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!

Card Candy!

I got my Card Candy swap from Convention back in the mail today! It was a swap with gals from both sessions, so that's why it came in the mail rather than coming home with me. There was some GREAT STUFF in there and maybe tomorrow I will scan a couple and upload them. I thought I had blogged mine already, but I didn't see it when I looked real quick, so here is what I did:

ALL IMAGES © Stampin' Up! 1999-2007



I used a total of NINE punches to do this. It was fun! Most of the colors are from the new In Colors: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate and Wild Wasabi. I also used Barely Banana and Blush Blossom. Stamp sets used were It's All Good, Big Flowers, Baroque Motifs and the So Swirly Jumbo wheel. The clear button is stamped with one of the stamps from Background Sampler with Whisper White Craft ink that I tinted green using Wild Wasabi Classic ink (refill), then it was embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. The edge on the oval piece was done with the silver end of the ZIG Painty Pen. Lots of work, but lots of fun!

I got my Holiday Mini pre-order (and some other goodies) yesterday. I now have 2 swaps of 18 pieces each to get going on.... they are due to be mailed on the 20th. The 2 sets I got were Season Of Joy and True Friend (which coordinates with the designer paper in the mini, Apple Cider, as well as coordinating with Baroque Motifs!). I also got the new gold and silver cord. I don't like it as much as the old cord, but it will do. The new cord is elastic, but thinner than I thought it would be. I think the only other thing I ordered from the mini were the new Mini Library Clips. When they say MINI, they MEAN IT! These things are DANG TINY! LOL! I also got some of the Jumbo Eyelets that came out in the catalog in July and replenished some cardstock I was low or out of.

So, that said, I'm off to the stamp room!

SIGH.....

Well, I'm not going on my trip to Idaho as I had hoped to...... Oh well. Hopefully I can sneak in a day trip to Disneyland or Vegas or somewhere before my free flight coupon expires! LOL! During the time I wanted to travel I could get on a plane to Spokane, WA; Phoenix, AZ or Austin TX..... hmmmmm..... LOVELY choices.... Not exactly what I had in mind! LOL!

Then I tracked my UPS package from Stampin' Up! to find it has been rescheduled for tomorrow. DOUBLE SIGH..... I want my new toys!

So I bring you another one of my Convention Swaps.

ALL IMAGES © Stampin' Up! 1999-2007



This is a gift card holder with a little pocket note inside. The artist is Amy Shaw (cardmakingmama), from Alberta. Colors are Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery and Real Red and the images are from and the swirly image is embossed with white embossing powder. I think I'm going to have to get that Baroque Motifsround tab punch.... I didn't think I "needed" it, but I keep seeing REALLY cute stuff done with it! And, yes, I really DID have to put a STARBUCKS gift card inside! LOL!

And look, it's BAROQUE MOTIFS AGAIN! LOL! I should seriously go thru my swaps and count how many used this set.....

I can't wait to get my Holiday Mini order..... I am getting the "True Friend" stamp set and some of the new double sided "Apple Cider" designer paper. Those who know me KNOW that green, orange and brown are SO NOT my fave colors, but this paper just makes me say YUM! Hoping to use it for one of my swaps I'm in! I also have one of the new Christmas sets from the mini coming to me via a trade. Season of Joy, I think is the name. Using that for my other swap. There are also plans in the works for a monthly card swap among the Spam Ma'ams as well as something called a "Circle Journal"... yeah, "Journal" was not the first "J" word that came to my mind either..... Should be interesting as I am SO not a scrapbooker! LOL!

OUCH!

I love our spa. Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE my spa. What I DON'T love is the draining, cleaning and refilling. BLEH. Has to be done 3 to 4 times a year which means once every summer when it is a million degrees out, I have to shift the gazebo, hook up the drainage hose, drain it, clean the tub out, rinse it, clean the filter, unhook and re-roll the drainage hose, move the gazebo back where it belongs, refill the dang thing and then balance the chemicals. Whee...... Tonight I managed to scrape the crap out of my wrist Moving the dang gazebo. OUCH! But it's draining now which means in the morning I can scrub it down with the big car wash brush and rinse it out and start refilling it. The filter is soaking now. Then by tomorrow night I will have clean, sparkling water to soak my sorry butt in! LOL!

