I'm copy-catting today...

The blog candy here looks so good I couldn't resist!
mom of three addicted to paper blog and mushis creative inspirations

and THIS smoking blog candy opp that isn't a copy-cat from Amy Tsuruta's blog:
Creative Antics Blog
Embellishments galore!!
3 Awesome PACKAGES of Thickers!
Cosmo Cricket paper pad!!
Stampin Up stamp sets!! (Plural because there are two sets!!)

Look at ALL that stuff!!!


Go check them out and enter if you're so inclined! :)

A challenge - do you recognize it?

ETA: A couple of you have asked about why comments don't show up. All I can guess at this point, is that the 2nd step wasn't completed. It's a quick fix...after you enter your comment, another step is involved where you type in the letters shown on the screen...and hit enter. I'll be watching for a few more comments when those people who couldn't see their message, are able to finally comment :)


I am terrible with challenges because I'll see one that I want to do, and then after I've made it, I can't remember whose challenge it is!! :( This happens to be 'one of those'.... I loved playing with the Tim Holtz Crackle paint and alcohol inks that have been in my stash for years!!! Isn't that crackle effect cool?? I did get some close up pics - hopefully they show up well...click on them to see the crackly parts on the star. I love it!

The background paper is from K & Co's Wild Saffron line (part of the pad that was on clearance for only 4.97). I went back today and EVERY single pad was gone - I should have bought some of the other ones that I was thinking about getting...maybe for the best though...as you can see they last a long, long time because there's so much paper in them!

If you happen to know whose challenge this was from, please post and tell me- I'd like to let the person know that I played and I liked the layout!!

We had more fabulous weather today - can you see the beautiful blue sky in the background? It's perfect!! 73 degrees and a little breeze...it means you can work outside and not get hot! You can run/walk or exercise and it's comfortable! I on the other hand picked raspberries from our neighbor's house with my hubby. We were there a short 10 minutes and gathered almost 6 pounds - there were berries EVERYWHERE! Afterward, my left forearm came out looking like the untreated arm from the OFF commercial!! 8 bites on 10" of arm...less than 10 minutes...unreal. However the raspberry coffee cake this morning was soooo worth it!

I got the recipe from Cindy at Imagine Dream Create. Her's were made with strawberries, mine with raspberries. I added Madagascar infused whipped cream made fresh this morning, and topped it with julienned basil fresh from the herb garden. DEEEEELISH!!
In case Cindy's link doesn't work, here's the url: http://imagine-dream-create.blogspot.com/2009/06/strawberry-coffee-cake-minis.html
It was SUPER easy too!! Even the kids could make it (they will next time).

Have a great Sunday evening bloggie readers...and enjoy the week if I don't get to post again... I'm back to work for a week then off while we head to Santa Barbara over the 4th of July! :)

The Butterflies - I'm so proud of this one!!

I finally made something that I really like a LOT! It uses the patterned paper by K & Co. paper called Wild Saffron (which by the way was on sale for only $4.97 at Michaels - marked way down!) yay! The dark aqua is PaperTrey's Ocean Tides (ribbon and cardstock). I colored my own velvet ric-rack from May Arts using Glimmer Mist in a brown shade -it's sparkly! The little velvet flowers were also made from ric-rack and that's what I'm so happy about! They turned out just how I wanted!! That hardly ever happens! :) The centers are a glue dot with brown seed beads lined in silver - which makes them stand out and shimmer!

What fun it was workin on this one! Stamps are from Stampin Up - I broke out a 'new' set called Great Friend (bought months ago). I only wish I could find my linen thread to tie up those sad little naked buttons!

Oh wait...there's more~ I even dressed up the inside of the card! That's my other proud accomplishment. I hardly ever do the inside to match the front!

The hydrangea blossoms were spritzed with Glimmer Mist in Turquoise, Aspen Yellow and edged with the brown called Autumn Leaves.

I tried my best to show the sparkley shimmer from the Glimmer Mist, but that just didn't happen. Maybe clicking to make it bigger will help show off the lustre!?

Anyway, I had a lot of fun being inspired by so many creative people - from those on the Gingerwood Bulletin board to all the blogs that I scour from day to day - ones that show you how to use Glimmer Mist, Distress ink techniques, make their own flowers, add buttons (which I'm not so fond of but they're definitely growing on me), distressing paper, dressing the INSIDES of the card, and overall just providing me with lots of eye candy....Thanks so much for the inspiration!

p.s. that bright turquoise flower isn't quite that brilliant...it photographed in a different color for some reason!? It's not as dark as the other two, but this looks off....

Birds, Birds, Birds!

They're everywhere - so are butterflies!

This little glittery bird will be flying over to send some get well wishes to my friend Sue. (I used the new teeny tiny wishes set from Stampin up - isn't that font cute?) The owl is one of the K & Co. glitter embellishments. I went overboard and bought too many so now I'm trying to use them up before they're passe'

The photo makes it look like the colors don't match but they should they're all apricot appeal and pink passion...and then some new SU background paper - the Raspberry Lemonade! (Yum!) The ribbon is from Michael's $1 bin (last year).

