Shoebox Swaps

I haven't shared the Shoebox Swaps from Quarterly with you .... mainly because I haven't finished them.  But, I decided to go ahead and share the pictures that I took of the ones I need to finish.  I hope to work on them real soon!! 

The stocking punch makes this one so easy!

Again - another punch to make it easy - this time, the owl punch.

No punch - have to cut the snowman out.  This is the cute snowman in Snow Much Fun



A great autum card using French Foilage

Angela took Mom to Dr Hines today - the spine and pain management specialist.  He diagnosed her with severe stenosis, disc bulging and severe osteoarthritis.  He is going to give her an injection next Tuesday - a nerve root block to try to decrease the inflammation which should reduce her pain.  He says it will not change the stenosis and does not know how long the relief will last.  The other option is surgery and he wants us to talk to a surgeo.  I am very leary of her having back surgery. 



Queen Sketch No. 8

It's Sketch Week again.  Funny how this slips up on me every week ... this week it really did!  But again, it was My Digital Studio to the rescue!  I used a new Thanksgiving download for this card.  I plan on using this download to help decorate my Thanksgiving table this year!

We had a pretty easy sketch this week.  Why not give it a try?  We queens vote for our favorite each week - you could be a winner!!  If you decide to, send your card to the Stamping Queens Blog. 

And here is my card:

I used these colors:  More Mustard, Early Espresso, and Soft Suede.  There are so many other things to give thanks for but I love the things I listed on my card!  What are some other things YOU are thankful for this time of year?

An update on my Mom:  I went over to her house Monday after playing bridge and stayed with her until shortly before Angela came home from work.  She had several instances that the pain was really intense.  It's strange because most of the pain comes when she is trying to stand, walk or get up from her chair or bed.  But there are some times when she is sitting perfectly still and the pain hits her like a ton of bricks and she starts screaming.  She had an MRI Monday morning.  I stayed with her again Tuesday and we finally got the MRI results around 2 pm.  She has Spinal Stenosis which is a narrowing of the spinal canal, which places pressure on the spinal cord.  It is the gradual result of aging and “wear and tear” on the spine during everyday activities.  Oh how I hope I don't develop this!!  When the doctor's office called to give me the MRI results, they referred her to a spine ortho specialist but he couldn't see her until Oct. 18 - another week!  Unbelievable!  I told them that was unacceptable - that we could not wait another week  for her to get some type of relief.  Plus, she is taking that Oxycotin every 4 hours.  That can not be good for an 83 year old person!  I truthfully don't think the drugs are doing anything because she still has really intense pain.  But she asks for them every 4 hours thinking they are doing something.  A friend had given me the name of her doctor at bridge on Monday who specializes in the spine and pain management.  So I called him.  It was my lucky day!  They had just had a cancellation for Wednesday at 8 AM and I took it.  Angela will take her to see him and we will see what he can do for her.  I'm guessing he will give her some type of injection - nerve block or steroids and probably refer her to physical therapy.  I will probably be babysitting for her again after her appointment.  Sonny and I are going to Lincolnton for him to get his driver's license renewed and have lunch but after that I will probably be going back to mom's. 

Where does it stop?  We take care of our children and in just a few short years we are caring for our parents.  And next thing you know, your children are taking care of you!!  This has made me vow to take better care of myself and start exercising more diligently so my daughter does not have to be in this same position with me in a few years. 

Techniques for You

Did you miss me?

Things have been pretty crazy here lately.  My mom has been sick all week.  We think it is her sciatica nerve tht is getting the best of her.  She is bothered periodically with back problems.   She was on hydrocodien for pain as needed but this week, it was not doing the job.  So, I took her to the doctor on Wednesday for a pain shot and x-rays.  My sister called me on Thursday and said the shot didn't ease the pain either.  So, the doctor gave her a prescription of oxycotin.  It also isn't working like I think it should. The x-rays just show arthritis.  Thursday night Marianne and I went to a Pampered Chef party.  After it was over, we got a call from Angela (my sister) that Mom was in a lot of pain.  So my friend, Kathy who was a nurse, went with me to mom's.  We were able to get her up and into an office chair so we could wheel her into the bathroom and then put her in bed.  We girls have been taking turns staying with mom and getting her to the doctor.  Angela lives with her so she has night duty.  Marianne stayed with her this weekend while Angela was working.  Mom is going in for an MRI on Tuesday.  Once we get the results, we'll decide what to do - continue going to her dr. who is great but is just an family practice doc or try a chiropractor.  I would like to get her off all those meds.  They are not fixing the problem - only masking it.  I'm hoping we can convine her to do some good back stretches and exercises to prevent future outbreaks.  I have had sciatica pain before and I know how bad it hurts.  Luckily, I can tell when my I have sat too long without good support and make an effort to get a step ahead before the pain hits me by doing stretching, exercises, and stand to do my work instead of sitting.

