A Prize, a Lie, a Butterfly!

You know me, the prize will be last. But I'm finally going to award the prize for the Blue scavenger hunt you all went on! Yipee!

But first, let's talk about lying. Specifically, "them." You know - the liars. Wait - let me narrow that down. I'm not referring to every politician ever in the history of humankind. So you can eliminate 80 squillion liars.

I'm talking about the LIARS who told us that that adding advertising to things would reduce the cost. Really? Let's take my Martha Stewart Living Magazine for example. The March 2010 special gardening issue is 168 pages long. 69 FULL PAGES of this magazine are ads. Forget about the partial page ads. There are only 3 two page content spreads prior to page 104 - up to that point, every other page is a full page ad. And yet this magazine costs $5.00? Why doesn't Pepperidge Farms or GM PAY me to read it? Wait - I can't read it, because it's not a magazine. It's an expensive, wasteful, glossy commercial.

Or how about when we all go like sheep to the movie theater - which I do about once a year, but that's another story - and pay $87,000 for a ticket, only to be bombarded by 30 minutes of commercials, preceded by local, cheesy ads prior to lights off.

How about XM radio - that we paid for because it was commercial free? For exactly a minute until they had ads. Or what about cable? Or satellite?

Do you know you see more than 1600 commercial messages per day? It's too much. Enough already. I'm tired of throwing away 69 pages of ads so that I can get one bunny finger puppet idea. We need some sort of bunny finger puppet revolt. I keep calling for revolts, and yet no one has staged an Understand-Blue-give-me-the-(*#^$&#-bunny-finger-puppet already-and-quit-talking-about-your-bladder-medicine-and-terrible-sandwiches-revolt. What's it gonna take? Well done advertising, that's what it's gonna take. Tasteful, relevant advertising.

I know, a prize. :) But first, a card. My wonderful stamping mentor, Beate, is very good at keeping me on task when it comes to stamping. Even when I see a butterfly. She also sent me some Perfect Pearls to play with, and play I did!

The Just for Fun Friday challenge this week was made for me! Aqua, Teal and Kraft. Aaaah - home. I took a beautiful dictionary page my sis gave me - it has kind of a slick finish on the paper, so the sponged ink blended really well. I rubbed layers of Tempting Turquoise and Cool Caribbean into it. Then I took my Bermuda Bay reinker and mixed with my Perfect Pearls Powder until it was about the consistency of acrylic. I painted that on my little Spring Solitude stamp and stamped it on the page. Then after it dried, I outlined the little weedy things with my brown marker and sponged brown ink around them, and the edges of my kraft cardstock and the dictionary page. I stamped the leaves from Stem Silhouettes (stamped off once) along the bottom. I used my Beautiful Butterflies die to cut a butterfly out of the dictionary page, sponged it with Tempting Turquoise, and accented it with sticky rhinestones and my white gel pen. I used Inspired by Nature for the greeting. The little trail is made of rhinestones.
Fun card. Thanks Beate!

Now to the prize! You guys are fabulous! I loved them all. You were so creative! And surely I'm not the only one who found it interesting that we still find the loveliest things that make us happy in nature? That bird of paradise, that little baby's beautiful blue eyes?

As is my custom, I was unable to choose one winner! I chose two, so I'll give the prizes in the order they commented. The die this time goes to Blair - with that heartstopping photo of ice. Incredible!

The second prize - I'll let her choose from my stash, is Lisa (Papergrace), with that bewitching picture of blue-eyed little Grace. Wow, she's pretty.

Thank you guys so much!! Ready for another contest?

I'll be back with the next round of giveaways this week!

Loveyameanitbye.

Oh - you should go play the color challenge! Link your creation in a comment if you do and I'll keep cleaning out my stash! :)

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How Does This Grab Ya?

I just happen to have one of the shopping sprees from the blog hop this week! I'm as excited as you are! It was a surprise to us too, and so crazy fun!

I wonder if it was you? Do you wonder if it was you? Do you want me to TELL you if it was you??

