Greetings from Computer Hell

I bought a new computer. To say the old one has "issues" is a mild understatement. Please bear with me as I attempt to get everything moved. Access to wesites and e-mail is challenging currently.....

Whatever you celebrate....

Happy Holidays! Happy Yule! Merry Christmas! Happy Solstice! Happy Kwanzaa! Belated Happy Chanukah! Did I get everyone? All I know is that the madness is almost over for another year, which, as Martha says, is A GOOD THING! I still have to slice meat and cheese for the appetizer plate tomorrow morning, and before I go to bed tonight, I have one more present to wrap. I'm on the laptop right now... .my PC is doing a full back up and it takes about 3 hours. I always forget to do them until something happens to remind me.....

A gal I know on Splitcoast that I actually met at convention this Summer had her house burn down this weekend. They pretty much lost EVERYTHING. I can't even imagine. They were out of town starting their long Christmas weekend when they got a call at 3AM Saturday. No one was hurt, but the house is a total loss. Her 15 year old daughter is taking it particularly hard, apparently. They also have a 17 year old son. They had taken their dogs with them, so nobody was in the house at the time. Kinda puts life in perspective, doesn't it?

Well, the laptop battery is telling me to log off.... Have a wonderful Holiday!!!!!

Just had to share.....

The closer it gets to Christmas, the more the public drives me INSANE. Saw this shirt and SO HAD TO HAVE IT!





He he he... isn't it FABULOUS??? I do love Happy Bunny!

It's cold and rainy here and will be for the next few days. Hopefully it will be clear next Monday. Nothing like Holiday traffic to start with. Add "road conditions" and it becomes a cluster unlike any other.....

They're done and GONE!

Just put my Christmas cards in the mailbox! YAY! The ornaments are done except for a few that I still have to put the ribbon on them. Shopping.... almost done. Just need to get the list from Russ of what I'm buying his family. Need to put Mom's present together and get that mailed on Monday. I wanted to send Judy her replacement Journal Monday, but I can't find the Michael's bag that has the journal in it. Still looking..... HOPEFULLY I will find it today and get that done tomorrow.

Got my layout for Janice's Circle Journal done and mailed out this week. I had planned to scan the pages and upload them here and then I FORGOT TO DO IT! Oh well.

I've been trying to get a decent photo of Taz to send out in the Christmas cards. No go. Here are the best from this week.... She's just not very jolly this year, I guess. Her response to the collar was to either play dead or look away. Or walk away. Got several of THOSE pix.... sigh.... Don't you love the little tags? "Jingle Cat" (heart) and "Holiday Princess" (snow cat) is what they say.

I am surprised she hasn't pulled the stockings down. They are hanging right over her toybox this year and I thought she might find them too interesting to resist. I know if I had Judy's crazy dog here they would be EATEN within 30 seconds! Judy tells me that Mocha is a poodle, but I think there is some goat in that bloodline somewhere.....

Got my Secret Santa present today.... highlights from that are a YUMMY bottle of wine, some darling wine glass charms and this totally AWESOME travel mug.... even has my name on it!

I think I know who my Secret Santa is, but I'm waiting patiently for the revealing which is later this week.

Need to bake some cookies to send in Mom's package. Need to get the last presents for Russ' family so I can get the wrapping done. Ten more days..... LOL!

Packages received! Now I can post!

So for my group of friends that I affectionately refer to as "the Spammies" or my "Spamily", I made some cute little altered domino Christmas ornaments.







I would love to tell you who makes the stamp I used, but it has LONG been buried in the Christmas avalanche of projects and will likely not be seen again until Spring! I sanded the blank side of the domino and then stamped the image in Black StazOn. The red and green are colored with Sharpie Markers and the grey is silver glitter pen. The beverage is Dazzling Diamonds glitter sprinkled over glue from a Quickie Glue Pen. The ribbon is from Michael's (it was wired, but I pulled the wire out) and is secured around the domino with 1/8" super sticky tape or "red liner" tape that I get from PennyWise Arts. They have an AWESOME selection of widths of this indispensable adhesive, reasonable prices and ship FAST! I added beads at the top and bottom for a little more "bling" and dabbed a little Crystal Effects around the holes for added measure. The numbered side of the domino is covered with a piece of patterned paper. This is my first time altering dominoes and will not be my last. They are a fun fast project.

Of course, now I needed something to put them in..... I scored some little tins at Michael's this summer on clearance for some ridiculously low price and they have been sitting, waiting for me to do something with them. (All papers, ribbon and inks used to decorate the tin are ©Stampin' Up!, as are the rhinestone brads.) I painted the tops white and then dusted them with Dazzling Diamonds while the paint was still wet for some added BLING!



I wrapped them in Always Artichoke Prints Designer paper and added 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain for the trim. Using my Crop-a-Dile I punched a hole through the tin and added a Fire Rhinestone brad through both the tag and the tin. The tag is from one of the retired tag sets and is stamped in Real Red craft ink on Whisper White and then layered onto Always Artichoke.

The Star on the top is done using the Large and Small Tag punches, vellum and a Quickie Glue Pen. You really need a fine tip glue applicator for this - makes it sooooo much easier! Here are instructions on how to make one. Searching the SCS Gallery, a lot of folks have done these with a double star, but since I was making 10 of them, a single layer was all I could muster! The center is a glass pebble using Gold Stickles to glue it down.


I filled the tin with shredded paper fill (WalMart) and then topped a little York Peppermint Patty with the scallop circle punch layered with Garden Green and Real Red circles as a gift card. The scallops are accented with a red glitter pen.



So that was my big project I have been working on for a while. The family ornaments are almost finished... I decided to add some little flat back rhinestone crystals to them... 4 on the snowflake side (1 in the center of each of the small snowflakes) and then 2 red ones on the sentiment side on the center of the little swirls between the words. It was a nice touch, but now I have them spread out all over my table again while the glue dries since I can only do one side at a time. SIGH. Maybe tomorrow I will actually get the Circle Journal done. I'll save the tale of today's embellishment odyssey for then.....

I've been busy.....

Working on Christmas projects. And no, my cards still aren't done. They are semi-started as in I've got the medallion piece done for 18 of them.... Yeah, not much progress. I got my packages out in the mail on Monday to the SPAM Ma'ams. Can't post a picture of that yet, as they haven't all been received, but when they are, I'll add a blog about them.


I *can* post this year's family Holiday Ornament (finally!).





