Aaaahhhh Vacation...

Well I just wrapped up a week of vacation in my beloved Santa Fe - the most beautiful place on earth.

Normally we go at Thanksgiving but this year we thought we'd leave the snow to some other tourists and try a little fall and OH MY CAT was it amazing.

Perfect weather, perfect food, perfect stomping around weather, perfect everything. As always.

I went to the world's largest art supply store. It was like heaven! It was the size of a large Best Buy and had everything under the sun.

I bought paper that was made from stone. Tear and water-resistant, you can both write on it without a pencil - just a piece of metal if you want - and get GORGEOUS effects by painting on it with any medium. It stamps and watercolors like a dream, and if you join us for Hope You Can Cling To, you will see what I did with it for Beate's challenge on the first day. I'm in love.

I also got some Pan Pastels and about a billion other things. Good thing we drove. Just sayin'.

I geocached while I was there too - but I have to say - I learned a lot. It's very different from Austin because all the hides near me were urban hides, and in some ways, much harder. More muggles, more items I couldn't find.

My very favorite one here was a puzzle cache - It Started in Ethiopia. It took you to seven different coffee houses in and around downtown and you had to pick up clues at each to get to the final cache. It made for an amazing walking tour and it was cool to see so many different independent coffee houses. As a matter of fact, I didn't go to Starbucks the entire week! That's some kind of record for me!

So now I'm excited to get back to stamping and to work and to Hope You Can Cling To. If you're not familiar with this - it's a month of stamping challenges - a new challenge every day - and each card that's made is sent to the breast cancer patients and their families at the breast cancer treatment unit at MD Anderson.

Last year we sent more than 3000 cards! And while we were making them, we chatted, got to know each other, shared recipes and made friends. I so hope you can play along. So many people we all know are touched by this disease. We can lift their spirits by getting inky - it doesn't get any better than that!

Speaking of getting inky - I wanted to share the card I made for my monthly class with you, wherein I shamelessly stole two ideas from Jan Tink! First, her brilliant idea to make a cloud just by using two different sized circle punches - how smart is that????

Second, I used her snowdrift sponging technique by cutting a swoop out of a post it note and using it as a mask. Then just watercolor your little dude and you've MADE A SCENE! :)

Stamps: Wonderful Winterland, Snowflake Soiree

Ink: Basic Black, Pool Party, Reinkers

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pool Party

Accessories: Blender Pen, Dazzling Details

Hopefully I will see you in the challenge forum Monday! Till then, here are some vacation pics to keep you tnertained.

Beautiful train on the drive in

Love this blue horse outside a new gallery

Camel Rock - I had never seen this before!

Stunning foliage on the last day

I'm Angry... At a Candle

Well, not really. I'm really mad at my camera. Or maybe my eye. I don't know. I'm just angry.

I challenge you to make today's project and then go outside to try to photograph it and just SEE if you can get your SLR to focus in the right place!

I couldn't do manual focus because I actually hold my projects to take photos of them. I don't have a little outdoor photobooth set up and I really do prefer natural light.

So 300 blurry photos later, I finally got ONE pic I could use. *Growls*

I was on YNN again last week, doing handmade fall projects. We painted a pumpkin like a candy corn, did fall tealights, a little bat that held a Hershey nugget and this candle.

Now if you haven't gotten the new Stampin' Up! two stage heat gun, this project is a great reason to do so. We've all made disastrous, lumpy decorated candles by over-melting them when we were attaching the tissue paper, but the new gun has a lower heat setting that makes this MUCH easier.

To make the leaf, I just folded up tissue paper so that I was making about 8 leaves at once, and I cut them with my Autumn Accents die. These are all the shapes it cuts

It matches this stamp set:

I didn't use the stamps this time - I used Direct to Paper with More Mustard and Pumpkin Pie ink pads randomly all over the leaves.

Then just hold it on your candle and gently heat until you see the wax melt through the tissue paper and you're all done! I move my heat gun around a lot so I don't melt it too much in any one spot.

I thought about adding more leaves, but I ended up liking how clean and bright this looked, so I think I'll leaf it alone. Heh.

Can you be-leaf how simple and quick that is? It took much longer just to type about it!

