what?!

How did so much time go by since my last post?  I know, you guys are used to it from me.  But really, its not my intention.  I have lots to show you.

In the last few weeks lots has been happening.

1.  The Boy turned 21.  He went to Vegas to celebrate.........without us.  I have no pic to show you because he is a dork and won't let me point a camera at him, and Heaven forbid he take any himself!

2.  I had my 2nd Holiday Card Class.  (I'm such a loser.  I still haven't shown you the cards from the first one yet.)  Here is the bag tag from the 1st one.

Thats the Ticket set.  Cherry cobbler, old olive and whisper white cardstock.  Old olive and crumb cake ink.  Sticky pearls, bird punch, ticket punch, burlap ribbon, cherry cobbler twine and season of style DSP.  


I usually give my guests some kind of bag to put their finished cards in.  Keeps them from getting lost or squished.  

 

This tag was made back in September and I thought I was fairly clever coming up with the idea of using the wing from the bird punch to create the poinsettia, but recently I saw somewhere someone else (I don't remember who or where eta: it was Mary Brown)  had done it also.  But she used 6 petals on each layer and it looked much nicer.  So if you make one, use 12 petals.

Teeny Tiny Wishes set.  Crumb cake, daffodil delight, basic black and whisper white cardstock.  Soft suede, whisper white and black stazon inks.  Big shot, woodgrain embossing folder, oval punch, bird punch, owl punch and white gel pen. 

This is the bag tag I made for the 2nd class.  I saw this cute little bat on Diana Gibbs blog.  She is a stamping/punching genius.

I inked up the woodgrain embossing folder with the soft suede ink before I ran it through the machine.  I think it looks cool. 

3.  The Hubs and I were invited to a concert at a winery by our house.  It was fun and I did have a little too much to drink.   My camera takes crummy pics. 

4.  On the 12th, Grace had Cosmic pajama bowling with her band class.  They got to bowl in their jammies and eat candy and got a ton of glow bracelets/necklaces........at 7:00 in the morning.  Did she even comb her hair? 

.............and The Hubs had his first official 100 mile ride.

Super proud of him.  He even got a medal.  Such a stud!

 5.  We had our 24th anniversary.  But because we've been so busy we didn't actually get to celebrate until last night.  I surprised him with a night out.  I never get to surprise him!  He guesses everything all the time.  I can't put out Christmas presents for him until Christmas Eve because he will guess what they are just by holding them..........even when they're disguised..........its freaky, I'm telling you. 

Anyhow I made plans for some friends to meet us for dinner and then we went to a comedy club that has opened by our house.  As soon as we got close to the restaurant he knew what we were doing.  BUT, he didn't know our friends were meeting us there.  SURPRISE!  We had a great time!

These are the flowers he gave me.  So pretty!

Here is the card I made him.

Yippee Skippee set.  Pool party, real read, whisper white and crumb cake cardstock.  Soft suede and black stazon inks.  Big shot, expressions thinlits, woodgrain embossing folder, deco frame framelits.

Everything I make him has some sort of wood component.  I inked up the "I freakin'" part, stamped, cleaned it, inked up the "you!" and stamped again.  I freakin' love it!  I know some people did not like the words on this particular stamp but I got a chuckle out of it.  I just freehand cut a heart out.

Alrighty thats it for today.  I do have all the holiday cards we've made at the classes.  Look for those this week.  Plus, Grace and I are working on a project to send to 19 for Halloween.  Never a dull moment around here.

Thanks so much for coming by and hanging out.

Blessings, b.

love......western style

Howdy there!  We are having glorious weather today.  I hope you are too.  So why am I inside?  Well, I just came in from watering the garden.  The aphids have left and the zuccs and pumpkins are trying to make a comeback.  Hey, if they are willing then so am I.  

Anyway, I was thinking about you and I've been meaning to post something.  So I was trolling through my pics looking to see what I haven't shown you yet and I got alot.  So I'm getting on it. 

Over summer we were invited to a wedding that we couldn't go to.  It was a western theme and I know I would have loved it.  I tried to make their card western looking.  What do you think?

