I think I’m back…

Been awhile, hasn’t it? Can I start by saying I’ve missed blogging and all my blogging friends!! I hope you all haven’t forgotten about me!!! Why have I been gone, you may ask. Well, this is why:

Yup—that’s my Daddio. I won’t bore you with all the details, but he went in the hospital early in June. After spending about a week in the hospital, they refused to release him unless he was going to 24 hour care. Since he was adamant that he didn’t want to go to a nursing home, we’ve been taking care of him at his home ever since. I’ve taken on the bulk of the duties, and have been living at his house most of the last month and a half. He lives about 40 miles away from me, so I’ve spent very little time at my own house between working and taking care of him. Well, we had a meeting with the Hospice team last Friday, and after all the care and pampering we’ve been giving him, they agreed that we could scale back on his care. So, I think I’m going to be able to spend all week sleeping in my own bed!!! He has his good days and bad days, but he’s in much better shape than he was at the beginning of June. He’s a skinny little thing, isn’t he? He weights 100 pounds soaking wet, even after a month of three meals a day.

I wasn’t able to do any stamping or other artwork while I was at his house—I dragged enough stuff there as it was, without taking inks and stamps and paints and paper…you get the drift. I was able to do some creative things, though. Let me ask all of you—when was the last time you crocheted? I don’t think I’ve done any extensive crocheting for a good 30 years! However, I got a wild hair before my dad went in the hospital and decided to crochet an afghan for my special needs sister, Lisa. Here’s a not very good picture of her and the afghan I crocheted for her:

She’s waving at me, trying to get me to leave! Once I finished that one, I needed something to keep my hands busy while staying with my dad, so in addition to helping my nieces with some of their 4-H projects, I made even more afghans. Here’s my niece, Casey, and the one I made for her. The picture is awful—I took all of these with my phone. The colors in this afghan are turquoise, lime green and yellow:

Then I had to make one for my dad, since he’s always freezing. Here’s his:

Then I  made one for my other niece, Morgan. Here she is with hers:

  I couldn’t leave out their big brother, could I? I don’t have a picture of him, but here’s his afghan. The colors don’t show up very well—I used a camo variegated yarn and two shades of green:

Wow—was this addicting!!! Now I have Casey hooked (LOL—pun intended). She wanted to learn how to crochet, so I taught her and she’s going full steam ahead!! 

I’m sure my postings will still be sporadic for awhile—I have to take care of my much neglected house and yard, I’ll still be going to my dad’s regularly, and work is getting ready to be crazy for the next three weeks. I just wanted to assure everyone that I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, and I promise I’ll be back visiting your blogs in the very near future!!!

Mini-album, part 6…

Well, my lovely, pampering weekend is drawing to a close. I guess I’ll be glad to get back to work tomorrow. To wind up the weekend, I braved the rain we’re having here and went to an outdoor antique fair. The way this particular show is set up, vendors can set up stalls completely outside, or they can rent stalls that are under cover. Unfortunately, the rain kept all but the most hearty away from the outside stalls, but there was plenty to look at in the covered areas. I spent about two and a half hours, but my feet were getting soggy and I was getting a chill since my jeans were soaked halfway to my knees!! So, I came home and started working on part 6 of Roni’s mini-album challenge. The verse this week is, “When you are confused I will use little words.” and the challenge is to use words or alphabet stamps somewhere on the spread. Roni kept her layout to a minimum, and I decided to do the same. I did have some fun with the background, though. If you’re like me, you love poking around in the art supply area at the craft store. I picked up some iridescent medium last week, and decided to play with it on this layout. I made a tissue paper background using the iridescent medium and mini misters with reinkers/water in them (how did I live before I got those things? Love ‘em!) So—here’s the layout. You can really see the iridescence. and that golden glow? Wild Honey Distress ink! This is the first time I’ve used that one, and it is very nice!!

Finally, I want to share a pic of my antiquing goodies with you. Everything I picked up was with crafting in mind, so don’t be surprised to see some of these things show up in future posts.

Nothing was more than $5, so I can’t complain. And before you start scratching your head over the bright, spiky earrings on the left—the first thing I thought of when I saw them was some of the more recent Cosmo Cricket paper lines—the colors will go really well!!!

