Before and After and today...

cute eh? I love purses... I don't have any designer ones or anything like that, this is a recent thing i think, last year i went through a shoe phase... this year its bags... so when i seen this thread go up at peas this morning about this sketch challenge i printed out the template to trace and do one...

lots of things on such a simple looking card... :) The printed paper is from Basic Grey (Urban couture, Brocade) There is some Fresco Vatican Wine chalk ink on the edges. The Fancy Frame (A Muse) is stamped with Aged Mahogany Distress ink on Shimmery White cardstock from SU. ( now a few days ago i did a post about the cryogen White from cut cardstock.com these are a pretty close match color wise, but the stampin up is an actual cardstock so its thicker and sturdier and feels a little better, the cryogen white is a coversheet and a thinner weight (which is good for punchies and stuff like that too but it warps when you heat emboss it)

now back to our regularly scheduled card description eh?

:) the Rubber Soul thank-you is stamped on the SU shimmery with Vatican Wine, then punched with the Martha Stewart scalloped circle (which is a teeny tiny bit too small to frame the image completely) so i ended up sponging on the edges of this too to hide the mis cut. there is some stickles copper in the large parts of the frame and the sentiment is up on pop-dots. the tiny love tag is from the su set called Love is in the Air. its tied on with hemp cord from wal-mart to Martha Stewart Piped Nylon (apricot). This card is a little under 4X6 ish. the lace on the straps i don't remember if its vintage or not but i sponged some Tuscan Earth on it and both the sentiments also.

This is an "after" version of the card i did yesterday that i did not like, changed the cardstock base to an off red of Bazzill then found this scrap in the bin and went with that, added an lumpy ribbon flower (Joann's fabrics) to the dress where the sash would be i guess... I like this one better and i have no idea who makes the brads.

This is also an "after" card. the original can be seen here: Before version card

I really did just rip it apart and then it tore the pp where that brad that was bugging was inserted so i went down the card with green May Arts ribbon, and then the cream brads on the edges came from the blue and brown card from yesterday that i ripped apart today.

I DO like the after versions of these cards better, but I'm glad that i don't usually make too many cards i don't like that's kinda sad to rip them up.

anyways, i have many many images to play with and so... since tonight is the unlimited Pheasants fundraiser dinner as soon as my pizza arrives i am headed upstairs to play with them.

Have a good whats left of the weekend!

{more cards of course}

Fun stuff... :) this one is my ultimate fantasy that when i walk down the side walk ( with or without a leash i look this chic lololol) ;)

pp is from crate paper, the main image is an wish rak image and its colored with markers, the Hello is from Stampendous, and the friend is from SU (noteworthy) the tiny paper flowers are from Impress. I keep thinking this could very well be a sketch i have seen somewhere but, dang if i can find it. Lauri has the first theme challenge in the stamp shack for ( It ~ person or place so this is mine for that)

Now this was made from scraps, i bought this paper salon paper months ago. Love the colors, considered using them for a challenge but then again its one of those things that been done many times...

the cream ribbon is from May Arts, the stripe ( i don't remember) the pp is from Paper salon, the sentiment is from Art Impressions, the corset is from Rey-Fey.com, the cardstocks are bazzill and soft sky (su).

Now this card is the reason i cut up the paper finally after all these months... Nah he doesn't read my blog. ( ever ) so i can say all the what ever i want about him eh? the metal thing i think is K&Co? used an 1 3/8 size round punch on a scrap to make the mat for it. The ribbons are offray, paper salon pp, the sentiment is from Rubber Stampede, the photo corners are from Chatterbox, Eyelets are unknown,

this one i don't like very much, its a little to simple, might rip it apart and start over... not sure yet. the dress is Dawn Houser for Inkadinkado, the shoes are from Judikins ( i cut them apart) the sentiment is from Stampendous. and stamped on one half of an McGill tab punch. the velvet ric-rac may be American crafts ( not sure but its sold by the yard at an lss) the cream linen texture cardstock is from Neenah, the blue is "Soft sky" from su. tfl.