I'm working on my butterfly card and will post it soon (hopefully tomorrow)...the last day of my furlough...it's been a wonderful week off. I went shopping almost every day....two new pairs of shoes today! :) Yippee!! And a single indulgent piece of caramel from Fran's...with smoked salt on top. I didn't even buy an extra to share with hubby. He doesn't know I went there....(heheheh)...

The lazy photographer shares a card or two

I love making cards...I hate photographing them. I hate my photography 'skills' (or lack of).

I like to share, and I like to make cards....why can't photography be easier??

Most of these use the NEW Stampin Up "In-Colors" for 2009-2010! Aren't they pretty? I know that one picture is really out of focus...it just didn't want to cooperate. Maybe I should start paying my son to take the pictures and be done with it!

The Owl on the "Hi" card is a little embelli from Michaels - .99 cents! Letters in gray are from Sassafrass Lass stamps :)

The big tweet is my new ON BOARD chipboard set from SU...I don't know why I waited so long to get it...I like it lots!! The papers are from the new Raspberry Lemonade Line that will be available July 1st - great colors and they are more like BasicGrey papers now! YAY!

Be Happy Floral is a mix of the "Enjoy" set (RETIRED NOW), and Circle Circus (another new item in July). The ribbon is from American Crafts though - isn't it a nice matchy match?

And finally the out of focus purply card paired with the Razzleberry Cardstock from Stampin Up. Fun color but excuse the photo please!

I was up early this morning so I'm staring to feel the need for a nap.... have a great day everyone! I'll be enjoying my mid-week furlough time...Who knows what tomorrow will hold!

xxoo
Elaine

Another Blog Candy opp?

I love finding blog candy stuff and want to share another really great one with you all...I just entered it and you should too!

http://carlzcardz.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-30000-hits-candy-please-scroll-down.html

Look what I found!!

These are from the A-Muse cupcake social back in 2008!!

I guess I saved these pictures to the wrong place and couldn't find them....

It's Amy Tsuruta (THE Best blogger around!), Julie HRR Ebersol (infamous designer of AMuse single layer cards), and Novell Eckstrom (scrap teacher extraordinaire!)

There is another great event coming up called AMuse-a-Palooza...I think that's what it's called....
and sign up's are going on now...did you sign up? I want to!! It's only $15 if you pre-register! Just do it....you'll be glad you did!

The Scrapmaster's Blog & her sweet candy!

Time to get busy entering for this yummy blog candy at Samantha's place, Scrapmaster's Paradise!! WOW! :)

http://thescrapmaster.blogspot.com/2009/06/june-blog-candy-giveaway.html

I'll hopefully get my new cards up tomorrow - I made them last week but haven't been motivated to photograph them. I'm horrible at photography! Thinking about taking a class...Have any of you taken a class or do you have a recommendation? I messed up the pictures from my son's commencement last weekend and since then I've been discouraged to take any photos! Good luck to everyone on the blog candy! :)

365 sketch

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I guess one would expect a card made from all the new Stampin Up supplies that were received earlier this week. However that's not the case...I'm sharing a card that's for the 365 cards blog for Sketchy Sunday! My darling buddy Amy (from Tsuruta Designs) had such a great card (I fell in love with her sweet pennant design) I had to do it!


Here's the post at 365 with details on the sketch:
http://365cards.blogspot.com/2009/06/day-99-super-sketchy-sunday.html



Notice the cute little dragonflies? That's part of the sketch challenge. Mine came from a blog candy win at www.katycards.co.uk - I was thrilled to have won some really fun embellishments that I'd never seen before. The shipping is free, so when I run out, I'll be ordering more - the prices are very reasonable and you all know how much I love little pearly things on my cards, right? ;-)

The background is an old Stampin up image - once I stamped it, I sanded the ink off slightly to make the linen texture peek through. Some of the centers of the background designs have a tiny dot of metallic (you can see them if you look closely - I photographed at night so the flash would reflect off the metallic dots...that's the only way I could think of to make them pop).

The triangle is some fabulous, heavy metallic cardstock that my dad got a while back. Can't believe I haven't used more of it! There's copper, and the scalloped circle is a navy metallic. Later on I'll use the hunter green, purple and dark anthracite colors...they're gorgeous!

Lots going on today so I better run. Have a wonderful day! We're still languishing in the sunshine in Seattle!! :) Oh, and Trophy Cupcake FINALLY opens today at University Village - FINALLY!! I've been waiting more than a month for them to open! :) Fat City, here I come!

Is it just me or does it feel like Easter?

...Especially when you see Easter Egg colors like these!.... It could even be Valentine's Day again with all these hearts! Oh, and check out the owl's eye....whoops! lol

The card that has "for you" as the sentiment on the front also has some tone-on-tone stamping on the pink panel - it doesn't show up well in the picture though.

The background papers are from a Stampin Up series called Tea Party.

Our weather is much cooler this weekend....I prefer the warmer temps that we had last weekend.

p.s. I just posted a side link to Whoopsie Daisy's Blog candy...check it out! The little animal stamps are pretty darn cute! Donkey smiles also has a sweet chance to win blog candy here: http://donkeysmiles.blogspot.com/2009/06/celebrating-75000-hits-with-some-big.html Good luck!

A little fun...

