Back to School Card

I am typing this at 3:45 a.m. because I am slightly off my rocker. I would be on my rocker, but I no longer have one. We gave those away when we moved into our "modern" home two years ago. But that's not important now.

What is important is that I try to be brief with this posting so I can go to bed, get up, finish my card, photograph my card, post the photo, and enter some challenges before they expire. And go to the eye doctor for my annual exam. Oh, and wash some clothes. Do you care? Yeah, I thought so.

Yesterday Gary and I went to a Diamondbacks game. Which is also not important, except for two things: one, they lost, again; and two, we lost our minds while we were at the game. I say we lost our minds, (which is debatable, because some who know us would say we had no minds to lose), due to the fact that we bought partial season tickets to the D'backs for next year. Oh, yeah, we got talked into that one by our service representative, who met us at the game and gave us box seat tickets for the day, just so he could bribe us to buy tickets for next season. And, lo and behold, it worked! 'Cuz we iz not the brightest bulbs on the planet. Heavy sigh....

OK, on to this card. I wanted to enter The Outlawz CPC Back to School Challenge, so that is the theme. I decided to go (loosely) with a sketch from the current CLP Sketch Challenge:

I got my color scheme from Sweet 'n Sassy Fall Inspiration Color Challenge:

And, just for good measure, I am going to enter this card into the following challenges as well:

Cheery Lynn Anything Goes
The Paper Shelter Layers on Layers
Fashionista For a Child Challenge
Craft Your Passion Emboss It Challenge
Oozak Fall Themed Challenge
TTCRD Diva or Anything Goes

Goodness, that is quite a long list, isn't it? Well, we must make hay while the sun shines. And I have no idea why I just said that.

I chose the Saturated Canary Sisters Back to School image, which I printed on Copic X-Press It CS. I printed my Create with TLC sentiment on Stampin' Up CS, which I also used for the rest of the card. I did emboss a yellow piece of that CS with a Cuttlebug numbers folder. I printed the vintage school room images, also from Create with TLC, on some miscellaneous CS that I had on hand. I also used a piece of Bo Bunny Forever Fall Collection DP as a mat for my image. My clip and brads are SU. I used a SU corner punch on my sentiment. My die cuts are from the following: Marianne Designs Scissors die, MFT Paper Doll border die, Cheery Lynn Lace Corner Deco B die, and a Whimsy Ticket die. I made my tickets with the ticket die and a Whimsy blank ticket stamp, while using my trusty computer for the ticket sentiments. I'm tricky that way. I used a button and some cheesecloth from my stash. Glossy Accents were applied to the sisters' eyes and glasses, (which didn't hurt btw, 'cuz I asked them); Copic Spica clear pen was applied to the hairbands, jumper buttons, and the sisters' lips. I accented the image with a white gel pen and, last, but not least, I colored the image with my Copics:  B16, B18, YR00, YR12, YR15, W0, W1, W3, W5, W7, Y32, Y35, Y38, E000, E00, E11, E30, E31, E33, E35, E53, E55, E57, E59.

That's all folks! I will be working on a project for a guest design spot for next week, so I probably won't be posting until then. Unless the spirit moves me. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

The Mint, Tilda, etc., etc., etc.

I had to correct something on this posting. Sorry if you have already read it--no need to do so again.

So I promised I would review The Mint restaurant in Scottsdale on my next post. Well, I lied.

JK. (For my sister, Merrilyn, that  means just kidding.)

The place is absolutely kewl! It has a beautiful interior, and, because I am so on-the-ball, I have absolutely no photos to show you. Ahem. Anyway, the decor is modern and the place is spacious. It has its own wine cellar, which you can rent for $3000 a night--I kid you not. We were not in the wine cellar, btw.

But we were seated at extremely tall tables and perched on very high bar stools, (I needed a ladder to get onto mine. Haha, jk again. I only needed a step stool.) Other than the rather awkward way I had to get on and off of my seating piece, (I just didn't want to say stool again--it sounds so rude), I was quite comfortable as there was a nice railing on which to place your feet. While you are perched. On a very high seat.

The bathroom/restroom (and just who bathes or rests in them anyway?) is rather unique. It is neither for men or women. It is for both. Yup. Men and women, in the same room. There are beautiful sinks in a central area, with automatic water and soap dispensers. And lots of paper towels in trays. And the sinks are right next to a small bar. (There was no one in there serving drinks at the time.) For relieving purposes, there are several small toilet closets, (I can't call them stalls, because they are more like little rooms.) Each has a door which reaches from floor to ceiling, so you have absolute privacy, even though it is a tad weird that men can be right in the next closet. (FYI, Liberty Market in downtown Gilbert also has this set-up for their restrooms.)

The only stranger restroom I've been in was one in a Southeast Minneapolis restaurant in the 1970's. I walked into the ladies' room, entered the stall, hung my purse on the door hook, turned around, and found myself facing every person eating in the restaurant. Yeah, that got a reaction out of me. There was one-way glass in the stall, so you could see everyone eating while you were doing your business, but they couldn't see you. You know how I know they couldn't see me? I made my sister, Barbara, go out and check before I used the facilities!

On to the food and drink. At The Mint. I started with a regular $9 Margarita, which was very tasty. As opposed to starting with the irregular $100 Margarita, which should be out-of-this-world tasty. But who in this world wants to spend that? Certainly not me. And definitely not Gary! The waitress told us, yeah, but it's happy hour and so the drink is only $50. And I said, yes, but the drink I want is only $4.50. So.....

Oh, Gary had some awful concoction to drink. Which I don't think he was crazy about. So he tried some other awful, barf-worthy Martini and pronounced it "good". Egads! What was he smokin' anyway? (JK, again. Gary doesn't smoke or do drugs. Thought I should clarify that. Not that you care. But still.)

