for Morticia

Hey stampers!

Thank you all for your well wishes on my recovery.  The Nyquil has really helped me sleep which is the best remedy for a cold.  Although I would probably feel better so much faster if I just stayed home from work and someone came over to cook me chicken soup and clean and let me just watch movies and read books all day. 

One can dream right?  Really, I'm feeling much better, thank you. 

Remember the Addams Family tv show?  I remember as a kid watching it.  I think it just confused me.  Although that isn't too hard to do............. 

Even though I don't think its on tv anymore, the theme song lives on strong.  We use the tune in school alot to memorize the days of the week and times tables. 

Those teachers who know what I'm talking about can't get the song out of their head now, huh? 

days of the week (clap clap)
days of the week (clap clap)
days of the week
days of the week
days of the week  (clap clap)
theres Sunday
and theres Monday
theres Tuesday
and theres Wednesday
theres Thursday
and theres Friday
and then theres Saturday
days of the week (clap clap)
days of the week (clap clap)
days of the week
days of the week
days of the week (clap clap)

I'm sure you can find it on You Tube somewhere.  So now you all know your days of the week. 

You're welcome.

Anyhow, ever since I got the Neutrals Patterns DSP this one pattern makes me think of the Addams Family, or the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

 (oh geez, Big Bang Theory just came on and now I have to hurry)

So for the last month I've had a little piece of this paper on my desk with an idea in my head for a Halloween type card. 

It went through several phases and ended up like this:

Medallion background stamp.  Basic black and whisper white cardstock.  Going gray ink (retired) and basic gray ink.   Vanilla seam binding (holiday mini), rhinestones, 2 way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter and dimensionals. 

It looks so much prettier in person!  My mad photography skills just don't do it.  This came out 4 1/4" square. 

I dyed the ribbon with the Basic Gray and Going Gray inks.  Just get the ribbon wet and then rub it around in the ink.  It came out mottled looking and I think that just adds a little more of the old/creepy look to it. 

I made a wrinkly rose and added just a little glitter and a sticky rhinestone.  Then I decided to add a bunch of glitter to the medallion/doily. 

There is really alot of glitter on the medallion/doily but of course you can't see it.  And I added a few little spots of glitter to the DSP too. 

Alrighty then, BBT is over (mango caterpillar icee, anyone?)  and I've got to get Grace in bed and the laundry put away.  The fun never stops here.

Thanks for stopping by.  I love it when you do that.

Blessings, b.

warning, BUI in progress....

BUI would be; Blogging Under the Influence.  Nyquil that is. 

In some states it would be called BWI; Blogging While Intoxicated.  And while I guess that does cover my current physical state, I am in California where we classify it as BUI.  It covers a whole multitude of substances. 

Could I actually get a ticket while driving right now?  Having consumed 2 whole tablespoons of Nyquil 20 minutes ago?  Hmmm.............don't worry, I'm not getting behind the wheel tonight. 

Lets carry on shall we?  Just know that you have been warned that some, or all, of this post may, or may not, make sense.  But the cards will be pretty :)

I needed some Thank Yous last week.  I love sending out Thank Yous.  I don't say it nearly enough when the time is right so I end up sending out Thank Yous later.  It still counts, right? 

Autumn Harvest, A Word for You and Woodgrain sets.  Crumb cake and watercolor paper.  Black Stazon, old olive, pumpkin pie, crumb cake and soft suede inks.  Aquapainter, sponges and dimensionals. 


I love to color!  People say its theraputic.  I'll buy that.  For me its also like folding laundry or mowing the lawn.   You make sense and order from something that isn't complete.  Does that make sense?  Maybe its the Nyquil talking.  I like sense and order.

So what do you think?  I was really happy with how they came out.  Think "clean and simple" not "kinda plain there, Beth". 

I used my Aquapainter and the smooshed ink in the lids of the ink pads.  Its my favorite way to color.   I realize that my watercoloring doesn't look like most other people's.  I cannot seem to do the whole blending and blending thing.  Mine always looks................different.  I couldn't think of a good word there.  But I like it.  It works for me.

I had stamped and painted the smaller pumpkin on another piece of watercolor paper and cut it out to give a little more dimension.  I masked the larger pumpkin in order to stamp the leaves. 

Alrighty then, I'm going to bed.  I do not like being sick!  Catch ya later.

Blessings, b.


edited to add:

I ended up not posting this last night because even though it all made sense in my head, it might not in the morning.  YKWIM?

I'm reading it tonight and after a few adjustments, decided to go ahead and post it anyway.  Just keeping it real here. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope after this you decide to come back again.

Blessings, b.

blast from the past

hey stampers!  (I'm posting in the morning and it feels weird)

Grace was putting out the Halloween decorations the other day (I know, we're a little late) and found these goodies from a few years ago. 

