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.

Thank yous

Hey, so did you watch the Oscar's last night?  I didn't see any of the movies up for awards, well, except for Toy Story 3. 

But, I love to watch and see what people wear.  Which is weird because I'm no fashionista.  (You can stop laughing now)  My daily uniform is jeans/capris, tshirt, zip up sweat jacket and tennies.  I guess I'm interested to see how whacked out people dare to be.  Things seemed pretty tame last night though.  I loved what Hailey Steinfeld wore.  So pretty. 

Anyway, I do have some stamping to show you. 

I made some little Thank You bag tags.  See?

No stamps!  Crumb cake, not quite navy, pear pizzazz and very vanilla cardstock.  Crumb cake ink. Springtime Vintage DSP, Fun flowers die, big shot, the larger scallop square from the scallop square duo die, hemp, misc. buttons. 

I'm still loving the Fun Flowers die.  I'm so glad I bought it.  I found a bunch of felt in the hall closet the other day and I can't wait to make some cute felt flowers with it. 

The scallop square is 3" and the crumb cake is 3 1/2" square.  Perfect size for a little thank you tag. 

From this angle you can see how much it pops off the tag.  I think its pretty cool. 

Alrighty then, I've been thinking about the Artisan Award lately.  I don't know if I want to try entering again.  I did get named a finalist last year and that was pretty cool.  I'm just not having many ideas and its only a month away.  Of course the more you stamp the more ideas you get.  I guess I should get stamping and decide if I will enter or not.  Hmmm..................

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I {heart} you.

Blessings, b.

here, there, everywhere

Hey stampers!  How are you today?  Things here have been super busy. 

SAT prep, homework, after school groups, grumpy teenagers, band concerts, more college paperwork, stamping, work, side jobs, taxes, etc..............it never ends. 

But I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

So, I have been stamping.  Quite a bit actually.  I've been especially having fun with the new Fun Flowers Die in the Occasions mini catalog.  It is so much fun!

Here are 2 of the projects I've made so far.

No stamps!  Very vanilla and pretty in pink cardstock.  No ink!  Fun Flowers die, big shot, Springtime Vintage DSP, 5/8 vanilla brad and some old lace.

I met up with my group of stamp ladies a few weeks ago and this is what I made the hostess.  This is just an 8 oz. canning jar filled with candy.  I glued the lids together so it would come off in one piece. 

I cut out a circle of Pretty in Pink cardstock as a base and then cut various pieces of the DSP and vanilla cardstock. 

I scrunched them all up and used my favorite Tombow Multi glue to stick it all together.   My friend loved it and that made me happy.  Looking at it now, I think some pearls would have been great on that big ol' brad.  Oh well, too late now.

A Word for You set.  Very vanilla and pretty in pink cardstock.  Crumb cake ink.  Springtime Vintage DSP, Newsprint DSP, Neutrals buttons, hemp, scallop border punch, sponging.


This is one of the cards we made that night.  I'm not really much for pink but I love this card!  My grandmother would have loved this card!  This DSP reminds me so much of her. 

I also love the Neutrals Buttons.  I'm already through 1/2 the container.  Need to put more on my next order.  See the scallops?  I didn't want to scrunch up the whole piece of paper so I just flipped up the scallops.  Cute eh? 

Okay, I was downloading some pics last night, because I was going to blog last night, but when I went to put them in the correct folder, I accidentally lost them.  They went into another folder and I couldn't figure it out last night so I left it......until today. 

So I went on a search and rescue mission today for the pics.  I went through a few older folders and found all kinds of great things.  Wanna see?

This is the folder I found the pics I was looking for in.  The folder is labled "Carpool 2007".  I think it might have  been the last day of school.  I had wanted to do a scrapbook page on the whole carpool part of my life that year.  Thats my boy in the middle there.  Look at that long hair!  Needless to say, I got a good laugh today. 

Then I also found a bunch of other miscellaneous pics:

This has taken over our house lately.  So much fun!  Good workout too.

The boy had a concert a few weekends ago but I was too sick to go so, I sent the camera with the husband.  Out of the 10 pics he took, this is the only one that actually has the boy in it.

The boy and I finally went to see Harry Potter.  Awesome movie!  They stayed to the book for the most part.  Can't wait for part 2 now.

Last pic for tonight.  This is something everyone needs.  BACON FLAVORED POPCORN!  You know you want it. 

No, I didn't buy any.  How do people think of these things? 

Alrighty then, Big Bang Theory is coming on and I gotta go.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  And after all this babbling, I hope you keep coming by.

Blessings, b.

Valentine's Day continued............

ello govna  (that is 16's greeting to you all)

Hey everyone (my greeting),  its definitely a TGIF kinda day around here.  Although I have had 3 days of feeling pretty darn good. WooHoo!!  Hopefully the Creeping Crud won't come back. 