So, I  hope you had a chance to pamper yourself and recharge your batteries this weekend! 

Never-ending quest...

Just a quick post this morning. First let me say, THANK YOU to Gingersnap Creations—they graciously gave me another GingerGems award!!!! Whoo—hoo!!!!!

Second, I hope to get LOTS of play time in this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed that I can!! I’ve started on something that I should be able to post later this afternoon, but until then, I have something else to show you. If you’re like me, you’re always looking for the perfect way to organized your ever-expanding supply of stuff. I’ve just converted all my Distress inks to a new system that I am hoping works. Previously, I had all the ink pads in one place, reinkers somewhere else, Stickles in yet another place, and ink blenders somewhere else. If I wanted matching items, I had to look in multiple places to find them, and usually gave up before I found everything. Well, this is what I decided to do. I went to The Container Store and found these little clear acrylic boxes that perfectly hold an ink pad, reinker, Stickles, mini-mister, and one of my homemade ink blending tools. Now everything is all in one place! I think this will encourage me to use all these products a lot more.

  I am not that crazy about the Ranger ink blending tool—I never was able to get it to work for me. So, I came up with my own version. I purchased these 1-1/4 inch wood blocks and attached squares of Cut and Dry foam to one end and wrote the color on the other end. It was actually a pretty inexpensive solution that works great! The foam stays securely in place with red line tape, but can be removed if it needs replaced. Plus, I got all 36 colors out of a single sheet of foam! The one thing you’ll see missing is the Distress embossing powders and the crackle paint. I don’t have any of the embossing powders—just don’t feel the need—and I only have a few of the crackle paints, mostly in the metallic colors. I’ll find someplace else to store those.

So—let me know what you think! Have you found your perfect storage solution?

Quick update…

Just thought I’d let you know I got the grass mowed today. My house doesn’t look like a foreclosure property anymore!! Also—I thought it was high time I put a picture of myself in my profile. This is a couple of years old (I get my pic taken as little as possible!!). My hair is a little shorter and I have different glasses. Otherwise—that’s me!!!

Background, please…

Just a real quick post. I didn’t get the fourth spread done for Roni’s mini album challenge, but I did get the glue distressed background paper done. What a very cool (and easy!) technique!! I can imagine lots of possibilities with this one! I didn’t have the Aleene’s Super Thick glue, so I substituted Mod Podge. Seemed to work fine—at least I’m happy with the results!!! In looking at Roni’s example, I should have smeared the Mod Podge around a little more, but I think this looks fine. This 12 x 12 piece of cardstock will look even better when I cut it up for the album background. What do you think?

  

OK—now I need to vent. This is info I should probably be too embarrassed to share, but you’re all friends. When I got home from work today, there was a pickup truck sitting in my driveway. They backed out when I turned on my signal to turn in. I got the car in the garage and they were still sitting in the street. The woman rolled down her window and said she wanted to ask me a question. They are interested in moving into the neighborhood and wanted to know if my house was under foreclosure!!!!!! THE NERVE!!!!!!!  Anyway, guess that was the kick in the pants I needed—the lawn mower is hooked up to the battery charger right now so I can get it started tomorrow night and get the darned grass mowed. But a foreclosure???? I’m still fuming. I’m sure there are plenty of you single gals out there who know how hard it is to keep up with the outside of the house, the inside of the house, and a full time job. That leaves no time for crafting, and a girl has to have her priorities!!!!! Obviously, mine hasn’t been the grass!!! So—the mini album spread will have to wait—I need to mow the grass tomorrow night!!

GC41 and other ramblings…

Whew! What a day!!! Unfortunately, I didn’t play nearly as much as I wanted today! When I woke up to this out the back door…

…and talk on the news about snow emergencies, etc., I thought I would have a nice quiet day to play. Instead, I spent the morning e-mail flirting with my Alabama boy toy (Chester, you know who you are!) and the afternoon with company and then on the phone for an hour and a half. So, the card that should have taken me not-very-long to put together ended up taking all day. That’s OK—e-mail flirting is fun and it’s always good to have company and there’s always tomorrow to play!!