Remember these:

We made tons of these little spiders.  Use the round tab punch to make the legs. 

Anyhow, I'm posting this morning because I have a boatload of stuff to do today.  The boy has a competition near the grandparents house, so the hubs went with them so he can get the grandparents so they can see their grandson perform. 

This leaves me and Gracie-poo home getting our chores done and waiting for 16 to get back from her fieldtrip.  She has been gone 4 days and I miss her like crazy.  She went on a fieldtrip with her school to visit 7 different colleges.  She has had so much fun but I know will love sleeping in her own clean bed tonight. 

I'll love knowing she is sleeping in her own bed tonight.

Alrighty then, we're off to get a new air pump for the fish tank.  Last night was the Red Ribbon Week carnival at Grace's school and I was in charge of the goldfish toss.  Needless to say we brought home 3 new additions. 

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

an adult?

...........yeah, thats questionable. 

My baby boy, my only son, my first born, turned 18. 

How the heck did that happen? 

One minute you're scraping rice cereal off his face, the next, he's filling out college applications. 

I don't feel 18 years older.   Oh wait, yeah I do.  Especially at night when I can't keep my eyes open past 9:30.  Which I'm getting close to, so I gotta hurry.

It was a school day, and mean mother that I am, made him go to school. 

We woke him up with silly string.  So fun!  To save the peace in our house I won't post a pic of that.  It was really fun though.

We decorated his car:

Its hard to see but we had Star Wars streamers inside and out, writing on the windows and balloons on the bumper. 

Which of course he wiped off and took down before he went to school.  "Give me your keys.  I am not driving to school in this!"  Ha Ha Ha


This is his cake of choice:

Krispy Kreme doughnuts with Reese's on top.  Can you say, "Sugar Coma?" 

No special dinner.  He had to go to band practice.  Then a few days later he had a small party here with his buddies.  We are very blessed that he has wonderful friends. 

Want to see the card I made him? 

Really old birthday stamp.  I don't remember which set it came from.  Crumb cake, poppy parade, basic black and very vanilla cardstock.  Soft suede ink.  Hemp, Newsprint DSP, mini library clip, ticket corner punch and dimensionals.

I've been wanting to use this piece of patterned paper for someone's birthday.  I used my old Coluzzle for the oval.   Love that Poppy Parade color.  Its just Poppy!

This birthday stamp came from an old retired set.  I actually used the other pieces in the set for hostess gifts and kept the saying.  I don't remember the name of the set.  Sorry.  I took the vanilla strip and rubbed it against the side of the desk so it would bow out like a banner. 

Cute and simple card.  Inside was taped a pic of a XBOX game that is coming out soon that I preordered.  Just what he wanted.

Even though he is a pain in my booty sometimes, I think he is the best boy in the whole world and I feel so blessed to be his mom.  Heaven help me when he moves away. 

Okie dokie.  Its 9:38 and I'm pooped.  Pooped out, not pooped on.  Although I have been pooped on by said boy. 

I'll just leave you with that thought tonight ;)

Thanks for coming by.

Blessings, b.

catching up

Hey everyone!  I hope you had a fabulous weekend.  Ours was busy as usual.  I'm realizing I have a crapload (excuse my tech talk) of stuff to share with you. 

So lets begin.

First I'll show you a card I made for some friends of ours.  They lost a sister/aunt to cancer last weekend.  She had been battling it for over 4 years.  She left behind a husband and 2 teenage children.  So sad. 

It just hits home again that life is too short.  You never know what is going to happen.  So tell the people you love, that you love them.  If you screwed up, tell them you're sorry.  If you miss them, make contact again.  Your loved ones are so much more important than money or things.  You know that old saying, "You can't take it with you."  BUT, like Patrick Swayze said in Ghost, " You take the love with you." 

Okay, moving on.......

Growing Green and Warmest Regards (retired) sets.  Crumb cake, early espresso and watercolor paper.  Black Stazon, old olive and crumb cake ink.  Square lattice embossing folder, Big Shot, hemp, aquapainter and dimensionals.

This came out to 5" x 4".  It just seemed to work better for the image.  I seem to be making funky card sizes lately.  Oh well, just keeping it fresh I guess.

I really like how this turned out.  It would work well for a manly birthday card too.

I used the Aquapainters and the ink I smooshed in the lid of the pad.  Its my favorite way to color. 

We had another band competition this weekend.  I REMEMBERED MY CAMERA THIS TIME!   I've had some very helpful people contact me and try to help me out with my phone/camera issue.  Thank you so much!  Stampers are the best kind of people.