Well first, the rules. If it WAS you, you need to email me - there's a link in my sidebar - with the following information: In the subject line put Day Two and the name of the prize you won and in the body of the email you can squeal :) and give me your address.

So was it you? Well the random number generator picked #120, which was...

Timestamp: 2010-03-26 22:18:49 UTC
resmith said...
Oh, so pretty!!!
March 24, 2010 12:27 PM

So if you are RESMITH - it WAS you! :) Congratulations Liz! :)

Here is a list of the other winning locations for Day Two:

Linda Duke $200 JustRite Shopping Spree

Lucy Abrams $100 Stamp Simply Ribbon Store Shopping Spree

Melody Rupple $100 Spellbinders Shopping Spree

Eva Doblias $100 JustRite Shopping Spree

Enjoy! I'm so jealous!!!

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Home is Where the Crazy Color Language Is...

I LOVE Nautical Flags. Is there anything cooler than communicating in blocks of color? I THINK NOT, matey!

My friend Leslie has been spelling out things with nautical flags for a while. I decided that it would be cool and all theme-y to spell out "Home" in these flags. I imagine that's a welcome signal to a weary traveler!

The background is Old World Map - a retired Stampin' Up! ditty that I will NEVER part with!

stamps: Old World Map paper: Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, Real Red, YoYo Yellow Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Basic Black Satin Ribbon, 1" square punch (All supplies Stampin' Up!)

So all you little voyagers - come home! :)

Oh - I'll announce my BLUE prize tomorrow and have a new round!!

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Sew Rite!

Howdy peeps! Yes, I still know how to spell :).

But today, I'm one of 88 lucky designers in the MEGA March blog hop for JustRite!

For my card I chose a set way out of my normal comfort zone - the Stitched with Love set! Now, if you know me, you know I'm EXACTLY as likely to sew as I am to IRON! :D

However, I loved the images in this set, especially this beautiful little spool. There's something super charming about little spools of thread.

I have the wood stamper, so stamped the center spool image on white cardstock, pierced it, and then stitched it with my linen thread. The background is one of the stitched borders in the set, that I stamped in white craft ink on kraft.

Then I cut the buttons with my Sizzlits die and made a border with a Martha Stewart border punch my buddy Lisa gave me.

The card base is Barely Banana, and so is the ribbon, and I colored the spool with Copics and my white gel pen.

Now, are you ready to keep hopping? You're not going to believe what these bloggers have done!

Here's the full list in case you need a breadcrumb trail - enjoy, and see the details below about the crazy huge list of prizes you can win!

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Sharon Harnist
Sankari Wegman
Marianne Walker
Michelle Wooderson
Linda Duke
Barb Schram
Eva Dobilas
Liz Weber
Jeanne Streiff
Lori Craig
Sharon Johnson
Michelle Woerner
Sherry Cheever
Keri Lee Sereika
Lauren Meader
Michele Boyer
Lucy Abrams
Janine Blackwelder
Edna Morrisedie
Deb Saaranen
Melody Rupple
Charmaine Ikach
Michelle Giraud
Amy Crockett
Lydia Fiedler (You are here :) )
Kelly Landers
Amber Hight
Margie Higuchi
Mary Pfaff
Debbie Seyer

30 designers, FIVE shopping sprees each day. No one knows where the prizes will be! Each day of the hop JustRite will have five Mystery Blog Candy Prizes hidden along the hop with a total retail value of $600. JustRite will randomly select five mystery blogs each day of the hop and randomly allocate each of the shopping sprees. For your chance to win, simply leave a little love (a comment) on each designer’s blog including the JustRite blog. The more designers you leave comments with, the better your chances of winning. Each day’s comments will remain open for three days. A winner from each of the mystery blogs’ comments will be randomly chosen using Random.org. Consult the listing of designers at the JustRite blog each day (each day’s designers will be different) and start out on your way! Beginning Friday, March 26, summaries of all the winners will be posted on the JustRite blog. Good luck to everyone and enjoy all the JustRite eye candy along the hop!