I’m trying to get all my valentines done this weekend. Here’s the one I did get done, and I’m also using it for an entry in the GC41 Chestnut Challenge, Romance. This is just the first of my entries for this challenge—I’m sure I’ll have lots!!!

This also uses the Splitcoaststampers sketch SC207. I hope to be back tomorrow with more valentines and a birthday card for my dad, who turns 79 on Valentine’s Day. Til then, have a good evening!

Bad poetry…

Before anyone says a word, I know I’m not a good poet!!!! Having said that, I’m still kind of proud of the corny little verse I composed for my niece's Valentine. Take a look:

Front

  
Pages 2 and 3

 
Pages 4 and 5

 
Back

I think it needs more embellishments, but am not sure what to do. Any ideas???

This is for my 10-year-old niece. She loves to stamp and make stuff. As a toddler, her favorite things to play with were wrapping paper and scotch tape! She’s gone to Stampaway USA here in Cincinnati for the last two years—two years ago with me, and last year with her mom. Do you think that could be considered “contributing to the delinquency of a minor?” LOL!! Anyway, I think she’ll like this.

Whoo-hoo!

I logged onto the Gingersnap Creations blog this morning, and guess what? I’m a Gingersnap Gem!! That means I can proudly display this badge on my blog:

I’m oh-so-excited! Thank you Shar and Ali for this wonderful honor!!!

Otherwise—had a busy weekend, so no new posts. I need to make a birthday card for my nephew who turns 17 on Friday, so that should be posted in the next day or so. I’m having a hard time figuring out what to do for him. I’ve been so tempted to make him a card using the Stampin’ Up! sock monkey set—maybe this is the year! Of course, there’s a story there. I played with a sock monkey as a little girl—my grandma made it and it was always at her house. I now have that monkey and it means so much to me. When my nephew was two, I decided that he needed his very own sock monkey, too, so I found a place that sold those funky socks and a pattern, and made him a sock monkey for Easter that year. He loved to play with it when he was little. I remember my sister calling me once and saying that Tyler wanted to talk to me (he was about 4 at the time). He was so distraught. “Aunt Kim,” he said. “My monkey’s innards are coming out. Can you fix him?” Of course I did! About that time, I asked him if I could make a sock monkey for his little sister, and he said no. So, Tyler is the only one who got a sock monkey from me. Sounds silly, but I’ve always thought of it as our special bond!!! OK—how stupid is that? Good thing he doesn’t know I have a blog—he would be so embarrassed!!!!! That settles it—sock monkey card for sure!!!! Stay tuned…

Love is in the air…

I don’t know about you, but I love to make Valentines. Next to Halloween, Valentine’s Day is my favorite card making holiday! So, I’m getting a head start and making some Valentines. The two I’m sharing here use non-traditional Valentine colors and my two favorite heart stamps. I hope you like them!!

The first one uses SC261, this week’s card sketch from Splitcoaststampers and is my favorite 6” x 6” card size.

This one uses SC260 from SCS. I got some nice kraft cardstock the other day that’s 8.5” x 14”, so  I decided to do a 4 1/4” x 7” card. It was kind of a challenging size to work with! For some reason, the colors didn’t photograph well on this one. The heart is embossed with Ranger’s Verdi Gris embossing powder on kraft cardstock, and neither is quite this bright. The trim is not orange, either, but more of a dark kraft color. Not sure I’ll ever get this whole photo thing figured out!!! Anyway, hope you like them, and look forward to many more during the coming month!

If you’re looking for any other inspiration, check out Ink Stains with Roni—she’s just started some tutorials for making a calendar out of CDs. It looks like fun—I’m going to try and play along and I hope you do, too.

If you had the last week off work like I did, enjoy your last day of freedom tomorrow, because Monday is back to the grind!!!

Organizing and a question…

I haven’t created anything today, but I did go to Archiver’s to see what was on sale! I was going to go to JoAnn’s, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby, too, but I spent enough at Archiver’s to make up for missing the other ones! I’ve been sitting here for the last hour or so trying to decide if I should start on some Valentine’s, but instead I’m going to work on that never ending task, organizing stamps. Do your stamps seem to multiply when you’re not looking, too? I swear—they’re worse than rabbits!!!

