Hello Baby

I made a baby card with the final stamp that I hadn't used from A Slice of Life.  Remember, I told you in this post that I would make a card with the onesie stamp and share it. 

 I had a piece of this beautiful lace trim left over from Christmas so I threaded a piece of pink grosgrain through the top and adhered it to the card.  This is a pretty simple card.  I'm stuck using pink and green I think!  That is one of my favorite color combos.

Here's a picture of my friends at our luncheon on Thursday.  We had such a good visit.  We met at noon and didn't leave the restaurant until 2 pm!  We were all on the Newcomer's Board 2 years ago and got along so well plus we got things done in the Club.  I was the only crazy one who stayed another year.  What a difference the past year's Board members were versus the six of us!  Just suffice it to say, I'm glad I'm done!

Sharon, our president; Ellen, Treasurer, Cathy, Rec. Secretary

Kathy, VP, Judy, VP, and me, Corr. Secretary/Newsletter

Monday Mailers for February

Last week started a new month of Monday Mailers.  My partner this month is Beth - I am sending to her and she is sending to me.  Beth is a very talented stamper as well as a busy mom and teacher.  But, she got my card to me in record time!  I received it last Monday or Tuesday!  Unfortunately, I was not so swift this time.  With being out of town, I did not get her card made and mailed until Wednesday.  But it is one of my favorite cards that I have ever made.

 I used my SU butterfly punch to make the pansy flowers.  I punched Shimmery White cardstock (2 per flower).  With my Pretty in Pink marker I colored the edges of the butterflies and used So Saffron for the centers.  Then I sprayed them really good with water and crumpled them all up.  Then flatten them out and let them dry.  Glue the two together and put a little Chunky Glitter in the center.  I used the 5-Flower Punch for the leaves (Certainly Celery).  I used the Tulip Die on the white card.  And the finishing touch is the wide grosgrain ribbon in Celery and Pink!  Really spring like, don't you think?

I just love all the different elements in this vintage looking card!

A Slice of Life

A Slice of Life is a Hostess gift stamp set featured in the Occasions Mini that I earned last month.  It is a cute set that can be used all through the year for birthday wishes, congratulations, welcome to a new baby, etc.  So, if you book a workshop, you too can earn this set for FREE!!  I made a card with all the stamps in the set except one which is a baby onesies' stamp.  I will use it later and share with you.

 This card is one I will be using soon for a birthday card to a special friend in Texas.  I cut the cake out separately, paper-pieced it and raised it up with dimensionals.
Cardstock:  Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink Bashful Blue, Whisper White, scraps of various SU DSP; Accessories:  2 1/2" Circle Punch; Black Marker; Sizzix Flower Fold Die; Big Shot; SU Markers; Sizzix Tasteful Trim Die.

 I haven't decided the sentiment to use with this card but I will stamp it in the right corner when I do.  I paper-pieced the vase.
Cardstock:  Pear Pizazz; Bashful Blue; Whisper White; SU DSP; Accessories:  Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon; SU Scallop Punch; SU Markers (Pr. in Pink & Concord Crush).

My upcoming trip to Ireland was the inspiration for this card!  I don't drink coffee but I may develop a fondness for Irish coffee soon!  I used a lot of punches on this one!
Cardstock:  Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Pear Pizazz, SU DSP, Chocolate Chip / Accessories:  Photo Corner Punch; Boho Blossoms Punch; green brads; Modern Label Punch, Large Oval Punch; Scallop Edge Punch; 1 3/4" Circle Punch; 2 3/8" Scallop Punch; Stamps:  A Slice of Life and Occasional Quotes.

Take A Spin

Before I went out of town, I received some new goodies from Stampin' Up.  I didn't have a lot of time to play with them and that's what I'm hoping to do today (before or after cleaning house????)  I did make one card and as is par for the course for me, I adhered it to the base card backwards.  I can't even count the number of times I do that!  Luckily, for this card, it really didn't matter!

