The Negative and the Positive

I made this card using another one of the goodies that my friend, Judy, gave me last week.  This time it is the Sizzix leaf die.  I saw a card similar to this one on Pininterest.  It is so easy to make but a Wow! card I think.  You use both the negative and positive images of the leaf die.  The DSP is from the Twitterpated pack which is in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  I used the Daisy Sizzix Die for the flower and a corduroy button (retired) for the center.  I love these buttons and hate that SU discontinued them.  Luckily, I stocked up on them when they were on Clearance.  The ribbon is also from Clearance - actually, you can still purchase it on the Clearance rack for $3.49 for the roll which is a great price for almost 10 yards of ribbon.  I love this ribbon because it ties so nicely.  At the top of my blog, just click on the Clearance tab to look at the other items available.  There are still several punches available on Clearance also.

(A tip - if you are going to order  items from Clearance or the regular on-line store, make sure you make it worthwhile as far as shipping - SU puts a minimum of $6.95 for shipping on orders so to just order one roll of ribbon would not be smart - order other items or go in with a friend and share the shipping.)

Stamping Queens Sketch #30

I used My Digital Studio this week to make my Stamping Queens challenge.  This is the Attic Boutique Designer Paper from the Mini Catalog (pg. 23).  It is so pretty and reminds me of my grandmother's attic.  Oh the treasures I would find up there!  It is also like the quilts my sister is making for me for my guest room.  My good "girlfriend" from Florida sent me 2 twin quilt kits that had been given to her.  So, I turned to my quilt making sister, Marianne, to make them for me.   She is so sweet!  I've got to come up with something extra special to do for her.

We had a pretty easy sketch this week.  I don't kow that I particularly care for this sketch but it was definitely easy!

I had a busy day today.  I left the house around 7:30 a.m. and headed for the Soup Kitchen.  We made BBQ pork chops, baked beans and cornbread.  It was pretty easy and we had it all in the ovens by 9:30 and ended up standing around and visiting until we served the meal at 11.  After I left, I dropped by Marianne's house to visit.  She had come home early to meet a repair man.  They've been in their house about 20 years and things are starting to need replacing - first it was the furnace, next her drier and this week it is the hot water heater.  When I got home around 4, Sonny and I worked out in the yard spreading mulch in the flower beds until dinner time.  I brought some fresh vegetables home that had been donated to the Soup Kitchen.  Most of the patrons there don't like the fresh veggies so what they don't take, they offer to the volunteers.  I brought home spinach, broccoli, artichoke, mushrooms, green pepper, and squash.  I had never cooked fresh spinach so I tried it tonight and it was DELICIOUS!!  It will be one of my favorites from now on! I just put a little olive oil in my skillet and browned some fresh garlic; next I added the spinach and cooked it for about 2 minutes - until it all became "wilted" looking; added a little salt and yummy!!  And so good for you too!

Stuck for Good Color Combos?

Do you ever get stumped as to what colors to combine for your cards?  What colors look good together?  Or you want to get out of a rut and use different colors?  I do sometimes and usually turn to Stampin' Up's Color Coach.  But another great site that I found for color combination ideas is HERE.  Check it out and see what colors you come up with!

Last week I received this great Monday Mailer from Pat.  She always does really good work and this one is a good one!  She used the flower stamp from Occasions Mini to make the butterfly - cool, huh?  And the strip across the middle of the card is the fabric from the Mini.  I haven't bought this material but this card might have sold me!

Spring Forward!

Happy Weekend to you!  Hope you are doing something fun.  Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight .... Spring Forward ... unless you are in Arizona where my son and his family lives.  I am always confused as to what the time difference is for them since they don't do Daylight Savings Time!  It doesn't take much to confuse me, you know.  I think today they are 3 hours behind me but tomorrow, it will be only 2 hours .... I think!!

I haven't done much card making this week.  Even Sonny noticed it when he came up to collect the garbage this week.  Normally, I have 3-4 small waste baskets scattered about my room full of paper and bits.  But, this week, I think only one was full!  I have been pretty busy all week - going to water aerobics (3 times I'll have you know!!) plus playing mahjong on Friday, mammogram last week, Newcomers meeting, hair cut, Soup Kitchen to pull the food for next week, etc.  Next week is just as full though! 