We had firecracker shrimp for our first appetizer. Which was a really nice dish, but it was a bit too hot to taste and not hot enough to touch. I think they forgot to bring it out right away, so it cooled down more than I would have liked. Next up was another appetizer called soup gyoza, which were steamed pork dumplings filled with a sizzling broth. OMG! I could have eaten a dozen of those and called it a night. Sooooo good! Then Gary had House Dynamite Chicken, which he didn't really care for. Too bad for him. I had the Apple Cider Salmon, served on top of an Asian pear and pea tendril salad tossed in miso dressing. Wow! That literally melted in my mouth. Oh, so, so yummy! Mmmmm, wish I had some right now. I'm hungry.

We were full after our main courses,  so we did not order dessert. I did notice that by the time we left, (about 9:00), the place was really filling up. With young people. You know the ones--they look to be about 10 years old. Welllll, maybe they were a bit older than that, but not by much. So, if you are old like us, go early at happy hour time. Appetizers and drinks are half price and you can have your choice of seating. (Unless you are in a big party. Then you'll need a ladder, sorry, step stool, to sit at the group tables. The very tall group tables.) BTW, I believe there are also two bars in the place, (besides the one in the restroom). One looked like it was in a darkened room in the back. I think we were too old to go in there.

As an aside. Where do these girls find the short dresses that they wear now? OMG! I told our dinner club that my swim suit is longer than the length of those dresses. We all laughed, but, really, it's the truth!

So I got my new light bulb on Saturday. It cost me an extra $9 for overnight shipping, but it was worth it. However, the lamp itself is poorly designed for changing bulbs. I had to unscrew the cover in three places to lift it enough to pull the old bulb out. There was no way that I could see to get the entire cover off without breaking the **** thing. And I ripped off a good chunk of skin getting the bulb out. Which hurt so much and bled so much that I got terribly distracted. To the point that I re-inserted the old bulb and then wondered why the lamp still didn't work. DUH! I love when I make more work for myself! On the "bright" side of things, I can actually see to work again! Yay! And to think I ordered a second bulb to have on hand when this new one goes. Ugh. I think, after I change this one more time, I am getting a new lamp. Probably an LED variety that won't burn out!

Book alert:  I finished one of the selections for this month at Bookendz Book club. Suzanne picked another winner, but I knew that already, since I read the book at least a year ago. This book is so good that I enjoyed the re-reading every bit as much as the first reading. If you want a page-turner, then read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Loved it again! Just sayin'. (And I have read two other books of hers that are just as good!)

OK, I made this card just because I wanted to enter a couple of challenges. I like doing Magnolia images, and decided to enter Midweek Magnolias Brown, Pink and White Challenge. OK, that took care of the color scheme. Now, on to a sketch, which I found at The Outlawz Sketch Challenge. And for a theme, I selected 7 Kids Flower Power Challenge. Just for grins and giggles, I am also entering Basic Grey Anything Goes Challenge and Stamptacular Sunday Roses and Ribbons Challenge, and the Magnolia-licious Butterflies and Blooms Challenge.

Here's the sketch:

I selected Tilda with Hawaii Flower for my image and stamped her on Cryogen CS with Memento ink. My sentiment is another from Create with TLC. I had several wonderful butterfly sentiments from Paulette to choose from. Go check her  shop out! She gives away images or sentiments daily, besides her amazing collection of digital stamps you can buy. (Hey, just trying to help you figure out how to spend that disposable income of yours.)

I used Stampin' Up CS and Bazzill CS to go with my DSP, which are from the Basic Grey Kissing Booth collection and some old retired Cactus Pink paper.

Another aside:  I went through my 12x12 collection and weeded out all the large patterns that I can't use on cards--which was most of it. I never scrapbook anymore, so I decided to clean out my paper closet of 12x12 and make it 6x6-friendly. My daughter and granddaughters are the lucky recipients of a lot of really cool paper. A bit of which is actually still current!

Back to my card. I appreciate your patience. I used several dies on this card: Spellbinders Grand Labels 4 and Labels 4, Memory Box Finn Butterfly and Chloe Butterfly and Sizzix Stampin' Up Embosslits Beautiful Wings. My flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts and my ribbon, dyed with my Copics, is from my stash. I added a bit of Copic Spica to the butterflies and flower on the image. Tilda was accented with a white gel pen. And the image was colored with Copics: W00, W1, R000, R20, R21, G40, G99, E000, E00, E11, E40, E41, E43, E47, E49.

If you stuck with me this long, you deserve a medal. Not that I'm going to give you one, but still...

Here's wishing you a wonderful week!

Carol's Birthday Card 2012

I don't know if I have told you about my eyes. They're fairly small, blue, and one eyelid hangs lower than the other. Uneven eyes. But that's not important right now. What is important is that I don't see well enough to stay within the lines when coloring unless I use a magnifying light source. And I have one of those. I bet you know where this is going already, don't you?

Yup. As I was coloring the image for Carol's card on Thursday, the light bulb burned out on my magnifying light. This was another one of those wonderful "%^$&**#$%$^%#**#&$*#&$**#&#^#%" moments. You see, I did not buy a spare bulb when I bought the lamp. And why not? Don't ask me. Ask my dim-wit alter ego. I have no idea. (I have realized that I am not the brightest bulb on the planet--every pun intended.) OK, so now what? Well, I had to use another desk lamp while looking through the magnifier, which really didn't work very well. I am telling you this because this image is not my best work. But, it will have to do. Because my new bulb wouldn't arrive in time to finish this card.

I needed the card to be done by today so I could give it to Carol tonight at dinner. We'll be seeing Carol and her hubby, John, at the dinner club get-together tonight in Scottsdale. Apparently we are eating at a bank. Or what used to be a bank. It's called The Mint. I'm intrigued to try it, and, of course, I will report back with another of my alter egos, the food critic. Honestly, I have so many alter egos I think I have multiple personality disorder. But that's not important right now either.

