"S" is for....

Normally I don't' participate in many swaps on SCS.. But this one seemed like a lot of fun.

"A Rolodex swap."

I made 26 of the letter "S" for this swap and in return I will get 1 of each letter. I choose to use Very Vanilla card stock along with my very favorite Roses in Winter stamp set. The Roses are stamped in Vintage Violet, leaves in True Thyme and the small flowers in buckaroo blue. I'm so sad that these colors are retiring on July 1st. They make such a beautiful color pallate. I was smart though and have purchased the 'reikners'.. At least they'll last me a while.. LOL Whoops back on track.. The tab was made using the new Round Tab punch and is held on using a little copper brad. I then took my little corner piece of sponge and dabbed true thyme along the edges for that aged look. My 2 way glue pen and a little glitter was used to glam it up a bit. Finally, to punch out the tabs

so that it would fit in the Rolodex I used my slot punch.. (A little improvising here)..

Here's a look at all 26 :) I can't wait to see the entire alphabet..

Say Cheese

Harley hunting rascally rabbit from on top of the gas grill... He sits in the back yard just making his presence known. He 'thinks' this will keep the squirrels and birds away... Yeah right. They sit on the fence mocking and taunting him... LOL

A day in the life of a DOG...

I hope you all had a fabulous Memorial Day... As you can tell.. Oreo spent hers relaxing on the dining room window seat. She was so sound asleep on Friday I couldn't resist snapping a few pics. No one can say this dog isn't spoiled..

A day in the life of a dog...

6:00 a.m.-6:15 a.m.     Whines to be let out of the house.
6:16 a.m.               Rushes to garden in search of cats.
6:20 a.m.               No cats. Turns attention to newly
planted bulbs.
6:21 a.m.               Digs up bulbs.
6:30 a.m.               Barks to come inside.
6:32 a.m.               Barks again - more loudly.
6:35 a.m.               To be sure all within twenty miles have heard,
                       barks again.
6:40 a.m.               Breakfast.
6:45 a.m.   Sleep.
8:00 a.m.          Food smells from kitchen. Wakes and goes
to investigate. Hangs around chair of youngest human.
Catches most food before it hits the floor.
8:32 a.m.               Back to sleep.
9:30 a.m.               Mail arrives. Waits for door to open and
chases  letter carrier.
9:45 a.m.               Sleep.
11:00 a.m.              Vacuum cleaner switched on. Leaps from
chair and flees sound.  Goes to another room. Sleeps.
12:30 p.m.              Lunch sounds from kitchen. Scurries past
newly filled dog dish. Arrives first at table. Waits for food
to drop from table. None. Goes to dog dish filled with
food the TV ad says is irresistible to dogs. Sniffs. Looks
around to make sure there's nothing better. Sighs. Eats.
1:30 p.m.               Whines at door to go out.
1:35 p.m.               Whines at door to come in.
1:40 p.m.               Hears friend barking outside. Whines to go
out again.
1:45 p.m.               Door opens. Leaps from house and joins
friends chasing cars.
2:45 p.m.               Still chasing cars, with the odd cat thrown in
for variety.
3:00 p.m.               Decides to call on girl-friend up the street.
She is sleeping.
3:05 p.m.               Good Idea. Goes home and does the same.
4:00 p.m.               Children arrive home from school. Dog barks,
yells, goes crazy. Told to calm down. Barks and yells some more.
4:07 p.m.               Grabbed by collar and thrown out of the house.
4:09 p.m.               After barking fails to open door, decides to call
on girl-friend once more. She has gone out. Runs to park. Finds
another girl.
6:00 p.m.               Dinner time. Hurries home.
6:10 p.m.               Before door opens, lowers head and adopts
pitiful appearance.
6:11 p.m.               Doesn't work. "Get in here and where the hell have
you been?"
6:12 p.m.               Hides under dinner table.
6:55 p.m.               Hears rattle of leash. Leaps off best chair and
rushes to front door.
7:17 p.m.               At the park. Leash still attached. Sits quietly.
Leash released. Goes Bananas.
7:55 p.m.               Off leash.
8:22 p.m.               Off leash.
8:55 p.m.               Off leash.
9:15 p.m.               Owner asks if anyone has seen dog.
9:45 p.m.               Owner in luck. Someone has seen a dog swimming
in nearby lake.
10:00 p.m.              Back on leash. Shakes self over owner.
10:05 p.m.              Dragged back into house.
10:15 p.m.              Settles down in front of TV.
10:35 p.m.              Barks to go outside.
10:40 p.m.              Barks loudly to come back inside.
10:45 p.m.              Barks again before owner can open door.
Neighbour shouts that baby is trying to sleep. Also advises what owner
should do with dog.
10:46 p.m.              Dog barks very loudly in the direction of
neighbour's voice.
10:50 p.m.              Door opens. Dog rushes upstairs to bedroom. Hides
under bed. Owner leaves. Dog leaps on bed.  Sleeps.