My club order came in last week and when I took Judy's to her, she gave me a few things - a Sizzix leaf die along with some card stock that she had embossed with a few of her new dies.  I made a couple of cards with the Madison Window Die piece that she gave me.  They turned out really cute.  Thanks Judy!

 On this one I used a stamp from Northwoods.  Wouldn't you love to have that view out your window?  I embossed the top of the card and using my scoring tool, scored the bottom white piece to look like wainscotting with a chair rail.  I used SUs Lace Ribbon Border punch for curtains.

For this card, I stamped the image from Easter Blossoms (retired) onto watercolor paper and used my watercolor crayons to color them.  I stamped and cut out the cat from Window Dressing (ret.) to sit on the window sill. 

When I got my hair cut this week, I had it cut a little different.  I have worn bangs forever but this week, they were getting too long to do anything with so I had been wearing them to the side (with a lot of hair spray).  So, I asked my hairdresser not to cut them too much so I could do that but could also wear them down a little if I wanted.  Well, she ended up doing the front totally different - combing a lot of my front down onto my face (think Justin Bieber!)   I like it but don't know how long I will be able to do it.  I'm sure as soon as I try to do the same thing, it will be totally different!  It's hard to tell in the picture but the sides frame my face but starting right behind my ears my hair is flipped up - that part stayed the same. Plus, I haven't put any highlights in my hair now in over 2 years!!  Luckily, my white/gray parts have come out looking like natural frosting.

Ever Wonder What to Do With the Cards You Make?

I saw this today and thought it was hilarious!  Enjoy!

Stamping Queens Sketch 29 - not MDS - and a prize!

Do you believe it?  I did a Queens Sketch Challenge card without using My Digital Studio!!  I think this may be a first!  But what a fun card.   Button Buddies was one of the first sets that I had to have from the SU catalog when it was released last summer and I have not used it near enough.  I thought it was the perfect thing for this sketch.  Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting a good picture of it.

Supplies used:

• Stamps:  Button, Button and Button Buddies
• Ink:  Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Wild Wasabi
• Cardstock:  Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
• Accessories:  Wasabi wide grosgrain ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Soft Subtles Buttons, Bakers Twine

And if you follow THIS LINK, you may win a prize for playing along!!

Here is the sketch for this week:

I really got a good workout at my water aerobics class Tuesday.  The class I took on Monday was really boring and I never really felt like I even got my heart rate going.  I can't say that about Tuesday's instructor.  I think I will be feeling it tomorrow.  But, I would much rather the class be intense so I feel like I am really working out.  Guess I will skip the Monday class from now on.

Go Green for Spring!

I have to make this one quick - I need to get ready to go to the "Y" for a swim aerobics class.  I'm trying hard to be good about working out a little.  This will be two days in a row!!  Sonny doesn't believe it - he thinks I am sick.  I'll show him!

This is the Monday Mailer that I mailed yesterday.  Our theme this month is "Go Green for Spring."  I don't seem to use green much in cards so I am trying to challenge myself.  This card uses a lot of the Sale-a-Bration supplies that were FREE!!

Supplies used:

• Soft Suede card base, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, SAB Enchantment DSP
• Fresh Vintage stamp set (Free - SAB), Tiny Tags stamp
• Ribbon from SAB Brad & Ribbon Pack
• Postage Stamp Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch
• Dimensionals to pop up the postage stamps

This is the last February Monday Mailer that I received from Karen.  The butterfly is covered in glitter - hard to see in this picture.

It was great to talk to Ashley yesterday.  She had a great time on her Rock Boat Cruise but didn't have much of a voice left!  Don't know if you are watching the tv show, The Voice (I love it!) but the first contestant last night on Adam's team was Tony Luca.  He was just on Ashley's cruise.  She called me and said it was so funny watching the show since she was just hanging out with him last week!  He made it through last night on the first cut.  He is really good and I predict he will go pretty far.

