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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

*Weekend Sketch Challenge #25*

Still not a healthy household. Bruce is home from work today. He went in yesterday but came home at dinnertime with an upset stomach. He's worse again today plus his cough has come back with a vengence. He'll be seeing the Dr. today.

Only Alex and I went to Taekwon Do last night, and I had to stop part way through to take a rest. My chest was getting tight so I figured it was better to take a little break. At least my sinuses have mostly cleared up.

I made this card on the weekend for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. The card is a "Z" fold card... you take a regular side fold card and fold the front panel over on itself to create the "Z". I managed to cut into my DCWV Christmas Glitter Stack for the first time... and it didn't kill me LOL!

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
*Patterned Paper: Die Cuts With a View Christmas Glitter Stack from Michaels
*Images: Stampendous
*Ink: Stampin' Up Basic Black Classic; Stampin' Write Markers in Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue
*Embellishments: Sakura Stardust clear gel pen

I really love how just a hint of black makes the main image really POP!

Monday, October 29, 2007

*Monday... It's Monday*

I can't believe the weekend is over and life is back to it's weekday routine already! It seems like the weekend just flew by! Didn't help that Bruce was sick, I guess. He's feeling better... still not 100%, but better.

Matthew had a spectacular time at Cub Camp. He was only cold the first night in bed as they were in cabins with no heaters. The second night they put everyone on the floor of the big gym space instead of individual cabins. I'm glad that he had a good time. I think Camp is his favourite part of Cubs.

I had a lot of fun stamping yesterday. I even stamped in the evening which isn't something I do very often. The three guys were busy carving pumpkins so I got busy making cards. Again, I plan on heading down to the basement to craft for a bit before work after I am done this post.

I absolutely love this "Big on Christmas" set from Stampin' Up! The images are just great. The perfect size in my opinion as well.

This card came together quite easily for me, even with using a colour I don't often turn to.

Items Used: (all Stampin' Up! unless noted)
*Cardstock: Whisper White, Brilliant Blue
*Images: Big on Christmas
*Ink: Basic Black Classic ink; Stampin' Write Markers in Bashful Blue, Real Red, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Going Grey
*Tools: small corner rounder; Cuttlebug and Snowflake Embossing Folder
*Embellishements: sheer ribbon from Michaels; Sakura Stardust clear gel pen; silver snowflake brad

Sunday, October 28, 2007

*Oh Christmas Tree*

What a weekend it's been....

Friday night was nice... Matthew took off for Cub Camp around 6pm, Alex was picked up to go babysitting around 6:30 so Bruce and I hit a local pub for dinner and to watch some of the Flames Game on the big screen there. We came home, watched some TV, Alex got home around 11 and we all went to bed.

And then the fun started

Bruce ended up with either the stomach flu or food poisoning and was up and down and in agony all night long. Wake up Saturday morning and my cold is worse, Bruce is still in agony and sick, Alex has a headache and just doesn't feel well.

My cold wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy heading off to a Halloween Party with our friends, leaving Bruce (who started to feel better late in the afternoon) and Alex on the couch.

Bruce is better this morning, Alex is better this morning, and my cold symptoms have me totally wiped out. And Matthew will be home from camp in about an hour.

What a weekend.

I am hoping to head down to craft for a while once I get this blog post done...

On to the card....

I created this card using the Great Impressions Christmas tree I bought a few weeks ago. I had a friend over one afternoon who stamps a little but not much. She saw this stamp on my table and asked what I would do with it. So I quickly inked it up with black ink, stamped it on white cardstock and then took a green marker and went over all of the lines of the tree. I then used my Sakura Quickie Glue pen and some ultra fine red glitter to add some decorations to the tree. She was impressed and told me I couldn't just let it sit... that I had to make it into a card sometime.

So Denise, this card is for you!

