One Last Card For The Day

Yep... I've got the fever again. After posting my last blog entry, I headed straight back for the stamp room to see if I could come up with anything else. This card has a base of Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie cardstock. (Click on photo to view larger image) I added another layer of Basic Black and Orchid Opulence. The Orchid Opulence was stamped with the stars stamp from "Haunting Halloween" and Basic Black Classic Ink. The cat and the rest of the sentiment are from the same stamp set and were stamped in Jet Black StazOn ink on watercolor paper. The image was watercolored with Stampin' Up! markers and an AquaPainter. "Witching you..." was stamped on Pumpkin Pie cardstock in Basic Black classic ink and punched out using the large oval punch. I matted it on a piece of Basic Black cardstock that was punched using the designer label punch. Ribbon is the striped Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon from Stampin' Up! Toodles!

Gettin' My Mojo Back

Many of you know that I've been in the process of moving since August 15th. I know that's been a LONG time, but I've had a few setbacks during that time. The same day of my last post, I found out that the chimney in the new house leaked. I got that fixed and on that same day, my attic fan sucked one of the shutter louvres into the attic and basically tied it in a knot. It is NOT salvagable. I haven't had any major catastrophes since then, so HOPEFULLY that's the last of it for a while.

My friend, Amy, came over yesterday so we could work on getting some swaps done for our upcoming Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar in Kansas City on the 26th of this month. Amy accomplished a LOT more than I did. After taking a break from card-making, it's taking a while to get my mojo back. Here are a few things I've worked on lately...



This card has a Pretty In Pink card base. The DSP on the bottom of the card is Berry Bliss from the Spring Summer 2008 collection and retired with the release of the current Idea Book & Catalog. I stamped the hippo from "Bundled In Love" three times - twice on Berry Bliss paper and once on Purely Pomegranate Cardstock. I cut each of the three pieces out (body, head, and ribbon) and pieced them together. The head was mounted on dimensionals, giving it a 3-D look. The ribbon is "traitor" ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I used my Spellbinders Nestabilities to cut the rectangles for matting.

It seems like I always need a masculine birthday card and never seem to have a stash. I have plenty of cards stashed that would be great for anyone EXCEPT a man, so I made several of these the other day to keep on hand. The card base is Chocolate Chip. I used the Outlaw DSP (retired a year ago) and matted it on Sage Shadow cardstock. The ribbon is Chocolate Chip Twill. I stamped the mustang from the "Wanted" stamp set once on Very Vanilla cardstock (image on the far right). I inked the same stamp up again and stamped it off once on my grid paper and then again just behind my first image. I inked that stamp up again and stamped it off twice on grid paper before stamping it behind the second image. It gives the card the appearance of motion and is my favorite technique for this stamp set. The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip Classic ink using the "Happy Everything" stamp set.

This was an attempt at a swap. I don't know if it will be a swap or not. It was fairly time consuming, although I really like the way it turned out. The base of the card is Pumpkin Pie cardstock. I used Summer Picnic DSP and added it to a layer of Old Olive. The ribbon is striped Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain. The images were stamped on watercolor paper using Jet Black StazOn Ink. I used markers and an AquaPainter to watercolor the pumpkins. The image was matted on a piece of Old Olive cardstock and adhered to the front of the card. The leaf is from the "Seasonal Icons" set. I colored the stamp directly with my Pumpkin Pie marker. I then "thumped" the stamp with Old Olive and Close to Cocoa markers so the leaf would be multi-colored. I stamped that image on watercolor paper and punched it out using the 1" circle punch. I stamped the leaf again, directly over the original image, using Versamark ink and added Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I heat set the powder and then layered the image over a 1 1/4" circle of Old Olive and a 1 3/8" circle of Pumpkin Pie cardstock. That piece was added to my card front using Stampin' Dimensionals. Turned out pretty cutie-patootie if you ask me.

Guess I'll head back to the stamp room to work on gettin' my mojo back. Toodles!

Almost Back...

I'm almost back to our regularly scheduled programming. Moving is hard work!! I'm hoping to have my stamp room ready for business by the end of the upcoming weekend. I'm planning to hold a stamping event sometime during the month and will be e-mailing invitations for that event. If you aren't on my mailing list and would like to receive those invitations, please e-mail me at Jen_Barrett at sbcglobal dot net (I type "at" and "dot" out to avoid spam since spammers have software tools that scan websites for e-mail addresses).

The recent purchase of a home and the move have gone relatively well, except...