Are you ready for fall? Our first cool temperatures have snuck in while I wasn't looking and it's a nice break!

Makes me less angry when I run outside to curse at a candle!

Loveyameanitbye.

Does Time Heal All Wounds?

I'm not so sure.

The Monkey Blocker

I should really be a squillionaire based on how many squillion dollar ideas I come up with daily.

For example, the other day, I was happily browsing Google Reader - which I haven't looked at since JANUARY - and I was perusing one of my fave baby animal blogs.

Exotic kittens, baby polar bears, fennec foxes, other assorted cute things with big ears...

And then... BAM.

A frigging MONKEY.

I cannot STAND monkeys. Do NOT post a comment saying - oh really - even this cute monkey that fits on your finger? NO - absolutely not - all monkeys are foul, disgusting creatures. And I like ASPS, for goodness' sake.

So, in my despair over unwittingly being exposed to a monkey I wasn't warned about, I invented the monkey blocker.

It's like a pop up blocker, except it's customized to monkeys. Or really, anything you want! Hate shrimp? No problem! Put "shrimp" or "monkey" into my blocker and you will start seeing images like these.

That is SO much better than the original image, which you can see here.

Think how much people would pay for this!!

I'd block every monkey, crawdad, scorpion and Kardashian on the interwebz!

FREEDOM!

With that behind me, I was free to make a card.

This was one of last month's class cards. I could not resist using this ADORABLE Frightening Feline halloween image! My friend Mel guessed that this image would be my fave from the new Holiday Mini and she was right! :)

The pennants and base are from Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP and the new OMG Champagne glimmer paper is the bomb.

I wanted to be able to play along with this month's Stampin' Up! Creative Crew challenges on Splitcoast - have you checked out the gallery this month? It's AMAZING!

I decided to do the Holiday focus challenge for my little way-less-scary-than-a-monkey kitty.

Want to play along? Check out the challenges here and peep the gallery here.

RU scared?

You shouldn't be. I blocked all the monkeys.

Loveyameanitbye.

Have You Heard of These People?

I've heard tell of a strange kind of crafter.

Maybe you've heard of them.

They're "planners."

They "plan" things, like their Christmas cards - not DAYS or WEEKS in advance, but yes, MONTHS.

It's okay to say it out loud. I'm thinking the same thing. Yes, they are freaks.

Normal people do this sort of thing right before the turkey goes into the oven. Am I right?

Well I don't want you think when you see today's card that I've BECOME one of those people.

I am just having a lot of fun. This in no way indicates organization or pre-Christmas planning. None of that will pop into my head until I smell turkey, believe me!

A few girls got together and decided to have a little fun with a card club - where we all use the same supplies and see what we come up with.

I haven't seen any of theirs, so I'm very much looking forward to peeking today.

But I took my supplies and made a few cards that are CAS enough to be quick Christmas cards, but have a little depth too. Here are a few of the things we all had to work with.

For my first card, I really wanted to make my little nutcracker dude be the star of the show. I used the TTC24 inspiration challenge for my starting point, and actually colored him in traditional Christmas colors which is SO out of the box for me!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse

Paper: Echo Park Holly Jolly

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Touch Twin Markers: GY167, GY47, YR133, RP9, R4, buttons, snowflakes, silver cord

I still had tons of paper left, and I engaged in my normal struggle I have with double sided DSP - which side do I use? They're both my favorite!! ARGH.

Good thing you can't see all those gyrations and you just get to see the card.

All I did after putting all the elements on was sponge the edges with soft suede. The paper does the rest.

We're calling these little projects a Random Act of Christmas 2012 - or RAC12 for short :) You can see all the cards together with that keyword in the Splitcoast gallery by clicking here.

I'll be peeking with you! :)

Hey - TGIF and happy long Labor Day Weekend!

Hide and Seek for Grownups

One of my Twitter peeps posted a shocking photo yesterday.

You can see that photo here.

I don't know if Costco sells calendars, but if they do, they need to crack one out and look at it.

It's AUGUST, for goodness' sake!

The ONLY people who are allowed to even PONDER the holiday season are stampers. Everyone else should stifle all Christmas-y urges accordingly.