Stormy Weekend

Crazy weekend!   Guess everyone knows about all the tornadoes that were reported over the weekend.  Well, we had one touch down in Charlotte.  We didn't get anything at our house except a little rain but it was a different story in northeast Charlotte.  We got an early morning wake up call Saturday morning to see if we would be available later in the day to work at the Red Cross shelter that had been set up for the displaced residents.  The hurricane (oops - tornado) hit about 3 a.m. and did major damage to one neighborhood in Charlotte before moving on to Cabarrus County.  Charlotte bus service moved through the neighborhood collecting people to take them to the shelter.  I think they had about 40-50 people in the shelter.  By the time Sonny and I got there at 3:00 in the afternoon, there was only one family there and they left around 5:30.  So there was a lot of sitting around and doing nothing for a long time!  We were supposed to stay until 11 pm but at 9:00, Sonny and I had had enough and left!  I felt sorry for the volunteers who were coming in for the 11-7 shift and was glad it was not me! 

Sunday Sonny and I went to the movies to see Act of Valor.  It was really good and the actors were actual Navy SEALS.  It was inspired by true events and was a powerful story about anti-terroism.  I can say without a doubt that I am glad my son or my husband did not want to be a SEAL after seeing this film!

I did have a little bit of time though over the weekend to make a few cards.  I made another starburst card ... I really love these cards!  I think we may do one at Stamp Club this month.  This one uses an old paper stach that I had in Pumpkin Pie.  I also used the Triple Treat single stamp that is available for FREE during Saleabration.  (You can also get it in the regular SU catalog.)  What I love about this stamp is that you can use punches to make it dimensional.  I stamped the flower in Not Quite Navy first and using the Fancy Flower Punch, punched it out.  Next I stamped it in Pumpkin Pie and punched out the next layer with the 5-Petal Flower Punch.  The inside circle could be punched with the 1/2" Circle Punch but i decided to use the Boho Blossom Punch and a Designer Brad for the center.

Simply Scored Diagonal Plate

I am excited to offer you the all-new Simply Scored Diagonal Plate  item #125586 perfect for creating envelopes, boxes, and more! It’s the must-have companion to your Simply Scored Tool.

Product Features

• Sits on top of the Simply Scored base
• Held securely in place by rubber pads on back of the plate
• Has etched grooves every 1/8"
• Can score any size card stock up to 12" x 12"
• Includes instructions for creating common envelope sizes
• The new Diagonal Score place has limitless possibilities for creation--especially when the price is just $11.95. You can’t afford not to buy it!
• The Simply Scored products are just what they imply--simple! This new plate was designed to make everything that deals with scoring easy. The plate includes the same 1/8" spacing as the Simply Scored, so each groove of the diagonal plate corresponds with the ruler--and all of your projects!
• The Diagonal plate contains wonderful features like two silicone patches on the back to hold it in place while you are scoring your projects. It also has this arrow on the back to help you use it correctly. Just make sure the arrow is pointing to the ruler before you use it.
• Are you worried about finding another place to store your tools? The Diagonal Plate stores easily right on top of your Simply Scored, so you’ll know exactly where to find it.

And it is available for you to order NOW!

Click below to watch the video from Stampin' Up:

Startburst Card

Each week I receive a newsletter from Splitcoast Stampers with new techniques and ideas in card making.  It is free so if you are not signed up for it, you should!!  So one of today's "hot topics" was how to make a Starburst background.  It is great for using up scraps of DSP.  I just love how this card turned out using the Twitterpated DSP from the Occasions Mini Catalog.

I even made a "lolly" medallion out of the DSP.  So what are you waiting for?  Gather up some of your scraps and make one yourself.  Here is the tutorial for the card - http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org/2011/06/tutorial-starburst.html

I attended the Newcomers Southern Living luncheon today.  We had so much food that I didn't have to eat any dinner!!  There were about 25 ladies there and each brought a dish from the Southern Living magazine.  We had 4 appetizers, 4 salads (all of them were a variation of spinach salad), 4 main dishes (all of them chicken!), 3-4 vegetables, 2 breads and 2 cakes, 1 pie, 1 cobbler, and pecan bars!  Wow!  I sampled a little of everything (except the carrots and asparagus) and it was all delicious.  But I am still stuffed!!  I have a friend who had a knee replacement last week and just came home from the hospital today.  So, I made her a plate - well, actually 3 plates!  That should tide her over for a couple of days!

I have been walking with a bit of spring in my step.  Some good things have been happening in my family and things are starting to look up for strained relationships.  I am hopeful!