Here is how it was supposed to look like but the fold is at the bottom of the card:

But this is how it actually is (with the fold at the top):

Pretty neat that you can just turn it around and it still works!

I think this set will be an easy one to work with for birthdays, congrats, etc.  The set is in the Occasions Mini and is called Take A Spin.  I punched the white circle piece out with the new 2 1/2" Circle Punch (pg 11).  I colored the white circle piece with my markers.  The DSP is from the Sale-A-Bration catalog as are the ribbon and buttons .... free is always good!  The spinners are ordered separately - for $4 you get 12 spinners.  Isn't this a cheerful card?

Congrats to Green Bay

Well, we are back home - disappointed but such is life - can't win 'em all!  As I've said before, I was really surprised when the Steelers made it to the Super Bowl.  With the injuries we've had this year and our quarterback not being able to play the first four games, we were not supposed to even make the play-offs.  I had hope until the very end.  Who would have guessed that with less than 2 minutes left, Ben would throw an incomplete pass at 4th down with only 5 yards to go!   

I've been a Steeler fan too many years to let one loss turn me away.  I'll be watching them play next year (hopefully, if the strike doesn't take place) and biting my fingernails at the very end while I'm waving my Terrible Towel.  I'll watch Big Ben, Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward work their magic on the football field.   And, I'll be going back to Pittsburgh (if I can't get Super Bowl tickets) to watch another Super Bowl with a room full of screaming, towel waving "Stiller" fans!!

Congratulations to Green Bay and their fans.

Here are some pictures I took while in Pittsburgh:

This is the Giant Eagle grocery store decorated for Super Bowl!

 Marianne enjoying a delicious Danny's hoagie!

 Ready for the big GAME!

This is our table.  We had a special place set for Ashley!  We bought the Army material and the Steeler bear to represent Ashley since she couldn't go with us.  We had quite a few people come up and ask us about it.  We even had a young girl who was standing right in front of us who came over and talked to us a while and told us her brother had been with the 101st Airborne in Iraq and didn't come home two years ago.  When the Star Spangled Banner was sang, she and I were both crying. 

 Sonny with his Terrible Towel - ready to wave!

 Marianne and I with our face tattoos

Here we are ... 3 Steeler fans in the midst of hundreds!!

Valentine Box

We're having a great time here in Pittsburgh.  The weather has been great.  We had some rain today and a tiny bit of snow this evening.  The prediction is for flurries the next couple of days but nothing accumulating until after we leave on Monday.  We're getting pretty nervous about tomorrow's BIG GAME but hey, it's just a game.  Just hope we WIN!!!

Here is a card box and a few cards I made to go in it for Valentine's.  I was going to teach this class at our local stamp store, but ended up not having enough signed up.  So .... it will be given away.

CARD BOX

Magical Beard

Pittsburgh likes its athletes to be great, but it also likes them to be humble. I'm guessing the city will make an exception for Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel. "I truly believe I have the greatest beard of all time," he said.  How's that for humility?

He has a  "Respect The Beard, Fear the Deisel" T-shirt. You can see it at brettkeisel.com. You will see a wide- and wild-eyed Keisel and all his hair looking back at you.  A big hunk of the proceeds of the shirts will go to his two favorite charities, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Homeless Children's Education Fund.

"The beard is powerful," Keisel said. "It has magical powers. Hopefully, it'll create some magic on Super Bowl Sunday."

 

Win or lose Sunday night, Keisel said the beard will come off next week. "We'll do something fun with it for charity." Obviously, everyone involved will have a lot more fun if the Steelers win and Keisel gets his third Super Bowl ring in six seasons.

Tomlin, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger aren't leaving anything to chance. All have followed Keisel's lead and grown postseason beards.  But theirs is just hair.  Keisel's beard is the greatest of all time.  Just ask him, he'll tell you.

 (excerpt from Ron Cook at Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

We Made It!

