Surprise Monday Mailer Package

Last week I received a package from Pam, my Monday Mailer buddy.  I was totally surprised!  She sent me a beautiful anniversary card plus a little 3x3 box with a few note cards and envies from the new Summer Smooch sneak preview plus a little purse made with the Summer Smooch Purse Die.  They are just so cute!

This is a beautiful card with embossing and white satin ribbon and pearls!  She used the Apothecary Art stamp set from the Mini Catalog.  It is so much prettier in real life!

This is the little purse that she made.  It is so elegant!  She punched the Marina Mist handle on either side with the Hearts Border Punch and adhered the Lace Ribbon down the center.  The button on the flap has a little rhinestone in the center and the three itty bitty flowers in the corner each have a rhinestone in the middle.  So much detail!!

 

 

 

 

This is the little box that she made with the Summer Smooch DSP and stamp set.  Again, the button has a small pearl in the center.

These are the three note cards (3x3) that are in the box.  They also use the Summer Smooch stamp set.  So cute and colorful!!

If you would like to order any of the Summer Smooch items, you can!  Stampin' Up is giving our customers a chance to order a "sneak peek" from the upcoming catalog.

 Check out the flier HERE. 

This offer is only good until the end of the month!!

Monday Mailer cards from March

I received some wonderful Monday Mailers last month.  My partner was Pat Wilkerson and she is a great stamper.  She always makes the best cards so I was super glad to be paired with her.  Here are the last two cards she sent me which I will be CASE-ing!

I think this is what is called a Cascading Card.  It is wonderful!  I just have to take it apart and figure it out.  It uses Mixed Bunch from the mini.  I think it looks harder than it really is!

Isn't this a cool one?  Fold the card stock into a bird house and use Language of Friendship for the bird!  I just love it!

Opened bird house

My brother-in-law flew back to Texas today.  I think he had a good trip.  I can't wait to see what their adventure will be next year.  They are talking about looking into a train trip out west.  I suggested they take Route 66 and see where it takes them.  We had a fish fry last night and invited my mom and sister to come help us eat the catfish.  It was fish that they caught last May when Jack was here and I had frozen it.  It's easier for Sonny and I to go out to eat when we want fried fish than to cook it for 2 people.  But I made macaroni salad, brownies, hush puppies and fish.  Sonny cooked the fish and hush puppies outside so I didn't have the smell in the house.  It sure brought back memories.  When we used to go to visit my sister and brother-in-law and my dad and step mother, we would always have a fish fry.  My mother in law made the best macaroni salad and I use her recipe and Debbie (sister) always had sweets - usually a batch of brownies.  One year when we were there, we had a very memorable fish fry and it is always mentioned whenever we get together.  The guys - Sonny, Jack and Papa - had gone fishing all day and had a few lot of beers.  When they returned home, they went out back to get the fire started to cook the fish.  Our kids were pretty small so we went ahead and fed them first with the first batch of fish.  When the adults sat down to eat and we all had put food on our plate, Helen (my step mother) looked at her fish and asked Papa when he started putting pepper on the fish.  Well, about that time, one of us noticed that the pepper was moving.  It was not pepper but it was ants!  The grease they had used had been outside and was full of ants which of course, they hadn't noticed!  Debbie, Helen and I all dumped out our fish out but the guys knew better.  They just kept eating and telling us how great it was and that those ants wouldn't hurt us.  It was several years before our kids found out that we had fed them fish with ants!!  It's a family story now that none of us will forget.

