HOLY CATS!!

I just checked and my last post was on September 25th!! Over a week ago!!!! SO SORRY everyone, but days have gotten away from me. I was reading another blog tonight and that woman said she'd had her car in the shop for some repair which turned out to be major. The same thing happened to me, although my repairs were a bit more expensive than her $400 repair, by about 1200 dollars! The list was long but now the car runs well and looks almost like new which is remarkable since it's a 10 year old car. A good detailing job can subtract YEARS from the look of your car. It was a hundred dollars well spent. Since we don't have a garage, a triple coat of hand applied wax will help protect it this winter.

I got my new stamps from the 15% off promotion, last weekend. They'd come in while I was on vacation and then I just couldn't seem to connect up with my demo. to get them. I still haven't used any of them although they're all mounted. Die cuts make that SO easy, I almost felt guilty getting them put together so soon. Maybe I'll have a chance to put rubber to paper this weekend. It was funny, when the new catalog came out I came up with a list of 6 immediate "must haves" and three of the sets were on the 15% off sale list. Hoopla!!

One of the other items that I got was the Simply Sent card making kit called Flower Power. That's the one that comes with the paper and embellishments, but you have to buy the stamp set separately if you want some stamped images too and use your own ink and dimensionals. (Now where did I put my craft knife?) I also got the Wow Flowers stamp set that coordinates with the kit. The colors were bold and bright, not my usual color combinations but I like how they turned out. Just like the picture which is not always the case with me. It was a quick and easy way to get 9 cards. I did 6 up as birthday cards and left the other three blank so that I can use an appropriate saying later. I had them all done in an afternoon and another part of an evening. Again, not usual for me since it sometimes takes me all evening to come up with ONE card!

Anyway, that's my excuse this week for not posting anything new. I'm going to have to really get on the stick and make something. I don't know how some folks find the time to create a new card and post it every night. I know they're out there because I read their blogs almost daily and there's always something new there! Guess I have to be more diligent about putting aside time to stamp.

See ya!

Pomegranate Solitude

I got this card from one of the blogs that I visit regularly but I didn't write down the name of the poster. If someone recognizes this card from another blog (especially if YOU are the one who made it!), please let me know and I'll edit this to give proper credit.

This card used the Spring Solitude set which was a level 2 hostess in the Spring/Summer SU! catalog. I masked off the center with paper and wheeled the flower design on diagonally using my Stampin’ Around Wheel Guide. Even wheeling diagonally, I never would have been able to get the lines straight without that guide! I then used the multi flower stamp to stamp the outline in the open area, stamped the solid flower in Pomegranate ink on Whisper White, cut it out and attached with a dimensional. A strip of satin Pomegranate ribbon was wrapped around opposite corners and embellished with a large rhinestone. A bit of Stickles crystal glitter in the center of the flowers and the card is done!

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Spring Solitude
Paper: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: Solitude wheel, Stampin’ Around Wheel Guide, clear rhinestones, Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon

I'm Back But..........

We're back from our WONDERFUL vacation but I hit the ground running on Monday and it hasn't let up yet. Getting caught up on household shopping, getting the monthly condo newsletter out (I'm editor) plus getting back to work, has left no time for stamping. This warm fall weather is wrecking havoc with my allergies and sinuses too, so please hang in there for a little while longer. Once I'm feeling a bit better, I'll get inspired and have something new to post. As I'm sure all of you know, when you're not feeling well, the creative juices just simply dry up! Stay tuned.........

Gone For A While

Friends, just wanted to let all of you faithful readers know that I'm going to be out of town for the upcoming week and won't be able to post any cards. I'm going to be staying at a resort were there is no Internet access. Yes, I know, it's hard to believe that places exist that don't have email, but this is a resort on a lake in Northern Wisconsin where peace and quiet reign supreme. I am SO looking forward to some fresh air and hopefully a lot of nice weather! We're supposed to be getting remnants of Hurricane Ike sometime Sunday into Monday so we'll see. My parents live 9 miles from the resort so we'll be able to spend some quality time with them.

Have a great week and I'll see you when I get back!

Blue Garden Thank You

I had previously posted a pic with this design for a card that I had made for a neighbor to use as a "Thank You" card. She’s undergoing cancer treatment and wanted something nice to send those folks who have been helping her out with meals and such. She asked for more and said that she’d like something in blue. This was somewhat of a challenge for me because I don’t have that much in the way of designer paper with any kind of blue in it. I’m pleased with how this card turned out however. I hope she likes it.

I stamped the flower and sentiment with Blue Bayou. Put a strip of Spring Silhouettes on the bottom with the raw edge covered with the ribbon. I glued the micro beads on the center of the flower with the Diamond Glaze. I thought that added just the right amount of bling.

Recipe:
Stamp Sets: From the Garden, Warm Words
Paper: Soft Sky, Spring Silhouettes designer paper
Ink: Blue Bayou
Accessories: Soft Sky double stitched ribbon, Diamond Glaze, clear micro beads

Christmas Jars

I’m getting a head start on our church Holiday Bazaar and made up a bunch of these little candy jars. I’ve seen this on Splitcoast and I think several people have posted these online. I made them with flowers and spring colors for a luncheon that a church group had back in June. At that time I said that I’d be making ones similar for the church holiday sale. I got inspired over the weekend and did up 15, 5 in each color. I’m going to fill them with M&M’s or some other small holiday candy.

First I stamped the whole scalloped design on whisper white with the various ink colors. Then I used my 1 1/4" circle punch to punch out the background circle. I then used Versamark ink and my white embossing powder to emboss the snowflake on the individual colors of card stock and punched out with my 3/4" circle punch. The gold brad was put throught the center of the snowflake which was then attached to the background circle with a small dimensional cut in half. The whole thing was attached to the cap with a glue dot. The trim was attached to the edge of the cap with the tacky strip.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: So Many Scallops
Paper: Real Red, Glorious Green, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Night of Navy, Glorious Green, Versamark
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Scalloped Circle Punch, 3/4" circle punch, gold brad, dimensional, Terrifically Tacky Tape, glue dots, trim from Michael’s

Out of Touch

Dear Friends,

Sorry for being out of touch for so long. Was out of town for the Labor Day weekend holiday, then we're having residing work done on our condo. They started putting the new stuff up on Tuesday and it sounded like they were coming right through the wall! Made it hard to do any kind of concentrating anywhere in the house. Today we had the remnants of Hurricane Gustav come though and it rained all day. We sure needed it. Saturday we're participating in a neighborhood rummage sale so I have to get that stuff going tomorrow. Please bear with me, I'll try to post something new soon.

Thanks for checking in!