Items Used: (everything Stampin' Up! unless noted)
*Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Cranberry Crisp (R), True Thyme (R)
*Patterned Paper: Holiday Thyme (R)
*Images: Great Impressions
*Ink: Basic Black Classic; Stampin' Write Markers in Summer Sun, Garden Green, Creamy Caramel
*Embellishments: Sakura Stardust Gel Pen (the stars on the patterned paper), ultra fine Red glitter with the Sakura Quickie Glue Pen

Friday, October 26, 2007

*Flashback Friday*

As you probably saw on Allison's blog Thursday morning, we woke up to snow in Calgary. Wednesday afternoon we had a high around 72F and then a cold front blew in and voila, snow! Thankfully it wasn't cold enough for the snow to stay on the streets and sidewalks, but there is still snow in my back yard where the sun doesn't hit at this time of year. Not a lot of snow, but enough.

Blech

I sure hope it warms up a bit before Wednesday... a cold Halloween makes for cold trick-or-treaters, which isn't any fun!

Another Flashback Friday card for you to enjoy today.

This is actually one of my favourite cards. I saw this Stampendous image and had to have it back in 2003. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, I begged the shop owner to sell me the stamp that she had in the classroom as she was all sold out of this image! I'm so glad she agreed!

This is the card I sent out to all of our family and friends for Christmas that year. They were a lot of work, but totally worth it!

The card base is white, with a navy blue layer on top. The top layer is shimmer white cardstock. I did paper piercing using a paper template to create the frame. The snow faeire was stamped with blue Encore Metallic ink and embossed with blue pearl embossing powder.

Like I said, the cards were a lot of work. Usually when I'm doing a bunch of cards the same, I won't do any embossing on them. Takes too much time and there's always a good chance of screwing something up.

Thanks for popping by to see me today... I hope to find some creative time today... wish me luck!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

*Thanks Melissa*

This is what I received an envelope full of goodies yesterday from Melissa for the Pieces of Me October RAK Club.

Thanks so much Melissa!!!! You sp

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

*The Puppy Is On The Mend*

After I posted yesterday morning, I found Milo playing with his Squirrel... his favourite toy. He ate a little food and managed to keep that and the water he was drinking down. I left for work with Milo corralled in the kitchen. I got home from work to find a pee puddle. Unfortunately, we found another one this morning. I hope that this doesn't become a regular habit. Milo has a lot more energy today, is eating pretty well and is even back to following me around. I am so relieved!

Thank you so much for everyone who took the time to write about my sweet little boy.... I appreciate it greatly!

The last two years I have made a tonne of different Christmas cards, trying to find the perfect card to make to send to everyone on my list. Every year I have sent out the same card to everyone on my list. I'm not sure if I will do that this year.... who knows. It all depends if I come up with the perfect card this year.

Here's another of the Christmas cards I've made so far this fall. I fell in love with this stamp and just had to have it... and then didn't know what to do with it. This is honestly the first time I've ever used this stamp. Still love it.... still need to come up with more ideas...

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White
*Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up! (retired)
*Images: Hero Arts
*Ink: Stampin' Up! Cranberry Crisp (retired) and Summer Sun
*Embellishments: gold cord

Monday, October 22, 2007

*Seems Strange...*

Yup, it seems rather strange to be posting a Christmas card today considering we woke up to +9C this morning and are looking at a high of +22C (that's about 72F) on Tuesday! A nice treat for sure! Not that it's actually been so cold that your first thoughts are of Christmas. We've had some cool weather, but I still haven't needed to put on shoes (as opposed to flip flops) or socks.

I bought this stamp last year on sale at an after Christmas sale. I seem to buy a lot of Christmas stamps at that time, but then tend to buy more Christmas stamps at this time of year as well and often those stamps from "last year" get neglected. I'm trying very hard to use some of those stamps in my Christmas stash that have never been used before!

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue
*Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up!
*Image: Stampendous
*Inks: Stampin' Up! Basic Black Classic; Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Markers in Rose Red, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue
*Tools: Cuttlebug and Snowflake Embossing Folder
*Embellishments: grosgrain ribbon; Sakura Stardust gel pen


On a non-stamping note... bit of a stressful weekend around here. Our dog, Milo (he's 5) has been sick all weekend... he's not been able to keep even water down and has had some blood coming out the other end. He's very "quiet", but still manages to wag his tail here and there. We had him at the vet on Saturday afternoon and he's on antibiotics and we're just keeping an eye on him. They said that they'd want to see him again if he got worse. If anything, he's a little better as he can keep water down a little longer. So far this morning, no vomit. I'll keep an eye on him this morning and if he's not much better by this afternoon, I'll head back to the vet. Poor puppy....