OK. Here is another swap card I got at Convention.

ALL IMAGES © Stampin' Up! 1999-2007

This one is also made using the Baroque Motifs set and was made by Kathy Hill. The ribbon is our new Chocolate Chip Taffeta.... so pretty!!!!!



Baroque Motifs was one of the sets we could pre-order out of the new catalog so there were LOTS of swaps done with it. Last year the set I got a lot of was Blossoms Abound. I like it, but I really can go the rest of my life without seeing that Lilac Bloom again. I am feeling the same about Baroque, which is sad since I ordered it, but haven't used it yet and now I'm sick of it... LOL!

I just placed my Holiday Mini pre-order yesterday. I have joined two swaps for the two sets I am getting. Hope my order ships soon! LOL!

More Convention goodies!

OK - Here's another gorgeous swap card I got at the Splitcoast Dinner (Session 1) at Convention:

ALL IMAGES © Stampin' Up! 1999-2007

This card was done by Chris Shively and uses Very Vanilla, River Rock, Cameo Coral and Chocolate Chip. The images are from Baroque Motifs and the Canvas Background was used. SO PRETTY!!!

I also stamped up 10 fast and SUPER easy bottle collar drink holders. I wish I had a photo of it ON the bottle, but you'll have to use your imagination...

ALL IMAGES © Stampin' Up! 1999-2007

The 1 1/4" Circle punch makes the perfect size hole to slip over the cap of a standard 16.9 or 20 ounce water bottle. The Bashful Blue cardstock was cut to be 2" x 8.5" (you can get 5 out of a sheet of cardstock!). Punch the hole at the top, leaving at least 1/4" (I left about 3/8”) above the hole so it doesn't tear when you put it on the bottle! I scored and folded about 2.75" up from the bottom to make the pocket and then punched 2 holes near the top of the pocket using the 1/8" punch and tied the Light Blue Gingham ribbon in a little bow. “Dream Big” was the theme for Convention, so I just HAD to use this image from the It’s All Good set. It is stamped in Bashful Blue Craft ink onto Whisper White cardstock and then embossed using Iridescent Ice embossing powder. Or was it Hologram Highlights? Sorry, I can’t remember now! I then punched it out using our new Scallop Circle punch (the idea was for it to look a little bit like a cloud) and adhered it to the pocket below the bow, using a Pop Up Glue Dot. The sides of the pocket are adhered RIGHT AT THE EDGES using Sticky Strip WITH the drink packet already inside (if you seal the pocket first, it’s too tight to slip the packet in there – trust me). Fun, fast and SUPER EASY! You could dress it up even more by using one of the Jumbo Wheels on the cardstock or by using Double Sided Designer Series Papers. WAY CUTE!!!!

Oh dear Lord in Heaven......

OK. I got asked by someone (JUDY V) when I was going to post more stamping. Uh.... maybe the same day I can SEE THE TOP OF MY STAMP TABLE! LOL! I decided to try and SHOVEL it off tonight. Went in, turned the TV on to the Sirius 80's station (Def Leppard is playing now!) and made a SERIOUS dent in the chaos, but still nowhere near usable. Hey - it's been buried since a week or two before convention!

Tomorrow I am on a quest to find the big "A" chipboard letter so I can make little wall decorations for Abigail and Gregory to hang over their cribs. I can find the "G" all over, but the "A" has been elusive (went to 3 stores today, dragging Russ along!). If I don't find it out at My Green Tangerines tomorrow, I will either surrender or order it online. I met up with an old CTMH friend today and she told me I *HAD* to go out to Green Tangerines.... apparently it is the closest thing in Nor Cal to Archivers. Those of you who scrapbook will understand the gravity of that comparison.... LOL!

Wish me luck!

Working through my swaps....

ALL IMAGES © Stampin' Up! 1999-2007

I realized today that I could probably have blog material for MONTHS if I go through my swaps SLOWLY! Today I am sharing the 3 altered "Altoid" tins I got at Convention.

