I haven't deserted you!

I haven't run away ... just been super busy lately.  But I am here now and have a few things to share today.  First I want to show off the great My Digital Studio project Ashley made for her Dad for Fathers Day.  I took it to Staples for her and had it printed on a piece of foam board (8 1/2" x 17") for under $10.  We had seen something similar that was on sale at an on line site and she knew she could make it using MDS.  She was so right!!  It really looks great hanging in his room.  Now my mind is going round and round trying to think of other things I can do and have similar things made up for different occasions .... birthdays, new baby, wedding, etc.  So many ideas!

Today I took a great tour with my Newcomer group.  Sixteen of us toured northern Iredell County and viewed quilt blocks painted on barns.  It was a lot of fun and we saw some beautiful country side.  Here are a few of my favorites.  We didn't even scratch the surface.  We were given a brochure with about 50 quilts / barns on it and we probaby went by about 20 of them.  We were told that a new brochure is being printed now and it has 90 quilts on it!  I want to go back in my own car so I can stop and get out and take more pictures.  Some of these I had to take the pictures through the glass in the bus and a few of them we actually got to stop and get out to get our pictures.

This was an actual fabric quilt hung on the side of this neat looking antique shop that unfortunately was not open.  I want to go back when it is!!

Another Mosaic

I made another Mosaic Madness card while I had the stamp set out.  Having the stamp set, punch and embossing folder makes this card a breeze to make!  The colors I used are Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight and Not Quite Navy.  Looks pretty, huh?  And it could be a man's card!

I stayed up late watching the hockey game last night - Game 1 of the Stanley Cup against Boston and Chicago.  It went into 2 overtimes - almost 3!  That game wasn't over until 1 a.m.!!  Needless to say I didn't wake up until really late this morning.  I started a new volunteer gig today.  The Mooresville Soup Kitchen has started to prepare tv-like dinners for the veterans and those in the community who are in need of a good hot evening meal.  Volunteers meet at the Soup Kitchen and fix meals putting them in containers that we then seal.  So all that has to be done with it is to zap it in the microwave.  Todd, the local Soup Kitchen guru told me today that last month, they served over 3,000 meals at their own facility and over 5,000 of the tv dinners.  That is quite a big need out there in an area that you don't think there is that much poverty.  Sonny came in after doing his Red Cross drive and helped also.  We prepared chicken pie, spaghetti and meatballs and bar-b-que chicken.  I think we prepared about 75 meals today.  I was sure tired afterwards though!  So, I went to get my hair cut and that relaxed me a little!  Tomorrow I'm scheduled for a massage and a pedicure!  Can't wait!

Mosaic Madness in Pink and Green

Sorry I've been AOL lately!  Yesterday I had 12 ladies here for bridge and I was busy getting ready for that.  I made a delicious Raspberry Pecan Green Salad but the big hit was the Raspberry Dressing I made.  It came from a beautiful cookbook that my Texas girlfriend, Sharon gave me many years ago.  Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try:

1/3 C seedless raspberry jam
1/3 C raspberry vinegar
1 C veg. oil
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
Combine jam and vinegar in blender or food processor and blend for 15-20 seconds.  With blender on high, gradually add oil in a slow, steady stream.  Stir in poppy seeds.  Chill well before serving. Enjoy!!

Today I made chicken salad and a coconut cake to take to Bunco tonight.  And tomorrow we are going out on the boat with a group and I have to come up with something to take and share for that!  It may just be crackers and cheese this time!!

In my spare time from cooking, I have been playing around with my new goodies from Stampin' Up.  I used the Mosaic Madness stamp and punch to create this card:         

I love pink and green together!!  The card uses Pretty In Pink and Certainly Celery (boo-hoo - retired!).  I embossed the white piece with the Mosaic embossing folder and put the punched mosaics in the indentations.  I used the Itty Bitty Shapes punch for the little flowers in the center and used the Owl Punch for the tiny circles in the center of the flowers (with my tweezers!)  I embossed "happy birthday" in Melon on the green piece punched from the Modern Label Punch. 