Heh.

So I bring you a Christmas ditty, since I'm allowed.

A very simple Christmas ditty using the beautiful Noel Notes from the Holiday mini - they are precut and come with a pretty, vanilla scalloped insert. The envelopes have a cute green insert.

These would make fun Christmas cards with very little work. I also think that you could just slip a photo into the frame, add the insert and have a photo card that doesn't look like everyone else who got theirs done at the same online Christmas card photo printer.

Since the end of the year is rushing at us, quick is very appealing! :)

I didn't want to spoil the simplicity of the design, so after I attached the insert I just punched a few vanilla trees with the Merry Minis punch and popped some of them up with dimensionals to make a teeny forest. I used this week's inspiration challenge as my starting point. I don't know how Stephanie keeps coming up with these amazing websites, but each week is better than the last. This week she chose LEIF. I used this Pantone teapot for my inspiration. 

Now I have to tell you about my new obsession - geocaching!

My friend Lee came for a visit, and she and her husband are avid geocachers and they got me HOOKED!

If this had been around when I was little I don't think I ever would have gone to school. It's just like being Nancy Drew, which was always my lifelong dream.

Since I walk for a few hours every day anyway, this just adds a whole new level of fun and mystery to my stomps. 

I'm curious if any of you do this also? If so, please find me on www.geocaching.com - I'm understandblue. 

Seriously - look how fun this is. I'm totally addicted. I've only found 15 so far but I have zillions mapped out to find. Wanna play? (if you don't see a video below, click here) It's like Hide & Seek for people who would otherwise be considered grownups if not for the treasure hunting and stamping and whatnot.

Have you played today? It's good for your soul. Do something fun.

Loveyameanitbye.

If You're Unorganized Enough, You Can Do Anything

Seriously.

I was trying to go through my 91 draft blog posts to see if there was anything fun to post and I found a card from LAST YEAR.

I'm so organized like that. It's okay to be jealous.

I like it though, so we're going to pretend I was saving it for a special occasion. Like Tuesday, August 21st.

Yeah, that.

This card was actually a sample I did for last year's Hope You Can Cling To event, which is near and dear to my heart. This year will be our third year, and I can't wait - I really hope you can join us. It's  a great cause, and the most fun you can have without getting arrested!

Stamps: From the Heart (retired)

Paper: Whisper White, Silver Glimmer

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: ShinHan Touch Markers: RP196, RP17, SU Oval dies, SU dotted ribbon

This weekend I also did a little project with some of my leftover paper from my fun CitraSolv experiment.

You can see the results on this post on Project Reanimate.

Thanks for stopping by!

What if my Cat is Just From HECK?

You've seen My Cat From Hell, right? If not, PLEASE get a season pass immediately.

I really don't watch TV - there are just a few exceptions for me. I watch the news, Food Network, and a few beloved series and sitcoms. TV just doesn't hold my interest like stamping does.

But THIS show is amazing. I was very skeptical the first time I watched it because I did not think there was a person on earth who could do the things this guy does with felines. But he is an amazingly intelligent and intuitive human being, and truly an expert at both understand and changing both human and feline behavior. I'm astounded at what I've learned from him, truly.

The cats on the show aren't really from hell. It's actually kind of heartbreaking how misunderstood they are, when you go into each show thinking - OH MY WORD that cat is from hell - and come out thinking - yikes, those people made that poor kitty miserable. If you have any sort of love for furry critters at all, you really need to give it look. And if you don't, I seriously doubt you'd be on my blog anyway! :)

So thank you, Jackson Galaxy, for an awesome, eye-opening show. 

Stamps: Blooming with Kindness

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Basic Black

Cardstock: Whisper White

So what I was wondering, though, is what if your cat is only from HECK? Or, in my case, your little sister cats? What if they've never laid tooth or nail on a human, including the vet? What if they've only been MILDLY bad? Shoot - mine might even be from DARN!!