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. Hanging out with my friends and family
2. Laughing with friends and family - this is probably my favorite thing to do
3. Stamping time!
4. The WEEKENDS -especially if it's a 3-day, holiday weekend!
5. Summertime
6. A great Stamp or scrapping sale
7. Dinner out at a favorite restaurant
8. Warming up after being out in the snow; or cooling off after a long workout

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Made a presentation at work
2. Laughed with colleagues and my boss
3. Had barbequed chicken for dinner
4. Walked for an hour on the warmest record breaking day of the year (in Seattle)
5. Opened my new Stampin Up Shipment!!! :)
6. Drove down the freeway with the top down
7. Hugged and kissed my kids and my hubby
8. Watched housewives of New Jersey (it's a goofy show!)

8 Things I Wish I Could Do
1. Sing
2. Travel more
3. Be more organized
4. Wear cute strappy sandals
5. Find a cure for diabetes
6. Take better pictures
7. Teach my kids how to pick up after themselves
8. Convince my husband we should stay in the house we're at, in the city we're at!

8 Things or Shows I Have Watched Lately
1. The sunrise on a hot summer day
2. Housewives of New Jersey
3. A firetruck with it's siren on, trying to get through traffic in Seattle
4. Oprah (the episode with the father who authored the book, Beautiful Boy)
5. My daughter's science project growing on our deck
6. HGTV
7. the 11:00 news (channel 5/Kingtv)
8. A youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF6lF_jLBNg

It's been a great weekend in Seattle!

I could not ask for any better weather or weekend lineup of activities! Friday night I spent time with Jill, Donna, and Linda and we feasted on the best carmelized onion and feta tart thingies (from Trader Joes), some great mozarrella cheese sticks and tiny little pizzas (white cheese & no red sauce = very good pizza). There was a fabulous cheese plate (I wish I could remember the name of the cheese!), and then some great mini chocolate oatmeal cookies and Starbuck's new ice creams: Java Chip and Caramel Machiatto...Even Jill liked the ice cream and she's NOT an ice cream kinda gal!

After the wine, drinks and feasting, we crafted until LATE - 2:45 a.m.? (Sorry about that, Jill!) But once I got started on these cards I was so happy to be actually making something and couldn't stop! Even Jill got busy! :) I should have brought my camera that night because the interior of her house is a dream if you like SU colors! The walls were recently repainted - I believe there's Kiwi Kiss, Tangering Tango, So Saffron, and a gorgeous deep red in the kitchen area. It's all open so you can see all the color from the dining area where we sit....love it!

Saturday I spent time with my girlfriends who used to work at the Seattle Times. We're all somewhat spread out (and live far from each other) aside from having busy lives, so it was great to spend time hanging out together. We met at Anthony's on the waterfront in Des Moines. The afternoon was filled with fun, laughter, great drinks, good food, and the best company! I did remember to bring a camera -- and here we are :) (SAY CHEESE!) Too bad I didn't remember to take pictures until the end of our visiting!

(l-r Krista - she teaches at Edmonds Community, me, Lori - Marketing Director at Brookdale Senior Living in Tacoma, and Jill - Special Ed teacher/Real Estate agent extrodinaire).

Sunday is time to work in the garden, go plant shopping, and tidy up! Well, maybe I'll skip tidying up - that's not a strong point for me anyway - it's going to end up messy by tomorrow morning anyway, right? At least I did laundry and dishes! lol

I hope you all had a great weekend and that summer is knocking at your door where ever you may live!

hugs,
Elaine

Toodles & Binks, Dilly Dally Dingle, and Limelight? Huh?

Toodles and Binks is a new company that I ran across today - they've got a release and blog candy. It's worth checking out if you play with cute images as much as I do! This card was the reason I clicked that link in the first place....it's so darn cute even though I hate snails! I didn't make it but I sure like it!

This link takes you to the blog, Life and Craft of Dilly Dally Dingle:
http://dillydallydingle.blogspot.com/2009/05/copic-colour-challenge-meets-toodle.html


This link takes you to Toodles and Binks where the stamps are available through their blog:
http://toodlesandbinks.blogspot.com/2009/05/sah-015-swalk-and-blog-candy.html

And while you're out and about, check out Limelight's Celebration! Nearly a year old now :)
http://limelightpapercrafts.blogspot.com/2009/05/limelights-anniversary-celebration.html
You'll be glad you poked your head in over there just to see what it's all about!

Pretty and new...

well, it's probably not what you thought it'd be, but I just ran across these and wanted to share because I totally am in LOVE with Prima flowers! These are so darn pretty I'm going to either have to find a way to add money to the budget for all of them, or just quit eating so I can use lunch money on them!

In any case, check these out:
http://prima.typepad.com/prima/2009/05/announcing-new-products.html

Aren't they cool?? Please let me know where you find them at if you buy some for yourself. I'll be on the lookout during one of my very limited trips to the craft/scrapbook stores in the next few weeks!

Hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend! The Pacific Northwest is having some fabulous weather!! Wooohooo!

'nother card from the other day!

Here's the pink and chocolate card that I tried to load the other day. Things are still a little on the busy side in our household....and at work.

