PMS Was Fun!!!

Before I get to the really important stuff, I thought I'd share a comment that someone left for me regarding the previous post. The comment was posted anonymously so I don't have any idea who said it, but it reads... "maybe you can take some hair from the dog and paste it to your husband's head." Curtis and I both found that statement to be quite amusing!! I think he's had fun with his new "do". His nieces and nephew, however, think "Uncle Curtis looks horrible!!!!"

PMS was a blast this last weekend. Here are the projects we made. This first photo is a mailbox that we decorated using Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper, cardstock, stamps, and ribbon. Everyone's was a little different depending on the paper they chose and they were ALL adorable!!







The next four cards are 3" X 3" Valentine's. They'd work perfect for kids' Valentine's. They also fit perfectly in the mailboxes we decorated.

These two cards are full-sized greeting cards.

The next two photos are small treat bags filled with jelly beans.

I think everyone enjoyed the projects we did and we're all looking forward to getting together again next month. I'll be sure to post details regarding the date and time a couple of weeks beforehand.

In an effort to look like Bruce Willis (because I think Bruce is just pretty darned hot), my husband had his head shaved before I got home from work today. HHHHHMMMMMM....

PMS at Jen's!!!

PMS At Jen’s!!
(That’s Paper, Mailboxes, & Stamps!)

You are invited to a fun-filled afternoon of stamping at Jen’s house. We’ll be making two full-sized greeting cards, four 3”X3” valentine’s (think kid’s valentine cards), two treat bags, and altering some cutie-patootie mailboxes for Valentine’s Day!

When: Saturday, January 26th from 2-5 p.m.
Where: Jen’s House
What to bring: Scissors, adhesive, and paper trimmer (if you already have these things)
Cost: $10.00

RSVP no later than Tuesday, January 22nd. I only have room for 8 attendees, and spots will be reserved on a “first-come, first-served” basis. Payment is expected in advance to hold your place. You can RSVP by calling or e-mailing me at jen_barrett@sbcglobal.net.

I look forward to seeing you there and HAPPY STAMPING!!!

P.S. Did I mention that there would be drawings for door prizes???

Please call 417-343-5448 if you have any questions!

Yes... I'm Still Kickin'...

I haven't posted for a while because I'm just almost embarrassed to admit that my throat hasn't started feeling much better yet. When I talked to the nurse at my doctor's office on Monday, though, she said I could expect another week of this. WOO-HOO!!!! (Do you sense the sarcasm here???) Needless to say, this is getting REALLY old, REALLY fast!!

I've been creating some cards this week, but can't share all of them with you quite yet. I'll be having a class, later this month, where we'll make some of those same cards and I'm trying to keep them a surprise for my attendees. This card is the only relatively successful card I could come up with today and I'm still not 100% happy with the outcome. Splitcoast had a color challenge on Tuesday. The challenge was to use Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi, and Barely Banana together. If you're familiar with the term "brain fart", you know what I mean when I say I had one. The first several attempts at using these colors is not blog worthy and I'm almost embarrassed to show them to my waste basket. Anyway, this is the best I could do today. "Momma said there'd be days like this"... isn't that how the saying goes?? For this card, I used the three colors mentioned above, along with Whisper White cardstock. The flourishes were stamped off on scratch paper first and then stamped on my Whisper White cardstock for a softer appearance. The sentiment was stamped using full color in Blue Bayou. The flower was stamped using Jet Black StazOn and colored with Blue Bayou ink and a blender pen and a Barely Banana SU marker. The leaves were stamped on Wild Wasabi cardstock using Wild Wasabi ink. I cut the leaves and flower out (freehand) and applied Dazzling Diamonds with a glue pen. I added an SU Rhinestone Brad for just a little more bling. The row of flowers, at the bottom, is stamped on Whisper White cardstock and colored, just as I colored the main image. It's mounted on a strip of Blue Bayou, which is also what I used for my card base. I'll try to do better tomorrow... I promise!!

Still Feeling Puny

My throat is still very painful today but I'm tired of saying that, so that's all I have to say about it.