Today during the JustRite Mega March Blog Hop (Day Two) JustRite and its sponsors will be giving away the following five prizes:

· $200 JustRite Shopping Spree
· $100 Spellbinders Shopping Spree
· $100 Stamp Simply Ribbon Store Spree, and
· Two additional $100 JustRite Shopping Sprees!

Blog comments for Day Two will be open until Friday at 6pm EST. On Saturday, JustRite will announce on their blog which five blogs have the mystery candy for Day Two. You will need to go to the JustRite blog to determine where you need to go to find out if you are one of the five lucky winners.

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Even Zebras and Giraffes Need Bubble Baths!

But NEVER cats - I repeat - no cat bathing.
(This message brought to you by Madagascar Bat and Splotchy Paprika)

But giraffes and zebras love a good bubble bath - just look!Stamps: Doodle Factory Boudoir, Doodle Factory Animals, Sentiments - Classic Decor
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Paper: Basic Black, and Basic Grey Marrakech collection
Accessories: White gel pen, Pentel gold gel pen, Copics, dimensionals, circle punches

Now you might be thinking this is an odd couple, but love is love, my people. And these two just clicked! :)

This card is the result of a colossal I Love Lucy moment when I got this Boudoir Doodle Factory stamp set.

I had all the stamps arranged in front of me to work on my designs for the set, and I had the bed stamp upside down.

Yes, that's a bed.
But when I saw it, I pictured this...
Which might explain why I spent all that time in D-Hall.

This card is part of this week's 2S4Y sketch - sponsored by Starving Artistamps. You better hurry if you want that blog candy! :)

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Raccoons are the New Muskrats!

Is there anyone in the world who actually knows what a muskrat is? Because we've all heard Muskrat Love, and happily sung along like nincompoops, without ever wondering why we were singing about something called a Muskrat. Seriously. Say it to yourself "I'M SINGING A SONG ABOUT A MUSKRAT."

It makes no sense.

So, in order to distract ourselves from our nincompoopiness, we better have a prize award for Monday, and then I better give away another prize, yes?

First, Monday. It was a tie between Mary Dawn's darn near existential comment that made me laugh so hard, and Carolyn's blonde joke! Aaah I love a good blonde joke!

So, since Mary Dawn's comment was first, the punch goes to her, but Carolyn gets to choose from my Stampin' Up! acrylic blocks - I have a squillion of them, so just tell me what you want. And both of you send me your addresses.

Yay - winning is fun!

So on to the raccoons.. First. I took the punch like Mary Dawn's prize and punched a glassine envelope and used the heart punch to make a window.

Then, I tied our lovely Real red ribbon around the note that matches the envelope, secured the top with gold cord and slid it into the envelope.


Then I embossed and punched another heart that I put the little raccoon on. His little love bandit heart is glittered. I stamped the glassine envelope with Staz on. So easy & cute. I entered it in the Stampin' Success contest, but alas, did not win! *sound of raccoon growling* They may have specified a muskrat, I can't remember.

So who wants to win a brand spankin' new Sizzix® Big Shot Circles #2 die?

Here's how you do it.

Leave a comment here, and include a link to the most stunningly beautiful BLUE thing on the internet in your comment. It can be glass, wool, living or still, a painting, a shoe - whatever you love that is blue, I want to see it. I will pick my fave.

And I love how sweet you all are - I truly appreciate everyone who said that they already had the prize but played anyway. God bless you stampy people!

Okay - start your engines - let's see your blue finds! :)

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That Deep, Russian Blue...

You know, the Russians "get" blue. Second only to the Japanese, probably. So when I saw this incredibly, stunningly beautiful little Matryoshka set, the color scheme was a no brainer.

I colored the little gorgeous, perfect, nesting dolls with Copics, and arranged them on kraft cardstock.
I filled in the border stamp with my white gel pen, and I dotted the punched border as well with my white pen.