I claim the drummer boy 3rd from the left.  They did really well.  They took 1st in their division, Percussion Sweepstakes and the Music Sweepstakes.  I tell ya, its just so much fun to watch. 

Garden update ( you've been waiting right?)

YEAH BABY!!

This was yesterday's harvest.  9 bell peppers, 2 zuchinni, 3 yellow squash and 20 Anaheim chilis.  And there is still more coming.  I've got more bell peppers in my freezer than I know what to do with.  I'm not planting any green ones next year.  I've learned so much this year and I have a wonderful scrap page in my mind.  I just need to get it made. 

Alrighty then.  I have even more stamping goodness to share with you but this post is long enough.  I'm going to try and get on the computer earlier in the day before the kids get on with their homework. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Blessings, b.

owlie birthday

Hey stampers!  Just a quickie post for you tonight. 

A friend of mine had a birthday last week.  So I made her a card.

Season of Friendship, Woodgrain background and A Word for You.  Cajun craze, not quite navy, early espresso, whisper white, basic black, daffodil delight and crumb cake cardstock.  Early espresso, not quite navy, whisper white and crumb cake inks.  Cutter kit (distresser), Owl punch, vanilla seam binding (holiday mini), 2 step bird punch, small oval punch and dimensionals.

Cute huh?  She came to the card class a few weeks ago and fell in love with the little owl punch.  And she LOVES Halloween.  So I combined them. 

I cut out a circle and used it for a mask.  I sponged crumb cake ink onto the crumb cake cardstock to make the moon.  The Season of Friendship tree makes a perfect size branch for our cute little owl. 

I used the wing from the 2 step bird punch and a small oval brushed with whisper white ink for the hat. 

I'm loving the seam binding!  I aged this ribbon with some water and crumb cake ink.  Crumple it up and let it dry.  Instantly aged!  Thats kinda how I feel most days.......instantly aged.  Hmph........

Alrighty then, we've had 2 celebrations lately.  I'll get some pics and show you those cards this weekend.  I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.  And, I had a short week this week!

Thanks for stopping by.  You warm my cockels.  

What are cockels? 

Blessings, b.

card kits

Hey everyone.  I hope you all had a nice weekend.  I felt like I was only home to sleep and cook.  But today, today I'm home because I have a furlough day.  What's a furlough day you ask?  Well, its one of 4 days this school year where we don't go to work and don't get paid......to save our jobs.  The California state budget is messed up!  We had the choice of taking 4 furlough days a year for the next 3 years or take the chance of being laid off.

We took the furlough days. 

In other news, we had our first band competition this weekend.  Pretend there is a picture here:



Yeah, I forgot my camera.  Its his senior year and I wanted to document every detail and I forgot my camera.  Yep, I do have a camera on my phone but I still haven't figured out how to get pics from my phone to the computer.  So far Verizon is no help.  If anyone out there is phone/computer smart, I could use a little help.

Anyway, the competition was great.  I love band competitions.  I'm going to miss them.  Just like I miss kid baseball.  {big sigh}


I promised card #5 and here ya go:

A Word for You set.  River rock, early espresso, cherry cobbler and very vanilla cardstock.  Early espresso ink.  Neutrals patterns DSP, scallop border punch, Tombow Multi glue and dimensionals. 


This is another 3.5 x 5 card.  I totally copied this design off of Danielle Daws (you can google her).  Its just so simple and elegant.  I love this pattern on the DSP.  It looks like old wallpaper.

We made a wrinkly rose.  See how to do that here.  The ladies really got a kick out of it.  It looks so complicated but its not. 

Okay, here are the details for the card kits.  There are 2 ways you can get one:

The Complete Card Kit
This kit includes everything you need (except adhesive and scissors) to complete 5 cards.  PDF files with all instructions, all the cardstock will be cut and scored, images will be stamped (unless you request me not to), cardstock will be punched and embossed, hemp, brads and rhinestones will be included.  All you'll need to do is put them together.  Easy huh?

Cost:    $20.00  plus $4.95 for Priority shipping (U.S.) Sorry, I can't sell this kit version over international borders.


PDF files only
I will email you the complete PDF instructions for each card.  I can sell this kit over international borders.  Let me know you want one.

Cost:  $5.00


These kits will only be available until November 30th.  They will make great holiday gifts.  I can only accept money orders or checks.  Please email me at stamperbeth@msn.com and I will send you my address.  Thank you for understanding.

Here are each of the cards again:

      Alrighty then, it feels weird to be posting in the middle of the day.  But I never seem to get the computer anymore at night.  I'm going to try and be a much better blogger this week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.
  

out of my element

Hey stampers!  Our beautiful fall weather has come to an end.  Mid 90's again.  Oh well. 

