My stampy friends are making cards this Sunday.

Of course, I have a diving class that day, so I am going to miss it.

But in order to get all the great cards they will make, I have made cards for everyone and will drop them off Saturday with Kathy, the hostess.

I wanted to get these done before I got too far into my week.

So I busted them out last night in a mini cardmaking frenzy.

Little bits of paper were flying, let me tell you.

Anyway, I am pretty happy with how they look.

I had them without the yellow backer, just on white. They needed more to tie in the yellow in the flower and the ribbon. So I added the yellow backer.

And that was that.

Flower - Stampin' Up

Words - Papertrey Ink

Watch the birdy

I had another online card swap to do.

Which I forgot about completely until two days ago.

And it is due in Utah by Saturday.

I probably could have just flaked, but I hate to do that.

It just feels so, well, flaky.

So I started working something up yesterday.


The title of the swap is "Flowers for Mom," which is pretty open as far as what I could do.

I knew already that I wanted to use this bird. I just think it is such a pretty image.

I played around a while back with something called emboss-resist. This is when you stamp the image and them create the shiny, sort of raised effect by heat setting embossing powder over the image.

For this one I stamped in clear ink and embossed in clear powder on white paper.


Then I sponged the color (Groovy Guava from Stampin' Up) over the whole bird. The ink settles into the parts that are not embossed. In this case the floral pattern on the bird.

On the parts that are embossed, the ink will not stick. I have seen this image stamped in white ink on colored paper. Sure, you get a white bird with a colored pattern in it.

But the bird never looked really white. It looked like white ink on colored paper. Kind of muddy.

This way I got a bright white and the color exactly like I wanted, not having to rely on having a certain color paper.

Anyway, enough of the stamper talk.

It's just pretty.

Hello, spring

It has been feeling very springy here these days.

That was the inspiration for my color scheme on this card.

Patterned paper is all from Stampin' Up.

Image stamp in center is from Stampin' Up (good things grow set).

"Hello" stamp is from Paper Trey Ink (paper tray set).

Ink is Stampin' Up in Sage Shadow.

It came together fast and I was done with all 8 cards in about 45 minutes.

Thinking of You - in black and white

With a little red thrown in for color.

The Internet swap I signed up for was a black and white color scheme with a little shot of one other color.

My first choice was not red.

But instead of having a caard made from a piece of paper just folded over, I wanted to use two separate pieces of paper, held together at the side by eyelets.

And the only color I had enough of in the eyelets was red. So red it was.

After that it was pretty easy.

I had waited until beyond the last minute to do this card. It is due in Ohio on March 15.

So I kept it simple. Plus I like simple.

I got these done pretty fast on Monday and sent them out yesterday to arrive by March 14.

The stamps are just random things I have here. I don't know brands or anything.

There is a bit of glitter on the little red flowers. It is hard to see in the picture.

No fancy tricks or techniques. No time for that.

My battery power is at about 73 percent

Normalcy has almost returned.

I still have a bit of a cough. You know, that cough that lingers for weeks after all the other symptoms have long since left the body.

That doesn't mean I got much done this weekend.

I was actually pretty lazy.

The energy level is just starting to return. I still get tired quickly by simple things.

But I did manage to sweep and mop the floor in the living room/dining area yesterday. That was my big achievement, complete with moving the furniture and cleaning under everything.

I feel a bit guilty that I have not cooked anything in days.

Adding water to Trader Joe's miso soup mix does not count.

Manfriend came over Saturday after I got off work and grilled some veggies and a steak and made artichokes.

It was nice that he took on most of the cooking chores that night.

He doesn't cook much, but he can work the grill just fine.



Sunday I had stamping (that is my card contribution above) and, before I got sick, had signed up to bring the main dish for the lunch part of the gathering.

I was thinking Thursday that I might be too sick or tired to go, or at least too sick or tired to be responsible for making the main course.

But I decided to just do something easy.

I made the mushroom-sage bread pudding that I made as a dinner side dish a couple of weeks ago. But this time, to make it more of a meal, I added diced ham to the mushrooms and onions while I was cooking them.

I did most of the chopping Saturday night and stuck everything in the fridge.

Sunday morning, I cooked the mushrooms, onions and ham. Then I mixed the milk and eggs and put it all together and baked it. It went pretty fast having it all chopped ahead of time.

Seems like it was a hit. Most people went back for seconds.

But when I got home that afternoon, I was exhausted.

Basically I sat and stanped for 4 hours. But I was just beat.

So I napped.

Then we went out for dinner.



This week I will work six days (Mon-Sun) to cover for someone who is helping with Oscar pages.