The stamp is from SU, rub ons are SU too. The paper old Sandy Lion / Kelly Panicci or something like that from our local scrapbook store (it's old though). Ribbon is May Arts. The brown base is Papertrey and I love it! Almost more than SU's chocolate chip!

I had to buy a new dress tonight - because I couldn't fit my old ones! ACK! That's not good! Gotta keep dieting and exercising! :( No more lunchtime splurges...I work with a bunch of enablers!

Have a great weekend everyone!

hugs,
Elaine

Finally a card or two to share....

April and May are busy months for Friends' Birthdays! I bet if your birthday falls in the month of April or May, I'm likely to get along with you real well and be buddies!

Out of more than a dozen cards, I only managed to take a picture of these three - the others were given away and sit in someone's desk drawer or worse yet, in the trash (they better not after they know how much time I put into these cards!) lol

Anyhow, here are the latest funtastic cards....

Actually the third one isn't wanting to load, so I'll post it later...

The Blue card with stars and circles is my BASIC GREY Lime Rickey pad - love the colors and fun patterns! The light blue background is swiss dots cuttlebugged, and there is a Stampin Up Birthday Sentiment on there embossed in white. The button has a little bow of periwinkle ribbon, and the green sashes are ribbon from May Arts.

The "it's a boy!" card is mostly PaperTrey Inc. (Patterned paper and the Ocean tides cardstock - I just love that dusky blue-green color!) Sentiment "Happy for you" is an SU rub on, and the ribbon is actually SU twill layered onto Papertrey twill! The sailboat image is from SU and it was clear embossed on patterned paper and cut out, then applied to the oval on pop dots...it's cute in person! :)

There's been a lot going on in our family the past few weeks...from funerals to weddings to birthdays...it's all happening here! I hope you all are having a nice Spring!! I'm enjoy Seattle's liquid sunshine today...and lots of it!

hugs,
Elaine

May's Here...

and finally I remembered to photog some cards before mailing them off.

My best friend and maid of honor, Susan, will be 46 on Monday. I wish her hugs and love and many more happy birthdays!!!!
Here's the card she's getting - it's pretty, bright and kinda fun (just like her)...if I knew how to make a smart, kind and generous card I'd have done that too.

I also made a Thank You for my neighbor who brought a May Day tradition on the 1st. The card is a challenge for Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom - there's always fun stuff and techniques to learn there. My neighbor, Jean, gave me a Lily of the Valley plant in an earth-friendly organic bamboo planter. In time if the planter is put into the ground, it will decompose and add nutrients back into the earth. It's way cool and I would never have known if it weren't for the sticker! Anyway, this is the little thank you that I did for her - she had a nice letter telling me how she was introduced to the French May Day tradition when they lived in France a couple years ago. We have the best neighbors!! :)

Have a great week everyone, I'm off to go buy a new washing machine...it figures something would go wrong when Bruce left town! GRrrrr!!!
I'd also love to hear comments on whether you've got a front loader (with steam cycle?) and/or do you have an HE top loaded (No more agitators)...I can't decide which one to get!

Tomorrow I take my friend out for her birthday and another friend who went to my high school that has the same birthday as Sue - small world, huh?

Lots of sickies out and about

Since there have been so many people getting sick late in the season, I have been making some get well cards. I love the cheery colors on the Scenic Route paper and was thrilled to find tags that coordinated the other day. What I like most is that I can find lots of extras to coordinate with this line of paper!

Hope you are all well....if not, then here's a get well wish from me to you!

hugs,
Elaine

Moralia's Blog today...

is gorgeous. She shows a fabulous orange and blue kit of the month and I'm loving the color combo! I always love orange and blue. I have an orange and blue card in fact...but the sunny weather got the best of me today and I didn't get a picture of the card...but maybe tomorrow@! In it's place, go check out Moralia's candy here: http://moralia.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/lil-scrappers-mini-kit-reveal-some-blog-candy/
It's a bunch of pearls and I love pearls on projects! Yay! I hope she picks me! LOL Have a great evening and enjoy our sun tomorrow Seattleites! hugs, Elaine

I made an Anniversary card for my friend Sue and her hubby Robert. They were married on Tax day 15 years ago. On their honeymoon they came to visit me in Santa Barbara. It was a nice treat to have an old friend stop by -especially when we were still somewhat new to the area.

Anyhow, I hope she likes the card. I wish this were a real flower - I think she'd like a REAL bouquet like this! It's a new Savvy stamp from the event that I went to this weekend at the local stamp store. I smothered the flowers with glitter - just because I could...

I'm off to bed early - hoping the pinched nerve in my neck feels better tomorrow. It's been a real pain in the neck (literally!)...

ttfn~
E

Easter Blessings

We are not terribly religious even though my husband was raised Catholic. We didn't go to church today. I did however think about the real meaning behind Easter. Then made Easter dinner for my mom, dad, and my brother. My aunt was going to join us but called this morning to say she wasn't feeling that great so she declined at the last minute.

I finished home-made scalloped potatoes (and one pan was made super spicy with cayenne pepper for my hubby who likes it HOT!), a fresh strawberry pie (lots of whipping cream ready for this when it's time to serve), a cute loaf of bread in the shape of a bunny (made by a la Francaise bakeries- delicious!), and some asparagus and a big old honey baked ham...yummy!