I had my "new homeowner's initiation" last night. Here's how it went down. I went to dinner with my brother and sister-in-law (and Miss Em) immediately after work yesterday. By the time I got home I was exhausted and needed to unbutton my pants, if you know what I mean. I was on call for work until 7 AM this morning, so I wanted to get settled in before I started getting calls. I changed into my jammies around 7:45 PM, made a cappuccino, and started a load of laundry. I headed back to the living room with my cappuccino to watch the tube and check my e-mail. About 15 minutes after I sat down I could hear water running, but it sounded like it was coming from the full bath which is on the opposite end of the house from the washer. "Weird", I thought... "have the cats learned to turn the water on by themselves?" (they like to drink FRESH water from the faucet in the bathroom sink). By the time I got to the bathroom, there was water standing in the floor and it was still coming out of the toilet. Unfortunately, all my towels (except ONE (yes... I'm yelling)) were in the washing machine. I knew I had an old blanket in the garage that I'd been using to wrap things in as I moved them, so I headed that way. By the time I got to the kitchen, I could see the water running into that room from the laundry room. "What the..." I turned around and headed out the front door and used my garage door opener to get in to get the blanket. I headed BACK to the main bath and threw the blanket in the floor to start absorbing SOME of the water. I called the plumber in a panic and explained what was happening. The guy on the other end of the line said "Do you want someone to come out tonight, ma'am?". WELL, DUH!?!?!?! I then called Curtis to ask him to bring some towels and anything else he might have to sop the water up with. He got to the house about 20 minutes later and helped me get things cleaned up. Clorox doesn't make bleach strong enough in my opinion. I was frazzled by the time we got everything cleaned up. Fortunately, the sewage that backed up into the house wasn't bad as far as sewage is concerned. I never noticed an odor, thank goodness. If I had, there probably would have been other things to clean up.

Apparently, the sewage pipe had backed up when the washer was draining causing the water (and all the other things that go down the drain and toilets) to come back up into the toilets and the bathtub. The plumber got there at 9:50 PM and cleaned the sewage pipe out. He said he never found a blockage, so I need to call and make an appointment to have them come out with a camera that they can run through the pipe to look for obstructions. I guess it's a colonoscopy for your yard. Anyway, I guess I've been initiated. HOPEFULLY, that was the ENTIRE initiation. I don't think I could take much more!

Oh... to top things off, I had an appointment with the exterminator this morning. I had it on my calendar for the 9th - my bad. You have no idea how much of an organization freak I am (ok... maybe SOME of you do), so to be disorganized just makes my entire life total chaos. To start my day off right, today, my alarm didn't go off. I specifically remember setting it last night and double checking the time. At 6:40 AM my cell phone rings. It's the bug lady apologizing for not calling yesterday to remind me of my 7 AM exterminator appointment TODAY (yep... yelling again). Well, color me happy... I have 20 minutes to get out of bed and make myself presentable for the bug guy!!! I went ahead and called work to say I'd be late. I was just hoping I didn't have any other unexpected surprises that kept me from going to work at all today! The bug guy finished up around 8 AM and I was only an hour late to work... not a big deal.

These things happen in three's, right???? The plumbing, the alarm (or lack thereof), and the bug guy... that's it, right??? I'm terrified to do the next load of laundry, but you can be certain that I'll start it when I have several hours and lots of towels and bleach to devote to the task.

I'll be back soon with some crafty projects to share and some class times for this month. Toodles!

I'm Coming Back... I Promise!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I'm in the process of moving and have TONS of projects to share with you. I've just been a little pressed for time, lately, and haven't been able to post. Once I get moved, I'll get all caught up, though. I PROMISE!! Until then, here's a little something fun.

OREO PERSONALITY TEST

You eat the oreo ~

1. The whole thing all at once.
2. One bite at a time
3. Slow and methodical nibbles examining the results of each bite afterwards.
4. In little feverous nibbles.
5. Dunked in some liquid (milk, coffee...).
6. Twisted apart, the inside, then the cookie.
7. Twisted apart, the inside, and toss the cookie.
8. Just the cookie, not the inside.
9. I just like to lick them, not eat them.
10. I don't have a favorite way because I don't like Oreos.

READ the results:

Your Personality:

1. The whole thing: This means you consume life with abandon, you are fun to be with, exciting, carefree with some hint of recklessness. You are totally irresponsible. No one should trust you with their children.

2. One bite at a time: You are lucky to be one of the 5.4 billion other people who eat their Oreos this very same way. Just like them, you lack imagination, but that's okay, not to worry, you're normal.

3. Slow and Methodical: You follow the rules. You're very tidy and orderly. You're very meticulous in every detail with every thing you do to the point of being anal retentive and irritating to others. Stay out of the fast lane if you're only going to go the speed limit.

4. Feverous Nibbles: Your boss likes you because you get your work done quickly. You always have a million things to do and never enough time to do them. Mental breakdowns and suicides run in your family. Valium and Ritalin would do you good.

5. Dunked: Every one likes you because you are always up beat. You like to sugar coat unpleasant experiences and rationalize bad situations into good ones. You are in total denial about the shambles you call a life. You have a propensity towards narcotic addiction.

6. Twisted apart, the inside, and then the cookie: You have a highly curious nature. You take pleasure in breaking things apart to find out how they work, though not always able to put them back together, so you destroy all the evidence of your activities. You deny your involvement when things go wrong. You are a compulsive liar and exhibit deviant, if not criminal, behavior.

7. Twisted apart, the inside, and then toss the cookie: You are good at business and take risk that pay off. You take what you want and throw the rest away. You are greedy, selfish, mean, and lack feelings for others. You should be ashamed of yourself. But that's ok, you don't care, you got yours.

8. Just the cookie, not the inside: You enjoy pain.

9. I just like to lick them, not eat them: Stay away from small furry animals and seek professional medical help - immediately.

10. I don't have a favorite way, I don't like Oreo cookies: You probably come from a rich family, and like to wear nice things, and go to up-scale restaurants. You are particular and fussy about the things you buy, own, and wear. Things have to be just right. You like to be pampered. You are a priss.

