January Stamp Club Coaster Calendars

I just have to start off by saying .... GO STEELERS!  What a great game!  Sonny was a doubter going to Big Al's on Saturday to watch the game, but his team pulled through for him.  Of course, he had to do a little clothes alterations for that to happen.  He wore his jersey that we had won a couple of weeks ago to the game.  When we were losing 14-0, he pulled it off to wear the tee shirt he had worn when we won the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.  He had another shirt on under that one - I don't know which one it was - but he was prepared to make another change if he had to!  Yes .... he is superficious when it comes to football!  And then yesterday!!  The Jets beat Tom Brady and his New England Patriots!  That was the icing on the cake.  Now Pittsburgh gets to play the Jets in Pittsburgh!!!

Ashley had a bit of excitement this weekend also although it was not a good type of excitement.  Some soldiers on her base (not in her battalion) were conducting a training exercise with the Iraqi soldiers teaching them how to launch attacks, etc.  One of the Iraqi soldiers opened fire on the US soldiers, killing two and wounding a third.  You can read about it HERE.  It certainly brings the fact that she is over there in the midst of a WAR to front and center.

My Stamp Club starts back this week.  One of the members has requested that we make a coaster calendar so that is what I have been working on.  I plan on putting mine on display but letting them make theirs any way that they want to.  It has been a while since I made one of these calendars.  I tried to make it a little different - by putting the month on one coaster and putting a stamped image on another coaster and putting them together with a 2" piece of ribbon.  But after I finished the whole year, the thing just wouldn't stand up properly and it was more trouble than it was worth.  So, I proceeded to take it all apart and remake it!  Here is the finished product:

Valentine Defined

I've been playing around with My Digital Studio again.  Today I wanted to see if I could import some digital papers I have gotten from other sites and I could!  It was pretty easy to do and I like the results.  See if you agree:

 

The paper, like I said, is from another source.  I think I downloaded it a year or two ago not knowing at that time exactly what to do with it!  It was just FREE!  The torn edge of the center strip was made using a My Digital Studio stamp set called Torn Edges.  It is so cool because you can make the paper look like it is hand torn.  I decided to use a drop shadow on it so it would look like a trim.  The stamp set is a new one that is available to download from SU called Valentine Defined.  It is available in the Occasions Mini Catalog (page 9).   So you don't have to have MDS to make this card - you can duplicate the card by hand stamping too.

Valentines for you

Well, we still have snow and ice on the ground and school was out for the FIFTH day in a row!!  Marianne's son has been able to go to school yesterday and today since they live in Mooresville city school district.  The main roads are fine.  It's just our neighborhood and Island Point Road which is very shady.  I actually ventured out today to go play mahjong.  Sonny was going to drive me but I ended up just following him part way through the bad parts.  He was headed to Davidson to do some work.  He had to pull my car out of the driveway for me - it was pure ice.  But, after that, I did ok.  I didn't have far to go and it was nice to be out of the house!  

I have been waiting for a couple of UPS shipments this week.  One was due on Wednesday and the other was due Thursday.  I checked the UPS site yesterday and they posted something about Weather Conditions Prevent Delivery.  Well, today the UPS man called me and said that he had left my packages up by my mailbox.  See .... even he wouldn't come down our driveway!!

So that being said, I have a couple of Valentines to share with you.  One of them I stamped in the traditional way and the other I made in My Digital Studio.  

 

This card I used my new Valentine Bundle stamp set, Filled With Love and the Designer Paper that comes with the bundle for the scallops.  

 

This is the MDS card.  The stamp can be purchased from the Occasions Mini catalog - it is a mini stamp on the last page of the catty.  This is what I love about MDS.  I can just download this stamp for a couple of dollars and print it out when I want to and I don't have to worry about storage!!

I've still been working on my stamp room - getting it into shape.  This week, I took most of my non-SU DSP bits and pieces that I had stashed in every crevice of my room and threw away pieces that weren't any bigger than about 4"x 4".  I've got it corralled into one large plastic bin now.  My club ladies are going to make coaster calendars next week so we'll be using up a lot of the bits and pieces.  I've also been working on organizing all my 12" x 12" DSP.  My friend, Judy, gave me a couple of plastic paper organizers for Christmas so that has been my motivation!

Tomorrow is our big football day!!  For those of you who aren't on Facebook, this is what I posted last night:

*****WARNING***** The national weather service has issued a falling bird warning for Pittsburgh next Saturday starting at 4:30 and continuing until the end of the fourth quarter. Falling birds could be heavy at times especially around the Heinz Field area. Heavy accumulation is likely.  

We'll be heading to Big Al's for the game and hopefully, we'll be happy when we come home!!

Join the Family!

Did you miss the big Stampin' Up sign-up bonus offered a few months ago?  Are you still thinking of joining the Stampin' Up family?  Well, here's another great deal for you!

