Quarterly Fun

I'm back from a great weekend with stampin' friends at our NC Demos Quarterly get-together in Shallotte.  Marianne and I met for breakfast Friday morning and after being pampered by getting mani's and pedi's, we hit the road.  We stopped at Lake Waccamaw first which is only about 30 miles from Shallotte and did a little reminiscing and exploring.  We drove almost all around the lake and found a state park that I didn't know was even there.  They only have a few primitive camp sites but hope to add more sites in the future.  We walked out on the pier and took a few pictures.  The lake is amazing - the water is tea colored but you can see the bottom and all the way out to the end of this pier, it was still only water that was about knee high! 





You can see all the vegetation that is growing on the sandy bottom of the lake.  I took this picture from the pier looking straight down so you can see how clear the water is.

Marianne out on the pier

We had dinner at the best restaurant ... and the only restaurant there!  Dale's Seafood Restaurant had the best hushpuppies (served with honey butter) I've had around here.  I got fried trout while Marianne got a seafood platter.  We both agreed it was the best seafood ever!  We went to Calabash on Saturday night and the food I had there couldn't hold a candle to Dale's. 

When we got to Shallotte, after checking in to our motel, we headed over to the high school to get started on the shoebox swap.  What great ideas everyone had.  But, let me tell you everyone had owls on their minds!  So many of the cards used the owl punch!  And do-do me, forgot to put my stamp set (Wicked Cool) in my box so not many people got to do mine.  I had used that stamp set the day before with my Club ladies and forgot to pack it.  One of our "virgin quarterly gals" brought her stamp set the next day so a few people did my card. 

On Saturday, we had several presentations and made a few great things.  I did a presentation on an Accordian Box that everyone made and loved.  Cathy Snipes did a demonstration on My Digital Studio that was quite helpful.  Becky Campbell did two presentations and we made two great projects with her.  And, Janie showed us how to make a fish using the new rick-rack die in the Holiday Mini.

We had three different swaps - 6x6 recipe cards, holiday cards and a tag swap.  I will be sharing all these with you this week.  Everyone is just so creative and I always come away with so many new ideas and a bigger wish list!!

Here are the great tags I received in the Tag Swap:

Christmas Tree by Danielle Blech, Thanksgiving by Lynn Creech, Snowflake by Nancy Carr

Ornament by Cathy Snipes, Snowman by Pat Wilkinson, Fence by Jeria



Snowflake by me, Stockings by Marianne & long red tag by Janie Murphy



Raindeer by Marcia Enns (others have no name)

I got a great wake up call this morning from Ashley!  She called me around 6:30 am but I'm not complaining!  I was just scared it was the Red Cross calling and Sonny & I were going to have to go out on a call.  While I was gone this weekend, there was an apartment fire in Mooresville and Sonny had to go without me (but at least it wasn't the middle of the night).  Anyway, Ashley said they were supposed to leave Kuwait City tonight.  They will be taking a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to another army post where they will board the army transport plane that will take them to Baghdad.  From Baghdad they will fly to Mosul.  I was surprised that it would take that much travel time since a flight from Kuwait to Mosul is only a couple of hours.  Ashley said they don't want the plane in the air that long is her guess.  She is ready to be in Mosul.  She said they have spent a lot of time doing nothing in Kuwait!  They went out in the desert on Friday so everyone could shoot ten rounds in the dirt just to make sure their weapon was working properly.

Ashley has been reading a lot while in Kuwait (which is no surprise since she is a voracious reader anyway.)  She told me about Operation Paperback.  They have supplied a lot of the books she has been reading this week.   Operation Paperback is a non-profit organization that collects gently used books nationwide and sends them to American troops deployed overseas.  To read more about them, click HERE.  Clean out your library and send your used books to them or even a monetary contribution!

Well, I am headed to the Y to work off some of that fried fish I had this weekend!