On to the card. (Minus the coloring, if you don't mind.) Carol is such a dear friend of ours. We have known her hubby, (John), since he, Gary, and I went to the U of Minnesota back in the 70's. That was after John and Gary got out of the military and went to college on the GI bill. When Gary graduated we moved out to AZ, and I finished school at ASU. John was six months behind Gary in school. When he graduated he moved out here, too. And Carol and John found each other again, (long story) and got married. And then Gary and I met Carol. And Bob and Ted and Alice. Oh, no, not really. Just Alice. No, not even her. Just John and Carol. (Anybody remember that movie besides me?)

Carol is a regular nut. As opposed to being an irregular nut. She has a crazy sense of humor, which is no doubt why we get along so well together. And we share a love of jewelry that knows no bounds. Which is why I chose this Create with TLC sentiment for her card. Even before I chose an image. I just knew that the sentiment totally fit her, (and me, but that's beside the point). Oh, and it cracks me up. And I digress again. Sigh...

Back to the card: my design is based upon a sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday:

I picked a Saturated Canary image called "Fancy", (which I think was once a freebie), to go with this sentiment. I knew I could sparkle her up for Carol. (Yeah, that was before my light burned out. Hard to sparkle with a Spica pen and Stickles when you can't see what you are sparkling. But I digress yet again. So sorry.)

I printed Fancy on Copic X-Press It CS. The rest of the CS is from Stampin' Up. My DSP is from the BoBunny Smoochable Collection. I used several dies on this card: Spellbinders Classic Squares and Lacey Circles, Cheery Lynn Sofia's Heart Doily and Lace Corner Deco B, MFT small leafy flourish, Magnolia Doohickey flourish, and Memory Box Tender Leaves. The flowers are from Maya Road Trinkets Ruffle Blossoms. The stick pins are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I have added a Tim Holtz Bauble and some tiny charms I had in my stash. I colored some ribbon and lace with my Copic inks and added them along with a bit of tulle. Stickles were used on the circle, the corner die cuts, and the dots in Fancy's hair. A clear Copic Spica pen was used on her lips and the daisy-like flowers on the image. I applied Glossy Accents to her eyes and accented her with a white gel pen. I rubbed a little SU ink around the image. The image was colored (!**&*&!*&^%*&^%$**) with my Copics: G40, G43, RV0000, RV21, RV23, E000, E00, E11, E53, E55, E57.

I am entering this card into a few challenges, just because so much eye-strain went into it. They are:

Cheery Lynn Doily Challenge
Divas by Design Anything Goes
The Paper Shelter Anything Goes
Saturated Canary Color Photo Inspiration
Stamptacular Sunday Let's Hear it for the Girls
Sweet Sketch Wednesday

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Mike's Birthday Card

I managed to finish my nephew's card in time to drive it, along with my last two cards, up to Scottsdale to my sister's house. She will deliver them for me this week to the Midwest, where she and her hubby will be vacationing. I caught her vacuuming her house, (remember she just had knee surgery a scant month ago), in preparation for her house sitter. That is an odd expression, isn't it? House-sitting. Of course, there is baby-sitting. And pet-sitting. None of them really make any sense to me. I mean, what does the sitting part actually mean? Besides a person just planting their butt in a chair and waiting for Godot. Hmmmm.....I'd say inquiring minds want to know, but I am actually pretty sure they don't give a flip.

Oh, back to Merrilyn. She was cleaning her house. She is moving around so good now, it is almost hard to believe. The only thing holding her back is her other knee, which needs replacement as well. She is back to her hour/day swimming schedule. Which blows me away. I have two good knees, and spend no hours a day swimming. Or much of any other exercise, for that matter. Of course, it shows, People. It shows. Anyway, a big shout-out congratulations to my sister, Merrilyn. And may your vacation be absotively, (that's a combination of positively and absolutely, in Penny-speak), mahvelous!

I got to Merrilyn's so late in the day that I called Gary and asked him if we could meet somewhere for dinner. (He works 30 miles from home and M lives 30+ miles from me in sort of the same direction). We agreed to eat at The Dhaba, in Tempe. Love, love, love that place! The food is always first-rate! I told Gary I didn't care what we ate, I was just starving. The owner heard me say that, so she brought us extra papadum--yum, yum, yum! And Gary chose Sheikhupura Aloo Palak, (potatoes and spinach in a delicious sauce with ghee), Chicken Curry, (which was spicy even at the mild end (DUH!) and so satisfying), naan, and basmati rice. Of course, we both had some of their chai, which doesn't need any sweetening. A spicy delight. Ahhhhhhh.

When I got home, I found the invitation to Mike's surprise birthday party in the mail. SHHHHHH! Don't tell him about it. Yes, that's what the invitation says. Don't mention it on Facebook, Twitter, tagging, etc. Well, I won't have a difficult time with that. I barely get on FB, I never Tweet, and I don't even know what tagging is. I must be out-of-touch. (Gary has told me that for years. Decades, actually. And still he stays with me. Why, I wonder?) Anyhow, I spend waaaaay too much time on Blogger to try any other form of correspondence. 

So, the reason Mike is being given a surprise party is because he is turning 50! OMG. Five-oh. Really? Already? I remember changing his you-know-whats--and that seems like just yesterday. Well, not quite yesterday, but not fifty years ago!  (Yes, I realize this dates me, but age is just a number. Waaaaa! And mine is a really big number!) Anyway, when he was about two weeks old, I was baby-sitting him, (there's that word again! I repeat, I did not sit on the baby!). And he had poopy drawers, so I laid him down to change them. And when I pulled them off of him, he peed on me. Yup. I hadn't learned the trick to keeping dry when changing a boy. A boy's diaper, I mean. (I don't know what I would have changed a boy into. Honestly. You people get so literal!) So after I finally got him (and myself) cleaned up, I picked him up and he immediately threw up on my shoulder, (I think we called it spit-up in those days).  And considering that he was always crying, his nose and eyes probably emptied on me as well, so he'd probably gotten me with every orifice he had. Little brat. 