The porcelain ornament is from Michael's. The snowlfakes (large ©Stampin' Up!; small ©Verve Visual) are stamped in StazOn Hydrangea Blue and the sentiment on the back ( ©Stampin' Up!) is stamped in StazOn Forest Green. These ornaments are glazed, so it's a little challenging stamping on such a slick surface, but fortunately, mistakes are easily removed with rubbing alcohol! After they hang to dry overnight, I heat set them with my heat gun, just for added measure. I plan on gluing a rhinestone or two to a couple of the snowflakes for some added "bling".


Still working on a photo of Taz with her FESTIVE holiday collar on. Not getting much cooperation. She doesn't seem to mind this collar I got, but it's just not in the holiday theme.....


Isn't she pretty???? She thinks so! Maybe I'll try the holiday collar again later this evening.... Wish me luck!

Everyone around me has had it.....

And the first cold of the season finally caught up with me! Oh well. Maybe I'll actually get some stamping done since the idea of actually getting out of sweats and putting on real clothes and shoes and leaving the house is just totally unappealing. Bubble bath, pot of tea and magazines. Now that's more like it. Sweats, space heater, stamp room. Perfect! Unfortunately, I didn't get the last string of lights up on Friday and now it's too cold and windy (especially when I'm not feeling great to start with) to put it up, so the 3rd section probably isn't getting done. Oh well. When the wind dies down, I'll hang the snowflakes and take a photo and post it. Hopefully we'll have a nice day later this week...

My goal is to get one of my projects done today and get them packaged up and mailed tomorrow. Yeah. We'll see how THAT goes.... I NEED to get Christmas cards done too otherwise it's gonna be a Hallmark Holiday.... bleh.

The Stampin' Up!® retired list was posted yesterday. Other than the six hostess sets I accumulated (which retire forever with each catalog now), I only had six sets retire and one of them I got at Regionals last year, so only five technically. The dormant list gets posted on Wednesday. We'll see if any of what I have left goes dormant. They only retired 2 sets from the last dormant list, the others carried over to the new catalog (or stayed dormant, I suppose). Of course one was a set I wanted, but my dear sweet friend Janice (aka Mama of THE HERD) is sending me hers.... YAY! I transferred my retiring sets to the other shelf today. I have WAY TOO MANY retired sets.... me thinks I need to list some stuff on ebay after the new year.... I only have 3 sets from the last retirement that have been taken off that other shelf and used in the last 6 months. Putting them over there helps me see what I really need to keep and what can go.... and I have a LOT that can go.... (Sorry Russ.... You probably shoulda stopped reading at the beginning of this paragraph....). Hoping to hold out on ordering TOO MUCH from the new catalog until February 1 when Sale-A-Bration starts. Mmmmm..... earning free stamps.... It's a good thing! I already have a list of cardstock colors I am running dangerously low on, so I KNOW I *will* place an order in January, but I'm hoping to keep it small.... yeah. We'll see how that goes.... LOL!

This summer when the current catalog came out, they shipped first to demonstrators who had ordered more than one box and I ended up getting a catalog from another demonstrator in town to mail to one of my customers. With catalogs shipping out at Christmas (they are aiming for 12/28 delivery), I decided to piggyback my order with another demo in the area who ordered 18 boxes last time so if they do the same thing and ship hers a day ahead of mine, I'll get them a day sooner. Those of you reading who get catalogs from me should expect that they will get mailed around the 31st. Trust me, you'll KNOW when I have them.... LOL!

Well, I'm off to make a bowl of soup and then head for the stamp room!

More useless fun and diversion!

You've Changed 28% in 10 Years

Ah, the past! You may not remember it well - because you're still living in it. While you've changed some, you may want to update your wardrobe, music collection and circle of friends.

How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

Video proof....

...That my cat is not a TOTAL psycho.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujbfCBsexA

LOVE how the random characters they named her video have the word "sex" in it... sheesh..... Trust me, it is TOTALLY SAFE FAMILY VIEWING.... LOL!

A few photos from yesterday.....

The kids are getting veggies now. They really like their carrots! Abigail's hair just gets longer and keeps going straight up!


YUM!


Aren't their matching outfits CUTE?????


Have I mentioned what a HAM Gregory is turning out to be???


My favorite photo from yesterday... I call it "Three Generations". That's my Mom-In-Law, Sis-In-Law (Barb) and Abigail. TOO CUTE!!!!!


Can't leave they guys out.... Here is Russ and his father.

At Christmas, I'll be a little more organized and get true generation photos... I'll get Don & Gregory in with Russ & Dad and I'll get Patty in the "girls" photo.....

Mmmmm.... TURKEY.....

Yes, I have survived Thanksgiving. Fun and TASTY! I'll upload a couple photos of Abigail and Gregory later.

Also survived minimal Black Friday shopping, although I am headed out again in a few minutes. I went to BestBuy at around 7 this morning, went it, got the item I went for, they were out of the second thing I was looking for, got in the MIRACULOUSLY short line and left. 20 minutes, tops. Went to go to Fry's Electronics and the LINE OF CARS *TRYING* to get into the parking lot was backed up ONTO THE FREEWAY EXIT!!!! What the heck????? So I'll try there later. Now I'm off to Kohl's (excellent deals on bedding before 1PM!).

Tomorrow I'm doing a turkey for us since we all know one of the best parts of Thanksgiving is LEFTOVERS!!!!! YUM!

Every once in a while.....

Someone says something to me that is so OUT THERE, all I can do is laugh......

So Starbucks has all their Holiday stuff out, including these REALLY STINKIN CUTE holders for their gift cards (which I have several already purchased for gift giving this year, so I got to take a few).

Now, I know the folks at my Starbucks PRETTY WELL as I am in there just about every day and I sit and read my paper when I'm there, so I've had the chance to chat with most of them. The gal who rang me up says to me, "Aren't those mittens the CUTEST? You should take a set home and PUT THEM ON YOUR CAT! Wouldn't that be DARLING?". Uh..... yeah..... Darling. That's the word to best describe the BLOOD BATH that would ensue if I even THOUGHT about putting those on her.... They are cute tho.... wonder if I could get them on just the front feet???? They'd make a dashing accessory to the little jingle bell collar.... If I haven't blogged again by the 27th, you'll know that I tried it and you can read all about it in the news... just Google "Woman slashed by cat while attempting to put mittens on her".... he he he.....

Last night she was sitting on my lap and just started growling. I don't know if she was having a bad dream or what, but it was dang funny. She could have left at any time, but instead she sat there growling and if I pet her, she would scream and at one point she even hissed. Psycho..... I was even able to record it on my digital camera.... what a nutcase.... she truly has a kitty screw loose.....

I did some stamping this morning, but I can't share what I did as the person getting it reads my blog. Off to start another thrilling day of errands and housework.....