in hog heaven

or in other words Happy Happy UPS day to me... *Ü* your looking at a box of brand spankin new (no sanding required) perfect, never been used su wood blocks... I could just cry i am so happy and excited about this! Sharon, thanks so much!! on another note the packet arrived... I am NOT meeting the surgeon in Oct, I get to go do the amazing Stacy routine for a whole new bunch of Dr.s' first in person. then if these ones decide then i may be able to find out if they really will do the surgery or not... so Oct. is just another hearing test... (but since they only see people on Tuesdays or Fridays we are going to go up by ourselves and spend a couple days childless and puppy less) (our Anniversary is that weekend too) so. now one of these days I gotta do the what's near that hospital post.... ( like any good places to eat Mexican or Sushi? or even better an craft or stamp store... ) my mil is calling the dr.'s this afternoon when they go back to work from lunch to ask a few questions... my paper work says things like, bring your checkbook medicare only does one hearing test a year... ( which if you scroll down there is a mug shot of me from a few days ago... and i am NOT on medicare yet...) lol, oh im also to bring all my films and ct scans ect... now i dont know about you, but i have NEVER been given copies of my medical anything from any dr.... so this should be interesting to see if i get them or not... (yep, i paid big bucks for them months ago...)

what else i have been up to...

These are fairly new to me stamps, I think i got the swirly background ( from Baroque Motifs last July) and the Angel (holy Triptych) from the party i just had a few weeks ago... the swirls are stamped in Baroque Burgundy on cheap cream cardbase, then the burgundy textured paper is from the Club Scrap package from the Caardvarks challenges, and then the Angel was heat embossed with ranger copper powder on Curious Iridescent Cryogen White (cover stock) from cut cardstock. com {the rumor is this is equivalent to the su shimmery white. So i ordered a package to see for my self.} ( now keep in mind i have been too cheap to pay 7.50 for 10 sheets from su so i don't have any to compare it with) but, i think for the price it is a nice paper to stamp on. Its a little on the thin side which is OK for me because i tend to do a lot of layering. the copper metallic paper in this card is from Staples last Christmas had variety packs of shimmery cover sheet. this cryogen coverstock feels and looks quite a bit like that. I'm pretty sure i have some bazzill the same color but, thicker. so my guess is the su paper could be bazzill but I really don't know. She the angel is colored with tombow markers and then the ribbons are unknown, And the sentiment is from Hero Arts in Aged mahogany distress ink.

These were one of the last yard sale finds i found this summer the taller canning jars in the back with the metal and glass lids...

I ended up re-sorting my buttons and primas and such again back into color families. as much fun is it is to put your hand inside a gallon jar and just shift through it all it also takes a great deal of time to find what you want that way... since these jars were a little smaller i found it easy to let some go in raks. and thats OK too because chances are pretty high they will come out with something else that i will feel obligated to buy sooner or later... ;)

Something else, i was accepted into the wish rak user group at split coast stampers about a month ago, and (its complicated when your new) but, there are rules about what cardstock is allowed and what ink is allowed. etc etc. and it made me a little crazy to think i have that cardstock ( i think) but, i dont know which one it is... so, i ended up takeing the su round tab punch and making a punch of each color that i had ( enough of to assume i bought it in a pack) or from the packs, removed all the wrappers and just wrote the cardstock color name on the tabs, and then i put the Georgia Pacific cardstock (walmart) inside of Avery page protectors (Costco) and stapled the tabs onto the edges of the protectors and slid them between the colors.

A closer look. these are inside regular rubbermaid paper trays like from any office supply store that have been glued together with plastic epoxy and stood on end on a shelf on the wall.

