Seeing Red

I tried another go at the Big Flowers set. Red was still out on my desk so I went with it. Here's another sentiment from the All Holidays set too.

Today went to see Hairspray. It was pretty fun! Jake wanted to go straight away to buy the soundtrack. But he'll have to wait. The music and dancing were great. Watching John Travolta as a woman was rather odd though.

I've got to go get ready for my workshop tonight. Have a great day!

Paisley Joy

For today's card I used the Polka Dots and Paisley set with the coordinating Petals Jumbo Wheel. I wheeled the background in Certainly Celery and colored in some areas with markers in Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, and Pretty in Pink. The paisley image is also colored in those colors. There are silver brads around the focal image which is layered in celery and Basic Black.

When I made my hubby pick between four card samples this is the one he liked the best. He hates to do that for me. He is totally supportive of my stamping habit but does not like when I ask for his opinion. He says he likes everything. He's a sweetie!

Have a great day. Tomorrow morning I'm taking two of the kids to the movies to see Hairspray. Yeah!

Big Flowers for a Friend

I especially bought the sets Big Flowers and Little Flowers to make swaps for convention. This is my first attempt. I'm not too pleased, really. Although I had envisioned this layout using the new scallop punch which was on back order. It finally arrived on Monday so now I can try again. The sentiment is from the new greeting set: All Holidays. I love this stamp the most in this set. The background is the petals wheel in Real Red. The other colors used here are Old Olive and Night of Navy. The ribbon is Mellow Moss.

Today I am working on projects for a workshop later this week. I have tons to do before convention next week. I'm so glad that I am going to Session 2. I never would have been ready for it to start today! I'm sure everyone that is already there is having a great time! I love Convention!

Journaling Again

Wow! I have had such a busy week! Kids activities, Dr. appointments, laundry, etc. And then there was the weekend. I did little other than read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I finished last night. Now life can get back to normal! We were at the bookstore at Midnight Saturday AM to get our three copies. Yes, three! I needed one, hubby needed one and oldest son needed one. We just could not wait for each other to finish! DS and I have both finished and hubby is about half way through. (He had places to go on Saturday) Anyway, I loved the book! No spoilers here, but, wow! I was not disappointed!!

Today is the mailing date for my Circle Journal Group. So here are the pages. I have completed for Charmaine's Journal. Her theme is travel. I used the So Saffron Prints Paper with Chocolate Chip layers. The stamp set is Polka Dots and Paisley stamped in Chocolate Chip and colored is markers of So Saffron and Almost Amethyst. I added strips of the reverse side of the paper and did paper piercing and faux stitching. I also added a punched flower with a So Saffron brad.

Cards and Movies

Here is another take on yesterday's layout. I used Mellow Moss and Brocade Blue. The stamps are Be Happy and Little Pieces. The ribbon is mellow moss gingham. I think I like this one better than yesterdays. But maybe it's just the color combo.








Here is a slight variation on the same layout. Here I used Mellow Moss, Brocade Blue and So Saffron. The stamp sets are Seeing Spots and Unfrogettable. I also added some paper piercing on the middle strip. I think I like this one the best of all. Please put in your two-cents and tell me which of the three (yesterday and today) do you like the best. I need input!




Hope you all had a great weekend. I went to see Transformers on Saturday. Wow! That was a great movie. I did not expect to be that entertained for 2 1/2 hours. There was not a dull moment in the whole movie. When I saw the first trailer months ago, I thought, oh great, this will be a total waste of time. Boy, I'm delighted to be wrong! Shia LeBoufe (sp?) was so good. We'll be off to see Harry Potter on Thursday afternoon and then at the Barnes and Noble Party on Friday night to get our HP Book 7 at midnight. Yeah!

Be Happy!

I sat down the other night to figure out a swap for convention. This one is my first attempt.

The card stock colors are Brocade Blue, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White. I used the new See You Around Jumbo Wheel in pink on the main background and the white strip through the middle. The tag and flower are from Be Happy and the sentiment is from Polka Dots and Paisley. I tied pink grosgrain around the middle strip before placing it on the card. The tag is attached with dimensionals.

I'm really not sure that I like this card. I'm not sure if it's the color combo or what. What do you think? Dare I make many more of them?

What I've been doing...

