Rest in Peace Shirley

On August 20th a very special person in my life passed away. Dollhouse Miniatures first brought us together but love and friendship kept us that way and that love continued to grow and strengthen over the years in spite of a 27 year age difference.
She came into my life at a time when I so desperately needed a friend and mentor. She knew what it was like to be an only child and to have a mother who wasn't there to lean on and seek advice from. She knew what it was like to raise boys, to try and cope with a difficult child and to live with near constant pain. She knew what it was like to have to give up friends and family and move to Utah because of a husbands job. She knew all this and shared her experience and wisdom with me. And when I was feeling trapped and isolated she made sure I knew I had a home to go to and a person to turn to.
Tomorrow, August 31, 2009, she will be laid to rest but her love, her laughter and her zest for life will live on in my memories and in my heart forever. I have been so blessed to have called her friend, sister, and mother.
Farewell Shirley. I know you are at peace and have reunited with Joe. I will miss you.

Til next time...

The Perfect Sentiment

Today's card is for Week 4 of August's VLV Sketch with a Twist, the Twist being to use a favorite color combination. This designer paper is from the Porcelain series by Basic Gray. I paired it with SU's Cameo Coral, Barely Banana and Chocolate Chip. I tried not to make it too girlie because the moment I came across this sentiment from Verve I just knew I had to use it and give this card to my husband. Last night I heard him open the envelope and then he joined me in the living room. He didn't say a word but I got a very long, long hug. The card said it all.

Stamps: Verve -Enjoy, Because of You, Bountiful Backgrounds
Paper: DSP- Basic Gray; SU - Cameo Coral, Barely Banana, Chocolate Chip
Ink: SU- Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Other: Spellbinders Oval dies

Thankful Thoughts

For the 3rd week of August, Verve's VLV with a Twist challenge was to use tags. I added an additional twist of my own by making myself use something from my vast collection of "Why the heck did I buy this?" items. I chose to use some paper from one of those ginormous pads from Provo Craft. These are the first 2 sheets to ever be pulled from this pad! I also threw in a BIBHUIY (Bought It But Haven't Used It Yet). I bought the Tim Holtz mini stapler thingy with a box of additional staples the minute it hit the retail market but of course it hasn't seen the light of day since the purchase.

To coordinate with the printed paper, I chose Always Artichoke, Pink Pirouette and Rich Razzleberry. I cut the tag with a Cuttlebug die but it looked rather plain next to the scallop layers of my focal point so I mounted a scalloped circle onto the tag. Threaded some ribbon through the tag and used one whole mini staple from my stash. It worked rather well and it doesn't look tacky like office staples do so I just may get some use out of this "tiny attacher".

My sentiment is one of the free stamps I got for ordering from Verve and it got me thinking about the things I am grateful for. First and foremost is my husband, whose love, devotion and unswerving conviction that I can do anything has made me who and what I am today. Another thing I am grateful for is my card club. Last night was our first meeting of the new year. I shared the "overflow" table with a new member who is a delightful woman and I am so glad she has joined our little group. Shared thoughts and ideas about "Copics vs Prismacolor" with another new member who fits right in. And then there are the returning members who are now my friends and confidants. Those very special friends with whom you can share not only techniques and ideas for stamping, but your personal joys and sorrows. I am grateful for this group of very special women and look forward to another year of sharing.

Til next time...

Stamps: Verve
Paper: SU Always Artichoke, Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry; Provo Craft
Ink: SU Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry
Other: SU Ribbon; Spellbinders plain & scalloped circles; Cuttlebug tag; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; SU Dimentionals

Verve-a-licious!

Managed to squeeze in some stamping time and I am doing the happy dance. Using the Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge with an Edgy Twist for Week 2 of August, I came up with this little number. I stamped the background piece with Versamark Dazzle in Frost and I just wasn't dazzled. Fortunately the ink stayed tacky longer than I expected so I was able to dig out a jar of Pearl embossing powder, sprinkle it on and have it stick. It looked really cool besides until I realized that I had to try to stamp a sentiment onto that embossed background. Back to digging into the 3 drawers of embossing powder that I was going to get rid of. Ha!! My hoarding has been justified!! So a little punching here, some embossing there, some ribbon and a bow and I ended up with a very presentable card.