Taz is NOT amused.....

PetSmart has all their holiday stuff out. I couldn't resist this cute collar. Taz, however, CAN resist it. I will be trying for a better shot, but this was the best one of the 3 she "let" me take this afternoon. Can't you just SEE the LOVE in her eyes????

PetSmart had a little Santa sweater thing too, but I was afraid it would be the last thing I would attempt to do in this life to try and get it on her..... OH! And the little purple "jacket" with the fake fur trim that reverses to a pink plaid..... WAY CUTE! I would have to have blood donors lined up before I try to put something like that on her though.....

At least I didn't get the hat or the reindeer ears. Been there, tried that. Not gonna try THAT again! LOL! I am still trying to get a picture of her in the Minnie Mouse pink princess hat I bought her at Disney World 3 years ago.....

A quick upload

I stamped this tonight for Julee's Mojo Monday challenge this week. You can find it HERE. I had to flip the corner the circle went in since the position of the bottle did not allow for the sentiment panel to go on the left.



The base of the card is called Lightspeck Gold. Sorry, I have no idea who makes it, I've had it for YEARS! Same goes for the burgundy ribbon. The patterned paper is by BoBunny. It's iridescent and I think it's called Holiday Wishes. The gold is Stampin' Up!'s Brushed Gold. The brads and sentiment are also from Stampin' Up!. The wine stamp was acquired today and is by Inkadinkado. I stamped it on Beckett Iceberg cardstock in Chocolate Chip and colored it with my Dewernt Watercolor Pencils and used my Aqua painter to even up and highlight the colors. Thanks for the sketch, Julee!!!!!

When I'm BAD, I'm REALLY BAD!!!!

OK - so one of my errands today was to go to Target and get the cute little step stool that was on sale in their ad this weekend. It's for Taz to help her get up onto our bed; it matches my Pergo flooring and looks a whole lot better than the Sterlite storage bucket at the foot of the bed now. Well, while I was there, I thought I'd go check out the Christmas decorations.... BAD IDEA.....

Russ - stop reading NOW.......

Seriously.......


So I go wandering through Target Christmas Land and see THREE FULL AISLES of Halloween candy marked SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OFF!!!!!! That's 57¢ a bag.... Let's just say my super-secret-candy-stash is FULL. Bad Lisa.... bad, bad Lisa.....

So since I had a LOT of chocolate in the car, I skipped my second errand which was to look at microwave ovens at Best Buy.... didn't want my treasure to melt... it was 75 and sunny out! LOL!

So I guess I get to go back out this afternoon and look at the microwave. We have one over our stove that is starting to show some signs of not being long for this world. It was here when we bought the house and according to the label is about 9 years old. Also, the former residents took the probe with them when they moved, so I've never been able to use the sensor cook feature which I have missed on a few occasions. So I told Russ I want a new microwave for Christmas.

After checking Consumer Reports and then reading a bunch of actual consumers' reviews online I know which one I want (he's lucky I read all the consumer reviews... the one I wanted was $700 and well rated by the testing at CR, but real people rated it VERY BADLY) and the one that scored well with both CR and real people is only $300. YAY! So I just saved him $200 (Yes, I know it's a $400 difference, I have points at Sears that I was gonna cash in for $200 off the Kenmore $700 model, but they don't carry the one we will end up getting.... oh well, I get to keep accumulating my Sears points!). Ain't he lucky to have me???? LOL!

So now I'm off to Best Buy and Fry's (who also carries the microwave brand I'm looking for) to see what their install and delivery prices are.... Catch ya later, peeps!

They're turning into little PEOPLE!

Russ & I went to visit his sister, her DH and the babies yesterday. The babies will be 6 months old on the 15th. The last time I saw them, they had just turned 3 months old. WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!! Here are my two fave photos from yesterday:






Do you not LOVE Abigail's HAIR????? What a hoot! Gregory likes to "stand" when you hold him and will do this little "marching" thing. That kid is going to walk EARLY..... Abigail (being a girl) likes to "talk". She giggles easily. Gregory normally doesn't like being put in his car seat, apparently, but he didn't mind yesterday, did he? LOL!

Stressin, stressin, stressin......

OK. Don't get me wrong, I *LOVE* Christmas, but there is little in this world that can stress me out more than walking into WalMart on November 1st and seeing their HUGE FREAKIN COUNT DOWN TO CHRISTMAS SIGN UP!!!! (53 shopping days left, by the way) Anyone have a paper bag I can breathe into?????

Let's see.... I have ornaments to make, cards to make, presents to buy, decorating to do. And then there's the baking. And the travel scheduling. And the inevitable guilt trip coming from the north even though I TOLD her we aren't coming up there for Christmas EVER AGAIN after the travel fiasco last year.

What do I have done so far????? I have one card tentatively designed. I have no clue what I'm doing for ornaments. I have a couple Starbucks gift cards bought (those $5 ones you always seem to need to give someone at the last minute). I measured the new gutters to see how many feet of lights I need (now I need to get the lights out and see how many feet I *HAVE* and if I have gutter clips). We won't discuss shopping/gifts. I have an inkling of an idea of what I'm getting Russ and Justin's family. I have a mental budget of what I *plan* to spend. I have money set aside in savings. That's it. No clue where to even start for my Mom. As usual. Ugh.

I remember when I was younger, my shopping was DONE by Halloween (except for stockings and last minute things like edibles) and my cards were addressed and ready to mail the day after Thanksgiving. In recent years I have used the Thanksgiving weekend up at Sea Ranch to stamp my cards. Don't know what I'm doing this year. We still aren't sure when Russ will be done with Vegas, but I may go up to Sea Ranch by myself after Thanksgiving if I don't get some progress made SOON.

I had a couple sketches done last night for the "mailable" Christmas card, but wasn't really HAPPY with either of them. Sat down in there again this morning and made a couple tweaks and I *think* I like it. Unfortunately, I don't own one of the stamps I need for it yet, so it's on order. It will be 7-10 business days before I can see if I *really* like it. Haven't a clue what I'm doing on the "special" cards.... (Special cards go to the friends who get packages from me so they don't need to fly under the new postal regulations that keep me from using embellishments and layers to my heart's content!). I *do* have one batch of ornaments that I did about a month ago for my SCS "Spamily" that are about half done, but I have no clue what I'm doing for our family which is the big batch of ornaments I do every year. Sigh..... Lots of little fragments of ideas, but no real progress. The story of my life.... LOL!

Today is being spent on laundry and errands. Russ is working from home this morning and I helped him get his travel reservations all done for his trip to DC in April.