Have I been M-I-A????

So plllllllllllllease don't shoot me now.. I know I've been MIA well not in real life just in blog land. I do apologize. Things have been crazy... Let's see, where do I start.

Friday after work I went to that place I dread the most... Walmart Supercenter.. to do the grocery shopping. Not only was I tired after a very long week.. But then I spent $199.. You heard me. And I didn't buy much food.. I did but some Rhonda Stamps, a large clear acrylic block, a picture frame for a name frame and some neat new alphabet rub-ons.. You always need to throw in a few stamping supplies and sneak them in with the groceries.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early and to have my hair foiled. Then I quick shot over to the mall to pick up some paper for my niece's boy-girl end of school pool party flip flop invitations.. By now it's 10:30 and I'm starting so I had my DH meet me at the diner for a little breakfast. It was a gloomy wet day so home I went for a long nap (oh that felt good) and then cleaned my entire house. I don't just mean clean I mean CLEANED... Having 2 dalmatians leaves white fur everywhere. By the end of the week I am so discouraged at how messy my house looks.

I warned anyone who would be calling me on Sunday.. This was the first weekend in 6 weeks that I didn't work on a Sunday and I was sleeping in.. Yeah Right.. 8:30 I was up making breakfast (french toast and bacon ... we won't discuss the fact that the first batch was a little let's say... extra- crispy... LOL). Since I've been getting up between 4 & 4:30 I guess 8:30 really is sleeping in.. Laundry then another trip to Walmart for mulch and I was back home by 10:30.. So what did I do for the rest of the day.. I finally cleaned my craft room.. YIPEE... Not only did I clean it but I reorganized it. Moved all my stamps closer to my desk.. Oh it's awesome. But since there was a little extra bleach absorbed by my brain on Saturday I totally flaked and forgot to take pictures.. LOL I will try tonight.

Well now it's Wednesday (even thought I thought it was Wednesday all day yesterday but we won't go there).. and I have yet to post a single creation.. I have though been able to catch up on my blog reading and have some great things to share with ya..

Here goes...

You know how I've posted pictures of the extra special happy mail I've been receiving from my Big SiS (DDSS), well yesterday I received my reveal package and finally know who she is.. Everyone say HI to Lindsey. And, she has a blog. Shot on over and check her out. Her cards are fabulous.. I promise I'll take pictures tonight of my happy mail. She was extra special to me..

Now I know you've probably already checked out Michelle's blog but please go check it out this week. This week she's talking about "Mass Production" and boy did I learn a lot yesterday. I felt like a complete dork when I was done. Why have I been doing things the hard way for so long. I guess finding shortcuts is not my strong suit. I prefer the long hard road of life.. LOL

And finally.. Please everyone bear with me for the next 10 days. Starting the 30th we are having our back yard torn out a new flower bed put in and the rest replanted with Sod. Our landscaper said that it's going to look like a bomb went off out there but when there done it'll be perfect green grass. I promise to post some of the action shots so that you can all see how the progress is. Now keep in mind, I live within city limits so our yard is about the size of one of the new postage stamps... LOL (get it..the price of stamps just went up... Our yard isn't very big but it is bigger than a 39 center... hahhahahahaha I crack myself up).. I do though have a few projects that I need to get finished up and out in the mail by the end of next week so I will be getting some stamping done.