I was happy today that our Steelers played so well and got the win!  I thought the Panthers were going to pull a win off as well, but it wasn't meant to be.  Cam Newton has been a good pick for Carolina but if you live here, you might be getting sick of hearing his name!

I have some techniques to share with you today.  I did a technique swap at Quarterly last week and got some good ones.  Everyone put their techniques - examples and "how to" - on a 6x6 card.

Bleach/Chalk Technique

Embossed Embedded Image

Markers on a Roll

Faux Mother of Pearl

Top Note Square

Iris Folding

Butterfly Pansy

Emerging Color

My Digital Studio Thursday

I'm going to start putting a project from My Digital Studio on my blog once a week - maybe on Thursday.... maybe another day.  Each Tuesday Stampin' Up offers new downloads for My Digital Studio.  I want to let My Digital Studio users aware that there is an update available for your software.  Just open your Digital Software and it should prompt you for the updates. If it doesn't prompt, click on the "help" button and check for the update there.  There is also a fantastic Holiday Hostess special you will want to check out.  This digital download is only available as a hostess item and will be available through December.  It has some great items that will help you with the upcoming holidays!

Today I want to share a couple of scrapbook pages that I did while watching TV tonight.  That is how easy it is to use this program.

Both of these layouts use the Beau Chateau DSP.  You can order this DSP from the catalog also - it is beautiful!  It's not just a digital item!

Stamping Queens Sketch Wednesday

Time for another Stamping Queens sketch.  I made another card using My Digital Studio.  So easy and I can use products that I don't have here in my stamp room.  This time the card I made uses the Beau Chateau Collection.

Here is the sketch we were to follow:

And here is my card:

This card actually started out as a pre-designed card in MDS.  I just took some elements off and added some of my own.  The "cherish" and "memories" are actually cut from the Beau Chateau DSP.  This card could easily be done by hand if you didn't have MDS.  The colors I used are Baja Blue and Soft Suede.

I found out today that my nephew and his wife (Jack & Kat) will be having a boy in March.  I am so happy for them!!  Ashley had dinner with Jack tonight in Austin and found out the good news.  I had found out earlier in the day via Facebook.  I just hate that Facebook and Twitter is the way young people choose to share their news these days.  What is wrong with picking up the telephone and actually talking to someone instead of having to text or twitter, etc.!!

Ashley is headed home and is overjoyed to be able to go home to stay now!  Jack tried to get her to spend the night in Austin but she said no thanks - she is more than ready to get home and get everything back to normal (what ever that may be!)

Lollies

SU I am starting to get back to normal here.  I played bridge today .... almost got high but came in 2nd and won $4!!!  Getting the big bucks, huh?  I got my club orders sorted out and am ready to deliver them this week.  I'm working on some table decorations and menu for the Southern Living Dinner that our group auctioned off.  It is tomorrow night so I will be finishing up the project tomorrow.  And I even cooked us a dinner tonight - chicken tacos which is an adaptation of my daughter-in-law's recipe and is very good.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Marianne and I made a few stops along the way to Greensboro on Friday.  At one of the stamp stores, they had a really cool wreath hanging in their bathroom.  I took a picture and I think Marianne is going to try to make one for her bathroom in shades of purple.

It is simply 12x12 DSP rolled.  I think this would look great with our Spice Cake DSP and a big button in the center!!

At the Quarterly, there were random Prize Patrols.  Marianne and I both won prizes - red and green buttons in one of the little plastic sleeves that is in the mini.  (I'll take a picture tomorrow - it is really cute.)  But another group won "lollie" wreaths that Janie made.  They were great!  This is going to be a project of mine soon too.



This one uses Spice Cake DSP



This is a Christmas one.

 And finally, here is a picture of a Thanksgiving wreath that I saw in one of the scrapbook stores.  I thought it was pretty cool.  Wouldn't it look nice on a front door?

Well, it is almost the bewitching hour of midnight so I am going to say good night and go to bed!!

Great SU Promotions

Stampin' Up has some great October promotions!