Wait - border? What border? OH... the border I PUNCHED with this??Let's talk about "this." I got some new bookcases, because my studio is out of control, and thanks to Cheshire Kitten, I found out they were cheap enough to be worth the reorg. Thankfully, my sister goes to Ikea daily, because I have shopophobia and cannot do it.

I'm dragging this out because of the ending. So humor me. On the day I had my Dirty Dozen Fan Club gallery deadline, I decided we should put the bookcases together and I should reorganize my whole studio. Because NO ONE procrastinates like me.

Part of the reorg was opening a Stampin' Up! box I'd had for a month and didn't have time to open.
Meaning, I didn't have time to see that I had ordered like a squillion things in duplicate.

OMG. So embarassed. But, my embarassment is your gain.

So here's the deal.

Every day until I give it all away, I'm giving out some big ticket items I have, er, more than one of.

I'm starting with the scallop border punch I used on this card.

Want it?

Well all you have to do is make me laugh in a comment. (keep it clean! :) ) After all, it is...There is going to be a new crazy challenge until all my extra stuff is gone, so tell me...

Do you feel lucky??





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The Fiskateers are Coming!

Actually - they already came!

The lovely and talented Lead Fiskateer Angela Daniels graced our fair city with her lovely presence, and organized a crafty night at Memory Depot that was a BLAST! Here she is with LaRee, the owner of Memory Depot, and yes, that's Austin's own Naughty Secretary (Jennifer Perkins) - an incredibly sweet and fun gal. She even brought us presents, including my new fave crafty tool - the Fiskars hand drill! WE DRILLED LEGOS AND STUFF - I AM NOT KIDDING! So nice to have a very powerful little drill that you don't have to plug in - what brilliance! I was shocked at how well this thing worked. It worked so well that I quickly drilled right through the cutting board I was using. Oops :)

Anyway, my sister made the most adorable little Lego robot! Look at this guy! Squee! His little eyes were drilled with our drills and that's how we put everything together too. So fun.

Then she turned him into a necklace, thanks to the bead-y generosity of a sweet visitor from San Antonio - Carrie Bond.
Angela also taught us how to say "Fiskars" - I promise, you're doing it wrong, just like we're all doing "Copic" wrong. It's fisCARS, not fisKERS. It's super cute. And, in case you're like most people, you are probably saying CAH-pic, when you should be saying COH-pic.

Whew! Now we're all as smart as we are pretty! Heh.

If a Fiskateer comes to your LSS, go to their events - they are great, fun girls with tons of talent and crafty knowledge! I learned a ton and met some awesome local crafty peeps.

See ya tomorrow! :)


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Hi. How Did You Sleep?

I went to the MOST amazing class yesterday. It was given by Roy Williams, a highly successful marketing consultant. He was so brilliant it made my head hurt.
I'd love to share all my notes, but it would take days. However, there are some highlights you might find interesting.

For example, did you know that your right brain - the stamping side :) - never sleeps?

Your left brain does, and as soon as it shuts down, with its annoying logic and rationality, your right brain goes into high gear, integrating the new and unfamiliar you took in during the day with the old and familiar in your head, in a creative problem solving session. That's why after you "sleep on it", sometimes the answers come to you. There are no language functions in your right brain, either. It's good at pattern recognition.

He told us about a sleep study, where one group of students were given a math problem at 7 AM. They had to find a certain shortcut to the problem. At 7 PM, 20% of the students had found the shortcut. However, if they took a group of students and gave them the problem at 7 PM, let them sleep and asked for the solution in the morning, 60% of them found the shortcut.

This is because your creative, wordless, pattern recognizing right brain is working, working all night long on things it can't solve while you are talking and being logical.
Cool, eh? So he suggested if you are proposing something really out of the box and different that might meet resistance, do it at the very end of the day, adjourn the meeting, and reconvene in the morning. People will be much more accepting after they've slept on it and their right brain has worked on it all night.

It also explains why I wake up with completed cards in my head most mornings. And why I sometimes wake up laughing.

