Where have I been?

Good morning Stampers!

Been wondering where I have been? Some of you have asked - and I appreciate the concern!
Remember two weeks ago when we had that high wind storm. Winds reaching 50MPH? I sure do! I watched healthy limbs get blown off their tree and hit my house power lines. Fortunately the lines did not come down with the beating they took!
Then I went out - yes, I went out into the windstorm - and pulled three large limbs out of the street. (I can see how twigs can be impaled with such force that it can go through a telephone pole!) Not at the same time, but as the storm went on - sounds like a soap opera doesn't it? Well, it becomes that way I feel. You see, I couldn't leave the limbs in the street because they were blocking the road. I live in an older neighborhood, and I wanted my neighbors to be able to get out. There was no way they were going to get out of their car and pull the limbs aside. If they could, I want to know their cereal brand as that would be a great endorsement.
Well, I hmm-hawed and thought about abandoning ship and go to my in-laws. They still had power until 9:00 p.m. that night. We lost ours at 6:30 p.m. just as they were leaving our house from having dinner with us. We stayed the night here and Monday night. I was sure the power was going to be back on in a day. No way! It was out all week. I was behind on my readings and I needed the Internet for school. We packed up and went to my parents - their power came back on in less than 12 hours. It was like we were on vacation! (with the exception of the Internet - it was going in and out with the cable) I think my husband was sad we had to go back to our house at the end of the week! Finally power was restored at the end of last week! Amazing how dependent we are on electricity. It also humbled us because we were displaced for a week, can't imagine what Texas and surrounding areas are dealing with.
Okay, so I went to the basement on Saturday. I am still catching up with my readings, but I thought I could make a card while the dryer was finishing. It beat me, so I folded laundry and went back upstairs. This morning I woke up with an earache. Woke out of a dead sleep. This year I was not fooling around with it. I went to Statcare. Yep, they confirmed what I already knew. Ear infection. Got the antibiotics and nasal spray. I knew exactly what I needed and let the doctor know. After two years of this, I know the signs and solutions! By 2:00 p.m. it progressed to bilateral ear infections. Now, let me tell you what the advantages are. You know the disadvantages - ear pain. The positives...my husband said that our son had a "poopy" diaper. I could not smell a thing! Nope - he still smelled like roses to me and he would have continued until he took his bath last night! Another positive..those temper tantrums just aren't as loud as they were before! Since I am currently potty training him, temper tantrums are a frequent occurrence in the house. You know, about every couple of hours (or less if my husband smells him :)) There is one positive for my son. I am beginning to get laryngitis, so raising my voice is not so loud right now.

So, there will be no posting of pictures this week. Another thing going on...I have stamp camp this weekend, so I will be getting ready for that as well.

Surmise to say, it has been a bad two weeks. I really am hoping that I get to my stamp room soon. I am having withdraws and that adds to my crankiness.

I hope this finds all of you healthy and stamping!

See you next week.

Bali Breeze - DSP

Good morning Stampers!

Does this look familiar at all? I said on Monday that I liked this template. Since I did not have any other current DSP other than Bella Rosa, I pulled out the Bali Breeze - which I have a lot of!
The ribbon I already had as well, and goes perfectly with the DSP, although it may not look like it in the photo.
I used the SU! distresser "kit" again.

I will be getting back into my stamp room again this weekend. I don't have to work on Saturday, so I hope to have some time to stamp - and yes, something different than this template!

Have a good weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Daisies

Good morning Stampers!

When I was in my stamp room, my stamping mojo wasn't there with me! Very frustrating since I don't have a lot of free time to stamp, and when I do - I need to be "on".
I had this Daisy scrapbook paper out on my table for the last two weeks. I just stared at it, not doing anything with it.
Since I have no stampin' mojo at the moment, I have no color inspiration mojo either. Bummer for me. I do like the Baja Breeze that is one of the In colors currently through Stampin' Up!
I also used the Stampin' Up! border punch. I wanted to use ribbon, but I could not figure out how I was going to incorporate it so I made 1/4 inch strips of black cardstock and adhered them under the main layer. I used the Tombow white glue for this. It comes in a tube with green lettering. I like it better than the AquaMono, because as the name suggests - it is water based. Not too friendly with paper - it makes the paper buckle. Good for adhering embellishments. Thanks for stopping by!

