Spoiler Alert!

I've been really industrious today!  I have realized that my blog posts have not been as creative as they should be and I am sorry for that and I intend to do better!!  My friend, Margaret, is still here - her husband left today to return to Texas and I convinced her to stay for a few extra days.  Her husband is a retired American Airlines pilot so they fly for free.  She always tells me she'll come up on her own but never does, so this time I made her put her "money where her mouth was."  We spent the whole day in my craft room working on various projects.  We both got a lot accomplished!  Plus, I got caught up on some of the TV programs I had DVR'd while I was out of town last week.

Here is a card featuring paper and a stamp from the upcoming Summer Mini Catalog.  I love bright colors and this Tropical Party stamp set lends itself to them.

The colors in the paper are Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red and So Saffron.  I used my SU markers to ink the stamp - in black and Rose Red.  Then I applied Glossy Glaze over the "cup."  The card is a gatefold card with a belly band.

Here is the card opened.  I stamped the leaf fronds and flower in the corner of the white piece that I had sponged the edges with orange. 

This set also has a Bigz Die ($21.95) to coordinate with it that has flowers and leaves on it as well as Party Favor Boxes ($5.95) favor boxes come with 12 boxes and 12 coordinating bellybands.  The DSP is great for summer cards!

Idol Elvis Style

Tonight the contestants mentor is Adam Lambert, last year's runner up and the contestants are singing Elvis songs.  Interesting since no contestant has ever been a mentor before.  In an interview published earlier today, someone said Adam was the mentor so that the show can help out his career which is faltering.  I thought Adam did a good job of mentoring — and was quite critical of the singers. He helped out Tim Urban, Michael Lynche and Katie Stevens the most.

Crystal Bowersox sings "Saved."  The judges loved her as usual.  It wasn't my favorite of hers but she always does a good job no matter what she is singing.

Andrew Garcia sings "Hound Dog."    No ... hope he's got his bags packed because I think he's going to get the losing ticket tonight.  It was pure karoke.

Tim Urban sings "I Can't Help Falling In Love."  The judges liked it but I felt it was boring. 

Lee DeWyze sings "Little Less Conversation."  As usual, great!  Another step closer to the finale for him.  He gave the song his take on it and it was upbeat and fun.

Aaron Kelly sings "Blue Suede Shoes."  Pretty karoke - should put him in the bottom in my estimation.  Elvis he is not!

Siobahn Magness sings "Suspicious Minds."  She has the pipes!  What a great job in my opinion.  She made that song her own for sure.  The judges are trying to pin down the type of artist she is and she basically shemut Simon down.  She told him she couldn't label herself so how was she supposed to tell them who she was.

Mike Lynch sings "In the Ghetto."  I'm so glad he was saved last week.  His vocals are sooo good.

Katie Stephens sings "What Do You Want Me to Do."  All the judges liked it EXCEPT Simon.  I thought she did a good job tonight and that should keep her out of the bottom this week.

Casey James sings "Lawdy Miss Clawdy."  It didn't do anything for me.

My picks for bottom three are Aaron, Andrew and Casey.  Two will be leaving this week.  Who do you think it will be????