I only made one card today. Splitcoast had a challenge today that I thought I'd tackle. I almost always use Whisper White or Very Vanilla Cardstock when making a card. The challenge today was to NOT use either of those colors. SSSSSOOOOOO, here is what I came up with...
This card uses the "In The Spotlight" set, which was a hostess set from the last catty (Fall Winter 2007). I used Blue Bayou cardstock for all the matting and Blue Bayou ink for all the stamping. The base layer has a piece of Groovy Guava cardstock mounted on it. The next panel has a layer of Soft Sky CS that I stamped using Blue Bayou ink for my background. The panel at the bottom uses three circles punched with the 1" circle punch in Soft Sky. The stamped images were punched using the 3/4 " circle punch. The small top panel contains two flowers stamped from the same stamp set and then highlighted with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The bottom image was punched out using the scallop circle punch and the top image used the 5-petal flower punch. After the top flower had been stamped, punched, and glittered, I added a blue rhinestone brad. Both images are mounted on Stampin' Dimensionals. Hope you like it!!

Cards From My BFF's

I just got my mail today and had two handmade cards from my BFF's, Joni and Christy. The one on the left is from Christy and the one on the right is from Joni. Thank you for thinking of me! I LOVE handmade things and these cards are extra special because they come from extra special people!!! I think I'm feeling better already! ;)

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Too much of a good thing is a GOOD THING!! The challenge on Splitcoast today was to use flowers. Think I used enough? If you click on the photo, you can see it up close and personal. Every flower has Dazzling Diamonds on it, so it's super-duper sparkly!! I LOVE bling!! I was having a hard time deciding what colors to use on this card, so I just used the colors from Tuesday's color challenge. I guess this would be a "double feature" card. Anyway, the stamp set I used on this card is called "Time Well Spent" and is a level 3 hostess set. That means that if you host a Stampin' Up! party and have a minimum of $500 in sales from that party, this stamp set could be yours ABSOLUTELY FREE!! If your sales total $500, you'd also receive another $60 in free products from the current catalog. You don't HAVE to have sales of $500 to host a party, either. As long as your sales total $150 or more, you'll receive FREE stuff. The higher your sales, though, the more benefits you receive. Lucky for you, you don't even have to sell a thing! That's what I'm here for! Okay... back to my card. I used Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, and Real Red cardstock for my base. The sentiment is stamped using Taken With Teal Craft Ink and then heat embossed using Irridescent Ice embossing powder. The flowers were all stamped with Jet Black StazOn on Whisper White cardstock and were colored with SU markers in Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, and Real Red. After they were colored, I cut each one of them out using my handy-dandy SU Paper Snips. Those things will make the tiniest of cuts and are super sharp. Once all the flowers were colored and cut out, I used a glue pen to apply Dazzling Diamonds to each of them. I then adhered them to my card randomly, using SU Dimensionals on some of them to make them POP.

Well, it's day six after my surgery and the pain is still not any better. I slept quite a bit more last night than I have most nights, so that's a good thing. I'm still eating a really mushy diet. I tried mashed potatoes one night, but I do better with foods that are not quite that solid. I haven't lost any weight yet, which is disappointing, so I'll just keep trying. Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, flowers, and cards. Everything is VERY much appreciated!!

Two More Cards

I finished two more cards this afternoon. Obviously, I was unable to sleep at all today, so I'm counting on a full night's sleep tonight. I used the 'Zoofari' and 'Celebrate Everything' stamp sets for this card. The card base is Almost Amethyst matted in Basic Black. The panel at the bottom is Certainly Celery DSP and is also matted in Basic Black.

"DSP by Jen" - Okay... it's official... I'm a stamping addict. I can't look at anything and not wonder what would happen if I put ink on it. So, there I was... sitting at my desk when I noticed a piece of bubble wrap lying there. I had to wonder, "how can I use that on a card?". Then it occurred to me that I should rub ink pads over it in colors that coordinated with my card and then stamp it on some Whisper White cardstock. So, I used Pretty In Pink first, cleaned that off and then used Close to Cocoa. I think it makes a pretty neato background paper!!

