I hate when I forget to put a title here

Hey!  I hope everyone is doing well. 

Tonight I'm posting during Survivor comercials.  So I may seem a little disjointed. 

Anyway, I got something in the mail the other day.  Lookee:

March is my birthday month and Stampin' Up! sent me a birthday card!  Cool eh?  I never get happy mail! 

This was made using MDS.  My Digital Studio, its the digital program that SU! has.  You don't hear me talking about it really because,
 a) I'm so computer challenged it would take me forever to figure it out and
 b) it just doesn't interest me that much.  I much prefer real paper and ink and stamps. 
BUT, people have done some really cool stuff with it. 

You can see they put a little rhinestone on there.  When I opened the envelope I noticed that where the rhinestone was, it almost went through the envelope. 

So, I'm going to do an experiment.  I'm wondering just how much wear the envelope gets with a card I would send.  I'm going to send myself a card and we'll see what condition the envelope is in when it gets here.  I'll let you know what happens. 

I was also outside today and noticed several things.  The weather has been pretty warm around here.  I'm talking 80+.  Not consistently enough to plant anything new but, the ones in the ground are loving it.

My Thompson grapes are getting happy!  So are my red ones but I didn't take their pic.

My Walla Wallas are blooming.  Does that mean I've waited too long to harvest them?  I'm going to pull them this weekend and we'll see. 

See this?  I believe this is a sunflower.  This is a seam in my patio that is full of dog hair and dirt.

  Gross I know...............just keeping it real here.

  Even though the dogs stepped on it twice while I was trying to get a pic, it stayed upright.  That my friends, is determination.  I'll have to see if I can save it. 

Alrighty then, Survivor is over.  Anytime you feel like you're a little depressed or the weird one in your group, just watch reality t.v.  You'll feel better right away.  People are whacked out.  I guarantee there are people in this world that are way more "out there" than you are. 

Thanks for stopping by tonight.  You warm my cockels.  If I have cockels.  I'm really not sure.  But if I do, they are warmed. 

Blessings, b.

catching up.....

Howdy,

I can't believe a week has gone by already since I've been on here!  Children  have been hogging the computer with homework again.  Darn kids!  And I've been so pooped at night that I'm just too tired.  Last week was so crazy busy that I've been doing a bunch of catching up on everything.  Laundry, grocery shopping, bills, cleaning, and TAXES.  UGH!!  I can honestly say that I hate doing taxes.  Not that our taxes are super hard or anything, its just........taxes.....ugh.

But, I do have some stamping goodness to show you.  About a month ago I had actually stamped quite a bit.  I just never showed you all of them. 

I think this was the January issue.  Everything was white on white with splashes of color.  So I thought I'd give it a try. 

No stamps!  Whisper white cardstock.  No ink!  Vintage wallpaper embossing folder, Fun Flowers die, big shot, neutrals buttons, pear pizzaz seam binding, embroidery floss and dimensionals. 

This was so easy to make!  I wasn't sure I would like it, the white on white deal, but I do.  I think it would make a nice wedding card.

You can see that it sticks out from the base but not enough that it would need extra postage.  At least I don't think so.  I didn't mail it to anyone. 

I thought the green ribbon would kinda look like leaves.  I love this pear pizzaz color, its so juicy looking. 

So, I'm all ready for someone to get married.  Anyone?



Alrighty then, let me show you a little of what has been sucking all my time and energy the last few weeks. 

Odyssey of the Mind. 

We started it in October and it has been alot of fun.  Well, until crunch time came.  Then me and the only other mom that helped out were dog tired.  Trying to get 7 little girls on the same page with you is like trying to wrangle kittens. 

Last weekend we had our competition in Palm Springs.  It was the regional competition and there were several schools there.  Several teams from several schools. 

Our theme was Full Circle and we had to put on a play.  It was a great play except.............the key part of it........got forgotten in the hallway and so we didn't solve our problem.  Oh well.  

We learned alot and I told her if she wanted to do it next year that I would know better how to help out.  The other mom and I were like the blind leading the deaf. 

All in all, the girls had a super fun time.  I so enjoyed being a part of something she'll remember for a long time.  I have lots of great pics to scrapbook.  We still have an ice cream party next week with a slide show.  She is so excited. 

Okie dokie.  Thats it for tonight.  They keep looking at me and asking what I'm making for dessert.  Do I look like Betty Crocker? 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Blessings, b.

no farting allowed

Hi there!  I hope you all had a wonderful day.   We are crazy busy here but, things will be calming down after this weekend.  Thank goodness! 

Today I wanted to show you a card made with my current favorite set, Nature Walk out of the Occasions Mini Catalog. 

Nature Walk  121925 wood mount   $25.95     121997  clear mount $18.95

I really like all the stamps in this set except, the cage.  Tell me, what does a cage have to do with walking through nature?  And its not in porportion to anything.  I know, I know, I'm just being picky. 

I do love this set............except the cage.

Here is one of the cards I've made with it so far:

Nature Walk set (Occasions mini) and itty bitty backgrounds.  Crumb cake and very vanilla cardstock.  Whisper white craft, Versamark, black Stazon, bashful blue and early espresso inks.  Early espresso satin ribbon, and clear embossing powder. 

The first thing I thought of doing with this set is the cracked glass technique.  Do you remember how to do that? 

Stamp your image, cover it with Versamark ink then, pour on the clear embossing powder and heat.  Then do that 4 or 5 more times.  When you have a thick layer of embossing  on there, throw it in the freezer for about 5 minutes. 

You don't have to actually throw it.  You know what I mean.

Then take it out and immediately bend and crack it.  If you don't like the way it cracked, you can just reheat it with the heat gun until its glassy again.  Then refreeze, recrack. 

When you have the crackling like you want, take a sponge with some ink and rub it into the cracks.  Instant aging! 

See the ribbon there?  That is 3 pieces of ribbon.  The first piece is laying flat.  Then I layered 2 loops of ribbon.  Looks pretty and kinda old fashioned. 

You can barely see the bashful blue spots on the oval.  I thought it looked a little like an egg.  So of course it needed speckles. 


Okay, I'm going to share a little homelife with you.  I have 3 kids.  If you have kids, you know how they like to make signs for their doors.  Do Not Enter......Keep Out...........No One Allowed.........etc. 

Well, my youngest decided to make a sign for her door the other day and I couldn't help but laugh. 

I find this funny for a few reasons.  Apparently there is a burping and farting problem in our house.  Or maybe its just in her room and I haven't been aware.  Either way, you better keep it in check buddy!

She is also a gracious hostess in that she wants you to have fun and is willing to share her stuffed animals and games.  She will provide refreshments on request, I'm sure. 

Then there is the "Don't Come In" part.  Maybe you need an appointment. 

So you've been warned.  If you come to my house and want to go in her room, you know the rules.  Make sure to lay off the beer and broccoli. 

Alrighty then, thanks so much for stopping by. 

Blessings, b.