Travels and Monday Mailer

We are having a wonderful time in San Antonio and it is hard to believe we have to get on the plane tomorrow to head back home.  We have been shopping, eating (a lot!!), visiting friends and family and just plain having fun!!  Ashley took off from work while we were here so that made it even better.  We started out having Mexican food the night we arrived and followed it up on Thursday at the River Walk and having Mexican for lunch.  We also took the water taxi tour down the river - something I have not done in years.  Thursday night, Ashley had tickets for us to go hear Jeb Bush speak at Trinity University (her college).  He was very interesting and spoke mostly about educating our children.  Friday we went to San Marcos outlet shopping .... spending 1 1/2 hour in the Vera Bradley store!!  Later we went to Austin to meet a friend for drinks, although when she arrived and ordered water, we knew something was up!  Yep - she is pregnant and we are excited for her and her hubby.  Next my nephew, his wife and new baby joined us and I got to see Jack Frost IV!!  What a cutie!!  Saturday we visited a couple of the Missions in San Antonio and got a Nat'l Park Service tour of one of them where we all learned some things.  Sunday after church, some of Ashley's friends came over and we cooked out and visited.  The little ones went swimming but the water was too cold for the adults!!  Last night we went to see The Hunger Games.  It was really good!!  Today we drove over to Gruene, about a 45 minute drive and wandered around in and out of the cute little shops as well as doing a bit of wine tasting.  We have eaten a little of everything - Mexican (of course) 3 times, Rudy's BBQ, Italian, Thai, Texas Chicken Fried Steak .....!!  Diet starts Wednesday!!

Before I left I made my Monday Mailer cards.  Here is one of them.

This is a white on white card.  I stamped the flower from Fresh Vintage first and then used the Designer Frames Embossing Folder to emboss around the flower.  I stamped the little border from Fresh Vintage in Concord Crush as I did the flowers in the stamp set.  This was a fun card to make.  All items came from Saleabration!  This is the FINAL WEEK to take advantage of the great Saleabration items.

Go Green for Spring!

I have to make this one quick - I need to get ready to go to the "Y" for a swim aerobics class.  I'm trying hard to be good about working out a little.  This will be two days in a row!!  Sonny doesn't believe it - he thinks I am sick.  I'll show him!

This is the Monday Mailer that I mailed yesterday.  Our theme this month is "Go Green for Spring."  I don't seem to use green much in cards so I am trying to challenge myself.  This card uses a lot of the Sale-a-Bration supplies that were FREE!!

Supplies used:

• Soft Suede card base, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, SAB Enchantment DSP
• Fresh Vintage stamp set (Free - SAB), Tiny Tags stamp
• Ribbon from SAB Brad & Ribbon Pack
• Postage Stamp Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch
• Dimensionals to pop up the postage stamps

This is the last February Monday Mailer that I received from Karen.  The butterfly is covered in glitter - hard to see in this picture.

It was great to talk to Ashley yesterday.  She had a great time on her Rock Boat Cruise but didn't have much of a voice left!  Don't know if you are watching the tv show, The Voice (I love it!) but the first contestant last night on Adam's team was Tony Luca.  He was just on Ashley's cruise.  She called me and said it was so funny watching the show since she was just hanging out with him last week!  He made it through last night on the first cut.  He is really good and I predict he will go pretty far.

Monday Mailers

Just a quick post before I head out to play cards today!

I haven't shared the Monday Mailers I have received this month.  They are great cards!  Our theme for February is to use any item in the Mini Catalog or SAB Catalog so I have been getting lots of good ideas from the cards!!

A little of this and that

Sorry about not posting the past few days.  I've been super busy with my Christmas Stamp a Stack.  I had a group of ladies Friday night and another group of ladies Tuesday afternoon.  I think everyone was quite happy with their cards.  I had a lady in each event that made 45 cards!  That's some assembly line stamping!  My Friday night gal had her mom and daughter here to help her but my Tuesday lady did hers alone.  She stamped everything she needed to while at my house and did a sample of each card.  Then she took them home to assemble them later.   I really enjoyed the stamp a stack but I am glad it is over so I can go on to do other things!! 

Several people have asked me about my mom.  It seems she takes one step forward and two steps back.  Last Friday, Angela called me to tell me mom was having really bad pain again.  When I've talked to mom in the past week, she has been pretty depressed.  I guess so - she hasn't been out of the house to speak of in over a month.  She has really been missing going to church and socializing with her friends.  She went to the dr. today for the second spinal shot.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this one will do the trick.  If not, I guess we will be doing the surgery.

