Yes, a REAL STAMPED CARD!!!!!

Along with Taz's birthday card from Julee (see the May 21 entry if you missed that!), I got some little Cat's Pajamas images from her. I decided to use one of them to make a card to send to Julee.... Now that she has it, I can post it here, because I really was quite happy with how it turned out.... From the new summer line at Cat's Pajamas, here's "Annette":



She's just too darned cute! I love the sunglasses... such total cattitude!!!! I really think what made this card was the raffia around the oval..... I stole it from Taz's favorite toy.... just 2 strands... she'll never miss it, so she actually helped with this one because she did the shredding! Got the paper at the local scrapbook store... I was feeling like using primary colors on this so the red and blue in the paper was perfect. The cardstock is Buckaroo Blue from Stampin' Up! and the markers used to color Annette are also Stampin' Up!.... Real Red, Brocade Blue, Old Olive and Barely Banana, I think. I also used my Stardust Clear glitter pen and my new Scalloped Oval punches. The brads are from Making Memories and the oval frame is from Stampin' Up!'s Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware.

I have an order on the way from Cat's Pajamas.... In it is their new Sprinkle doing the hula..... I can't wait to get that one!!!!!

My Preview is FINALLY here!!!!!

And they weren't kidding that the new In Colors look TOTALLY different in the print version than they do in the pdf version! WOW! I really like that Soft Sky.... I wish that had been around when I was making stuff for the twins.... it is a really pale minty-blue sort of color.

The only one of the colors I'm not wild about is the River Rock, but I'm not really big on yellowy-brown colors.

Normally I really dislike the color orange, but the Groovy Guava is a nice dark peachy color.... it will go well with Blush Blossom!

So now I'm just counting down the hours till I can spend more money with Stampin' Up! June 1st can't come quick enough!!!!!

We spent most of our day out shopping today..... bought a new bed for the guest room... buh-bye to the "crouton-futon" and hello to a platform bed with an innerspring futon mattress. It will be in either the 29th or June 5th. Then we went to Best Buy to get Russ a new monitor.... then to Fry's because they had one in their ad for a whole lot less. Ended up buying the monitor he liked at Best Buy over at Fry's since they had a $30 mail-in rebate with it. I'm going to run to the grocery store and get some hot dogs to BBQ tonight.... nothing like a slightly charred hot dog.... yuuuuummmmmmm!!!!!!

On a sad note.....

As I have probably mentioned, I am headed to Stampin' Up's convention in Denver this summer. One of the fun parts about Convention, since I go alone, is finding a roommate and meeting someone new. Last year it was CraftyKate from Splitcoast. Last month, I found a roommate - Roanne aka Roannestamps on Splitcoast. We have spent the past month or so, e-mailing back and forth, getting to know each other. I just got an e-mail from her yesterday around 4PM her time. She told me all about the 110 swap cards she did on Monday and the Microscope Slide necklaces (swaps) she was working on.

Roanne passed away suddenly last night. Cardiac arrest. She was somewhere around my age (her description was "just a bit older"). She was single, but leaves behind five kitties... Cleo-catra, Venice, Paris, Rio and Braveheart. She collected teacups (ok, got me on that one) and liked to play Sudoku (as do I). She also liked photography. We had a lot in common..... And for someone I never got the opportunity to meet face to face, I miss her. I am so terribly sad for her mother and her kitties and that I was so close to really meeting her and now that won't happen.

Just a reminder of how short and precious life can be..... Give an extra hug to your loved ones, including those with fur for Roanne......

Edited today, 5/27/07 to add that I now know that Roanne was 46 and that she was not alone when she passed, so that was comforting.... She knew she was dying and was able to tell the person with her that she loved them before passing. Should we all be so fortunate to pass in the comforting arms of a loved one.....

One Word.....

This was on Julie's blog, Paper Pleasing Ideas... Here are my answers.... (sorry, had to add an explanation to bathroom.... we have two of them, I just want a NEW one!) Feel free to play along!

One Word

You can only type one word. No explanations...