So here’s a question for you—when you have sets of stamps, do you break them up or keep them together?? Any insight would be greatly appreciated! I made the decision awhile ago to go to CD case storage for unmounted stamps. However, some manufacturers, like Oxford Impressions or Artistic Outpost, put lots of stamps in a set—more than will fit a CD case. In these instances, do you split your sets or keep them together in some alternate type of storage? I know—this is the age-old question for stampers, but I would love to hear how you handle it! Oh—and while I’m organizing the stamps, I’m actually going to clean them (gasp!).   

I hope to get started on Valentines and a birthday card tomorrow, but until then, have you seen the video tutorial for this card? I got this stamp today—definitely see some of these for next Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

OK—I’m back! Has the last month been incredibly hectic for everyone else, too? In addition to the normal holiday tasks of shopping, wrapping gifts, making cards, sending cards, attending holiday parties, my dad was in the hospital for a few days last week and that really threw things off! He’s home and doing OK now. Thanks for all your prayers!

I don’t know about you, but I am SO over Christmas!!! There just wasn’t enough time to get it all done this year! I do have a New Year’s resolution—I’m going to make 5 Christmas cards a month starting in January. That way, I should have all that I need by about October. Waiting until November to make cards is just crazy!!!! So—here’s a question for everyone—do you want me to share the Christmas cards throughout the year as I make them, or save them all to share at once next Christmas? Let me know!

Well, it’s a nice, laid back Christmas Eve this year. I got my sister this morning, so you know what we’re doing right now—that’s right, watching the Game Show Network. There was a Family Feud marathon on all afternoon. Whoopee!! So, I took the opportunity to sit here and do a Gingersnap challenge!!! A couple of weeks ago, there was a color challenge posted—the colors are green, purple, and gold. I immediately thought Mardi Gras, since those are official Mardi Gras colors. I didn’t want to go too over the top with a Mardi Gras theme, so this is what I came up with:

I love the fleur-de-lis and it is the official symbol of New Orleans, so I used it in a couple of places on the card. I had initially stamped it in green on the kraft cardstock and then sprayed the whole thing with gold iridescent Glimmer Mist, but the stamped image got so soft looking that it didn’t show up very well. So, I stamped it again and embossed it with clear embossing powder before cutting it out. After I cut it out, I sprayed it with the Glimmer Mist and then hit it with the heat gun to dry. It gave it a very interesting texture as the embossing powder melted and the Glimmer Mist dried—it’s really textured. The purple paper was also sprayed with Glimmer Mist and then embossed with a fleur-de-lis embossing folder. I picked up the beaded trim at JoAnn’s in the clearance aisle awhile ago. It’s kind of a white iridescent color—the kind you would see on bridal veils. I hit it with a gold metallic Adirondack paint dabber to change the color and added to the card. What would New Orleans and Mardi Gras be without beads???

OK—I need to fix supper for Lisa Bug. She loves dips and anything you spread on a cracker, so we’re having cheese ball and a hot onion dip for supper. No diet food here!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Thank you for your support as I continue blogging in 2010!!!!!

Thanksgiving ramblings…

Well—the leftovers are all put away, most of the dishes are done, the family is gone, and it’s just me and my sister, Lisa, sitting here watching TV (the Game Show Network, of course!), still stuffed from our Thanksgiving dinner. It doesn’t get any better, does it? LOL!

I remember the first Thanksgiving dinner my youngest sister, Lori, and I fixed—our mom was in the hospital and we went to her house and cooked Thanksgiving for the family. As soon as we had eaten, we packed a big dinner for Mom and all went to the hospital to see her (and seek her approval for the meal we had prepared). That was in 2003, and it was Mom’s last Thanksgiving. I remember how apprehensive Lori and I were trying to do what Mom had made look so easy all those years. Now I feel like I can whip out a first-rate Thanksgiving feast without thinking twice. I read a blog entry over on the Simon Says Stamp blog right before my family showed up today. It put me in this somewhat introspective mood, as Heidi shared the story of her Aunt Madonna teaching her to make pies. (Please take a minute to read her post.) She went on to say that “recipes are treasures.” I’d like to share my comment to that post:

Thank you for sharing. I agree that recipes are more than directions to make food--they are links to our past and ensure that those who are no longer with us physically are still with us in spirit. I thought that yesterday as I made the coleslaw from the recipe card in my mom's handwriting. I hope that someday my nieces will also understand the special connection these family meals give us to the past and the passed. Now I'm off to finish up some last minute details--the family should be arriving any minute. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and know that your Aunt Madonna and my mom are smiling down on us.

