The Best There Ever Was...

Am I the only stamper whose favorite movie is The Natural? I know it SEEMS like it should be the Sound of Music or that movie about a cat that walks a million miles or something, but it's not.

It's just, well - the best there ever was.

And, like Die Hard, Christmas Vacation and Elf, it's a movie I can go back to a million times and enjoy every time.

This little project is the stamping equivalent. I made these little tea books for the very first hostess club I ever had in 2001, and some of my girls, who later became my downline, still make and sell them at craft fairs and Christmas to this day. Every time I make them I have fun and wonder why I don't make them more often.

Here are all the little treats together, made with the new Costume Party set. I am fairly certain you can guess which of these is my fave!

Stamps: Doodle Factory Costume Party Ink: Stampin' Up! Basic Black Paper: Stampin' Up! Basic Grey, Basic Grey Eerie Collection Accessories: Stampin' up! Markers, 1.75" Circle Punch, Rectangle punch, Dusty Durango Polka Dot Ribbon, Sticky Strip

Each is a little folder, 7.5" x 3", scored at 3.5" and 4". The inside looks like this:
And it's just a sleeve of DSP that the tea or chocolate fits into. I've attached it with ribbon that ties vertically on the spine, with sticky strip, all sorts of variations.

It's sooo easy and quick and a nice holiday gift.

So bust out your simple wows from long ago if you want an easy smile. That's the deep thought of the week.

Loveyameanitbye.

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Yep, What She Said

This is Maddie sticking her tongue out, which is how I felt today, so I thought I'd make her look all arty like some sort of elevated commentary on life, but really, just pfffffttttt.

Heh heh. Thanks Maddie.

Here's a simple Witch Hat Halloween project for ya. There are two steps, and I don't even have to chat about them, except to say I used the Stampin' Up! Clear Circle die to cut the circle for the top, then cut the circle in half to form the cone, so you get two out of each circle.

Enjoy, my pretties! <|:)

Supplies

Step First
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How Really Poor Grooming Choices Help you Stamp - A Tutorial

You remember. You used it. We all did. We were young. People thought platform shoes and powder blue tuxes were a good idea. Looking back, it wasn't the WORST thing that happened in the 70s.

Sadly, powder blue tuxes have been put out to pasture, and yet, not THIS substance...

photo courtesy Walgreens.com - this is the actual product I used

But then, once upon a time, when I was verrry sleepy, having purchased 144 treat cups for reasons not even known to ME, my nearly asleep brain put that STUFF into THOSE CUPS, and your tutorial for today was born.

First, make a white card base, punch a 1.75" circle, insert your Sweet Treat Cup and put a little gel into your treat cup. Since this heinous affront to hairstyling comes in all sorts of garish colors, you can use it for any occasion. I of course, chose blue, and you'll see why.

I put too much in the first few times I tried, so be sparing. It doesn't move, so you can look from the other side before adding more. Also, you don't want it all over the cup, so be careful when squishing it into there. I put my cup down on top of my stamped image first so that I knew how much room I had to play with.

It's pretty in this setting, yes? Has kind of a little Hope Diamond vibe working, it does. Now look closely at the pic. The next step is to remove the backing from the adhesive on the treat cup and attach a 2.5 x 2.5 piece of window sheet. This seals the gel in there. Before you put it down though, add a glue dot on each corner to tack the corners to the back side of your card front.

Next, take an empty cup, put it on top of your image and trace around it. Cut the image out, and attach to the back of the window sheet so that your image shows through the cup to the front of your card. Mine is the whale from Animal Stories.


Now on my card, I cut a 4 x 5.25 piece of white cardstock to cover all that stuff up so the inside of my card is all clean and pretty.

Finally, I used the Swirly Big Shot die to cut the "waves" out of Ballet Blue, using both the positive and negative space, and Smarty Pants for the greeting.See - you're never too old to do goofy stuff with hair gel.

Loveyameanitbye. Oh wait - gratuitous kitty pic. :)


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I'm sorry... There's no Cure

I try to make you think about Swine Flu at least once per day, mostly because I find the word swine intensely amusing!

But - it's not the swine flu there's not cure for - it's the common birthday! It's true. Well there's one cure but it's far too unpleasant to discuss here...