I have not been doing much stamping the past week or more except for the Christmas cards for the stamp-a-stacks except for my Monday Mailers each week and I don't think I took pictures of the cards I made to send before mailing them!  That's the way October was for me.  But I do have my most recent received Monday Mailer to share with you.  It is a great fall card using the sentiment stamp from the mini catalog that is just so elegant.

 

I also have a birthday card to share with you that Margaret sent to Sonny.  It is a great card!!  I don't what company makes the stamp but I love it!!  She did a great job with this card.  Oh .... speaking of Sonny and birthdays, someone told me that I made an error in my birthday post about him.  I said that he was now on Medicaid instead of Medicare!  Most of you know us and know that I meant Medicare!   Like I said, October was a crazy busy month!

We (Sonny) has made a lot of progress with our paint project.  He has finished the hallways both upstairs and downstairs as well as the dining room.  We had a painter com on Saturday to do the foyer with the 18 foot ceilings!   I'll take pictures of the dining room to show you.  It looks really good in burgundy!  Tomorrow he is starting in the kitchen .... oops, guess I won't be cooking tomorrow night!   So after the kitchen, he will only have the bathroom downstairs, the laundry room and his office.  Then to the upstairs and the bedrooms and bathrooms.  Hopefully, all will be done by Thanksgiving!

Where Does Time Go?

No excuses .... life just gets in the way of my stamping sometimes.  I hate it when that happens!!   But also, I have gotten addicted to an internet game and it's eating up my time!!!  It's an old game - Jewel Quest but I keep telling myself, I'll just play for 15 minutes .... next thing I know, it's an hour later!  Just got to stop it.  I did play Mahjongg last Friday and lost all my money ($2)!!!  I hadn't played in a couple of months and I think I was just rusty - just couldn't get anything going.  The one time I thought I had won a game, I ended up with an extra tile in my hand so got disqualified!  

Saturday I did face painting at the Sherrills Ford Library.  The Friends of the Library put on a little fall festival for the children - face painting, games, pumpkin painting, decorating cookies, etc.  It is all free and great fun for the little ones.  My specialty was bats and spiders.  I think every little boy there wanted a bat on his cheek!  Sonny and I went out to dinner later that night and there was a family sitting behind us in the restaurant with 3 children.  They each had their faces painted .... by moi - a bat, ghost and candy corn!

Today we went to Big Al's to watch the Steelers play.  They were flying high at the half with the score 17-3.  I think they got a little cocky because it was sure a different game the second half.  We won but I was chewing my nails up until the last few seconds.

We stopped by to visit Mom after the game.  She seems to be doing much better.  She has quit taking the Oxycotin and is taking the Hydrocodein at night.  That seems to be the worst time for her.  She said she is real restless at night.  I'm sure a lot of it is because she is doing nothing during the day to make her tired.  Plus, she probably naps during the day.  She has narcolepsy (a sleep disorder) and takes meds during the day to keep her awake.   But since she has been on the pain meds, she has not been taking her sleep meds.  She was sitting outside enjoying the beautiful day when we got to the house.   She is still using the walker and going slow but I did not see her wince as she was walking.  She will be getting the nerve root block on Tuesday.  We have an appt. on Thursday to talk to the surgeon.

I got 2 Monday Mailer cards this week from Brenda Tapp.  They are great!  I don't have the Sizzix Leaf die but I sure wish I did after seeing the card.

Isn't this pretty?  She used faux tearing - it looks like two pieces of paper but it's not.

 

 

Another great card using my favorite .... Spice Cake DSP

I have Stamp Club next week so I will be sharing those projects with you soon.

Monday Mailers

I received a great Monday Mailer last week from Robin.  She used the set My Friend (pg 139) and made a monochromatic card in Real Red.  The stamping is just wonderful.  If I didn't know better, I would say that she did not stamp the floral image on the Top Note but that it came that way from the factory!  It is that great!