Pop Up Flower Garden

What a busy weekend for me!  Friday started off with Judy picking me up to play Hand and Foot (which my team won, by the way!)  When she dropped me off at home, I discovered Sonny was not home and I had not brought my keys to get in the house.  He was running errands in Mooresville.  So Judy was kind enough to drive me to meet him.  She was headed in to Mooresville anyway to Subway so I didn't feel like I made her go too far out of her way.  Anyway .... thanks Judy!!  Sonny was at the grocery store.  By the time we finished there and got home, I only had a couple of hours before I needed to drive in to town again.  Newcomers annual fundraiser, Bingo, was Friday night.  We have a Bingo night with prizes and silent auction items every year and all the proceeds go towards our Literacy Program.  Our big silent auction item is the dinner that the Southern Living Lunch group auctions off.  This time we decided to also add a luncheon for 8 people along with the dinner for 10.  We serve the winners a gourmet dinner (and lunch this year) with wine.  We made $400 on the dinner and I think about $250-300 on the lunch!!  So, not too shabby!  There were so many great prizes this year - door prizes as well as bingo prizes.  The committee outdid itself.  I donated 4 boxes of hand made greeting cards with envelopes and was thrilled to see that they were on the silent auction table and were popular.  I think they sold for around $50!  Marianne, Angela and my mom went with me to the event.  Sonny stayed home this year!  I came home with a nice basket with wine, napkins, plastic wine glass (great for the boat!) and truffles and the plant centerpiece.  Marianne got a silent auction item of a game basket.  Mom got a gift certificate from Denny's and a nail spa.  Angela won a gift certificate to her favorite Mexican restaurant.   So, we all did pretty well.

Saturday morning I had to get up at 6:30!!  How AWFUL!  I went to a class at Verizon to learn how to use my "smarter than me" phone.  It was somewhat helpful but I did find out that I knew a lot more than the other people in the class!  After the class, I went to Concord to teach a group of ladies My Digital Studio.  I just love teaching others to use MDS.  It is so rewarding to hear the "ahhhh's" and "ohhhh's" as they learn the program.  It's such fun!  When I got home, I tried to take a quick siesta before leaving again to meet the family in Statesville for dinner at a new Mexican restaurant.  The food was good but it's hard for me to compare NC Mexican food after eating it in Texas!!   I was so tired when we got home but made it until 10:30 before going to bed.

Today I have been getting ready for bridge at my house.  I have 12 ladies coming to play.  I spent a lot of time working on my digital scrapbook from England and Ireland.  I am trying to finish it in time to take advantage of Stampin' Up's digital sale that ends at the end of the week.

Last Thursday I had time to finally play around with the Pop'n'Cuts Die and dress die.  I made this card using the die:

Front of card using Secret Garden stamp and framelits

Inside of card bottom from Feeling Goods stamp and Secret Garden

Card opened.  The flower pot is made using the dress die and cut it in half.  The flowers are from Secret Garden.

Close up of flower pot.

My New Love

I fell in love today ... with a new Stampin' Up product!!  I received my Pressed Clay this week along with the Buttons and Blossoms silicone molds.  Today I watched a few YouTube videos to learn a few tricks of the trade and then I started playing!  Not only can you make buttons and flower but you can flatten the clay and stamp onto it.  Stamp a butterfly, let it dry and cut it out!  Add color to the clay by kneading ink into it or coloring with markers after it dries for a more saturated look.  Air dry is all you need.  I made a bunch of white flowers and put them in a storage box.  That way any time I need a flower, I can just pick one out and color it with my markers, etc.  Google SU Pressed Clay and you will see a bunch of images as well as videos. 

I also used my Dress Form Framelit today.  I've had it for over a month and just never pulled it out.  But I love it too!  And I used one of my clay flowers - colored with Calypso Coral marker - to dress up the little dress.   I used SU Tea Time fabric (retired) to make the dress.  I've got a good friend who is celebrating her birthday this weekend and this card will be going to her.



Closeup of the flower - it also has a little glitter on it.

Buttons and Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds 131272  ($7.95) 

Polka Dots Challenge Card

Time for my Paper Craft Crew Challenge card #45.  I used the Playful Polka Dots Kit for this creation.  I thought it was appropriate for early June - fun and summery!  There are lots of fun elements in this kit.

 

  

Thankful for You!