Outer Banks Fun

We had a great time in the Outer Banks.  I forgot my camera so took a picture of my shells when I got home.  The weather was a little too cool for laying on the beach but we had a few nice walks and gathered some nice shells.  I also got some nice worn shells that I call "worry stones."  They've been worn smooth and are nice to rub and try to make all your worries go away!!  We saw the Wright Brothers Memorial and Museum, the Hatteras Lighthouse and the Bodie Lighthouse.  We also went to Roanoke Festival Park, an interactive attraction that celebrates the first English settlement in America. There are period characters who tell you about the Elizabeth II, a representation of one of the seven English ships from the Roanoke Voyage of 1585. There was also an interactive Indian settlement as well as the original settler's site, an interesting Adventure Museum and a film, "The Legend of Two-Path."  We ate lots of wonderful seafood too!  The last night we were there, we stopped in at the Jolly Roger for a couple of drinks.  What a laugh we had!  It was karoke night and there were some real doozies in there!  The bar was filled mostly with locals who were having fun.  Next to Sonny sat a guy who was downing one beer after another.  He was a little mentally challenged and just knew that he had seen me earlier that day at "his" store (Food Lion).  I finally convinced him that I had not been there.  He had at least 7 beers in the couple of hours we were there and they continued to serve him.  Then a couple came in who had just driven their Harley's from Greensboro - at least a 5 hour drive!!  They were sure something!  There was another woman who came in with her husband - they were probably in their 50's or 60's -and she was well on her way to being drunk when they arrived.  They were standing behind us in the bar area and she kept falling over.  Finally her husband told her it was time to leave and they walked out right in front of us and she promptly fell in the shrubs outside!  Bet she didn't feel too good Sunday morning!  That's not even mentioning the people who thought they could sing and got up on stage to belt out a few songs.  The most interesting one was one woman who had to be about 80 years old.  She was wearing a crown on her long gray hair and had on a bright red loooww cut dress.  When she was singing she was bouncing up and down to the music and I really thought her "assets" were going to fall out of her dress!  You had to be there!!

We arrived back home Sunday night and had friends waiting for us at the house.  Margaret and Graham had brought their grandson back to NC after he visited them in Texas during Spring Break.  So, today she and I had fun making cards while the guys put the boat in the water and boated around the lake.

Monday Mailer

I made a bright Spring-y Monday Mailer to send to my partner last Monday!  I haven't used Pick A Petal in a long time, so dusted it off and came up with this great card!

I used the DSP from the Sweet Pea stack (have I said enough times how much I LOVE that paper????).  I think it coordinated with the polka dotted flower great!  And don't you just love that Orange Corduroy Button?  I think those are one of my favorite accessories .... besides ribbon, of course!

The Golden Rule

I want to share the Monday Mailer I receive this week. We are into a new month and our theme this month is Spring. Our Monday Mailer group is in a bit of an uproar because a lot of people don't send their cards in a timely fashion and also a lot of them don't share the cards with the group and/or acknowledge that they received a card. Remember .... it is always nice to be remembered and to be told thank you and that you did a good job!! That's the Golden Rule, isn't it? "Treat Others As You Want To Be Treated"

My cards this month are from Jana who lives in Statesville. Jana just recently had a baby but she still has time to make beautiful cards! She used the set, "A Flower for All Seasons" and the new Butterfly Embosslit Die. I just got this stamp set but haven't used it yet. AND ... I finally got the Butterfly Die that was on backorder today but guess I'll have to wait till I return to use it.

37 Years and Counting

Today is our 37th anniversary!  Wow .... that seems like a long time ... well, I guess it is!  We're headed to the Outer Banks tomorrow for a little vacation so I probably won't be blogging for a few days.  Even though I grew up in NC, I have never been to the Outer Banks.  I would prefer to go during the summer so I could see the outdoor musical, The Lost Colony.  I mentioned it to Sonny last summer but he doesn't love the heat and the beach so, we're going now instead.  Hopefully, he'll like it enough that we can return during a summer one day. 

This is the card I gave him.  Time got away from me and I didn't have time to make one yesterday.  This is one I had in my "stash"!  Luckily, I hoard cards for just such occasions!

I like the way this card opens ... and I stamped my own sentiment on the inside!

Watching American Idol as I type this  (we DVR'd it).  Ryan pulled one of his tricks on the girls tonight.  He had the three girls, Siobahn, Crystal and Katie come out to center stage and then after a few suspenseful minutes, he told them they were all safe and to take a seat. 

The guys - he divided them up into 2 groups:

Group #1 - Lee, Casey, Tim - SAFE
Group #2 - Mike, Aaron, Andrew - Bottom Three

Unbelievable - Big Mike is the bottom and having to sing for his life??  America - you got it wrong!!  He is damn good and should have made it over a couple of the other guys.  Well, thank you judges for the SAVE!  We'll see Mike next week.