I decided not to go. I did negotiate him picking up the airfare for my trip to SLC next July for Convention. That ought to be a pretty big PAR-TAY.... it will be Stampin' Up!'s 20th anniversary and if THAT wasn't big ENOUGH, they are going back to a SINGLE SESSION for Convention next year which means probably over 5000 crazy, jazzed STAMPING WOMEN taking over downtown Salt Lake City for 4 days!!!! Should be interesting!

Later we have plans to make a run over to Costco. Russ' new glasses are ready to pick up and I need to hit Petco which is nearby for their HUGE 3 day sale on cat food. Grab a little lunch then come home and do more laundry! The weather is STUNNING, so I picked up some steaks last night to BBQ tonight. Tomorrow we are going down to San Jose (yes, Judy - where the earthquake was this week) to see Russ' family (including the little munchkins who turn 6 months in about 2 weeks). Then on Sunday the whole packing cycle begins again. At least I get an extra hour of sleep Saturday night.... don't forget to set your clocks back!

My swaps are done!

And for once, I'm even EARLY! They aren't due until the 15th of November.... I still had TWO WHOLE WEEKS to work on them even! Must be so efficient because this way I can continue to procrastinate on starting Christmas cards.... he he he.... I'd say that I was procrastinating on working on Janice's Circle Journal but SHE STILL HASN'T MAILED IT TO ME YET (we were supposed to mail on October 15th... yeah, like TWO WEEKS AGO, meaning I will have 2 fewer weeks to work on my pages for her journal before I have to mail it to Melissa on December 15th which is the same time I mail Christmas cards, so my life ought to be STAMPING HELL real soon.....



ANYWAY - Here are my swap submissions:

I am in 2 rounds of the Tea bag holder swap. One was a Christmas theme and the other was a Love or Chocolate theme (and I couldn't find a chocolate square to put in there when I was taking the photo.... of course I found them this morning... sheesh....). All supplies (some retired) are Stampin' Up! except the Deckle edge scissors (Fiskars) and the Fruit Punch Stickles (Ranger) I used on the Chocolate one.

Colors for the Christmas one are Wild Wasabi, Ruby Red and Garden Green (craft ink embossed with Hologram Highlights) and the stamps are from Season of Joy and Terrific Tags 2. I also used the Tag Punches and my deckle scissors along with gold brads and the new gold elastic cord.

The Chocolate one is made with Close To Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red (ink and Prints Designer paper) and Chocolate Chip. The hardware inside is from the Antique Copper HodgePodge set and stamps came from Lexicon of Love, Like it a Latte and Paisley (background). I used the deckle scissors as well as the edge distresser from the Cutter Kit.

A shameless plug for my adorable "daughter"....

Taz is one of a bazillion cats entered in the Costume photo contest over on Catster. If you'd give her a vote, I'm sure she'd appreciate it.... and maybe NOT turn YOU into a mouse.... LOL!



Please vote for Tabitha Jazmine (Taz) in the World's Coolest!

Tagged again!

Julee tagged me on her blog, Poetic Artistry, yesterday. I will play along, but I'm not going to tag anyone at the end since most of the bloggers I know all run in the same (SCS) circle and have all been tagged a bazillion times... LOL! Judy, if you want to play, here are the rules, but I won't link to your blog since it's private!

Here are the RULES:
ONE - Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
TWO - Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself (on your blog, we all want to know them).
THREE - Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Seven Random facts... .hmmmm....

1. I almost never go barefoot.
2. My phobia is fire, yet I *LOVE* candles.... go figure.
3. Except over the border into Tijuana and Ensenada on our cruise, I've never been out of the USA, but I have a passport, so I'm ready to go should the opportunity present itself!
4. I was adopted.
5. I'm not a huge fan of chocolate and do not like chocolate baked goods at all.
6. Salty snacks are my weakness.
7. I collect computer fonts.... I have over 300 installed currently....

So there you go... Seven random and pretty much useless facts about me!

OK. That wasn't very nice....

To make up for teasing you that I made something cool in the stamp room yesterday but not sharing, I decided to whip up something I *could* post!

The easiest way for me to do something NICE in a HURRY is to copy another card. In "Stampland" it's called C.A.S.E.ing which stands for Copy And Share Everything. As I do not have the original artist's permission to post her card, I will just tell you that I changed VERY LITTLE from her original... Like I said, I was in a HURRY! LOL! Here is a link to the original card in the artist's gallery on Splitcoast.

And here is my blatant copy! Everything but the Stickles is fom Stampin' Up!

The card and the "photo corners" are Basic Gray cardstock. The big flower mat and half the little flowers are stamped in Basic Gray on Whisper White after stamping off once. The sentiment is from the Hostess Set "So Many Sayings" and it is stamped on the Soft Sky in Basic Gray. The Soft Sky panel was stamped with the Canvas background and then with the square image from Baroque Motifs. All the images on the white panel are from Baroque Motifs and are stamped in Soft Sky, Basic Gray and Cameo Coral. I distressed the edges of the Cameo Coral and Whisper White panels to give them a little more "oomph". I also accented the piercing on the photo corners and areas in the images with Stardust Stickles. Glittery goodness!! The ribbon is Soft Sky Double Stitched and the rhinestone brad is from the Circle Ice set. The Soft Sky flower image is matted onto the Basic Gray one with Stampin' Dimensionals for a little extra POP!

I'm going to send this to a stamping friend who, once she gets it, can take as many pictures of it as she wants.... LOL!

I made something REALLY cute.....

But I can't share because it's Christmas present stuff and I don't want anyone to see what they're gonna be getting in (EEP!) EIGHT WEEKS!

ACK! WHERE DOES TIME GO?????? I *JUST* realized that Christmas is TWO MONTHS FROM TODAY!!!! I think I literally just felt my blood pressure go up..... Do I have my cards designed? No. Do I have the ornaments for Russ' family figured out? No. Have I started even THINKING about presents? Well, sorta... I know what I'm getting for Russ and I already got iTunes and Starbucks cards for Justin's kids... But OMG, there is WAY TOO MUCH TO DO in JUST two months!!!!! GAK!

OK... I think I need to get my butt back into the stamp room.......

I really hate making these......

But if I'm gonna spend the time stamping, I'm gonna post it!