The crying wasn't really his fault. He had tummy aches from everything they tried feeding him. Formula, cow's milk, bat's milk, sheep dung. OK, the last one was a slight exaggeration. (Alright, the last two were. Picky, picky.) I don't know what finally settled him down, but I remember Merrilyn and I walking the full length of their apartment with Mike over her shoulder, saying "chug-chug, woo-woo", over and over and over and over. It was all that kept him quiet. Nearly drove me to the funny farm. Oh, thank heavens he wasn't my baby! Oh, and for those of you who are saying that he should have been on breast milk, just wait a second. That's most likely true, but doctors did not promote breast-feeding in those days. It was too risque, I think. That was in the days of the boobalicious movie stars, but before nude scenes. Exposing your entire breasts was rather frowned upon, even for breast-feeding. My, how times have changed...

Now to Michael's card. He is a U.S.P.S. worker. In other words, a mailman. So I had to do a mailman card for him. First, I found postage stamp paper in the Prima Songbird collection, which I promptly covered up with stuff! (Why? It apparently seemed like a good idea at the time.) Second, I found a crazy-cute postal worker image--Snail Mail, by MayzyArt. I realize that the fairy on the snail's back looks a bit like a girl, but I used it anyway. I printed that on Copic X-Press It CS, and used Stampin' Up CS for the card base, layers, and wings. I used Bazzill Kraft CS for the tickets. And I used Gina K CS for the stamps, which included the sentiment. I had to put some sort of age-related sentiment on the card--he is turning the big five-oh, after all. So I found this one in the Geezer Power collection at Create with TLC. I think it works well with the image, too! And though I didn't photograph it (and can't now because it is gone), the inside used a TLC Geezer sentiment, too: "Welcome to the Black Socks with Sandals Years". I think that is hilarious! (Remember, I live in AZ. And you wouldn't believe how many men we have here that resemble that remark!)  It ought to, (pardon the expression), p*** Mike off, big-time. Payback, Baby!

I bought some Whimsy postage stamp sentiments to use with their dies. Specifically to use on Mike's card, but also for future projects. I love these! So I added a couple to the card front, along with a couple of tickets I produced from Whimsy products. Two buttons, a Tim Holtz mini paper clip, a bit of We R Memory Keepers baker's twine, three shells, and die-cut wings, (from a Memory Box die), were the only other embellishments I added. What? So few? I know. Believe me, I tried out many other design elements, but kept coming back to just these. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that I used a sketch for the card design this time. Sometimes sketches make it easier for me; sometimes they make it more difficult. Since I was up until 4:30 a.m. (again) working on this card, I think it made it tougher, But I am so tired I wouldn't swear to that. 

Where was I? Oh,, yeah, the sketch I used. It came from the Sketch Saturday Challenge. And I didn't follow it exactly, but it is fairly close:

I colored the image with Copics. I think I should list the ones I didn't use--it might be a shorter list, (just kidding; I do that sometimes):  W3, YR21, YR23, YR24, YG91, YG93, YG95, (and a bazillion E's), E000, E00, E02, E08, E09, E11, E40, E41, E42, E43, E47, E49, E50, E51, E53, E55, E57, E59. I accented the image with white gel pen and sponged some Tim Holtz Distress Ink on the image and sentiment.

Okey dokey. That does it for now. Perhaps for later, too. Only time will tell. Seriously? Uh, no. 

Besides Sketch Saturday, I am entering this card into the following challenges:

MayzyArt Silly Challenge

Hooked on Craft Let's Celebrate Challenge

Simon Says Animal Antics Challenge

Gem of a Challenge Animals or Teddies
Craft Your Passion Power of Three Challenge
The Corrosive Challenge Cute as a Button

Here's wishing you a great rest of the week! 

  

Jim's Birthday Card

I have finished another card for Merrilyn to take to the Midwest on Tuesday. That's card #2--Jim's birthday card. (Jim is the boyfriend of my sister, Barbara.) I have one card left to make. The only way to make sure I finish that one on time, (by Monday evening, so I can get it to Merrilyn before her trip), is to work into the wee hours again today. I did that Friday night on Jim's card. I worked until 4:30 a.m. and then had a small catastrophe. (Is there such a thing as a small catastrophe? By their very nature, aren't catastrophes rather large?)

Would you like to know what happened? Tough, I'm going to tell you anyway. I should warn you that this paragraph is x-rated. So cover your eyes while you read it. I had many of the card elements sitting on my desk in front of me. I picked up one of them to distress with my ink pad. So far, so good. I picked up the ink pad. OK, still doing fine. Then I started to distress the paper and I. dropped. the ink pad. Upside down. On my card elements. Oopsie daisy. Oh, of course, that's not what I said! What I did say was $%$^*&#^$%$^&%&^*^*!!!!

And then I went to bed.

Hours later I got up, took my blood pressure medication, and then went back to my craft room to survey the damage. Yup. One ruined image. Which really ticked me off, because I had already discarded two versions of that image fully colored. Let's see--I believe that means that I had to print and color the image for the FOURTH TIME, PEOPLE!!!! Oh, so sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you. (Yes. Yes, I did. I had to expel that negative energy somehow.)

OK, so I had to print and color the image again. I had also ruined a couple of die cuts, so I had to cut those out again. And I got ink on the farm image I had stamped and die cut. I refused to redo that one. Instead, I eventually pop-dotted the little farmer on top of the smeared area. Voila! A mistake with an easy correction. How terribly odd.