If you've ever thought about being a SU demonstrator, now is the time!!  You can get a free Big Shot plus all the goodies you get for signing up!  Already have a Big Shot?  NO PROBLEM - you can get $100 of merchandise in place of it.....yep - that's what I said - $100 FREE !!!!!  Click on JOIN MY TEAM above!

Promotion Dates: October 1-31, 2011

•Anyone that joins during the promotion period will receive a Sizzix Big Shot Machine or $100 in Stampin' Up! products of your choice from any of our current catalogs.
•New recruits who join online will be given access to the Promotional Product Bonus one hour after they complete their online IDA (they will be provided a link to the ordering page for this redemption via e-mail).
•In this order type, they will either enter the item number for the Big Shot (item 113439) or the item numbers for up to $100 in Stampin' Up! products.
•Products can be chosen from any current catalog and shipping is free!
•New Recruits should ensure that their free total comes as close as possible to $100 without going over since the Promotional Product Bonus order type will not allow items beyond $100 to be added to the order.
•Those who mail in their Indepedent Demonstratror Agreements can simply list the items they want for free on their accompanying order form.
•New recruits will have until November 30, 2011, to redeem their product bonus.

You have a choice of the standard stamping or the Digital and stamping kits.  They are both $175 but the value is over $440 with the free Big Shot (or substituted free merchandise). 

I've been waiting for some new items to be added to the CLEARANCE RACK,  It was worth the wait!  But, items this good don't last long so if you see something you like, better hurry and order it NOW!  I've already been told that one of the punches is sold out but there are some other great deals including ribbon, DSP, rub-on's ....

CLICK ON CLEARANCE RACK  AT THE TOP OF MY BLOG.

Another promotion is with the Simply Stampin' kits.  If you buy TWO Simply Stampin' kits, you get a coordinating stamp set FREE.  Who doesn't like FREE??? 

Greensboro Quarterly

The Greensboro Quarterly was so much fun!  It was worth all the effort.  I got some great swaps which I'll be sharing soon.  Marianne and I left Mooresville around noon so it gave us a lot of time to stop and shop along the way.  We stopped at Enchanted Cottage in Lewisville but, surprise, surprise, left without buying anything!  Our next stop was in Winston Salem at Scrapbook Traditions.  Wow!  It is a huge store - 4,000 sq. feet and so organized!  We made a few purchases there!  Our timing was great - we arrived at our hotel around 5:15 with time to check in, unload the car and head over to the church to start on our Shoebox Swaps.  I had made dinner reservations for 7 at Anton's Italian Restaurant.  Anton's was mine and Sonny's favorite restaurant when we were dating.  (We met in Greensboro when we were both living in a single's apartment complex.)  I was excited to see that it was still going strong and being run by the same family.  Two other gals were joining us for dinner but as we were leaving the church, Brenda fell and hit her head pretty hard.  Marianne and I went ahead but they were able to join us later.  We kept our eye on Brenda the rest of the night just in case. The food was awesome.  The only drawback was that there was a 40 year high school reunion going on and the restaurant was full of a lot of loud mouth guys!!  We couldn't even hear each other's conversation. 

Marianne and I worked on our swaps until midnight when we had to call it quits!  We got a little over half of the cards done (there were 28).  We took pictures of the rest of the swaps and collected our packets to do the cards at home.

Saturday we were back at the church by 8:30 and ready to work.  We had a little introduction and welcome time and then it was on to the projects presented by the organizers.  They did a great job and we made a lot of different things which I'll be sharing with you this week.  There were also presentations going on for us to observe - making flower roses and wax paper resist technique. 

One of the new things we did this time was a Favorite Card Contest.  The ones who wanted to participate had made a favorite card and the group voted on their favorite.  It was a secret vote and you didn't know whose card you were voting for.  I really worked hard on my card and it paid off!  My card tied with Nancy Carr's card and we both won!  Here is my card:

I used Creative Elements stamp set, stamping the flower 3 times each, cut each one out and stacked them on top of each other using dimensionals between each level.  In the center of each flower is a rhinesone.  The colors I used were Soft Suede and Pool Party plus the Spice Cake DSP.  I dyed my Vanilla ribbon with Soft Suede ink.
Here is Nancy's card that tied with mine:  It is very pretty.

Marianne also made a great card for the contest.  I really thought she would have won.

So what do you think of our cards?  Do they inspire you?

