Cheers to you

I got this great card yesterday from my Monday Mailer partner.  It is so soft and pretty - this picture just does not do it justice.  Jana did the Two Step Stamping on this which is one of my favorite techniques and pretty unique to Stampin' Up.  That is what got me interested in Stampin' Up to begin with.

This card below is another one I received yesterday from Jana.  It is not another Monday Mailer but a card in response to my recent trip to the Outer Banks and THIS blog post!  Jana said that my post reminded her of her college days.  Yeah, Jana, I know what you mean!  I had some wild and wooly college adventures at ECU, OD Beach, Carolina Beach,White Lake, Lake Waccamaw  .....!!  Oh what good memories!! 

Anyway, I love this card!  It's scary how much she looks like me (ha - I wish!)  And, I did a little cocktail waitressing at Myrtle Beach back in the 60's!!  Cheers!

Idol Top 7

Here we are again ... Tuesday night.  We are going back and forth between American Idol and the Stanley Cup Hockey playoffs .... go Penguins!! 

Tonight is inspirational songs with Alisha Keys being the mentor.  She is one gorgeous girl!!  Guess she will sing tomorrow night during Idol Gives Back.

• Casey James sings "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" - Not so sure about the inspirational aspect to this song and it was a little boring to me.  Nothing memorable.  He might be in trouble tonight.
• Lee DeWyze sings "The Boxer" - Great performance!!  I love this song and I love Lee .
• Tim Urban sings "Better Days" - Not bad but not the best either.  He just doesn't have the range or the voice that Lee, Crystal, Mike and Siobahn have.  Will the teen votes save him again?
• Aaron Kelly sings "I Believe I Can Fly" - He has a big voice that's for sure.  Judges are split on him. He just doesn't have the stage presence for me. 
• Siobahn Magnus sings "When You Believe" - Her weirdness is getting old. I'm not laughing tonight.  It was hard to even pay attention to her singing for looking at what she was wearing.  Who dresses her - the Idol people or her???  It was just too distracting.  There's no question she has a super voice but that might not be enough.
• Mike Lynche sings "Hero" - I liked it but he's one of my favorites.  Simon said it was a song about Spiderman and not inspirational.  I disagree .... everyone needs a hero to inspire them.
• Crystal Bowersox sings "People Get Ready" WOW!  She is just so good and she looked gorgeous. She got really emotional at the end but that was ok - it made it real.  Her performance was the BEST!  Unfortunately, AGAIN, the show ran over and our DVR clicked off during Kara's critique so I didn't get to hear what Simon had to say.  I'm sure it was good though.  Wish they would stay within the time limit!!

My picks for bottom 3 - Casey, Tim and maybe Siobahn???  Not sure
Top 2 - Crystal and Lee

I've been a little worried about Crystal.  I heard this week that Ryan Seacrest gave her a little pep talk a couple of weeks ago and suposedly talked her out of quitting.  She was hating the attention the show was bringing to her and planned to go back home to her family and son.   But a few days later on Facebook, Crystal confirmed the rumor, writing: "We all have moments of doubt. As much as I miss my kid, the big picture is this: I'm doing this for him and my fans. I'm having the time of my life!"  Just hope the public doesn't interpret this to mean she doesn't want to be there and if she wins, she won't be able to handle the pressure. 

Another finalist will be sent home Wednesday on a special episode that will serve as the "Idol Gives Back" charity event, which benefits Children's Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children's U.S. programs and the United Nations Foundation.  Black Eyed Peas, Jeff Beck, Joss Stone and Mary J. Blige are among those slated to perform.

Monday Mailer share

I'm loving this cool weather we are having here!  So far, we have not had to turn on our A/C although there were a few days before Easter when the temp's were in the high 80's, low 90's that it was pretty warm upstairs.  Today was really nice - just in the 70's!  Wonder how long it will last???  We're usually the last ones to turn on our A/C and it's usually my decision ... not Sonny's.  And that was his business before he retired - York Heating & Air!!  

We've been trying to catch up on all the tv shows we recorded (DVR) while we out of town and busy with our friends last week.  So last night, Sonny turned on the TV to catch the Penguins in the Stanley Cup play-offs and our DVR would not work!  Tragedy!!  We kept trying to reset it with no luck.  So, today the repair guy came and replaced our DVR.  But, as luck would have it, we lost everything that was on it.  Luckily, we had watched most of the shows that I was interested in.  We did lose Survivor, a few Criminal Minds, Saving Grace, Jeopardy and I don't know what else.  We tape Jeopardy every day and watch it while we are eating dinner.  It keeps my mind sharp (I think).