Back From Convention

Well, I'm back from the Stampin' Up! 2008 Convention and I'M POOPED!!! It was an exciting and fun-filled trip to say the least. I have uploaded photos to my Kodak Gallery for your viewing pleasure! ;) I uploaded them into two different albums. This first link is for all you stamp fanatics who could care less about the sight-seeing and just want to see some stamping: Convention pics. ...And this link is for those of you who don't really give a flip about stamping and want to see my sight-seeing pics: Downtown Salt Lake City Sight-Seeing. I'm absolutely worn out from the trip, but I'm looking forward to sharing some new things with you at a catalog preview. Stop by this Saturday sometime between 2 PM and 4 PM to preview the upcoming catalog and make a couple of things using new stamp sets and accessories. If you need directions to my house, please e-mail me at jen_barrett@sbcglobal.net. I look forward to seeing you and to sharing more details about Convention 2008. Toodles!

Me & Weird Al

Curtis and I went to Cheddar's last night for dinner and guess who was sitting just four tables from us??? It was Weird Al Yankovic. I'm kicking myself for not asking for his autograph, but that's hindsight, huh? My rearend DID touch his table as we walked by, but that's only because the aisle was narrow and... well... my rearend is kinda wide! :) Anyway, Weird Al is performing at the Ozark Empire Fair tonight which explains his visit to Springtown. He was alone last night and was, obviously, trying to keep a low profile. I was (and still am) a big fan of his work, especially in the 80's. He had some GREAT spoofs on some Michael Jackson songs. Well, that's my claim to fame... my rearend touched Weird Al's table.

Vanessa and I leave for convention tomorrow. Our flight leaves at 3:05 PM and we couldn't be more excited! I think Vanessa was packed and ready to leave when I talked to her yesterday. I still have a few things to gather up before we depart, but am mostly ready to go. I'm sure I'll have lots to share when I get back. I'm taking 160 swaps so, hopefully, I'll have lots of swaps to share with you, as well as photos, tips, tricks, and new products.

I THINK I spotted Tripod this weekend. There was a rabbit in a yard two houses down from ours that appeared to have an odd hop. It looked like it's back leg stuck out to the side, so maybe Tripod IS okay. I just know he's not coming home for oatmeal anymore. They just grow up SO fast! Toodles!

2008-2009 In Colors Sneak Peek

Just thought I'd share a sneak peek of the new "In Colors" that will be coming out in the new Stampin' Up! catalog in August. I received my new supplies earlier this week and have been playing with them a little, although not as much as I'd like. This summer has been crazy and doens't look to get much better anytime soon! The new "In Colors" are (from left to right) Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, and Pink Pirouette.

I wasn't absolutely thrilled with these colors when I first saw them, but then I challenged myself to do something using ALL the colors, whether I liked them or not. A friend of mine had surgery last week, so I made this gift set for her. The flower arrangement was made using the 'One Of A Kind' stamp set, Jet Black StazOn ink and the new In Colors. After cutting each piece out, I used my two-way glue pen to add Dazzling Diamonds. Each flower was taped to a wooden floral stem with Scotch tape. My "vase" is a recycled Starbucks Frapuccino bottle. The flower stems are held in place by marbles in the bottom of the bottle. I have uploaded some photos to my Kodak Gallery so you can view them more closely if you'd like. You can see those photos here. I made the gift boxes so that I could fill them with rows of Dove chocolates. There are two boxes with lids, stacked, and then tied together with white organdy ribbon. I added a flower to the top of the box to match those in the bouquet. The card also has one of the flowers on the front of it and a bow made from Pretty In Pink taffeta ribbon. After completing this project, I have a much greater appreciation for the new colors and REALLY like them.


This is a sneak peek at two of the new Designer Series Papers coming out. The first one is called "Holiday Happenings".








This one, which is ABSOLUTELY SPLENDIFEROUS, is called "Bella Rose". I already know that this is going to be one of my favorites and I might as well order another pack now! It's SO much prettier in real life!!








I haven't seen Tripod in several days and think something must have happened to him. Up until about three days ago, he was waiting by the fence every day for his oatmeal. Three days ago, I took his oatmeal to him and he wasn't there. I held out hope that he was just out somewhere being a "normal" bunny and that he'd come back for his oatmeal later. The oats haven't been touched since then, though, and we've seen no other signs of Tripod. I was afraid something like this might happen, but I also know that a wild bunny would never be happy living his entire life in a small cage. I'm glad that we had the experience of knowing him and I hope we made his life, at least, a little better.

Convention is coming up in just 10 days and I'm still not finished with swaps, so I need to get to work!! With everything that's going on in the next several weeks, I may not have another blog post for a while. I'll definitely have LOTS to share when I get back from Salt Lake City, though!! Toodles!