Saturday, October 20, 2007

*Black and White Christmas*

I figured I should get this card posted today so it's in time for Allison's Challenge. So, my lucky readers get to see two cards from me today! I've been trying to get this up since before dinner, but Blogger wouldn't let me until now! So I guess, technically, this is a Sunday post!

I had a lot of fun putting together a black and white only Christmas Card!

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White and Basic Black
*Ink: Stampin' Up! Whisper White and Basic Black
*Images: Gel-A-Tins and Great Impressions
*Tools: Cuttlebug and the Snowflake Embossing Folder; Marvy Giga Scallop Circle Punch and Mega Circle Punch
*Embellishments: Stampin' Up! Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder; Swarovski Crystals; May Arts sheer polka dot ribbon

*First Christmas Card of 2007!*

Yup, the long wait (for you) is finally over!!! I don't know why I had been putting off starting to created with my beloved Christmas stamps. I looked at my blog from last fall and I was already making and posting Christmas cards in September! For some reason, this year was different. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Not because I don't like creating Christmas cards. Christmas creations are by far my favourite! The colours, the images.... snowmen and snowflakes totally turn me on. Well, maybe not "turn me on" but I sure like them a lot!

I think it was more that I was trying to deny that yes, summer was indeed over. I was trying to deny that the cold weather is coming. I was trying to deny that one of these days I'll have to suck it up and put on socks and "real" shoes. Still waiting for that day.

This card came out of nowhere. I wasn't going to start stamping winter stuff yet. A friend of mine (hi Marja!!) dropped off her Christmas Gift Tags for a swap I am hosting. Inside the bag, along with her beautiful tags, were some great scalloped shapes for me! It took almost 24 hours for me to realize that Marja had Nestabilities!!!! She was very kind and offered to let me borrow them to try them out in my Cuttlebug. I did two cuts... and created the frame that you'll one the card below. And immediately started pricing them out! I now have two sets of scalloped shapes on order!

So, here is the first of what I am sure will be many Christmas/Winter cards.... (by the way, I haven't done anything but Christmas/Winter stamping since I made this card!)

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White and Bashful Blue
*Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up!
*Image: Great Impressions
*Ink: Stampin' Up! Basic Black Classic Ink; Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Markers in Going Grey, Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie
*Tools: Nestabilities Scalloped Squares in two sizes; White Gel Pen

Friday, October 19, 2007

*Friday Shopping Trip!!*

I felt like hitting the scrapbooking store today, so I recruited my girlfriend Kelly and off we went to Scrapbookers Paradise in the SE part of Calgary. There is a NW store as well, but it's small and their stock isn't nearly as good as the SE store.

In addition to a few sheets of Christmas themed patterned paper, I bought....

.... a Gel-A-Tins set (Fancy Flakes and Sayings Mini)
....another Gel-A-Tins set (Retro Flakes and Saying Mini)
.... and a set by Sandylion (Kelly Panacci Christmas)
There were two other sets I put back... one was a Rhonna Farrer Christmas flourishes set and the other was snowmen and snowflakes by Sugarloaf.

Now, to make/eat lunch so I can go down and PLAY!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

*A Card In The Mail*

A big thank you to Dawn over at Treasured Oiler Designz for the beautiful card that was in my mailbox yesterday. What a bright smile on a Wednesday!

Please take a few minutes to check out Dawn's awesome blog. I don't hold it against her that she's an Oilers fan.... she probably cheers for the Eskimo's too.... not everyone can cheer for the right teams!

LOL!

I really love getting fun mail in the mailbox! It's been a while since there was a card in there instead of just junk mail and bills.

*Quick and Easy*

This card sure went together quickly and easily... Gotta love the patterned paper.