After the repair guy left today, we decided to go the the movies to see Date Night.  We'd both heard good reviews.  So, I popped my popcorn (yes, I take my own - much better for me than the movie kind), got my milk duds and Sonny stopped and bought himself some soft pretzels and got to the theatre to discover that what we thought was a 4:15 movies actually was a 5:35 movie!  Luckily, I didn't look up the times so I couldn't catch the blame if you know what I mean!!  We decided we didn't want to wait around that long so we ended up running into WalMart and going to Hooters for beer, wings and friend pickles!  (Not much better than the movie popcorn, huh?)

I think I finally came up with the card I am going to do for my swap at Quarterly.  I will be sharing it next week.  But, I don't think that I shared the card I sent out last week for my Monday Mailer.  It is really sparkly from the spray of Shimmer Mist.

I used the Hostess Level 2 stamp - Asian Artistry and the swirl from Baroque Motifs.  It is embossed in gold.  Again, I am trying to use up the retiring paper.  This time it is Pixie Pink.  I just love the pink and black!

Spring Two Step Sale

Don't forget - Stampin' Up has 4 2-Step stamp-set on sale this month.  Time is running out for you to get these great sets at a great price! 

Fifth Avenue Floral on sale for $19.96

Trendy Trees on sale for $14.36

Greenhouse Garden on sale for $20.76

Flower Fancy on sale for $29.56

If you want to order any of these sets, contact me or go to my website (look in the top left column of blog) and place your order.

Scrappin' Kits

Whew!  What a week!  Today I did pretty much nothing and it felt good.  As you know, we went to the Outer Banks last week.  When we returned, our Texas friends were waiting for us at the house.  We had a great visit with them last week.  The guys went on the boat and to the shooting range with a group while Margaret and I "carded" in my room all week.  Graham flew back to Texas on Wednesday, but I convinced Margaret to stay until Friday and we made the best of our remaining time together.  When I returned from taking Margaret to the airport, my sister, Marianne, came over and spent the night.  We were busy getting our projects lined up to take to the Kernersville SU Quarterly meeting in a couple of weeks.  She knows what she is going to do, but I'm still trying to decide on a couple of ideas.  Then we had a class on Saturday in Mooresville taught by my friend, Debbie Holland.  Her cards are always beautiful and she is one of the most organized stampers I know.  Plus, she stays so calm during class when people are demanding her attention one way and another.  I really enjoy her classes.  I'll be sharing the cards we made a little later.

So, by the time everyone left and I returned to my stamp room, I couldn't stand the mess any longer!  My friends didn't make all the mess - my floor was awful before they got here!  So, today, I pulled out Sonny's Super Duper Industrial Vacuum and cleaned my floor.  I couldn't believe how nice they looked when I finished!!  It's been a while, believe me. 

So .... on to my creations.  I recently ordered the Sunny Day Scrappin' Kit (pg 164 of SU catalog).  I don't usually use these kits but I wanted to show my Club ladies how many cards you could make easily with the kit.  So far, I have made 10 cards and I still have a lot left - probably enough to make another 10 cards at least.   And they are so cute!!  In the kit, you get 8 sheets of 12"x12" textured cardstock in 4 different colors; 6 sheets of DSP (2 double sided sheets of different patterns); 6 sheets of stickers (3 different patterns).

If you are interested in ordering one of the kits, click on over to my SU website and place your order!!

Stamp Club Day Projects

I held my Stamp Club today.  This was the second meeting for the ladies and they did really good.  I think they really enjoyed the things we made - 2 cards and a little post-it holder.  Margaret was still here so she was a big help to me in showing the ladies what to do.  This time I broke the group into two groups of four and had them each making a different card.  That way, there was not too much sharing and waiting for materials.  It worked well with Margaret being able to help one group but I don't know how well it will be without her.  I may just have to go back to doing one project for the group of 8.  We'll see. 