Good Morning

ah i didn't mean to freak anyone out, thanks for your emails and your prayers... Ok my guess is not everyone has read this blog for the same length of time. I am fine. I have just been going deaf since i was about 12 or 13. I had a vaccination as a child that did not work the one for mumps, measles, and rubella. so i caught the mumps at about 12 ish. I lived through it, but when you get this you have a very high fever that causes deafness in some people. So since about last may i had waited for about 4 months to find out that the insides of my ears (the muscle that reads the noise) has not turned into bone and this means there is a surgery that can place a ( like a pace maker for your ear) on that muscle to make it work again. its some kind of an implant. you end up with things ( wires of some kind) coming out of your skull after and then have a box of some kind that fits to the wires on the outside like maybe a battery box or something, so if you want to go to sleep and ( turn your ears off you unplug the box at night) now the thing with me is i have to read everything. so, no i do not know what the name of this surgery is so i can not research it. no i do not know the surgeons name I now know what hospital he is in, but last night when we got home from dinner we plugged in the address for it into the computer and it looks like that hospital has 11 buildings. since i don't know the dr.s name i don't know which building i need. mostly i am thinking at this point to make a hotel reservation for when we go up to meet this surgeon in Oct. now a week ago my mil was told i would receive a packet in the mail from him that explains most everything, with maps and so on... so far the only thing i have received is an envelope with a bunch of sign off baloney on it. I don't know why they keep asking you the same stuff you'd think all the dr.s would be online and could share files... ( probably just another way to justify the arm and a leg that health care costs) such as the hysterical little its optional to give your ss number to them.... hahaha when mil was on the phone making the Oct. appointment they checked and verified the insurance i have over the phone while they had her on ignore and i dont know about you but I'm pretty sure my ss number is on the insurance card ( or it used to be) lol optional my rear end. So basically its just stuff like this, and it has been dragging on for months. and there are a lot of days it feels like no one really "gets it" from my point of view how crazy it makes me when i have to rely on everyone to do things for me. I have a phone girl at work... so one day i asked her to make a call to the local dr.s office and she wrote down the name they way she thought it may sound or be spelled like ( she was not smart enough to ask the lady at the other end how is that spelled exactly?) when trying to compare the list of dr.s and phone numbers on the what she wrote down to what the computer says exists is like hmmm there are two numbers that are close, and two names that are possible. and the whole thing makes me feel slightly crazy. Now one of the things that will happen after i actually have an appointment for this surgery is I will be in the hospital for a few weeks. I have to re-learn what each noise is... ( they have done this surgery on people born deaf and made them totally crazy because they have no verbal language to fall back on to remember) so, i have to go through some hearing therapy. oh yeah its my understanding they no longer put these implants into people born deaf because yes they do work... and they make all those people crazy. You get used to the quiet eventually. one of the other things you may not really know is i have become very almost hermit like in the last few years. When i finally reached the point where i could no longer talk on the phone, i sold off the buisness i used to run and I lost contact with people who are not online. (even family) now, my family has been divided since i was about 12 when my parents divorced and then later remarried. now, some of these people have not been in the same room together since we were married ( almost 18 years ago now) and now all these people all want to "be there" in the hospital when i have this surgery. I'm kinda hoping the packet will say you can have X amount of people here. because, i really dont feel like i want to go there knowing there are family members snipping at each other in the hallways. I avoid my family at great costs because of the fighting and the back biting comments all the time. so, the idea that they all want to "be there" for me is a little like hmmmm. in small doses i can take my family but all together at the same time is a disaster in the making is how i feel about it. i already know they can't behave together for any length of time so no, i don't think this would be any different. In the mean time i have a few more projects to get done for the Stamp Shack (details are coming soon i think?) and i am not going into my office today so i can stamp and get some things done. So, the week i do the second color combo challenge, i will be in Portland and so, i am uploading it all for Sherry to put into the CT page in advance but, i won't be there to smile at the stalker threads. I have been looking at the costs of lap top computers because the idea of being at the hospital for two weeks and off line and away from my immediate family is kinda like a panic thing too. but, so far have not bought one. Anyways the weather is dark and wet and gloomy here this morning, i think its gonna be a really good day! ( but maybe no photos to show for it haha) :) Have a good one yourself! and thanks for thinking of me!

today

I feel kinda blah. I am just really really stressed out about the whole go to Portland and meet the surgeon thing... Probably because

a) the packet is still not here

b) i now have an envelope of privacy baloney to fill out for the hospital that Dr. works at... ( that i can bring with me on my next visit hahahah) considering I have never been there it would be nice if the packet would show up so we could make a reservation for a hotel room among other things...

and so.