Yourself: Silly

Your Partner: Strong

Your Hair:   Long

Your Mother:  Responsible

Your Father:  Inspiration

Your Favorite Item: stamps

Your Dream Last Night: road-trip

Your Favorite Drink:  champagne

Your Dream Car: B9Tribeca

Dream Home: bigger

The Room You Are In: office/guestroom

Your Fear: fire

Where You Want to be in Ten Years: Gualala

Who You Hung Out With Last Night:  Hubby

You're Not: Pollyanna

One of Your Wish List Items: Bathroom (remodel)

The Last Thing You Did: Dinner

you Are Wearing:  shorts

Your Favorite Weather: Spring

Your Favorite Book: Watership Down

Last Thing You Ate: casserole

Your Life: average

Your Mood: sad

Your Best Friend: Justin

What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Roanne

Your Car: Forester

What Are You Doing At The Moment: Blogging

Relationship Status:  married  

What Is On Your TV: unknown

What Is The Weather Like: Dusk

When Is The Last Time You Laughed: today

It's been a REALLY long day.....

Which really started last night around 9PM..... Russ got a flat tire right as he got to church last night. 2 of the guys there helped him put on the spare but he didn't get home till almost 10PM. He asked me to drive him to work today and then get the tire taken care of. So I was up at 5:30 (which is a WHOLE LOT earlier than I normally have to be attentive enough to drive!). It's a 45-55 minute drive each way, so it was close to 8AM when I got home.

Then I had to take Taz to the vet for a 10AM appointment. She HATES going in her carrier, so that was fun. Not. We got home from the vet around 11:00, I gave her some treats for not killing anyone and then switched cars and headed for Les Schwabb Tires to see if they could repair the flat.

Score one for luck, it was repairable! 20 minutes later it was back on the car and the spare was even put back up underneath. AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN CHARGE ME the $11.50 they had quoted! BONUS! Helps take away a bit of the sting of the $101 vet visit....

Score two for luck when Russ called and said he had a coworker that was going to bring him about 3/4 of the way home, so I was only looking at 10 or 15 minutes instead of almost an hour each way! Right about the time I was going to go meet him he called again and said that his coworker was going to bring him all the way home! YAY!

Unfortunately, my Stampin' Up! Fall Winter Catalog Preview Brochure did NOT arrive in the mail today.....SIGH.... Everyone keeps saying that it looks much different in real life than the pdf file online does. I hate waiting.....

We have no real plans for this weekend.... we need to do some shopping for household stuff and get an oil change done on Russ' car (wish I'd remembered that today while I had it.... D'Oh!), but that's all that's on our calendar for the weekend. Maybe I'll actually get some stamping done.....

SURPRISE!

Every once in a while I get something in my mailbox that is TRULY a surprise. I've belonged to a couple different RAK (Random Act of Kindness) groups over on Splitcoast, so getting cards in the mail, while still TOTALLY AWESOME, isn't as surprising as it once was.

Until today.

In 14 years, this is a first... TAZ got a BIRTHDAY CARD!

Yes, boys and girls, MY CAT GOT MORE MAIL TODAY THAN I DID! LOL!

And should you be wondering who is sending my CAT a birthday card, it would be none other than Julee (Shadowcatcher) Tilman and her cat, Katie. Well, I'm not sure how much Katie had to do with it.....

Here is Taz, checking out her card (Mmmmmm.... RIBBON!!!!)




And here is a closeup of the card, The cat and sentiment stamps are by Cat's Pajamas. You can check out Julee's blog for tons of awesome artwork featuring their stuff! (there's a link over on the right under "Blogs I read")



Thanks, Julee and Katie!!!!

I cannot believe how TINY they are!

Here are the long awaited photos!

These were taken Friday at the ripe old age of 3 days. They are SOOOOOOOO tiny!!!!

This is Abigail


And this is Gregory


Adorable little peanuts, huh?

It's VSN Weekend, Baby!!!!!

VSN = Virtual Stamp Night. Used to be just one day and then it evolved to start with a "Tailgate" session on Friday night. If you have kids stamping along with you, it starts at 3PM (California time) today (4PM for the adults) and the last challenge tonight is posted at 8PM. Then tomorrow it starts at 9AM for the kids, 10AM for the adults and the last challenge will be posted at 8PM, one every hour. You get 45 minutes to complete your item and then 15 minutes to clean up, eat, whatever. If you are inclined to check it out, here is the link to the VSN forum on Splitcoast Stampers.

I have the house to myself (well, with Taz, whose birthday is tomorrow) till Russ gets home Sunday afternoon!