That's funny, coming from me. A handful of years ago, I refused to used patterned papers on my cards. Silly, eh? Especially since the papers are all so beautiful!!

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate
*Patterned Paper: Azz Dolce (?)
*Images: Stampin' Up! All Holidays
*Ink: Purely Pomegranate
*Embellishments: black eyelets; Sakura Stardust gel pen


I really love how the small layers of black make everything "pop"!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

*Simple Hello*

Finally Wednesday... I tell ya... this week is just dragging by. I don't know why... just feels like it's going by so slow. Every morning I've woken up and thought that it was a day later than it truly is!
I really love the relative simplicity of this card. I also love it when I see diagonal stripes in patterned paper. This paper is not diagonal, but I simply cut off some corners to create a diagonal piece.

This card sat on my stamp table for a few days looking for that little something that would make it all work. First came the doodles on the scallops. Then came the doodles around the blue flowers. And finally, the black dots around the blue flowers. The elements, at that point, finally "popped" just enough.

Items Used: (all Stampin' Up! unless noted)
*Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Rose Rose
*Images: Sweet Shapes
*Ink: Basic Black; black Micron pen; white gel pen
*Tools: 5-Petal Flower Punch, Snow Blossom Punch; Marvy Mega and Giga Scalloped Oval Punches
*Embellishments: bling!

Monday, October 15, 2007

*A Good Monday*

Other than the fact I had to go to work today, this was a good Monday. Not that work is all that taxing (I work 2 hours a day in the lunchroom at Matthew's school), but the noise and mess sometimes gets to me at work. Things were a little worse at work as the gym was being using as a polling station today so the kids were a little out of sorts thanks to outdoor gym classes etc.

But, like I said... other than having to go to work today, today was a good day.

First of all, the sun was shining! And it was nice and warm and gorgeous! I think we hit a high of 21C today... that's about 70F. That's pretty good for Calgary in October!!

And then, this afternoon, my girlfriend Kelly came over to stamp for a few hours. I didn't get a whole lot accomplished, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon! I find that I don't always go down to craft unless I have a reason... too lazy I suppose, or perhaps worried that I'll go down and not have any mojo. At least having a friend over means I have to make the effort.

While Kelly was here I put a couple of Lizzie Anne Designs cards into an envelope to mail in for their card contest.

This was one of the cards I created for the contest...

Items Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Purely Pomegranate
*Ink: blakc
*Images: Lizzie Anne Designs; Stampin' Up! Warm Words
*Tools: Cuttlebug and Spots & Dots embossing folder, OMS, Prismacolor Professional Quality coloured pencils, blending stumps
*Embellishments: Sakura Stardust Gel Pen

Sunday, October 14, 2007

*A Great Weekend*

We've had a really good weekend. Yesterday I spent the day preparing for a party we had last night. We had 11 of our close friends over to socialize and we had a blast. Lots of good food, a little drinking, a tonne of laughs and not enough sleep! Today we just took it easy, recovering from a very late night. A weekend spent with friends is always a good weekend!

I love how this card turned out. I knew I still wanted to do florals, but I also wanted to introduce some slightly more fall-like colours into my creativity. I think this card did that just fine!

Items Used:
*cardstock: Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Ruby Red; Classic Crest White
*images: Stampin' Up! Doodle This and Wonderful Words; Rhonna Farrer Swirls
*ink: Stampin' Up! Whisper White craft and Basic Black classic; white gel pen
*tools: Prismacolor Professional Quality coloured pencils, OMS, blending stump, Marvy Mega and Giga Scalloped Circle punches, Stampin' Up! small corner rounder punch
*Embellishments: Silver brad

Friday, October 12, 2007

*Yet Another Flashback Friday*

Just a quickie post from me... I've already spent too much time on the computer this morning and if I don't get my butt off this chair soon, I might be planted her permanently!

This card comes from 2005, the year I started with Stampin' Up! as a Demonstrator. Before this, I think I had two Stampin' Up! sets.

What can I tell you... hmmmmm, stamp set is Heartfelt Thanks. Colours are Ruby Red and Garden Green with a touch of Creamy Caramel. The tabs on the side are the slit punch.

