Friday, December 4, 2009

Northwood Class

I am teaching a class tomorrow at the local stamp store in Mooresville.  I will be using stamps from Northwood and doing five cards that were featured on a display board.  I just love the cards and man, are they glittery!  It took me a few tries to figure out the best method to stamp them but I finally think I got it.  I stamped most of them in Black Craft ink and embossed them with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder.  Then I watercolored the images.  Northwood recommends watercoloring them with Tombow markers and I have to agree with them - that is the best.  BUT, I don't have any Tombow and tried using my SU markers to watercolor with.  That just didn't work.  I ended up using my watercolor crayons on some and on some just using a tad bit of reinker with my Aqua Brush.  I'll be interested to see everyone's finished product tomorrow and hopefully they will all have Tombow markers so they don't get frustrated like I did. 

Here are my samples.  My favorite one is the last one.










Moving Day plus a Monday Mailer


Ashley moved into her very own house today!!!  I talked to her shortly after the movers left and she was exclaiming at how big her den is .... her furniture is lost in it!  She has a lot to buy (or inherit) in the future.  Moving from a small condo to a large house will take much more furniture than she has.  Got anything to donate to the cause??  Ha!!  I'm taking a few things down in a couple of weeks which is one of the reasons I wanted to drive instead of fly.  I have her plants and I'm taking her my Christmas tree!!  Yay!  Now, I don't have to drag that big thing out of our attic downstairs anymore and can just do with a table top one - that already has lights!  I am not even decorating this year since we won't be here.  But, I'm beginning to feel like a Scrooge when I see the neighbors Christmas lights lit up and see their lit tree through the window.  It's too early to have a tree up!  I would be so sick of it by Christmas.  Tomorrow night we are meeting friends in Davidson for dinner and then walking downtown for the Christmas festivities.  Christmas in Davidson is a holiday festival and tradition since 1988.  During the event, downtown Davidson becomes a Christmas-themed zone of vendors selling a variety of arts and crafts and features a live nativity, strolling carolers and performances by a variety of choirs and bands.  We've never been before so I'm looking forward to it.

Here is the Monday Mailer I received this week from Tina.  This is the last one until January.


Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Yesterday was one of those days!

Ever have one of those days when maybe you just should have stayed in bed?  Well, yesterday was one for me!  Things didn’t start going downhill until lunchtime when I discovered our computer downstairs had a virus.  It had been ok in the morning, but when I sat down to play while I ate lunch, it kept telling me there was a security issue and I should download some virus protection program (or course, by purchasing it!)  Well, I kept trying to “X” out of it to no avail and when the website came up for me to download a porn video, I knew I was in trouble!  (No, I did not download porn!!)  Luckily, that is not our only computer – just the one my hubbie uses to play solitaire!!  So, I just turned it off and decided I’d worry about it tomorrow, Scarlett.  I was teaching a card class in the evening at Stampers Alley and had to get all my stuff ready.  I had made the kits for the One Sheet Wonder class a couple of weeks ago and thought I was good to go!  Oh no, my friends, I thought wrong.  See, the class was to make 5 different  cards (2 of each), 2 gift card holders and a bag to put them all in.  I had called the store around lunch time to make sure my count for 10 in the class was correct and discovered I needed to make one more kit.  No biggie!  So I pulled everything out of one of the kits to use for the measurements and discovered I had only put materials in the kits to make ONE card each and not two.  As I mentioned before in THIS post, this class was a little labor intensive to put together.  Well, I put my butt in gear and started cutting and stamping the materials for the 2nd card for everyone about 2 pm.  I finished about 5:15!  I  thought my class was at 6:30 but decided to just check and make sure I was correct.  Noooo, it was at 6:00!  So again, I put my “little butt” (I wish!) in gear and got dressed, put my makeup on and hauled everything to the car.  Of course, I got caught up in 5:00 traffic but got to the store about 5:50 … in plenty of time!!   The class went smoothly – except for the 4 new gals that I had who didn’t bring any supplies!  After having to share borrowed markers, scissors, etc. I think they’ll bring their kits next time! 

Today was my first Christmas party of the season.  My Newcomers group had our annual Christmas meeting and luncheon.  Wow!  There was so much food, it was a sin.  Of course, I had to make my dish last night after I got home from teaching my class.  I made a new recipe called Cheesy Potatoes and let it cook in the crock-pot all night.  It was good, but too many calories to cook it very often!

Tonight I made this card.  It’s been a long time since I just sat down and made a card for fun – not for a class or Monday Mailer or for a specific purpose.  I used Lovely As A Tree.  I hope Stampin’ Up never retires this stamp set!  I used a mask and stamped the trees positioning them with my Stamp-a-ma-jig.  Then I sponged Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango on and Soft Sky and a little purple (don’t know what color – it was already on the dauber and I just used it).  I sponged a little bit of blue on the snow too.  Then I used SU’s White Shimmer Paint on the sky and the trees.   How do you like it?

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Retiring Stamp Sets – January 4

Stampin’ Up is retiring the following stamp sets.  They are currently listed in the Dormant stamp list.  They will be discontinued as of January 4, 2010.  So if you have your eye on any of the sets, now is the time to order them!!  Just e-mail me or give me a call!