Happy Wednesday everyone.. Yes I know it's Wednesday.. LOL

DING DING DING

BLOG CANDY ALERT...... Rush on over to Cindy's Blog (My Inkyfingers) to check out the blog candy's she's offering up !!! It's an awesome one. Please mention that I referred you when you leave your comment.. Like Yolanda Vega (our NYS lottery queen) says.. "You've got to be in it... To win it... "

Busy BEE !!!

Happy Mail.. Happy Mail... Yesterday as I laid on the sofa taking a quick little 10 minute nap before getting dinner ready (hey.. 4:10 comes pretty early in the morning).. .. low and behold.. DING DONG !!!! The mail man had a package for me from where.. Just one of my favorite online stores...... Eclectic Paperie. After seeing Beate's Bee trio card, I had to make it, so of course I needed everything just like she used.. Yes I'm so easily enabled. Oh I so need a stampers support group.

Here's my rendition of Beate's Bee trio card.. If you notice I've used Michelle's tip of the day and made 2 at the same time. It was just as easy and now I have 2 instead of just 1.. :) To use the entire piece of cardstock, I choose to make them each the opposite of each other.

I've used Barely Banana, Rose Red and Whisper White cardstock. My bee trio was stamped in black stazon which I prefer when I'm using a blender pen. This way the image doesn't smear or run with the water from the pen. The bees were colored with the blender pen using the Barely Banana, Rose Red and Bordering Blue Markers. The squiggles around the bees I made using my Black SUP marker. The designer card stock is from the Cosmo Cricket~ Dutch Girl series.. Lena & Hans is the striped and the floral is Anna (hmm.. that's my gram's name too.. no wonder why I like it so much).. A few yellow & red prima flowers were added using a silver brad and dimensional to make them pop off the page. And finally, a 1 3/8" circle was added and I've stamped HI using my brandy new Snap Stamps. I love these. You can make what ever words you like and their all perfectly spaced (for those of us who want everything nice and neat..

we all know who I'm talking about.. LOL). These too were added with dimensionals. Now if your wondering where the "HI" is on the yellow card.. I've tucked it on the inside for a little surprise when you open the card.

So when are you going to ask what kind of card fold this is? You have got to check out Beate's 'Joy Fold" tutorial.. It's so cool. So on both of these cards, the bee's open and the floral opens and the striped cardstock ends up being the back of the card. How cool is that?

Roses in Winter

Oh how I L-O-V-E this set. I am soooooo sad to see it leave. My only hope is that it will be replaced with something magnificent. I didn't want to spend any extra money on this so I traded on SCS... Ohh what a trade. My Wild About You for Roses in Winter.. YIPEE SKIPEE !!!!

Last night I played around a little to try it out and practicing my roses. Here's a little something I came up with. Nothing over the top. Just practicing my roses.. Both cards are 5" X 5". I really like this size. Now I just need to find the right size envelopes for them to fit in..

My first attempt uses Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla & Cool Caribbean card stock along with Cool Caribbean, Close to Cocoa & Creamy Caramel ink and chocolate velvet ribbon. I've used the Roses in Winter and Linen Background Stamps and have embossed some of the rose petals with Glassy Glaze embossing enamel. Finally I distressed the edges of the Cool Caribbean and Very Vanilla card stocks.

My second card uses Apricot Appeal, Pink Passion and Very Vanilla Cardstock along with Apricot Appeal, Pink Passion and Certainly Celery ink. The lace detail in the Pink Passion cardstock is the floral lace punch by Martha Stewart. The edges were distressed with Apricot Appeal & a little Certainly Celery ink.. and again, glass glaze enamel was applied to a few of the rose petals. Finally, a little celery grosgrain ribbon and I was done.