Bella Rosa

Good Morning Stampers!

Happy Monday to you! I saw this template and really liked it. It is so stinkin' super easy! I used the Bella Rosa DSP as I have no other current DSP right now. Sad isn't it? I need to rectify it.

If you click on the picture and make it bigger..you will see that I used the razor blade - in the gray looking thing with grooves in it, it is the distressing kit that Stampin' Up! sells.
I also used Kiwi Kiss and Pink. Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp Camp

Good afternoon Stampers!

I am late in posting, but I have been in my stamp room getting some cards ready to post this week.

My theme this week: Super Easy!

Okay, I wanted to mention that I will be having a Stamp Camp again the first Saturday of October - that is October 4th from 9:30 to 2:00 p.m.

The sets that will be used are: House of Haunts, Pocket Silhouettes, Snow Swirled and Artifacts (retired). So there will be a Halloween, Fall, Christmas, and Masculine card. Again you will make three cards of each design. Do not RSVP to the blog. I will be sending out an e-mail about Stamp Camp for you to RSVP to. Plan to come get inky again and have fun!

Now, on a lighter side. My son brings to me in my stamp room a twig with many leaves on it. He says to me, "Brizzy peed on the leaves." My immediate reaction is - get those leaves out of the house! He was upset that Brizzy did this to the leaves. I had to tell him that it was alright that he did that. On a sad note..my son has regressed with the potty training. I know it happens and just hope that it is short lived.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back tomorrow.

A flower that makes me happy

Good morning Stampers!

I wanted to make a different size card so I came up with this:

This card will fit into the 6 1/4 x 3 5/8 envelope that you send checks or stationery in through the mail. I hope that just made sense.

I had some odd size pieces of paper so I was able to use them up with this size.
I was able to use the SU! white craft pad and the SU! white gel pen. I like the color combinations and the white faux stitching I did on the flower petals. I also used the two SU! oval punches, now there is a third oval punch SU! came out in this catalog and it is larger!

I popped up the polka dot center of the flower. I don't think that is coming through as well.

And yes, the pink ribbon had a mind of its own! It decided to flip up instead of down.

Thanks for stopping by!

Iridescent Dragonfly

Good morning Stampers!

I wanted to share a card I received from my upline Jan.

I really like the color combination and the added hardware charm on the card. After I took the picture, I realized a SU! mini glue dot would hold the ribbon slide charm really well. But when you open a card, you usually look at it "flat" and not "upright", so that is why I did not catch that, but a tip for you. When you use a ribbon slide charm add a SU! mini glue dot to the back of it to hold it in place. It is the weight of the charm that is making it weigh south. Who knows, maybe they have made these charms lighter. The follow-up tip: ...when you are adding a ribbon slide charm, usually the card is flat on your surface and you would not catch the charm going south unless you stood it up on the table.
So there you are!

I think it is coming through a little bit on the post. The dragonfly was stamped with versamark ink and Iridescent Ice embossing powder poured over it. When you heat the EP, you get this iridescent, glittery look to it

Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Birthday card

Good morning Stampers!

I followed through with what I said I was going to do! It feels good to be able to post again, AND do some stamping. I needed a birthday card today, so I reached for the Wow Flowers sets and the '08-'09 SU! In colors.

Something cute and simple. I still need to order the 1" punch that works great with this stamp set. I wish I could have shown you how good, but it will have to wait until I place my next order. The colors I used are: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango. Can you believe I stayed away from the Pink Piroutte and the Bella Rosa papers?!

Okay, back to the books!

I am thinking Wednesday will be my next post.

Thanks for looking!

A new adventure and trying to find a schedule

AAACK!

Good morning Stampers!

Remember when I said I had some news that has me harried and overwhelmed?
Well....I have returned to school full time and in addition work part time.
I have been given a wonderful gift. I was offered a full assistantship while attending classes this year. That means I work for my schooling. The books pictured here are not all the books I am required to have. I was waiting on three more from Amazon. That doesn't include all the journal articles I have to read in addition to the text books.

