Happy Birthday

I've had a fun couple of days and hope to be enjoying tomorrow as well even though I'll be older!  Friday is my birthday but I'm not one of those gals who hate to admit I'm getting older.  I think age is a matter of how you feel and right now, I am feeling ok! 

I got my hair cut yesterday .... really cut - not just a trim - and I love it!  My hair is very thick and I can't stand it falling into my face all the time.  Most of the time, when I am home, I use a clip to hold it back.  So, I decided it was time for a change.  Here's a picture I had Sonny take of me last night with my new "do".

What do you think?  Sonny's not so sure about it - too much of a change for him.  Guess he's one of those people that likes the same old, same old. 

Today was our Frugal Fashion Show (Newcomers).  We had about 15 models and it was just amazing to see the fashions everyone came up with.  If you haven't shopped at Goodwill or Salvation Army before, you might want to stop by and check them out!  You can get nice jeans for $3.75, slacks - $4 and more.  One of the gals found an Anne Taylor silk dress for $4. 

This is one of my outfits.  The slacks are Talbot brand ($4).  The top is two separate pieces.   

Even though the picture makes the jacket look pink, it is a deep embossed red.  The buttons and the trim at the collar are rhinestones.  The skirt is Jones of New York brand ($3)!  The jacket would be great for a Christmas party.

Here's a group picture of the finale.  We had dressy as well as casual clothes.  It was really fun!

I even made a scrapbook page using MDS!

I haven't talked to Ashley in a couple of days.  We have gotten in the habit of talking about every day for about 30 minutes and I am getting spoiled!  She has been telling me how spoiled she feels.  She is being kidded a lot about how many packages and letters she receives.   On Tuesday, she got 8 packages!!  She had to have a truck take her home that day!  She keeps telling me she feels like she is at Girl Scout camp again when, if you received too many letters, you had to sing!  She's mentioned this several times so my guess is she must have had to do that a lot and it left a lasting impression on her.  She keeps telling the other soldiers there that she has a lot of friends and family who really care!  And that is the TRUTH!  Seven of the boxes were filled with books from the volunteer organization "Operation Paperback."  You can read about them HERE.  If you have paperbacks that you have read, consider donating them to this great group!  Or if you know a soldier overseas, tell him/her to register and they, too, can receive seven boxes of books! 

Happy Birthday to ME!

MAKE A SOLDIER'S DAY!

Go to this link and make a soldier's day! 

Write to a Soldier Online

Do your part and write to a soldier TODAY!   The soldier receives a free CD.  Read about the program HERE.

Monday Mailer Christmas Collage

I've had the Christmas Collage stamp (from Holiday Mini) for a couple of months and haven't been totally thrilled with anything I've made with it .... until I made this card!  I love it and hope you do too!

 It wasn't the quickest card to make but that's probably what makes it so special.  I stamped two pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock with the whole stamp in Early Espresso.  One was used as my card base  and the other was cut up - I tore the top corner and cut a rectangle of the song (Silent Night) to use.  I sponged all the edges with Espresso.  The base piece was adhered to the Always Artichoke card.  Then I layered the corner piece with a strip of torn Cherry Cobbler in the right corner.  I used my blender pen and squeezed a little ink (Cherry Cobbler & Artichoke) in the lid of my ink pad and colored the holly leaves, berries and poinsetta.  I used So Saffron marker for the bell.   I punched two holes in the small rectangle Silent Night piece and threaded the Cherry Cobbler seam binding (love it!!) through it and adhered it to the card at an angle.  I stamped Merry Christmas from the Bells and Boughs stamp set and adhered it to the card (with dimensional tape).

Here is a close up view of part of the card.

So, what do you think????

Monday Mailers from Last Week

I want to share a couple of Monday Mailers with you tonight. 

This is the one I received - another thank you card.  What is so great about this card is it is made with one of the SU Single Stamps you can purchase (pg 18-20).  They are such a great deal - check them out!

The color combo of Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizazz and Early Espresso is great!  Martinette added a tiny clip with a piece of thread tied onto it.  I have no idea how she tied that tiny bow!!

This is the card I sent to Becky last week.  I love it & it just may be my Christmas card this year.  The set is called Peaceful Seasons and it is a Hostess Level 2 set (found in the Holiday Mini).  I used two scallop punches.  The one in the middle is the  new Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border and the bottom one is the Scallop Trim Border (pg. 201).  The DSP is Deck the Halls from the Holiday Mini.