But who is around to help me with the CONSTANT talking? I'm serious - these two (which we think have a Siamese in the woodpile) can TALK - they are like a cross between Jim Carrey and Robin Williams. There is a LOT of talking, at ALL hours of the day and night! Maddie gets EXTREMELY angry about pizza for some reason and YOWLS when we try to eat it. Seriously. Pizza. Every time. Splotchy has to answer EVERY coyote yip in the middle of the night, like he's kinfolk or something. And there's some furniture scratching, and some packing tape eating and a few other things. But really only to the heck or darn level. So where's MY heck expert, anyway? Make a reality show out of THAT, Animal Planet!

Here are some of the things that make me not worry so much about all that heck though.

Here's what happens when I can't find Splotchy.

I know - it's cute right?

And here he is enjoying his new felted cat cave from Elevele. Thanks to Modern Cat for this find from Lithuania! This is incredible craftsmanship - even better than they look online and she included the sweetest handmade toy I've ever seen.

As predicted, my little burrower LOVES it and hopped in for a nap as soon as it was out of the box!

So, my little heckcats aren't worthy of a reality show, I guess. I'll just have to get earplugs. And find something to eat besides pizza.

Loveyameanitbye.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to This Post

Some days are just more "Lucy" than others.

August has been a crazy month and getting crazier.

I had two challenges I wanted to do for today - the Touch Twin challenge and the Splitcoast Sketch challenge.

So why not combine them, right? Smart, efficient. I got all smirky about that.

The sketch is adorable,

and the Touch Twin challenge was a shadowing technique.

So I came up with this CUTE idea with Animal Talk where I was going to have my dog's shadow go through the greeting and make a super bright and happy card, since it was the first time I'd ever inked this little dude.

I got done and I really liked it!

Stamps: Animal Talk

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: Whisper White, Polka Dot Parade, Birds of a Feather

Accessories: ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: BR103, YR133, BR92, BG179, B65, dimensionals, Square Punch

So I go to upload it and I see....

The Touch Twin challenge is actually FOOD and shadowing.

Oops.

This card wouldn't really send the right message there, eh?

I did laugh for quite a while, and then I made another card, which you can see here. :)

Come play along with us in both - but if you do, it's a great idea to read the instructions FIRST.

When You Are Allowed to Use The Word "Real"

I saw something very disturbing yesterday when I was grocery shopping. Well, actually, I saw lots of disturbing things - like the guy crawling all up in my business in line, as per usual. I also saw a child having a fit that was like something out of Alien. Actually, I'm nearly positive the child was inhabited by another life form.

Anyway, this next thing was MORE disturbing.

I saw a product which boasted "Made with REAL cream" on its label.

Let me tell you people something.

Cream is a word. It means something. It does not require the use of the word "real" as a qualifier, if that is, in fact, what you are using in your product.

As a matter of fact, we should not allow the use of the word "cream" if the actual ingredient is made out of coconut oil and partially hydrogenated extract of donkey tail.

Some other things that should never require the use of the word "real" include:

Cheese - If it's vegetable oil dyed orange, injected with plastic and formed into a rectangle, it's not cheese.
Butter - This is the definition of a holy food. Don't use the word if you don't mean it.
Fruit - What in the world drives people to qualify FRUIT? It's either fruit or it's not.

I suggest that the makers of fake products come up with their own words for their fake products, like the people who make KRAB. KRAB is not the same as crab, which is real. So maybe if you're making something other than cheese, instead of cheese makers having to describe their product as "real", you have to call your product. CHIZE. Fake donkey tail butter could be called "GROSS" and fake fruit could be called FROUTH.

I'm sure we could come up with something.

I'd be ever so grateful.

Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Pursuit of Happiness

Paper: Whisper White

Ink: Melon Mambo, Basic Grey, Peach Parfait, Tangerine Tango

Accessories: Framelits - Labels Collection, Daffodil Delight Striped Ribbon, Fancy Fan embossing folder

Techniques: Dry Embossing

I made this pretty card for Joanne Basile's Dare to Get Dirty Challenge on Splitcoast and I LOVE it - I LOVE this stamp set! Look how pretty the grey is as the dark note on my Melon Mambo flower? SQUEE! Nothing fake about that!!

Now that we have sorted all that "real" nonsense out, here's a little stop motion video I made of my walk, for all my friends who always say they want to walk with me. :) Enjoy.