It sounds like a lot but it was easy - so I had time to make a card....it had to photographed outside because it's such a gray day...well outside on the covered deck, the rain still got to my card :( so there are some 'blops' of swollen paper showing...don't look closely. I DO want you to notice the textured blue paper on the right side though - it's Core d'inations...you sand the blue paper and lighter core inside shows through where the linen texture is...I love it!!
The image is from A-Muse (isn't that little weiner doggie and bunny a cute one!?) the background flower stamp is from the Papertrey Anniversary set that I had to BUY off someone for $30 - yikes...not sure if that was worth it, but I intend to use it a lot, so I guess it's a good deal. Oh, notice those tiny blingies around the scalloped edge? They are the NEW Memory Box blings...150 of them come in a package! Sweet deal, especially since I got them at a discount yesterday during Monkey Love's Birthday Celebration! Monkey Love is a local rubber stamp store that I've been shopping at for at least 10 years now...wow...they're still just as great as ever and the owner Sandy carries a great selection of stamps...check them out on Lower Queen Anne if you're ever in the area!

Have a wonderful day everyone - even if it's pouring outside your windows like it is here in Seattle...blech....

In addition to the earlier post

these are the other cards that I finished (and I'm so proud of myself for using up some stuff)...not a lot and I probably bought 10x more last night to replenish what I used, but whatever...that's what hobbies are for, right? I got to use one of my newer Nesties...it's the pinked edge circles. I can't remember which size I bought though. I wish they'd mark the actual dies with the size/name!!

Also, a slight correction on paper that was used on the whale, owl & heart sticker cards...it's not actually We R Memory Keepers paper. The bright orange, green, pink and yellow floral patterns are from another mfr... whose name escapes me at the moment and the little strip that tells the pattern name is long gone.

Just the stamped green monkey and pink alligator are We R Memory Keepers paper. My daughter made a blue alligator card last night and I'm going to try to get it back to share too because I think she does a great job and the card is CUTE! :)

Happy Sunday afternoon~
E

In order to justify.....

all of the things that I bought during the Northwest Paper Chase, I decided I better get busy making cards - and not just singles, but sets. I'm planning to give the sets to those who ask to have cards made regularly. (Maybe I didn't buy enough stuff now that I think about it!)

The stamps are a super cute Sandylion set that I found at Michael's. There's a 'girl set' too (I bought only the boy set), so if there's a coupon today, I'm going to get the girl set next!

Anyhow, here are a few from the other day - it was dark and hard to photograph so I only took a few pictures. These use my new stash of We R Memory Keepers papers and the super cute dimensional stickers from K & Co's Berry Sweet Line. The colors are so vivid and remind me of 2nd grade when I had wild printed jeans in these same colors...OY!!

The sun's been out this weekend, so I've been stamping at night -- I hope the weather holds through the week. I hope your weekend has been as wonderful as mine!

I'll post the rest of the cards later today....It's a flurry of cards (at least for me!)

Ciao

Memory Box Woodland stamp

Some of the stamps that I had to order during the NW Paper Chase finally came today. :)
I've been dying to ink them up and color! They're fabulous for Copic coloring and Prismacolor pencils! The card is simple, but I needed it flat so I could mail it w/o all the hassle that I've been going through lately with my cards and the post office.

The papers are from Memory Box too. I adore the rich colors and they're as much fun as Basic Grey!

I'll be working on some others this evening...hope you all are having a great weekend!

Hugs,
Elaine

I know some of you adore these stamps....

so why not head over for a chance to WIN them? (Debbie, I think this contest has your name all over it!)

Enter to win the blog candy at Claudia's blog, Pretty Pressings! I've been a fan of Claudia's for quite a while now - I am always impressed. She never fails to create some of the most stunning cards colored with COPIC markers and the perfect amount of embellishing! (Carrie, you MUST check out Claudia's Copic coloring...and you'll see why you need to get copic markers for your projects - Brady would love them too!)

Here's her blog, Pretty Pressings:
http://www.rosaswelt.blogspot.com/

Here's link to see the entry for blog candy:
http://rosaswelt.blogspot.com/2009/03/hudge-magnolia-blog-candy-give-away.html

That's it for now...maybe I'll get to stamp tonight before Grey's Anatomy is on!

Updatin the blog...

Oy - it's been a long, long time, hasn't it? No excuses...just busy. Part of the 'busy' was an event for crafters called "the Great NW Paper Chase"! It started last week on Friday - Of course we mapped out the course and hit 11 stores from Bellingham to Issaquah the first day! The Second day (Saturday) we hit the south end stores and the ones on the Peninsula. And finally on Sunday we hit a couple more right here in town (closest to where we live!). Notice the back of the trunk of the new car...I thought the trunk was pretty deep and pretty big but we managed to fill it up. The rest of the packages ended up in the back seat. :-/

I tend to really get caught up in paper lines and the embellishments when I'm shopping. We did the same event last year and I spent wayyyyy too much. So this year I tried to make a budget for each place and a list of things I 'needed' and tried stick to it. That worked out ok until the 5th store (the really good stores don't count, of course...we allowed ourselves more time, money, and no budget at the really good stores). What a total blast! Here are some pictures of stamps that were picked up along the way, and the three of us out and about (Debbie my friend from the Seattle PI who is now at the Seattle Times, Candy my aunt, and me - in that darn green jacket again)....how does that always happen?? LOL