I must get on with things so that I can go make my last card. Therefore, without further ado, or angst, here is my recipe for this travesty card.

The design is loosely based on a sketch from Divas by Design Sketch Challenge, which I intend to enter. I rotated the sketch and then took some liberties with it that I hope are acceptable. And here is the sketch:

I am also entering the Digi Doodle Shop Challenge Use a Charm, which I thought they could rename "Be Charming", because that has such a clever ring to it, don't you think? Oh, whatever.

I chose the Bugaboo Bobble Head Farmer for my image. Why did I pick a farmer? Why, I am so glad you asked that question! I picked a farmer because that is what Jim is. A farmer. In Wisconsin. Next question. Where did I get the clever sentiment? I got it from Create with TLC. OK, enough with the question/answer session. It's really adorable of you, but it takes too long, and I am in a hurry.

I printed both the image and the sentiment on Copic X-Press It CS. Then I picked DSP from Authentique's Splendid Collection and My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Sunshine collection. I love it when you can use paper from more than one source. I used Stampin' Up CS for my base and die cuts, except the tickets. They were made from Bazzill Kraft CS. (I bought some Whimsy stamps and a Whimsy ticket die so I could make my own tickets. I am really tickled with them. You should get some if you don't already have them. Really. You'll be happy you did.)

I die cut the wheat flourishes, (wheat, get it? for a farmer? Oh, well, I thought it was clever at the time), with a Marianne Designs die. All the ovals are die cut from Spellbinders dies. The corner flourish was cut from a Cheery Lynn Lace Corner Deco B die. The farm scene came from a stamp by Northwoods Rubber Stamps. The Celebration piece is from 7 Gypsies. The charms are from my stash. The safety pin and brad are from Stampin' Up. And the little paper clip is from Tim Holtz. I used a bit of burlap from my fabric stash.That should about do it. Uh, not quite.

I colored the farmer with my Copics: C1, C2, C4, B91, B93, YR23, YR24, E000, E00, E11, E31, E33, E35. I also accented the image with a white gel pen.

And yes, the farmer does have gray hair--I was not trying to color it black. Jim is an older man, with lots of gray hair, unlike my Gary. Who is an older man with almost no gray hair. Because he is bald, not because his hair hasn't turned gray. Well, actually he isn't totally bald. But he does shave his head, so he appears totally bald. Aren't you glad I cleared that up for you?

And so ends this posting. But I will return with another one in a couple of days. When I get the next card done. If I get the next card done. I may just run away from home instead. That always solved my problems when I was a little girl. Well, at least until Daddy caught up with me and gave me a spanking.

Have a lovely Sunday/Monday!

Barbara's Get Well Card 8-2012

I already made a get well card for my sister, Barbara, this year. She had knee surgery in April. Well, that didn't fix what was truly wrong with her knee. Because nothing could. She needed a knee replacement, which she is going to have in September. I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd be too happy about that. In fact, right about now, I would probably be spewing some unmentionable words and phrases, (what me, swear? pffffft). But my sister is much nicer than I am.

Anyway, Barbara, if you want to spoil the surprise, keep reading and look at the photo. If not, just wait until Merrilyn delivers the card to you, or until your surgery is over.

I know there are some housekeeping issues I need to mention. Well, not my housekeeping, because that is unmentionable. But just little tidbits that I have to tell you about before I go on with the card description. First, I can't get my chair to fit me comfortably right now. I don't know if it is because I was up late last night, (or until early this a.m.), and my back and neck just ache from bending over my image for so long. Which reminds me--I had the image almost completely colored when I realized that I had irrevocably ruined the dress. So I had to start over, and with this image that is something you do not want to do if you are in a hurry! Because, as cute as she is, Saturated Canary's Circus Trixie is a complicated girl to color. Where was I? Oh, yeah, the chair being uncomfortable. Other reasons that it could be uncomfortable are lost to me at the moment. I forgot what I was going to tell you. That is either a result of me being terribly tired, or just plain old. I opt for the terribly tired.

Also, I wanted to tell you that Gary is not a happy camper right now. His Fusion hybrid wouldn't start the other night when he left work. Yeah, the night we were supposed to go to a wine dinner. And you know how much I love my wine dinners. This was held at the restaurant in our community clubhouse. And the menu sounded sooo good. Drat! So I wasn't very happy about his dead battery either. It meant not only missing the wine dinner, (just a few blocks away), but having to drive in 30 miles to pick him up from the Ford dealer. Late. Like leaving the house at 7:00 p.m. Which meant we were going to eat really, really late. We managed to stop at Roy's about 8:00, so we had a good meal after all. Just not the one we planned on. Oh, and for the foodies out there, I started my meal with a Mai Tai instead of wine. Because it reminds me of Hawaii, and we were at Roy's after all! Then we had the edamame. Because it was free. Otherwise, I would have gone straight to dessert. Naw, not really. Actually I had the most delicious, melt-in-your-mouth Hawaiian Ono, served with Thai Basil Mint Nam Plah, grilled peaches and a chilled veggie-and-rice-noodle salad. I am sorry I missed the wine dinner, but I am not sorry I got to substitute this meal instead! And we did not have dessert--yay, us! (Gary had delicious shrimp, btw.)

But I didn't tell you why Gary is not happy. It's because the Ford service manager told him that a lot of Fusion hybrids won't start in our excessive heat, in order to protect the main battery. I say, what? I repeat, what? Why on earth do they sell the cars here in the Arizona desert, then, if they can't tolerate the heat? Heat is all we have, People. We live one mile from He**. Literally. Awwww, no, figuratively speaking, but still, it does get blazing hot here in the summer. All summer. Every year. So why would anybody want a hybrid car whose battery has a heat phobia? Please, enlighten me. And while you're at it, you can enlighten my hubby. Or possibly you could just take him off my hands for a week or three. Thank you.