He will be at his mom's this weekend to help with her annual garage sale. He has been ordered to take his camera to the hospital and take pictures of the babies. I told him not to come home without baby photos! LOL!

I thought about going, but I *SO* do NOT do garage sales, and I'm certainly not going to spend my VSN weekend sitting in my mother-in-law's garage just to see the babies for 15 minutes. I can wait. Besides, the new mother is not letting anyone near them who shows any signs of anything but perfect health and it's allergy season for me, so I'm sure she wouldn't let me in there anyway. She told Russ last night that he wouldn't be allowed in if he wasn't feeling better today and he just had an upset stomach from something he ate! We'll see how long she maintains this level of strictness.... I'm guessing it will stop not long after she has the babies home and her hubby goes back to work! LOL!

I am now off to feed my caffeine addiction and go grocery shopping for hassle-free-foods for me to eat tonight and tomorrow. Can we say "buh-bye diet"??? Then I need to get home and clean off the DISASTER that is my stamp table! I need to print out the VSN Shopping list again (since I lost the first one in there!) and organize all my supplies. Sounds like I'm going to have a busy day!!!!

I'M AN AUNTIE!!!!!

Oh, and Russ is an Uncle.... LOL!

Abigail Mae and Gregory James were born May 15th weighing 3 lbs, 15 oz and 4 lbs, 1 oz. Mother and babies are doing fine, but due to their size the babies will be staying in the hospital for about a month. Sis-in-law was in labor for about 8 hours and had a normal delivery!

Russ will see them on Friday, so I should have a photo or two to upload come Sunday night when he gets back!

72 Days till CONVENTION!!!!!

OK. Now that the Baby stuff is done (shower was fun, the little mother is miserable at 32 weeks with 4 to 6 weeks left!) I can turn my attention to SU! stuff!

I am register for the (sold out) 1st session of Convention July 25-28. I am also registered for the SCS 1st Session Dinner. I am committed (in more ways than one) to 101 card fronts and 40 ATCs for swapping. I must be crazy! I spent 4 hours yesterday working on the first 50 card batch. I got all the layers cut, the punched piece punched and stamped and all 204 brads have been set. Today I decided I really needed craft ink instead of classic, so I placed an SU! order. Hopefully I will have that by the end of the week so I can work on the swaps this weekend.

Although.... this weekend is VSN!!!! And I have the house to myself! Russ will be going to his parents' Friday night (straight from work) and won't be home till Sunday afternoon! Saturday is Taz's 14th birthday, so I will have to set aside some special Kitty Time, but other than that, the weekend is MINE ALL MINE!

Tomorrow is our anniversary (14 years). I have my card all done (A VSN entry from November or January), so I'm ready! Russ stopped at Hallmark on the way home tonight. Nothing like waiting till the last minute! LOL!

The Baby Tins are DONE!!!!!

The shower is tomorrow at 1:30. The tins were finished around 4 PM today. Nothing like waiting till almost the last minute, huh? Of course, I still need to do a card and wrap them....

I did absolutely NO STAMPING on these. This was my first time doing anything like these little memory books, so I was kinda learning as I made them! They consist of 12 A2 size envelopes, each one with the month and year on them from July 2007 to June 2008. The envelopes are then glued into an accordion card stock spine which is then attached inside the front covers of the book. The book covers are just covered cardboard and the spine is double sided heavy paper. All the words are printed on adhesive vellum and cut out and stuck on. The words on the tins are die cut with the Cuttlebug or embossed with the Cuttlebug and cut out. The papers all came from Michael's with the exception of all card stock which is Close To My Heart (it is thinner than SU's and die cuts more easily). Here are the photos of the tins, the tins with the books, and the books open. I'll post the card later tonight.....

My head is spinning.....

Today (well, actually LATE last night) Stampin' Up! released their retirement list, telling us what stamp sets would not make it from the current Idea Book to the next one (which comes out July 1st). It's a pretty big deal and there were a bunch of us over on Splitcoast "stalking" its release. Once it came out, the shock wave spread.

In the past, they have retired around 150 stamp sets - not insignificant when you consider there are around 360 regular "sets" in the catalog. This year they retired 233 sets from the US catalog. It would have been easier for them to list what WASN'T retiring (129 sets). My personal collection took a HUGE hit. I had 35 current sets, I now have 15 and only 5 of those are "images"; the rest are backgrounds and word sets. This is in addition to the SAB sets and Hostess sets that we knew were going to retire.