I still think that the green part of the card needs something....

I hope you all have an awesome FRIDAY!!!!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

*It's OK, but....*

I love these short weeks! Although Tuesday felt like a Monday, I am very excited that today is already Thursday. As those of you who have been here for a while know, I don't work at the school on Friday so Thursday is a good day around here!

You want to know my favourite time of the day lately? It's that magical moment, right after the last guy has left my house in the morning. It is quiet, the sun is coming up (would prefer it already streaming through a window, but what can you do in the fall at 8am??), it is quiet, the day is full of promise. There is no talking, no fighting, no farting, no video game noises.

Yup, most definitely my favourite time of the day!

The card I am showing you today was an idea that was floating around my head for a few days. It was a layout I saw on a few different blogs. I played and played with it, and this is all I could come up with. While the card is OK, it's just not what I had envisioned in my mind. Perhaps I should have used a different base colour? Part of me thinks that the base should have been decorated before I added my strips and circles but I honestly think it would have been way too busy had I done that. So I left it as it was...

Items Used: (all items Stampin' Up! unless noted)
*Cardstock: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
*Patterned Paper
*Images: In The Spotlight
*Tools: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Sakura Stardust Gel Pen
*Embellishments: self stick gems (I bought some words at Michael's)

*The Name Game*

I was tagged by Angel over at Angelosity....

The name of the game is to list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life, for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your middle name and game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged and to read your blog.

L -- Love my family and friends... they are very important to me
E -- Elvis sucks
E -- Everyone tells me I have great eyes

E's suck.... LOL!

Now, I tag.... this will be hard! I am choosing both names that start with the three letters as well as Blog Names....

L -- Live, Love, Laugh and Stamp -- Shannon
E -- Emily at Stamping and Stuff
E -- EhMazing Stampers -- Kerry

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

*Speaking of Baby Blankets*

Again, I've been a little bored in the evenings. I have a tough time the older I get, just sitting and watching TV. And, since I'm a self-confessed TV-a-holic, this isn't a good thing!

So, to keep my hands busy for the last few weeks, I have been crocheting again.

I created another baby blanket (cuz honestly, I don't know what else I can crochet since I can't follow a pattern) using a super-soft verigated yarn and a double-crochet stitch. I then did a border in a green yarn in a single crochet.

I'm now out of yarn....

*It Made My Day!!!*

Remember back in May I posted a photo of the baby blanket I crocheted for our dentist? Well, I have a few stories to tell.

I dropped that blanket off before she had her baby along with our favourite book to read to the kids before bed ("The Going To Bed Book" by Sandra Boynton). We read this book every night to the kids for years! I still have it memorized!!! I had only planned on dropping the gift off at the front desk for Dr. Shawna as she is always just so busy, but she happened to be at the front desk when I got there. She opened the gift in front of my and just totally gushed about the blanket. I, of course, was modest but was glad she liked the blanket.

A few weeks later, the kids and I were at the mall after school and we ran into Dr. Shawna and her husband. She introduced us to her husband and then we chatted for a bit. She told him that I was the one who had made that beautiful blanket for the baby. She said it was the nicest gift they had received. I was tickled.

Fast forward to today... the baby (I can't remember his name!!!!) is now 2.5 months old. Dr. Shawna isn't yet back to work, but that didn't stop our family from heading in for our six month check-ups. Sitting on one of the tables in the waiting room were some photos of the baby.... and in one of those photos you can see that the baby had been wrapped .... IN THE BLANKET I MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It sure put a smile on my face!!1

*Thank You Rose Ann*

I received a great little treat in my mailbox today from Rose Ann. Please be sure to check out her great blog! This was my treat for the Pay It Forward Challenge she had a few weeks ago.

Thanks so much Rose Ann!

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

*A Card for a Special Friend*

It's now safe to post this card that I created for Dawn. I wanted to do a little something to thank her for spoiling me during the month of September with Jen's RAK Club. Her plan was for me to receive a card a day for 10 days... unfortunately the cards didn't show up one a day for 10 days, but I still felt spoiled and then some!

