Happy 4th of July

Hope you are having a great 4th of July and are staying cool and safe.  We stayed pretty busy all weekend so today we decided to just "chill" at home!  Saturday night we watched fireworks from our boat.  They were shot off from Queens Landing and we threw anchor in a cove across the lake and had a great view.  We took a picnic dinner and enjoyed that with my mom and my sister while waiting for the fireworks to begin.  Sunday we were out on the boat most of the day.  It was pretty hot and I stayed in the water most of the time.  I was in an inner-tube and rigged a pool-chair in front of me that I was able to prop my book up on.  So, I stayed pretty cool while reading my book and not getting it wet!  Later in the evening we drove to Mooresville and had dinner at Hickory Tavern.  After dinner, we set up our lawn chairs in the parking lot and watched fireworks put on by the YMCA.  

I have made a couple of cards in honor of the holiday and also as a thank you to my daughter and all the others out there who are away from their family and serving their country. 

 These cards use a retired SU stamp set, Liberty for All and they are stamped on a piece of scrapbook paper that I bought several years ago.

Thank you Ashley.  You will be home soon.  Although I am sad to report that she will not be returning as soon as we thought.  She was informed yesterday that she will not be able to come home early like she had been told a month ago.  She now will return with the rest of the troop sometime toward the end of August.  She has been packing her things and getting rid of stuff she didn't need to take home - even threw away her sheets (except for 1 set) last week.  She had already gone around and gotten all the signatures she needed on the paperwork to return July 21.  AND, we had made airplane reservations to meet her the end of July.  Of course, the ticket is non-refundable so guess we will just have to pay the penalty to change it when we know a different date.  I just haven't felt like dealing with it and will do something next week about it.  Needless to say, Ashley was pretty upset and I was too.  But, what can you do when you're dealing with the government?

Three More Days!

Just three more days and the new catalog will be up and running!  Make sure you have placed your orders for the retiring items before Friday!!



Today I am spotlighting Tart and Tangy along with Cheep Talk.  These are two really great stamp sets.

This is a really simple card to make but it looks so refreshing!



RECIPE:

Stamps:  Tart & Tangy, Heard From the Heart

Paper:  White, Black, Retired SU DSP

Ink:  Pear Pizazz, Kiwi Kiss, Daffodil Delight, Black

I used the 5-Petal Punch and my crimper (found at the very back of my drawer!) to make the flower out of some retired DSP.  Adds just the right touch, don't you think?



RECIPE:

Stamp:  Cheep Talk

Paper:  Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, White

Ink:  Crushed Curry, Espresso, Garden Green, Dusty Durango

Access:  5-Petal Punch, Dusty Durango Dotted Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig



I am going out to lunch  - trying out a new restaurant in Mooresville with the Out to Lunch Bunch.  Should be fun .... plus, an easy dinner tonight!!



Countdown has begun for Ashley!  If all goes as planned (with the Army???), she has 24 more days!

Swap Cards

I played a new game yesterday - well, sorta new to me anyway.  It was Duplicate Bridge.  A friend asked me to "sub" at her house and I didn't realize that was what they were going to play.  But, it was ok.  Duplicate Bridge is played just like regular bridge for the most part.  The scoring is different.  It was fun - you play a set hand and then the other table also plays the same hand so you can see how others win or lose the hand.  I was the third highest score so not so bad!



I have been working on swap cards for Convention.  I have signed up for 2 organized swaps and then I want to have other cards to randomly swap during the convention. 

 This is the card for the Fun Fold Swap.  When you pull on the Melon Mambo strip at the top, the inside card comes out like this:

RECIPE:

Stamps:  Flower Fest, Upsy Daisy (sentiment inside)

Paper:  Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Daffodil Delight, Beyond the Garden DSP

Ink:  Black, Melon Mambo

Access:  White Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Crop-a-dile

 This is for a swap that you have to use a new stamp set.  This one was available to demonstrators for a sneak peek.  It is the only one I bought but it is the cutest!!  Love the snowman!  The little border sticking out at the top and bottom of the snowman is from the Triple Layer Doily Punch.  I cut it in half and am going to put a pearl in the center (forgot to before I took the picture!).  I have to admit I used two colors that are not my favorites - Garden Green and Poppy Parade.  They look good together but I just don't ever use these two which is why I picked them for this swap!



RECIPE:

Stamp:  Snow Much Fun

Paper:  Garden Green, Poppy Parade, Whisper White

Access:  Markers, Black Ink, Poppy Parade Stitched Poly Ribbon, Northern Flurries Embossing Folder

I have done several of these cards to give out for general swaps.  There is a Vellum overlay over a white card.  I stamped the leaves from Fabulous Florets on the white card and stamped the flowers on the Vellum.  To hold the vellum to the white, I strategically placed glue dots on the back of the vellum on the flower centers.  And then the ribbon held it all together.



RECIPE: 

Stamp:  Fabulous Florets, Tiny Tags

Paper:  Cajun Craze, Vellum, Whisper White

Ink:  Old Olive, Cajun Craze

Access:  Always Artichoke Ribbon Binding, Jewelry Tag Punch



AND .... I have a retiring stamp set for my monthly give-a-way.  Don't forget to leave a comment if you want a chance to win the cards I am featuring this month!!