I began to think about all the different "hats" I am wearing currently:
Wife, mother, daughter(in-law), friend, student, graduate assistant, stamper, "the boys" owner (and they don't let me forget when they need to go out or need to eat!). There are a few more roles, but the ones listed come to mind right away.
I decided to return to school and get my degree in Counselor Education and Supervision. I cannot tell you all the emotions that go through my head in a matter of a day, no make that an hour at times! And I think it is because I am learning how to organize and manage all the demands of life.

I have to say how much college has changed. Technology has become an integral part of it all, and I find that to be my biggest barrier. I continually remind myself that others have done it before me and I can do this as well. But, whew, there is a lot to learn. The university does not use Microsoft Outlook. I knew that e-mail system and calendar very well. I was proficient. I am now back to square one. I totally feel like a freshmen trying to learn just the basics to survive! It is like having the wind knocked out of you and physically trying to catch it!

I have already meet with the Statistics teacher to talk about two pieces of software. Pretty neat there is software just for statistical analysis. I also met with one of the librarians to learn how to find journal articles, audiovisual, and books. It is not limited to just that library, but throughout Ohio. I am amazed. I am setting up one more appointment with another librarian about another piece of software that will be helpful to me. I have learned that librarians can have specialty areas or concentrations. I am grateful for that.

I am blessed to have a couple of "coaches" out there. You know who you are! They help me to stay grounded.

That comes to my next statement. I will not be able to post everyday, or more frequently, like I was doing before school started. I am thinking if I can post at least three times a week, I am doing well. I have not figured out which days they will be since I am still trying to figure out my own schedule, but I want to at least post "regularly" on those days, which I have yet to identify.

I am telling you all this so that you do not think I have forgotten, or I have a lack of interest in stamping and blogging. I do very much. You can still check out my friend's blog - Rubbah Lovin' Fool - link on left sidebar. Her entry's are entertaining to read and she adds some photos of her pets.

Thanks for hanging in there with me, and you may just get this degree vicariously through me as I will most likely share what is going on in my journey.

Come back tomorrow - I will have a card post for you!

Mostly Flowers

Good morning Stampers!

I really like the colors in this card. The blue and green are in the same family and complement each other well.

This stamp set is a retired SU! set: Mostly Flowers.
The flowers that are attached with the blue brad are from a retired SU! level 1 Hostess set, and unfortunately the name escapes me. It will probably come to me as I am trying to fall asleep tonight!

The Cardstock colors are: white, certainly celery and brocade blue
The brad is brocade blue and I believe the ribbon is French Blue - that is what the SU! spool says.
The SU! ink is Pink Passion, and Basic Black.

The design of the card is from a card publication. I really liked the design. Easily adaptable to other "square" type images.

Thanks for stopping by!

I have a card post!

Good morning Stampers!

I hope you enjoyed perusing over Rubbah Lovin' Fool's blog yesterday. You may want to check it out on a regular basis.

For today's card I took a break from the Bella Rosa DSP. Partly because it is being cut up for stamp camp. Did I hear a sigh of relief? A little tired of seeing it huh? Well, don't worry - it will make an appearance again!

This card is very simple. Just straight cutting - rectangles and squares. T
he SU! cardstock colors I used are white, cameo coral and blush blossom.
SU! Markers: Cameo Coral, Barely Banana, Green Galore.

Bad Blogger

Good morning Stampers!

How have you all been? Wondering where I have been, what I have been doing and overall where the heck I have been? Me too! All I can say is that I am a bad blogger. No other name for it, and no other name I will state :). I hope in the next day or two to tell you what has been going on. A bit harried and overwhelming at my end. I am still trying to catch up with myself. I think I might have a schedule made up to accomodate my new harried and overwhelmingness and once I let you in on it I think you will understand and have a bit more compassion and understanding for me, or at least I hope you do.

I don't have a card post for you today, but I can say that I am working on a stamp camp for this Saturday. You know what that means...card posting can be erratic at that.

I do have a suggestion though. Visit my friend's blog - Rubbah Lovin' Fool She has been creatively lately and is trying some new things. Oh, do one thing for me. Leave her a comment at the end of her post and state she needs to change the picture of herself. She is better looking than the one she has posted and needs to get a picture of herself on her blog. Thanks for doing that!

Okay, back to what I need to get done. I will have something for you Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by!