Marianne and I found a couple more scrapping shops before leaving Greensboro.  One was a "must see"!!  It had so much stuff it was unbelievable!!  It was the Scrapbook Shop on Battleground.  If they didn't have it, I don't think you need it!!  We'll definitely be making another trip there some day.

A Birthday Shout Out and my swaps

First off I want to give a shout out to my friend, Margaret.  Today is her birthday.  I couldn't send her a card because they are en route from their home in Colorado back to Texas.  They have their mail forwarded to Colorado and I figured my card would get caught in the forwarding and who knows when she would receive it.  Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

By the time you see this, I should be at the Quarterly meeting in Greensboro.  So I can go ahead and show you a couple of the swaps I am taking.

The first one is the general Holiday swap card.  I can't believe how long it took me to put this card together!  I don't usually pick a swap card with so many bits and pieces.  What was I thinking!  But the effort was worth it I think.  My snowman turned out so cute!

 I punched all the pieces out for the snowman and put him together while watching TV.  But when I started assembling the card, he was too tall!  So I had to make some adjustments - cut his hat down a bit and cut his bottom a bit (wish I could do that with mine!)  The punches I used are:

Body:  2 1/2" circle punch, 1 3/4" circle punch
Head:  Ornament Punch
Hands:  Snowflake Punch
Eyes & Cheeks:  Owl Punch
Nose:  hand cut
Scarf, hat band:  Label Punch
Hat:  Tag Punch
Heart on hatband:  3 Hearts Punch

Of course the stocking in his hand is stamped with the Stitched Stockings stamp from the mini and punched out with the Stocking Punch (so easy!!).  It is so easy to punch out the toe, heel, and top trim with the punch and stamp.  SU has grouped them together so it is just stamp and one punch to get all three .... easy, peasy!  I used a white gel pen to accent the hat, eyes and do the mouth.  The bottom snow is hand torn white cardstock, sponged with Bashful Blue and glittered.  The Bashful Blue background was run through the Big Shot with the new Snowflake embossing folder (mini catalog).  The DSP is from the In Color Stack - Poppy Parade.

We are also doing a technique 6x6 card swap.  I received a great card at Convention that used a new technique (to me anyway).  It is called Iced Crystals.  So that is what I did.  Can't wait to do a card with this technique.  I think it would look great for a Halloween card background.  What do you think?

It's hard to get a good picture due to the glare of the crystals.

I have a couple more to share with you but I haven't snapped the pictures yet so I will try and share them tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Creative Elements

I have a new favorite stamp set.  It is Creative Elements.  I don't know why it has taken me so long to use it and realize how beautiful it is.  I ordered the stamp set before I went to Texas and took it with me but I never got a chance to use it while I was there.  And since I've been back, it's been pretty crazy.  But this week, I finally got a chance to put the rubber to the paper.  What do you think?

I stamped four flowers on white cardstock and colored tw of them with different shades of blue Copic markers and cut them out.  The other two I colored with a green Copic marker and cut them up.  I taped the green ones under the blue petals of the flower.  I stamped the flourish in Garden Green.  The Brillant Blue cardstock is the last piece of the retired cardstock that I had and it matched my Copics perfectly.  The green cardstock is Garden Green which is one of my least favorite colors but on this card, it just set off the flowers perfectly.

Marianne and I am going to the Quarterly meeting tomorrow in Greensboro so I probably won't be blogging over the weekend.  But, I'll have new goodies to share when I return.

I went to the Southern Living Luncheon today and ate way too much!  We had 13 people and everyone brought something so that was a lot of food!!  Needless to say, I didn't make dinner tonight.  I had cheese and crackers and tried to get Sonny to make himself a sandwich.  Instead, he had a slice of apple pie!!  So nutritious!   I made the appetizer today - Blue Moon Inn Cheese Spread from the September issue.  It was really good.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives, chopped

1/3 cup bottled chili sauce 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 (10-oz.) block sharp Cheddar cheese, finely shredded

Garnish: sliced pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives

Assorted vegetables and crackers

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant. Cool 5 minutes; finely chop pecans.
2. Stir together mayonnaise and next 3 ingredients until well blended. Stir in cheese and pecans. Garnish, if desired. Serve with vegetables and crackers.
 
We had a lot of dishes that I wouldn't normally try.  That is why I enjoy these luncheons .... I get to try new and different things.  Today I had gazpacho and risotto for the first time and liked them.
 
Let me know what you think of my card!