Tripod Sighting

We kept Tripod through this last weekend because my nieces and my nephew wanted to meet him before we set him free. They all had a turn to pet him and they all loved him. I'm not sure he'd say the same about them or any other human, but he handled the situation very well for a wild bunny. This is Tripod and my niece, Rachel. Curtis and I took him out to the corner of our back yard where he was originally found to set him free around 7:30 PM on Sunday evening. I think Curtis went just to humor me, but it was nice of him to go. I had become quite attached to Tripod, so it was hard to see him hopping away. He flopped around for a bit while he figured out how to use his bad leg. It wasn't long, though, before he started heading north along the fence line. I said goodbye to him knowing I probably wouldn't see him again. After he was on his way, I filled his little bowl with some rabbit food and set it in the corner of the back yard in case he came back. On Monday none of the food was gone. On Tuesday all the food was still there and had gotten wet, so I picked the bowl up to take it back to the house and clean it. As I stood up, I noticed two little beady eyes staring back at me from inside the shrubs. It was, indeed, a bunny about the size of Tripod. It was facing me and I couldn't see his back feet to tell if it was Tripod. He was only about three feet from me, so I moved a little closer to him. When I was about a foot from him, he hopped once and I could tell immediately that it was, in fact, my little Tripod. I took his food bowl back to the house and cleaned it before filling it with old-fashioned oats. I took the bowl back out to him and he began eating right away. When Curtis got home I was beside myself with excitement so I made him go out to see Tripod, too. I don't think he was quite as excited as I was but, again, I'm glad he ACTED like he cared. Today, as soon as I got home from work, I headed out to the back corner of the yard. Tripod's little bowl was empty and he was sitting not too far from it so I filled it with oats again. I think he's going to do just fine if he can avoid the neighborhood dogs. It's SO neat that's he's hung around after being set free.

We had a WONDERFUL 4th of July weekend. We didn't celebrate the 4th as much as we celebrated family, friends, and Curt's 40th birthday. Curt's parents and his sister and her family arrived on Friday morning. We all spent the day together and then went out to dinner with our friends, Linda and Mary. Everyone came back to the house after dinner. The kids all got scooter rides, while the adults enjoyed visiting. On Saturday, Curtis went to work, so Nicole, Alice, and I spent the day preparing for his birthday party that evening. We decorated the front yard and the back patio with "40th birthday" decorations. I think we had 20 people, total, and everyone just had the best time. In addition to Curt's family, my parents and my brother, Derek, and his family were here. Momma Sue was also here, as well as our friends, Linda and Mary. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and everyone brought at least one side dish, so we had TONS of food. I had planned a game of "water balloon volleyball", which turned out to be a hoot. Hopefully, everyone who wanted to play had a chance to do so. On Sunday, we went to church and then went out for lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. Curt's family left to start their trip home around 4:30 PM. Curtis and I spent the rest of the day, putting things back in order, doing laundry, cleaning out the fridge... all the regular Sunday evening chores. It was a great weekend!! Here is a link to pictures that were taken. These photos were a joint effort by me and Nicole.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=nos1qyw.69kml5zk&x=0&y=-23a3w0&localeid=en_US

Hope you had a wonderful holiday, too! Toodles!

Catching Up

I have a lot of catching up to do, so here goes...

The photo of this scrapbook page doesn't do it justice (click on photos to view larger images). Actually, I was just playing around with a layout that I might be able to use for swaps at convention. I haven't made an actual scrapbook page in AGES, so this was fun. I used traitor paper all the way around since I was just trying to come up with a layout, but it turned out really cute. Miss Emily is what makes it so stinkin' cute... NOT my scrapbooking abilities!!

This is the same card I posted a few days ago done in different colors. My previous card used "in colors", though, and I can't use those on convention swaps since they'll be retiring. I changed my colors to Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard, and Garden Green. I used the East Coast Prep DSP and Real Red grosgrain ribbon with the "Wild About You" stamp set.

This is another card that I posted last week and changed the colors on. I originally made this one using Soft Sky, but that color will be retiring this year, so I changed it to Blush Blossom. The card base is Basic Gray. I stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs in Blush Blossom and then stamped the starbursts in Going Gray. I used my two-way glue pen to add Dazzling Diamonds to each starburst. The sentiment was stamped in Blush Blossom and then offset and stamped again in Basic Gray. The ribbon is Basic Gray taffeta from SU!

I'm not that crazy about this card. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but it just didn't turn out quite the way I had it pictured. My card base is Certainly Celery with a layer of Bashful Blue which was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. A piece of Cutie Pie DSP was matted on a piece of Rose Red CS, which was cut with my Spellbinders Nestabilities. The flower, from "Ginormous Flowers", was stamped with Regal Rose and Rose Red craft ink and heat embossed with Irridescent Ice. I punched a flower out of the Cutie Pie DSP with the 1/2" circle punch and used it on a "Build-A-Brad" for the flower center. The bow was made by knotting a scrap piece of Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon. The sentiment is from "Happy Everything" and was stamped in Basic Black classic ink on So Saffron CS and then matted on Basic Black CS.

This card is for the daughter of one of my BFF's. Amy's daughter, Natalie, is getting ready to turn (you guessed it) 4. This card has absolutely no stamping on it. I used my Cricut for everything .

Unfortunately, I need to send a couple of sympathy cards this week. I love the simplicity and the elegance of this layout. My card base is River Rock. I stamped the image from "Close As A Memory" in River Rock classic ink on Whisper White CS and matted it on Basic Black. The sentiment was stamped in Basic Black classic ink. After matting my image several times, I added a bow at the bottom using the River Rock double-stitched ribbon.