Alright, enough housekeeping whatevers. On to Barbara's card. I already mentioned that I used Circus Trixie from Saturated Canary. My sentiment is from Create with TLC. I printed both on Copic X-Press It CS. I chose my colors from the Bazzill Basics Paper Vintage Marketplace collection. My CS is from Stampin' Up. Since Circus Trixie is standing on a round trapeze, I had the bright idea to use a circular easel card, as well as die-cut hoops. I am being a bit sarcastic about this being a bright idea. You see, I not only had to color my image twice, I had to make the easel card twice also. And I am not going to get into that right now. My head might explode if I have explain that. I used Spellbinders Grand Circles, circles, and hearts dies, as well as a Cheery Lynn Lace Corner Deco B die. I added a bit of cheesecloth and Wild Orchid Crafts pins, flowers, and crystal heart stem. I don't usually mention this, and I don't know why I am right now, (especially when I am running late), but I did some pop-dotting on the image and sentiment. (I do the pop-dotting fairly often, actually. BTW, what is the proper terminology for it?) I added Glossy Accents to Trixie's eyes, (which must have hurt), and her lips, (which probably just felt weird). I accented her clothing with a white gel pen. Of course, I colored Trixie with Copics: E000, E00, E11, E31, RV00, RV11, RV13, BG11, BG72, YR21, Y11, Y21, YG0000, YG11, YG13, YG17, YG63.

I did a circus image to fulfill the The Outlawz CPC Circus/Carnival requirement. My shaped card meets the Stamptacular Sunday Shape It Up challenge. The paper selection came about due to the Papertake Weekly Spots 'n Stripes challenge. And I am also entering this card into the Digital Tuesday Child's Play challenge.

That should just about do it for today's episode. I'm sure you are just as surprised as I am that I managed to blog again so soon!

BTW, a big shout-out to all my readers who enjoy my wacky sense of humor. So glad you do--but, just remember, that makes you just as bizarre as I am. Just sayin'.

Hey, I Found my Mojo!

It was hiding in the guest bathroom. Don't ask me why. But I walked in there yesterday and found it shaking in the bathtub. Naughty Mojo. I grabbed it and pulled it into my craft-room with me. Then I was cloistered in my craft-room all day yesterday, except for the time I spent on blog comments. And I am behind in those, but will have to catch up after I finish posting this card. So, I will get to you, dear Bloggers. Eventually. Oh me, oh my, how the time does fly! Hey, I'm a poet, and I didn't know it, but my feet show it, because they're long-fellows...

Um, so terribly sorry. I couldn't help myself. That's one of the ditties that I have carried with me from childhood. And they just pop out now and again. Like this one: You love yourself, you think you're grand, you go to the movies and hold your hand, you put your arm around your waist, and when you get fresh, you slap your face.

I have remembered these for over 50 years, People. Why can't I remember anything from two days ago? (help.)

Lots of digressing again. So sorry. Ahem...I created this card with several challenges in mind. Hopefully, I am not in violation of any rules by entering all of them. If so, oh well...

I chose a Sweet Sketch Wednesday #166 to begin my design. I rotated the design to fit my image; I tried to stick to the sketch, which included ribbon, but managed to add a few buttons I had made so that I could also enter the Simon Says Bingo Challenge, (which calls for ribbon, die cuts and buttons in one column). And, I needed to do die cuts for the Midweek Magnolias Die Cuts/Punches Challenge. I also needed the ribbon for the Inky Impressions Ribbon Challenge. Is this complicated enough for you yet? No? Just wait. It gets better, (or worse, depending on how you look at it). I did a Tilda image for the Divas by Design For a Female Challenge, and I gave her a background so I could enter the CMC Create a Background Challenge. If I added correctly, I am entering six challenges with this card. You know, it's exhausting keeping track of these. How do you guys do it daily? I don't get it. If you comment on my blog, would you please divulge your secret? Thank you. From the bottom of my black little heart.

Here's the sketch:

 
I used Tilda with Curls, because I felt like it. Yeah, so there. I stamped her on Cryogen CS with Memento ink. I chose a Create with TLC sentiment, which I thought was perfect for her, and printed that on Stampin' Up CS. I used SU CS throughout the card design. My background trees were stamped with the SU Lovely as a Tree stamp set. And my ribbon is also from SU. My DSP came from the Prima Sun Kiss Collection. My buttons were die cut using a Sizzix Buttons #5 die. My fence was die cut using a Magnolia Doohickey fence die. I die cut the doily with a Cheery Lynn Italian Flourish doily die. And my sentiment was die cut using a Spellbinders scalloped circle die. Whew! I need to take a breath....Ok, I am  fine now. I think. Yup. I can go on--I accented the image with a white gel pen after coloring her (and the background) with Copics: C00, W0, BG000, B000, B00, B01, YR20, YR21, YR23, G40, G43, G94, G99, E0000, E000, E00, E11, E30, E31, E33, E35, E37. I believe that takes care of all requirements of the six challenges I am entering. Before it's too late to enter. At least I hope I am not too late. That would definitely be a big bummer.

I plan to get Barbara's card done this week also. Her get well card, because she is having knee replacement surgery in September. I know that seems odd to do it this far in advance, (especially for moi), but humor me. My other sister, Merrilyn, is going to the Midwest next week, and she agreed to take Barbara's card with her. To save me from that dreadful postage. The last card I sent to Barbara cost about $19 to send. So I would appreciate Merrilyn being my delivery person. Especially since she will be taking three cards with her to deliver! (Yes, that means I have two other cards to finish by this weekend! OMG! That mojo better not disappear again!) I'll probably have to treat Merrilyn to a lunch when she gets back, huh? Anyway, I will post again fairly soon, so don't faint or anything when I do. OK?

Have a great midweek!

Did you ever hear the one about the bad Penny?