Tonight Roses in Winter ... kicked up a notch..

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all you mother's out there enjoyed a spectacular and relaxing Mother's Day.. We sprung Gram for a few hours and took her for her favorite food.. Italian. She looked so good and so happy.

I LOVE YOU GRAM !!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY :)

Happy Mother's Day

To all the mother's.... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!!! This card I whipped up last evening before Survivor using Bordering Blue and Blush Blossom Card stock with a strip of Charles Street Roses designer paper from the Daisy D's Beacon Hill collection. I punched out the lace in the Blush Blossom cardstock with my handy dandy new floral lace punch from Martha Stewart crafts. I love this... I then added a couple Prima flowers attached to a K & Company pearl brad. To make these pop off the page I used a few dimensionals to the back of the flowers. Lastly I stamped "Happy Mother's Day" inside and out in Rose Red. I love it. Now only 2 more cards to go and I'll actually be ready for Sunday :)

A little shabby

This may not be chic but it definitely is shabby. I just love this card. As usual and I've repeated it over and over again. My scanner does not do my card's justice but until we have our back yard re landscaped on the 30th (and our landscaper is paid).. I have put myself on one of those things called a B-U-D-G-E-T.. No extra spending (except for my little shopping trip to Eclectic Paperie last night.. But that's all Beate's fault. I just love her Bee trio Card..) whoops, side tracked again.. LOL

For this card I used.. Vintage Violet, True Thyme and So Saffron Card stock and ink. The flowers from mixed bouquet were colored in with a blender pen and vintage violet ink. I then used my versamark pen to outline some of the flowers and embossed a little iridescent ice embossing powder. For a better view of this, click on the image and you'll get close up & personal. The ribbon is the stitched violet as well.. I also distressed all of the edges with True Thyme. I can't wait to try this same card with the Roses in Winter set.. WOO HOO..

Fantabulous Tuesday award

Every now and then when I come across a blogger who stands out amongst all of the rest I have scream and shout. You must and I repeat.. MUST go check out Lois Michael over at her blog Gingerbreadaholic. Outstanding, fabulous, WOW... doesn't even start to describe her work.

I found Lois through our resident Blog Candy queen Allison (without her we'd be in the dark when it comes to what blog candy is up for grabs).. Lois is by far the alter this queen.. She has altered books, paint cans, has a beautiful idea for a recipe book (just in time for mother's day), and don't miss the photo cube. The list just goes on and on.

Congratulations Lois, you win my Fantabulous (I think that's another one of my home-grown words.. LOL) Tuesday award. Thank you for all of your inspiration and hard work :)

I laughed a lilttle.. I cried a little..

Thank you all for sharing such fond memories of your grandmothers. It was so wonderful sharing many of the same memories.. The fabulous foods they would cook for us, how soft their skin was, the little nick-names they had for us. I hope you all enjoyed this walk with me down memory lane and much as I did. It really helped ease the sadness that Gram is 'in a nursing home..".. Call me a mush.. I know.. I will say though that I never leave or hang up the phone now without letting her know just how much I love her.

Congratulations... LANA B... You are my blog candy winner..

Lana wrote.. "Sadly my grandma passed away 8 years ago. But, my favorite memory of her is when she was 80 years old, she was complaining...full fledged all-out whining....to me that she was GETTING...not HAD..but getting crows feet around her eyes! Oh if we were all so lucky!!!! She had the most perfect and soft skin until the day she passed. She was beautiful not just inside; but outside as well. Thanks for the memory."

It was such joy reading each of your memories that I just had to pick 2 honorable mention awards.. They go to..
KIM and DEENSTER..