Christmas Photos

I realized, sometime in the middle of the night last night, that I hadn't posted a link to any photos from our Christmas celebrations. We had a wonderful time with our family in Iowa, although the trip was much too short. We were "treated" to snow while we were there and temperatures that weren't meant for human enjoyment. It was even too cold for Ernie - he'd bound out the door and right into a snow drift, where he'd promptly squat and jump back out as quickly as he'd gone in. Alice and I went shopping at a little boutique in Prairie City called "All Around The House". It was a crafty little place, so it was right up my alley! I found a really pretty red crock and red dessert bowls to match my kitchen. I don't think I've used another bowl for anything since we got back home. They've come in especially handy since I'm on the liquid tonsillectomy diet. I really think everything tastes better when eaten from a red dessert bowl! Here are pictures from our visit to Iowa:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=nos1qyw.cfp1j0ew&x=0&y=ghcrsr

We spend Christmas Eve with family here, in Missouri. Instead of buying gifts for everyone, this year, we had a "Chinese Christmas". That was, especially, fun so I hope we continue to do that in years to come. Mom and Dad had their house decorated really neat for the holidays. They had made luminaries from paper bags with stars punched in them and had placed them along their driveway. They were beautiful!! The decorations inside were gorgeous, too. Everyone brought "snacky" food and there was still a LOT left even after we were all stuffed! Here are pictures from our Christmas celebrations at my parents' house:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=nos1qyw.69m0z8bc&x=0&y=-9pim5x

Here is another card I made, this morning, from today's sketch challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. The designer paper is from Hobby Lobby (Memory Block) and I used SU cardstock in Tempting Turquoise, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Blush Blossom, and Whisper White. The bird was stamped on designer paper, cut out, and then pieced over the same image stamped on Whisper White CS. The flowers are from the same stamp set (A Little Birdie Told Me) and are colored with SU markers. The ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.

Can't Sleep... AGAIN!

Yes... it IS 3:45 AM. Yes... I AM up making cards and doing laundry. I was awoken by pain at 2:05 AM, which was right on time since I was due for another dose of pain medication at 2:30 AM. I didn't want to take it too early, so decided I'd just stay up for a half hour until it was time. In the meantime, I started a load of laundry. That didn't take long, so I logged onto Splitcoast Stampers to see if the sketch challenge had been posted for today. I was delighted to find that the challenge had already been presented and the card to the left is my first presentation of this sketch. I say "first" because I'm sure I'll be back up in several hours, unable to sleep. Well, I'm going back to bed... hopefully for more than two to three hours this time!!

Forgot a card...

I left a card out when I was adding them to my earlier post. I made this one yesterday using Night of Navy and Whisper White cardstock. The rest of the paper used was from an economy pack I purchased at Hobby Lobby. I think it was called "Memory Block". These stamps are from the new "A Beautiful Thing" set. I'm anxious to use this set more. Thanks for looking!!

I'm Still "Lit Up"

If you're contemplating a tonsillectomy as an adult, just for the fun of it, you might want to give me a call first. This is the fourth day after surgery and the pain has been a little worse each day. I've GOT to be getting close to the point where it starts getting a little better each day. The good news is that I was able to sleep more today than I have since the surgery. Between hurting so bad and taking hydrocodone, I haven't been able to sleep for very long intervals. I took two naps today and I think the second one may have lasted a couple of hours. During my hours awake, I've been able to work on cards and do some crocheting. I really think my creativity soars when I'm taking pain killers. I think it makes me slender and beautiful, too. WHATEVER!! Anyway, here are some of the cards I've worked on over the last couple of days.

This card was made using Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, and Very Vanilla Cardstock. The steam isn't very visible, but I stamped it in VersaMark and then heat embossed it with Irridescent Ice EP. The whipped cream on top of my latte is painted on with fabric puff paint. After using the heat gun on it, it looked just like whipped cream!

This card is made using Basic Black, River Rock, and Purely Pomegranate CS. I layered a piece of Holiday Harmony DSP on the bottom of the card. The image is stamped in River Rock ink using the Stem Silhouettes stamp set and then I stamped an image from Sincere Salutations in Purely Pomegranate over the first image. The ribbon is the wide satin Purely Pomegranate ribbon from the SU Holiday Mini catalog.



The next card is one I did in response to a color challenge on Splitcoast Stampers today. The challenge was to use Taken with Teal, Real Red, and Certainly Celery CS together. These are not colors that I would have chosen to use together, but I like the way the card turned out. The polka dot paper is from the Petals & Paisley DSP. The flower and butterfly were stamped and cut out and then mounted on Stampin' Dimensionals. I used Dazzling Diamonds on the cut-outs, so this card is much more dazzling in real life!


Well, I can't take any more pain medication for another hour and a half, so I'm going to find something to do to occupy my mind so MAYBE I won't think about how bad I'm hurting. I think I'll just take another nap!! TTFN!!