Busy Weekend

I've had a busy weekend.  Last Thursday was my nephew, Harrison's, 16th birthday.  We celebrated his birthday on Friday night at JJ Wasabi in downtown Mooresville.  It was pretty yummy!  Saturday Sonny and I went to the movies to see Secretariat.  It was a really good movie with a good story.  Then Saturday night, we drove to Matthews for my Aunt Sally's 70th birthday party.  She's just moved into a new home - 3 weeks ago - but you couldn't tell it.  There was a tent set up outside for the party with a full bar, wonderful buffet (prime rib, salmon, chicken cordon bleu ...), a dance floor with a great DJ.  He played a lot of beach music and I was able to get Sonny up on the dance floor a few times.  This weekend was my high school get-together at Ocean Drive where there is always a lot of beach music.  Since I decided not to go, I was able to get my "beach music" fix at Sally's party.  What do you think .... she looks pretty good for 70 years old!

Sally with my Mom - my mom was married to Sally's oldest brother

One of Sally's daughters - she put the party together for her mom.

 My mom, Angela & I put together a basket to take to the party for our gift.  We bought some wine, glasses, kitchen towel, candy, crackers and cheese in the basket.  At the last minute, I decided it would be nice to include a few thank-you cards so she could send them out later.  I put this card (and 3 others just like it) together in about 15 minutes using My Digital Studio.  It is so easy!!!

Of course, today we went to our Steeler bar and watched some football.  Big Ben returned today and we won!  It wasn't the blow-out I was expecting, but it was still a great win. 

Pinchable Cheeks

I made a trip into Mooresville today and bought the cutest little snowman stamp!  I just love his little rosy cheeks .... so pinchable!  Just like little chubby faced children.  You always just want to pinch their little cheeks.

Here is what I did with two of the stamps in the set:

 For Santa, I used Cherry Cobbler, Black, and Pear Pizazz cardstock.  The patterned paper is some I found in my stash and thought the colors went nicely with the Pear.  I used my Copics for coloring, put a little Stickles in the ball on his hat, a little Liquid Applique on his cap and added a little Silver Spica pen to his beard.  The snowflakes are from an old die I had - just ran it through the Big Shot.  The black "pearls" are some I picked up at CKC this summer (for $1 per package!)

 This little fellow is just so cute!  I colored him with Copics and again used the Cherry Cobbler & Pear Pizzaz cardstock - I love that combo!  The polka dot paper is actually a transparency that SU sold last year.  I bought it and never used it.  I have it layered over a piece of white cardstock.  The snowflakes are from SU's punch.

A close up of those pinch-able cheeks!

I talked to Ashley this afternoon and was asking her about the food there.  She said it is really good ... probably too good!  On Wednesday, they had crab legs for lunch - it was the Navy's birthday so it was a special celebratory meal.  She said normally they have a Caesar Salad Bar, a regular salad bar, a section where you can order paninis - with ham, cheese, and other items; a grill area where you can get sandwiches;  vegetables, meats, some fresh fruit (bananas, apples), and a dessert area with ice cream and other goodies.  She walks to the dining hall every day - about 1 1/2 miles which she said is a good thing so she can walk her food off after eating.   She got a couple of boxes in the mail yesterday and was quite happy with her Aunt Marianne.  She sent her a Steeler tee & Steeler pants!  She has settled in pretty good over there and seems to have adjusted well. 

A productive day!

We went to Davidson last night to hear the Charlie Daniels Band play at the Brickhouse Tavern.  Friends called us in the afternoon to see if we would be interested in going.  Sonny & I both enjoy Charlie Daniels' songs - Sonny even has his "Greatest Hits" on his Ipod playlist - so of course, we said YES!  I had planned on playing Bunco in my neighborhood, but Charlie Daniels Band definately won out.  What is funny is that our friends had never heard of Charlie Daniels!  I couldn't believe it, but guess when you live in New York, you don't listen to much country music!  Those Yankees don't know what they are missing. 

Today I had a very productive day and finally got a few card sets made.  I had made the card box a month ago and it has been sitting on my desk begging to be filled with cards!  It seems like I have just been spinning my wheels the past few days without getting anything accomplished.   So I am quite proud of my progress today.


This first set uses the stamp set, Word Play, which is a very versatile Greetings stamp set.

Card Box

How do you like that bow?  I made it with the Bow Maker that  "girlfriend" sent me!  Easy peasy!

This card uses a lot of retired stuff!  The DSP, the Crushed Curry cardstock (still available in Clearance items!) and the My Way punch.

More retired paper - DSP & Dusty Durango.

 This one is way out of my comfort zone - using 3 different DSP pieces but I like it.

 More retired paper.