I knew that Dawn's favourite colour was purple, so I started there and created this card especially for her. I cheated a little and got the layout from here.

What you can't see very well in this photo is that there are white images stamped on the black scalloped edge of the card.

Images Used:
*Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, Lovely Lilac
*Images: A*Muse and Lizzie Anne Designs
*Ink: Basic Black and Whisper White; Markers in Lovely Lilac and Almost Amethyst
*Embellishments: Stickles (in the centre of the flower)
*Tools: White Gel Pen, Markers, small corner rounder, Cuttlebug and D'vine Swirl embossing folder


I have been trying a new way of taking my photos and am not yet thrilled with it. Without Adobe Photoshop or a real knowledge of editing photos, I am not able to get my photos to turn out less yellow. This set up (and the ones before this) have been taken in a box lined with white poster board with my Ott Lite shining into the box. I think I get better results in the kitchen in front of the big window. I think I'll go back to the window until I get Photoshop and/or learn how to edit my photos better (I currently use Gimp).

Monday, October 08, 2007

*Happy Thanksgiving*

Today is Thanksgiving here in Calgary, but in my house it's the day after the big feast. My Mom always had Thanksgiving Dinner on the Sunday and I've adopted that tradition as well. I don't want to be doing all the work of such a big dinner on a holiday Monday! Instead we do all the work on the Sunday and sit back and relax on the Monday.

And my favourite part of the whole meal comes tonight for supper.... a toasted turkey sandwich. Total YUM!

I am still making non-winter cards. Perhaps the next time I hit my stamp space I'll do some winter stuff. It truly is my most favourite reason to stamp. I don't know why I keep putting it off! Maybe I'm still hoping for some nice hot summer-like weather.

This card was quick and easy to throw together. Somewhere I saw mention of a challenge that said you could only use patterned paper and a stamped sentiment.

I created the scallops on the patterned paper (and a piece of white cardstock for contrast) by using my small corner rounder punch without the plastic guide. I actually broke the plastic guide a few months ago so I ended up buying another small corner rounder... now I have one for rounding corners and one for making scallops!

Items Used: (all items Stampin' Up! unless noted)
*Cardstock: Whisper White, Certainly Celery
*Patterned Paper: in Rose Red
*Images: Sweet Shapes
*Ink: Rose Red
*Tools: Marvy Mega and Giga Scallop Oval Punches; small corner rounder

Sunday, October 07, 2007

*Is There Someone Who Can Explain This Potato Mystery?*

I am now very thankful that it was just the four of us for Thanksgiving Dinner tonight! Our dinner was absolutely delicious (if I do say so myself) but would you believe that after 90 minutes (yes NINETY MINUTES) my potatoes are still hard as rocks???

Explain this to me?

Here are the specifics:
*they were regular every day red potatoes, the kind I always use for mashed potatoes
*I cut them into manageable pieces as I always do
*I put them in salted water as I always do
*I boiled them, as I always do
*after 45 minutes, water level was getting low so I boiled some water in the kettle and added it (something new)
*at an hour we sat down to eat and the potatoes were still hard
*at an hour and a half, I turned off the pot and gave up

What on earth????

I have never had this happen with potatoes! And what a day for it to happen!

Anyone have any idea about this??

Saturday, October 06, 2007

*I Went Shopping!*

What better way to spend the morning of World Card Making Day than to head to your local stamp store (yes, we really have only one) with a girlfriend and shop! I had thought that perhaps PaperPastimes would have something going on today in terms of demos or something for World Card Making Day but the store was darn quiet.

This is the photo of the stuff I bought. Because really, I don't have enough Christmas stamps! Ya, right. Well, whatever. I have a weakness for Christmas images. Snowman melt my heart I tell you!

The three stamps along the back are by Great Impressions. The trio of snowmen is their "stamp of the month" so I got a discount on it as well as a photograph of 6 card samples and a write-up on how to make those samples.

The three stamps in the front are all A*Muse images.

I also puchased some stickers (some winter, some floral); better blending stumps than I already own; a thing that looks like part of a paint stir stick with several layers of fine grit sandpaper on it for cleaning and sharpening my stumps; a blue and a red container of Stickles and a new Pergamano single whole piercing tool as I broke mine the other day.