I hope Mom was watching us today and is proud of the feast I was able to put on the table for our family. If she was watching, I’m sure she smiled at my 10-year-old niece mashing potatoes, and my 15-year-old niece dishing up vegetables and filling glasses at the table. I know she will be equally proud of Lori as she hosts our family’s Christmas celebration in a month or so. Even though Mom is no longer with us, it’s comforting to know that we can carry on the unspoken values that were so important to her—putting a meal full of love on the table and bringing our family around that table, if only for a few hours.

If you celebrated Thanksgiving today, I hope it was full of family and the tradition of the tried and true tastes and smells that link us to our past. Take care of yourself and your loved ones, and have a wonderful evening.

Saturday ramblings…

Well—I just woke up from a two hour nap, and feel quite refreshed! :-)   The card class you’ve been hearing about went pretty well this afternoon. I think everyone enjoyed the projects. We had some experienced folks as well as some first timers—we may have recruited some new stampers and cardmakers! They loved the gift card holder, and came up with some beautiful designs. I wish I had remembered my camera so I could have shared all of them with you!

A big thank you to Angie and Rena for inviting me to help with their class—I had so much fun, and everyone is so nice!! I can’t wait to do it again sometime!

Now I need to move on to the next project—Operation Write Home. We have an organization of women engineers at the place where I work, and they approached me a couple of weeks ago about making cards for the military. I told them about OWH and we decided to start making cards on a recurring basis for this worthwhile group. Monday after work is our inaugural card making session, so I need to finish kitting up all the parts and make sample cards this weekend. We have the very ambitious goal of assembly line producing about 250 cards in an hour or so—wish us luck! I’m going to work on that this evening and tomorrow, and hope to post pics of the sample cards sometime tomorrow.

Also tomorrow—be sure to tune in for the blog candy giveaway! I plan on posting the winner around 8:00 am EST. Good luck!

Is the weekend over already?

They go too fast, don’t they? I don’t have anything of my own to share with you today, but if you’re looking for some quick little projects for the holidays, be sure to check out the Holiday Blitz tutorials that have been happening over at Splitcoaststampers all week. I know you’ll find something there that will inspire you!

I hope to have a little something for you next weekend. As part of the Christmas Card Class I’m teaching with Angie and Rena next Saturday, I’ve come up with a bonus project—it’s a very simple gift card holder. My goal is to put together my very first tutorial and post it for you next weekend.

The other big thing next weekend will be the blog candy giveaway! I’m confident I will get one more comment from someone new so I can draw names for the candy. Remember—if I don’t get another comment from someone different, the prize defaults to Lynn!

I did get the grass mowed this morning in time to go for the Sunday drive I mentioned yesterday. I’m glad I took advantage of the beautiful Indian Summer day we had here in southwest Ohio. I have a feeling it may be the last nice weekend. It’s supposed to start raining Tuesday and get cooler. I hope you had the chance to do something relaxing that you’ve been looking forward to!

Can one think about crafting TOO much?

The short answer is, YES! But of course, if you’ve learned anything about me by now, you know I never have short answers, so here’s the story!

I just got back from the grocery store. When I left, I was thinking about a particularly challenging construction issue I’m having on a current project. It wasn’t until I was halfway to Archiver’s that I realized I was supposed to be going to Kroger’s! I’m sure people thought I was crazy, because I was laughing out loud by myself in the car! I was good, though—I took a detour and went to the grocery instead of continuing on to the scrapbook store!! Aren’t you proud of me?