This card set uses Awash With Flowers!  I just love this stamp set.  It is a two-step stamp which is what attracted me to Stampin' Up in the beginning.  Again, I am using retired Cameo Coral cardstock in the cards.

These are card sets that I will have for sale in the November craft fair.

Rag Purses

Yesterday I spent the day at my sister's house (Marianne).  She helped me make a few rag purses with the Sizzix die.  I love how they turned out!

 This one is made from a piece of material a friend gave me last week.  She gave me about a yard of the material and the whole piece was patchwork-like with all these beautiful individual squares.  We just cut the squares apart and ran then through the die.    The flower I made blends in with the purse so it is hard to see.

 This one is made from some fat quarters that I got from a local quilt shop in town.  Again, I made a flower from the Flower Fold Sizzix die and pinned it on the purse.

 I think this one may be my favorite .... sometimes, simple is best!  I already had the flower made from bits of material - good thing because I used all the material on the purse and didn't have any left over - we even had to piece together the straps.

These are two cell phone holders I made.  I am going to hang one of them off the first purse.  The second one, I will add a fabric flower brooch to it.

These will all go in the craft fair I am working on.

My Digital Studio Website!!

Stampin Up has just released a new My Digital Studio Website!  It is a place to share My Digital Studio creations for both Demonstrators and Customers!

http://www.mydigitalstudio.net/ is the place to go for inspiration, product training, and up-to-date information about My Digital Studio software, downloads, and printed products.

Just click the link above and set up your profile. Then start sharing and learning more about My Digital Studio today!! 

I have been playing around with MDS all week.  I am working on an invitation for a Rehearsal Wedding Party for a friend of mine.  I am so excited with how it is turning out.  I will share with you soon.

In the meantime, here is a scrapbook page I did yesterday.  My sister, Angela, unearthed these pictures of Marianne, Angela and me taken way back when (probably late 70s or early 80s)!  Just wish I was that skinny today!!  Looks like we were all three into big glasses - guess that was the fad back "in the day"!

Angela, Me & Marianne - back in the day!

Ashley is back in business with her computer.  She received her charger cord in the latest mail drop so we were able to "skype" this morning.  It was so good to be able to talk to her again as well as see her.  She is going to have to make a trip to Baghdad in the next few weeks.  She thinks they will probably send her there by helicopter.  Her bullet-proof vest fell apart - the whole side of it came off.  So, she has to go to Baghdad to return it and be issued a new one.  The upside is she will be able to visit the PX there which is supposed to be really big.  She also has a friend/colleague stationed in Baghdad whom she will be able to see.

Sonny and I went to see Wall Street today.  It's a sequal to the film Michael Douglas won an Oscar for in the 80s.  The movie was pretty good but had a lot of financial stuff that I just had a hard time following/understanding.   I really like Michael Douglas.   His hair in the film mirrors his mood, from scruffy to bouffant and then greasily slick.

Fifth Avenue Floral

I met with a group of ladies on Thursday for a card making session.  We take turns with the projects and I volunteered this month.  The card we made is so pretty and one that I learned to do during the Shallotte Quarterly (thanks, Becky!).  It is made with the Fifth Avenue Floral Sizzix folder (exclusively SU) and the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set.

These are the cards closed.

Yellow Card open

Pink Card open

If you notice the pink card is cut a little different than the yellow one.  It just goes to show even when you mess up, it can turn out all right! 

Directions:

• Cut cardstock 5 1/2" x 12"
• Score at 4" and 8"
• Put one side of the card (up to the fold line) in the Fifth Ave Floral Sizzix folder and run through the Big Shot (with the words on the die facing up).  This side will be embossed.
• Put the other side of the card (up to fold line) in the folder (with the words underneath this time) and run through the Big Shot.  This side will be de-bossed.
• Trim around the floral shape (see samples above).
• Corner round the top edges of the inside piece of cardstock.
• Cut a piece of white cardstock 3 3/4" x 5 1/4" and corner round the top edges.
• Stamp on the white with the Fifth Ave Floral stamps.  Adhere to the center panel.
• Stamp one of the flowers on a scrap of white & cut out.  Adhere it on the inside with dimensional tape.
• Punch two holes at the top and thread ribbon through.
• Make a belly band to go around the card.

This card can be used for a wedding invitation, sympathy card, birthday, etc.  Very versatile!

Supplies used:

• Fifth Avenue Floral Sizzix Embossing Folder (pg 214 - $7.95)
• Fifth Avenue Floral Stamp (pg 122 - $24.95)
• 12 x 12 cardstock (pg 166 - 169 - $6.95)
• Whisper White cardstock (pg 169 - $8.50)
• 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon (pg 191 - $6.95)