I made this card for the VSN Challenge on Splitcoast this weekend. I'm hoping I can do more of the challenges - they always make me push my creative envelope.

This one was the second challenge. I had to use the Chalkboard Technique and I had to include a quote or a saying. The Chalkboard Technique is what sucked me in - I haven't used my Stampin' Pastels in a while and I miss them!!

I also had yet to ink up my newest purchase - the Cumpleanos set from the Spanish Stampin' Up! catalog. I fell HARD for the little Pinata in that set. SO cute.

Ever wonder who came up with the idea to bash the heck out of a little paper animal with a blindfold on as an activity to celebrate a birthday?

I'm fairly sure drugs or tequila were involved, because if you deconstruct the idea, it's terrible, regardless of the gaily colored tissue paper and resulting candy.

But it makes a HECK of a cute stamp!!

Anyway - I didn't really have a stamp with a good quote for my images on it, so I printed one on there from John Glenn.

Stamps: Cumpleanos Ink: White Craft Paper: Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Basic Black
Accessories: Sponge Daubers, Silver Cord, Stampin' Pastels, Dimensionals

The images are all stamped in white craft ink and then patted with pastels and a sponge dauber.

For the bow/strings, do the following. Cut three lengths of the FABBY new silver cord that doesn't have that white fluffy string in the middle. Holding the three together, tie a bow. Cut off the extra length from one side and you have your balloon strings! Easy. Multitasky.

Now, speaking of multitasky - check out what I ordered. I picked one of the new customized name and address stamps from the catalog, but ordered it as my little handmade stamp. What do you think?
Hope you have a FABBY....

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Maddie is Published!

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Don't B Skrd - HE'S JUST GONNA EAT UR BRAINZ!

Ohhh - wait a sec though. Before he eats ur brainz, you will need them for my story.

At the Stampin' Up! convention this summer, I took a class from one of my fave SU employees ever in the world. However, it was one of my last classes and I was exhausted. You people have NO idea how overstimulated a person can get in that environment. I was at the point where I was sucking my thumb and whining. Seriously.

So instead of my usual center aisle seat, I sat on the floor in the back. I figured I'd make less of a scene when I fell over in a coma and started drooling.

But then my ADD kicked in and I noticed a really cool fountain style card holder on the table in the back with some of her samples. I went in for a closer look.It was a perfect tabletop display - multi levels, visually interesting, stable. Hmm. She must have gotten questions about it, because there was a little handwritten note next to it that said "Card holder from Dayspring.com".

Having been to memento mall, I feared the compulsive hoarders that surrounded me. So I crackberried my sis and had her order me two of them.

They arrived in time for my birthday. I went to put them together though and found that one was missing THE screw that held it together. It's okay - I set the other one up and set a Google Task to call about the second one. I finally crossed that off the list last week and sent an email.

The next day, I get a response from Johnna, who apologizes profusely, and says she looked for that part, and since they didn't have one in stock, was going to replace the one I had. She signed her email "Blessings."

Now that, my friends, is a blessing.

Thank you Dayspring, for my cool card holder I will use in the craft fair I bought them for, and thanks Johnna for being a blessing.

Okay - now that you are done with your brainz, MY LITTLE WEREWOLF IS GOING TO EAT THEM... LOOK HOW HE ALREADY LICKED THESE LITTLE SKULLZ CLEAN. MWAAHHHAAA.

Stamps: Doodle Factory Costume Party Ink: Basic Black Paper: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Basic Grey
Accessories: 1" Circle Punch, Green Copic, White Gel Pen, Red Uniball Pen

This is the new Doodle Factory Costume Party Set and I made it with some presents sent to me by the WORLD'S SWEETEST WOMAN - Lisa, of Papergrace. I am serious - she's crazy sweet. She sent me this crazy big box of rare and prized goodies, including the new Basic Grey Eerie, Indian Summer, which I felt like putting in the freezer and hoarding FOREVER, and OH - the Graphic 45. Wow. So I thought I would put it to use with a little gory Halloween action.

To make the moon, FYI - I punched it out of Basic Grey, and then just cut around the tree design to slip it behind.