Get some sleep!! It's good for your art! I made a really simple card for you today. I cut a tree from the Sweet Pea Designer Paper Pack - I LOVE this paper. Have I even used anything else recently? I think not. I mounted the tree on kraft cardstock and stamped "hi" in Chocolate Chip. Below that is the little border from One of a Kind, with a teeny white dot in the center of each little flower. You could make a bunch of these really fast. There are all sorts of fun things to cut out of that paper, but I really loved the teal and brown.

What are you guys doing this weekend? (Besides sleeping, of course... :) )


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Lucky Charms

I lost my spirit animal ring.It's a beautiful, silver Hopi overlay ring that I bought at Indian Market in Santa Fe three years ago. I love this ring. It fits my finger like it was made for it. The day I saw it, my favorite Navajo artist, Raymond Twinhorse, had told me that morning that my spirit animal was a bear. I can't remember how he knew that. I don't know if he asked me my birthday, or the year I was born - I don't know. But he told me it was bear, and Raymond Twinhorse pretty much knows everything a person needs to know.

I can tell you right now, before I go on, that my parents are laughing at my spirit bear as they read this, because as we drove through (at 90 MPH, DADDY) the wilds of America when I was little I was terrified bears would eat us and frequently yelled this from the back of the Dodge station wagon, much to the amusement of my family.

But anyhow, when I went to the market that night and I found this beautiful ring that fit me like Cinderella's slipper fit her, I had to have it. I wear it a lot, on the middle finger of my right hand. But I lost it. The whole time it was lost, it made me sad. It nagged at me all the time, making me uncomfortable even when I wasn't thinking about it. My bear and I should not have been separated.

And then, the other day, I found it. And I don't think that a person has ever been happier to find anything. And I swear to you, my luck changed. For one thing, it snowed.What the heck? It doesn't snow here! But snow, and snow, and snow it did.

Then, I got a surprise in the mail. I got Take Ten Magazine, which had two of my cards published in it!So all in all, a happy ending when a person finds their spirit animal again.

I felt like singing.

Since it's Virtual Stamp Night on Splitcoast this weekend, and one of the challenges was "I Believe" - with a musical theme, I thought I could put it all together with this little ditty. This is me, singing about finding my lucky bear ring. :)

First, I masked off a little square on a white card with post its. I sponged it with Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore and Orchid Opulence. Before removing the post its, I stamped Musical Score (retired SU) in black on top.



The bird is the Big Shot Sizzix die, and Graphic 45 Communique paper, which was a gift from my beloved Paper Grace. I sponged the edges with Really Rust. So, do you feel lucky?

Maybe you should watch this video. (Via Daniel Whittington)


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Handmade Careers

If I asked each of you crafty peeps what your dream job would be, I'm pretty sure you would all say something that involved your art, yes?

Me too. But anyone who has ever looked for a job knows how difficult this process is - the spam, the identity thieves masquerading as recruiters, the recruiters, for that matter. Forget about trying to find your "dream job" on Monster.com. Seriously. It's a needle in a haystack.

Nobody wants to be a needle in a haystack.
So I just decided that the best thing to do about all those people with dreams was to create a place where people could find those jobs and those companies they dreamed about. And nothing else. Period.

So I did.

It's a little place called Handmade Careers, and I kinda like it. Arty, crafty jobs in arty, crafty companies. And nothing else. Check it out. (Note - It's optimized for Firefox - you will not see everything in other browsers for a few days)
Oh, and after that, head on over to Project Reanimate for a video tutorial on a recycled mystery!


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HURRY - AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME!!

Rare Texas Snow Hood Ornaments!!

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Who Lost Summer?

And by summer, I mean that season which normally starts in Texas in early February, and is accompanied by sunshine and warm weather. Who broke it??

Went for a stomp this morning. Mad. It was raining. It's always raining now. It's like freaking Blade Runner around here.