 This is the card that I sent to my Monday Mailer partner today.  I got the idea from one of the swap cards I received at Regionals on Saturday.  That is why I love to go to these events - you get so many great ideas!  Unfortunately, I have just discovered that it is a retired set!  At least, I cannot find it in the current catalog.  So I will be sending Nancy another card tomorrow!  I just assumed since I received a similar card in the swaps, that it was current!  You know what they say about assuming!!

So, this is the other card that I made for Nancy to take the place of the retired set that I did by mistake.

Monday Mailers .... August

Hope your weekend was good.  Ours was a little rainy but we needed it badly.  Hopefully the rain will cool down the temps.  I did a bit of yard work - pulling those nasty weeds - yesterday.  It didn't take long for the humidity to get me!  Friday night was the return of FOOTBALL!!  We met our friends, Barb and Mike and Marianne and Greg at Big Al's to watch the Steelers first pre-season game.  We didn't get to see much of the game because the station kept jumping to other games too.  But, it was nice to visit with Barb and Mike.   Mike had rotater cuff surgery on his right arm this summer and Barb practically has to do everything for him.  I think she was ready for a break!

Today Mom, my sisters and I went to see The Help.  It was sooo good.  I read the book earlier this summer and Marianne just finished it yesterday.  If you haven't read the book, do so!  The movie was pretty much just like the book and I can see it getting a few Academy Awards this year!  What are you waiting on?  Go see the move and read the book!!

I have a couple of cards to share with.  They are my Monday Mailers that I have received this month.  I have been lax in posting pictures of them!

Hope your week is a good one.  Mine is going to be busy!  I am playing Duplicate Bridge tomorrow and have Card Club on Tuesday and Thursday!

Stampin' Blisters

We had some much welcome rain this afternoon plus the temperature was bearable today!  Maybe the brutal summer is coming to an end.  I know I will welcome fall!

I had a first tonight!  I got a blister on my finger from stamping!  I bought some lunch bags at the Dollar Store today to put my class projects in and decided I would dress them up a bit.  So, I started stamping them - 15 of them.  My finger was hurting a bit and when I rubbed it, I found the blister!  I decided to use a wheel and roll the next set of bags - safer! 

This is the Monday Mailer that I sent to Nancy this week. 

The card is Bashful Blue and white with a Turquoise strip across the middle and white.  I just love the Designer Brads!!  The cupcake is punched out with the Cupcake Punch and layered on the new embossing frame (you get 2 in a pack!).  The Crumb Cake frame is layered onto Soft Suede rectangle and I rounded the corners.  A simple card with a few added touches.  As it turned out, Nancy's (my Monday Mailer partner) birthday was this week so this card was ideal for her!

Birthday Wishes and the Bronze Star

Last week was my nephew's 22nd birthday.  Wow!  Where has the time gone?  Seems like just yesterday when I  made him a little wooden stool with Barney painted on it so he could reach the sink to wash his hands!  Now, Marianne (his mom) uses the stool to reach the higher cabinets in her kitchen since she's so short!!  The family celebrated his birthday at his favorite Japanese restaurant. 

It's been another busy week so far.  Yesterday I played bridge.  When I got home, I worked on some cards for various swaps I am doing.   Today I worked at the Soup Kitchen.  It always makes me feel good to work there.  I feel like I'm doing some good in the world and not just "getting by".

I remembered to take a picture of my Monday Mailer this time!  Last week I put it in the mail before I took the picture.  The theme this month is Favorites.  I used a few of my favorite accessories in the new catalog - the Incolor Designer Brads and the new Designer Frames embossing folder ( you get two folders for $8.95).  I made the cupcake with the Cupcake Punch - super easy!

 

Do you know what this medal is?        

 Well, it is a Bronze Star Medal Award.  Ashley showed us hers today (via Skype) that she received in a ceremony this week!  We are so proud of her!   This award is given for meritorious achievement or meritorious service.