Each store has a make n take and you get special discounts (which just means they're enabling you)....trust me on that one. I have more stamps on order because some of the stores were out of AMuse and Memory Box (the new line of woodland animals is fabulous), and then a Karen Lockhart stamp here and there should be mailed this week (I hope)..... and some clear stamps - which you'll probably be seeing later when I make cards! :)

I made a card for my dad, one for my son, and one for hubby. For once I used my stuff right away! Yay! It felt so good to use rather than hoard! LOL

Have a great day - it turned out SUNNY here in Seattle today! (though it was wet and miserable this morning)....I told hubby to send some of the sunshine from CA where he's at right now, and as always, he obliged. What a guy.

Take care~
Elaine

Getting Caught Up on the Week that just passed

The week passed quickly.... I'm still doing the 365 Cards Blog Challenges! But I really didn't get to do much crafting at all during the week, so I'm getting caught up while it's pouring outside.



Here's what happened THIS WEEK...

Our kids wear braces...neither of them wears their headgear as much as they should...you know what that means when they go for a check up, right? They (we) get in trouble....this time it looks bad enough that their treatment plans will be altered :(

The next day The Seattle Times had more layoffs (they were in my department - in fact it affected our team, though somewhat indirectly). The P.I. is shutting it's print publication (which isn't THAT big of a deal, but it's been a part of the Seattle Times for so long...it's hard to see the change move forward). I think today was the first day they did not print the P.I.

The next evening I attended an event for my boss at the Meydenbauer Center in downtown Bellevue - he had other commitments but really wanted the Seattle Times to have a presence, and I'm a great person for that kind of stuff! It was the Bellevue Downtown Association Awards Ceremony & Dinner with an intriguing Mountaineer guest speaker named Ed Viesturs (even my hubby knew about him).....After cocktails they served a divine dinner with a to-die for french apple dessert!!

My aunt had a birthday, and I even got her card in the mail on time!

We had a funeral for my great Aunty Mary of Mary Pang's frozen foods. There was a nice write up in the newspaper the day before the funeral. One of my many cousins officiated at the funeral and did an awesome, amazing job (it was a very difficult one because of some of the circumstances involved).

Then, the same evening as the funeral, one of my good friends turned 40 and we surprised her at a wonderful party in Wallingford at Tutta Bella (mouth-watering pizza and other italian fare). I'm not much of a pizza person, but I'd go back for the eggplant pizza...i know....Eggplant (yuck) but I guarantee you'll love it!~ We had too much wine (thus had to stay a LONG time) and a lot of Tiramisu too.

And then I got to make cards for the challenge. This one is to use 5 patterned papers (these are all from Basic Grey's Mellow line), and use 5 embellishments. It was harder than I thought!

Anyway off to craft more...enjoy the afternoon - hope you have decent weather where you're at!

Elaine :)

365 Cards Challenge Sketch #2

Yippee...I am rockin and rollin with my stampin and card making! Thanks to 365 Cards and Gingerwood!

The 365 Cards sketch is here:



and my card tries to follow the sketch pretty closely.



The Gingerwood ladies have been posting challenges about using your OLD stamps, papers, and other products that have been neglected...

On this particular card I used old RAFFIA (there's more where this came from, and they're all still in their wrappers), Making Memories' Red Label Frame (was new in the package), Tim Holtz' Grungeboard Square (that wasn't SOOO old, but in a way it was because I hadn't even taken it out of the bag yet). I also used some pearlized powdered pigments (like Pearl Ex) but it must be at least 8-10 years old...and get this...it had not been taken out of the wrapper yet (big surprise, I know). The rest of the colors in the pallete might make another card very soon.... lol

The cardstock is from the DCWV paper pad called the Green line - it's so cute! The red printed cardstock has gold dots of pearlized pigment on it. Underneath is a wood print background paper that came from a garage sale a couple weeks ago.

Hope you all get to check out the challenges this week over on 365 cards :) They're a lot of fun!

OMG - the weather in Seattle is a TRIP right now. BIG, soft pellets of snow are falling like crazy! I can't even see the lake it's so dense! They're hitting the windows outside of where I type and it sounds like little rubber peas pelting against the glass!

Final 365 Cards Challenge for the week - It's Circular!

I did it! Even made dinner for the kids in between stamping....

This is another kind of card that's out of my comfort zone. But it is pretty straightforward and simple.

Not only does it fit the 365 Cards Blog Challenge, but it's also for the anything but a traditional card shape challenge that was on Gingerwood! I love that bulletin board...

Stamps are by Inkadinkado (the flowers that make up the background paper). Thank you sentiment is Stampin Up. The bling is from a share/buy that I saw on a blog last year.

Have a great night and stay warm if you've got snow where you're at!

A huge Thank You to Amy Tsuruta, at Tsuruta Designs, for originally posting this new blog telling about the challenges, and inspiring me with her great cards. Everyone that has put cards on the 365 cards this week has done a fabulous job!