So I sure hope the energy level is up by then.

Tuesday is my Monday

Man, the weekend went so fast.

Sunday was pretty much done before it started for me.
It was fun, but jam-packed.

I had the stamping group over for our monthly gathering. We made it a tea.

Everything was so yummy.

All I had to provide was the tea. And I made a pomegranate-lemonade that was a big hit.

For food we had little sandwiches and a frittata and pasta salad and scones and fruit and cake.

I love a good tea. Having a good tea lets me connect with my girly-girl side.

Plus I got to use all my favorite teapots and fancy dishes and all the cute mismatched cups and saucers.

So we stamped and we ate and we talked. It gets surprisingly rowdy sometimes.

After the tea, I had to run up to my favorite local bakery and pick up a cake for my grandmother's birthday.

She wanted carrot cake and this place makes a good one.

Then I came home to wash teacups and dishes.

But I only had about 45 minutes before I was off again to my aunt's house for grandma's birthday party. My grandma is now 89.

We had a feast of fresh crab (Grandma got a nice lobster, as was her wish).

My uncle cooks them all outside in one of those giant turkey fryer things. Instead of oil, he fills it with water.

Then we round out the meal with some rice and salad.

Sorry, no crabby pictures. My hands were too messy from cracking crab legs to operate the camera.

Maybe next time I will do a before and after shot. The after is a huge pile of crab shells and dirty napkins. Nice.

I was home by about 8, but really exhausted from all the running around. Plus my tea caffeine buzz had worn off hours before.

On Monday, I was determined to get shopping done for the party this weekend.

So I hit Costco, Trader Joe's and Ralphs.

I got mostly everything. There are a few things I want to get the day of the party so they are fresh or because I will not have room in my freezer.

Like the ice. I figure on getting at least 30 pounds. I need ice to ice the beers and I need clean ice for drinks.

My car was loaded by the time I got home.

I unpacked it all and put away most of it.

Then I made the spinach-gouda bites and stuck them in the freezer. That way on Sunday I just have to thaw and bake them.

I did some chopping of other things and made a pate and the olive tapenade for my crostini trio.
I also got the hoisin sauce ready for the meatballs that I had already made and stuck in the freezer.

Then I decided to take a break. Of course, it was already dark by then and I hate to do chores after dark.

My plan for the rest of the week:

today - do some more cleaning around the house, fold laundry and run a couple errands before work. (Luckily I work late today.)

Wednesday - start marinating the flank steak for the chevre-mango steak bites.

Thursday - grill the steak.

Friday - make the bread cups for the mushroom tarts, make bruschetta for the crostini.

Saturday - slice the steak and prep the other ingredients for the steak bites, roll the asparagus spears in the ham so they can be roasted quickly on Sunday. I also will do any last bits of housecleaning.
Sunday - pull it all together. This is where my double ovens will go into overdrive.

I am really looking forward to this party. The last time I did a good, nighttime party was my birthday in 2006.

Now I am off to my chores. I have a good two hours of time to get some stuff done.

Season's Greetings

I really did plan on making and sending Christmas cards this year.

It just got by me.

Last year and the year before I made two styles of cards. One was fun and flirty and one was sedate and serene.

I think I made about 70 total. And yes, I have that many people on my card list.

This year I have managed to make one card.

Not style of card.

One actual card.

It's nice, huh?

I made it for the monthly stamping/eating group I am in. We all bring cards, we all bring a dish. We stamp, we eat.

The stamps are from Papertrey Ink's Take a Bough set.

It looks better up close because you can see the two shades of green on the leaves and sentiment.

I double stamped them in a light green and a dark green over it. The light green makes a shadow effect.

There also is some glittery stuff on the leaves that does not pick up in the photo. Oh well.

You get the idea.

I think that I should start now to make my cards for next year.

But then I figure I would just put them in a place where I would not be able to find them next year.

Or when I did find them I would think they were ugly. And by then it would be December and I would once again not have the time or inclination to make cards.

Maybe I should start at Halloween.

OK. I am out. Time to go to work.

Finally, my Friday.

Pretend sometimes

So I went to the stamp convention Sunday in Carson.

According to my friends, this used to be much bigger, but it still seemed like a lot of vendors to me.

I ended up buying a few things. Surprise, surprise.

But I did try to keep that in check. Mainly I wanted to look at the ideas there. And I wanted to find something that would make me try something new.

So that new thing is going to be watercoloring and using pastels. I don't do too much of that now and it seems a bit labor intensive for making a lot of cards. So I probably wouldn't use it for Christmas cards, but maybe for swaps of 10 or fewer or for cards I make specifically to give to someone.