This one had mints in it (gone! YUM!) and was made by one of my Spam Ma'am friends - Kristi S. from Tonganoxie, KS. I LOVE the microbeads along the edge.... I always use boring ribbon!




The other two I got trading out on the General Floor (mostly waiting in line to get into General Session in the mornings). They both had little cards inside the tins. The first one was by Freda E. from Port Orchard, WA. There were 6 little cards inside, 2 of each style:



And this third one also had 6 cards inside, 3 of each style. The lid on this tin is done in a technique called "Polished Stone", which is done on glossy paper. The artist is Cassie Knox. If you want more info on how to do Polished Stone, you can click on the link on the right to Splitcoaststampers (SCS) and do a search for "Polished Stone" either in the forums or the Gallery.



This is the tin that I was trading:



It is a Wilton Wedding Favor tin. They come in a bucket of 25 or 30 at Michael's, JoAnn's and other craft stores for around $20 (but you can use a 40% coupon when they have one!). All supplies but the tin and the chocolate are from the current Stampin' Up! catalog. The image from Double Line Doodles is stamped on Pretty in Pink Cardstock in StazOn Timber Brown and cut out to a 2" circle. Then I added some Liquid Glue to the heart and the circle and dusted them with Dazzling Diamonds glitter before gluing the cardstock inside the lid, below the acetate (using Crystal Effects as glue). The Light Pink Gingham and Bravo Burgundy Grosgrain ribbon are attached using Sticky Strip. The flower is punched from Pretty In Pink using the Spring Flower Bouquet punch and the Linen Thread is tied arond the Silver Brad thru the center. The flower is attached with Mini Glue Dots (2). The words were printed onto Pretty in Pink using the Write Me A Memory Journaling Fonts CD (vol 2) and then punched out with the Small Tag Punch, sponged with Close to Cocoa ink and layered onto Close To Cocoa cardstock that had been punched out with the Large Tag Punch. Inside were 3 Hershey Kisses Truffles. Cute, huh? I took about 20 of them with me. Chocolate always trades well at Convention!

Tomorrow I'll share more of my goodies and the other 3D item I took to swap!

"Special" Thanks.....

To Melissa and Amy for THIS: Badgers

All I have to say to you two is, "CAT, I'M A KITTY CAT....." BWA HA HA!!!!!!

Since I was asked.....

Yes, Taz missed me quite a bit, as was evidenced by the fact that she would not even let me go to the bathroom by myself after I got home. She came in there and laid ON my foot. Crazy feline...... She is still demanding more attention than normal, but she has stopped following me EVERYWHERE at least! LOL!

Here come the swaps!!!!!

OK - I'm STARTING to get organized!

This is the CUTEST STINKIN SWAP I got at convention -


The artist is Barb Coblentz from Marshfield, WI. YES, that REALLY is CATNIP! Taz has gotten her paws on this TWICE already! Little monster! LOL!

I also sorted my ATCs (Artist Trading Cards - 2.5" x 3.5" - they fit in baseball sleeves) into their album last night. There were only 36 to deal with so it was pretty easy! These came from 2 rounds of ATC swaps hosted by Michelle Skillicorn aka Tygerpaws11. She hosts a lot of ATC swaps. The 1st 2 on the first page are the ones I did for the swaps.



There was only one ATC I was disappointed with and since each page holds 9, it was just easier to leave it off.

Looking thru the General Floor swaps that I did for Bonnie (raduse) who couldn't attend this year, there were some really nice cards this year. I'd post the pictures, but I did not note the artists' names, so I won't be sharing. Sorry. There were only a few cards that were (what I call) "What Were Ya Thinkin" quality (or lack thereof). I haven't finished going thru the cards from the SCS dinner. I went thru them really fast and sent the ones I didn't need to Bonnie (I'm a hobby demo and really don't NEED 100 cards, so I think I sent her 10 or 15 of them that were not my style ). I'll be going thru what I still have more carefully and posting some of the really awesome ones here in the coming week or so!