Teacher Appreciaton Gifts

These turned out SO stinkin' cute!!! I decided, some time ago, that I was going to make teacher appreciation gifts for the kids to give to their teachers at the end of the shool year. I got the template for the post it note holder from Dawn Griffith and I ADORE these things!!! They were super easy to make. I found the mini gel pens at Staples yesterday, which is also where I bought the jumbo paperclips to make the bookmark from. I used the 'Tart & Tangy' stamp set and colored directly on the stamp using my SU! markers before stamping the image on Whisper White cardstock. I stamped directly over that image using Versamark and then added Iridescent Ice embossing powder before heat setting. I punched the image out using the 1 1/4" circle punch and matted it on a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock punched with the 1 3/8" circle punch. Those two pieces were adhered to Real Red cardstock, which was punched using the scalloped circle punch. I added the white dots to the scallops with my Signo Gel Pen. I added a piece of 'East Coast Prep' designer series paper to my post-it holder and then added the scalloped image using Stampin' Dimensionals. I punched two holes at the top and ran a piece of Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon through and tied it in a knot in the front. (Click on photos to view larger images)

The bookmark was made by using a piece identical to the one on the front of the post-it note holder. I made two of them and adhered them to each side of the paperclip using Stampin' Dimensionals. The last step was tying a piece of Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon around the clip. Too cute!!!

My flowers are in full bloom. The tulips and jonquils, and azaleas have come and gone, but the roses, wild strawberries, and mock orange are here. I planted two climbing rose bushes next to our patio last year. They did well last year, but didn't have nearly as many buds as they do this year. Between the two bushes, there are over 35 buds on them right now. Here are a couple of the ones that have already bloomed.

I wasn't sure how wild strawberries would taste, but they looked just yummy, so I tried one. They are much more pretty than tasty!! They weren't bad... just didn't have any flavor. I'll just have to enjoy their beauty while they're here!

This is the mock orange, as is the next close-up photo. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous and smell wonderful!

Thanks for visiting today!! I'm going to go work on my Father's day cards for the upcoming class on Thursday night. Enjoy your holiday weekend!! Toodles!

A Quick Card

I made this card really quickly, after work today. It was done quickly because I didn't get home until 6 pm and American Idol will be coming on at 7 pm. I started out using the color challenge from SCS this week (Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, & Certainly Celery). I also wanted to use today's sketch challenge, but this stamp set just doesn't require much "dressing up" in my opinion. "Elegant simplicity" comes to mind when I think of this set, which is actually called "Essence of Love". I started out with a card base of Blue Bayou and then added a layer of Certainly Celery. My image was stamped on Whisper White using Soft Sky classic ink. I stamped the image again, just offset from the first one, in Blue Bayou. It gives the image the appearance of a shadow (and you just thought my photo was blurry!). I stamped the sentiment from the same set in Blue Bayou and matted that piece on a piece of Soft Sky cardstock and then a piece of Blue Bayou cardstock. I added a piece of Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon and WAH-LAH... we have a beautifully, simply, elegant card. I wasn't sure how I'd like this color combo, but I like it A LOT with this set.

Ok... gotta run... American Idol will be on in five minutes and I've got to get some popcorn made!! Toodles!

Father's Day Card Frenzy

Since the next PMS (Paper-crafters Monthly Support group) get-together is only one week before Father's Day and involves making a recipe tin, I thought I'd do something else so we could get our Father's Day cards done. I will be set up so you can stop by and make any or all of three different card designs between 6 pm and 8 pm on Thursday, May 29th. If you want to make two of each card, you're more than welcome to do that, as well. The cost will be $1 per card, so you can make as few or as many as you'd like. You don't have to be there AT 6 pm... just come when you can between 6 pm and 8 pm. It will be very informal and will be lots of fun. We'll be using chipboard on at least two of the designs so you can see a couple of different ways to use it. Chipboard is 25% off during the month of May with a $35 order, so time is running out. I'd love to see you if you have time to stop by!!

Please call or e-mail if you need directions to my house.

I'm Connected!!!