Top Nine on Idol

Beatles tonight ... Lennon / McCartney songs!!  Whoo Hoo!  Ashley & Marianne should be happy although don't know if Marianne is watching - she's camping in Florida for Spring Break. 

• Aaron Kelly singing "Long and Winding Road" - Not bad, but kinda boring.
• Katie Stevens singing "Let It Be" - Her best performance, I think but she needs to get the crowd into it.
• Andrew Garcia singing "Can't Buy Me Love" - Terrible - Bottom three I think.
• Mike Lynch singing "Eleanor Rigby" - Great vocals - I liked it.  He should be safe.  He is so confident on stage.
• Crystal Bowersox singing "Come Together" - One of my favorite Beatles songs!  She's just a great entertainer no matter what she's singing.  One of the accompaniments was a guy playing the didgeridoo (an Austrailian wind instrument.)
• Tim Urban singing "All My Loving"   This didn't do much for me tonight but the teeney boppers will probably save him ... again!!
• Casey James singing "Jealous Guy"  I'm not familiar with this song but it is very pretty.  I liked his performance tonight - one of his best.  Simon thought it was the best of the night.
• Siobahn Magnus singing "Across the Universe" A great vocal as usual. We didn't hear any screaming tonight and that is a good thing.  Her voice is just incredible.  She definitely has been getting advice from Lady GaGa for her outfits.  You just never know what she is going to look like from her clothes to her hair.  As Simon said, she is unpredictable.
• Lee DeWyze singing "Hey Jude"  Another favorite song for me and a great performance by Lee again.  He's gotten so much more comfortable on stage.  The guy playing the bagpipes was really interesting but I don't know that it was necessary.

One thing I loved tonight was all the contestants giving their thoughts about their fellow contestants.  They were really insightful.

Tonight is a toughie!  They were all fairly good except for a couple.  But my picks for bottom 3 are:

Tim Urban
Aaron Kelly
Andrew Garcia

I predict Andrew will go home because the Teeny Bopper vote will save the other two.  But with such a strong season, we could have an upset .... hope not though!

What say you?

New Colors!!

More info on the color shake-up.
There are four Color Collections (taking the place of Bold Bright, Earth Elements ...) with 10 colors in each.

These include five new colors:  Marina Mist , Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, early Expresso

We have 10 returning In Colors:  Tangerine Tango , River Rock , Riding hood red , Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze , Pink Pirouette, Pacific Point ,Melon Mambo , Soft Suede & Rich Razzleberry
 

Stampin' Up Color Renovation

I'm excited to share with you the news regarding the Stampin' Up! Color Renovation!!

29 colors are retiring but not to worry.....some of our past In Colors are returning (I want to insert my excitement here but I'll hold off).  These In Colors will be in the new collections:

Pink Pirouette
Melon Mambo
Rich Razzleberry
Pacific Point
Baja Breeze
Wild Wasabi
River Rock
Tangerine Tango
Riding Hood Red
Soft Suede

Stampin' Up! has done a wonderful job of introducing all the facts about the Color Renovation. And.....what I want to focus on first is the retiring colors. I'm pretty sure they'll be while supplies last. So, if you have a favorite....you might want to order it soon.

I've created a nice sheet for you to show you what color is retiring in each Color Family.  Click HERE to see the info.

I'll post more as I know it!

New Downloads for MDS

There are the several new downloads available today for My Digital Studio!!  I have listed some of them below.  Other include the Bird Punch, Extra Large Flower Punch (from the Occasions Mini), the Medium Jewelry Tag Punch, Pinking Hearts punches and Scallop Trim punches.  You can shop for these on my SU

website or by contacting me directly.

Rough Type Stamp (above)

Well Scripted Stamp

Vintage Vogue Stamp

Vintage Overlay Stamp