Hope ur brainz are tasty. :)

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The Saga of the Tail Continues...

Maybe this is karma catching up with me for having a pet Tail when I was a child. Well, it wasn't technically a pet, since it was just a tail, and I don't know who thinks a fake tail is a good toy anyway, but I've got tail issues. Not my tail - I don't have a tail - but Maddie's tail. She ripped another huge chunk of it out yesterday, so it's not the catnip. I think it's some kind of mental illness. Does anyone know about tail deforestation? If so, please help me or I'm going to have to get some kind of kitty straightjacket.

PS - if anyone knows where I can get a kitty straightjacket, DO TELL. :)

So I have had foofy tails on my mind lately, which is a good thing, because I've been playing with Pamela's foofy tailed chicken stamps! I LOVE a good foofy tailed chicken.
Stamps: Chicken Up on You(Firecracker Designs) Ink: Basic Black, Summer Sun
Paper: Stampin' Up! Autumn Meadows DSP, Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Book Page
Accessories: Crushed Curry Polka Dot Ribbon, Blender Pen, Button, Linen Thread, Scallop Oval Punch, 1" punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Now I realize looking at these that I paper pieced them all. I guess chickens are just too colorful to leave all one color. After the classic barnyard, above, I thought I should make a funky chicken, tee hee... So I used my new fave paper - the Kaleidascope DSP to funk up my chicken in this black ditty.

Stamps: Chicken Up on You(Firecracker Designs) Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White craft

Paper: Stampin' Up! Kaleidascope DSP, Basic Black

Accessories: Stampin' Up! button, Prima Flower, Mini Glue Dot, Self Adhesive Rhinestone

And then these last three little babies are from Marrakech - the stamp set comes with that intricate little border you see - it exactly matches my Basic Grey Marrakech paper.

Stamps: Chicken Up on You(Firecracker Designs) Ink: Basic Black,

Paper: Stampin' Up! Kraft, Whisper White, Basic Grey Marrakech

Accessories: Stampin' Up! Scallop Oval Punch, White Gel Pen

For all you neat freaks, I'm here to tell you that this kind of revelation would be impossible in a room that didn't have a weeks worth of paper scraps and other debris on the desk. So there. Rationalized AGAIN.

Hope you're having a fabby day! Thanks for Chicken In!

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What Do You Write About?

My friend John, owner of EverCats, asked me the other day how I find what I write about here. Of course, I told him that I sit down for exactly one hour and eleven minutes every day at my writing desk with a list of current events, a thesaurus and a Red Bull and crank out brilliant and well worded essays that are backlogged so that I have years of material should I become unable to think clearly for a period of time.

That's a lie.

Actually, it's two lies - because I don't do that, and I didn't tell him that.

I told him I just take all the crazy things that happen to me every day and put them here in front of you, my victims.

Here's yesterday's crazy thing.

Catnip makes Maddie rip all the fur off of her tail.

With events like that, I hardly need to make things up. Now I have a cat that looks like a rodent.

So there you go.

With that, I bring you - Make Me Laugh Monday!

Last week's winner is.... CASSIE for that hilarious video of that little boy giving his "evil look". Hysterical. Cassie - send me your address!

To play along with Make Me Laugh Monday you just need to leave a comment with a PG-13 funny - it can be a story, a video, a picture - but you need to leave the comment on this post to be eligible! If you win, I will send you a stampy prize!

Last night, I needed a quick card because I got started stamping late.

Stamps: Friends 24-7 Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White Craft Cardstock: Kraft, Kaleidoscope DSP
Accessories: Rub-on, Colored Pencils, 1" circle punch - All Supplies Stampin' Up!

The Kaleidoscope DSP is CRAZY BEAUTIFUL IRL. I didn't think I'd like it based on the catalog picture, but it is BEAUTIFUL!! Even if you're not a sherbet-y person, which I'm not, you gotta give it a try!

I apologize for it being Monday at all, but I hope you have a good one anyway! :)

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Lazy Cats Set World Sleeping Record!

