Gallagher

We went with some friends last night to see the comedian, Gallagher.  He was performing at the Galway Hooker in Cornelius which is one of our favorite restaurants in the area.  I have never seen Gallagher perform live but used to watch him back in the 80s on tv. His shows were always filled with long monologues of social commentaries, but he gained attention for his surreal, incongruous props - a giant couch-shaped trampoline, an oversized Big Wheel bike, and of course, the Sledge-O-Matic. He was always so funny and at the end of his acts, he would always smash a watermelon with a mallet spraying it all over the first few rows of the audience.  We were a little concerned last night because The Comedy Zone at Galway is pretty small.  But, it was ok - he didn't smash a watermelon.  Although I think he may have earlier in the week when he performed in Charlotte.  Gallagher has definitely gotten OLD!!  He's now 64 and makes fun of the aging process.  Sonny and I could relate to a lot of his observations!!  His comedy is probably not for everyone - he makes fun of gays and blacks a lot.  But, if you can overlook that, you will laugh at him.  We had a great time.

I've been on a spree making cards lately.  Sunday I concentrated on one of the stamp sets in the Sale-a-bration catalog, Sweet Summer and made several different cards in the in-colors.  I will share a couple with you now and show the other ones tomorrow.

For this card, I used the In-Color Patterns Designer Pack (pg 175) - Blushing Bride.  Since it is double-sided, I used the stripe side for the top and the pattern side for the bottom of the card.  The green "happy birthday" strip, I created in My Digital Studio but you could also easily do it with any word processing program.  I stamped the flourish from Sweet Summer on the striped paper and used markers to color it.  I stamped the leaves on a white 1 1/4" circle that I layered onto 1 3/8 pink circle.  I stamped the flowers, colored them with markers and cut them out.  It's hard to see but I dotted each middle with a Pearl Pen.  I wish I could tell you where the sentiment came from, but I don't remember!!  I put some bling on either side of the sentiment and "poofed" it up in the middle.

Again, I used the In-Color pack but this time it's Peach Parfait.  I used the Dotted Swiss embossing folder on the white card.  I cut the scallop pieces - Peach and Pear - with my Nestabilities.  I stamped the flourish from Sweet Summer directly on the striped paper.  I stamped the leaves on Pear Pizazz and cut them out.  I stamped the flower onto Peach Parfait, colored it with markers and punched it out with the 1" circle punch.  I added a little bling to the flower and a piece of Peach Parfait ribbon to the bottom.

What a beautiful day!

Oh, what a beautiful day!!  We have had wonderful weather the past couple of days and the sun is shining brightly now!   I will probably be helping Sonny do a little yard work later today, but hopefully, will also have time to do some stamping.  I have a "chocolate" stamp that I am itching to use!!  Unfortunately, right now I am sitting with a heating pad wrapped around my neck!  I was talking to Ashley this a.m. via Skype and leaned back in my chair and this pain ran down the left side of my neck.  Ouch!!  I think it is muscle spasms just on that side of my neck.  I have been rubbing and massaging it and am now trying heat.  My mom had this last week and ended up going to the hospital and the doctor.  She was in pain for a week and was taking pain tablets as well as muscle relaxers.  I may be getting one of her muscle relaxers this weekend.  I don't know what has caused me to all of a sudden, get this!

I have received a couple of knock out cards this week that I want to share with you.  The first one is a Valentine.  Other than the one my hubbie bought me, this was the only Valentine I received and it is gorgeous!

 Margaret used Greeting Card Kids for this Valentine.  Isn't the pink and black just gorgeous?  I usually pair pink with brown but I'll be using black more now - Just love it!   Thanks friend!

Close up of the little girl.

This is the Monday Mailer that I received from Beth this week.  Can't get over how real those spools of thread look!  This is a set from the Occasions Mini (pg 6) that did not interest me in the least .... until I saw this card!  Beth said she went clean and simple this week and it is great!  She used SU's Color Coach (on pg. 165) to get started with the colors and the SU markers.  The Color Coach is a great tool!  I use it all the time.

 This is the card that I sent to Beth for my Monday Mailer.  I used the Color Coach to arrive at these colors - Peach Parfait, Not Quite Navy and Pear Pizazz.  The stamp set is from the Occ. Mini Baby Blossoms (pg 18). Lots of punches and dies again - I punched the bird and leaves out with the Bird Punch; used Heart Scallop punch on edges; Large Oval punch for "friends" and Tulip embossing folder & Square Lattice embossing folder.

Monday Mailer from Me

I forgot to take a picture of the first Monday Mailer that I mailed out last week!  It was so pretty.   I used some new DSP from the Occasions Mini Catalog and the new button Embosslit.  And .... it included a bookmark too!  Oh well, you'll just have to picture it in your mind!