Due to the somber nature, I tried to keep it simple and elegant. The rose image is by Stampa Rosa and the sentiment is by Paper Inspirations. The card base is Shimmery White and the rose is stamped on watercolor paper in StazOn Timber Brown and water colored with my aquapainter and Watercolor Wonder crayons (Always Artichoke and Rose Red and a little Brocade Blue in the drops on the rose petals). I added a little Crystal effects to the water droplets on the petals to give them some dimension. Then I mounted the image onto Always Artichoke that I edged by dragging across an Artichoke stamp pad. The sentiment is stamped in Encore Gold on white Vellum and then I "gilded" the edge on the Encore pad before adhering it to the card (I used my Scotch ATG 1/4" adhesive and it doesn't show thru the vellum!). It needed just a little something, so I added the brads.... Hope that wasn't too much bling.....

The picture from Portland!

Thanks to Melissa - here is the photo of me, Russ, Melissa and Jason!

This is REALLY CUTE (if I do say so myself)!

So, I joined another swap on Splitcoast. This one is for Tea Bag Holders. They also fit the Ghiradelli chocolate squares. So I was working on the design for my holders. I signed up for 2 groups - one with a Holiday theme and one with a Chocolate or Love theme. I got the Christmas prototype done and took a break to mount my new stamps that I got in the mail today (Thanks, Julee!!!!!!) and realized that the boat from "Boatloads of Love" was the PERFECT size for one of these holders, so I decided to make one! All supplies except the glitter pens are Stampin' Up!:





Finished size is 3.25" square when closed. The Holder is Soft Sky cut 3.25" x 9.75", then scored at 3.25" and 6.5". The right panel is then cut on a diagonal (upper left to bottom right corner)and folded over to make the pocket and glued along the bottom edge. I stamped the diagonal pocket with the swirly image from "Season of Joy" and the front panel with the "Sanded" background stamp in Soft Sky.


The boat from "Boatloads of Love" is stamped on watercolor paper with Black StazOn and then water colored with my aquapainter using ink from my stamp pads (Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy and Basic Gray) and two of my Watercolor Wonder Crayons (Taken with Teal & Bordering Blue). I used my Sakura glitter pens to add the sparkle to the antenna, anchor and the waves. I used Crystal Effects on the windows, portholes and life preservers. While the Crystal Effects was drying, I stamped the swirly pattern in Not Quite Navy on the bottom of the NQN panel (3" x 3") and "friend-ship" in NQN on Soft Sky, punching that out with the Word Window Punch and adding the silver brads. I adhered the Soft Sky Double Stitched ribbon to the front of the holder and then layered the NQN panel over it. The boat was layered onto the NQN panel using Stampin' Dimensionals and then the friend-ship piece was adhered below the boat. Cute, huh?


Sorry I didn't take a photo of the inside.... it opens to a teabag tucked inside a diagonal pocket. I stamped the pocket with the same swirl pattern as the "water" on the navy panel. Here's a link to an open one in the Splitcoast gallery if you really need a visual.

Bummer....

The group photo I had taken on my camera of Melissa, Jason, Russ and I at the SCS Dinner in Portland didn't come out. So now, I guess I'll just wait for Melissa to e-mail me the one from her camera. I know that one came out because she posted it on SCS already! LOL!

I got some cute swaps is Portland, and I promise I'll get around to scanning them soon so I can post some, but now I must concentrate on getting a swap done that I signed up for.... I've also got Christmas cards to design too.... With all the new postal regulations, the challenge will be to design a card that looks layered and embellished, but isn't. Normally I use brads and/or ribbon on just about every card I make. Unfortunately, with the new postal rules, if I use brads or tie a bow or knot in ribbon, it makes the card get charged as a package instead of an envelope and that bumps the rate to $1.13 from 41¢. SIGH.... I could make one REALLY STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS card, take a picture and mail THAT to everyone... LOL! What a pain the Postal Service has become.

I'm back!

Yes, Judy, I'm back from Portland! Had a great time at Regionals and at the SCS dinner and with Melissa and Jason!!!!

I seem to have brought home a cold, however. It started in the sinuses on the plane ride home and by bedtime it was so bad I couldn't see! OUCH! Between the sinus pain, the sore throat and the cat, I didn't get much sleep. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel like uploading photos.... sorry....

OK - I thought this was fun......

I found this quiz on another blog I read and thought I'd play!

What scrapbooking item are you?

You are Fibers!Fun and crazy at times. You are a warm fuzzy kind of person. You run around getting things done but still find time for fun! You have so many diverse interests that it is often hard to pin you down to any one thing. People love your friendly attitude and carefree ways. You often brighten other people's days. But Fibers Beware - Sometimes people don't take you seriously because of your happy-go-lucky ways. Sometimes you find yourself feeling left out from decision making that could directly affect you. Even though you like to be happy and cheerful, make sure others know that you can also be serious and in tune with reality.

Take this quiz!

Russ and I both had lunch with college friends today!

Is that FUNNY, or what? Russ is in Vegas and had lunch with one of his college friends and I had lunch with one of my college friends that I haven't seen in probably close to 8 years. Double bonus for me was that Russ was meeting Pancho at the Hard Rock in Vegas, so I had him get me a couple pins too! LOL!

Justin's daughter saw a card in a magazine that she wants me to help her make, so he is bringing me the magazine tonight and then I'll go over there one day after school in the next couple weeks and help her make it. My swaps are almost done. Only 8 left to assemble (which should take about an hour). Then I can start concentrating on my Circle Journal. I got my OnStage "magazine" (Stampin' Up!'s quarterly recognition newsletter) today. AND THERE ON PAGE 4 (the April contest winner even!) is what I made for my Portland swaps. UGH! So now everyone is gonna say, "Oh, you copied this from OnStage"...... uh, NO! I gave 2 of the first batch to my friends in Texas a MONTH AGO and cut out all the circles on the plane trip there and back. Oh well. Can't so anything about it now! SIGH.....

So that's what's new in my little world. Hope everyone's October is off to a good start!!!!!

He's off again!

Yep! Russ is traveling again! He leaves Monday morning for Vegas. He will be working Monday thru Thursday there and coming home every weekend. This should last thru October and possibly into November. The timing works well for this first trip since I have to finish about 50 swaps for Portland Regionals and my Circle Journal for the Spamily.

The swaps and the Journal are both "due" on the 12th of October, and I leave on the 11th for Portland. Getting a few days in with Mom since after the travel fiasco last year, I *refuse* to travel over the Holidays ever again. What a nightmare! Russ will fly directly from Vegas to Portland. SCS is having a dinner Friday night and he wanted to go to that and witness the insanity. LOL.

I have the actual Regional Seminar on Friday from 9 to 5 and then the SCS dinner is at 6. AND MELISSA IS GONNA BE THERE!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!! (and bonus for me since she is the one I send the Circle Journals to, I get to hand deliver this one instead of having to mail it on the 10th!) Russ is looking forward to meeting Melissa and her husband, Jason. Should be an entertaining evening!

