Cramming!

Whew! Busy day! Kyle had another t-ball game after work today. He did a great job! He hit off a pitch at all three at-bats. After the celebratory dinner at Wendy's (his choice) I worked on the final layout for my sister's wedding invitation. I'll share those with you when I have them complete. So, now it's 12:30am. We're supposed to leave in the morning, or should I say later this morning. The camper is not packed. Needed laundry is in the spin cycle. Groceries are still on the market shelves. Not quite what we had in mind! Oh well, we'll pull it off somehow.

Since I was busy with the wedding things tonight I pulled an older card for my blog. Hope you enjoy it anyway.

Stamps: Close As A Memory, French Script; Card Stock: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Confetti Cream; Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum; Accessories: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, and Mellow Moss Markers, Sponge, Twill Tape, Vintage Brads, Color Spritzer Tool

Baby Wipe Technique

First of all...sorry for the quality of the scan on this one! My camera battery is charging so I wasn't able to use it. This was a fun technique that we'll be doing with my club in the very near future (sneak peak ladies!!) This card was actually not supposed to be a card at all. I made another "stamp pad" and did a card, and then decided to stamp Autumn Leaf Prints (have I mentioned it's my favorite retiring set?) to use up the rest.

What you can't really see in the scan is that the whole thing is on a bashful blue card. The navy strip at the top is spritzed with water, scrunched up, and then flattened back out. I added some navy grosgrain with a piece from the aged copper hodgepodge hardware. The two focal leaves and cut out and mounted on dimensionals. I'm actually pretty fond of the way this one turned out. Hope you do to.

Stamps: Autumn Leaf Prints, Warmest Regards; Card Stock: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla, Whisper White; Ink: Night of Navy; Accessories: Reinkers (Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Silver Encore), Color Spritzer Tool, Night of Navy Marker, Navy Grosgrain Ribbon, Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware, Dimensionals.

At least one good word tonight!!!

SHIPPED!!!!

That's right...the new catties are on their way!

Bad stuff & they're taking my Autumn Leaf Prints!

I had high hopes of happy stamping when I got home from work today, but those happy thoughts came crashing down! I hate bad stuff! I especially hate bad stuff regarding $$!! Sorry if this gets long, but I need to vent!

We've had renters in our old house for the past nine months. They had a signed agreement to buy the house, their retirement home, as soon as they could secure their financing. But, today we got their rent check with a note that says they'll no longer be buying the house since they're decided to get divorced instead! Aaaggghhh!! That means two mortgage payments again, and we just can't afford that. Don't forget that on top of it we just bought a camper last month. Looks like I need to kick my SU! business up a notch!

The kids could tell I was upset when I got home from work. Kyle told me I looked bored and asked what was wrong. I told him I was sad about money, and we had to be very careful how we spend it right now. Jessie, the three year-old, told me that we could sell two of her babies. A little while later she came up to me with a handful of change and handed it to me. She said, "You like it mama? You can have it. Now you have money so we can still go camping!" What do you say to that??

And, so I decided to stamp a card for today's color challenge. Since I was in a somber mood anyway I went for Autumn Leaf Prints, my favorite retiring set. I refuse to part with this one! The color challenge was to use Creamy Caramel, Barely Banana, and Real Red. The leaves in the background are stamped off in caramel and banana. I used the color spritzer tool and real red marker over the maple leaf image. I thought I'd keep the red somewhat subtle so I only used it in the spritzer, an eyelet and some ribbon. I made this one for Scott. He's feeling the pressure too. Send some good thoughts, vibes, karma, or whatever else our way! And, if any one's looking to buy a house in Perry, MI.......

Stamps: Autumn Leaf Prints, Holidays & Wishes, Canvas; Card Stock: Creamy Caramel, Barely Banana; Ink: Creamy Caramel, Barely Banana; Accessories: Color Spritzer Tool, Real Red Marker, Crafters Tool Kit, Red Eyelet, Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Spiral Punch, Ticket Corner Punch

Could I actually like Cool Caribbean???