Luckily, I didn't quit. And I dreamed up this card. And as you can see - there was a spot of color or two. :) I used the A to Z stamp to make that texture on the ground. I thought it looked cool.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, A to Z Ink: Basic Grey, Vintage Violet, Bordering Blue
Paper: Watercolor Paper, Vintage Violet
Accessories: Aqua Painter, Basic Grey Ribbon
(All Supplies Stampin' Up!)

By the end, the sun was coming back. Hopefully to stay.

Now, some kitty candy, since everyone is always amazed at how inseparable the beasts are and I always post such sweet pictures of them. Well, there's a dark side. And I'm not just talking about Maddie.

My hulking desk is the worst decision I made when we moved into this house. It's a very nice piece of office furniture, and it was not cheap. But it's all attached together, and it's right up against the wall, so if something goes back there, it's not coming out till we move. Dumb.

It also creates a 4 inch space directly in front of where I stamp and between me and a window.

When the beasts are feeling particularly evil, they rush into my room, suffering from what I call "Crazy Brain", knock everything on my desk down into this void where I can't get it, and then proceed to whack the stuffing out of each other violently.

I had to capture this on film for you. You will notice at one point that Maddie Bat has a little punch out from a stamp set on her hiney. God knows what else is down there.

But I did want you to know that it's not all Peace & Love around here, people. Oh yeah, and that Splotchy fights like a girl. :) If you don't see a video player where you are reading right now, click here to view the following...


Hope it's not raining where you are.. :)

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The REAL Scott Baio

As you know, Monday was President's Day.

I graduated from high school in.. well, that doesn't really matter, now does it, you nosy beasts! :D

But, um, the 80s were a great time in my life. The music was lighthearted and sweet, MTV was still music and not all p-o-r-n and politics (hey - that would make a great band name) and I just remember that decade fondly.

Ronald Reagan was larger than life to all us children of the 80s. A lifeguard, a man who looked a would be assassin in the eye, the guy who stared down the Russians our parents terrified us with when we were little, and oh yeah, the guy who knocked the Berlin Wall down. I actually thought Ronald Reagan was my grandfather on my mom's side, because they reminded me of each other in their mythic-ness.

So on President's day, my friend Kim was giving our American presidents props on Twitter and we started tagging our posts #teamreagan. At one point, we all wished out loud that Scott Baio - another 80's icon (for all you youngsters), would join #teamreagan for President's Day. We could reunite Journey, Charles in Charge, the version 1.0 of Madonna who actually used to eat and not scare us. It would be great. A couple of 80s girls can dream, right?

Over the course of the evening, we repeatedly asked Scott to join our team before midnight, and in a President's Day Miracle - HE DID.
Look at that second tweet! EEEEEEEEEEEKKK!!! We feel complete, the Twitter #teamreagan.

I went and looked at his profile, and found out that he and his wife have done an incredible thing, born from a difficult situation they faced with their beautiful daughter. Please go look at their foundation's site, and share it. What a nice guy.

After I came down from my 80's buzz, I saw this week's tutorial on Splitcoast for Scherenschnitte, or German scissor cutting. The card samples were beautiful! The tutorial gives you two options for creating silhouettes, cutting, or stamping and filling in.

I chose the coloring method, and since I had just completed a product review on the Creative Stamping kit of the month - I used the beautiful little bird stamp that was included to get this...

Stamps: Nature's Beauty(Creative Stamping) Paper: Kraft, Basic Black Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, Satin Ribbon, Basic Black Marker
All supplies Stampin' Up! except where noted

Now I feel like busting out some shoulder pads, poofing my hair and watching Charles in Charge. Click here and then tell me - who's with me?

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Do I Have to Do Everything?

I mean, I will, but I'm kind of busy!! *sigh*

Here's the deal. Every time I go to the grocery store, I fear it will be my last moments spent on earth. This is because the parking is designed seemingly SPECIFICALLY to kill me and the assorted moms and babies that are there with me. Who came UP with this stupid arrangement where we have to walk BEHIND cars, most of which are very quiet, terrified, with our wills written in Sharpie on our arms? It makes NO sense. Here's what we have now. LOOK AT THE CARNAGE.