This card was made for an inspiration challenge on Splitcoast Stampers several weeks ago. My card base is Soft Sky. I stamped the image from "Essence of Love" in Soft Sky classic ink on Whisper White CS. I cut the stamped image into four equal strips and then added them to another piece of Soft Sky CS. That piece was then matted on Pink Passion CS. The flower was dry embossed on vellum, using a Sizzix embossing folder. After it was embossed, I used SU! markers and a blender pen to color on the BACK side of the vellum. I THINK this technique is called stained glass, but don't remember for sure. The sentiment was stamped in Blue Bayou classic ink and then I added a piece of traitor ribbon that matched my Pink Passion CS.

On to the Father's Day cards... Both of these cards, obviously, use the same image from "For Father". I stamped them on watercolor paper with Jet Black StazOn ink and then watercolored them using my SU! markers and an AquaPainter. I LOVE, LOVE this technique!! Both cards started with a card base of Chocolate Chip and then I added Outlaw DSP (retired) and coordinating colors. The ribbon is "twill tape" from SU! and has brads added for a little extra manliness (is that a word?). I don't people thinking I make sissy man cards!! :)

This card also uses an image from the "For Father" stamp set. I used the same techniques and paper for this card that I used on

the apple cards above. I added a piece of Chocolate Chip poly-twill ribbon to the center. That is some of the best ribbon I've ever worked with. I don't think I've ever had to re-tie it... it looks good the first time, every time.

This card was made for a sketch challenge on the 2sketches4you blog. I started with a card base of Basic Black. The image was stamped in Really Rust and Old Olive (colored the stamp directly with markers) on Whisper White CS. I rounded the corners and matted that image on Basic Black CS. The next layer is a print from the Fall Flowers DSP, which was also matted on Basic Black after rounding the corners. I removed the guide from my corner rounder punch to create the scallops on the Old Olive CS and then matted that on a piece of Basic Black CS. The sentiment was stamped in Basic Black classic ink. The flowers are from the Pretties Kit and have rhinestone brads added to the centers.

Last, but not least... I found these chipboard letters at JoAnn's the other day. They were already covered in a patterned paper, but they didn't have one bit of bling. I added sequins, felt flowers, rhinestone brads, and Dazzling Diamonds before stringing them together (eyelets were already in the tops of each letter) with some traitor ribbon I also picked up at JoAnn's. Can you guess who this was for?? Lauren loved it and opted to hang it above her closet doors in her room so she could look at it while sitting on her bed. I offered to make one for Branden, but he didn't really like the colors and all that bling.

Sunday Afternoon Creations

This is a little different twist on a card I made last August. I started with a base of Basic Gray. I cut a strip of Soft Sky and added a Whisper White taffeta bow. I stamped the swirl from "Baroque Motifs" in Soft Sky classic ink and the starburst in Basic Gray. I used my glue pen to add Dazzling Diamonds to each starburst. I stamped the sentiment in Soft Sky classic ink on Whisper White CS and then stamped it again, a little offset from the first image, in Basic Gray. The sentiment was matted on Basic Gray, Soft Sky, then Basic Gray again. I like the simple look of this card.
Here, you can see the Dazzling Diamonds a little better. Click on the pictures to view larger images.







For this card, I used the "Doodle This" stamp set to create a poinsettia. My card base is Basic Black and Old Olive. I stamped the swirl from "Doodle" This on the top half of my Old Olive CS. I added a strip of Basic Black and Olive Press DSP across the center. I stamped the large flower from "Doodle This" in gold Encore ink and then heat embossed it with Iridescent Ice. I did this twice and then cut each flower out with my paper snips. Versamark was used to cover a small piece of Old Olive CS and then it was heat embossed with Iridescent Ice. I used the 1/2" circle punch to create a center for my flower and added a vintage brad to the middle. The poinsettia was attached to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment was stamped in Basic Black classic ink and is an image from "Many Merry Messages".
This image gives you a little better view of the dimension.



This card has a Taken With Teal card base. I added a strip of Pumpkin Pie CS and a strip of Bali Breeze DSP. A Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon was tied in a bow across the strip. The image was stamped in Jet Black StazOn ink and colored with SU! markers. It was matted on Taken With Teal and Pumpkin Pie CS and added to the card front.

I'm not that crazy about this. It needs something else, but I can't put my finger on what it is. I thought about adding a flower from the Pretties kit, but the shape of those flowers don't really coordinate with this one. I thought about a bow, but this is a MINI composition book and I just think the bow would be too much. If you think of something that you think might "help" this little notebook, please feel free to leave a comment.

I managed to get some housework, gardening, and some shopping done today, also. I got a new sewing table and got that all set up in my sewing room. Okay... it's really the laundry room, but humor me. It's the only room in our house that had a corner left where I could stash some more crafty stuff! :) Up until today, I've been dragging the sewing machine out and setting it up on the dining room table when I want to sew. The problem with that is the fact that we actually use our dining room table for dining, so I'd have to lug the sewing machine back to the laundry room when we were ready to have a meal. Now that I have a table big enough to sew on, I'll be able to leave it in one place and actually use it without having to move it. I'm SEW excited!!

Hope you enoyed your weekend! I was hoping to get a bicycle ride in this weekend, but the threat of storms kept me from doing that. We have a chance of severe thunderstorms every day for the next seven days. We didn't have any today, but I did hear thunder and it got a little cloudy sometime during the middle of the day. I just don't want to get 10-15 miles into a ride and get stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm. I know... I'm a weiner! :) Toodles!!