I have the album done (we are doing 6x6 format, which is REALLY CHALLENGING for me, especially since this is my FIRST "real" scrapbook) and I have the intro & instruction page all typed up and ready to print. I have the tag pages almost figured out and I have some ideas for my 2 page layout. So I still have some WORK to do on it these next 2 weeks. My swaps are about half done. All 300 pieces are cut and the stamping is done, the designer paper has been layered on the front and the front and back pieces have been punched. All I have left to do is distress 100 edges, make 50 glitter windows and then punch them out, cut 50 pieces of ribbon, layer all that together on the front of the "card", attach the front and back pieces and label them all. Not going to post yet what it is that I'm making, but I promise to post a picture right before I leave for Portland. And, Judy, I think I sent you one in your birthday box.... at least I intended to..... hmmmm....

So that's my world in a little nutshell (hush, Judy). I imagine this weekend will be spend doing laundry and helping Russ pack. I have to take him to the airport at 4:30 Monday morning.... yawn..... Should be fun......

Hope this works.......

This is for you, Judy!!!!!!

Julee didn't tag me, but I thought I'd play along....

The "Alias" game!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car): Mitzi Forester (not bad!)

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Bubble Gum Oatmeal Raisin (OK - NOT!)

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): L-Dal

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal):
Purple Cat (not workin, is it?)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Anne Berkeley (OK - getting better)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) : Lisda

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The” in front): The Pink Champagne (defender of cheezy vegas weddings!)

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers):
Robert Frederick (that works)

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy): Happy Gummy Bear (ok - this is going downhill again!)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names): Rae William

OK - Judy - I want to see your answers up on your blog!

Grab a beverage.... it's a LONG post!

Texas was a BLAST! I arrived on Friday afternoon and Kate picked me up at the airport and we went to get a sandwich since I hadn't eaten anything but peanuts all day. That, of course, made it happen for Janice to get off work early so we went straight from lunch to dinner! Janice brought her hubby, Jeff, and her friend, Kim and Kate's hubby, Ty, joined us as well. Then we transferred my stuff from Kate's car to Janice's and off we went!

OMG.... I was SO not prepared for what I saw and heard when we got to her house..... 23 BARKING WEENER DOGS! ROFL! I call them "the Herd". They are SO CUTE and SO FUNNY!!!!!!! I actually bonded with a couple of them while I was there.... Abby, who is one of Janice & Jeff's dogs, and Joey, who is one of the foster dogs, but he already has a family wanting to adopt him (otherwise he woulda been in my luggage coming home!). I also bonded with their orange tabby cat, Pumpkin. WHAT A SWEETIE!!!!! He liked that someone in the house paid more attention to him than those "crazy dogs", I'm sure!

Saturday morning I awoke to "the herd on the move" as they all skittled (think 92 little feet with doggy nails running across laminate flooring) out the back door for their morning constitutional. We had breakfast and got ready to meet Kate and Kim at a local Scrapbooking store and then we were off to ARCHIVER'S. I have never been to an Archiver's store and now I see why people say that they are impressive. The place was HUGE. We must have been in there for 2 hours and I still don't think I saw everything. I want one here. BADLY. LOL! Then we went and had some AUTHENTIC Texas BBQ for lunch.... YUM!!!!! After that we ran some errands and then everyone went home. Janice, Jeff and I went out for burgers at the place where their daughter works. TASTY! They do some sweet potato fries that TOTALLY ROCK! We stayed up too late yakking and playing with the dogs. Sunday was the stamp camp at Kate's house and we had everything all planned out...... UNTIL......

Sunday morning I woke up to hear the herd on the move. Then Janice came back in and said something to Jeff and he went outside. The next thing I heard was Jeff yelling, "THAT CAT ISN'T DEAD!". Welcome to Sunday..... LOL! Apparently, a feral cat had tried jumping the fence and didn't quite make it and his back leg got caught between 2 of the fence boards. NOT PRETTY (apparently.... I sure as heck wasn't gonna look!). Well, in freeing the cat, it bit Jeff THRU THE LEATHER GLOVES he was wearing, and ran under the house. So they had to call Animal Control to catch it and test it for rabies..... Here's the fun part.... Janice and Jeff did not have a license to have that many animals.... the limit is 5. They have 3 outdoor cats, 1 indoor cat and at the moment are home to 23 weener dogs. Just a tad over quota! LOL! So, Janice takes the majority of the dogs into her closet with her and they hide out when the animal control lady comes. (Same thing on Monday morning when she came back to check the traps.) They managed to catch all of the feral cats that have been hanging around EXCEPT the one that bit Jeff. sigh.

So we finally get on the road and pick up Janice's customer, Lupe, who was going to the stamp camp with us. Kim was with us too. We got to Kate's and made our Make & Takes (the same projects we did at Convention) and chatted for a while. Then we took Lupe home and Kim left and we had a fairly peaceful Sunday evening. Jeff cooked some YUMMY steaks and we had baked potatoes and salad. The dogs got the leftovers which was HILARIOUS to watch!

Monday we stayed at the house, partly because we had to leave for the airport around 12:30 and partly because the Animal Control lady was due back and we needed to be ready to hide the dogs again..... We saw about 6 raindrops on the window on the way to the airport. Apparently when I left the rain came and hasn't really left since. So I brought the sunshine and took it with me, I guess! LOL! The flight from Austin to San Diego was great. Smooth and I was able to get a lot of work done on my swaps for Portland. And then......

READY FOR MY DRAMA????????

So first my flight is delayed over an hour. OK. These things happen. I kinda thought I was gonna miss my connection anyway (only 20 minutes between flights) and be on the flight that left San Diego an hour later. So I get back to Sac and get my bag and catch the shuttle to the parking lot. Now, I *know* where I got on the shuttle. I parked there purposely. It's the LAST shuttle stop before the shuttle goes out the gate and back to the terminal. So I'm riding along and everyone is getting off and we get to the place where they normally turn to go to the section I'm parked in and he tells me this is his last stop and I have to get out. Uh, NO (DUMBA$$), the last stop is the one by the gate - where I got on. He tells me they have that area closed for a medical emergency and tells me I have to get off the bus. (if they had announced they were only running to 42T, I woulda got off at 42J instead of waiting for 43J). I asked if he could please call security to walk me (in the dark) across the 6 parking sectors and he tells me he can't do that and drives off! A$$ MUNCHER!!!!! So, now I'm PI$$ED and I call Russ and interrupt him watching the game because I wanted someone on the phone with me in case I got mugged or something.

