hi ho, hi ho

its back to work I go...........

Yesterday was my first day back.  Actually I went to work on Monday for some meetings but only for a few hours. 

My school looks very different.  They changed it into a charter school.  And I have to say, it was a pretty cool first day of school.  These kids get 6 week rotations in art, music, dance, drama and technology.  The 6th and 7th graders get ipads to use.  How cool?  Way cool!

My girls started school last week. 

 Perfunctuary first day of school pic.  Check this out:

She drove herself to school.  What a strange feeling for me.  For her too probably, although she would never admit that.  My big senior girl.......................

Next up........5th grader.  Big girl on campus this year.  I also got the regular picture of her crying in line when I left.  Will she ever stop that?  This girl is never very far from me.  That umbilical cord just keeps on stretching. 

Alrighty then, are you ready for some stampiness? 

I have another losing Artisan Award project to show you. 

Growing green and A Word for You sets.  Early espresso, crumb cake and watercolor paper.  Black Stazon,  old olive and crumb cake inks.  Newsprint DSP, spiral tab punch, round tab punch, neutrals button, hemp, staple and aquapainter.


What do you think?

I struggled with this card.  I knew I wanted to submit a card with watercoloring.  They want you to submit a variety of techniqes and styles.  I was trying to make it look like it was a sketch book or something. 

Looking at all my projects I can understand why I wasn't a winner.  They just aren't up to snuff.  Its because I wait until the last minute and then have to rush.  For some people that works but not for me.  I usually can get something together but then I have to sit on it for a few days and tweak it some. 

So will I plan ahead and start in Jan. next time?  Probably not.  But you never know.

Okie dokie.  You may not hear from me until Sunday.  We are having a yard sale on Saturday.  I hate having yard sales.  Like going to them, hate having them.  I'm hoping to sell a bunch of stamping stuff.  I've got so much DSP, die cut boxes, ribbon, etc to send to new homes.  Come on by if you're in the area. 

Blessings, b.

veggies?

Hidey Ho!  I've been stamping.  Can you believe it?  Here is one that we did with my card ladies last week.

Growing Green and Trendy Trees.  Early espresso, pool party, crumb cake and naturals white cardstock.  Black Stazon, lucky limeade and pool party inks.  Big shot, scallop square duo die, crimper, neutrals buttons, crumb cake seam binding, hemp, aquapainter, 2 way glue pen, dazzling diamonds and dimensionals. 

Is it conceited if I say I love this card?  I do, I love it.  I used the "thanks" from the Trendy Trees.  When you only ink up part of a sentiment it makes it just that much more versatile.    Can you see the glitter in the flower middles? 

I used my aquapainter with smooshed inky lids to color the flowers. 

Alrighty then, I know you're just sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for a veggie update. 

Wait, you're not?  Oh good, you are. 

Here is the schematic.  I have 4 boxes that are approx. 4' x 8'. 

I added 4.5 cubic feet of Kellogs Garden Soil to 2 of the boxes and 4 cubic feet of Kellogs Amend to the other 2 boxes.   I'm experimenting to see which I like better.

Gardener Grace, Official Helper and photographer.



In this box I have a Celebrity tomato and a Sweet 100, a yellow bell pepper, a green bell and green beans. 

These are the green beans.  The sprouted only 5 days after planted.  AWESOME!

Grace the Photographer

This next box has zucchini and yellow squash in it.  These seeds came up really fast too.  Zucchini.

Yellow squash

This box has ALOT of cucumbers.  Last year I couldn't get cucumbers to grow to save my life.  So I planted a bunch.  I'm up for trying to make pickles. 

Anothere aerial shot.  Okay, cucumbers are planted along the back.  A pumpkin in the middle.  Onions on the side.  The pumpkin has a flower on it.  I'm so excited for pumpkins!

This is the last box.  It has a Poblano Pepper, an Anaheim Chili, 2 different kinds of carrots and more onions. 

Okie dokie, thats it for now.  Things are growing so fast but now someone has turned up the heat.  Things are adjusting.  I have more stamping pics that need to be resized.  I'll get those up in a couple days. 

Thanks for stopping by and hanging out. 

Blessings, b.

Mother's Day?

Hidey Ho!  How is everyone today?  We had beautiful weather today.  I hope you did too. 

I still have lots to do tonight so I'm going to be short and sweet.  HA! 

I'm going to try anyway. 

I did a little desk cleaning this weeekend.  I need to organize things a little better with what I got.  But I'll have to wait until school is out to do a really good job of it. 

Anyhow, I found a Mother's Day card that I never showed you.  Its reel purty.

Growing Green and Wonderful Favorites (retiring).  Whisper white and watercolor cardstock.  Rose red and Black Stazon inks.  Polka dot embossing folder, big shot, scallop border punch, pear pizzaz seam binding, aquapainter and dimensionals.

Neat huh?  I really like it.  Now, I did actually send one of these to my MIL.  She loved it.  I just made an extra to keep around for me.  You could just change the wording and PRESTO CHANGO! you've got a great card. 

I popped the center panel up on dimensionals. 

I colored the flower using that Floating Reinker technique some genius made up.  Wasn't me!  Here is how you do it;

Using watercolor paper, stamp your image and emboss.  My white embossing powder is kinda suckish.  Does it get old?  It looks like I need a fresh jar. 

Anyhow, emboss the image and then water it down with your aquapainter. 

Then pick up some color, I smashed my ink pad lid to get a little ink on there.  Don't worry about blending (I'm not good at blending anyway) and let the color bleed where it wants. 

Lay down more color in certain areas to get some shading.  Then just let dry. 

Easy.

Alrighty then, I told you, short and sweet.  Oh yeah, did I mention, I GOT NEW CATALOGS TODAY!  I have swept through it fairly quickly and I love it!  It seems better organized.  I have a big wish list and I didn't even go through it real carefully.  You're gonna love it too!  Let me know if you want one. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking in and hanging around and looking and well, everything else you do here.

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.

growing thanks

Hey, hey, hey, its Faaaat Albert!  

not really, its just me.  Excuse the flashback.  And if you're too young to know who Fat Albert is......then just forget I said anything.

So, how was your day?  Things here were pretty swell.  Except that its getting blazing hot again. 

Anyhow, I've been stamping.  Getting ready for my card class on Oct. 2nd.  Want to see card #2?  Okay.....

Growing Green and A Word for You sets.  Wild wasabi, whisper white, marina mist, and early espresso cardstock.  Marina mist, wild wasabi and early espresso inks.  Big shot, square lattice embossing folder, hemp and dimensionals. 


What do you think?  I like it alot.  Very clean looking.  We are making 5 different cards in only 2 hours so they need to be easy. 

I love this set and haven't played with it too much yet.  I knew I wanted to use Wild Wasabi for the leaves.  For some reason it just seems like they should be that color.  But I wasn't sure what other colors to put with it so.......out came the color coach.  Love that thing!

See the Sweet Set there?  Thats what I used.  I know that this color coach is more expensive than the old one but it is so much better.  Well worth the money. 

Let me know if you'd like to come to the class.  Only $12 for the 5 cards.  I'll be offering this class as a kit too, if you're interested in that.  More info when we get closer. 

Okie dokie then,  I have another card done too.  One that almost drove me to start drinking.  You know the card, the one that you should have just walked away and forgot about?  Actually, I did walk away from it....twice.  But I kept coming back to it.  Like a dog with a bone.  I think I finally made my peace with it.  I'll show you tomorrow. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  You make me so happy.

Blessings, b.