Happy 4th!

Hope you have a wonderful ... and safe ... Independence Day!  As you are celebrating this weekend, think about what this holiday means to you.   The meaning behind the 4th of July Independence Day holiday came about as the result of the valiant efforts and strong commitment of our American forefathers not so very long ago.  Brave and restless people uprooted their lives, left everything behind, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to come to this land where they sought freedoms and rights not available to them in their homeland. They formed settlements and organized into various groups of towns and colonies with their own local laws and rules, while still under the authority of the King of England. The country was being born and the ideals of just how and what those freedoms would entail were ironed out through controversy and cooperative efforts of the differing opinions of the day.  We, as recipients and inheritors of their magnificent efforts, must hold our heads up high as we express our thanks and jubilation  that we live in such a great country, and we should be encouraged to work together to resolve our problems and differences in order to maintain the integrity and values that the great and famous document, the Declaration of Independence was founded upon.

We went out on our boat this early in the evening and found a good spot to watch the fireworks.  This is the first time we have taken the boat out at on such a busy holiday weekend.  Usually, Sonny does not like to be out after dark and when the lake is so full of crazies!  But it was wonderful to practically sit under the fireworks and watch them explode above us.  They were just beautiful.  It is hard not to smile while watching fireworks, don't you think?  It doesn't seem to matter how old you are, you just love them.  Although I can remember a time when my daughter was young and was scared to death of the loud noises of the fireworks.  While we sat outside watching them, she curled up in the back seat of the car covering her ears!  Now, she buys her own fireworks for her 4th of July party. 

I want to share a card I made for last week's Monday Mailer.  I saw a card similar to it in Paper Crafts magazine and had to give it a try.

I made the flag out of grosgrain ribbon and used half-pearls from the Pretties kit for the stars.  It is layered on a black card.  I used my white gel pen around the edges and stamped and embossed  "thank you" in white craft ink!

Mini Photo Album

I was playing around the other day with some paper scraps from a scrapbooking kit trying to figure out what to do with it.  I came across a tutorial on Splitcoast for a Mini Photo Album so decided to give it a try.  It turned out super cute! 

This is the front.  The "flip flop" is a punch out.  I stamped the flower from Tropical Blossom.

This is the mini book opened up.  The pages swing out from the Jumbo Eyelets.

This is the back of the project. 

So, you just need a couple of coasters, a couple of Jumbo Eyelets and some paper and you can make one of these little books too.  The tutorial for the Mini Photo Album is found on Splitcoast HERE .

I gave this little book to my sister.  She left yesterday for her annual 4th of July week at Myrtle Beach.  Thought this would be perfect for putting little pictures in from her vacation. 

The New Catty!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CATALOG ON-LINE.

The new Stampin' Up catalog is ready for your orders!  It is really pretty this year.  Feel free to follow the link above or in my sidebar to view the catalog and to download the pdf.   You can also download a list of all the supplies used to make the various projects in the catalog by clicking on the Supply List button in the sidebar.

If you would like to order from the catalog, click on the "Order Online" link in my sidebar (made from MDS)!

I have a new box of catalogs arriving at my house on Tuesday.  If you have requested a catalog, I will be contacting you.  If you would like to purchase a catalog, please let me know.  For customers who are not local to me and who have ordered in the past year, I will provide a catalog to you for the cost of postage. Since the only way to ship something of this size and weight is priority, all I need from you is $4.80 to ship you a catalog.  If you haven't ordered from me in the past year and you do want a catalog, they are $5 (plus postage if I need to mail it to you. So $9.80 if it needs to be shipped.)

I didn't get that job yet (in my dreams), but I just placed a large order.  I can't wait to see the new In Colors - I think I'm already in love with the Pear and can't wait to see it!  I ordered mostly paper, punches and ribbon - only one stamp set!  I did not pay extra for Expedited Shipping like so many do.  I'm impatient but can't see paying that much extra just for postage!  I'd rather save that money to buy more STUFF!!