I can see some of you right now... you have one eyebrow raised, saying "That girl has NEVER been connected - at least not connected RIGHT"! My internet access has been restored and I'm no longer isolated from the real world!! Ok, ok... I had internet access from 8 am to 5 pm every day at work and then brought my laptop home so I could do some surfing on my own time. I guess I wasn't totally isolated, but it wasn't my world as I'm used to it! My good friend, Tom, gets all the credit for getting me back to blogland. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Tom... from the bottom of my big toe!!


Before I get to any projects, I wanted to share this picture of one of my babies. Wesson (of Smith & Wesson) looks like he had a wreck with our front door. NOT SO! He, actually, fell asleep like this. I had the front door open yesterday afternoon and he decided to nap in the sunshine. The white thingy is the door, if you hadn't figured that out yet. His right paw was under the door and his nose was literally against the door. Almost looks like he fell asleep mid-play! Silly rascal!






On to my most recent creations...

This card was made using last week's SCS sketch challenge. This is "traitor" (anything "traitor" is anything that didn't come from Stampin' Up!) cardstock. I have a big pile of it that I need to get rid of. I don't know why I thought making one card would make a dent in the pile. I still have a stack of the "traitor" stuff that's 8 inches deep, and that's only the 8 1/2" X 11" stack. My stack of "traitor" patterned paper is bigger than that! Anyhooty, I stamped some "traitor" red with Real Read classic ink using the "In The Stars" stamp set. That's "traitor" ribbon, too. The rocket, from "Pun Fun" was stamped in Jet Black StazOn and then colored with my Sakura Stardust pens. I punched the stars using the two star punches from SU! and adhered them with Stampin' Dimensionals.

You can see the dimension in this pic. The sentiment is also from "Pun Fun" and was punched using the SU! oval punches.







There's a sad story that goes with this card. Our neighbors, across the street, lost their dog on Saturday evening. They were enjoying the evening in their front yard, around 9:30 pm, where their kids and the dog were playing. Curtis and the kids were in our living room watching a movie and I was in my craft room making cards. I remember hearing Curtis say "someone's been hit" and I ran for the front door. The kids across the street play in the street VERY frequently. The teenagers skateboard out there, but I'd never known them to do it after dark. I've NEVER seen the smaller children in the street. Their Boxer was always on the front porch or not very far from it, so it never crossed my mind that she was the one who had been hit. Thank goodness, it wasn't one of the kids, but I know much a dog can be part of the family, too. I couldn't sleep that night and found myself staring out our front window at 2:30 am on Sunday praying for their family. They all saw it happen and I know how devastated I was, so I can't begin to imagine their pain. Anyway, this card was for them. I wanted to do something for them, so badly, but there's really nothing we CAN do, except to let them know that we care and are thinking about them and praying for them. This card was CASE'd from a past issue of Cards Magazine (I think... It might have been PaperCrafts, now that I think about it.)

This card, also uses the SCS sketch challenge from last week. There is NOTHING "traitor" on this card! The card base is Chocolate Chip and the DSP is "Outlaw", which retired last year. The images were stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock with Chocolate Chip craft ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I used the ticket corner punch on the Sage Shadow matte and added a Really Rust matte under that. I punched the sentiment out using the Designer Label punch and then cut the "humps" off with my paper snips. I used the 1 1/4" circle punch to cut a Sage Shadow piece and the 1 3/8" circle punch to cut a piece of Really Rust. The sentiment was adhered to the top of those two circles. The ribbon is the Chocolate Chip poly-twill from the Occasions Mini Catalog. That reminds me... if you want to order anything from the Occasions Mini, you only have until June 30th. There's nothing I DON'T like from the Occasions Mini, but that ribbon is SPECTACULAR!! You can feel the quality and it lays just perfectly.

That's all I have for now. I've got to go get busy on something else! Toodles!!

Top 10 Reasons To Buy Rubber Stamps

1. It helps keep the economy going. It is our patriotic duty to support rubber farmers, lumber mills, rubber stamp shops and catalog order dealers.
2. It is less expensive and more fun that psychiatric care.
3. I'm participating in a contest- The one who dies with the most rubber stamps wins.
4. They keep without refrigeration, you don't have to cook them to enjoy them, you never have to feed them, change them, wipe their noses or walk them.
5. Because I'm worth it.
6. When the Big Earthquake comes, all the rubber stamp shops might be swallowed into the ground and never be seen again.
7. Stress from dealing with the Rubber Stamp Control Officer (DH) made me do it.
8. It's not immoral, illegal, or fattening and it calms the nerves, gratifies the soul, and makes me feel good.
9. Buy rubber stamps now, before your husband retires and goes with you on all your shopping expeditions.
10. A stamp a day is all the rubber stamp shops of America ask.