Maybe i an convince everyone we need to go out to eat. don't wanna cook and don't wanna clean either. :)

Wishing you Joy

This image was also a wish rak to me from Elizabeth ( Xeyedlza ) its from My Favorite things called Hot stuff... and i was very surprised by the size of it when it arrived in person...

This card is 5X7 in real life, This seems to be my prefered card size haha so to make this image appear a little bigger i did not trim it down to the image and made the cardstock around it a "frame". I colored her with Prisma markers and the background with an Tombo marker. the sentiment stamp is from Micheals dollar bin, and is done in Versafine satin red. the printed paper sheet is from The Angel Co. ( a pad package last year ) not sure if they still make it or not, the Vintage ric-rak was a gift from Inkypinkies ( Nancy K.) her dd found a whole bunch of it at a yard sale last year and she gifted it out to some people in the sunroom... Dragged it all through the sewing machine real quick and ta-da! here ya go! :)

Busy Busy again...

this shot shows the sakura gelly roll pen on the centers of the flowers...

This was done for Ethel's sketch challenge in the stamp shack this week.

This is an American Art stamps stick chick image that was Rak'ed to me as a wish from Susan ( Peebsmama) and i colored her with Stampin up Markers. The sentiment is also from Susan, and i do not have the in colors in inks, ( just cardstock) so i used a make-up triangle sponge to daub some Fresco Sistine Sky and Mediterranean Tide Chalk finish ink onto it before it was matted with the Not Quite Navy cardstock ( its up on popdots) the Antique gold clips are from MM and have some May Arts ribbons on them. this card is 5 1/2 inches Square.

This one i did for the first color combo challenge in the stamp shack a week ago i guess? the colors are Black, copper, gold and a little dark green. ( these are the colors in Baileys Irish Creme by the way ) lol the background underneath the giraffe panel was done with an wad of cling wrap pressed into an really rust dye ink pad then daubed on the cream cardstock. for an textured background.

This was the first card i had put together for the color combo challenge, and i had tweaked it to fit the sketch challenge Ethel was working on, and then colors went in the week before the sketch but, so far no one has noticed. I was kind of holding my breath over that one, to not spoil the anticipation for them ( the challenges) We have stalkers threads! ( which is a fun thing) the Leaf Doodle flower is from Hero Arts, and thepressed and dried fern is from my old yard, ( I really am going to shoot photos of the flower storage and the press i found recently at a yard sale, but I am missing a piece to attach the light bar to the tri-pod.)

Now this one is a sneak peak at a project that will have step by step photos in the basic stamping for the 9 am chat in the sunroom on National Card day.

two hundred and one...

posts that is... *Ü* This one was shot in the cook book holder on the kitchen counter, ( it does not stand up) the front of the card was cut shorter then the back to work for a sketch challenge at two peas on Sunday... I did this one while i was missing the guys... the decoys are from Impression Obsession, the Memo is from Stampin Up, the Just a note is from Savvy stamps, the pp is from Flair designs and the page marker is from Barnes and Nobles.

This was just a quickie from this afternoon, tomorrow will be my dh's parents 48th... and one month from tomorrow we will go to Portland to meet the surgeon for the first time. there is supposed to be a packet in the mail on its way to me with info. right now I don't know anything more then i have all summer. supposedly the packet will explain a lot of things, plus then if it raises more questions someone can call...

A Simple smpathy card

This one is going out to Bev tomorrow, I really struggle with trying to think of what to say, i know there are no words you know what i mean? and it really hits you every time someone loses their husband or their child or them parents it doesn't matter. all i can say is I am sorry. The tulips image is from Outlines and the sentiment is from Stampin'Up! I shot this on my desk like 10 minutes ago... yep in that dark cave of a room over the garage with NO light bar on the trip pod either... I have been meaning to make a light box to shoot into like this: Light box Tutorial But, as usual its much more fun to make the mess then to make more tools... so, this am Jovi posted a link to Amy R's blog tutorial that is pretty much like this: put a couple piece of white cardstock under and behind the card and wiggle your ott lights into place and shoot on macro. very easy, very cheap. :)

An Empty House...