My New Job

I'll be placing a big order tomorrow .... so excited to get new stuff!  It's funny because I've been having some weird dreams of finding a job.  Last week I dreamed that I was back in Coppell, Texas where I lived previously and worked for 10 years at the high school.  I was talking to a girl I worked with who is in charge of Technology.  She told me she had just lost a key employee and the job would be perfect for me.  I told her I was pretty busy with my bridge, mahjong and card making so I didn't think it would work.  She offered me $750,000 for the job!  So then I called Sonny to tell him about it and you can guess what he told me!  So, I told Jo Lynn that I would take the job for a year but I would have to have one day a month off for my Stamp Club!  That's pure dedication, huh???  Then last night, I dreamed that we had moved back to Washington state.  We were in Gig Harbor trying to make up our minds where to buy a house but Sonny had me go by the ceramic shop where I had worked when we lived there to see if they would give me my job back.  So, what do these dreams mean???  Sonny said they mean I am feeling guilty for spending so much on SU!!  Just wish I could find that first job making $750,000!!  Think of all the SU I could buy with that! 

I recently discovered this web site, Stars and Stamps, which supports our troops with Operation Write Home.  The way it works is you make cards for the soldiers to write notes back home to their family.  You send it to a shipper (addresses for shippers are on this web site) and they ship them out to the troops.  To learn more about this great program, check out the details HERE.    So, while you're making cards, make an extra one and send it to the troops.  You can get those Flat Rate boxes at the Post Office for free and just fill them up with cards.  That's what I plan to do!!  They also have challeges on their blog to inspire you.  Here are a couple of cards I made recently to send to the troops:

This was a challenge to make something "tasty."  I don't know about you, but popscicles are pretty tasty on hot summer days!  This little penguin was a single stamp that I picked up who know where!  I made the beach ball out Cameo Coral cardstock and some non SU DSP.  The card background is Baja Breeze! 

This card uses the new SU set, Because I Care.  The DSP is some I got last year at CK Convention that was part of a scrapbook package.

This was pretty easy to make - no stamping!  I just used some of the DSP from the card above but this time cut it so I could include the flowers.  I used various sized brads for the center of the flowers.  Below is the inside of the card:

A New Grandbaby

No - not a new grandbaby for me - but for my good friend, Sharon.  I made a couple of baby cards last week that I want to share.  The recipients should have received them by now so it is safe to post them!  One of my friends from Texas became a grandmother last week ... for the 3rd time (lucky her!).  Her son and daughter in law had a little girl, Alexis, last Monday.  This makes 3 baby grand-girls for Sharon now.

This card uses an old favorite, Wild About You.  I hate that this set is retired.  I also used a piece of retired DSP.  I ran the pink strip through my brayer and rubbed some Regal Rose ink on it.  The sentiment is also from a retired hostess set.

This is a square card.  I don't usually make them since they require extra postage but figured once in a while is ok!  The "peas" stamp set is also retired and I think it was the first time I used it ...  Although I lent it to a friend a couple of years ago so she could make baby announcements.  I really like the simplicity of this card.  Here is the inside:

This is a great sentiment that I got a few years ago from Little Paper Shop. 

Grandchildren do make the world brighter.  When I was playing bridge this week, several of the ladies were talking excitedly about going to visit their grandkids or that the grandchildren had just been to their house visiting.  I am always so envious.  I have really been missing mine lately and thinking a lot about my grandson who will be turning 4 in August.   I have not seen him since he was 1 1/2 so I know he would not even know me.  Please pray that someday these issues will be resolved and they will once again be in my life.  No human being is perfect. We all make mistakes, yet it is so hard to admit that we are wrong.  A famous line from the book Love Story by Eric Segal states that "Love means never having to say you're sorry". This may sound romantic, but it is  really not a good line to live by. Apologies are necessary in every relationship.  Apologies are the building block of relationships. If a family has any hope of staying together, there will be frequent and sincere apologies.  For some, accepting those apologies and moving on is the hardest thing to do.   But we should try!!

I Scream for Ice Cream

This past weekend I had a little extra time to play and make a few cards.  I used to do the Splitcoast challenges faithfully - especially the sketch and color challenges.  It's been a long time since I did any of their challenges.  In fact, they have a new challenge I didn't even know about!  It's called Free for All and I think they post new ones on Thursdays.  Anyway, last week you were supposed to make a card that was inspired by this little poem:

I like ice cream. Yes I do!

One scoop for me?

No! Make it two!

Hmmm two scoops of ice cream,

I want more

How about three?

No, make that four!

1, 2, 3, 4,

Splat! "oh no! It's on the floor!"

I decided to combine the Free For All challenge with the Sketch Challenge and came up with the following:

I used Pink Passion that I used my NEW embossing folder - it finally arrived from back order & I love it!!  The DSP is some that I had in my stash - not sure who it is by.  The stamp set is a retired hostess set from last year - Goody Goody Gumdrops.