Catching up with July Monday Mailers

I made two Monday Mailer cards for Laurie before I left for convention.  One I mailed when I left and the other one I left instructions for Sonny to mail (and he did!).  I didn't want to post them and spoil her surprise before I left.  I've finally have a few minutes and can post them now.  I've been trying to get my desk cleaned up this morning from the mess that I left it in when I went to Salt Lake City!  Think I can see the top now.

Remember our theme this month is to use colors that you don't usually use.  For some reason, one of those colors for me is River Rock.  I like the color and used it all the time back when it was an In Color.  But for some reason, I tend to grab the Crumb Cake instead of River Rock.  For this card, I used the new Postage Punch to punch out squares of the nautical DSP in the summer catalog and arranged them on the background of the River Rock cardstock. Then I ran the whole thing through the Big Shot and embossed it. (what would I do without this machine?)  I wrapped the Bakers Twine around it - tying it in a Sailor's Knot.  (I just googled Sailers Knot and found a tutorial for it.)  Then I adhered the whole thing to the Early Espresso card.  I used different circle punches to punch out the stamped world image and the compass image from the Open Sea set.  I also punched out circles in Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist.

I'm really going to miss this stamp set!

Here are a few other colors I don't use much - More Mustard, Tangerine Tango and Cajun Craze.  The card base is Tangerine Tango; the next layer is Basic Gray that I distressed the edges; the next layer is More Mustard and I sponged it with Tangerine and Mustard.  The ribbon is SU's Vanilla ribbon that I dyed using a dauber and an ink pad.  I used the Fun Flowers Bigz Die to make a flower out of Cajun Craze and Newsprint DSP.  I used the Little Leaves die for my Basic Gray leaves and the Beautiful Butterflies Die for the More Mustard butterfly.  The sentiment is on a strip of Vanilla cardstock.  I hand cut the end BUT ...  I learned a neat trick  at convention.  Use your square punch to make this cut!

Hope you have enjoyed these cards and learned a little something today!  I aim to please!!

Monday is my Mom's 83rd birthday and since my sister is going to the beach again next week and it is Restaurant Week this week, we took her out to dinner last night.  We went to the Epic Chophouse.  It was very good.  I can't remember being that stuffed when I left a restaurant and I even brought half my steak home!  My only complaint about the restaurant is that it is a little loud.  But maybe during the week it wouldn't be so bad.  It is the type of restaurant that you would go to for a special occasion as it is a little pricey.  Sonny doesn't like to share meals but that is what I would suggest next time!

Monday Mailers - July

Isn't it funny how great minds think alike!!  Our theme for Monday Mailers this month is to use color you don't usually use.  So, last week, this is the card I made using Rose Red and So Saffron which I don't seem to use much.   I love these little kids from the Summer Mini and hate that they didn't make it into the new catalog. 

RECIPE:

Stamp Set:  Sunny Fun

Paper:  So Saffron, Rose Red, Choc. Chip, Wild Wasabi, WW

Access:  Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon, Border Punch, Dotted Embossing Folder, Markers

So this card (below) is the one I received my Monday Mailer partner:

Kathy used this card to spotlight all the new In colors.  Isn't it funny how alike the two cards are!  Great minds I tell you!!

We had some crazy weather this weekend.  We went out to dinner Friday night with friends and it was pouring down rain when we left and mostly through dinner.  When we got ready to leave the restaurant, it started up again with the pouring rain so we stayed at the restaurant a little longer.  (It was an Irish pub and they had Sonny's new favorite Irish beer so it wasn't hard to twist his arm.)  Anyway, it probably rained really hard off and on for about 4-5 hours.  The next morning when I got up, I looked out in our back yard and boy, what a mess!  Sonny built a drainage area on the side of our house a couple of years ago - about a 10 x 3 foot area filled with rock because we had been having trouble with water washing away our yard.  It's been working ok until Friday!  Half the rock washed away into our back yard and down through the woods into the creek bed beside our house.  Sonny and I spent several hours Saturday trying to recover the rock.  We ended up recovering about half of it but it was a hot and humid day and we were drenched when we finished.  Later in the day, we rewarded ourselves by going to the movies.  I finally talked Sonny into going to see Mr Popper's Penguins.  It was really cute.  I remember reading the book when I was a child and wanted to see it.