I had fun!!!!

Now, to go play.... although I'm not sure I wanna break out the winter stuff yet! We'll see.

But of course, I still have 6 cards that I have created and photographed that I have yet to share with you.

Friday, October 05, 2007

*Flashback Friday*

I can't believe I almost forgot to post today! It doesn't feel like a Friday here since everyone had the day off. Believe me, I am not complaining! Gotta love a four-day weekend!

Thanks to everyone who has been by to wish Tracy a Happy Birthday!! I feel like a totally bad friend as her birthday card is still sitting on my stamp table. It will get there, eventually!

Our Flashback Friday card comes from the 2004 File. I'm actually rather surprised that I haven't already posted this card as it was one of my favourites.

I purchased this flower stamp (Hero Arts) because I just loved it... got it home and couldn't figure out what to do with it for the longest time. It was so sad that it just sat there.

As much as I love that stamp, I think that I have only used it a few times... just found it too difficult to come up with ideas for it. I am not even sure if I still own this stamp!

A very simple card... the swirls were done with watercolour paints. The greeting is stamped and embossed in gold.

*Please Help Me....*

Today is my friend Tracy's Birthday! Please take a moment to pop by her awesome blog today to send her some birthday wishes!

Have a spectacular day, Trace!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

*It's My Friday*

I am so thrilled that the kids have a four day weekend this weekend!!! I don't work on Fridays at all, but I still have to get up to get the kids out the door. So this Friday is especially sweet... both boys have it off from school. And Bruce decided to take it off from work as well. So there will be no alarm clocks tomorrow morning! YaHoo!

And of course, Monday is a holiday here in Canada... it's our Thanksgiving Weekend.

For the first time in I don't know how long, the four of us will be alone for Thanksgiving. I usually cook a big turkey for a bunch of people but everyone else has already made other plans. I'm not sure if I will still cook a turkey and all the fixings or not... we'll see. Friends of ours have plans to camp this weekend but it looks like a crappy camping weekend weatherwise... so if they don't go, I'll invite them here to join us.

Todays card is one that was simple and quick to throw together thanks to patterned paper and punches.

Items Used: (all Stampin' Up! Unless otherwise noted)
*Cardstock: Whisper White, Mellow Moss
*Patterned Paper: So Saffron
*Ink: Pretty in Pink, Basic Black
*Images: Wonderful Words; In The Spotlight
*Tools: Marvy Mega Circle Scallop Punch; Five Petal Flower Punch; pop dots

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

*I Didn't Win, But Here's Another Card*

Good morning all... it sure sucks that it is dark out when we get up these days. It's 7:30 and I can see the red reflection on the back of the neighbours house from my computer so I guess the sun is coming up. The yard still looks pretty dark though. The dark makes it much more difficult for me to drag my sorry butt out of bed.

Although really, any morning that the alarm goes off I have a hard time dragging my sorry butt out of bed.

And I really shouldn't have bought that feather mattress topper for our bed... now it's just more warm and cozy and comfy. That was a dumb (but wonderful) purchase.

We had our Tae Kwon Do class last night. Well, our first of this week. We've just moved to a 90 minute lesson. Let me tell you, 90 minutes of punching and kicking is an awesome workout!!! I was perspiring slightly (OK, buckets) by the time we were done. I like that I have fun and a workout.

Cindy's card contest for her blog birthday ended on the weekend and the winner was announced yesterday. You should pop on over to her blog to check out the entries... great cards ladies!

I submitted three cards to her contest, this is card #3. As I've said before, I had a tough time with this contest as brown is just not a colour I gravitate towards. So this was a real challenge for me!

Items Used:
*cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red
*images: Stampin' Up! Baroque Motifs; A*Muse
*ink: Stampin' Up Ruby Red; Stardust Gel Pen (the highlights around the scallops is the Stardust, not a white gel)
*embellishments: Bling
*tools: Mega and Giga Scallop Circle Punches; Mega and Giga Scallop Square Punches