Anyway... here are some photos of a few of the things I bought:

I have no idea what I am going to do with this one. I don't usually work with stamps of this style. The samples I have seen tend to be very detailed and embellished and, well, somewhat over the top for me.

But I like the little guy with his funny wings.

And I like that the sentiment is "Pretend sometimes."

The stamp is from Stampers Anonymous.

I got all these at a booth called Savvy Stamps.

The dot background stamps will be pretty good for many occasions and types of cards. The poinsettias were just pretty and they had some nice examples of how to use them.

They had a ton of stamps, all on the small side, which I like. I could have spent a fortune there, so I made sure to set a limit for myself.

They have a decent gallery area on their Web site.

This cute little Christmas stamp is from Memory Box.

It is about 2 inches tall by 1 inch at the widest point of the image.

I walked by this display a couple times and didn't see this stamp until I went back to show a friend something else they had.

But once I saw it, I wanted it.

I did get a couple other things that don't photograph so well. Things like unmounted rubber stamps and acrylic stamps.

Overall I had fun. They have this show a few times a year with varying numbers of vendors. I think once a year would be about enough for me.

Now I just need to find the time to play with all my new toys.

Just a wee favor

No, I am not asking you all to do me a favor.

I just wanted to show off the sample for the wedding favors I am making for my uncle's wedding.

I got a Halloween-themed version of this from the Stampin' Up demonstrator, Iris, at last Sunday's stamping.

I thought it would be a great party favor, so I offered to make them.

So simple, so easy, so chocolatey. Yes, those are full-size chocolate bars.

(The image is from PaperTreyInk)

Wedding invitations

Gotcha there for a second with that headline, huh?

Nope, not wedding invitations for me.

They are for my uncle's wedding.

The wedding itself is pretty small, with a bigger reception later that night.

So I did one set for people invited to the wedding and reception and another set for people invited to the reception only.

I did about 100 total, which was more than they needed. So I am going to repurpose the leftovers into thank you cards for them.

They are tri-fold cards with an insert that I did on the printer.

I wanted to keep these very simple.

The bride is from Vietnam, so I also wanted to do something not quite so traditional. I like the botanical image with its two flowers bending into each other. It just seemed right.

The flower images are from Papertrey Ink.

I stamped them in clear and heat embossed the color so they have a little texture to them.

Another one for my card-loving, card-making friends

I made this yesterday before work for a swap with my girlies. Actually, I made 8 of them.

I really liked the little vellum pocket thing on the ones I made for the online swap, so I basically cheated off myself here.

The pocket is a little vellum envelope. I cut off the flap and made it into the pocket.

The only thing I am not totally happy with are the colors. I thought they would look better when I cut them all out. But after I made the first one, I was thinking "Eh."

But I already had it all cut out. That'll learn me for next time.

Here's a little love for my cardmaking friends

I made these last night for a swap I am in on Splitcoast.

For non-cardmakers who read this, sorry. You have to put up with my crafty side once in a while.

Anyway, the swap was for a base color scheme of black & white with one other color for pop. I signed up to make one set of full-size cards and one set of 3x3 cards.

First up, the 3x3. This is just what it sounds like. A 3-inch by 3-inch card that are good for little gift cards, with flowers, etc.

I had seen this little black dress idea in a magazine and decided to mock one up to see how I liked it for real.

I thought it came out great.

I gave a lot of thought to the color I added. I considered red, pink, purple. But decided to go for something a little different.

I really like the green. I think it is somewhat unexpected to see such a soft pastel with the b/w base.

The dress does have a fold at the top to open, so I snuck a little greeting in there. The card also opens from the top.

The frill at the bottom of the card is two layers of mulberry paper, one white, one green.

For the full-size card I knew I wanted to use this taupe as my accent color. I know it isn't very colorful, but I really like the contrast.

Plus the color goes great with the French-inspired image I chose and the "Bonjour" greeting.

The photo corner detail was done with a heart-shaped scallop punch that I folded around to make the corner.

The vellum on the front is a tiny envelope. I got them in clearance and figured I would think of how to use them later. I cut off the top flap so the greeting tag just slides in and out.

I really love this card. I think it is fun, but elegant.

And I have a bunch more of those vellum envelopes. So you are likely to see more of this type of thing.

Quick post about a not-so-quick card

This card was done for a Splitcoast swap on triangle fold cards. I don't do too many different folds, so I thought it would be fun to try it.

Plus it gave me a chance to use some paper I got on sale and one of my new Marvy Uchida scallop punches.