Kim wrote.. "Grandmothers are wonderful beings, and we should all be blessed to have them in our lives. I grew up with only one grandma, who was my dad's mother. We spent a great deal of time with her, and as I grew I saw how very much I resemble her...the good and the bad!! =) I always remember my grandma being 'old' in that she had wrinkled skin and looked the way Grandma's look (not how my mom looks to my kids however!). I remember the few times that Grandma would babysit my brother and I, and my parents would always ask how we were, she would always reply "They were as good as Gold". The other thing that makes me smile and think of my grandma (who has been gone 12 years this summer) is that when we would get messy, or make a mess, she would say "You are a mess and a gom" Don't know what a 'gom' is necessarily, but I've since passed that phrase onto my 2 daughters. My oldest thought it would be perfect to use on her Papa when she was 2!! The tradition lives on. I miss my grandma terribly, and I will say that her funeral was the hardest thing I had ever had to endure. It sounds like your grandma is a wonderful woman, hold on to her while you can. Thanks for the opportunity for Blog Candy!!!" and,

Deenster wrote "I lost my grandmother a while ago, but here is one of many great memories: My brother and I would stay with my grandparents every summer (and usually Christmas vacations, spring breaks......sometimes even three day weekends). Anyway, the bathroom was an "out house" type of bathroom. So as kids, when we went to take a shower, we had to remember to take our clean clothes and towel with us to the bathroom, other wise once you got out of the shower.....oops! So it never failed, that at least once while we would be at her house, my grandmother would call for me or my brother to bring her a towel because SHE had forgotten to take one with her for her shower. And every time this happened, my brother and I would walk to the out house, open the door so just our hand would fit inside.......and hand my grandmother a Paper Towel from the kitchen.........then we'd giggle like crazy (EVEN my grandma!)".. That's a memory that will keep you smiling each time you think of her..

So Lana, Kim and Deenster... please email me your snail mail address and I'll get your goodies out to you. Kim and Deenster, I'll also need to know what your favorite colors are. Congratulations again !!!

Show me the money !!

Ok, so I'm not Jerry McGuire... and it's not money... But it is good stuff...Can anyone tell me.. WHAT IS BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE.. and don't say nothing, because there are times although far and few between that there are a few things better than chocolate. I'm hoping this is one of those times. It's BLOG CANDY TIME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So did you figure out what on earth I could possibly be giving away this time? Let me remind you what the clues were..

Clue #1...... It has to do with a boy's name and a girls name.. Both have the same initial...
Clue #2.... It involves.. an ankle bracelet....
Any takers... Well here it is..
(This is especially for those of you who have been waiting to see the goods before you posted your comment).

I just went to Michael's (here's your boy's name) and picked up a few Martha Stewart (here's your girl's name.. and hmm the ankle bracelet too.. I never said it was a fashionable ankle bracelet).. Goodies for you. I hope you all love the colors. These are my faves so of course I had to get 2 of everything so that I could keep 1 for myself. The winner will receive a roll of aqua twill ribbon, chocolate twill ribbon, aqua & chocolate ribbon, a tube of glitter glue, a jar of green aggregate (I think I spelt that correctly) glitter, two stamps I quick grabbed as I was heading for the checkout counter and... I grabbed us each and every one of Martha's Free project ideas.. So now that you've seen what you have a chance to win... I told ya it would be a good one!!!!! Rush over here and post a fond memory of your grandmother. You only have until this Sunday at noon to get those comments posted.

And oh by the way.. I'm over 1000 hits already. I hope you all enjoy my blog. PS.. this is already my 50th post.

All in shades of brown

First of all allow me say that my mogo went blank yesterday so it was hi-ho-hi-ho it's off to CASE I go and straight to the SCS gallery I went. Thank you BadSherry (from SCS) for your beautiful card and great inspiration. I hope I did yours justice.