From my Heart set.  Whisper white and Crumb cake inks, versamark pen.  Basic black and crumb cake cardstock.  Big shot, woodgrain embossing folder, pearls, label framelits, white embossing powder, expressions thinlits, burlap ribbon, natural trim and white gel pen.

This is 4 1/4" square card.    I used the Versamark pen to ink up just the frame part of one of the stamps in the From my Heart set, stamped and embossed.  It looks kinda sketchy but I figured it just makes is look........... older, I guess you would say.  Maybe "worn" is a better word.  Yep, I think I like "worn" better. 

It was a slighty thicker card but it wasn't overly bumpy.  I didn't use extra postage. 

When using the Expressions Thinlits, make sure you put a piece of wax paper or parchment paper between the die and your cardstock.  It makes it much easier to remove the word from the die.  I'm going to have a tutorial coming up with how to do that. 

A few pearls........it was for a wedding after all. 


Alrighty then.  I still need to get pics of the cards we did at my Holiday Card Class.  I want to get that thinlit tutorial out first.  I'll get right on that. 


Thanks so much for stopping by and checking in.  I love when you do that.

Blessings, b.

no directions

Merry day before the day before Christmas Eve. 

We spent the day today at my in laws celebrating Christmas.  I love my in laws.  You don't hear that very often huh?  I do though.  They are awesome people. 

So today I wanted to show you 2 of the tags we made at the meeting.  The first one was from the Ornamental Elegance kit.  It is the ornament you see on the cover of the Holiday Catalog.  You can buy all the supplies to make the ornament and then of course you have the stuff to make a million of them if you want.  The kit made 10.  I thought it would be fun to make them at the meeting. 

Except the kit came with no directions.  OY! 

Took me awhile to figure it out and then thought to check out the You Tube.  I was on target. 

So here is the kit version:

It is very pretty and pretty big.  It says Merry Christmas on the back.  I didn't think to take a pic of that. 

The kit is sold out but if you'd like to know what supplies to order to make your own, just let me know.


Here is another tag we made.  Alot more simple.

Watercolor Winter and Teeny Tiny Wishes sets.  Naturals white and soft suede cardstock.  Garden green, crumb cake and early espresso inks.  Big shot, woodgrain embossing folder, wood buttons, vanilla seam binding, window frame framelits, 2 way glue pen, dazzling diamonds and linen thread.


I really like this one.  I left the tails of the ribbon long because I thought it would look pretty on a package. 

Pretty glittery pinecones.

Again, I didn't think to take a pick of the back.  I used Fabulous Phrases to stamp the "to" and "from". 

Alrighty then, I'm pooped.  Everyone and their mother was on the road today and it took forever to get home.  Stay safe out there. 

Blessings, b.

what just happened?

I swear, in the blink of an eye a whole week is gone.  Did I get anything productive done?  Well yeah, but not much.  Not as much as I should have. 

I go back to work next week and even though my mind is in hyperspeed thinking of all the things I wanted to get done this summer, my body is saying, "Screw it!  I just want to relax." 

So there is a tug-of-war everyday. 

We've been watching the Olympics.  I've always loved the gymnastics.  It amazes me what these people can do with their bodies.  You would think that would inspire my body to want to do something....mmmmm........no, not so much.  It was also 107 here today and that doesn't help. 

So instead of working on the yard, I've been stamping.  WooHoo!  I got those new sets a month ago and haven't even inked them up.  Ack!

Here is one that I've finished.

Pleasant Poppies and A Word for You.  Whisper white, shimmery white and poppy parade cardstock.  Poppy parade, old olive, early espresso, Black Stazon and Versamark inks.  Woodgrain embossing folder, big shot, window frame framelits, white embossing powder, aquapainter and dimensionals.

The first set I'm starting to play with is Pleasant Poppies.  I got this idea from Kristina Werner's blog.  

 I swear everytime I try to type that out it says, Pleasant Poopies.  Which may be pleasant but thats not what we're talking about here. 