Oh, except for 10 PM to Midnight, during which time they GALLOP around, somehow making sounds like a herd of cattle even though they're teeny and have soft, furry feet, intermingled with barking and scratching things. Yes, barking. Splotchy barks. I will film it. Then, when I wake up at 5:30 this morning (again, courtesy of whining, running cats) they INSTANTLY drop into deep comas which last all day. I'd poke them if they weren't so cute. Truth be told, I've finally convinced them to hang out in the studio by putting fuzzy blankets on my desk, giving me even less space than the 6 square inches I usually have to work in. But they're sooo cute.

Maddie is so vain that she must nap with her stampy likeness, my Sassy Maddie stamp. Shocking ego, this one.
Despite the extreme sleeping, I did manage to get 15 invitations done for my inlaws yesterday. The leaf stamp was given to me, and is a Stampendous image - I think it's out of print now. But it's gorgeous isn't it - with that type in there? I love it. I colored it with copics, even adding a shadow around the leaves with a warm grey.

Stamps: Stampendous Leaf, Sincere Salutations (Stampin' Up!) Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock: Very Vanilla Accessories: Copics, dimensionals

The little panel they are on is popped up. I don't know why. A whim.

I hope you're having a fabby Sunday! *yawn* I need a nap!

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It's Purr Like a Pirate Caturday!

It is!! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So, to comply, here we go.

Ahoy mateys! It be Caturday! Thar be some stampin' booty! And Splotchy, me hearty, agreed to dress up for Purr Like a Pirate.Shiver me timbers, that's a CAT!

But you didn't come here for just any son of a biscuit eater with an eyepatch - you wanted BOOTY!

So onto the booty - this particular booty is for charity. Animal charity, of course. My friend Amy Bouquet does volunteer work for Cat Haven, and they are having a silent auction fundraiser next month. She asked me to donate artwork to the auction, so of course, I thought of Bernie, at A Place to Bark, and devised a way to maybe help both places at once!

So, I whipped out my Sassy Maddie stamp I designed for Bernie (If you want one, 100% of the proceeds go to benefit Bernie's shelter) and got to work.

First, I stamped her in Creamy Caramel on the wrong side of some K & Co. DSP. Then I carefully cut her out with my Martha Stewart Craft Knife. I collaged some contrasting paper onto 6 little 4x4 canvases, and then collaged little Maddie on with Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. These six pieces are meant to be hung together, so all the paper coordinates.
And what kitteh is complete without bling? I added a teeny rhinestone for her nose.
I hope they raise a bunch of money for hobo kittehs, like my own two, that I love with all my heart. Even when they're all - WTH WITH ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHS LADY??? I'M WASHIN' MAH FEET!

Or when Maddie eats the part that holds my Copics in their case
They may be scallywags every now and then, but they are me heartys, so ARRRRRRRRRRRR - have a great Caturday!!!

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Okay - Everyone Get in a Circle...

Are you holding hands with the person next to you? Quit wiggling. Shh. Good. Okay - Well first of all, if you must know, I am the spotlight artist for Firecracker Designs by Pamela this month!! It's TRUE! I would never lie about such a thing! I'm really excited - I love Pamela's designs, and honored to be featured with such a talented group of designers!

And lucky for me, there's a blog hop today, and you people know how much I LOVE blog hops. You will get to find some new artists you may not have seen before and maybe learn some new stuff! I can't wait to see what everyone does!

You're holding hands because this is a circular blog hop, so no matter where you start on the hop, you can go all the way around the circle and see it all. The theme for the hop is Greetings & Salutations. So I would like to greet you WITH A SASSY AND BRIGHT CHICKEN! He's from the Just Chicken up on You set, and I colored him with Copics. Notice that he is carrying a little chicken home remedy in case there's something wrong with you, like the swine flu. Ooh - I hope you don't have the swine flu, since you are all holding hands. I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR A BLOG HOP SWINE FLU OUTBREAK!

Anyway, after coloring, I paper pieced him onto some Stampin' Up! Night & Day DSP, and stuck him on a Tempting Turquoise base. The greeting is stamped in Tempting Turquoise, and I outlined "Chicken" in Green Galore to make it stand out a bit.

Now, as is customary - there are FREE GOODIES to be won on the hop - LOOKIE!Because she's cool like that, Pamela will choose the winner from a mystery hostess on the hop! None of us know who it is! So leave a comment on every post in the hop, and maybe it will be you. The winner will be contacted by email, so be sure and leave that in your comment as well.

