of bright colored ink from my K & Co. Smash Book Ink Wand all over the tag to help it's colors tie in to the festive color scheme of the banner.

I want to thank you for stopping by my blog today.  Be sure to check out the previous post for instructions on how to register for my Blog-aversary Prize Package that will be given away on or about May 12, 2013. I will see you again soon.

Mindy

Happy Bunny Day!

Easter is just around the corner, and here is a cute card that can be sent to young or old alike. The sweet little bunny stamp is from Darcie's stamps. I stamped the bunny with egg on white card stock and colored it with my copic markers. I did not color the bunny himself white, I just outlined it and filled in a little shadow to make the white show up more. Next, I started putting the background card together. I first adhered two lengths of pale pink dotted grosgrain ribbon to the card front about 1/4" from the top and bottom of the card. I then used a very thin width of red line tape to adhere the green leaf ribbon right above the grosgrain ribbon, again at the top and bottom of the card. I found a pre-stamped label the same color as the card, and attached it between the two rows of ribbons, using glue dots to adhere it. Then using foam tape, attached the bunny and egg to the card front overlapping the edge of the label.

To finish the card, I cut six tiny pink velour flowers off a length of ribbon and attached each one to the card front with a glue dot. Three on the top, and three on the bottom, with an adhesive crystal in the center of each. I then added a tiny hot pink bow at the bunny's neck, and the adhesive stick-on letters spelling out "Happy Bunny Day."

I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful Easter week. Here's hoping the best for you and your families in this upcoming spring season.  Blessings upon us, one and all.

More Tags on Thursday!

Hello everyone!
It must look like I am posting the same things over and over every day.  But I'm not! Here are three more tags for the Holiday Tree that I am helping to decorate.

I finally started playing
with my Christmas stamps, and hope to find a theme to use as my Christmas cards this year. Every year I play around with my stamps, weeks in advance, trying out different stamps and designs in effort to find something I can live with for the holidays on my cards.

I see so many different designs online from all the blogs I frequent, that I get so confused I don't know which ones I like the most.  This year since I will be making these tags in advance of the holidays, maybe I will find one grouping that I will love to send out as cards to my relatives and friends for the holidays. I have completed half of the tags needed from me, and hope I will be able to really buckle down this weekend to get the rest done, so I can deliver them early next week.

While looking through my millions of stamps today, I found many Christmas stamps I haven't stamped in ages, if ever!  You know they always say, ". . . the one with the most toys, wins!"  When it comes to stamps, "I WIN!"

Have a great day doing whatever your heart desires, and take time to stop and smell the Roses!

Tags on Tuesday!

Hello friends,
Three more tags for the Holiday Tree we are decorating.  I really am enjoying making these tags. I can try new techniques, and use a lot of my copic colored images that I have stamped out and colored. I have a whole booklet of images I have stamped and colored while learning to use the copic markers. I save them, and then when I need a small image to use in one of my art pieces, I can just add it in without a problem. Many of the images I color in different color schemes, that way I have a variety to choose from in my booklet.  As you can probably see, I love coloring roses of all shapes and sizes.
I love to practice the shading on the petals, and trying color combinations that might occur in real life gardens. The rose stamp on the first tag on the left, is my favorite rose stamp, and I don't know how many times I have stamped it out to color.

This is a great project to use my sample snippets on, I can combine several on a tag. I don't have too many Christmas samples in my book, but guess I will have to start stamping out a few so some of my tags will have a Christmas holiday theme.
There is not too much technique in putting together these tags, but if you have any questions, feel free to comment on this post, and I will get back to you as soon as possible with the answers.

Have a good week, and keep on stamping!

Holiday Tags

Hello fellow stampers,
It's already November, and I am trying to start a holiday decorating project with a friend.
We are decorating a holiday tree for a group of needy families in our area, and are using decorative hand-stamped tags as gift card holders to decorate the tree.

I wanted to share some of the tags with you that I have made. They are a small fun project that can be used for ornaments, place cards for Thanksgiving, tags for hand-delivered gifts, or regular old gift tags with presents.

I used 21/2" X 5" manila tags for these, and cut a heavy piece of scrapbook paper into 5" X 5" squares and scored them down the middle to make a gift card. Then when my tag was complete, I adhered it to the gift card to make it more sturdy. I will try to show several each day, I have 25 to make before Thanksgiving.

I hope you will all be able to try and design some tags of your own during this holiday season. They are just as much fun to make as cards are for me, and can be used for many different purposes.  Have a nice Veterans Day weekend, and thank a soldier for their service, it's the nicest thing you can do!

To Say Thank You!