This is not a hard problem to solve.

I would spend 100% of my grocery dollars at a store that put little CURBED sidewalks in between the rows of cars, where we LIVE humans can frolic along, not picking license plate shards out of our teeth!

I assure you, grocery industry - I will spend MUCH more money as an ALIVE person.

Pffft.

Look what I've been making!Little tags to go as a free gift to my latest card customer. How cute are these images? This is the Picture This stamp set (Hostess Level 1 from the Occasions Mini), stamped on Kraft and colored. I used some retired Fancy Fibers to embellish. Hope she likes em! :)

What are you up to?


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I see a Kraft Card and I Want to Paint it.... White

Click here if you want a little of my inspiration music while you read...

After my computer disasters and post-disaster perestroika, I had to rebuild my Itunes playlists, so I've been strolling through playlists past while I stamp, and Paint it Black actually made me get my acrylic paint out and paint this card!

The house image was so teeny that it was getting overwhelmed by the vivid background paper in the circles. So after I put the whole card together, I just painted it - with Delta white acrylic paint that I had left over from painting my pumpkins at Halloween.

Stamps: Good Neighbor, Tiny Tags Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Kraft, Sweet Pea DSP, Whisper White Accessories: Chocolate Chip Marker, Tag punch, 1" circle punch, white paint
All supplies (except paint) Stampin' Up!

You can do this with Gesso too, but Gesso is wetter, so it makes the cardstock curl a little more than a thin coat of white acrylic does. Not fatal, but for the impatient, too long a wait while we flatten it out.

Oh - and I made the clouds with a scalloped circle I punched, a sponge, and tempting turquoise ink - just moved it around and sponged.

Now speaking of music, I came across this video yesterday and it was so sweet and cute, I had to share... Hope you enjoy it.





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I Hope There's More Where That Came From

Yay! Ice cream!!

This is the Sweet Scoops set, that you guys won't see till the Summer Mini, but we had an incentive to earn at Leadership, which I did, thank goodness, because it's so cute.

Today - I took a walk. I heard the ice cream truck. I was super happy - but then, I thought that every time I think of ice cream I have this apprehension of the worst ice cream fear. We lose one. AAAAAHHHH!!

It stinks. Even another scoop doesn't fix that disappointment.

Stamps: Sweet Scoops, Vintage Vogue
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, Pirouette Pink, Basic Black Paper: Whisper White, Kraft
Accessories: Dimensionals, Two Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
All Supplies Stampin' Up!

Only a friend does that. :)

Hopefully there's more where that came from.

Loveyameanitbye.


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How to Stand Out

Actually, I don't know how. :) If you find out, let me know.

But I was lucky enough this week to be invited to speak to a journalism class at Texas Lutheran University about blogging. And it made me think about standing out, and blending in.

My sweet friend from Twitter, a little stripey orange cat named Cheshire Kitten, got his mom, Robin to invite me. Robin is a wise and sweet lady.

The class was fascinating. The students have been working on a blog this semester, and I fell in love with their subject matter. They were so purposeful. There was one boy who was going to write about his little brother and his accomplishments. One was going to attempt several world records, and chronicle them. A girl was writing about being a young girl dealing with Crohn's disease. One was writing about Asperger's Syndrome. Another was going to blog the goings-on in Marion, her hometown. A young man was writing about fitness techniques. A girl was writing about the death penalty, one about philanthropy. And more.

The subjects were fascinating. I wanted to know more about each of them. I showed the group this graphic, because I had seen it that morning. It says that only 7% of bloggers are in their age group, which represents a giant blogportunity for them! No one is speaking in the voice of 18-24 year olds, and boy do I wish I could. That's a big audience, and all of them are online.

Their questions for me were fascinating. Several asked legal questions, which shows they operate in a different world than I did at their age. One asked if it was ok to curse. :) Most wanted to know how to get people to read their content.