Any new demonstrator who joins during Sale-A-Bration (January 25 - March 31) will not only receive 15 percent off their Starter Kit, but will also receive a special Bonus Bundle of products valued up to $50!   The following items will be included in your Starter Kit (whether it's the standard kit or the Digital+ Starter Kit):

Item	Page	Description
121620	165	Color Coach (or multiple languages Color Coach)
120806	183	Something Special Simply Sent (or any Simply Sent kit)
117114	183	Live, Laugh, Love Stamp Set (or any Simply Sent Stamp Set valued at $12.95 or less)
119883	202	Heart to Heart Punch (or any punch valued at $17.95 or less)

These items will automatically appear on the Online IDA Starter Kit order form, where new recruits will have the option to make substitutions. New recruits who use the paper IDA will need to write any bundle substitutions at the top of their Starter Kit order forms.

So if this sounds like something you are interested in, contact me and we can get started signing you up!!

Monday Mailer from Me

I forgot to take a picture of the first Monday Mailer that I mailed out last week!  It was so pretty.   I used some new DSP from the Occasions Mini Catalog and the new button Embosslit.  And .... it included a bookmark too!  Oh well, you'll just have to picture it in your mind!

I did remember to snap a picture of this week's Monday Mailer before I trudged up to the mailbox - in the snow - to mail it.  Well, to be truthful, Sonny trudged up to the mailbox while I stayed nice and warm inside!!

It is a simple card which is ok I keep telling myself.  Why is it so hard to do a simple card?  Probably if I were redoing this card, I might pop up one of those buttons.  This is the new Button, Button stamp from the mini catalog.  I stamped them in Poppy Parade (in color).  The bow is made with the Bow Easy - a double loop bow.  I used dental floss for my thread through the button and just colored it with my Poppy Parade marker!!  Clever, huh?

Hope you are staying warm.  It is still bitter cold here - 25 degrees right now - but we are supposed to get to 40 today!  A virtual heat wave!!  I think we finally got to the freezing mark last night around 6 pm.  Not one bit of the snow has melted and this is the third day school has been canceled.  They are going to be eating into their Spring Break soon.  The sun is out though and we will probably venture in to town after lunch.  Sonny is about to go stir crazy!!

Snow Days

We had a snow day today!  The snow started sometime during the night and when I woke up this morning, every where you looked was white and beautiful.  I remember how excited I was as a kid to have snow days and to go out and play in it all day .... making snowmen, having snowball fights, eating snow cream.  Good memories.  My kids were just the same although living in Texas, they didn't get the big snow storms like we had today.  But, what we did get, they made the best of.  We didn't have a sled but they would use cookie sheets for their sledding and pack the snow in a bucket to make their snowmen.   I don't know if kids have this kind of fun anymore.  It seems like they would rather stay indoors playing video games than exerting themselves running and playing outside these days.  Sonny and I took a walk around the neighborhood after lunch and didn't see one kid out playing or even a snowman to show that kids had been playing outside.

So I felt it only appropriate tonight to make this snowman card:

I found this paper tonight while cleaning and thought it would make a great background for my snow couple!

I started this weekend re-organizing my stamp room so today was great to have the snow day to finish it up.  I moved furniture around and everything!  I still have a little bit more to do but I made a good start on getting things in order.

These are my  Stampin' Up stamps organized A through R. 
I still have a couple of shelves (bottom ones) to organize.  Hopefully, I'll tackle that tomorrow.



These are the rest of my SU stamps organized S - W.  I got tired of bending down all the time to get to stamps on lower shelves!  On the top, I have my ribbon in empty plastic jars that used to hold nuts.



This is my cutting station. 

My desk still needs a little work but it looks a lot better than it did about noon today!!  It was covered with stuff.

These are my non-Stampin' Up stamps that are on a shelf in my closet.  I stamped all of them on copy paper by categories - floral, animals, snow, holidays, masculine, etc. and put them in plastic boxes.  The white basket toward the bottom are all my clear stamps stored in CD cases and categorized in a separate notebook.

January Monday Mailer #1

Our Monday Mailer program has started back up.  I am glad!  I missed receiving a card each week.  I love seeing what other people make.  So if you ever want to make a card and don't know who to send it to, just send it my way!  My partner this month is Carol and she made the prettiest thank you card - although it would be easy to add another sentiment and use this card for a birthday or "thinking of you."

 

The card base is Crumb Cake (or Kraft if you prefer!)  She used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder on the Pretty In Pink piece.  This is about the only folder that I don't own.  It just may be on my order form next time!  I had to thumb through the catalog to find which stamp set she used since I didn't recognize it.  It is from Printed Petals (pg 106) and is really pretty!  Only $15 for the clear set .... maybe that one will be on my list too!  It looks like a very versatile stamp set.  