Item Number Stamp Set
113407 Back Woods
114492 Beautiful Baby
114486 Birthday Wish
113200 Branch Out
114496 Celebrations
113732 Central Park
113206   Classic Sketches
113226 Classy & Fabulous
114498 Flowers in Silhouette
113405 Font of You
113216   For the Bride
114494 Forever
109425   Friend by Definition
114488   Fun Flowers
113716   Garden Greetings
114490   Glad Friends
111580   Grand Soiree
113242   Hit the Road
113710   Lexicon of Leaves
113236  Man's Best Friend
114423   Ocean Commotion
113728  Playful Petals
109276   Polka Dot
111544   Putt Putt
113240   Quilt Quips
113754    Really Retro
113403   Sip by Sip
113726   Sweet Stems
113250   That's Funny
113688   Wonderful Watercolors
114028    Para la novia
114032   Acuarelas Maravillosas

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Amazon Magazine Sale



Amazon has a few of it's magazine subscriptions on sale for $5!!  That's right .... $5!!  That's a great deal.  I got a couple of these last year and plan to do it again.  Today is the last day for this offer so if you are interested, check it out HERE.  Will make a good Christmas present for someone - they don't have to know you only spent $5!!  (unless they read my blog)

Monday Mailer for November

These are the last 2 Monday Mailers that I sent to my buddy for November.  We are going to be taking a break in December and resume the program in the new year.

But first, I have good news!  My daughter closed on her house today!!  Yippee!!  She was planning on renting it back to the owner this week since the gal said she couldn't move out until Saturday.  But, when Ashley got to closing, she found out the gal was moving today.  Of course, Ashley had the mover set up to come on Monday!!  But she was able to get them to deliver her things from storage on Thursday instead so now she will have the weekend to start unpacking.  Hopefully, she'll have it all done when we arrive in a couple of weeks!  Now, comes the fun part .... buying all the new things she'll need like, washer, dryer, bedroom suite, grill, lawn mower .....!    Glad it's her and not me!

Anyhow .... on to the cards!


This is the one I sent last week.  I used the Sweet Treat Cups from the Holiday Mini along with the Cold and Cuddly stamp set.  I filled the cup with Chunky Glitter!



This one I mailed today.  I used the Decor Elements stencil and sponged the ornament.  Then I stamped in Gold ink using Baroque Motifs.  I tied the white organza ribbon and left the streamers long.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanksgiving is but a memory

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and all I'm left with (besides left-overs) is tight clothes!!  I have got to get back to eating better!!  Why is that so hard?? 

I want to share a few Thanksgiving memories.

These are cards I made and sent.  Similar but different ribbon.

This is a card I sent to my friend, Judy.  That Gobble stamp made it so easy this year!


This is from Carol, my SU upline.  The sentiment is from a SU wheel that she cut apart.


This is from a good stampin' friend, Vicki.



This is from my Texas friend, Margaret.

And here is our table on Thanksgiving!




Aren't the flowers beautiful?  They are from our good friends, Sharon & Bob.  They usually spend Thanksgiving with us, but this year went to Texas instead to spend it with Sharon's sister. 


These are placecards I made (notice .... no names so I might be using them again next year!!).  I did let them take the matchbox treats home with them.  I filled them with Breast Cancer M&M's in memory of my sister, Debra who died from breast cancer 2 years ago at Thanksgiving.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  I will be welcoming my family to my home later today for a Thanksgiving celebration.  I hope you have a wonderful day ... and don't eat too much!!


We Give Thanks

Our Father in Heaven,
We give thanks for the pleasure
Of gathering together for this occasion.
We give thanks for this food
Prepared by loving hands.
We give thanks for life,
The freedom to enjoy it all
And all other blessings.
As we partake of this food,
We pray for health and strength
To carry on and try to live as You would have us.
This we ask in the name of Christ,
Our Heavenly Father.

--Harry Jewell

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Elvis and Tanglewood Festival of Lights

Yesterday was a Girls Day Out in our family.  My mom, my two sisters and my daughter drove to Greensboro to the Barn Dinner Theatre to see ELVIS!!  It was a great show!  Tribute artist Stephen Freeman had a wonderful voice and he had Elvis's moves down!!  I would highly recommend this show if you get a chance!




My mother was mesmerized when he came to our table to give us all a smooch!



Don't know what that white dot is on his face - think it's a flash or something - it wasn't on his face at the time!

After the show, I drove over to see if I could find the apartment complex Sonny and I lived in when we met.  At the time, it was a Singles Only Complex.  Well, surprise, surprise, I found it!!  It's not a place I'd live in today - still has window unit AC's in the windows and the iron railings on the balconies is pretty rusty!  There was a swimming pool in the center when we lived there which is gone now and there were several additional buildings added on.  But, it sure brought back some memories!  Even my sisters remembered visiting me there ... when they were about 12 years old!!

From Greensboro, we drove to Lewisville to Enchanted Cottage, a huge stamping/scrapbooking store.  The only other time I had been there, they were closing in about 15 minutes!  This time, we had about an hour to shop (not that my Mom and non-stamping sister loved that!). 

On the way home, we passed the Tanglewood exit.  Since none of us (except Mom) had ever seen the Christmas lights there, we took a detour and drove through the park.  It was wonderful!  Another place I'd recommend to you if you're in the area.

 
Tanglewood Park's Festival of Lights began in 1992.  The first Festival of Lights in 1992 was a 1.5 mile route with only twenty five displays. Today the route has grown to just under 4 miles with one hundred eighty displays, of which seventy are animated.  Tanglewood begins setting up displays during the month of August to be ready for this large scale event which begins in mid November.  There are now over approximately a million individual lights that complete Tanglewood’s Festival of Lights.   Tanglewood’s Festival of Lights has been selected as a Top 20 Event in the Southeast and a Top 100 Event in North America

My Digital Studio Certification

I'm happy to announce that I am now one of the Stampin'Up! Demonstrators that is Certified in My Digital Studio.


I've completed all the Stampin' Up! requirements which included participating in webinars, taking quizzes and completing projects with My Digital Studio. We were also required to have 1 project professionally printed.
 
This is a very easy digital paper crafting program. I had never worked with a digital program like this before and I ♥ My Digital Studio!