That ice cream looks pretty refreshing after all the 90+ degree days we've been having (17 in a row so far).  Today was 98 and tomorrow is supposed to be in the 90s too.  BUT ... a cool front is on it's way and the highs on Wednesday .... 76!!  And the rest of the week it is only going to be in the 80s.  So, we'll be able to go out on the boat.  We went out on Sunday but stayed in the water (which wasn't that cool) most of the time.

Pretty Flowers

I love flowers and I think my daughter has inherited that from me like I inherited it from my mom.  I just wish I had my mom's green thumb.  The lady can grow anything!  When we were visiting Ashley, she had a huge plant in her yard that was in a large pot.  But, the roots had grown through the bottom of the pot and into the ground.  I used a knife and tried to cut away the pot to give it more room.  We weren't too sure what the plant was but we thought it was a hibiscus.  Well, while she was away the past couple of weeks, it came into bloom and what a beautiful hibiscus it is! 

This gives you an idea of how large the flowers are!  Just wish I was there to see it in person.  Ashley wants to split it and move part of it since it is so big.  I don't know anything about that but if you do, please let us know.  I told her to go to a nursery and ask about it.

Speaking of flowers, I went to Ben Franklin's today (and had more time than last time!) and bought a Hero Arts Cling stamp.  So, I had to make a card when I got home.  What do you think?  Not as pretty as that hibiscus, but it'll do! 

The card is Kiwi Kiss.  The DSP is by My Mind's Eye / Wild Asparagus.  I used my SU Watercolors to color the flower in different colors of purple after embossing the flower in white.

Grandparents

This is priceless and I had to share it with you -

Written by a third grader, on what his grandparents do.

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following: We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live in a big brick house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona . Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on their bicycles, and wear name tags, because they don't know who they are anymore. They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on. At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts. Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night - early birds. Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house. The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck. My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and, says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too. When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

Summer On A Tropical Island

This is part of my organization this week.  I know a person or two who will roll their eyes (yes, you Marianne!) but  they  make sponging so much easier!  The pieces of sponge I had been using were just a guess as to what color they were.  So, there were times I was getting purple in my pink sponging and black in my navy.  I've been wanting to make these sponges for several months.  I just took the round sponge and cut it into 6 pieces.  Then punch a tab out of colored cardstock and staple it to the sponge piece.  I store them in a plastic container that used to hold my DMC yard when I did cross-stitch.

Here's my daubers.   I  need to get some clean daubers and keep them uncontaminated too.  I bought this plastic holder last year at CKC.

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So, here is the picture I did today using my nice clean sponges!  It's a CASE from Michelle Zindorf - but sponging instead of brayering.  The recipe is below the card.

Cardstock:  Whisper White, More Mustard, Basic Black, Taken With Teal

Ink:  Tempting Turq., Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue for sky and water / More Mustard & Creamy Caramel for sand

I stamped the tree and palm leaves (from the Summer Mini) in Basic Black.  I made the island using the corner of my black pad.  I stamped "summer" (from an old wheel that I had cut apart) on half of a Top Note die.

Don't you wish you were in that blue water or on that island in some exotic locale???  We can dream can't we!  One of my stamp club gals came to my house yesterday straight from a trip to Hawaii!  Lucky Dog!  She flew in at 8:30 a.m. and came to my house about 1 pm after no sleep.  That is dedication!!

Read a Good Book

Isn't she cute?  I bought this stamp at a stamp store in Lewisville last month on my way to Quarterly.  She reminds me so much of my daughter when she was little ... and now!  Ashley loves to read and can sit down & finish a book in record time.  She is the fastest reader I know.  When she was little, she had her head in a book 80% of the time.  I watercolored the image using Tombow Markers and my Aqua Pen.  I just love to watercolor that way!! 

Have you read any good books this summer?  I have been reading some books by Sheryl Woods.  They are just "feel good" books and a light read.  I don't usually like to read "heavy" books.  My mom listens to book on tape since she is legally blind - she has a degenerative eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa.  When we were at Ashley's, she was listening to a new book by Ann Ross.  It was one of a series of Miss Julia books.  I got so tickled at her - she was just laughing throughout the book.  She said it was about a bunch of 60-70 year old people, set in the south and their adventures - kinda like Aunt Bee on Andy Griffith!  I may have to get one of these books and read it.    One of the best series of books I have read is by Joan Medlicott - The Ladies of Covington.  They are really good.  When the series ended, I felt like I had lost my best friends!