Oh - I forgot to mention those Steelers yesterday!  What a game .... Tennessee had 7 turnovers.  That's got to be a record.  Unfortunately, our quarterbook went out with a sprained knee.  Not sure of his status for next week.  We are just treading water until Big Ben returns - 2 more games - but at least we are keeping our head above the water and winning the games even if they are giving us a heart attack doing it.  Thought we had it in the bag until the last minute (actually 58 seconds left) when we let them score and go for 2 extra points.  Then they did a fake and an on-side kick and took the ball down the field.  They were right at the goal line but our defense held them off.  Also, Tennessee opted to wear their white jerseys making Pittsburgh have to wear their black ones.  The temperature at kick off was almost 90 degrees but that didn't stop us!  Ashley was able to watch the second half of the game over in Kuwait.  Isn't that something?  It just felt strange to us not to be calling and texting back and forth to her during the game.

Have a great day!

Halloween Kid

My friend Margaret was able to come over today for our club meeting.  Normally, she is in Texas or Colorado & I have to send her the cards or the materials to make them.  So, it was nice to have her join us today.  I'm still trying to get my club gals to clean up after themselves.  I think I have made the mistake of always cleaning up for them and they have gotten used to it.  They don't clean the stamps after they use them; they don't put the materials back in the basket after they are done so we are usually looking for something at one end of the table or the other.  I have about 8 gals and I usually have half working on one card while the other half are working on another one.  That way, the sharing is not as hard and it flows a little better.  They are great ladies and I am hoping they will want to continue with Club after November when we finish.  Maybe by then, I'll have them whipped into shape!!

Margaret ordered the Greeting Card Kids and while she was here, I stamped a bunch of them on white paper so I can share them with you.  Here is the Halloween Kid card I made tonight.

Isn't she cute?  I used some Spica markers that I had to color in the image.  It's really sparkly in real life.

While my ladies were here today, I got another call from Ashley!  Again, her Dad wasn't here but he learned his lesson this time!  She called him on his cell and he had it with him on the shooting range!!  She sounded a little congested.  She said it was pretty windy and the sand blowing around is getting to everyone.  She tried to exercise a little this morning but said it made her nauseated.  She still hasn't gotten acclimated to the climate and needs to take it slow.  Their plans are to leave Kuwait on Monday for Mosul which will be her location for the next year.

I am leaving in the morning for Shallotte for Quarterly so I won't be able to post for a couple of days.  Have a wonderful weekend!!

Thank you Flag Ladies!

This picture was taken by the Freeport Flag ladies on Ashley's layover in Bangor, Maine.  I am so thrilled to see it!!

Great News and a few cards too!

Imagine my surprise today when I was checking my e-mail and had an e-mail from my daughter in Iraq!!!  She is doing good - tired and ready to rest - but she arrived at Camp Buehring in Kuwait around 6 a.m. this morning.  Her major complaint is the heat.  The showers are basically in a trailer with 8 stalls which by the time they were in there at 10:00 was  a sauna and miserably hot.  She said it  made the outside air temp (which must have been in the 100s by then) feel cool when they walked outside!  Then a few hours later, I received a phone call from Ashley!  Wow!  I didn't think I'd hear from her for a couple of weeks - not the very day she arrived.   Sonny was not home at the time so she tried to call him on his cell phone.  I think she taught him a lesson though.  He didn't recognize the number on his phone so didn't answer!  

OK - now a few cards.  My Texas friend, Margaret, was here a few hours today.  She & Graham are babysitting their grandson in Charlotte.  When they took him to school, they came out to visit.  Gra went skeet shooting with Sonny and Margaret & I visited and made a few cards.  She worked on the cards from club last month and I made a couple of Christmas cards.

Here are the cards my club will be making on Thursday:

This cutie is the new Owl Punch and the Greenhouse Gala DSP.  I used the little pearls for his eyes.

This is a simple card using Funky Forest wheel and the luscious Pear In Color!  I wheeled the trees in green and used my brown marker to make the tree trunks.

This is the Halloween card they will make using Wicked Cool stamp set.  The card is Rich Razzleberry with Old Olive spider web made with the embossing folder from the Summer Mini.  I rubbed a little Glimmer Mist over the web.  The pumpkin is also a die cut.