I had their orders ready that they had ordered last month and it was like Christmas to them, opening up their bags.  I made thank you cards with My Digital Studio and put in each bag.  That sure made it easy!!  Here is one of the digital cards I made:

Here are the projects that they made:

I'm trying to use up the retired colors and retired DSP.  This card uses Taken With Teal, Close to Cocoa  and Holiday Lounge DSP.  The stamp set is Fun & Fast Notes and I let them pick which one they wanted to use.  Everyone but one chose the bouquet of flowers!  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The brad is the Build A Brad.

This card uses Taken With Teal, Close to Cocoa, Apricot Appeal and Pick a Petal DSP.  The ribbon is the 1 1/4" Chocolate Chip Striped Grosgrain.  The stamp set is Define Your Life and again, I let them each choose which one to use.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the Teal is paper pierced on the right side.

This is a Post It Note Holder.  The pen fits on the side in the little slot.  I got the little mini pens at Staples.  I used the French Background Stamp along with the flower from Fresh Cuts on this one.  Some of the ladies used the larger background stamp that is in the Fresh Cuts set instead of what is shown above.  The flower uses the Fancy Flower Punch in the Occasions Mini Catalog and the small flower in the middle is from the Boho Blossoms Punch.  We punched the flowers in Barely Banana and Crushed Curry.  Then we ran them through the Crimper several times to break down the fibers in the paper.  Next peel the layers of paper apart.  Then just crumble up the flowers and insert a brad through the center.

Here are the directions for the Post It Note Holder:

• Cut cardstock 3 1/4" x 7 3/8"
• Score at 3 1/8"  /  3 1/2"  /  3 7/8"
• The 3 1/8" side (shorter side) will be your FRONT
• Decorate as desired.
• Fold at 3 1/2" and mkae 2 slits about 1/2" apart for the pen.
• Accordian fold at the score lines.
• Attach sticky strip to the inside between the back and the small accordian fold.  (see picture below)
• Use sticky strip to hold your post-it note pad to the inside.

American Idol Results - Two More Gone

The top nine performed a medley of Elvis songs at the beginning.  I liked it!  Sometimes I don't always like the group performances but liked this one.  The Ford commercial was kinda cheesy this time. 

So on to the results - Casey. Aaron and Andrew are asked to stand.  They are the three I predicted in the Bottom Three!  Without much ado, Andrew is dumped. WOW.  That was quick. It’s his time or rather past his time!   Andrew and Casey are safe, by the way. 

Brooke White performs.  I really like her and enjoyed listening to her.  Her song is a FREE download on I-Tunes - gotta remember to do that!

The rest of the contestants are called to the stage.  Crystal. Lee and Siobahn are sent back to safety.  That leaves Aaron, Katie, and Big Mike.  Oh .... hope it's not Mike again!!

Adam Lambert performs while we are all wondering who is on the chopping block.  I like Adam's performance and his song.  The others in the room with me did not like him at all!  I just wish he would tone down the eye make-up .... hope he owns stock in Revlon!!

OK - back to the results!  Tim is safe and it's down to Mike and Katie.  Ryan announces that one is going home and the other one is not even in the Bottom Three.  So confusing ... why mess with us (and them) and have him out there if he is not in jeopardy???  Katie is going home.  Again, I think it is her time.  She is cute and I like her performances sometimes, but there are too many other really good ones.  This year is a tough one! 

I'm still predicting Crystal, Siobahn and Lee for the top three.  What do you think????

Spoiler Alert!

I've been really industrious today!  I have realized that my blog posts have not been as creative as they should be and I am sorry for that and I intend to do better!!  My friend, Margaret, is still here - her husband left today to return to Texas and I convinced her to stay for a few extra days.  Her husband is a retired American Airlines pilot so they fly for free.  She always tells me she'll come up on her own but never does, so this time I made her put her "money where her mouth was."  We spent the whole day in my craft room working on various projects.  We both got a lot accomplished!  Plus, I got caught up on some of the TV programs I had DVR'd while I was out of town last week.

Here is a card featuring paper and a stamp from the upcoming Summer Mini Catalog.  I love bright colors and this Tropical Party stamp set lends itself to them.

The colors in the paper are Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red and So Saffron.  I used my SU markers to ink the stamp - in black and Rose Red.  Then I applied Glossy Glaze over the "cup."  The card is a gatefold card with a belly band.

Here is the card opened.  I stamped the leaf fronds and flower in the corner of the white piece that I had sponged the edges with orange. 

