Where Have I Been?

Unfortunately, I haven't had time to post much this week. This has been One of Those Weeks. I hate it when my work life interferes with my fun! LOL

I haven't had time to make anything new (I will do so over the weekend, though, so stay tuned), so I thought I'd share the two projects we did Wednesday night at my monthly Stamp Club meeting. First, here's a shout-out to my girls: Susan, Marianne, Kristi, Lorraine, Kathy, Stephanie, Amy, Danielle, Becky and Ramona! I wouldn't be able to keep up my demonstratorship without them. But, more importantly, they are my friends and I truly enjoy our time together. I'm turning them on to Splitcoaststampers, so hopefully you'll start seeing some of their creations in their own galleries. Susan has already started: Coffeeforme. I was so jazzed when she started posting (at first she said she was just going to look... ha!), but I told her that I'm tapping my fingers, waiting to see some new posts!

Anyway, one of the projects we did was this gift card holder:

I created this for the Try a New Technique Challenge #165 on SCS. I don't know about you, but I LOVE Starbucks. I give a lot of S-Bucks GCs to people... and love getting them myself (hint, hint), so I naturally gravitated toward the latte cup in the Pun Fun stamp set for this sample. We all give lots of GC's through the year, don't we? You can easily adapt this gift card holder to every occasion! All products used in this card are by Stampin Up! The recipe is in my gallery posting.

The other project we did was this card:

This was an opportunity for me to teach masking (for some, a refresher course). It's hard to see unless you click on the picture to see a larger view, but we added a bit of bling by glittering the berries in the branches behind the bird. The more I see this card, the more in love I am with this color combo. The recipe for this card can also be found in my gallery post.

Before I sign off for tonight and get started on my weekend chores (the never-ending list), I wanted to share with you a card my youngest son Avery made for my blog:

Isn't it cute?!? I'm so excited that Avery likes to stamp with me. The other boys tease him ("You're Mom's girl!"), but I tell them to put a sock in it... many of the great artists are men. Perhaps Avery will be the next stampinkub!

The recipe for Avery's card: the images are by My Favorite Things: Gone to the Dogs, although I think the paw print is from an Inkadinkado set. I did help him cut out the images, but he did everything else.

SC177 - One Of A Kind Card and Soaps!

I made this card last night for the SCS Sketch Challenge #177. It looks so much brighter in person. I just can't seem to find the right time of day and spot to take good pictures. Hang in there with me.... I'll keep trying until I get it right!

For this card, I stamped the main flower image from the One of a Kind stamp set directly onto Western Sky DSP and cut them out. They are mounted with Dimensionals. I love the bit of bling from the Fire circle brads. The card stock is Ruby Red. All products are by Stampin Up!

So, does anyone else out there besides me watch the soaps? I've been watching soaps since I was a little girl, I think around 6th grade. That's when we returned to the US after spending three years overseas (two years in Spain and one year in Germany). My dad was given orders to Vietnam, and my mom chose to live that year near her sister in Tupelo, MS. That's my earliest memory of hanging out with my mom while she watched soaps, usually while doing house chores... or ironing. Isn't that what most women did back then, watched the soaps while ironing? Anyway, I remember her favorite at that time was General Hospital, with Jessie and Dr. Hardy and Audrey Hardy. She later became a huge fan of Young & Restless. I actually remember when that show started 35 years ago!

Along the way, I got hooked on the soaps, too. I had to give up on them for many years, though, because I just couldn't keep up with videotaping and watching them after work when my children were small. But a few years ago, along came a little thing called Soapnet, and I'm back in soap heaven, watching the ABC soaps (and occasionally Y&R) at night and on the weekends while I craft... and do laundry! I guess doing laundry makes me feel like I'm really accomplishing something constructive and not just wasting time. But is it really wasting time when you're having fun?