So, as I get closer, I see a sheriff car and a couple other cars a couple aisles over, right behind the shuttle stop I WANTED to get off at, so I'm a little less upset since there obviously WAS something going on, but I still planned to let the gal at the booth know about the driver's bad attitude. Since I lost my stupid ticket from when I entered the lot on Friday, I have a couple minutes to chat with the gal while the computer finds my car's license plate from when I came in and tells the computer what the ticket # was, so I was telling her about the shuttle butthead and she did take that down because she said he could have radioed security and they would have come in the little golf cart and DRIVEN ME to my car. Grrrrrr... But then she says "Yeah, we thought it was a medical emergency but then the CORONER SHOWED UP...." Apparently the guy pulled into the parking lot on THURSDAY and someone found him in his car MONDAY around 6PM. IT'S BEEN IN THE 90's here..... and he's been dead in his car since THURSDAY, AND I WALKED RIGHT NEXT TO THAT CAR ON FRIDAY MORNING!!!!!! EEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!! YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!!! I guess it's a good thing I was running late on Friday and was running to the shuttle stop since the bus was already there.... if the bus hadn't been close I would have sauntered over to the stop and probably woulda seen the guy.... DOUBLE EEEEEEEEWWWWWW!!!!!

Taz, by the way, did NOT approve of the scent of weener dogs that came home with me. LOL! So I'm back and have done a million loads of laundry (or so it seems) and life is back to normal. Today I took advantage of the GORGEOUS weather (hi of 78! WOO HOO!) and ripped out all the spring/summer plants that were dying in the front wine barrels and went to the nursery and got some fall color. I got one barrel replanted today with 4 mums. I need to get another bag of potting soil since I had to dig out plants with big root masses from the other barrels. Tomorrow I will plant 4 mums in the front barrel and then fill the back barrel with snapdragons. Then I got 2 plants for the backyard to replace the 2 I killed this summer when I failed to realize that the drip lines had been pulled out of their pots during a week of 98 degree days.... oops! So I'll pull those up and replant those 2 containers tomorrow too! I also got some little stakes to keep the drip lines where I put them, so hopefully these two will have better luck.... LOL!

So now I'm current on my blog.... HAPPY, JUDY???? ROFL!!!!!

YEE HA!!!!!

I'm off to TEXAS in the morning!!!! I will be in Austin visiting my friends Janice and Kate who are hosting a SU! Stamp Camp on Sunday. Janice does Dachshund rescue, so I told Russ I might just bring "someone" home if any bonding happens. He was NOT amused.... he he he....

Everyone have a FABULOUS weekend! I'll see y'all on the flip side!!!!

Wow.... 10 years......

Ten years ago today, Britain lost "The People's Princess" and the world lost a beautiful person and humanitarian.


On that same day, I put down *my* first cat, Sandi. (Not a family cat, but *mine*)


All the hoopla about Princess Di every year always reminds me. Because Europe is half a day ahead of us, August 31 there was still August 30 here and Sandi and I sat up on the couch late into the night watching the news coverage of the accident, me knowing what I was going to be doing the next day.


I wish we'd had digital cameras then, because while I have a lot of photos of Sandi, they are not as accessible as the digitals I have of Taz and Aspen. I have to find which storage box they are in, sort thru them, warm up the scanner, pre-scan them, crop and adjust colors or lighting, scan them, then open them in my photo software and save a second, smaller version for uploading. The whole process takes about 3-7 minutes PER PICTURE, so I don't have many of Sandi on my computer, but I do have a couple....




Wasn't she a PRETTY girl?

Let me tell you, she did not have a sunny disposition..... Stacy and I gave her the middle name of "Christine" in reference to the possessed car in the Stephen King novel! Her nickname was "The Bitch". It was earned. She was actually Stacy's cat. He got her just as we started dating, so she bonded with me from just about day one. He made the decision to have her declawed on all 4 feet (NOT something I would have done, but she wasn't MINE yet). With her, it may have been a good decision as that cat was 15 lbs of MUSCLE. She had a powerful right hook and if she smacked you, YOU KNEW IT. I can only imagine the damage she would have done with claws!


In the first photo she is sitting next to her food dishes on TOP of our refrigerator. Stacy and I had a bad time with ants in our apartment on Royal Oaks and that was the one place we found we could put the cat food without the ants getting it and since Sandi and our other cat, Torti, would not stay off the kitchen counter anyway, it was really easy to teach them to jump up there for their food. Sandi also LOVED high places. She would look down at you like the "Church Lady" as if to say, "I'm superior! I'm Superior!". Like all my girls, she was also an indoor only cat. I did try leash training with her, but that did not go well.

Sandi was NOT amused the day we brought Taz and Aspen home! First of all, it was the day we moved. I figured if all 3 cats came into the apartment without any of them having lived there before it would help. I'm sure it did, a little, but that was a rough couple of months at the beginning and I think it was a year before Taz and Aspen had run of the house at bedtime. Sandi and Aspen NEVER got along.... Aspen wanted to be "Top Cat" something fierce, but that position was held by Sandi and enforced by me! Taz and Sandi tolerated each other.

Taz reminds me of Sandi in many ways, she probably learned from her.... Sandi was NEVER a lap cat. She MIGHT sit beside you, but NEVER on you. She hated to be held. She would wait till I fell asleep at night and THEN come sleep right next to me, but down by my knees where I couldn't easily reach her. Taz is a LITTLE better about that - she sleeps by my waist!


So now you've met my first little fuzzy SUNSHINE.... the cat that was the inspiration for most of my screen names and e-mail addresses as well as the license plate on my car, SNDIMOM.

For Judy - A SPAMMY SPOILER!

Spammies - do NOT look at the photo at the end of this post if you don't want to see what I am working on for Christmas gifts..... You have been warned!


Judy apparently asked in comments last Friday what I am doing with the leftover dominoes. Unfortunately, I don't look at my blog except when I post to it, so she had to smack me upside the head with an e-mail! LOL! I had the PERFECT sized image for a domino, so I thought these would be really cute little Christmas ornaments for the Spam Ma'ams.



The stamp is by Stampendous. There are two little glasses on the stamp, I zapped it off the wood block, cut the image in half and used just this one on an acrylic block and then stuck it back on its wood block next to it's brother when I was done. The other glass has a tree in it, I think....