I still have 4 sets from the past year's mini catalogs whose status will remain in limbo until the catalog comes out... I think one (Like it a Latte) will make it since the only other coffee set we had is on the list. We lost most of the Christmas sets, all but 1 baby set and even the floral stamps took a beating.

I had hoped to start making Convention Swap cards this week, but all the sets I had envisioned using will be retired and not usable for SU swapping. SIGH.... So, after careful pondering, I ordered 2 more sets that are NOT on the list so I can start swaps NEXT week. Just as well.... I need to get back to work on the baby gifts for the shower on the 12th.

Happy May, everyone!

OK, this is just NOT how it's 'sposed to be!

I'm having creative block. Again. And it's really frustrating me.

I must have spent 6 hours at the stamp table Friday and yesterday and what do I have to show for it? Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip. I'd like to blame it on the fact that every idea I came up with needed a stamp set I don't own. That would be the easy way out. Unfortunately, I think it all boils down to the fact that my creative faucet just isn't flowing (or even dripping) right now. Although I did come up with something fun and cool, but I can't share because I want to submit it the next time SCS is looking for VSN Hostesses..... Unfortunately, I did not come up with ideas for Convention Swap cards which is what I desperately need to be starting on. Ugh.

We did just spend 2 hours cleaning out Russ's dresser and getting all the clothes he isn't keeping together with the pile I already had and got it all into the back of my car so I can take it to charity tomorrow. That was good. And I just finished BBQing some hot dogs. Yummy.....

Maybe I'll go take another try at the stamp table......

I forget how small 6x6 is.....

I got my sample pack of the new background papers from Stampin' Up tonight.... I forgot how small 6x6 was! LOL! They really are pretty and are so much more vivid in real life than they looked on the flyer or on the internet. I'd love to tell you I was going to make something pretty and post it here, but I'm planning on using it for Convention Swaps so, I'll be keeping them all to myself for now.

The retired list comes out in just 100 hours (give or take a few minutes) and I am already getting my order ready so once I know if the stamps I want are staying, I can get them ordered. I SOOOOOO wanted to use Bodacious Bouquet for one of my convention designs, but I had a thought this morning..... We should probably be doing convention swaps using stuff that would be in the Fall/Winter Catalog and not so much from the Spring/Summer Collection, right? Guess I need to start another thread over on Splitcoast.... Hmmmm..

I did finally get the new Hero Arts Doodle Flower stamp today.... I'm looking forward to playing with that.... Julee Tilman has done some GORGEOUS stuff with it.... You can check it out in her blog, Poetic Artistry, to see all the drop-dead-gorgeous work she does!

It was a good day......

Russ got the job. He starts tomorrow in their Folsom office and then will be reporting to the jobsite at Travis AFB in Fairfield. I think this is the third job he has been on at Travis. It's about a 45-60 minute drive each way, but not a ton of traffic except in spots (like around UC Davis).

The glass guy was able to fix the chunk in my windshield and it looks pretty darned good!

I placed a Stampin' Up! order this afternoon and had a tracking number in about FIVE HOURS! Wow... can we say FAST SHIPPING?????? Jeez. So I will have samples of the new double sided designer papers coming out in the 2007 Fall Winter Catalog on Thursday or Friday evening. WOO HOO!

I got another big pot for the back yard yesterday to put my carnation plant and herbs in. Today I got everything planted in there. I have a medium pink (think Regal Rose, you SU stampers) mini carnation in the center and then I planted a sage and thyme plant that I got today and a bunch of seedlings I started indoors about a month ago (Basil, Garlic Chives and curled Parsley) along the edge around the carnation. It looks nice.

We are having typical mid-Spring weather... in the low to mid 80's. They say we might get close to 90 this weekend. A little too warm too soon for my taste, but I think it happens every year.... sigh..... My roses are blooming like I have never seen them bloom. I'm talking DOZENS and DOZENS of flowers on the bushes out front and from the 3 I planted just last year, I have 8 to 12 flowers on each one and one of them has the LARGEST blooms I have ever seen. I keep meaning to try and get some photos. I think it's the Princess Diana rose... I need to check its tag. I'm not kidding... they are the size of teacups!