I want to say Thank You to everyone who visits my blog. I really appreciate your visits and comments. From now through October 30, 2012, anyone who leaves a comment on any of my blog posts, will be entered to win a  drawing for a Christmas Greetings clear stamp set from Hot Off the Press. Remember: The more comments you leave, the better your chances of winning.

There are 27 acrylic stamps in this set, perfect for adding to your holiday cards, scrapbook pages, or home decorations.  Some of the greetings are even suitable for inside and outside of your holiday cards, both sentiments in one set.

I have used one of the greetings from this set on my card sample of the day. I stamped the greeting and holly design in Memento ink, and used my Copic markers to fill in the letters.

Next, I tied a bow from red sheer ribbon and adhered a green sheer ribbon band around the white base. Adhere the white base to the red card and adhere the red bow to the center of the green band.

Punch 7 holly leaves from green card stock with a Martha Stewart punch, and break down the sizing in the card stock and dry emboss vein lines on the leaves with a ball stylus. I then accented the vein lines with a green ink pen. Glue 4 of the leaves around and among the red sheer bow and 3 leaves clustered in the top right corner of the  card. I then stamped tiny snowflakes from the stamp set above the wreath in Baby Blue Memento ink.  Embellish holly leaves with red gemstones for berries, and use Stickles on the stamped berries and snowflakes to finish your card and give it some sparkle.




Now is the time to start working on your holiday cards.  Don't be like me and wait until the last minute to do your cards, or everyone on your list will be getting theirs for New Years!  Ho Ho Ho!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLOWER CHILD

Hello Everyone!

I have two more cards to make for my birthday's in July. This card was very simple, yet elegant.  I first glued a piece of watercolor paper with one torn and chalked edge on the front of my card base. I then tied a piece of gold thin ribbon through the card and anchored a small bow on the front.  I stamped the "Girl with floral bouquet" from Magenta Stamps on a piece of card stock and colored her with my copic markers. Then I fussy cut the girl out, and used pop-up squares of foam tape to give the card dimension.  To finish, I stamped "happy birthday" with a Club Scrap stamp, and outlined the image with a Spica glitter pen.

The second card I made today, started with a pre-embossed kraft colored base card. I inked over the card with a Candied Yam colored Chalk Ink pad, and then used a baby wipe to remove the ink from the raised embossed design.  I then inked a tag I had decorated previously with the Candied Yam ink pad and adhered it to the front of the card. I tied a small bow from bright pink ribbon and glued it to the top of the tag where the hole is, and then adhered the lady in the lace dress to the left side of the card. The lady in the lace dress is from an Impression Obsession stamp called Intermission.  There are several ladies in the stamp, but sometimes when I color in stamps, I don't care for parts of my coloring.  I just cut out the parts I do like and throw the rest away. I have an envelope book that I made that I keep these images in, to add to a card that needs just a little something more. (I will show how to make one of these envelope books in a future post.) 

I believe I also described the tag in more detail in a previous post, "Tags-to-Go!"  I hope these cards have given you some ideas of cards you can make when you need one in a hurry. The weekend is right around the corner, so have a good one, and maybe be creative, you will feel so much better!

"Good Friend" Collage Card

Good Day, friends! I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I know I sure did. Today I am starting on a month of serious card making. This is one busy birthday month for friends and family.

I am starting with a card for a good friend. This card starts with a 5inch square card base of watercolor paper.I then attached a 4 1/2 inch square of self adhesive cork paper. I purchased a roll of it at the Container Store several years ago, and I guess it's obvious purpose was for kitchen shelf liner. I thought it would be nice for a unique card surface.  Last week I picked up an issue of the Stampers Sampler Magazine at Stamp Antonio Arts, and in it were several cards made using this thin cork product. In some of their samples, they stamped directly on the cork with their rubber stamp. I layered several designs of printed papers on top of the cork, before stamping on the Manila tag in the top left corner.

I then added another layer of the cork, below the thin lavender ribbon. I then stapled the entire cork panel to the front of the card using my "Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher" in all four corners and at the end of the ribbon strip. I also stapled a tiny lavender bow to the top of the "sing" tag. To finish the card I tied a piece of ribbon through the hole in the manilla tag assembly, and stamped my phrase on the tag.

Now I just need to go find or make a square envelope for this card, before I can mail it. A square card costs more to mail than the regular size greeting cards, so I may have to make a trip out to the post office before it starts raining again.  Have a great day, and see you soon!