I have been reading again. Yeah, that's why no posts for several days. I just had to get into some juicy stories for a bit. I know, I know: bad Penny. On the bright side,  I do have some recommendations:

Sea Change by Karen White (given to me to read by my sis, Merrilyn)
Whole Lotta Trouble by Stephanie Bond
Our Husband by Stephanie Bond

I read one more, but I wouldn't recommend it. Just mentioned it to explain why I have been so absent of late.

So Merrilyn and I went to lunch on Friday. She gets around so good now, it is hard to believe her surgery was just a couple of weeks ago! Anyway, she picked the place and I drove. Of course, it was not even close to where I live! Try about 48 miles away. But only 18 miles from Merrilyn's home. It is Carmel's Coffee at 42nd Street and Camelback in Phoenix. What a find! The people are friendly, the service is great, and the food we had--oh, oh, yum! Both of us had the Savory Crepe, which had goat cheese, spinach, and roasted cherry tomatoes in it. Divine! And only $7! If you are in the area, do try Carmel's sometime--open for breakfast and lunch. It is a tiny place, and most of the parking is in the back. Well worth the stop!

Gary and I did go out Saturday night to a new-to-us-but-rather-established restaurant in Scottsdale called Pepin. While the Spanish dishes we had were good, they were not great, and they were very pricey. So I do not recommend this place; spend your money elsewhere. We did have fun, though, having dinner again with Bob and Connie. Did I mention that Connie fell last September? In the parking lot at Costco. Off a thick-soled flip-flop. She fell very awkwardly and broke her right shoulder in four places. They rushed her to the hospital. Three days later, they operated on her shoulder and put in 19 pins. OMG! She said it took her a good six months to heal properly. She still cannot raise her right arm much above her shoulder. She and Bob want to take dance lessons again, but she is afraid that she will re-injure herself. Ouch. (Gross understatement, right?)

I have many, many cards to make in a very short amount of time. So why was I doing so much reading? Because I love to procrastinate. Oh, not really. But I think, when the pressure is on, I take exit stage left. And I do something else to take my mind, (I use that term loosely), off of whatever causes me anxiety. Now why am I anxious?  Because I lost my mojo again, and I need it back to jump-start these cards. I'll have to go looking for it. Perhaps I left it in my car last week, and it melted away in the parking lot at the mall. Or it ran away to join the circus. Or someone broke into my house and stole it. While I was reading one of my books. Wait a minute, maybe Donovan ate it! He's been awfully hungry lately. Hey, something happened to it. Wish me luck finding it. 'Cuz I need my mojo badly. Like now.

Will blog again ASAP after getting at least one card finished. Hopefully, that will be sometime on Tuesday. Wishing you a wonderful beginning to your week!

Just Because

I created a card for a few different challenges. Not for anyone special, but just because I wanted to make something. I had this brainstorm after looking at the challenge possibilities. Don't have one of those. Brainstorms, that is. They hurt. And I now lean a bit to the left. Of course, that could also be a result of my left leg being somewhat shorter than my right. Which is a real problem for me when I buy pants, because they are usually a little too long for my right leg (I am short, after all) and way too long for my left leg. I am digressing again, aren't I? Sorry.

Before I go through all my thoughts about this card, (which aren't many since the brainstorm fried my left hemisphere--or was it my right?), I wanted to tell you that we met some old friends for dinner last night in Scottsdale. Well, old as in old, yes, but also old as in known for a long time, like 30 years or so. Which is probably longer than some of you have been on the planet. 

We hadn't seen Bob and Connie for a couple of years, I think. I can't remember for sure. That brainstorm again. Do yourself a favor and don't have one. Mush, I'm telling you. My brain has turned to mush. Anyway, we met them at Eddie's House. It was Eddie's birthday yesterday. And he was celebrating by doing a buy one entree, get one free. And he wasn't even in the country. He was somewhere else celebrating his birthday. What's up with that? Oh, that's Eddie Matney, for those of you who don't know about Eddie's House. This is the second of Eddie's restaurants that we have visited. And it is just as good as the first one we went to, which was called Eddie Matney's.

Do you want to know what I ate? Too bad. I'm going to tell you anyway. We started with some really good cracker bread. Then we ventured into some edamame, which wasn't your standard soybeans covered in salt. These were marinated in some soy sauce and other goodies that I couldn't identify due to that brainstorm. But they were really yummy. Then I had a bowl of lobster bisque, which I try everywhere I can. It was OK, but not to die for. However, my entree of scallops with sweet potato, green onion hash, Bleu cheese and autumn melon relish was. To die for. Oh, so, so tasty. And free! Actually, I think Gary's was free, since my dish was more expensive than his halibut, which he loved. But who cares? You don't, I'm sure. Even I don't. I'm just glad I got the scallops. They were worth every penny. No pun intended. 

We ended the meal with the special birthday dessert. It was a cherry turnover covered with vanilla bean ice cream and the most amazing caramel sauce. Oh, my! I had to share that with Gary, but he let me have the biggest part of it, like he always does. Great way to end the meal. And the meal took about four hours. It was very leisurely. Just the way I like it. We had so much fun catching up with Bob and Connie--so very much to talk about and laugh over. We shared a couple of bottles of wine, which was just right for the four of us over the four hours. Not enough to get us inebriated. Good thing, too, because when we got on the freeway we saw cops everywhere we looked. What the heck? I have never seen so many squad cars on the freeway, unless there was an accident. And it isn't a holiday weekend. So I am not sure what was going on, but at least they weren't after us. Or my brainstorm.