The official kickoff is Friday at 8 AM Eastern, so if you're here early, the links may not all be live, so stop back by! :)

Ready for more? Your next stop on the hop is Donna's beautiful blog.

Thanks so much for chicken in!!! :)

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Felted Cardstock Tutorial on Splitcoast!

I have another Tutorial up on Splitcoast today! Whoopee! It's for the Felted Cardstock technique that I demo'd at Maker Faire last year. Very fun.The background of this card is made with a paper dinner napkin! *squeal*

The link to the step by step tutorial plus video is above, and here is just the video


If you don't see a video player then click here.

Have a great Wednesday!!

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Like you Need an Incentive...

To buy a stamp... That is complete crazy talk. I went to JoAnn's yesterday to buy one little teeny canvas and came out with two bags so heavy I think I pulled a muscle. What the heck? Crafting is so easy and fun.

Last night I played with canvases and paper and my favorite new gel medium - Liquitex. I was making an art project I can't show you yet, and I am absolutely covered with gel medium. This new kind I got is much thicker than the last kind I tried and there was NO buckling of my paper while I was collaging. So if you like to collage, try the Liquitex Matte Medium.

And after you're all sticky and covered with tiny pieces of paper, maybe you just want to make something simple and CLEAN.

I don't think any of you are paying attention to me when I talk about the incentive stamps from Stampin' Up! I'm fairly certain you ignored me on this post. Don't make me hold your face when I tell you things!!

These images are demo-only stamps we can use as incentives - again, unnecessary :) - for customers. If you are a customer, I would advise showering your demonstrator with compliments and gifts (especially if she is me) in order to acquire one of these stamps, like, for example, this lovely little tree AND greeting from the Delightful Designs set.

Stamps: Delightful Designs Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crushed Curry
Ink: Basic Black Accessories: Punches, Ribbon
All supplies Stampin' Up!

Now if this clean little ditty isn't the complete opposite of being covered with glue in the middle of the disaster area formerly known as your studio I don't know what is!!

Enjoy your day. :)

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Make a Squirrel Laugh Monday

Sooo, before the animals were loaded two by two onto the ark in Austin this weekend - yes, we went from drought to flood in 2.2 seconds - I TOLD YOU PEOPLE TO QUIT COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW DRY IT IS NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID - stupid rain. Wait - where am I? No seriously - not only did my own roof start leaking - thank you, Maddie, for alerting me to our roof leak by howling at the ceiling - but all the ceilings at work started leaking too. Have I mentioned the stupid rain?? And there better not be any comments from you rainiacs about how great it is either (Libby, Kim, etc.) or you will be the ones climbing up the scary ladder onto our roof today to get to work fixing it!

I don't like rain. I'm not sure if I've mentioned that before.

But anyway, before it started raining, there was a giant kerfuffle out in our front yard - lots of crazy animal noises. I walked out onto the porch to see what it was, and it was like a scene out of the little known Alfred Hitchcock film - "The Squirrels." In every tree in the front yard, there was a squirrel on each branch, sitting up, and busily eating a pecan from our pecan tree. Green pecans - blech. But it was like synchronized swimming. They're all facing the house, eating pecans like corn on the cob. It was actually a little creepy. I felt like if I stepped down off my front step they would all fly over and attach themselves to my face like that squirrel in Christmas Vacation.

I backed slowly into the house and thought to myself - "That's nuts."

Stamps: Doodle Factory Into the Woods & Sentiments, Cardstock: Whisper White, Pacific Point Blue, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Old Olive, Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Pacific Point Blue Accessories: Copics, White Gel Pen

So I made a card. Irene (The Doodle Factory) clearly understands moments like these, as you can see from the maniacal look on this little guy's face. He's a squirrel on the edge, I tell ya.

I brayered the background, and the rest is Copics. The font on the greeting was big enough that I could outline it in black with my .005 micron pen after I stamped it in Pacific Point Blue. If you click for a closeup you can see it.

Thank you Irene for giving me images for all my crazy life situations.

And you guys know what day it is - it's Make Me Laugh Monday!!