I have been spending this summer catching up on the series, Gilmore Girls. I only started watching this a few weeks ago in the afternoons. But my daughters, my son and myself are totally hooked! So we started during the middle of the second season and now ABC Family is into the third season. But we had so many questions about the first season that I bought the entire first season on DVD (used). We have been spending hours every day watching Gilmore Girls. We are also getting one episode a week of the seventh season on the CW (Tuesday nights). It's so weird watching a series like this. We'll watch the DVD's in the morning (season 1). Then we'll catch an episode in the afternoon (season 3). And once a week we get a glimpse of season 7. We have so many question about how Lorelai and Rory got to where they are now. I can't wait to see all the episodes. It's taking about a month per season on the daily episodes so we'll be through everything but season 7 this fall.

There are so many things to love about this show. I wish that I had started watching it in 2000. Although, my kids were too young then for some of the shows content. The dialogue on this show is really very well written. Let me know if you are a Gilmore Gal and maybe catch me up with some details: Like how is that Rory went to Yale instead of Harvard? What does Rory get out of her relationship with Paris? When did Luke and Lorelai get together? Did Lorelai's parents ever accept her? Do Sookie and Jackson have kids?

These are the burning questions on my mind! I haven't even been stamping enough because of this show. But we will be through with season 1 today or tomorrow so that will free up some time.

Okay, I've gone on enough about this. Have a great weekend!

Thanks for the RAK, Heather

I got this beautiful card in the mail the other day from Heather Phillips. Make sure you check out her blog. She has awesome ideas and creative samples there. I love the colors that Heather used on this card. And the simplicity of the design. Thanks so much, Heather!

Petal on the Square

This card is a 5x5 square. I started with Regal Rose paper and stamped the petals with Purely Pomegranate. I cut them out and attached a stamped circle from the Pick a Petal set. I used my 1 1/4" circle punch. I layered my flower onto Wild Wasabi card stock that had Mellow Moss grosgrain wrapped around it with the sentiment added in Wasabi also. This layer was attached to a Confetti White layer and paper pierced along the top and bottom of the wasabi layer. Then I attached the whole this to a Pomegranate card base.

Hope you like! Have a great hump-day!

Red, White and Blue Birthday

For today's sampling I used the stamp sets: Pick a Petal, Little Pieces, & Sincere Salutations. I started with a Real Red card base. The next layer is Bashful Blue with is stamped with the small flower image from Pick a Petal in Bashful Blue. I added a scalloped edge using the corner rounder to make the scallop. I then used the 1/8" circle punch along the scallop. I layered red and white down the side of the card and finished the white edge with another scallop made the same way. I stamped the greeting in Real Red and tied a piece of Red Gingham Ribbon in a square knot before attaching this strip to the card. For the focal image I stamped the flower in Real Red and Bashful Blue then layered circled that had been stamped with Little Pieces and punched with the 1/2" circle punch. And there you have it. I am considering a version of this card for my convention swaps. And I'm going to place a small order from the new catty today. I want more, but I need a few things for swaps and that's all I afford at the moment.

Have a great Tuesday!

Birthday Bella

I participated in a great image swap with the bellaholics anonymous group. I got over 60 bella images to play with. I finally had some time to play the other day and here is what I came up with. The card base is Basic Black. The patterned paper is from the pack at Costco. The sentiment is from SU!'s Everyday Flexible Phrases, then punched with the large circle punch and placed under the strip layer. I colored the cute Bella in with SU!'s awesome markers. This was a super quick card to make. I can't wait to try some more of the images I have.

Today was the first day of school for my 3rd grader. His school is the only one left on the year round tracking system. The rest of the kids don't go back to school until the middle of August. But Matt was looking forward to it and likes his new teacher. The new backpack and lunchbox helped in the excitement department, too.

Have a great day!

Catalog CASEing Challenge

Last night I had some time to stamp. One of the challenges over at SCS was to CASE a card in the new catalog. So I CASEd three. This first one is from page 51 and uses the Be Happy set. The sample in the catalog used Blue Bayou but I substituted Wild Wasabi because I do no have the Blue Bayou ink pad yet. The second card is from page 115. I don't particularly like this card. I think it's just too plain. It features the Office Accoutrement set. The third card is from page 145. I changed the size of this card and used a different sentiment stamped in a different color because I hate to emboss...too lazy! Try copying a card from an idea book or catalog. It can get your creative juices flowing.

The Bella in Me

This week was also the mailing day for the Bella Circle Journal I'm in. For the page on the left I used PMSabella. I paper pieced her clothes and used marker to color the rest of her. The background paper is from the huge stack at Costco, accented with SU! paper in Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip. I also added silver brads where I used my ticket corner punch. The tab is made with the Round Tab Punch.