Go here if you want to try it: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/triangletrifold.php

I won't go into a lot of detail about the products I used. That stuff is all pretty simple. I think the key is learning the fold.

Time to start cooking up some ideas

Here is a simple card I did for an online swap. It is just the image stamped in the magenta then versamarked and embosses in ultra thick clear, then versamarked again and double embossed in the ultra thick clear. It gives it that glassy look I like.

Stamp is from Stampin' Up.

Anway, I had a busy, but good day today. I started by doing some errands (carwash, Target, bank, etc.). Then I had lunch with a friend and went to work.

I really didn't accomplish anything at home, but that is OK. There is always tomorrow. And the weekend.

I want to start looking into some ideas for my kitchen remodel on Sunday. I am so excited about this. It really will be nerve-wracking for me though. It is a huge deal and likely will end up being a good chunk of money.

I have a friend who recently redid a kitchen (among other things), and he is going to share his budget with me and what all he put into his remodel. You can check out what he is doing on his blog at http://intergalacticrehabs.blogspot.com/.

I am so looking forward to a new kitchen, but worry about the work time and being without a kitchen while they do the construction. I guess there is always paper plates and cooking on the grill if I get sick of takeout.

Once I get started on this whole adventure, I will post some before, during and after pictures.

So, anyone go through a remodel like this recently? Have any tips?

Keeping it clean

This is a card I made as a good luck card for a friend moving to a new state and a new job. I loved the textured paper, so that was the inspiration for the card.

The stamps are All Night Media (http://www.plaidonline.com/productSearchResults.asp?cat2ID=36&cat3ID=99.) It was one of those boxed sets with a theme. The inside is stamped with the symbol for good luck (and the words under it.)

The base of the card and the paper right behind the image are DCWV matte stack papers. The patterned paper came from one of those pound-of-paper packs that is just filled with all sorts of random scraps.

I kept the palette simple with the tone-on-tone paper and a simple sheer ribbon. I really wanted to let the texture and the image be the focus, so I didn't use extra embellishments or too much fussiness.

The image was just colored in with markers.

My friend loved the card. She said she framed it and has it at her desk at her new as a reminder of the friends she still has in California.

Awwwwwwwwww... sweet!

Purple poppies

So I finally have the pictures of the purple cards I did for an online swap. I did the top one first, but wanted to coordinate the paper more, so I ditched the big piece of dark purple paper and brought in more of the stripes.

I used a smaller piece of the dark paper just to accent the image of the green flower pot.

The images and sentiment are all from PaperTreyInk (www.papertreyink.com) and the striped paper is from Stampin' Up.

I stamped the pot in green, then overstamped in versamark and embossed with a thick clear powder to give it the glassy, shiny look.

The middle flower is cut out and popped up and the center of it is embossed in black.

It can be hard to get a real sense of the embossing and dimension in the photos.

These took quite a while to make. There was a lot of embossing, and cutting out the pots and each flower was quite time-consuming. Assembly was time-consuming as well. I sure hope my fellow swappers like them!

Anyway, yesterday I went to a family barbecue (sooooooooo much good food) and after soaked in a very hot jacuzzi for a while. It was so relaxing. I was falling asleep by the time I got home at about 9 p.m.

Today I am off work, but was feeling a little queasy this morning. No, not from the barbecue. I am not sure why. But I checked with some other people who were there and no one else feels ill. So it probably was just one of those weird things.

I am doing better now, but I did skip pottery this morning. Bummer.

It was for the best since I have tickets to the Angels-Twins game tonight and I wanted to be sure I was feeling well enough to partake in the stadium cuisine of hot dogs and beer.

Now, since I am home, I am going to tackle some bills, then head out for some errands.

I hope everyone has a good day!

Beaded Butterfly

Here is an example of a more complex card. It has a simple look in that there are very few paper layers and very few colors.

I used PaperTrey's Butterfly Kisses for the butterfly and starbursts and Little Lady for the flight trail.

The ink is Archival Brilliance in Aegean blue.

I stamped the butterfly in the blue then embossed with clear, sparkly powder. I attached some beads with the blue wire to add detail to the body.

I stamped the trail in the blue then glued on beads sporadically along the trail. The starbursts were stamped in the blue, then I stamped over them with a solid circle of versamark and embossed them in the sparkly, clear powder.

The contrasting dots are just circles I made with a standard hole punch in the taupe cardstock.

Not a difficult card, just a lot of embossing and glueing of little tiny beads.

Little Lady

Here is the card I mentioned in the last post.

The images are from PaperTrey (http://www.papertreyink.com/).