'nite everyone :)

Bling top to bottom for 365

I'm on a roll...and since a circle card is the next challenge, that's a good thing, isn't it?

Right now I have a card with BLING from top to bottom for the 365 card challenge. It uses handmade paper from Paper Zone that has glitter dotted centers. Today Paper Zone had a nice sale - 20% off anything you could fit into their bag. Amy, my enabler, told me about it...but remember how good I've been? I didn't go! That's because I think my Stampin Up order is going to be a doozie...(shhhhhh!) Anyway, the card was super simple and uses a BIG mama bling on the light blue flower that came in a bucket from Michael's bridal supplies...I've got a lot of them to use up, so you may be seeing them on a lot of other cards! Actually this could also qualify as one of the EASY cards from the last challenge. I think it took maybe 10 minutes from start to finish? It took me more than 5 minutes to find that darn BIG Mama bling...otherwise this one would have been finished in less than 5 minutes.

Weather update at 4:55 p.m. - Hailing like crazy now in my back yard and my fingers are COLD...so I better go and create my last card for the challenge for this week!

An EZ Thank you....for 365

Fast cards are good. Cards that use scraps are good. This fast card that used up my scraps is good. It was almost too easy.

Choosing the colors to put together was the hardest thing on this one. I'm glad it was an easy challenge.... I might add a little black rhinestone on the center of the flower that makes up the "o" in YOU

Inspired by an ad - 365

Next up is the card inspired by an ad - from the Garnet Hill catalog, an ad for the sweetest jammies ever. Aren't they pretty? I'd like to be where-ever they photographed the shot too...it looks tropical (a lot warmer than Seattle, where it's snowing again!).

If I had that new stamp set by Stampin up it would have been even better, but I've been GOOD and not ordering lately! That may change soon - I'm giving in I think and planning to get a few boxes of goodies!

365 Cards is so much fun - I think I'll get them all finished this week (easy to reproduce Thank yous are up next!)

Button Flower Ribbon - 365 challenge

Since the week got kind of busy, I'm hoping to catch up with the rest of the 365 cards challenges today. Here's my Button, Flower, Ribbon card for the challenge.
I've seen some great cards over there - hope you have time to take a peek at some of them - just follow the "365 cards" link above!

Crafting Haven: This is my first.......

something weird happened here... I was leaving a comment for Viv and then I was switched over to this....hmmmm... I took the comment off but if you got it, I'm not sure why or how it happened....sorry!

365 Cards Day 2 Challenge - Less is More

Today the 365 Cards Blog has a challenge to use ONLY 2 Embellishments on your card. That can be a toughie....I did my best with my Sugar Nellie stamp. I don't think she's ever been inked up before....but she's not a virgin anymore!

The edge of the card has a little bit of linear embossing mixed in with my new "swiss cheese" punch from EK Success (that's a great name for the punch, isn't it?).

Scalloped panel is from a K & Co Mat pad called, "Seaglass". The die cuts mats are colorful, with decoratively cut edges, and boy are they fun and easy to use!

Nellie is colored with Copics and the two little flower embellishments in the upper left hand corner are merely trims from the fabric store. I cut off one tiny little flower from each length of trim and glue dotted it on. The "Sweet Pea" saying is from one of the clear stamp sets at Joanns/Michaels. It's an easy, straightforward kind of card...and that's what I always end up making....easy cards! lol

Bachelor's on tonight...who do YOU think he'll choose? As long as my eye cooperates, I'll be able to watch. I got more eye drops (steroids again) blech... I only have to use them for a short while thank goodness. I couldn't stand it before - what nasty things steroids are! Not sure if my headache is related to my eye thing or if it was from my lack of caffeine today...I know how to remedy the latter though....Off to Starbucks!

hugs,
e

365 Cards Challenge

I saw the cute card that Amy did (her blog is Tsuruta Designs) and wanted to play too. It's a little more vivid in real life, but our cold, rainy weather made it hard to photograph today.

Here's my version of the card for 365 Cards March 1st challenge and the sketch:

Just about all of the stuff on this card I won from Lisa Beeson's blog, Papercutting Kind of Day when she had blog candy! She was super generous and sent a pad of Paper Salon Papers, Pink shaped tag cards, embellishment trims to coordinate, and two great inspiration magazines that I wanted! The flower was x-acto cut from one of the sheets of cardstock, the 4 patterns that make the center square show the nice variety of prints (and they're double sided as well!) Greeting was punched out with the SU word punch on one of the papers, and the circle center of the flower is the same paper that's shown on the right panel. Fun, huh? I'd never bought Paper Salon's paper products before (only their stamps), but I will definitelybe looking for them now!

My eye is still not doing well, so I'm going back to the opthamologist tomorrow. blech.

Have a nice evening...and remember to watch Desparate Housewives tonight! I missed seeing it last week with the awards show on :(

e

I did the Gingerwood Challenge today!