I started by sanding the blank side of the dominoes and wiping them off with rubbing alcohol. The image is stamped in StazOn Jet black and then I let them dry for a couple hours while I cleaned out a drawer or two.... The red and green are Sharpie Fine Point Markers. The silvery color is a Stardust Glitter pen. I did most of them with the Stardust as the beverage too, but it needed a little more "pop" so I tried a little glue and Dazzling Diamonds on this one. Not sure I like it. Once I figure out what I'm using, I'll seal them with a light coat of Krylon. The Stardust Glitter Pen will rub off otherwise. If I just used StazOn and the Sharpies, I think I could leave it unsealed. The back side (where the dots are) will be covered over in patterned paper and then I will run red Grosgrain ribbon around the edge of the domino and attach a loop to hang it, probably also in the red ribbon. We'll see. Now I need to find a "family suitable" image that will fit a domino..... I think these are what I'm going to do for Russ' family this year, just not with a Christmas Martini on them! Here is the Spamily Version:





Cute, huh? I think they are fun! I've had a few dominoes in my drawer of stuff to be altered for YEARS, but had always seen them done as little pins and honestly, they are kinda heavy for pins, IMHO. I thought about doing them as magnets too.... kinda like the little mini tiles (Judy - I'll post those in a future blog, I promise... I was planning to do some of those for Christmas this year too and when I do, I'll post it.... probably late October, after Portland!). Over on Splitcoast, you can go to the Gallery and search "domino" and see some FABULOUS stuff done.... I'm loving the necklaces, but need to find someone with a drill press to drill thru the dominoes (the long way) for me! the Keychains are cute too, and that's a hole I can drill with my cordless drill. Hmmmm....

One of those WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT moments....

OK. I have SIX people's blogs in my "links toolbar" (meaning that when my fat butt is at the computer and I have more than 15 minutes of leisure time after wandering through SCS, I cruise my links first and then delve into the "blogs" folder in my faves, so these 6 pretty much get read EVERY DAY). This morning I was crusing thru them and I came to this: http://paperpleasing.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/08/ooooo---are-you.html


Julie is someone I have "met" on Splitcoaststampers and I just TOTALLY love her work, so I put her blog in my links so I don't miss anything. Well I am SO GLAD I didn't miss today's post! I just got this set a couple weeks ago and had not mounted it yet because I REALLY wanted to separate the phrases (the 34 individual lines come as THREE stamps with THREE blocks), but I didn't know HOW to make this work. Well, Julie's blog today was one of those "cloud-parting-angels-singing-light-beaming-down-from-above" moments. I ran over to WalMart and found they had a 55 pack of dominoes, so I now have 21 left over for altering PLUS the tin they came in! WOO HOO! Here is the result:




I *did* have to steal the (larger) container from one of my retired background stamps and stuff it into the container So Many Sayings came in, but look at how well they fit in the background size box! It was destiny, I tell ya!!! Does this not TOTALLY ROCK???? Julie, I love ya for sharing!!!!!

I have been amassing supplies getting ready for the start of the Spamily Circle Journals. Got some REALLY cute pink and black ribbon yesterday to use when I get Melissa's journal... she has requested that we do our pages using only pink, black and white. The book I am using for my journal has been ordered and is on its way to me. I have all sorts of ideas of how I am going to do this.... we'll see what it actually ends up looking like!

Fun fun fun.....

I have resorted to going back to IE for my internet browsing, which I really don't like, but it seems to be working. If I could say the same for my ISP, life would be good. We are looking at changing from comcast to ATT, I'm just waiting for some tech clarification from ATT on the issue of the alarm system which uses the phoneline. Whee.......



In 2 weeks I'm going to take a trip to Austin, TX for a long weekend to see 2 of my Spam Ma'am friends, Janice and Kate! They are having a Stamp Camp that Sunday. It looks like one of the other Texas Spammies, Heather is going to drive to Austin to join in the fun too! I'm also told we are going to a "Schnapps Bar" on 6th Street for something called a "Flaming Dr. Pepper". Looks interesting....



I got some stamping goodies in the mail today from another one of the Spamily, Cherie! I'm not going to go into detail since she sent packages out to all of us, but I will upload the card here. I love Pretty In Pink and Gable Green together! And the Cuttlebug embossing folder she used, Stylized Flowers, is one of my favorites. It's hard to see in the picture, but she colored the embossed parts and then used glitter on the flowers. VERY SPARKLY!!!! The panel is also Shimmery White card stock, so it really just shines!



So pretty!

The Spamily is doing a circle journal! We each start a small scrapbook with a theme and instructions to the rest of the group and then mail it off! We will mail the book we have on the 15th of each month. 10 months later, I will have done a 2 page layout in each of their books and I will get mine back with a 2 page layout from each of them in it. Those of you who know me know that I do NOT scrapbook, so this is a HUGE step out of my comfort zone. It should be interesting! Here are some links I found on the web about circle journals:

http://scrapbooking.com/article/8001 http://www.pagesoftheheart.net/artma...icle_923.shtml
And: http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/mag...dex_field=1002

It's about 100 degrees outside (second day in a row).... State Fair is open, so I'm sure that's why it got hot again.... it's always "stupid hot" when the State Fair is running! I'm hoping it cools off next week so I can go.... I LOVE COTTON CANDY!!!! And so does Taz! Yeah, she's really strange.....

Grrrrrr.......

I'm having computer issues. Anyone who knows me knows that I am fairly tech-savvy, but software issues really bug the crap outta me. Grrrrrr...... My settings are all where they always have been, but for some reason, my browser software decided to clear out my saved username & password info. I have a set of passwords that I rotate using, so that's not too hard to figure out, but usernames are a NIGHTMARE! I used to use the same name for everything, and I still try for that one, but I find most of the time that it isn't available. Then there are the sites where your username is your e-mail address.... uh.... which ONE? ACK! Then there are the sites where it's your account # (like logging into Southwest Air today - had to input my stupid flier miles #... BAH!). What a total pain in the butt.

OK... breathe in.... breathe out....... On to HAPPY STUFF... STAMPING!

I got some stamping done yesterday.... I was working on swap cards for a Holiday Mini swap that is due to be mailed next week. I got the base cardstock cut and stamped with the background pattern and I got the focal image all stamped and matted on the first mat and accented with glitter. I'm still toying with the embellishment.

Today I will share one of the swaps I got in the Card Candy Swap hosted my Stampinmelis at Convention. The artist is Connie Ingram. It's hard to tell in the photo, but all the stamped images are covered in glitter! Mmmmm.... LOVE THAT SPARKLY GOODNESS!

ALL IMAGES © Stampin' Up! 1999-2007



The stamp set used is one of the Level 2 Hostess sets, Perfect Presentation. It's the set I used for one of the ATC swaps I did for Convention. I love that little snowman!