This set also has a Bigz Die ($21.95) to coordinate with it that has flowers and leaves on it as well as Party Favor Boxes ($5.95) favor boxes come with 12 boxes and 12 coordinating bellybands.  The DSP is great for summer cards!

Idol Elvis Style

Tonight the contestants mentor is Adam Lambert, last year's runner up and the contestants are singing Elvis songs.  Interesting since no contestant has ever been a mentor before.  In an interview published earlier today, someone said Adam was the mentor so that the show can help out his career which is faltering.  I thought Adam did a good job of mentoring — and was quite critical of the singers. He helped out Tim Urban, Michael Lynche and Katie Stevens the most.

Crystal Bowersox sings "Saved."  The judges loved her as usual.  It wasn't my favorite of hers but she always does a good job no matter what she is singing.

Andrew Garcia sings "Hound Dog."    No ... hope he's got his bags packed because I think he's going to get the losing ticket tonight.  It was pure karoke.

Tim Urban sings "I Can't Help Falling In Love."  The judges liked it but I felt it was boring. 

Lee DeWyze sings "Little Less Conversation."  As usual, great!  Another step closer to the finale for him.  He gave the song his take on it and it was upbeat and fun.

Aaron Kelly sings "Blue Suede Shoes."  Pretty karoke - should put him in the bottom in my estimation.  Elvis he is not!

Siobahn Magness sings "Suspicious Minds."  She has the pipes!  What a great job in my opinion.  She made that song her own for sure.  The judges are trying to pin down the type of artist she is and she basically shemut Simon down.  She told him she couldn't label herself so how was she supposed to tell them who she was.

Mike Lynch sings "In the Ghetto."  I'm so glad he was saved last week.  His vocals are sooo good.

Katie Stephens sings "What Do You Want Me to Do."  All the judges liked it EXCEPT Simon.  I thought she did a good job tonight and that should keep her out of the bottom this week.

Casey James sings "Lawdy Miss Clawdy."  It didn't do anything for me.

My picks for bottom three are Aaron, Andrew and Casey.  Two will be leaving this week.  Who do you think it will be????

Outer Banks Fun

We had a great time in the Outer Banks.  I forgot my camera so took a picture of my shells when I got home.  The weather was a little too cool for laying on the beach but we had a few nice walks and gathered some nice shells.  I also got some nice worn shells that I call "worry stones."  They've been worn smooth and are nice to rub and try to make all your worries go away!!  We saw the Wright Brothers Memorial and Museum, the Hatteras Lighthouse and the Bodie Lighthouse.  We also went to Roanoke Festival Park, an interactive attraction that celebrates the first English settlement in America. There are period characters who tell you about the Elizabeth II, a representation of one of the seven English ships from the Roanoke Voyage of 1585. There was also an interactive Indian settlement as well as the original settler's site, an interesting Adventure Museum and a film, "The Legend of Two-Path."  We ate lots of wonderful seafood too!  The last night we were there, we stopped in at the Jolly Roger for a couple of drinks.  What a laugh we had!  It was karoke night and there were some real doozies in there!  The bar was filled mostly with locals who were having fun.  Next to Sonny sat a guy who was downing one beer after another.  He was a little mentally challenged and just knew that he had seen me earlier that day at "his" store (Food Lion).  I finally convinced him that I had not been there.  He had at least 7 beers in the couple of hours we were there and they continued to serve him.  Then a couple came in who had just driven their Harley's from Greensboro - at least a 5 hour drive!!  They were sure something!  There was another woman who came in with her husband - they were probably in their 50's or 60's -and she was well on her way to being drunk when they arrived.  They were standing behind us in the bar area and she kept falling over.  Finally her husband told her it was time to leave and they walked out right in front of us and she promptly fell in the shrubs outside!  Bet she didn't feel too good Sunday morning!  That's not even mentioning the people who thought they could sing and got up on stage to belt out a few songs.  The most interesting one was one woman who had to be about 80 years old.  She was wearing a crown on her long gray hair and had on a bright red loooww cut dress.  When she was singing she was bouncing up and down to the music and I really thought her "assets" were going to fall out of her dress!  You had to be there!!

We arrived back home Sunday night and had friends waiting for us at the house.  Margaret and Graham had brought their grandson back to NC after he visited them in Texas during Spring Break.  So, today she and I had fun making cards while the guys put the boat in the water and boated around the lake.