Make me laugh the hardest with a PG-13 comment on this post and you will win a stampy prize!!

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Yes, My Fox Can Watch Your Itty Bitty Sheep

Really. He won't even try to bite them, not even a little bit. You can tell by the cute, harmless look on his sweet little face. Nuh uh, not even one strand of wool on those baby sheep is in danger with this little fella.

Stamps: Into the Woods & Animals (Starving Artistamps, Doodle Factory), Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock: Really Rust, Kraft (Stampin' Up!) Accessories: Copics, Stampin' Up! Rubon, Rainbow Gallery Fluffy Fleece, Punches

I wonder why the micro sheep look so scared? ;)

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There's Just Something About a Fat Cow

That makes me giggle. Well, in this case, a fat little Longhorn. I'd like to think he's not a steer either. :) Wait - do longhorn girl cows have horns? I can't ever remember. Now I'm confused.

But let me back up.

My dear little Libby came up to see me for lunch one day - I am lucky enough to have a Central Market cafe in my building - and she brought her friend Jimmye, who owns Texana Designs - and I taught them brayer tricks during my lunch hour. Everyone needs a brayer trick, right? And the brayer goddess of the world, Michelle Zindorf, who taught her amazing workshop at my house last year, was kind enough to actually teach me which end to use and all that :) so I was somewhat useful, if not Michelle-ish.

So we brayered, and Libby wrestled tea out of a giant crock for us, and Jimmye, who is a little sparkly gem of a lady, gave me this adorable stamp WITH A FAT LITTLE LONGHORN ON IT! I think I said "awww" about forty squillion times.

I AM so thankful for Jimmye and Libby and I wish I got four hour lawyer lunches so I could stamp downstairs with them every day.

I stamped this fat little guy in India Ink on Stampin' Up! watercolor paper, and then used my Aqua Painter to paint him and his landscape with Dusty Durango, Really Rust, Summer Sun, Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Creamy Caramel.

I used a rubon and DSP from the Hostess Prints Pack to finish off my chubby bovine.

I hope you like him.

What are you doing today?

It's my mom's birthday today - Happy Birthday mom!

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Remember This

Walk it Off

I'm SHOCKED at how neglected my adorable Halloween stamps are. Where does the time go? Last night I couldn't even find the one I wanted to make a card with, but I did find Twick or Tweet, so I came up with a batty little card.

Now - Leslie (The Crooked Stamper) asked not too long ago when purple and green became the Halloween standard. I don't know the answer to that, but I sure am glad they did. Cuz few things tickle my heart like a purple bat!

Except a little skelly shaking a dog off his leg maybe. :D

Stamps: Twick or Tweet, Scary Skeleton Ink: White Craft
Paper: Night and Day, kraft, Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Glue Dots, Creamy Caramel Marker, Basic Black Marker

Now a couple tips here. If you use a very light touch with your white gel pen, and move the pen quickly, like a paintbrush, you can get skinny enough lines to color in your skelly. I long for a finer point white gel pen, but this technique works!

Second, I used the fine point of my Basic black marker to try to accentuate the little dog's eyes, but the ink spread out and got fuzzy because kraft cardstock has that rougher surface.

So I made little white circles with my gel pen over that, and THEN made little black dots for his eyes. The white gel ink keeps the black ink from feathering. Plus he looks like he has googlie eyes.

Fierce little doggie bite! Hopefully the little skelly can just walk it off. :)

Loveyameanitbye.

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My Little Chickadee..

When I was on a gallery stalk yesterday through Splitcoast, I found this amazing little chickadee ornament made by someone much more organized than myself - She's thinking about Christmas! Goodness. I haven't caught up to the 4th of July yet!! Stop making me look bad!

She made that ornament look good though, didn't she?

However, she gave me a near fatal case of bird flu. I desperately clawed through my stamp piles until I found the Friends 24-7 set with my fat little bird. I love fat birds with little bellies. I also love pale blue plates with black and white birds all over them. That's what I had in mind when I created this.

Stamps: Friends 24-7 Ink: Soft Sky, Basic Black
Paper: Soft Sky, Book Page Accessories: White Gel Pen, Stampin' Sponge, Self Adhesive Rhinestones

Then I grabbed an old Bobsey Twins book and got to work!