Well, we made it to Pittsburgh .... safe and sound.  Sonny felt pretty stupid since he'd been worrrying about the weather on our drive up the past few days.  Well, he had nothing to worry about.  There was no problems AT ALL!  We saw a little bit of snow off the side of the road but nothing to speak of really.  We were all really surprised.  Even when we got to Pittsburgh, we hardly saw any snow.  It's cold here - I think it was about 27 degrees when we arrived (about 7 pm) but what do you expect in Pittsburgh in February??   Tomorrow it's supposed to be warmer - high around 35 which is warmer than Dallas and Sherrills Ford probably!!  And we had friends who didn't want to join us because they thought it would be too cold here!  We made our way to a bar/restaurant and had dinner and a couple of drinks.  Now Marianne and I are back in the room playing on our computers and Sonny has gone in search of some place to quench his thirst! 

So .... I want to share with you a card I received last week from Carol for my Monday Mailer.  She used a Sizzix die that is still available on the Clearance Rack (click on the left side bar).  It is called Build A Flower.  It really makes a cool flower!

Groundhog Day along with Monday Mailer Card

"The sky is clear. Prepare for warmth!" With those rousing words this morning, the world's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, offered a ray of hope to millions of Americans being buffeted by a monster winter storm.  By seeing no shadow as he emerged from his ceremonial burrow in Pennsylvania, on Groundhog Day 2011, Phil, according to tradition, is said to have predicted an early spring.

This was Punxsutawney Phil's 125th prognostication!
 

According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania's earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, "For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May..."

Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800s. The first official trek to Gobbler's Knob was made on February 2, 1887. 

So ... on to other creative ventures!  I want to share my final January Monday Mailer card with you.  I really really like it!!

 

Here are the "deets" -

Cardstock:  Very Vanilla

Ribbon:  Seam Binding Cherry Cobbler

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler; Soft Suede

Stamp:  Elements of Style

Misc:  Big Shot, Top Note die, Dotted Swiss Embossing Folder, Modern Label Punch

• Ran the card through the Big Shot embossing it with the Dotted Swiss folder.  Then I sponged Soft Suede around the edges and over the dots.  
• Stamped the flowers on Vanilla cardstock and cut them out.
• Die cut a piece of Vanilla with the Top Note die and sponged the edges with Soft Suede.
• Stamped the sentiment on Very Vanilla and punched it out with the Modern Label Punch.
• It's hard to see - but I lightly wheeled the Very Vintage Wheel in Soft Suede over the Top Note Die and the Modern Label piece.
• Glued the flowers down onto the card and used pop dots on the sentiment.  
• Used the bow maker to make the bow and put glue dots under it to hold it just where I wanted it.

Heat Embossing on Dry Embossing

Yesterday, I did some challenge cards.  I used to do challenges faithfully on Splitcoast  - mostly color and sketch challenges.  But on Monday's the challenge is "Try a new Technique" so I did.  This technique is called Heat Embossing on Dry Embossing.  Here are the steps:

• Dry emboss your cardstock with an embossing folder.
• Run an embossing buddy over the dry embossed cardstock before applying the ink.
• Ink up your brayer with Versamark and run it across the raised area of the dry embossed cardstock using a real soft touch...you only want the ink on the raised part.
• Apply the embossing powder, shake off the excess, remove stray embossing powder with a small brush, and emboss with a heat tool.

 For this one, I stamped on the Whisper White cardstock with my new Cover A Card stamp called Criss Cross in blue ink and did the embossing on top of that.  Then I embossed with white embossing powder.  The yellow centers are made with a yellow Pearl Pen.  How do you like that bow?  Made with my bow maker!!

close up of embossed flowers (used Elegant Bouquet folder)

This card I made for my sister, Angela's, birthday which was today.  We took her out to dinner at Chilli's tonight to celebrate.  I can remember when she was born and what a cute little kid she was with her curly hair.  We are 10 1/2 years apart!

The embossing folder is a Cuttlebug Happy Birthday folder.  The cupcake die is from Sizzix and the saying is from a retired SU set called Goody Goody.