So today I wanted to show you the Valentines I made for the girls.

Remember, this is what they started out as.

This is how they ended up.

Woodgrain background and Well Scripted (retired).  Whisper white, soft suede, early espresso, riding hood red, marina mist, crumb cake and old olive cardstock.  Soft suede, Marina mist, crumb cake and black Stazon inks.  Sm. and Lg. oval punches, little leaves die, big shot, 2 step bird punch, small heart punch, sticky rhinestones, black sharpie and dimensionals.


This was alot of fun to make.  I love how it turned out.  I freehanded the tree, that was interesting.  Its really hard to make branches look natural.  Well, hard for me. 

I took one of our sticky rhinestones and colored it black with a Sharpie and used it for her eye.  Nifty eh?

This is the daddy bird.  Its hard to tell in this pic but I sponged some clouds.  Its much more noticable looking at it in front of me here. 

This one was for 16 and she seemed to like it alot. 

Here is Grace's

Inspired by Nature, Flight of the Butterfly and Well Scripted (retired).  Whisper white and poppy parade cardstock.  Old olive, bashful blue, black Stazon and pumpkin pie inks.  Beautiful butterflies die, big shot, transparencies, polka dot embossing folder, sticky rhinestones. 


She is much more girly than 16 so I used alot of rhinestones on hers.  Good thing they're cheap.  I need to order more.

I thought maybe the transparency would make it look like the wings were fluttering really fast.  Not sure I achieved that but it still looks cool. 

So there ya go.  My special Valentines for my special Valentines. 

Tonight was also a special night.

 The Father/Daughter dance. 

Ahhh............my husband dreads looks forward to it every year.  After tonight he only has one year left.  I tell him to enjoy it because he won't be dancing with her again, most likely, until her wedding.  And I'm hoping that is at least 15 years away. 

They are home now and she had an awesome time!  Thanks Daddy!

Alrighty then, thats it for tonight.  I want to hear all the details of the dance. 

Thanks for stopping by.  You make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Blessings, b.

She's Alive!!

Hey stampers!  Another round of the Creeping Crud has come to live at our house.  Even my trusty Nyquil wasn't kicking it.  But I persevered and fought the good fight and have beaten it into submission............for now. 

It has been rampant throughout my school and I've become best friends with hand sanitizer.  Why don't parents teach their children to cough or sneeze into their arm?  I can't tell you how many times in the past 3 weeks I've said, "cough into your elbow (I model this for them because they've only seen me or their teacher model it a thousand times and apparently they need a thousand and one or two).  We don't want your germs."

 I visit 5 classrooms a day.  You would think I would be immune to germs by now...........or dead.

So anyhow, I've really missed you.  I think about you all the time.  I have been stamping and have new goodies to show you.  Its just that by the time all my chores are done for the day, I'm just to tired to talk to you. 

Don't take it personally. 

So today I want to show you the Valentine goodies I made for my family.  

(Holy Cow!  I just went and put my watermark on all the pics and there are so many!  So I'll just be showing you the men's projects today)

  Woodgrain background, I {heart} hearts and Well scripted (retired).  Soft suede, whisper white and crumb cake cardstock.  Black Stazon, Soft suede and Riding hood read inks.  Corner rounder, natural hemp, misc. white button and dimensionals. 

My husband works with wood all the time.  So most every card I make for him has a wood theme.  I thought the button might be pushing it but, it needed it.

I freehanded the heart and put 4 dimensionals in the center and then just one on each side.  I wanted it to really stand out. 

This is what the kids Valentine's started out as.  Sometimes hoarding cans, bottles, tiles, wood chips, candles, misc. game pieces, etc.....are a good thing.  Funny how they are pretty much the same size.  Lucky for me because they practically measure things just to make sure no one gets more than the other.  Geesh!

Well Scripted (retired) and Woodgrain background.  Crumb cake, riding hood red and choc. chip cardstock.  Black Stazon and crumb cake ink.  Heart to heart punch, dimensionals and DSP that retired about a million years ago. 


Every year I make a special little something to hold a little something for the kids for Valentine's Day, and every year my boy gives his back.............after the candy is gone. 

Several years ago I made my hubby a "Can O' Love" out of a Pringles can and decorated it with this paper.  Everytime there is a special holiday or occasion I fill it with candy for him.  He LOVES candy!  So this is a "Can O' Love" for my boy.  We'll see if he keeps this or not.  I don't have my hopes up. 

So there ya go!  The cans I made for the girls are much more involved.  But they keep the things I make them so I put a little more effort into it. 

Alrighty then, time for bed.

Thanks so much for continuing to stop by and check up on me.  I've disenfected things so many times I don't see how any germs are left and I hope to be back to a more regular blogging schedule.  I miss you guys. 

Blessings, b.