So Many Birthdays, So Little Time

Yes, I have a lot of birthdays to remember this time of year. Yowser! I was inspired by Michelle Wooderson to make boxes of handmade cards for a few people. Pictured is my first group. I got really ambitious and thought I'd make 12: 4 each of 3 designs, with 4 different greetings. Well, I did make them, and then discovered that the ribbons make them too thick for one box, so I'm breaking them down to 6 per box. Everything I used is by Papertrey Ink, which I love, love, love... including the professional looking clear plastic boxes (you can see one packed up with the purple flowers on the left). The card bases are also by Papertrey Ink... they come in packages of 20 cards and envelopes.

I'm really going to try to learn how to take better pictures of my cards. I have a great camera (a Cannon Digital Rebel) and PSE 5, so there are no excuses. But there are reasons: time. I get impatient. I'm the sort of person who has a hard time relaxing and enjoying whatever it is I'm doing at the moment because I'm thinking about a million other things I need to do. I hate that! I'm really trying to stop worrying about everything and to stay in the moment. (Okay, where did I put my list of things to do...?)

Today is Memorial Day. I know we are to remember those who have fallen in defense of our country. My father was an officer in the Air Force for 20 years (before that, a graduate of the Naval Academy), so I am plenty patriotic. Fortunately, I don't personally know anyone who has died for our country, but I am painfully aware that there are many who have. And I'm truly grateful to them, and to those who serve our country, because they make our freedom possible. May God bless them all.

Memorial Day does make me remember... and this will date me for sure... the Vietnam War. My dad served 3 times... flew air rescue... he was a helicopter pilot. Anyway, do any of you remember POW bracelets? I had one. The name on mine was Maj Warren Lily. I'll never forget that name. My dad told me he saw his helicopter shot down...what a weird coincidence. Anyway, when we watched the POW's come home, I remember hearing Maj Lily's name announced, and I was so happy! I wonder whatever happened to him... and that bracelet.

Okay, I've got to go and get back to my "to do" list. Old habits die hard. Have a great day!

My Very First Blog Entry - and Happy Birthday Clay!

Okay, here we go! I've been thinking about blogging for several months now, and even started setting things up weeks ago, but that's as far as it got. Until this morning. I woke up thinking about how it's my son Clay's birthday (he's 15 years old today), and that it would be fitting for me to give birth to my blog on this special day. So, I've been at it all morning, creating my blog banner, rearranging things, adding things, etc. I'm pretty tired of sitting in front of the computer at this point, so I'm going to call it good for now! No doubt I will tweak and add more features as I go, so stay tuned.

In honor of Clay's birthday, I made this card. Clay LOVES penguins... always has. So when I saw this stamp set, I had to grab it just for him.

The image is by Memory Box, although the greeting is by Stampin Up! (It's Your Birthday). I stamped the penguin on Whisper White CS and then stamped the balloon into his hand. I stamped the party hat and shorts separately, colored them with my Copic markers, cut them out and adhered them in place. I made the brads using SU's Build-A-Brad (love them!). The card base is SU Soft Sky CS, and the designer paper is Basic Grey's Cupcake, including the mat behind the penguin. I put a Dew Drop on the top of his party hat, just for good measure!

The sketch is Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #17 .

Clay is my current teenager (my two older boys are 23 and 20, and my youngest is 11). I used to think that potty training was the worst part of child rearing (LOL), but it's really the teenage years. Here's the thing: you just have to put your seatbelt on and stay in the ride all the way. They do come back around eventually. What really cracks me up is the way the older two will scold Clay. I love to point out that I remember saying those exact things to them! I've also figured out that God gives us the teenage years so that we can eventually let go of our kids. When they are young and sweet and compliant (generally), you think you could never let them go in a million years. Then comes the teenage years, and you start to realize that growing up and away is a good thing! Except my husband and I have figured out that we're going to have to be the ones to move out because none of them are budging. Yep, the older ones still live at home. It's all good, though. I'm not complaining... much!

So, Happy Birthday, Clay! You were my best pregnancy and delivery and a beautiful baby. You are such a funny kid, full of life, with a great sense of humor and an incredible memory. I still say you should become a sports announcer someday.

Okay, it's off to PF Changs to celebrate! Thanks for stopping by.