I have had plenty of time to ponder how to stand out, and how to blend in, both of which I think you need to do, to be a successful blogger. So this, in a nutshell, is what I tried to tell the class.

• Don't be mean. Mean never got anyone anywhere except to the warm place under our feet. In art, I feel particularly strongly about this. Never disparage another artist on your blog.
  
• Be positive. We all have challenges every day, some harder than others. Most of us come to the online community for inspiration and relief from the struggles of the day. Providing that to people is a gift that will return to you in spades.
• Be yourself. Your unique voice is what makes you interesting. Don't stifle it. If you're quirky, be quirky. Never compare your blog to anyone else's - it doesn't matter.
  
• Share. Not everyone has seen what you've seen. Many times I've posted a video I thought I was the last one to see, only to amuse and delight people who thanked me for sharing it.
  
• Teach. People love to learn. Teach what you know.

Oh - and never post pictures of stitches or bruises!! :D

On the way home, I almost drowned going through a low water crossing. TWICE, since I had to turn around on an impassable road. I, of course, wondered - why do they call it a low water crossing if the problem is high water?

Anyway, at the end of the day, assuming you've lived through your poor decision to drive through rushing water, you need to both stand out and be yourself, but you also need to exist in peace with the blogging community, by being nice and kind and generous and obeying the Golden Rule.

So, as is my custom, I made a card to illustrate my theme. I hope you like it.Cardstock: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Security Envelopes Accessories: Small Heart Punch, Dimensionals
All supplies Stampin' Up!

Tell me stories! I miss you guys. It's not Make Me Laugh Monday, but tell me what's up with you!

I gotta go re-watch the season opener of LOST and figure out this whole black smoke thing!

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What's it Gonna Be?

I hesitate to say this for fear no one will ever want to sign up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator with me after I tell you...

But TWO of my downline are pregnant! It must have happened at one of my stamp camps because they just inexplicably became simultaneously pregnant! Seriously! It was prior to the Occasions Mini though, so I think you're all safe!

So a big congrats to Neelam and Emily on their little bundles!

I made this card for this week's Color Throwdown, which called for pink, blue and kraft. I instantly thought of Neelam, whose baby will be a surprise when he/she is born. I love that. Like WHEEEEE - here I am, your little surprise boy/girl. How fun is that?

So when he or she is revealed, I expect it to be just this dramatic! :)
Stamps: Starving Artistamps Oh Baby Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Paper: Kraft, Whisper White
Accessories: SU! Brads, oval punch, Petals a Plenty Embossing folder, Big Shot, Copics

If you do want a baby, feel free to join my little Understand Blue Group!!! Password is "understandblue". It's an awesome, pretty fertile bunch of gals!! Heheh.

Also, I created some new pet sympathy cards if you want to see em.

Hope you're having a great week!

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To a Girl I've Never Met

I adore her. She's funny, she's sweet, she's beautiful and she calls me things like Honey Bunches of Oats. She sends me crafty presents from her favorite stampy store in California. She sends me caramel apples. She cusses in a most ladylike and familiar way :) She tells the truth. She is a patriot, having served us all honorably in the Air Force and she fiercely loves America. Her soft little heart loves the furry beasts, notably the two floofy toed beasts above - Penny and Gracie. She also loves Tim Holtz and my friend Moeneeke, neither of whom, as far as I know, have floofy toes, but both of whom were lucky enough to meet her and are also pictured above. She makes the most beautiful art and is insanely humble about it.

Her name is Lisa. You might know her as @papergrace. I know her as my friend, my Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and today, as the birthday girl.

Happy birthday Lisa!!!! If you were here I'd buy you cupcakes and cheese and wine and we would giggle for hours. Someday. :) xoxoxox.

Here's a sneak peek of your birthday card. Click here to see the full birthday card on Project Reanimate.

Which, of course, will get to you late. :) No blog card before its time, right?? loveyameanitbye.

Have you signed up for the UBlue Cyber Club? Attended one of my Webinars?? Come on - get your geek on! :)

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