Yesterday I felt like all I did was eat and drink!  I rode with Sonny up to Hickory.  He had to get a part to fix my mom's fireplace.  I needed to go to Hobby Lobby to return something, but half-way there, I remembered the Hobby Lobby bag was still hanging on the door in my craft room!  Oh well - another trip, another time.  While we were there, we had lunch at the Mellow Mushroom which is fairly new to Hickory.  We've eaten at the one in Savannah and really like it.  So lunch with a couple of brews and we were headed home.  Just in time to wash my hair and get dressed to meet some friends in Statesville for dinner.  Not good planning!!  We met them at a favorite Mexican restaurant - really, about the only good one we have found here.  But neither one of us were very hungry - plus, by the time you eat a bowl of chips and salsa and have a couple of margaritas, you're definitely not hungry!!  It was fun anyway. 

This weekend will be a lazy one.  I am going to a jewelry party this afternoon.  But, after that, I'll have my comfy clothes on and settled in to watch some football.  There are two play-off games today and two tomorrow.  After the weekend, we'll know who Pittsburgh will be playing next weekend.

The weather is supposed to get bad early in the week.  High's today just barely above freezing with snow on the way.  Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be snow days.  We'll see!  I'd love more snow as long as I don't have to drive in it.

Valentine Inchy

I received a shipment yesterday from Stampin' Up.  I had pre-ordered the Valentine special but, darn it, the stamp is back-ordered!  It shipped today so I should have it by the first of next week.  I received the Valentine DSP so decided to work with it and a stampset I had on hand.  I pulled out the set, Cute by the Inch, which is a hostess set that I haven't used and found this cute little heart.  This card was simple to make - which is not my usual.  But, it was fun and quick and I like it!

I stamped the heart inchy in black and mounted it on black which I mounted on Real Red. 

I'm excited!  I made our airline reservations today for our trip to IRELAND!!  We are going there mid-March and will be meeting Ashley on her leave.  Our plans are to tour Ireland for a week and then travel over to England for a few days.  Just working out all the logistics will be a hassel but at least I've made a start by making the plane reservations.

A Card for Twins!

I thought that I had posted this card but Ashley informed me today that I had not!  Her best friends in San Antonio had twins a week ago.  Lisa and Danny had a boy and a girl to bring home to big brother Ryan.  The babies are still in the hospital and Lisa is going there every 3 hours to feed them.  I know she'll be so glad to get them home in a few weeks.  I think this has been one of the hardest times for Ashley knowing those babies are here and she won't get to see them for so long.

 

I had so much fun making this card!  I used the large wheel, Baby Tees (pg 79 in SU catalog).  I wheeled it once on blue DSP and again on pink DSP and cut them out.  I free-handed the little tee shirt in the middle for Ryan and stamped "brother" on it from Everyday Flexible Phrases (retired) and then just wrote in "big" with a Sharpie.  The background paper is some I had in my stash (non SU).   The silver hangers are brads that I got at CKC a couple of years ago.  I hung them on the twine.  The sentiment is punched out with the Modern Label Punch.  So what do you think???

Now I have to get to work on two name frames for Alex and Julia.  I have bought the frames and they have been sitting amid the mess on my desk for a few days now.  I made a name frame for Ryan when he was born and Ashley told me it is still hanging in his room so I have to make one two for these babies!

Got my Mojo!

I forgot to mention our good Steelers news yesterday.  We always go to a local bar to watch the game with a bunch of other Steelers fans.  They do raffles during all the games of some great Steelers stuff.  At half-time, they draw 5-6 names and at the end of the game, they do one final raffle and it is always a authentic Steelers jersey.  The very first game, we won one of the prizes at half-time - a tee shirt and a Steelers gnome.  Well, yesterday we won the Steelers jersey!!  It was from the 1970's team (Steel Curtain) and was of Mel Blount.  I didn't even get to try the jersey on - it went straight to Sonny.  It still had the price tag on it - $300!!  Pretty cool, huh?

Today I made a card using the Mojo Monday sketch.  It's been a while since I did one of their sketches.  I had picked up this stamp a couple of weeks ago at H. L. and hadn't inked it yet.  I think it worked very well in this sketch.

 I turned the sketch on it's side so I could fit all my elements in there.  The ovals and rectangles are cut from Nestabilities.   The DSP is from a retired SU stack that was in last year's catalog.  I used my nifty Imaginisce tool to melt the bling onto the flower stem and in the center of the flower in the circle.  I wrapped the brown grosgrain ribbon on one side and used sticky strip to adhere it to the card.  I used the bow maker to make the bow.  Don't you love the saying?  Guess who I'm sending this card to!!

I bought a new laptop today and I'm so excited!!  There was a really good price at Best Buy but of course, when I got there, there were none left.  So, we had to order it.  That's ok - I can wait.  I have been using the Newcomer's laptop for two years while I have been Secretary/Newsletter. but I will be giving up that position at the end of the month (YAY! ) so I wanted my own laptop.  That's what I spent my first Social Security check on!!