 RECIPE:

Stamp:  Forest Friends, Watercolor Trio (sentiment)

Paper:  Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Retired DSP

Ink:  Espresso, Garden Green

Access:  (non-SU) Ribbon, Small & Medium Oval Punches, Oval Nestabilities



I just finished talking to Ashley on Skype and she is leaving her temporary base tomorrow via helicopter and returning to Maraz where she has at least 3 packages waiting for her!  She needs to start packing up for her return home!!!!  So excited!

Christmas in .... June!

Back to the retiring sets.  I took a bit of a break this week with the cards that I will be offering in the drawing at the end of the month.  (See this post)  I was busy doing things for Newcomer's Bingo and for Stamp Club but now I am back to working for YOU!  And today we are showcasing Christmas!  I love the set, Big on Christmas.  It is really easy to use - stamp it, color it in and mat it. 

 I stamped the image with Espresso ink and colored it in with my white gel pen.  I colored the tree with a Copic pen.  I did faux stitching around the edge.  (Use paper piercer and pierce all around the edges; then use a white gel pen to "connect the dots".)   The DSP is retired as is the Taken With Teal that I matted the image with!  But who cares?  Not the person who will receive the card at Christmas time, I'm sure!

OK - Ignore the black dots on this card.  I had it sitting on my desk yesterday when I reinked my black stamp pads!  Guess a couple of drops eeked out onto the card.  I didn't even notice it until after I took the picture - thought it was something on my camera lens until I took a second look at the card!  There's a sneak peek on this card though so I had to share it.  The lighter colored purple is one of the new In Colors!  It is called Wisteria Wonder. 



I used a thin oval wooden frame that I got from m's to layer with my embossing folder to create the un-embossed oval in the center.



RECIPE:

Stamp:  Big on Christmas

Card Stock:  Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant

Ink:  Black, Wisteria Wonder Marker

Access:  Snowflake Brads (non SU), Stickles Glitter, SU Markers, Snowflake Embossing Folder

I got even better news from Ashley yesterday!  She now thinks she will be returning another week earlier!  Looks like she may be leaving there around the 21st of July.  Not giving us much time to find a good flight but maybe we'll consider driving instead.  We just need to wait for her to return to her base where she can find more details.  She had hoped to be leaving her temporary post last Wednesday and go to a medical conference in Baghdad.  But that didn't work out and she will probably be at the temporary base until next week.  You can believe she is counting down the days.  I don't think she has seen one patient all week!  She read all the books she took with her and was going to the library on base and getting 5-10 books at a time to read.  She reads 1-2 books a day.  Yesterday she went to the library to return her books and get another stack and to her horror, the shelves were EMPTY!  Because the base will be closing, they had thrown away all the books a couple of days ago.  If you are a reader, doesn't this make you cringe?  She has her Kindle with her and it has a couple of books on it plus the Bible.  So, she said she guess she will be reading the Bible for the next few days from cover to cover!  The internet connection is bad there and it would take her too long to download more books on to the Kindle.  So let's hope the PA that she is replacing comes back soon!

The Winner Could Be YOU!

I received some good news today from Ashley.  She may be coming home a little earlier than she thought!  Of course, with the Army nothing is written in stone so I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch!  But, she may be leaving Iraq the first of August instead of the end of the month to set up the clinic at Ft. Hood.  I've got my fingers crossed!!

Yesterday I had a really nice day.  Sonny and I started out by taking the boat out for breakfast to a restaurant on the lake.  After a little bit of a ride around, we headed for home before the lake got too crowded and the sun got too hot!!  In the afternoon Marianne and Mom came over and we went down to our neighborhood pool to "veg" out.  It was pretty warm so we ended up staying in the water most of the time but it was a lot of fun.  My mom is like a kid in water so there was a lot of splashing around and playing.  It was good for her.  One of her good friends had died the night before and this helped to get her mind off of that.  A storm came up around 5 so we headed back to my house to get dressed.  We met the rest of the family in town later for dinner.

I have made a few more cards using my retired sets - Chic Boutique and Eastern Blooms - to share with you. 



I've decided to have a drawing at the end of the month for the cards I am making using retired sets.  A few of them will be used for my Monday Mailers but the rest could be sent to YOU!  Just leave me a comment and July 1, I will put all the names in a hat and draw one .... or two .... out and send them to you!!

RECIPE:

Stamp:  Chic Boutique

Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy

Accessories:  SU Markers, 1 1/4" Striped Navy Ribbon, Oval Punch, Embossing Folder

 RECIPE:

 Stamps:  Eastern Blooms, Swirls & Curls Verses (hostess)

Paper:  Marina Mist, Early Espresso, White

Access:  Pearls, Markers, White Taffeta Ribbon, Corner Rounder, Polka Dot Emb. Folder

RECIPE:

Stamps:  Priceless, Eastern Blooms

PAPER:  Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango, Beyond the Garden DSP

Access:  Rhinestones (non SU), Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool

I don't know if you can tell but I've been photographing my cards in a little better light.  After I cleaned out my retiring stamps, I had an extra shelf so I set up a lightbox area in it.  Here's what it looks like:

 I have an Ott-Light that clamps to a table (thanks to Margaret) so I clamped it to the top of the shelf and hung it upside down to shine onto my card.  I just have cardstock behind the card but I can change it out to a dark cardstock if I need to for a white card.

Guess I need to tack that cord up but the switch is midway down the cord and I need to be able to reach it.  So far, it's not bothering me draped down to the outlet that way.