I did remember to snap a picture of this week's Monday Mailer before I trudged up to the mailbox - in the snow - to mail it.  Well, to be truthful, Sonny trudged up to the mailbox while I stayed nice and warm inside!!

It is a simple card which is ok I keep telling myself.  Why is it so hard to do a simple card?  Probably if I were redoing this card, I might pop up one of those buttons.  This is the new Button, Button stamp from the mini catalog.  I stamped them in Poppy Parade (in color).  The bow is made with the Bow Easy - a double loop bow.  I used dental floss for my thread through the button and just colored it with my Poppy Parade marker!!  Clever, huh?

Hope you are staying warm.  It is still bitter cold here - 25 degrees right now - but we are supposed to get to 40 today!  A virtual heat wave!!  I think we finally got to the freezing mark last night around 6 pm.  Not one bit of the snow has melted and this is the third day school has been canceled.  They are going to be eating into their Spring Break soon.  The sun is out though and we will probably venture in to town after lunch.  Sonny is about to go stir crazy!!

In Color Combos

I’m starting to play around with the new in colors and find, like many others, I need to tone them down a bit!!  If you’re wondering what other Stampin’ Up colors will match with the new colors, here’s a helpful chart for you.

 

So, what do you think?  Need your shades?? 

To make your own “go together” colors, visit this site and pick your SU color combos.   It’s fun!  I’ve also added this site to my sidebar so you can check it any time you want!

Now, go CREATE!!

411 Challenge

I made my card for the 411 Challenge last night. It’s also going to be a birthday card for a friend who lives in England.

Here is the challenge sketch:

Here is my card:

The stamp sets are from Great Impressions but all other items are from Stampin’ Up. The paper is: Certainly Celery, YoYo Yellow and the new In Color, Bermuda Bay. I colored the cars with my Copics and used Glossy Accents on the windshields.

Happy Birthday Tom!

411 Sketch Challenge

Last night around midnight, I decided to make a card!  After watching the depressing stories about Farrah & Michael for the past few days, I needed something to cheer me up! 

I decided to do a challenge card from this sketch:

The "411" sketch challenges are a lot of fun.  They even give you the measurements!!  I took a few liberties with the sketch - as you can see .... no scallop circle, but used the daisy instead but I like the results.  Hope you do too!

I used the new "In Color" Rich Razzleberry and paired it up with an old "In Color" Pink Pirouette.  The DSP will be retiring next week but I still love it!  It's Raspberry Tart and I think it matches these two in colors well.   (remember - click on the picture to see it)

I'm sure going to miss this year's in colors.  The new ones are going to definitely have to grow on me!!  I'm just not too sure about them.  But that is what I said last year about Baja Breeze and it turned out to be one of my favorites!  Have you stocked up on them before they retire???

Friend .... ship

I am trying to be a friend with a person in my life by taking baby steps towards a trusting relationship. 

I've recently read an article about making friends out of rivals or enemies.  They listed these ten steps:

1. Find something to talk to them about which has nothing to do with the reason why you are rivals. Most of the time rivalry is a result of jealousy, so find something that is not a bone of contention between you.
2. Talk to them about something that they are very good at or interested in. This will make them relax because they have the home court advantage but at the same time they are not competing with you.
3. When they are not around, make sure that you speak about them the same which you would while they were present. The worst thing that you can do to a rival is say something which fuels the fire. Especially if it comes to them through another source.
4. Make sure that you are not too nice to them when you approach them. If you are they may lose respect for you or think that you are simply 'up to something.
5. Find something that you have in common which you are both passionate about that has nothing to do with the reason you are rivals. 
6. Ask for their advice.  This will impress them that you are humble enough to ask them for advice and that you respect them. Many times rivalry is due to a lack of mutual respect; if you can restore respect,  you can heal wounds caused by conflict.
7. Entrust them with something.  Just make sure that you have done some of the other ten steps to making friends out of rivals first. Trusting people puts them on the hook to live up to that trust. They will not forget it.  Just make sure that you use common sense.
8. Tell them a joke.  Seriously, making someone laugh is the best way to get them to relax. If they think that the joke is funny they may even try to one up you with one of their own. Just make sure that you laugh so that it will not be competitive.
9. As the friendship grows,  ask for them to forgive you for being the way that you have with them. They will most likely follow suit.
10. Find something productive to do with the friendship and it will probably last a very long time.  

So, without further ado, here's the card that I made.

 I used the new Soft Suede cardstock (new In Color) for the card base with some retiring DSP.  The stamp set is Boatloads of Love and I watercolored the image.  I used Liquid Applique on the clouds.  I also used the Nestabilities Labels One die.