June Monday Mailers

I have been super busy lately and don't see a break until at least Friday!  I played Mahjong last Friday, Saturday Sonny & I took a drive over to Concord Mills; Sunday we met Marianne for a delicious lunch buffet and then went cruising on the lake.  Monday, I played bridge.  This morning I was up really early (for me!!) and was in charge at the Soup Kitchen.  We served 125 people chicken salad, tuna salad and fruit salad - a great meal for a hot day!  When I got home, I made more chicken salad (I was on a roll!) to take to our Newcomers Bingo for Charity tonight.  My family - mom, 2 sisters and hubby - joined me for a great meal and fun Bingo games.  We weren't lucky at the Bingo games .... until the last one (played 12 games) when my sister, Angela won the "cover the card" grand prize.  She got a $75 gift certificate to The Chop House in downtown Mooresville.  After that, they raffled off the remaining bingo prizes.  Our group did pretty good.  My mom won first and picked out a necklace that she gave to me.  I won next and picked a bottle of Chocolate Wine.  (I've heard it's pretty yummy - I'll let you know.)  Next Sonny won but gave his ticket to Marianne.  There wasn't much left to choose from by that time so she picked a pair of earrings and gave them to me!  So, I did pretty good with bringing home the loot.  Tomorrow I play mahjong and then on Thursday, I have Stamp Club.  Whew!  I have got to find some time to work on my swaps for Convention!!

I've been so busy that I forgot to mail my Monday Mailer on Monday.  I used a retiring stamp - Cheep Talk and made a cute birthday card.  What do you think?

I was also trying to use up some of the retiring DSP.  This paper is from the Hostess 6"x6" stack (In Colors).

RECIPE

Stamps:  Cheep Talk, Party Hearty

Cardstock:  White; In Color Hostess Stack

Ink:  Concord Crush, Brushing Bride, Pear Pizazz, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade

Accessories:  Signa White Gel Pen, Poppy Parade Ribbon, Corner Rounder

This is the Monday Mailer I received last week from Laurie.  It uses the Sail Away set.  I'm so in love with this stamp set!!  And, I love the way she did the birthday sentiment using eyelets and the Bakers Twine!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

I went to my Newcomer's meeting today wearing a cute little straw hat.  I love hats!  Unfortunately, my family always makes fun of me when I put a hat on so I'm never sure if I look good or bad in them!!  But I got several compliments today on my straw hat.  If you're wondering, I wasn't the only one with a hat on.  Everyone was asked to wear a hat in honor of our speakers today.  We had two ladies who volunteer with the Mooresville Museum present their traveling trunk program entitled "The Story of Cotton - from Seed to Cloth."  It was quite entertaining.

After my meeting, I went shopping for a bathing suit!  I don't know about you but that is not a good experience!  I HATE it and I normally don't mind shopping.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I need to lose weight.  I need to find a plan and stick to it!!

Tonight Sonny and I went to Hickory Tavern in Mooresville for dinner and to play live trivia in the bar area.  Except ..... trivia was yesterday!!  I know I looked it up and it said Wednesday!!  Oh well, we watched the hockey game for a bit and then came back home.  It was better than having to cook something in the house for dinner.  The weather has been horrible!!!  Can you say HOT and HUMID?   It's been in the 90s for the past several days with no relief in sight.  If it's already this hot now, I shudder to imagine what the rest of the summer is going to be like.

I do have a couple of cards to share with you.  One of them is my final May Monday Mailer from Becky.  So elegant!  And the other is the Monday Mailer that I finally got in the mail today to Tina (a little late!).

 This is the Criss Cross card that I made for Tina.  It uses the DSP from the Summer Mini - Beyond the Garden.  I used the Triple Layer Punch for the Blossom.

 This is the card that slides into the pocket.  Along with the Triple Layer Blossom Punch, I used the Priceless Stamp.  I had a feeling this one was going to retire and I was right. 