Til next time...

Stamps: Sonlight Crackle Backgrounder, Verve
Paper: SU Elegant Eggplant, Almost Amethyst; Curious Iridescent Cryogen White
Ink: SU Elegant Eggplant; Versamark Dazzle
Embossing Powder: Judikins Pastel; Ranger Adirondack Eggplant
Other: EK Success Border Punch; Spellbinders Plain and Scallop Ovals

Curious Cat and a Major Booboo

Last week I got out my Parchment Craft tools and proceeded to make my wonderful husband a new bookmark to replace the one he lost. I decided to make one with his Zodiac sign, Libra, and his initials. Oh how beautiful it came out but I decided to back it with some cardstock which is usually no problem. There is a spray adhesive specifically for vellum and it works like a charm. Hmmm... let me rephrase that. It works like a charm if you do not get sidetracked and use the wrong can!!! Yep, you guessed it. I grabbed the wrong can and used regular spray adhesive which can be spotted by a blind mouse from 30 yards away.

Oh well, stuff happens so I went ahead and set up to photograph it. I guess Bailey must have smelled those blind mice because he came along and crashed (literally) my little photo session.So now I am making a "New" new bookmark to replace this mess and will limit my photo sessions to afternoon naptime. Live and learn.


Till next time...

AWOL from Extreme Conditions

Sorry to be gone so long but things just got in the way again. Last week I was given a cortisone shot in my hand. NOT a pleasant experience in the least and I honestly can't remember the rest of the week after that! LOL And the shot didn't do much good either. Bummer!!

Saturday I went to a friends Open House/Stamp Sale and I was her best customer (no surprise there). She was getting rid of last years SU In Colors which I hadn't bought so I got everything - pads, reinkers, 2 packs of Pink Pirouette cardstock - for a great price along with a Hostess set that I somehow missed, a few brass embossing templates and other miscellaneous stamp sets. A great haul!! Sunday we went down to Riverton for a wonderful visit with some friends. It has been so long since our last visit that I almost forgot just how much I love being with this couple.

Monday I had a visit from a delightful woman who needed some instruction on Parchment Craft Techniques. Somehow she found me through the Internet and gave me a call. It looks like I will be picking up my needles and embossers again. In fact, that is what I've been doing off and on for the last 2 days - making my husband a new parchment bookmark to replace the old one that he thinks he left in a library book. Throw in a visit to the dentist, gardening, canning bushels of string beans, reading a darn good book and all the other assorted things I do around here and there is my week so far.

And while doing all of the above, I have to contend with this obstacle. Now just how am I supposed to get anything accomplished while working under these extreme conditions??? If I can work around this beast I will be posting my Technique Junkies One for One Swap for July, the Parchment Bookmark once it's done and hopefully getting around to this weeks Sketch Challenges.

Til next time...

First Mojo Monday Sketch

I finally made my first card using a Mojo Monday sketch. I don't know where the rest of you begin a project but I usually start mine with a sketch. From there it depends on what the card is for. If there is a particular theme, then I will pick out the stamps and then the color scheme. If it's a WTH kind of card then sometimes I'll pick out my colors first but I almost always start with a sketch. MOJO98 looked like an interesting one so I jumped in.

I ended up picking out my color scheme first on this card because I wanted to use some printed paper for a change and this piece from SU caught my eye. You can probably guess, since this design is 2+ years old, that I am a paper hoarder. The choice of using Wild Wasabi and Soft Sky were pretty much a no brainer since those were the colors in the print. Groovy Guava was never my favorite color but it added such pizzazz and it combined perfectly with Dusty Durango. So on to the stamps.

I looked at all the catagories of stamps I have and pulled down the 2 Step Stamping Binder on a whim. And yes, all of my stamps are unmounted, stuck to page protectors and stored in binders by categories. After flipping through a few pages I came upon this SU set called Flowers for a Friend. It just sort of jumped up and said "Use me and I will look so nice with those new punches that you just had to have and haven't used yet" so use them I did along with those punches.

After fiddling and fussing for a while this is what I ended up with. The sentiment, from JustRite Stampers was an afterthought that worked out rather well. I used a StampinUp Texture Plate on the Wild Wasabi base but it wasn't very deep. If anyone knows how to get a better impression with these please let me know.