A Few More Cards

Well, about the time I got my bicycle tires aired up and the bike loaded in my vehicle, I noticed that the sky was getting pretty black to the north. We had high winds, heavy rain, and hail AGAIN! I'm so sick of rain and storms! I don't think Missouri can take much more water!

Since I didn't get to ride, I made a few more cards.

This card uses the Zoofari stamp set. I stamped the images in Real Red, Brilliant Blue, and Green Galore. Each image is matted on coordinating cardstock. My card base is Basic Black and Yo-Yo Yellow. I cut a strip of Basic Black and used the spiral punch on the edges. The images were then adhered to that strip. I stamped the sentiment from the "Hugs & Wishes" stamp set and cut it out using the Key Tag punch. I cut a piece of Brilliant Blue to 1 3/16" tall (and longer than my sentiment) and used the 1 1/4" circle punch to round the ends. I added silver eyelets to each side and ran a piece of Real Red grosgrain ribbon through.





This stamp set was one I saw at Jo-Ann's the other day in the $1 bin. I needed another stamp set about as badly as I need a hole in my head, but I bought it anyway. I stamped the images in Jet Black StazOn and colored the diaper with a Pretty In Pink marker. It was matted on Pretty In Pink and Close to Cocoa CS. I punched the corners of the Pretty In Pink piece with the Ticket Corner punch and added Pretty In Pink brads to each corner. A strip of Berry Bliss DSP was matted on Close To Cocoa CS and added to the card front with a Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon tied in a knot.

This card has a base of Close to Cocoa and Pretty In Pink. The image was stamped from the "Party Hearty" stamp set (coming out in the next catty) using Choco Chip and Pretty In Pink markers. I used my glue pen and added Dazzling Diamonds for the sprinkles on each cupcake. I added a strip of Berry Bliss DSP and tied a Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon in a knot and trimmed the ends. I used linen thread to tie the tag, which was stamped from the same stamp set and punched out using the small tag punch. I punched a piece of Purely Pomegrante with the large tag punch and matted the sentiment on that piece.

That's all for today! Toodles!

An Ornery Streak? WHOOO... ME???

Owls seem to be one of the latest crazes in the rubber stamping world. I, personally, haven't done any stamping with owls. No particular reason... just haven't had the urge. Today, however, I woke up and had this idea for a card in my head and IT WOULD NOT GO AWAY!! I like to keep the blog rather family friendly, but I find this just a little bit humorous and couldn't resist sharing. I started with a card base of Very Vanilla and then added layers of Choco Chip and "Apple Cider" DSP. I stamped the tree branch from Spring Solitude after coloring the stamp with Choco Chip and Garden Green markers. Since my branch wasn't long enough for two "hooters" to sit on, I extended it by drawing it out longer and coloring it in with my Choco Chip marker. The owls were stamped from the "Just Celebrate" stamp set in Jet Black StazOn. I used my pastels and a blender pen to color them in. Once all that was done, I masked my owls and added clouds using a 1" circle mask, soft sky ink, and a makeup sponge. I stamped the sentiment using "Simple Serif Alphabet & Numbers" and Choco Chip ink. I used my 3/4" circle punch to round the ends and then matted it on Wild Wasabi. I used the 1" circle punch to round the ends of the Wild Wasabi piece. I added a couple of eyelets... one to each end of the sentiment and then ran a piece of poly-twill Choco Chip ribbon through each one. I don't know what compelled me to do this... honestly!!




They grow up so fast, don't they?? It seems just like yesterday when he was a baby. Our little "Tripod" is losing his little white baby spot on the top of his head. It just keeps getting smaller all the time and he just keeps getting bigger. It's very evident that his little leg was, obviously, broken sometime in the past. It sticks out to the side of his body, as you can see fairly clearly in the second photo. He still gets around pretty good for only having three good legs, though.



We hadn't seen any of Tripod's siblings since the night he came to stay with us. I happened to look out in the back yard at just the right time, this morning, though. This one is the same size as Tripod. Well... kind of. Their bone structure is the same size, but this poor little thing must be starving!! Look at how you can see his little shoulder and leg bones sticking out. It' just pitiful! It's OBVIOUSLY not a healthy rabbit like Tripod is! Tripod's siblings, though, aren't quite living the good life like he is... rabbit food he doesn't have to search for including shredded carrots, oatmeal, and hand-picked clover.

Well, I think I'm off for a bicycle ride. Enjoy your day! Toodles!

I'm Stuck...

Yes... I'm having another creative block. Sometimes you've got it, sometimes you don't. Right now, I don't. I'm trying to come up with a card design that will be easy to duplicate so I can make A LOT of them for swaps for this year's Stampin' Up! convention. I may use these two cards, but want to see what kind of response they get first.


This first card uses the "Wild About You" stamp set. My card base is Basic Black with a layer of Bashful Blue cut 1/4" smaller than the black. I put a smaller black panel in the center of the card and added a piece of DSP from the Prints Pack along the bottom. I stamped the elephant in Bashful Blue, the giraffe in Apricot Appeal, and the alligator in Gable Green. I punched each image out using the 1 1/4" square punch. I punched a piece of coordinating CS for each image using the 1 3/8" square punch and matted the images on those pieces. The sentiment was stamped on Whisper White CS and punched out using the Word Window punch. I used my 1/2" circle punch to create a matte for that piece. I tied a Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon on the front and tied the sentiment to the bow with linen thread. I used a Stampin' Dimensional to make the sentiment stay in one place, but still look like it's floating. Cutie Patootie, huh?