Family has kept me very busy the last few days.  Grace and I went to a store yesterday.  Its called Justice.  Its a clothing store for tweens.  I'd never heard of it.  Its in the mall.  I don't do the mall.  I take that back.......I do Build A Bear and Bath and Body.  Thats it.  I also hate shopping.  Am I normal? 

Our Brownie troop did very well on our cookie sales last year.  Part of the cookie money goes back to the troop.  Our troop kinda fell apart over the summer.  So instead of using the money for dues or field trips or whatever, our main Leader bought all the girls Justice gift cards.  $75 worth!   Target would have made me much happier. 

Anyway, Grace wanted to go and spend her money.  As soon as I walk in, I realize I'm totally out of my element.  The music is pumping, glittery, sparkly clothes are everywhere.  Cute skinny sales girls are there to help you.  A size 10 sweater, $40.  Are you kidding me?  Everyone needs some glittery boots don't they?  $40.  Black leather jacket, $60.  Heaven help me..........

I'm afraid I've ruined my child for any fashion sense either.  She couldn't find anything she liked.  She is not into glittery clothes.  We settled on 2 pairs of jeans, (on sale for $25 each) and a pair of pajamas.  The child is a freak for new jammies. 

As we were leaving the store I asked her if she liked that store and would she want to go back.  She said no.  She likes Target better.  

In my secret heart, I smiled.   But the poor thing will have to learn some fashion sense somewhere.  In the meantime she is anxiously waiting for pajama day at school in 2 weeks.  She's going to rock it!


I'll have card #5 from last week for you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings, b.

blue eyes looking at you

Hey everybody!  I hope things are going well with you all.  Fall has decided to vacation here for a few days.  Its been awesome!  The high today was 61 and breezy.  Beautiful!  BUT, it will be in the high 80's again by the weekend.  So I'll take what I can get. 

I had my card class on Saturday.  We had so much fun!  I really miss stamping with my friends.  It wasn't a long enough time to catch up with everyone so I'm going to have to get everyone together again soon. 

Here is card #4 that we did. 

Woodgrain background and A Word for You sets.  Crumb cake, whisper white, old olive, early espresso, pacific point, real red, basic black and bashful blue cardstock.  Crumb cake, early espresso and bashful blue inks.  Extra large owl punch, extra large bird punch, corner rounder punch,  Scallop square duo die (holiday mini), big shot, sponges and dimensionals.

Here's ol' blue eyes looking at you.  Isn't he cute?  I love that scallop square duo die from the Holiday Mini catalog.  This is the bigger one of the two and it measures out 3x3.  We used the cloud sponging technique from this post.

 

I will say that I originally wasn't going to get this little cutie punch.  BUT, Grace wanted it.  I'm so glad we got it.  He really is adorable.  I've seen so many people get creative with him.  We'll have to see what we can come up with. 

This card measured out 3.5 x 5.  It fit the scallop square perfectly.  Now, that being said, don't be afraid to change the size of your base to fit the elements you want to use.  I wanted to use the square and it just wasn't making me happy in a regular sized card.  So I changed it.  Big deal!  It still fits in a regular size envelope so I don't pay extra postage.  Works for me!  I think this was everyone's favorite card they made. 

I have one more to show you and then I'll post the details of the card kit. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I get such warm fuzzies.  (I mean that in a good way)

Blessings, b.

wedding congrats

Hey everybody,  how's it going?   I'm up late tonight posting what was supposed to be posted last night, but I forgot.  Actually, I'm up late cleaning and setting up for my card class tomorrow.  I'm so excited to stamp with my friends.  Its been too long. 

The card I'm going to show you isn't one that we are making tomorrow.  We should have though because its a little easier than a few of the ones we are making.  They were supposed to be easy cards but, I got carried away.

  

Medallion background and A Word for You sets.  Whisper white and Sahara sand cardstock.  Sahara sand and black Stazon inks.  2 way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter, 5/8" vanilla brad and dimensionals.

My principal is getting married and they had a surprise shower for her today.  I didn't go.  Party pooper.  Not really.  We had plans for Bingo night at Grace's school.  Bingo = good times. 

I combined 2 older designs to make a new one.  Recycling!  I used the 2 way glue pen to add all the glitter. 

Now that I'm looking at the picture, I should have used that new Glass Glitter.  Didn't even think about it.  I added the glue to the brad and then dunked it in the Dazzling Diamonds.  It was really sparkly and pretty in person.  Glitter does NOT like me to take its picture. 

I  hope she and her new hubby-to-be like the card.  I put a gift card inside.  Thats probably the part they really like. 

Okie dokie then,  I have some more setting up to do put I think I'm going to hit the hay.  Try to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning.......yeah right.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Blesssings, b.