This is a super quick one layer bridal shower card. My thought in using Cool Caribbean for them was to get rid of the stuff. (I only had what was in the assorted color packs I bought last July, but have only used one sheet ahead of this!) But, now that they're done I really like Cool Caribbean for this card. I think, in conjunction with the white, that it looks very "Tiffanyish", if I can make that a word.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Sincere Salutations; Card Stock: Cool Caribbean; Ink: Whisper White Craft, Cool Caribbean; Accessories: White Organdy Ribbon, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

You probably thought I flaked out again, huh? Nope!! We were camping this weekend, and had no wireless this time. The kids had a great time once again. This was our second trip out with our dear friends Mark and Devene & family (they're the ones that gave us the final push on the camper idea!). It was a blast!! My only complaint is that the weekend went by way too fast. Our families are already looking ahead to this Friday as we'll head up to Mackinaw City together for four nights. From there my family is heading to Hubbard Lake to spend some time with my husband's family. (Lots of stamping time, and internet access!!)

One thing I've learned about trying to stamp while we're camping is that I have to have the idea of what I want to do before we go. I did that when Scott and I stayed in Midland and got 50 swaps done, only needing to be assembled. This weekend I took way too much...wait a minute, did I say that??? I didn't end up doing any of them. Instead, I worked on those swaps from a couple of weeks ago.

My goal this week is to come up with swap designs and take them with me to work on, and to get going on my sister's wedding invitations. (Luckily, she only needs 45!) Anyone want to come help me??

He actually did it!!

Check this out! Scott did stamp me an anniversary card! And, I think he did quite well!! I was impressed!

I knew it was looking good when he called me at work and asked if there was such a thing as a "Happy Anniversary" stamp.

From the best I can tell he used bravo burgundy and blue bayou card stock. He found a poem (no, he didn't write it) on the intenet and printed it on vellum card stock. He even dabbled with some markers and WWC. How lucky am I??

Today's My Anniversary!

Nine years today! Here's my anniversary card for Scott. I got up early this morning to make it before I came to work. Do you think he's home right now sneaking into my craft room to make me one??? I won't hold my breath on that one; although, he did stamp me a birthday card. So, in my mind the precedent is set...he must stamp!

Being that I was on a time crunch I wasn't able to brainstorm much. This is what I came up with. I covered the chipboard heart with Not Quite Navy craft ink and set it aside to dry. Wanting to experiment with some new colors I reached for River Rock (I'm already dreading that one retiring next year!) and Blue Bayou. I really like that combo together.

I stamped River Rock and Blue Bayou on their respective card stocks with the Canvas background stamp. I then stamped French Script in Blue Bayou over the River Rock Canvas after I stamped off on my grid paper since I wanted a faded look. To soften the edges against the base I sponged some Bayou Blue around the outside of the River Rock and then distressed it (I use my craft & rubber scissors). I stamped off River Rock and Blue Bayou with the big swirl from Baroque Motifs for the small River Rock piece, and then stamped the sentiment from Hugs & Wishes. I distressed the heck out of the small pieces and attached Not Quite Navy brads.

I then went back to the chipboard, which had since dried, and sanded the edges and top a bit. I stamped "love" from Wonderful Words across the heart in Very Vanilla craft ink. The ribbon is actually run through the card stock and tied across the heart. I thought it would be to hard to tie it around the slant on the heart, so I cheated and used my 1/8" punch on both sides. The ribbon isn't as bright as it appears in the picture and is a perfect blue to blend.

Stamps: Canvas, French Script, Hugs & Wishes, Baroque Motifs, Wonderfl Words; Card Stock: Blue Bayou, River Rock; Ink: Blue Bayou, River Rock, Not Quite Navy Craft, Very Vanilla Craft; Accessories: On Board Accents Chipboard, Earth Elements Brads, French Blue Grosgrain Ribbon, 1/8" Circle Punch