This card uses the "Embrace Life" stamp set. My card base is Bravo Burgundy, which seems to be one of my least used colors. I'm sure it's happy to see sunlight! I added a strip of Old Olive about an inch from the top. Under that, I added a strip of "Olive Press" DSP. I stamped the cherry blossom image with Jet Black StazOn on watercolor paper. I watercolored the image using Old Olive, Bravo Burgundy, and Blush Blossom markers and an AquaPainter. I matted the image on Bravo Burgundy and then Old Olive CS. The sentiment was stamped on Very Vanilla CS in Bravo Burgundy classic ink and added to the front of the card.






This close-up doesn't really show the detail, but I added a little sumpin', sumpin' special to the image. Once the watercoloring was dry, I added Crystal Effects to each blossom. While that was still wet, I sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds on it. I didn't POUR it on... just sprinkled it like fairy dust. It gave the image a little dimension and some bling. I find it quite difficult to make anything without adding bling!

Hope you like the cards. Besides that, I cleaned house, made a batch of cookies, worked in the garden, and "dolled up" a onesie today. Hope you enjoyed your day! Toodles!!

Seriously...

I LOVE this stamp set, have had it for several weeks, and am just now getting around to using it. SERIOUSLY!! I started with a Basic Black card base and added a piece of Pumpkin Pie that was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. White dots were added with the Signo Gel Pen from SU! The main image was stamped on Whisper White CS in Taken With Teal classic ink. Once that dried, I covered the entire piece of CS with Versamark ink (turn your Versamark ink pad upside down and just blot it all over your CS) and Heat & Stick Powder. I used my heat tool and melted the powder. I immediately added Dazzling Diamonds while the Heat & Stick was still warm and sticky... hence the name. SERIOUSLY!! I "flicked" (that's a technical term) the excess Dazzling Diamonds off and used my heat tool to heat the Heat & Stick and the Dazzling Diamonds again just to set the glitter. While that was still warm, I used a scrap piece of paper, laying it over the top of the image and gently rubbing to make sure the glitter was set firmly. I added my main image and a strip of Taken With Teal to another piece of Basic Black CS and tied a piece of traitor ribbon in a bow. ("Traitor" is any product that DIDN'T come from SU! for you newbies.)
Here's a closeup, at a different angle, so you can see the glitter a little better. These photos still don't do this card justice. SERIOUSLY!! I love, love glitter, so this card was right up my alley! I hope you like it, too! Toodles!

Birth Announcements

I had an order for 10 birth announcements and had to get them done TONIGHT so they can be picked up tomorrow. The card base is Groovy Guava. The center piece is Apricot Appeal stamped with the little flower image (By Ones & By Twos) in the same color. That layer has a piece of Groovy Guava double-stitched ribbon tied around it. I used the DSP from the Simply Scrappin' Special Delivery Girl package. The onesie image was stamped from the 'By Ones & By Twos' set and the "it's a girl!" image is from 'Nursery Necessities'. First, I stamped the images in Basic Black classic ink on Whisper White CS. Then, I stamped the onesie image again on DSP. I cut the image out of the DSP and used a glue pen to adhere it over the image stamped on the Whisper White CS. I stamped the small flower in Groovy Guava classic ink and cut it out, as well. I added it to the front of the onesie with the glue pen. I then layered that piece on a piece of Groovy Guava CS to matte it. I made 10 of these tonight, so I didn't get much else done besides dinner, cleaning the kitchen, and one load of laundry. It feels good to have another project COMPLETE, though!! Toodles!

The Rains Came Down...

The rains came down and I'm pretty sure they washed the spider out. When I got home from work, I hopped on my scooter and drove around taking photos. These pictures are just a SMALL example of the flooding in Springtown today. I don't know exactly how much rain we got, but it was a significant amount over the entire course of the day. These three pictures (about three blocks from our house) were taken around 5 PM today, which was about an hour to an hour and a half after it quit raining. The boy in the photos is about 13 years old and the water was over his knees in places. It was amazing how fast it came down.



This card is for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I used Soft Sky for my card base and then added a couple layers of Fall Flowers DSP. I stamped the images from 'Together Forever' in Old Olive classic ink on Whisper White CS. The image was matted on Soft Sky and Old Olive, which were cut using my Spellbinders Nestabilities. I added a little jewel (looks like a little rhinestone) to the center of each flower and then tied a bow using Soft Sky double-stitched ribbon.














This card is for this week's color challenge and this week's sketch challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. My card base is Regal Rose. I embossed a piece of Whisper White CS using one of my Cuttlebug embossing folders and then smudged ink on the raised part by dragging my Regal Rose classic ink pad across it. I used a Real Red ink pad to ink the edges. I adhered that piece to my card base. The floral image was stamped from the 'Live Your Dream' stamp set from the Ocassions Mini catalog. I used markers to color the image. The stem was colored with Always Artichoke. The flower centers were colored with So Saffron. The flower was colored with Regal Rose and then I colored the outside edges of the petals with Real Red. I spritzed the stamp with water before stamping the image on Whisper White CS. I LOVE the way this technique turned out with this particular stamp. The image was matted on Real Red and then on a scalloped piece of So Saffron, which was cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities. I used my 1/8" circle punch to punch two holes at the top to run my ribbon through. That's traitor ribbon, by the way, from Hobby Lobby.