I’m sorry I don’t have anything to post for you this weekend. I’ve been busy wrapping up the kits for the card class with Angie and Rena—all the paper is cut and kitted, the crocheted flowers are tea dyed, and now I’m finishing up by putting embellishments in the kits. I will finish while watching TV tonight. Whew! That’s a load off! Although I would love nothing more than to play tomorrow, I need to mow the grass for the last time this season. I don’t think I’ll have any more opportunities after this weekend. I might also take a Sunday drive. I haven’t done that in ages, even though it’s something I love to do.

If you haven’t taken note of the comment count lately, we’re getting close! I think we’ll be up to 15 by next week, and I’m so excited! Thanks to all of you who are playing along!!!

Oh—one more update. I did Pilates again today—I don’t think I’ll be moving very fast tomorrow! 

Gaining momentum

Nothing fun to post for you this evening. I just wanted to say a great, big,

Thank You!

to everyone who has stopped by to visit and leave a comment. I’m up to three followers—whoo-hoo!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I’ve been working on kits for the Christmas card class at Angie and Rena’s church on November 14. I need to get those kits finished up so I can get started on a project for Operation Write Home. Stay tuned for more on that later. I’m ready for bed now, though! Be back later…

Artistic inspiration and just plain fun…

Well, alrighty then. It’s been a hectic week—worked pretty much OT and wore myself out. I hope to have some inky fun this weekend, though. I need to make Halloween cards and a birthday card—I’m looking forward to that when I get back from Pilates! At least I feel partially recovered from playing paintball yesterday. I have decided—aerobic exercise is highly overrated! I’ll post pics of the cards as soon as I get them made.

In the meantime, I have an inspirational link to show you, courtesy of Suze Weinberg’s blog. I’m sure you’ve all been e-mailed at one time or another pictures of those amazing trompe l’oeil images created on sidewalks. Here is a link to the artist’s website. Have fun looking at these—they are amazing!

Suze also shared a link to a fun photo altering site. I don’t have many photos on my computer, but I know you all do. So check out this site and have fun playing with your pictures!

Hopefully I’ll get some cards done today and can post them later. In the meantime, have fun and make something! Inspiration is everywhere!

As promised… more inspiration today!

Well—I’m back from Pilates (it was a little harder this week—ask me about the tabletop position and the C-curve). I took some more pictures this afternoon of cards I made and cards that were inspired (at least a little bit, I hope!) by Inspiration of the Day. 

Here are a couple of Christmas cards I recently made. Angie and Rena have given me the honored of teaching a card class at their church in November. These two cards are the ones I came up with. Let me know what you think about them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some birthday cards we made for Wendy. It was loads of fun—we hauled all our stuff into work and made them at lunchtime in a conference room. Aren’t they fabulous? (You can click on the picture to see a bigger image.)

	This card was made by Amy—isn’t it great? Amy isn’t typically a card maker, but you couldn’t tell by this beauty! We love the inside sentiment, too—“I’ve got crumbs in my cleavage that have been around longer than you!”  Unfortunately, I can relate!
	This beauty was created by Terry, who isn’t a stamper, scrapper, or card maker! She is an artist, though—she free handed the cupcake! Isn’t it great?
	This card was made by Sandy. She is a new convert to stamping and card making and has jumped in with both feet. The inside of this great card says, “We’re not exactly old, but let’s face it… our thong days are over!”
	Angie is our resident Stampin’ Up! demo and has been making cards the longest. Don’t you love her clean and simple style? Thanks to Angie, we can keep our paper addiction well fed!

Has anybody seen my mojo?

Has this been a crazy week for anyone else? It seems like all I'm doing is working! In the meantime, my mojo has flown the coop! But tomorrow is Friday, and I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet (and hopefully creative) weekend.

So--sorry I don't have much inspiration for you at the moment! I did get some new rubbah in the mail today, though, so I'm going to go open it and maybe get inspired!

And for those of you who are wondering (Queen Pam, you know who you are!), Pilates was fabulous last Saturday. I have another session this Saturday, too. I'm required to complete four one-on-one initial consultation sessions before signing up for any classes. I'm really looking forward to it!

Take care, and I hope to post more over the weekend!