This is the card from Becky.  She used the Flower Garden Embossing Folder on vellum with pearls in the center.  I love the Crochet Trim ribbon!

Monday Mailer / May

Here are a couple of the Monday Mailers I have sent and received this month.  I'm trying to think of a theme for June's Monday Mailers.  I'm leaning toward Retiring since June 1, Stampin' Up will announce their retiring stamps.  Got any predictions?

 

I am loving this stamp!  I sponged the water and the sky onto Glossy White paper, masking a circle for the moon.  I heat embossed the moon with Vanilla Embossing Powder (used Versamark on the circle first.)  The sails are cut out separately.  I used the Modern Label Punch and put 2 Itty Bitty Buttons up top with a blue circle behind the buttons and linen thread through them.

 This is a great card from Becky using Flower Fest from the Summer Mini.  I just bought this stamp set and will be making some cards from it this weekend.

This is another beautiful card that I got this week from Becky .... great for a wedding card!  She used the new Flower Garden embossing folder and debossed the front of the card.  Just lovely!!

Ashley arrived at her new location yesterday.  She took a 20 minute helicopter ride to get there.  She will be relieving a doctor who is on R&R for a couple of weeks.  The new post only has about 60 soldiers so it is much smaller than her post.  She said she will probably only be seeing 1-2 people a day!  Conditions there aren't as nice as where she is stationed - no cable in her room, food not as good ...  We have not been able to Skype - only talked via Instant Message.  She is hoping to be able to Skype with us tomorrow.  There is only one computer there that has a headset and video and it was in use today.  So, tomorrow she is going to take her own headset to call us.  She said she will be catching up on her sleep and her reading while she is there.  She also took a bunch of movies to watch.  Any of you who know her know that she likes to be on the go all the time.  My guess is she is going to go nuts over there!!  But the good news is it is almost June so her countdown to coming home has begin!!  Mid August doesn't seem that far away.

Monday Mailers for May 2011

Sorry there was no post yesterday.  Blogger was down last night so I wasn't able to post anything.  It's gotten pretty warm here .... well warm for us anyway - in the 80's.  I finally couldn't stand it any more and switched on our A/C yesterday - mainly because of the humidity.  We've had some rain this week and the air is really thick outside now.  I know my Texas friends wouldn't consider our temps as hot nor would Ashley where it is already in the 90's in Mosul.  Luckily, Ashley has been able to get a vehicle so she is not having to walk everywhere she goes.  They will be moving her clinic in the next few weeks and she tells me it will be about 1 1/2 miles from her living quarters so the vehicle will definitely come in handy!  Her attitude has not been the greatest since she returned from her R&R and I think she is marking off the days with a vengence!  August can not get here quick enough for her.  Most of the people she has been working with in the clinic have left by now and she has a new staff.  She is the only one of the medical staff that ended up having to stay for a year - the rest only had a 6-month rotation so that is not sitting well with her ... coupled by some respect issues she is running into.

Just a quick comment about American Idol before I share my cards.  I was quite shocked last night when James was voted off!!  When they announced it, Lauren and Scotty were upset, and Haley almost had a smirk on her face.  James sang one last song for us and kissed his wife in the crowd.  I thought James' performance on Wednesday night was the best of the night.  I put a lot of the blame on the 3 judges.  These judges have done a huge misjustice to the contestants by not being truthful in their comments. They seem to be afraid to step on anyones toes by giving them a bad review. All they can do it seems, is praise them, even though at times, some of the performances were horrid!!!..... Then the voters vote accordingly it seems to me.  I think the voting procedure needs to be restructured. The title is Scotty's to lose now.  I thought  it would be between Scotty and James for the final two.  Both were true to themselves and stood out each week. Biggest shock to me since Chris Daughtry went out in week 4 several years ago.  But, Durbin is better off not winning ... just like with Daughtry, the people who will buy his music are more likely to accept him now.

One more thing - Last night they showed a Steven Tyler video...so this year has been odd, videos by J-Lo, video by Steven, a book by Steven, makes ya wonder who they were marketing, the Idols or the judges? Just sayin' that's all.
OK - stepping off my Idol soapbox!