Quick Cards-part 2

The second card for today, is a paper-pieced tag, used on a card. The supplies needed for this card are;

     1 card base                                  coordinating ribbon
     1 manilla tag                                 several pieces of printed scrapbook paper or wrapping paper

For this technique, take your manilla tag and cover it with medium, or you may even use a glue stick for simplicity. Put some glue on a piece of the tag and cover with a scrap of paper. Turn the tag, apply more adhesive, and adhere another scrap of paper. Continue adhering paper until your tag is covered to your liking. Now you are ready to assemble your card.

I like to work on the tag decoration before I adhere it to the card base.  Glue, or sew elements of the tag together until you are pleased with how it looks. Tie the ribbon around the vertical spine of the card, then adhere the tag to the front of the card with Zots, or foam 3D squares.  Your card is then ready to be signed and mailed.

I want to thank you all for stopping by today, and hope these cards inspire you to get out some supplies and maybe try a fun new technique.  Stay cool, where ever you are, and I'll see you again soon.

Butterfly Love

Hello fellow bloggers,
Summer is busting out all over, here in South Texas.  The temperature is near 100 degrees, and the humidity is close to 100% which makes for sweltering days!  I was outdoors for just a few moments this evening, and saw a beautiful butterfly dancing across my one flowering geranium plant, and I thought about this beautiful card I made over the weekend.

It was very easy to assemble, just a red metallic card base with a strip of beige embossed scrapbook paper from the Mariposa paper line glued across the side. I used my 3cornered decorative corner punch from Fiskers to punch the four corners of the strip.  I then taped and tied a length of red gingham ribbon around the front flap of the card.  The bracketed embellishment was cut from another page of the same Mariposa paper pack and pop-dotted to the top left corner. To complete the front of the card, I stamped the sentiment " I love you more than . . . " which is an AMuse artstamp in the lower right corner.

Butterflies and flowers are a beautiful sign of summer. I hope this card has inspired you to get outdoors and have some fun this summer, but if it is as hot where you live, as it is here where I do, get out your stamps and ink and printed papers and make a few wonderful cards to brighten your day!  Have fun, and I'll talk to you again soon.

All About Me!

Hello fellow paper artists,
Several years ago I attended a class at one of my local scrapbook stores, and took a class on making a scrapbook, "All About Me"!  I filled an 8"X8" scrapbook with pages from the class, and when it was over we persuaded the instructor to teach another series of classes to continue with the theme. When these classes were complete, I still had several blank pages in my album, so whenever I feel like making another page for the album, I do so.

I was designing a page for a challenge at Paper Wings Productions, and using one of their stamp sets; Vintage Technology, I made the following page to submit.  My background paper was an oriental design from the "Far East" paper collection and the center bracket design was from the Paper Wishes Card Topper series. I colored the bracket design and all of the  technological parts with copic markers. I then used one of the Hot Off the Press Label Templates to make accent borders to go around each of the vintage items. I used 3M foam tape to pop up each vintage item in the label to give the page more texture and movement.  For my title strip,  I printed my saying on the computer, and then adhered it to the middle of a punched strip of card stock, using an EKSuccess border punch. I also added a few strips of coordinating ribbon to the right hand corner, and my page was done.

Scrapbooks can be lots of fun, and also helpful when trying to remember occasions and dates. My only problem was waiting 40+ years to start making the album and trying to get my brain activated enough to remember everything I wanted to remember!

I hope I have inspired you to start an album of your memories while they are still fresh in your mind, before they
get all moldy in your brain, like mine.  Have a great day!

Hello . . . . is anyone out there?

Hello,
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I was busy making a very good friend of mine a special gift to send to her. I know many people are no longer in need of what we used to call in the "olden days", a pocket telephone book.  She recently lost her cell phone, along with all her "numbers." She was in a tizzy rushing around trying to find telephone numbers for all of the people she had in her phone. "If I hadn't tossed out my old phone book, I could just get them from there!" she said.

I took card stock and made two covers about 3"X5" and added some ribbon pieces for decoration. Then using a clear stamp set from Paper Wings Productions called "Vintage Technology" stamped the "old timey" telephone on a scrap of white card stock. Using my Tim Holtz Distress Markers, I colored in the phone with an olive green and old paper color combination, and used a 3M foam dot to adhere it to the front. In the same stamp set was the word "hello", so I used it to stamp the words all around the card.  I made a title strip with handwritten words "Number Please" and pop dotted it to the top of the book.

For the inside, I copied some generic lined paper on my computer, trimmed it to size, and adhered it to the inside so that names and numbers and other information could be entered into the book.

New technology is wonderful, but sometimes the "old timey things" are handy to have. Even when we think we are "techno savvy!" Until next time, call a friend you haven't seen in awhile, and let them know how much you miss them.  It will make you both feel so good!