This card uses all shades of my favorite brown. Who would ever think that brown would become a favorite color. But it is... :)

The card stocks are all close to cocoa, chocolate chip and very vanilla. The french script background was stamped on each piece of very vanilla is creamy cocoa and all edges were sponge distressed with chocolate chip. Print pattern was stamped on the middle piece of very vanilla in close to cocoa as was the swirl from Carte Postale. "WISH" is from small script. I've added a few hodgepodge hardware brads (yes I'm actually trying to use my hardware. No that it's so easy to get replacements) and an oval and finally added a little chocolate ribbon (this would have been from one of my 3 favorite eBay stores).. and drum roll please... I was done and Alex wasn't even voted off of Survivor yet.

Nearing 1000.. Blog Candy give-away time approaching..

Hey everyone.. Were closing in on the 1000 mark.. so please don't forget to go here to leave us a fond memory of your grandmother to get in on some awesome blog candy (picture to be posted tomorrow May 4th).. If you haven't guessed yet what it could be allow me to give you just 1 more little clue.. It involves.. an ankle bracelet.. Darn did I just give it away? I will be drawing the winner (via our trusty random # chooser).. on Sunday May 6th at 12 NOON EST. So please take a short walk down memory lane & leave us all a fond memory to share.

Finally.. A little stamping

I'm so excited. I finally got to do a little stamping. It's been raining and gloomy here the past few day's so I ventured upstairs. I'm not completely happy with myself that my stamp room isn't as clean and organized as I'd like it to be but heck.. A woman needs to stamp...

YIPEE... The glitter has dried. I'm working to step my cards up a notch so I've been focusing on layers, layers layers... and then if need be a few more layers. This card uses Pixie Pink, Pink Passion and Whisper White card stock. The first layer of Pixie Pink was put through the stylus flower cuttlebug embossing folder to add a little dimension. I then layered the Pink Passion and Whisper white. Stamped the butterfly from Reason to smile in Pretty in Pink ink and then with my Pink Passion SUP marker colored the edge of the butterfly. If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the Pink Passion layer has also been outlined with black marker squiggles. To finish off this layer I applied a little glue from a 2-way glue pen to the edges of the butterfly and then sprinkled glitter. The sentiment tag also uses the Pink Passion and Whisper white cardstocks. Again the Pink Passion layer has been outlined with black marker squiggles for a little added dimension. The flowers were stamped in Black Stazon and embellished with a little glue and glitter. Finally a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware and ribbon. Viola' I was done..

Any suggestions? the only thing I was thinking was that I could have taken my sponge and sponged on a little ink to the cuttlebug flowers to make them jump off the page a little more. Nothing like critiquing your own cards. But I guess that's the only way to get better.

Did you miss me?

I know I know.. your all wondering if I fell off the face of the earth. No.. not quite. Actually it's just been quite hectic here. Birthday's, getting Gram settled, that darn 'mandatory overtime' (growl... snarl...) and it's been getting nice so I've actually gotten a little (and I do mean little) yard work done. Tonight was the first night since last week that I actually made it up-stairs to my craft room to make a few DDSS May birthday cards. Unfortunately you'll all have to wait till tomorrow to see it... the glitters still drying.. LOL

Quick update on Gram.. She's adjusting remarkably well. She was transferred Friday afternoon so she's still getting her feet wet and adjusting to how things operate. She's not accustomed to having people wait on her. This is a big change for her and the rest of the family. But it's definitely a great one. She's in fabulous hands and I'm completely confident she's being well taken care of.

Did you notice I'm getting closer and closer to the 1K hits... YIPEE SKIPPY... If you'd like a hint as to what my blog candy will be I'll give you a little one.. It has to do with a boy's name and a girls name.. Both have the same initial.. Can you guess??? Please don't forget to enter my Blog Candy giveaway by leaving a fond memory of your grandmother under my last post. The winner will be drawn when 1,000 people have viewed my blog. I've read each and every entry and I thank you all for opening your hearts and sharing such fond memories with us.

So now to pass the time until tomorrow.. here's a little something to think about..

At Three minutes and Four seconds after Two on May Sixth, '07... The time will be....
02:03:04 05/06/07
This numerical order will NEVER HAPPEN again in our lifetime.
How about that?????