I've been trying out a few card ideas for a swap I am in for Convention in July.  This was one of the designs that I rejected.  I like the card but didn't think it was "wow" enough!  I borrowed Zoo Review from my downline and friend, Debbie.  My card for this swap has to be something that relates to January.  When I picked the month of January, I thought it would be easy.  I could do a snowman and make a really cute card.  Well, that was before I saw the new SU catalog!  They retired my Snow Much Fun set and are going to wait until the Winter Mini catalog for the Christmas / winter stamp sets.  So, back to the drawing board!  I'll be sharing the card that made it later.
For this card, I made the base card Night of Navy.  The next layer is Crushed Curry that I ran through the Hexagon embossing folder.  The Sizzix die cut is from the Apothecary Accents framelits.  I sponged a little turquoise around the stamped images and Night of Navy on the edges of the framelit.  I used the new hostess set, Banner Greetings, for the sentiment.  I don't usually order the hostess sets because I know they won't carry over from year to year but I really like the Banner Greetings and I know they will come in handy a lot during the year.

I'm kinda bummed out.  We just finished watching Game 2 of the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs.  Pittsburgh (at HOME!) against Boston and they lost tonight 6-1!  Not to mention they lost Saturday night 3-0!  They better get their act together or they will be staying home.  I sure would like to see them in the Stanley Cup games.

Magnetic Platform

A FEW CATALOG CORRECTIONS:


Pg. 145 131183 The Neutrals Collection of Classic Stampin' Pads incorrectly identifies the item number as 131182; the correct item number is 131183. The price is incorrectly identified as $49.95. The correct price is $39.95.

Pg. 145 131168 The Neutrals Collection of Classic Stampin' Ink Refills incorrectly identifies the item number as 131162; the correct item number is 131168. The price is incorrectly identified as $24.95. The correct price is $19.95.

Pg. 188 126999 The Delicate Doilies Sizzlits L Die measures 3-1/8" in diameter, not 1-3/8".

Pg. 188 118138 The Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die measures 1-7/8" x 1-5/16", not 1-1/8" x 1-5/16".

Pg. 206 130568 and 130565 The stamp index indicates that the ABC-123 Outline Alphabet & Numbers and ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers Sets are wood-mount sets; both these sets are only available in clear-mount (as correctly indicated on the catalog product page, p. 131).



This MAGNETIC PLATFORM was at the top of my list!!  What about you?

One of the hits of the new Stampin' Up! Catalog has to be the Big Shot Magnetic Platform (130658, $39.95). It is designed to hold your framelits and edgelits in place over stamped images...like magic! Remember to add new Standard Cutting Pads (113475, $8.95) to your order, too, as the platform works best with flat plates!

Sponged Serene Silhouettes

Today’s a HUGE DAY!  Today is the last day of the 2013 Spring Catalog and the first day of the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog.  For today only - all three books (Spring Catalog and two Annual Catalogs) are open for business.  Woo hoo!  The order entry system will be down until noon MD (2 pm EST), so don’t worry yourself with trying to enter your order beforehand.  I’m SO excited!  First of all, here’s a link to the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog:

 CLICK HERE

Many of you have been flipping through this gem for a while.  Some are just seeing it live for the first time.  Soak it in.  There are lots of great treasures hidden inside the covers of this book.  Don’t flip too fast or you’ll miss them.  AND don’t forget that the online ordering doesn’t start until noon MDT.

ALSO - Stampin' Up is offering 3 of the greeting stamp sets for 25% off!!!   

If you want to put in an Online order, please use this hostess code:  N4PTTCS7  Or call me and I can place the order for you.


I have also added a easy button to the left side of my blog any time you need to access the catalog.  Right under the picture of the catalog is a "How'd they do that?" link.  That will link you to all the supplies used to make all the projects in the catalog.  If you see a card you like in the catalog, you can find the supplies used to make it by going to that link.


Here is a card I made using Serene Silhouettes (It is NOT retiring!!). I used repositional tape to adhere the middle white card stock panel to the card and sponged the Baja Blue, Regal Rose, Daffodil and Celery across the card trying to blend the colors slightly where they met.  I then removed the tape from the center piece and matted it onto black and adhered it to the card.  Next I stamped the image in black ink.  Very simple card to make but it is a WOW!

Raining Flowers - going, going .....

Only a few more days to show off these stamp sets that are retiring.  This one is Raining Flowers, a two step set that I got at convention a couple of years ago.  I really haven't used it much but I really like this card!  Don't you love these colors?  Think they are my favorite!  I used Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery and Daffodil Delight.  I popped up the two flowers and used a piece of retired (a long time ago!) grosgrain ribbon about the card with pearls in the centers.  I also used the Framed Tulips embossing folder on the white card stock.