Til next time...

Stamps: SU, JustRite
Paper: SU Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Dusty Durango & SU DSP
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Dusty Durango, Groovy Guava
Other: Spellbinders circle dies; Martha Stewart Corner Loop and Edger Loop Continuous Edge punches; SU ribbon; SU Dotted Texture Plate

Happy Heritage

I have wanted this set from Hero Arts the moment I first saw it. I am half Polish and my husband is half Russian so these Matryoshka dolls have a lot of sentimental value. We have several sets of the real thing that my husband brought home from Russia. They are so amazing and now I have a stamp set as well thanks to Terry Redmond at More Than Ink


Til next time...



Stamps: Hero Arts Dolls; Sonlight Backgrounder; Inkadinkado sentiment
Paper: SU Barely Banana, Real Red; Neenah Classic Crest White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; SU Barely Banana, Real Red
Other: Spellbinders oval dies and label die, Prismacolor Markers

In the Salt Lake City, UT Area?

FYI:

Open House ~ 10:30 am to 2:30 pm
Margot’s Place
2793 E Cherry Lane, Layton, 84040
801-547-9435 or 801-663-6995

Just for fun we will be having door prizes and treats!
(and of course a little make-n-take)

Items for sale will be cash and carry (checks accepted too!). No holds. What isn’t sold on Saturday will be listed on Ebay, so make an offer – you never know!

Please feel free to pass this sale notice along to any of your friends who might be interested.

How to Ruin a Good Sketch

For July's Stamp Club Swap I wanted to use Card Positioning Systems CPS124 No problem there, it's a great sketch. The problem was the Swap Theme -Vacation. I just wasn't feeling it. I mean, who the heck makes a card for a vacation? So after hours of struggling I came up with this. Everyone said they loved it but I think they were just being kind but at least it does remind me of Oregon.

After getting some other obligations out of the way I decided to redeem myself and come up with something worthy of that sketch. Holy Cow & Hot Tamale can I fly when I'm not constrained, especially by something I don't like! I pulled out punches and ribbon, my watercolor pencils & stamp positioner and went to town with my new Waltzingmouse stamp set. Now this is more like it! Claire of Waltzingmouse Stamps often ends her blog posts by saying "Hope it tickles." Well this definately tickles me. Hope it does you as well.

Til next time...

Paper: SU Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Soft Suade
Ink: SU So Saffron, Soft Suade, Ranger Archival Sepia
Other: Ribbon- SU Certainly Celery; Fiskars Border Punch; Staedtler Watercolor Pencils

Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop

Welcome to the first ever official Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop. Verve turns two today and we’re celebrating with a hop, hop, hop! The party kicked off over on the Verve blog, so if you’ve just happened along, be sure to hop on over there to start from the beginning! And to make this party a real shindig, there’s a mystery jackpot hidden at one of the stops along the hop. One lucky commenter on that blog will win Verve’s entire August release! But of course, it wouldn’t be a mystery if you knew which blog, would it? So if you’re feeling the love, give a little shout out to the bloggers in the hop and you just might have a reason to jump for joy!

The Viva la Verve Sketch with a {twist} this week is to CASE a Verve Diva. I chose to CASE Jackie Pedro. You can see her card here. The {twist} was that since Jackie used printed paper, I could not. I ended up making 2 versions and since I couldn't decide which one to use I am posting both. Hopefully all you visitors will help me to decide which one to submit for the challenge. Card A used Barely Banana, Dusty Durango and Burmuda Bay. Card B used Barely Banana, Purely Pomegranate and Soft Sky. Stamps used were Verve's Up Up and Away, Inkadinkado's Textile Borders with a sentiment from StampinUp. The stamps used to create the look of printed paper are a miscellaneous assortment from Inkadinkado, Hero Arts, My Cute Stamps and StampinUp. Plain and scalloped oval punches are from StampinUp and the plani and scalloped circles are dies from Spellbinders. For the final touch I used clear buttons from Hero Arts tied with DMC Pearl Cotton.

Thanks for stopping by! Now it’s time to hop on over to Christi's blog, for a little more Verve-y goodness.

Til next time...