Look - I can hear you - quit yelling about the fact that Soft Sky is retired. I love it - okay?? I'm going to hoard it and keep using it forever, a little at a time. I yell about Soft Sky and Pacific Point Blue every day, believe me.

Hope you have a great day today. I get to see my airport art today - whoopee! Film at 11! Not really. I'm never awake at 11.

Anyway - loveyameanitbye.

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Drop the Card and Step AWAY From the Trashcan..

If you remember this post - then you know how I feel about the fact that the real illusion of glamour happens after the shoot.

And I do mean illusion.

And while I don't approve of that illusion for humans, I definitely recommend it for cards.

If you're like me, you rarely used the fine tip of the Stampin' Write markers until you discovered this little ditty - COLOR SOLID IMAGES AFTER YOU STAMP, um, badly. :)

I wanted a little snow and sky with my cool new reindeer on the horizon. I didn't feel like stamping him once on blue and once on white and then cutting him, mostly because I'm lazy. So I put my card together, knowing that when I stamped on top of the joined pieces, I would get this:
It's okay! Don't panic and roll around on the floor.. sheesh - don't be so dramatic. And WHATEVER YOU DO, don't throw it away! all can be saved with your Basic Black Marker. Just take the fine point, and color. Since the markers all match, no one will ever know this sassy little reindeer's sketchy past! All they will ever know is this smooth, black image.
Magic, eh? Looks perfectly stamped. I can't believe I'm confessing this to you when I could have had you believe I just have exceptional skillz.
The card is so simple after that. I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the little village. It's like the Stampin' Up! scallop border punch - you can keep lining the image up on the base and punch an endless length of village. Super. Then I used my Tombo Multi glue and Dazzling Diamonds glitter to add some snow, and voila - a chilly little scene for Christmas.

The Dasher stamp is one of the sassy Under $10 stamps from the back of the catalog if you want to snap him up for your Christmas card.

Oh - and LOOK - Splotchy was the Daily Cat yesterday!!! *squeal*

Yipee - off to a short work week, then my stamp class on Saturday - are you registered?

Loveyameanitbye


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Busy is the New Relax

I realized this on my walk this morning when I was panicking over everything I have left to do in a long weekend that got away from me.

Everyone I know has lots to do after work. They work after work. Crafty people do this anyway, always busily creating something to sell or teach in every spare moment.

When was the last time you woke up and said "Hmm - I wonder what I'll do today?" I haven't done that in years. Maybe decades.

So for all of us who passionately fill every moment that we can loosely call "spare", Labor Day is truly filled with labor. Hopefully on something you enjoy. :)

No man is born into the world whose work
Is not born with him; there is always work
And tools to work withal, for those who will....
~James Russell Lowell

I love making thank you cards. So some of my labor went here this weekend. I copied this design from my lovely and talented downline, Neelam. This was her convention swap.
Stamps: Very Thankful
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Whisper White, K&Co DSP
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Bermuda Bay Marker, Two Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

Where I have DSP, she had a strip of Bermuda Bay embossed with Petals a Plenty.

There's glitter on the peacock feathers, his head and the little flowers, but for whatever reason, God does not want us to photograph glitter. I'm sure he has a good reason.

Now speaking of labor and Labor Day, I wanted to show you what a real tomato looks like.
This is a real tomato from a real farmer not far from here. It's beautiful, and delicious and doesn't taste like a stupid store tomato. You should find some. Remember that behind every holiday meal and get together, there is a real person laboring to make you a tomato that looks like this. Buy stuff from them. They are important people, and it's the most essential labor that gets done in this country. Whatever you do, don't buy food from China or Venus or places far away. We know how to do this tomato thing. Let's enjoy it.

Yes, I am positive that one of the great curatives of our evils, our maladies, social, moral, and intellectual, would be a return to the soil, a rehabilitation of the work of the fields. ~Charles Wagner

Now there are a few beasts that don't labor at all. They just laze around on my desk while I labor. These things DO know how to relax. :)

And apparently their foreheads taste good. :)

Happy Labor Day everyone! Thanks for helping make the world go around with your labors.

Without labor nothing prospers. ~Sophocles

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