Hello Summer!

First off - Stampin' Up has put new items in the Clearance Bin so go check it out for some deals.  Order online using the hostess code Y4BBPUMB.

I have my card for the Paper Crew Challenge this week.  Just forgot to post it last night!!
 



I used this new kit that I downloaded yesterday to make the card.  It is called Summer Possibilities Kit and was released June 11.  I love the red, white and blue and all the elements in the kit.

Yesterday was also a digital release day and I purchased a few of the new ones too.  Also, there is a FREE download from yesterday so make sure you check it out.  Here is the new download - Get Going July Wallpaper -



I think I am going to play around with this one and make a new blog title - or maybe with the summer one.  Check back and be surprised!

I also like this pocket card download - Be Brave.

Well, I am still fighting about my cell phone!  Verizon and I are getting to be good pals!  I received my "new" phone on Monday and turns out, it was not NEW but a pre-owned phone.  I was really mad!  I called the number provided and he suggested I go to the store.  So, off I went.  I spoke with the manager who was really helpful.  She showed me a few things that she thought I was doing that could be making the phone lock up.  She also told me that the phone I received in the mail was not a refurbished phone but just extra inventory or one someone perhaps returned.  So, I returned the new phone and decided to give my old one another chance knowing the new tricks she showed me.  Would you believe, yesterday it locked up again!  So today, back to the store to talk with Casandra, the manager.  Again, she looked through the phone and made a few adjustments and we decided to give it one more try.  I left the store, stopped at the bank and stopped to get lunch.  Guess what?  The phone had locked up again and I had not even used it!!  So, after lunch, back to Verizon (I have lost count how many trips I have made to that store!)  She was as puzzled as I was but decided that it was time to send for another new phone.  I should have it tomorrow and then I get to reload everything once again!  Keep your fingers crossed that this one works!

Everything will be ok!

Another busy weekend for me.  Friday I met some gals for a birthday lunch.  It was three of the gals' birthdays this week so we had to celebrate!!  When I left the restaurant, I headed straight to the Verizon store.  This new smart phone of mine has been a real lemon.  In the past two weeks, it has turned itself off 12 times and won't come back on by just pushing the "on" button in!  I had a factory reset already a week after I had it.  That worked for a few days but then, back to it's old self.  Anyway, they are sending me a new phone this week.  Why they couldn't just give me one in the store, I don't know.  But it should be delivered today.  Friday night we met Marianne and Greg, Sharon and Bob and mom and Angela at the Rusty Rudder in Cornelius.  It was a nice night for sitting outside, listening to the band and looking at the lake.  When Sonny and I left the Rusty Rudder, we stopped off at the Galway Hooker where a band was playing outside to celebrate the first day of summer.  So, we had a couple of beers and enjoyed that band for a bit.  Saturday, Sonny and I went out on the lake for several hours.  It was pretty warm but the lake cooled us off.  That night we watched game 5 of the Stanley Cup between Boston and Chicago.  Sunday Mom and I went to see the Pajama Game at Davidson College.  It was very good.  It was the first time I had been to the Davidson Community Theatre and I was quite impressed.  I will be going back.  I was hoping something would be playing when Ashley comes to visit in August but no such luck.  After I dropped Mom off at home, I stopped at the grocery store.  Since it was so late, I decided to just get one of those rotiserrie chickens for dinner.  I got home with my groceries and discovered I'd left the chicken at the store!!  Oh I was mad!  I turned around and went back to the store to get it - not a short trip.  We are a good 15 minutes from the store so 30 minutes later, I was able to fix the rest of dinner and we ate about 8:00!!  The mind is a terrible thing to waste!!

A new card for you today!  I found a little bit of time this weekend to make this card.  I used my school colors to make this card - gold and purple - Go ECU Pirates!  The card is Elegant Eggplant with Crushed Curry that I embossed with the Dotted embossing folder.  I cut a small strip of Polka Dot DSP that I matted with the silver glitter paper.  I stamped the sentiment from Really Good Greetings using my Eggplant and Red markers and matted it with silver glitter paper also.  The glitter heart is punched out with the Hearts A Flutter Framelit.  And the finishing touch ..... the pretty clay flower!  I love this clay!  I used my dauber to daub a bit of Eggplant ink over it leaving a bit of the white showing.

Club Cards for June

This is Stamp Club week and I made several easy cards for the gals to complete this month.  I had a hard time deciding which new stamps to use!  So fun to have those options!!

I love this color combo - Pistachio Pudding, Cantalope and Smoky Slate.  I used the stamp set, Happy Day.

Isn't this one bright and cheery?  This DSP is from the Quatrafancy pack.  How do you like that doily that is tucked in?   I love the ribbon choices this year.  I used the pretty Strawberry Slush trim along with Natural Trim ribbon around an Island Indigo strip of cardstock.  The stamp set is Label Love.

This was the simplest to make!  The DSP is from Modern Medley and is gorgeous.  We stamped the tulip from Backyard Basics 5 times and then used the matching framelit to die cut.  Add a little glue, tie a ribbon and voila, an easy card for almost any occasion!

Another easy one.  Stamp a few mosaics directly on the card (from Mosaic Madness); add a strip of DSP and a strip of Washi Tape; stamp a sentiment and tie a piece of Bakers Twine around.  The Strawberry Slush mosaics was punched out and popped up.  How do you like that button?  It's molded from the clay!  I LOVE this clay!  The sentiment is from Really Good Greetings.

This was probably the most time consuming card because of all the parts.  The dress was cut out with the Dress Up framelit and taped onto the dress form.  For the Apothecary die, I cut 2 black ones and cut one horizontally and one vertically to mat the yellow Apothecary die.  The base card was cut out using the Pop n' Cut Card Base (see how it tucks in on the bottom).

I got my "mojo" back today and made 3 cards for an upcoming Shoe Box Swap I am attending!  So pumped!

Paper Craft Crew #47 - MDS Style

Today is our weekly Paper Craft Crew Challenge.  I forgot about it last week!  I was so intent last week on finishing my digital scrapbook from our trip to Ireland and England that I forgot a lot of stuff!  (Yes, I know - our trip was 2 years ago, but .....!!)  I'll be sharing a few pages from it with you later this week.  I worked up to the wire with it and got it sent off about 5 pm Saturday.  Sonny had been waiting patiently to go out on the boat and right as it was downloading, he said, "I'll just go and cover the boat up since it is getting so late."  But, I told him to wait just a few more minutes.  We were out the door at 5:30 and missed the heat of the day and had a nice catfish dinner and then rode around a little bit before we threw the anchor and relaxed and read our books for a couple of hours.

OK - off topic - back to my challenge card.  I really love the sketch this week and want to use it to create a few paper cards.

 

I used Pool Party for the base of the card and then just matched the colors in the DSP for the other colors.   The DSP comes from the kit Follow Your Bliss which has a lot of really cool papers in it as well as some great elements and chevrons.

 

The saying is actually from Happy Things Pocket Cards.  You don't have to make a pocket card with the kit.  I just cropped the saying and pasted it on my black circle. 

Here is the link for the other cards made using this sketch -  http://www.papercraftcrew.com/2013/06/19/pcccs-47-card-sketch/

Check them out!!

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.