So, it was a pretty good day!

Sorry to leave y'all hanging.....

Tuesday we decided to see if the cabin on the coast was available for the rest of the week (it was) and if the WAG Pet Hotel had room for Taz (they did) so we spent the rest of the week up at the cabin. Ahhhhhhh..... the bliss of peace and quiet. The weather was nice, but windy on Wednesday, Thursday we had rain off and on, Friday was GORGEOUS, Saturday it rained ALL DAY and Sunday was a mix of sun and rain. A nice trip. I stamped some swap cards and got some cardstock cut for some swaps I'm going to do for Convention in July.



I also got to take some pictures on the bluffs Friday. Apparently, I just missed seeing a mother and baby whale go by, but I did see some seals playing in the water. Didn't get any decent shots of them, but my flower pics came out nicely and I've been trying to get a decent shot of this little building with the lilies in bloom for years:



Russ had a job interview today which he thinks went well. Hopefully I will have good news to report on that soon.

Coming home from running errands today I had a rock hit my windshield on the freeway. Didn't see it and it wasn't unusually loud, but the chip (more like a CHUNK!) it left looks like a freakin gunshot! AAA is sending the Safelite Auto Glass guy out tomorrow to see if it can be repaired (filled) or if the windshield will need to be replaced. Problem is, it's RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE, so it's very distracting. Hopefully, if they fill it, it will be less noticeable cuz I REALLY don't want to have to fork over a $500 deductible right now! Although a new, pretty, chip-free windshield would be nice..... We'll see.... I'll have to take a picture of it before they fill it.... I've had rocks hit before, but never leave a mark like this one!

That's all for now!!!!

Well, I guess he isn't going to be traveling any time soon.....

Russ just got laid off.....

It's a BIG day tomorrow!

Tomorrow, Stampin' Up! will post the information about CONVENTION!!!! SO EXCITING!!!! I do know that I will be going to first session July 25th- 28th and that it's in Denver. Tomorrow I am guessing they will post the theme and the class information. Registration opens on May 9th, leaving us time to organize our groups and pick classes and colors and all that fun stuff.

With any luck we will also find out tomorrow what the company has in mind for Russ. Hawaii? Washington? Novato (SF Bay Area, where he will be tomorrow)? Should be interesting.......

Stop the ride, I wanna get off!

OK... so NOW he's NOT going to Washington! Someone pass me a barf bag...... I'm getting dizzy! (Yes, dizzier than normal - just HUSH!)

Where is he going next? When is he going? WE HAVE NO CLUE. There is chatter of Hawaii (not getting my hopes up this time - OK, yes I am). He is working from the house the rest of this week (alert - MAN UNDERFOOT!). After that, WHO KNOWS!

He couldn't go to WA because his certification with the Army Corps of Engineers has lapsed. I spent some QUALITY TIME downtown Friday getting him registered for the next course/test (Friday was the deadline to register). He will take the course on May 2nd and 3rd, so at least I know he will be home those 2 days!

On to happier things.....So here are the two cute little tins I'm still working on for my sis-in-law:



Still working on the little scrapbooks too, but apparently there is going to be a second shower, so I might wait with those.....

Cha-cha-cha-CHANGES!!!!!

My apologies to David Bowie.... he he he....

GUESS WHO'S GOING BACK UP TO WASHINGTON?????

I have started calling Russ "Duncan" (as in the human yo-yo). He he he.... We don't know exactly when or for how long yet. This afternoon they said he would go back to Mt. Rainier, but it looks like he will be going to Bangor Naval base. Welcome to my world of revolving change.....

I spent most of today in the stamp room working on shower gifts for my sis-in-law. Her (twins) baby shower is next Saturday and today I pulled out some old CTMH 6x6 scrapbooks I had from a special 3 or 4 years ago and made 12 pages for each book. They have chosen not to know the sex of the babies, so everything has to be done in gender-neutral themes. The little scrapbooks were yellow, so they worked well. She doesn't scrap, so I made them really simple so she can just put a pic and a little note on each page. I figure if they aren't her "thing", she can always put photos in them and give them to relatives. I'm also doing 2 altered lunch-box tins. I got the paper on them, but that's it so far. When I'm done, I'll post a picture or two......