For this journal entry we were to share the bellas in each of us. I used the same papers here and added a layered, punched flower, attached with another silver brad.

I'm having such fun with these journals. I can't wait for the next one to arrive!

Sum-Sum-Summertime!

I hope you all had a happy and safe holiday yesterday! I took my four kids and one of their friends to the local Six Flags Park. I had never gone to an amusement park on the 4th before and was a little worried about the heat and the crowds. The temperature was at least 101-105 but there was a breeze and lots of shade and the temp started dropping around 4pm. Surprisingly, the crowds weren't too bad. It was a little busy in the early hours of the day but by 3pm there was no wait on older rides and only 30 min waits for the newest, biggest roller coasters. We had a fantastic time and even got to see fireworks!

For today's card I used Summer by the Sea. I stamped with StazOn onto Whisper White and water colored with aqua painters and re-inkers. I also touched up some with markers. The card base is Barely Banana stamped with the Canvas background stamp in banana and sponged around the edges. The focal image is layered with Sage Shadow and Perfect Plum. Light Pink Grosgrain is wrapped around the left edge of the card and tied with a square knot.

I have had this set for quite a long time but only recently have I liked what I have been making with it. Before I would stamp and color and play and then hate what ever I completed. So I'm glad that I have tried again because I like this card. I hope that you do too!

More CJ Pages

More Circle Journal pics today. This is the page where each participant embellishes a tag and leaves it here. I included several items on the front and back about me and requested that each person do the same. For the scalloped circle around my photo, I took a cool idea from Beckie. I punched out several word windows and layered them around the back of my photo to make the scallop. Does that make sense? Let me know if you need more info explaining that one. I know I'm a visual person and sometimes I just don't get those verbal instructions!

Now on to my two-page spread of the theme: Things I Want to do in my Lifetime. So for the stamped image I used the set Summer by the Sea. I water colored it with aqua painters and reinkers and then did final touches with markers. The image is stamped with Staz On onto Watercolor Paper. This paper is awesome! I don't use it very often-because I'm hoarding. LOL You can see that I used Twill Tape and Hodgepodge Hardware as well.



For facing page I added my journaling, listing a few things on my list of things to do. The Journal went out in the mail yesterday to Germany! Let me know when it arrives, Jana!

Have a great day. Tomorrow is the fourth of July and I'm taking my kids to Magic Mountain!! We all love Roller Coasters and my mom is even coming along. The only bad part is that it's supposed to be 105 degrees tomorrow. Yuck!

ETA: The font used here is Retrospect by Creating Keepsakes.

Tagged...Pass It On!

I have been tagged by Beckie. I am supposed to list seven little know facts about myself. I guess it's time you learned some of my little idiosyncrasies.

Here goes:
1. When a drink has ice I must use a straw. Unless that drink is water. Water just doesn't taste right through a straw.
2. I hate feet. Even my own. Keep yours away from me! Yuck. I can tolerate baby feet until about the age of two. Then forget it.
3. I recycle. Not just glass and plastic. I put everything I'm allowed to into my recycling bin. Junk mail, food boxes, etc.
4. I am the new den leader for my son's Cub Scout Troop. This month is the Raingutter Regatta. Too Fun!
5. I got married when I was barely 19. My birthday was just two weeks before the wedding. This August will be 21 years! Yes-That makes 40 next month! How did that happen?
6. I was born on an Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi.
7. I have to be covered when I am sleeping. Even if it's really hot. I just feel too exposed without covers. I will stick me feet out if I get too hot, though.

Okay, there's seven things about me. I hope I kept you entertained. Now I'm supposed to tag 7 more people:
Jana
Charmaine
Libby
Yvette
Paris
Jeanna
Terri

Enjoy the game. It's fun to get to know the people behind the blogs we enjoy!

Circle Journal Preview

Hey there! Long time no blog! Today is the first mail date for the Circle Journal Swap. Here is page one of mine. This is the title page. I have intentionally left the cover un-embellished. I will decorate it when it comes back to me in December. For the background paper I used Brocade Background Paper from the new SU! catty. I used Hodgepodge Hardware and Mellow Moss Grosgrain Ribbon.




Here is page two of the CJ. This is where each participant will sign their name. For the dots on the eyes of "sign in" I used Circle Rhinestone Brads. The stamp is from Stamp of Authenticity.






Here is page three. This is the instructions page.
I will show you the rest of the pages tomorrow. I am really looking forward to seeing the next CJ. It should be here later this week. Yeah!

Thanks to all of you who are participating in the CJ Swap. I hope you are as excited as I am!