My guys went camping, so far i am getting a lot of things done. mostly playing things but what the heck. it keeps me busy. I look so forward to having the time alone since, its such a rare thing, its just until it gets dark then its not as much fun. :) This turtle image came to me as a wish rak from Sandye (SGC) Thanks again!! I have layered it to certainly celery cardstock, the sentiments from Hero Arts and the green staples are from Walmart and the brads are from an assortment package. I want to say Bazzill but, I'm not positive on that one... the darkest green in the pack is a pretty close match for cc. though. The PP is from Colorbox. This is another of those Bella's I colored last week trying for the light to be hitting her from the top right corner. the sentiments from Impression Obsession, the photo corners were done with scraps from the colorbox pp, the background bazzil cardstock is a scrap from the peaches card the other day...

This one is from this morning, did this for a challenge TOS posted in the sunroom to have a computer generated piece on the project, so the sentiments from a computer font called Wendy Medium. the dog is from Inkadinkado, the Tree is from PSX and the little bird is from Stampin Up.

tfl.

Mighty Nice Peaches...

Well its come down to this... I think i am officially pushed into creating a light box to shoot projects in now... this is a card i did when we got home from Dinner last night, and of course it was pitch black out by the time it was done (8:30 ish) so, this am i ended up propping this card up on a dish so it would have the "whole card" in the light this morning... The background is an left over alcohol ink one from the class i did last november. the Sentiment with the peaches is from Farm Fresh an WISH RAK from PeebsMama ( Susan ) Thanks so much for these Susan!! the peaches across the top are from a set called sunripened. The Lace was an yard sale find this summer, the peaches in the center are up on slim pop-dots.

The matt cardstock is really rust and the peach textured is from Bazzill... the very vanilla ended up being a little too clean so i color dusted some tea dye distress onto it. This is being entered into the Sept. RAK card challenge at splitcoaststampers. ( for using an wish rak item) this was a sketch card for that. tfl.

First Day of School

( he was pretty happy that even though he is standing near a pot of planted petunias i assured him the flowers were not in the photo with him...) funny thing, most the shots he closed his eyes.. So far we both like his teacher too. ( shes young I'd bet money this is her first classroom) :) (poor lady) ha ha These could be titled same card different scraps... I started coloring a few last week and have a little pile of colored Bella's on the table now, along with a few scraps i have not managed to put away yet. the paisley background is really rust i think? I was trying to have it look like the light was hitting her from the top right hand side of the image... this was the first attempt at that.

This was the second one, figure i will add sentiments to these before i mail them out. they are all A-2 in size.

Its hard to think of what colors a witch may actually wear... this was as far as my brain could think at the moment. spent some time putting away some of the stamps i have mounted and addressing the envelopes of a new pile of Wish raks that actually went out in the mail today. ( mail was still not delivered here last time i check about 5 pm i guess)

Happy Labor Day!

16 packages of home grown corn are now residing in our freezer... *Ü* (Now you know why they call it Labor day Weekend hee hee hee...) its like the last chance to get a whole bunch of yard work done... Yes, i actually do remember the real reason for the Holiday... just a little humor... Have a from scratch Lasagna headed into the oven as soon as it heats up and found a little time to play about an hour ago. ( so the lights not good for photos already)

The colors are off. This is 6X6 in real life, the stripe PP is from Basic Grey, the More Mustard cardstock is stamped with the same color ink in the Paisley background and this looked really fallish to me so then i tried Jan's First technique challenge in the stamp shack using Really Rust ink on Confetti cream cardstock then over stamped the Hero Arts sentiment in Versafine Vintage Sepia, and then Added the Stitched heart in Peeled Paint distress... tore the edges and color dusted some tea dye distress on them.

this went together really fast. I have a lot of fall colored scraps on the table ( and a huge huge mess) I started mounting my naked rubber to used wood blocks last week here and there as i find time, so most of them are on wood now but, most still need index stickers and ( a place to live in my space) ha ha they will not fit back into the tins they were in unmounted, BUT from what i have stamped so far, i am getting Superior stamped images from mounting them. So, I am glad i did it. ( just wish the cleaning fairy would hurry up and get it all put away) :)

Have a good what's left of this weekend!