This is a 4.25" x 4.25" card.  I like how the colored poppies (poopies) kind of lift off the card. 

I don't know why this pic came out dark.  I colored on Shimmery white cardstock.  You can see the shimmer here.  That is one of the other cardstocks we carry that can withstand watercoloring. 

I had a heck of a time though trying to shade them right.  I may do them over again.  Although they look better in person.  They are kind of drab here. 

One of the things I need/want to do is go through all the pics I took while at my dad's.  I wanted to show you a few from the ride home. 

We took the train home.  Never again.  When I am on the way home, I just want to be home and the train just takes too long. 

I'm sure you've seen the movie Cars.  Well, here it is in real life:

Radiator Springs anyone?

Then when I got home I harvested these:

This was my entire grape harvest this year.  They were delicious!  Hopefully I get more next year.

And look who is perturbed that mommy is back home and wants to use her chair?

I swear everytime I get up she gets in there.  Dang cat! 

Alrighty then.  We have been getting things together for 18 to get ready to move to school.  She finally got her roommates info and they've been emailing.  That, along with the pile of stuff we are accumulating to pack, I think she is finally getting a little excited to go.  I know she is scared too but I'm trying to be "Brave Mommy" and not talk her into staying home.  Its getting so close. 

Since I'm taking advantage of the heat and giving myself permission to stay inside and stamp, I acutally have more to show you.  But I don't want to put you into shock so I'll wait. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Stay cool!

Blessings, b.

creepy crawly

I meant to post yesterday but things didn't go as planned.........as usual.  Today I have a card and a story.  I'll do the card first.

 I can hear you thanking me now. 

Reason to Smile and A Word for You set.  Baja breeze, whisper white and crumb cake cardstock.  Whisper white craft ink and Black Stazon.  Woodgrain embossing folder (YES!), big shot, white taffeta, vintage clear buttons, label framelits, white embossing powder, white bakers twine. 

This was the card I made for my MIL's birthday.  "85 and still alive" is her rhyme this year.  She makes up a new one every year.   

I used the Reason to Smile set.  It will only be available for 3 1/2 more days.  For only $5 you don't want to miss out. 

See this button?  That is from the new catalog.  They remind me of my gramma's door handles.  Love them!  But they are plastic, not glass. 

Also see that blue twine?  I just used my ink pad.  I smooshed the lid and then added a few drops of water.  Then put some white baker's twine in there and let it dry. 

Now my favorite part.  See that way cool embossing folder?  That is in the new Holiday Catalog.  I so love this!  I've been waiting for something like this to come out.  You'll be seeing alot more of it from me. 



Okay, now for my story:

On Wednesday, Grace and I went to Target.  We went to get my dad some pants and shirts.  While I was deciding which ones to get, Grace was running her hands up and down the pants hanging on the rack. 

All of a sudden she jerks her hand back saying "Ouch! Something poked me!"  I looked at her hand and it had just a drop of blood coming out. 

Of course I start thinking someone put a needle full of something in there so I tell her to keep squeezing it to keep it bleeding.  I took the pants and was pressing on them looking for something sharp and didn't feel anything. 

Then I shook them (they are still on the hanger) and I see something on the leg.  Want to see? 

My phone takes cruddy pics. 

This guy was about 2 inches long and TOTALLY freaked Grace out!  She starts crying and I put ice on it.  Then run out to the aisle looking for help.  We were in the very back corner of the store.  I flag down a guy and lets just say 20 min. later we were at the hospital.........with our little friend.

She is actually laughing here.  She was on a jittery high because she was so relieved.  The dr. had already seen her and decided that she was going to be okay.  It was apparently similar to a bee sting.  Had the scorpion really meant to sting her it would have been much worse. 

The hospital released the scorpion.  They aren't kidding about that Hippocratic Oath. 

Anyway we are extremely thankful that she is okay.  God was and is truly watching over us.  Plus she has the best "What I Did Over Summer" essay story ever! 

Alrighty then, we are kind of watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics.  My dad keeps switching the channel. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking in. 

Blessings, b.