With all the rain today, I didn't get to ride my new scooter to work. Thankfully, it quit raining by the time I got home tonight. Otherwise, I would have been sitting on it in the garage revving the engine and pretending to be going somewhere. As far as our neighbors know, we're still VERY normal people.

Tripod is getting stronger and faster every day and I'm torn between keeping him just because he's so darned cute and loveable and turning him loose so he can go live with his siblings. I still worry about dogs in the neighborhood being able to outrun him, so I'm really going to have to think long and hard about this. He's eating rabbit food that I bought at PetsMart VERY well and he gets shredded carrots, dry oatmeal, and freshly picked clover as treats about every other day. He's, actually, getting pretty fat. I don't know WHY he'd want to go back to the life of a wild rabbit... I guess that's something only a wild rabbit can understand.

Well, I'm riding in the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks annual bicycle ride tomorrow and have to be up bright and early so I can jump in the saddle and hit the road. I suppose I should get to bed so it won't be so difficult getting up early on a Saturday morning. Enjoy your weekend and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! I'll have Father's Day cards to post on or after Sunday. I'd post them now, but I don't want anyone peeking!! Toodles!

Just Flittin' 'Round Town

Ain't she cute??? (Click on the pics to see them larger) I'm SICK of putting gas in my SUV only to get 10 miles to the gallon between home and work, SSSSOOOO... today I bought this cute little thang. It's just a little 49CC scooter, but it gets up to 130 miles per gallon. DID YOU HEAR THAT??? UP TO 130 MPG!! The only problem with that is the fact that it's SO much fun to flit around town on. I'll probably drive 10 times as much just because it's so darned fun!! The manufacturer is "Wildfire Motors", so I have "...and she'll be riding Wildfire" stuck in my head. DRAT!! Anyway, I wanted to share my new wheels with you. I'd love to make a card to show you, but I've got some flittin' to do. Toodles!!

Dude...

I took the day off work today so I could clean house and finish preparing for my recipe tin class, which is being held tomorrow. This card has absolutely NOTHING to do with cleaning house OR preparing for my class. This card is a result of addiction. Hi... My name is Jen and I'm a rubber stamp addict. Whew!!! Only 11 steps to go! (Tee-Hee!) On my way from the coffee pot to the shower, I thought it wouldn't hurt to check out some of my favorite blogs. Beate has a super simple sketch challenge this week and I've wanted to use this stamp set (So Cool) for several weeks. I had some scraps of the 'East Coast Prep' DSP left from making Father's Day cards, so I thought I'd try to use those up. More Mustard is NOT one of my favorite colors, but it works with this set and is a coordinating color with 'East Coast Prep'. I added a strip of Tempting Turquoise, which was cut using Fiskars Paper Shapers scissors. I hardly EVER use those scissors anymore, but this set immediately reminded me of the jagged cut this particular pair offers. The dashed lines were added to the Whisper White strip using a Tempting Turquoise SU! marker. The dashes on the "Dude" mattes were added using the Signo Gel Pen. The main image was adhered to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Okay... NOW I'm going to get down to the business of house-cleaning and preparing for my class. Hope you're enjoying your day! TGIF!!!

When I'm Not Cycling I'm Thinking About It

I've been trying to come up with an idea for a thank you card for my MS150 supporters for some time and was having a creative block. A couple of days ago, though, I stumbled upon Laura's and Kazan's blog, '2 Sketches 4 You', and fell in love with their sketches for this week. This card uses Laura's Sketch 1. My main image wound up being much larger and much higher on the card than I had envisioned, but it worked just fine. The card base is Basic Gray. The next layer is a piece of 'Uptown' DSP (retired) layered over a piece of So Saffron. I added a piece of double-stitched Wild Wasabi ribbon down the middle. 'Thank You' was stamped from the 'Spring Solitude' hostess set in Basic Gray and punched out with the 'Word Window' punch. The bicycle image is from 'Time For You' from the Occasions Mini catalog. I colored the image using SU! markers in Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Basic Gray, and Rose Red.

The final step was adding these little sequins along the bottom. I took a close-up so you could really see the "fabulous-ness" of the bling!! I didn't add glitter, so I HAD to do SOMETHING!! I'm going to use these cards as "thank you's" for my MS150 supporters. That's right... I'm training for the MS150 again this year and this is why...

Every hour of every day, someone is diagnosed with MS. That's why I registered for the MS Bike Ride, and why I'm asking you to support my fund raising efforts with a tax-deductible donation. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is dedicated to ending the devastating effects of MS but they can't do it without our help. It's faster and easier than ever to support this cause that's so important to me. Simply click here to make your contribution online (This is a secure site). If you prefer, you can contact me for an address and mail your contribution. Any amount, great or small, helps to make a difference in the lives of people with MS. I appreciate your support and look forward to letting you know how I do.P.S. If you would like more information about the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, how proceeds from the MS Bike Ride are used, or the other ways you can get involved in the fight against MS, please visit nationalmssociety.org.

Hope you like the card. It's bedtime for Bonzo (and Ernie, and Smith, and Wesson, and Tripod), so I'll see you later!! Toodles!