Here are the Monday Mailers so far this month:

Paper Pieced Sock Monkey - The first card I mailed to Tina.

Supplies:

• Paper:   Whisper White, Pacific Point, Real Red; Celebrations DSP 
• Ink:   Black
• Stamps:  Loads of Love; Sock Monkey, Sock Monkey Accessories
• Punches:   Circle Punch - 1 3/8" and 1 3/4"
• Accessories:  Buttons, Red Grosgrain Ribbon; Celebrations Accents; Stampin' Dimensionals

Printed Petals - Card #2 to Tina

Supplies:

• Paper:   Whisper White, Real Red; Sahara Sand; Daffodil Delight; Pear Pizazz
• Ink:    Real Red
• Stamps:  Printed Petals; Oval All
• Punches:   Ovals; Bird Punch
• Accessories:  Scallop Square Sizzix Die, Antique Brad; Finial Press Emb. Folder

Card being opened

Card completely opened.

Card #1 received from Becky

 Isn't this card the greatest?!!  I just love it.  She cut the boat out separately and popped it up with dimensionals.  This is the single stamp in the Summer Mini on page 11 - Sail Away

Card #2 from Becky

This DSP speaks for itself!  This is the paper on page 23 of Summer Mini - Beyond the Garden.

Becky sent me 2 cards this week - she didn't think the 1st card (Beyond the Garden DSP) was good enough!

This is a great card also.  I wasn't going to argue with Becky - I loved receiving both cards but it wasn't necessary!!  Don't you love how she punched the bird using the DSP (sneak peek - Paisley Prints).

I've been busy!

I've been staying pretty busy while Sonny and Jack are gone fishing!  They called last night and told me they caught 6 pretty good sized catfish.  Guess what we'll be doing when they come home???  Yep, a good ole' fish fry with hush puppies and catfish!!   Yum!!  (Marianne - you better get home soon!)

In the meantime, I've been doing a little organizing.  Ashley told me she thinks I move my stamps around more than I stamp!  They were outgrowing their home .... again!  So, I just spread them out a little better.  Today I took out all my desk drawers and cleaned them out and tried to get them a little bit more organized.  All the excess junk that was in the drawers that I don't use much I am going to put into my storage area that is just off my stamp room.  (Right now, it is all sitting around me on the desk and floor - I got tired and had to take a rest!)  I was so industrious today that I even went for a 30 minute walk this morning after I ate my breakfast!!

Plus, I have been stamping.  One of the gals that signed up for Monday Mailers this month has not received any of her cards.  I have e-mailed the gal who is supposed to be sending them with no response.  So, since I am not participating in the Monday Mailers this month (since I was gone during sign-ups), I decided to make Beth some cards.  The theme this month was masculine and I wanted the challenge anyway.  So here are the cards I sent her yesterday:

 I hope this Loads of Love stamp set never retires.  It is such a good masculine one.  I used Crumb Cake, Red, and Night of Navy cardstock.  I watercolored the truck.  The "ribbon" is the twill tape and Hodgepodge Hardware.

 This Medallion stamp was sooo popular when it was first released and now everyone has forgotten about it.  But, I thought it met the masculine challenge stamped in Cajun Craze with the Jumbo Brad in the center.

 This is a another stamp set that I had to rescue from the back of the shelf.  I only seem to use it in the fall (maybe because it is called Autumn Days), but it makes a lovely card.  The DSP is Elegant Soiree with Espresso grosgrain ribbon and a little piece of Marina Mist satin ribbon tucked into the knot.

My Digital Studio came into play with this card with the "wish big hand".  I printed it onto white card stock in Night of Navy and used brads in the corner.  The DSP is from Celebrations.

I forgot to share the little Easter baskets I made to put at everyone's place for Easter dinner.  I put chocolates in them.  Jack and Sonny forgot to take them with them  .... good luck on having any left when they return!

Mom and Angela brought me this lily.