Ha! For once I was able to get something done the same day the challenge came out! YAY! It's been far too long since I've had time to sit down and craft WHEN I want, and WHAT I want. The challenge required using one of my old stamps. I know the Shamrock Fairy Bear is old, but I don't know how old. It's by Darcie's....and had never ever been inked. Can't say I don't make use of old stuff now! (So there, B Phillips!)
I used a Glorious Green base, then layered a panel of Green Galore that was edged with one of my new EK Success punches (I love them - they work SOOOOO well on cardstock!), then tied some green grosgrain on the panel. On the panel there's a Nesties Oval and scalloped oval with some Martha Stewart Glitter dots around the edges. On the white oval I used a bunch of the latest $1 stamps from M's...stamped randomly to make my own bg paper! Colored the bear with Copics, and then used a strip of scrap paper to stamp the shamrocks and it fit just right! The shamrocks are also old ...maybe as old as 15 years or more...and I bought them unmounted back then...and kept it for this long (again, I don't think it had ever been used!)

My kid is out washing my car today...maybe I'll put some green inside the card and tell her she did a good job (even though I will need to go out and re-do it...my kids are NOT good at washing cars). They grew up in their younger years in Santa Barbara and down there, you pretty much do not wash the car at home because the water is hard and it leaves terrible spots! So now they always ask why don't I take it to the car wash? That's how we USED TO do it, isn't it?! Um, no, we only did that because the water was crappy...and besides, I can't afford to do that up here! There are no decent cheapy car wash places in Seattle!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

E

Card Share 02.26.09

I'm on a stamping roll! I made this for a friend whose wife just had their first baby boy. The initial newborn photos look JUST like his daddy! I hope they enjoy these first few weeks of new baby life and savor his baby changes.

The base cardstock is SU's old Marigold Morning, then some purplish Bazzill that was run through the cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder is layered on in a strip behind the main image.

Stamp set is from Inkadinkado (from Ebay). Isn't that lion cute? THe rest of the animals are adorable too! I may have to make some extra cards just because! The greeting, "hooray! it's a boy!" came from a set by Rubber Soul. Nesties make the pretty scalloped frame, and an accent dot of the swiss dots in a bazzill green this time is on the upper left corner. The background paper is the DCWV baby boy stack, and the ribbon is SEI's Chickadoo line (last year). Spread some sparkly glitter over the lion's mane, and the card is done. Very easy, and very basic.

We got a beautiful layer of fresh snow EARLY this morning (I heard it started last night in many of the surrounding areas though). NOW the roads are almost clear - just a little slushy in my neighborhood, and the sun is out. It's gorgeous! I love the brightness and the way white makes everything look so fresh!

Take care everyone! I'm meeting up with a friend to buy passports for the Great Northwest Paper Chase...coming up on March 20th through April 4th I think...Is anyone else planning to go?

hugs,
Elaine

Ann's Oval Challenge

Ann's Creative Nook has a weekly challenge and try as I might, I rarely get to make anything. Well this week I pushed myself to do SOMETHING and did an oval card. The challenge is for anything with an oval as it's central focus. Not a particularly special card, but the scalloped oval nestie is cut out of the cover. Inside is where the white oval is placed so it shows through the oval window on the front. The stamp is one from the really cute Stampendous bee series. I couldn't find the rest of my st. patty's day stamps, so this is what I could do with what was on hand with ovals....and green. The green wasn't part of the challenge, but my son loves green and he's the one that cut the oval shape from the green cardstock so that's what we end up with! Mom & son produced card. (I did force him to make the card with me, but sometimes that's good for a 17 y/o kid.)lol

PTI Challenge card

Made this last night for the challenge. It's out of my comfort zone to use this color combo and it just feels kind of wild....anyway, I did it, and it's growing on me! Only the background was stamped...using PaperTrey's circle set. The chicken is a Sizzix die and the Thank you is a rub-on from Making Memories. I hope to find more of those soon...they've been out of the stores for a while now. Has anyone seen them?

I think I am giving it to the neighbors. They took us out for a lovely dinner (again...) We think they might like us a little bit or maybe we're just spoiled or they're going to bribe us somehow to do something....

Anyway, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant in Bothell's Canyon Park at a place called Grazie. We ordered mouth watering appetizers: Manilla clams, Dungeness Crab & Artichoke dip on garlic infused toast, and Tender Coconut shrimp with a lime-aioli dipping sauce; then for dinner, our choices came completely off of the "Daily Specials menu" and we ended up trying New Zealand Lamb, Prawns with Pasta, and Halibut with Risotto. Sides of asparagus, and rustic red mashed potatoes ....mmmmmmm......
It was truly decadent and probably the BEST risotto I've ever had. Pair that with lots of red wine, a Kir Royale, live Jazz music, and we ended up closing the place down at 11:00. Not before we had Canneloni with cinnamon scented whipped cream and spicy chocolate drizzles all over the place...OMG - HEAVEN I tell you! AND, very affordable...well we didn't pay, but I saw the prices. Compared to the last place they took us, this was a value meal! LOL We SOOOOO owe them a nice meal! I hope France is this nice because I think we are going to France with them...I hope.... ;-)

Have a great evening. I'm going to see who Jason picks on the Bachelor...I'm thinking he's going to be a loozer and pick Deanna. :(

Oh yea, there's a great new release of ELZYBELLS stamps - they are wayyyyyy too cute and you should go check it out because I think you might likey them...especially the food ones...I mean you're probably kinda hungry now after I posted about that fab dinner, right?

Check out this link to start with:
Elzybells FOOD

Night everyone!