I was wrong!

I'll be the first to admit that I was wrong. The internet problem IS NOT my AT&T DSL connection... it's MY PC!!! I know this because I brought my laptop home from work tonight and have been using the same DSL connection on it that I normally use on my PC. It works fine on the laptop. I've run all types of anti-virus and anti-spyware against it and everything comes back clean. I've reset my internet explorer settings to the defaults thinking that MAYBE something was changed there. It's just the weirdest thing... I reboot my PC and I have internet explorer for about 5 minutes. Then, all of a sudden, I get a "page cannot be displayed" error and it's finished. I'm frazzled trying to figure out what the problem might be. That just tops off my sinus infection. Besides having those things to deal with, I have to do an on-site internet banking upgrade for work this week, so I'll be out of town on Thursday and Friday. I still have to get my house cleaned before I leave for work on Friday because I'm having a Pampered Chef party Friday evening. I HAVE to be back here no later than 6 pm! It's wearing me out just thinking about it.

Sorry I don't have any new projects to post. I do have a few to share, but this computer glitch has really put a kink in my tail!! :) I don't think I'll be able to focus on anything else until it's resolved. AARRRGGGHHHHH!!! If you know of any techie braniacs, send 'em my way... I need Internet Explorer help!!! Toodles!

Darned Computers!!

I would love to post some pictures of projects I've been working on, but I'm having a problem with my internet connectivity. We had storms last night and ever since then, I can only keep my internet connection for about five minutes after rebooting. Tests run on my modem and connection come back smelling like a rose and after three calls to AT&T my problem is still not resolved. They say they'll have to charge me because the problem MUST be on my end. I'm having trouble with that one since this is the same problem I was having this morning when they had a recording stating that service was interrupted in the Springfield, MO area and would be restored by 12:45 PM CST today. So far, my connectivity hasn't changed since that recording was made. I've decided that I'm just going to unplug the entire PC and have one of my techie friends at work look at it this week. I could, quite possibly, go crazy without internet connectivity. I have several projects to share but, unfortunately, I won't be posting any until I can get my stinkin' computer fixed. If you've recently sent an e-mail to me and I haven't responded, I apologize. I can't keep a connection long enough to do that, either. Hopefully, I'll get it straightened out in the next several days. Until then, please bear with me!!

A Challenging Card

I didn't have much time tonight for being creative because tonight was the first night of my self-defense classes. THAT, I must say, was AWESOME! I'm ready to kick some butt! :)

I did manage to find time between work and my class to make this card. This is a combination of this week's color and sketch challenges on SCS. My card base is a piece of Soft Sky cut to 8" X 9 1/4". I scored it at 4" so my card size is 9 1/4" X 4". I stamped the front of the card with the swirly stamp from 'Baroque Motifs' in Soft Sky. I then scored the front of the card, along the long edge, at 3/4" and folded that back. I used sticky strip to make sure it stayed put. I used some scrap pieces of Purely Pomegranate and Basic Black to make scalloped strips, using my corner rounder punch without the guide. I stamped the bird from the 'Always' stamp set in Purely Pomegranate on Whisper White cardstock and then masked it to stamp the branches from the same set in Soft Sky. I cut that piece out using my Spellbinders Nestabilities. I also used the Nesties to cut a Purely Pomegranate Oval and a Basic Black scalloped oval for matting. If you think you'd like to have the Nesties and don't want to pay full price for them, check out this site. They'll send a coupon code to you once a month for 40% off the price of one item and you can use it on the Nesties. You'll have to register with them, but that part is absolutely free. Their customer service has been excellent and I haven't had any problems with the product. That's how I've built my collection... one set a month.


Here are some close-ups since the pics don't do the card justice. Hopefully, you can see a little more detail here. I've made a couple more cards this week and hope to have them posted by the end of the weekend. Check back with me later!

Toodles!!