We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and as usual, ate too much!  But it was all soooo good!  After everyone left, Ashley, Sonny and I decided to watch a little tv.  Well, I think we took turns keeping our eyes open!  Every time I'd look at them, one of them was snoozing and I know I was!  We were sad to see Ashley leave this morning - those two weeks sure flew by.  But, we will be seeing her in a few weeks when we drive to Texas for Christmas.  Sonny is still not feeling great and he would have gone to the doctor today, but they were closed.  I tried to get him to go to a Minute Clinic but he wouldn't.  Guess he'll be going on Monday.  Marianne and I joined the Newcomer ladies and played a game of Hand and Foot (and we won!!)  Now, I'm just catching up on things and chilling out.  Sammie is looking for all the people that have been here.  With Ashley here for a couple of weeks and Marianne spending a couple of nights with us, she stayed busy keeping her eye on one of us at all times!

I love Stampin' Up's Kraft Boxes for decorating and putting small gifts in.  Last year I used them for cookies and decorated them for friends.  They are on sale right now ($2.07 for a set of 4) along with the Be of Good Cheer Designer Paper ($8.76).  That paper will make some great bows if you follow this tutorial -

PAPER BOWS

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!

Baby Blossoms Monday Mailer

I wasn't so sure about this stamp set at first but after seeing all the pretty cards different people had made with it, I changed my mind.  Plus, it is a 2-step stamping technique set.  SU's two-step stamping is what attracted me to the company in the first place.  I love that technique.  There are several sets in the SU catalog that feature this technique.  They are noted in the catalog by this symbol:

The way two-step stamping works is that you stamp the first image in your lightest color.  Then you stamp the second image on top of the first image in a darker coordinating color.  For the Baby Blossoms stamp set, there are a lot of small images.  I ordered the clear set (less expensive plus better for space purposes!) and after putting the set together, I kept the rubber piece that you punch from and put my stamps back in the holes.  That way, I can tell at a glance if I am missing one of them and it is easier to find the stamp that I need.  

I also made a "cheat sheet" for stamping the images.  This is helpful to see which stamps go together.  Here is a close up picture of it.

 

Of course, a lot of these pieces can be interchanged to be used with each other - like the different size leaves, etc. but this is a good guideline if you need it.

So, on to the card I made with this set.

Doesn't this look like springtime???  I just love the colors - Baja Blue, Regal Rose, Old Olive and So Saffron.  The card base is Sahara Sand and the "white" piece that I stamped on is Confetti White.

I just learned how to make those ribbon rosettes too and was so excited that my first one actually turned out!

You need 10" piece of Seam Binding Ribbon (satin will probably work too), 1" circle punch, sticky tape, Crop a Dile.

Here is what I did:  punch a 1" circle from Baja Blue cardstock and a 1" circle from SU's sticky pages (or you can use red-line tape instead).  Cover the Baja Blue cs with the sticky circle (this will be the front side.)   Leave the protective cover on the sticky circle for now.  Punch a small hole in the middle of the circle with your Crop-a-dile and then cut a slit from the middle circle to the edge of the circle (just one side).  Put a piece of red-line tape on the opposite side of your slit.  Now, feed your 10" piece of seam binding ribbon up from the FRONT of the circle and stick the end down to the tape you put opposite of the slit (back side of circle).  Now, on the other end of the ribbon, cut it into a point so that you can grab 2-3 threads and pull them, gathering the ribbon.  Work your gathering down through the whole ribbon until you have about 8" length of ribbon.  Now, take the protective cover off the circle and begin rotating the circle while you stick down your gathered ribbon, creating a flower.  When you get to the end, pull your end piece around to the back and tape it down with red-line tape.   Voila!  You should have a rosette!

For those of you who do better with seeing the project, there is a video tutorial,  HERE.

This is my first Monday Mailer to Brenda.  Hope she likes it!!

I still have not been able to skype with Ashley but at least I am reassured that she is ok.  Her internet has been down in her building since last Friday.  She was able to send me an e-mail at the clinic although she cannot access her personal e-mail there.  I'm sure she knew I was worried.  She hopes it will be working later today and we can talk.  She has been really busy since she is the only doctor on site now.  The other docs are relieving people on leave at other bases.  She told me that the weather has been bad there for a few days.  I thought this was interesting - "The weather has been crappy the past couple of days...last night and this morning it is actually raining mud which is really disgusting.  After walking home with a to-go plate last night, the top of the white styrofoam was covered with orange colored rain drops...The sky in front of the aid station this morning was bright orange which was pretty cool although I guess it was actually mud containing rain clouds."  So I guess we can be thankful for the weather we have here in the states!!

Who woulda thought it?

3-0! 3-0! 3-0! Who would have thought this is where the Steelers would be after three weeks of football?  Well believe it friends, because the Steelers stayed undefeated by knocking down the previously undefeated Bucs 38-13.   The Steelers were doing so well that the Bucs fans started leaving around halftime. By the fourth quarter, the Tampa Bay Stadium might as well have been Heinz Field as Steelers fans vastly outnumbered Bucs fans at this point.  The Steelers are only one of two teams that are 3-0.  The Ravens are the only team standing in our way of going undefeated without Big Ben. They are 2-1 after coming off a close victory today against the Browns.  This means that if we want to keep the lead in the division, we must beat the Ravens next week in Pittsburgh. After that, it's the bye week when Ben is finally allowed to come back.

During the game, I actually got a message on my cell from Ashley!  She was listening to the game through her computer!  Modern technology - gotta love it!

I had some time yesterday to make a few things.  My brother-in-law flew in yesterday from Texas.  We were supposed to pick him up at the airport at 5:30 but his plane was delayed and it ended up being 7:15 before he got in.  So, that gave me the whole day to be creative!

I followed a tutorial on Splitcoast to make this card:

I cut the circle our with my Nestabilities and also cut the green polka dot frame out with the Nesties.  The tree is cut from the retired Sweet Pea DSP.  I tore the grass from Old Olive cardstock and a piece of green from the DSP.  The blue DSP is some really old SU paper that I found in my scraps.  The directions called for the blue paper to actually be on the inside back of the card but I needed to cover up my tape so changed it up a little.  The piece on the bottom is accordian folded so the card can stand up. 

I also made these cute luggage tags.  I picked up these little tags somewhere - I think CKC and used some vellum tags on them.  I love making these flowers!

I'm "batching" it for a couple of days.  Sonny and Jack (brother in law) left today after the game to do some fishing down at Cooper Santee (SC).  Hopefully, they'll come home with a bunch of fish!