Flag Ladies

Did you notice on my sidebar the time in Iraq?  Thought that was neat.

I stayed kinda busy today so I didn't have time to get depressed!  Ashley called me at 3:30 am during her layover in Bangor, Maine.  We didn't talk for long but it was good to hear her one last time.  I was really surprised when she told me the coffee shop & gift shop was open at the airport.  Seems they open them for the troops when they fly in or out.  It's amazing all the support out there that we just don't know about.  There is also a group called the Freeport Flag Ladies who, like the Hug Lady, are there for support for our troops.  These three wonderful ladies greet our soldiers giving them a small gift and taking their picture which they post on their website.  I am patiently waiting for this morning's pictures to be posted!  You can read about them HERE.

Doesn't this just give you faith in the American people?  It does for me!

I am having a hard time with Ashley's address.  For those of you who I e-mailed her mailing address (TWICE), I think it is still wrong.  She gave it to me yesterday when I was on my cell phone (and she on hers).  Don't know about you, but clarity is not always the best with cells.  I repeated the address to her but think it is still wrong.  Her friend, Dawn, who has just returned from Iraq from her second tour told me the address didn't look right to her.  So, I am trying to get in touch with the FRG (Family Readiness Group) to get the correct address.  I already have a letter and a package that I want to send to her so it will be waiting for her in Mosul when she arrives.

Here is a Christmas card that I made tonight.  I still need to work with this stamp set.  This was my first time playing with it.

I stamped the image (Christmas Collage from Holiday Mini) on red cardstock with Silver Craft Ink and embossed it in silver.  Then, I stamped "merry" in the little rectangle.  The Joy is actually stamped in black & cut out - very carefully!  I used my Nesties to get the black circle around "25".  What do you think?

The Dreaded Day

Well, the day I have been dreading is here.  Ashley will be leaving US soil in a short while (scheduled for 10:30 pm)  I have spoken to her several times today and her Uncle Jack, Cousin Melinda & Melinda's son, Jake, spent a few hours with her this afternoon at the base.  They brought her a meal from Burger King.  The meal the Army gave them today consisted of Bumble Bee Chicken BBQ, Vienna Sausages, Applesauce, Friday's Potato Skin Chips and canned ice tea.  Just what I would have ordered for my last meal!!  Well, she just called me from the airport where they are getting ready to board.  They will be taking a chartered commercial airplane with stops in Maine, Germany and then on to Kuwait.  She has sent us several leaflets and books for parents of deploying soldiers so we will know what to expect.  One of them that I read this morning was written by a wife and mother of three Army soldiers and was very good and informative.  One story she included in the book has stuck with me all day.  She told about when they were stationed in DC on Fort Myer (which is also home to Arlington Cemetery) that she was walking her dog & noticed a family gathered on the porch of the house next to hers.  One of the young men from the group came out to pet her dog and told her they had just buried his brother who was killed in Iraq.  After offering her condolences, the young man told her "I feel so bad I never wrote to my brother while he was over there.  I kept thinking he was coming home, and now it's too late."  That was gut-wretching to me for many reasons.  You can believe I will be writing to Ashley a lot!!  She was able to give me her address before she left and my first letter will be written tomorrow right after I put my yellow ribbon on my mailbox.  

Today was the return of Sunday football!!  I was so excited to watch my Steelers again even if Ben wasn't on the field.  I really did not have high hopes that they would win against Atlanta but THEY DID!!  As usual, they played a "heart attack" game and won it in overtime.  But, a win is a win!

I worked in my craft room most of the day yesterday getting the cards ready for my Club on Thursday.  We will be doing three cards which I will share with you later.  I actually cleaned my desk before I started and it looked like this -

Very unusual but don't worry .... it doesn't look like that now!  But, it is nice to see the surface of my desk once in a while!

I finally got my Monday Mailer yesterday and it is bee-u-tiful.  Our theme this month is holidays and my card is a Christmas card.

It uses Tree Trimmings (pg 44, SU catalog) stamped in Chocolate Chip and glittered.  The vanilla card was run through the Big Shot with an embossing folder.