Which brings me back to my card. OK, so 7 Kids College Fund Shaped Card Challenge gave me the idea for a shaped card. And it's been a long time since I've done a Magnolia image, so I thought I would find one to color. I picked Soccer Edwin, to go with the Midweek Magnolias The Olympics Challenge. That's when I hurt my brain with the brilliant idea to make the shaped card a soccer ball. Ooooh, that hurt. I found the soccer image by Kate Pullen and sized it to fit a Spellbinders Grand Oval 5-3/4" die. At least I think that's the size I used. Remember, mush, people, my brain is mush. I have no idea why I did an easel card. Must have thought it would look cool.

So I found a couple of other challenges that would fit this card. Crafty Ann's has a circles challenge--perfect. And Pixie Dust Studio has the Olympics as a challenge. Cool beans. Then The Outlawz CPC group has a Tic Tac Toe challenge, which I thought was fun. I chose the Ribbon, Die Cuts, and Buttons column of the grid to follow for this. I had planned to enter this into the Simon Says challenge, too, but then realized that totaled 6 challenges and Midweek Maggies will only allow 5. So I decided to drop Simon. I'm sure he'll be OK with that. 

OK, so I have set the stage for this card. I stamped Edwin on Cryogen CS with Memento ink. I printed the Create with TLC sentiment and the soccer balls on Stampin' Up CS, which I also used for the card base and the die cuts. Different colors, of course. Goes without saying. But I said it anyway. Pffffft. The dies I used were: Spellbinders Grand Circles and Classic Circles, Memory Box tree, and MFT grass and clouds. I added some SU ribbon and buttons from my stash. I colored the image with my Copics (imagine that!): G40, G43, G46, C00, C0, C2, C3, C7, E0000, E000, E00, E11, E13, E25, E27, E29, E49. I added a bit of accents with a white gel pen. And that's it. That's what caused my mush. 

Here's hoping that never happens again. Because I don't have much brain left to work with. 

Sister update:  Merrilyn's physical therapist told her to ditch the walker--she wasn't using it anyway. She was just pushing it around. And she could bend her robo knee 92 degrees on Thursday, a mere 9 days post-op. Which is really ahead of schedule--so good on her, hey? :^) 

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

  

Blake's Birthday Card

Well, the first thing I have to say today is HELP!

You people have got to stop be so danged creative! Please!!! I have no time to make anything myself, because I am too busy commenting on all of your wonderful creations. So, please, for me, will you just give it a rest for a few hours or so? So I can finish something of my own? I mean, really, People, you are just exhausting me.

OK. Rant over. For the moment. I need to catch my breath.

I met Ellie for lunch yesterday at Paradise Bakery in Queen Creek. She wanted to take me to lunch for looking in on her kitties while she was in California. It was no big deal for me to do so, but she felt I deserved a reward--and who am I to argue with her? I had a yummy Chicken Cuban panini. I love paninis. They make my heart sing. (Not in tune, mind you. But just the same...) We got to catch up a bit with each other, and I gave Ellie the birthday card I made for her.

I also finished a card I made for Blake, the chef-owner of The Deli. You know, that little neighborhood spot we visit once a week? Yeah, that's the one. Well, his birthday is today, so I thought I'd quickly put something together for him. And, if you know me, you know I just lied a bit. I don't quickly do much of anything, especially create cards. Well, I have been known to speed-read, but that's about all I do faster than a snail. Oh, yeah, except one other little thing. I also drive a bit fast. In fact, Gary mentioned recently that I am lucky I don't have a host of speeding tickets for as fast I drive the freeway. Well, it's the freeway, for goodness' sake. And I go in the HOV lane (no, not during rush hour), so it's easy to go a bit over the speed limit. How much? Never you mind. It's like Charles Barkley said when he played basketball here--that lane is for speeding, so slowpokes should just move on over. I couldn't agree more.

But I digress. (I do that a lot; I am easily distracted. They have a name for that condition, but it seems to have slipped my mind.) Anyway, I thought it would be nice to use a chef image for Blake, since he is a chef and all. He probably would appreciate a NY Giants football-themed card, but that just "ain't" happening. Anyway, I found this chef image on Bugaboo Stamps, and thought the menu board would be a perfect frame for a funny sentiment, which I found on Graphicat Stamps. I merged the two images using Photoshop Elements, and I printed the final image on Cryogen CS.

I chose Bazzill Kraft CS for the card base, and covered it first with Basic Grey Kraft paper and then with cheesecloth. I thought the cheesecloth was terribly clever, ahem, since the card is for a chef who uses cheesecloth at work. (Sometimes, when I am really lucky, there is actually a method to my madness!) Then I added some Basic Grey Basics White patterned paper, which was distressed with my Zutter Distrezz-It-All.

The Deli has burlap coffee bags hanging from its walls, so I had to include some burlap on the card. I tied a bit of Martha Stewart baker's twine and some jute around a piece of cardboard, which I used to frame my image. Looking through my stash I found some card charms that fit the Deli profile--cheese, a wine glass, and a wine corkscrew--which I fastened to the twine with a Tim Holtz Trinket Pin. Also in my stash were some brown buttons, which I added just because I could. I hope I don't offend too many people with the little Tim Holtz Journaling Ticket menu I designed. The menu was inspired by the movie "Silence of the Lambs", and by my very dear friend, Hannibal Lecter. I thought the menu fit the sentiment rather perfectly. (Yeah, I know I am a sick puppy!) I affixed the ticket to a tag with a Tim Holtz Mini Paper Clip. Last, but not least, the image was colored with Copics: C00, C0, E000, E00, E11, E13, E40, E42, E43, E50, E53, E57.

I am entering this card into the following:

Digital Tuesday Monochromatic Challenge
Love to Create Add a Tag Challenge

Hopefully, neither challenge will toss out my entry for being inappropriate. Pffffft!

I am going to see my sisters today for a bit. Merrilyn is doing very well with her recovery, thank goodness! And Barbara will be leaving for her home in Wisconsin tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week, but slow down on your creations, pretty please? Thank you. My fried brain will appreciate that.