Remember

I hope you will all take a minute today to remember those who lost their life 9 years ago.  This is a great country with wonderful opportunities and FREEDOM!

Weather Facts

Interesting Weather Facts!

Top 10 cities with least weather variety
Based on temperature variation, precipitation, wind, severe weather

1. San Francisco, California
2. San Diego , California
3. Los Angeles , California
4. Santa Barbara , California
5. Eureka , California
6. Long Beach , California
7. Honolulu , Hawaii
8. Santa Maria , California
9. San Luis Obispo , California
10. Kahului , Hawaii

Top 10 Tropical storm / Hurricane prone cities
Average # of years with no storm. Totals based on data from 1871- 2007, hitting within 60 miles of the city

1. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina   2.49
2. Delray Beach , Florida  2.54
3. Hollywood , Florida  2.58
4. Deerfield Beach , Florida  2.58
5. Boca Raton , Florida  2.58
6. Florida City , Florida  2.63
7. Grand Isle, Louisiana   2.63
8. Ft. Pierce , Florida   2.69
9. Miami , Florida   2.69
10. Ft. Lauderdale , Florida   2.69


Top 10 Thunderstorm cities
Avg annual number of thunderstorms

1. Fort Myers , Florida      89
2. Tampa , Florida   87
3. Tallahassee, Florida   83
4. Gainesville , Florida   81
5. Orlando , Florida   80
6. Mobile , Alabama   79
7. W. Palm Beach , Florida  79
8. Lake Charles , Louisiana    76
9. Daytona Beach , Florida    75
10. Vero Beach , Florida   75

Wicked Cool!

I've been playing around with one of my new stamp sets - Wicked Cool.  I was trying to restrain from buying any Halloween stamps since I really don't do that much decorating or card sending anymore for Halloween.  But I've got two little boys in Austin that I'll be sending a card to for Halloween so I decided I could splurge.  Plus, I just love this stamp set - especially the witches boots stamp!  So, without further ado, here's a few cards I made with it.

This is the first one I made.  I embossed the hat and shoes with black embossing powder.  The polka dot strip is one I found in my stash (non SU).  Don't you love the label?  I forgot I had it!  It's SU's Sizzix Lots of Tags (pg 211 in catty) and it is so simple to run that black cardstock through the Big Shot!  I layered the sentiment using the oval punch.  The green cardstock is retired Green Galore.

This is the next one I made and this will be my shoebox swap at Quarterly.  I used the Spider Web embossing folder for the strip across the witches and stamped a few bats in the background.  The cardstock base is Eggplant.

This card was sent to Jana for her Monday Mailer this week.  I think I may do this one for my club also next week.  The colors I used are:  Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, and Perfect Plum.  I used Incolor ribbon with rhinestones.  The spider web was made by running my black cardstock through the Big Shot with the web embossing folder.  Then I sponged Frost White Shimmer Paint over it.  For a final touch, I topped the web off with a little black ink sponging.

Tomorrow night I am doing the Stamp of the Month at our local stamp store with my friend, Judy and Marianne.  I haven't done the stamp of the month in probably 6-7 months, but the Halloween board looked so cute this time, we couldn't resist! 

I'm on a Roll!

I have been on a roll today!  I finished putting together two scrapbooks (without pics) and a calendar today for my craft show.  The scrapbooks were two that I picked up at CKC.  All the pieces were pre-cut so it was just a matter of putting it all together.  One of them I started yesterday and it was really simple.  The other one took me most of the day since there were so many pieces to it.  But I really like how it turned out.  I will include directions in the box with suggestions on how to finish the scrapbook with pictures and journaling.

This is the cover - isn't it pretty?

This is one of the layouts above.  They are all pretty simple like this one.

This is the title page of the second book I made.  Below are some of the layouts.

This is the back page.  You can put photos or clippings in the envelope.

The calendar I made (actually, I'm still in the process of finishing) is from a kit I bought a couple of years ago at a big box store.  I found it among my stash of "things to do on a rainy day" items!  So I decided, even though it is not rainy today, to put it together.  It is a scrapbook calendar since each page has a place for a picture.