A few of my favorite things

Finding inspiration

2009-08-10T00:00:00.001-05:00

I have to confess, I'm not the most creative or original when it comes to card making. Many (most) of my ideas come from things I've spotted on other people's blogs. Another blog I go to for inspiration is Hemidemisemiquaver Design Blog. I love Becky's creation that she did for the PTI design team challenge. The challenge was to use 4 or more different patterned papers in one card. When I read that, I admit I was pretty skeptical about how that could look good. One look at her card set and I was converted. Here's my take on her layout---you can see I wasn't as brave, I stuck with a monochromatic color scheme.

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI White, black and smokey shadow
Sentiment: PTI Everyday Classics
DP: PTI, Daisy Bucket Dinner with friends and Cocktail Party. Also one little scrap of paisley paper that I've long since forgotten the details on.
Flower embellishment: Making Memories Black Tie

This one uses the PTI raspberry fizz DP.

Recipe
Sentiment: PTI Handwritten notes
Cardstock: PTI white and raspberry fizz
Ink, DP, button, ribbon: PTI raspberry fizz

Another great place for inspiratory is Nichole Heady's blog. I love what she did here with the On my couch and Damask designs sets...so I CASE'd it. I also love how a lot of bloggers are using decorative paper inside their cards. It adds such a nice touch. It also helps me to use up some of this DP that I've been hoarding!!!

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI kraft, white, and enchanted evening
Stamps: On my couch, Damask designs
DP: PTI

Where do you go when you need a little crafting inspiration?

Happy crafting!

Madison Avenue

2009-08-09T00:00:00.001-05:00

Madison Avenue is one of my "go to" blogs for inspiration. These card layouts are CASE'd from Geny's creations. I think I'll get a lot of use out of this layout.

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI kraft, dark chocolate, summer sunrise
Stamps: PTI Handwritten notes
Ink and button: PTI dark chocolate
DP: K&Co Wild Saffron collection

Recipe
Stamps: PTI Star Prints
Cardstock: PTI white, kraft, enchanted evening
Ink: PTI fresh snow, enchanted evening, dark chocolate
Button: PTI vintage wood
DP: PTI

Check out Madison Avenue when you need a bit of inspiration!

Happy crafting!

Everyday Button Bits

2009-08-08T00:00:00.001-05:00

I've never been big on buttons in my cardmaking, but it has to be said that I LOVE this stamp set. I'm not sure you could make an "un-cute" card with it if you tried.

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI soft blush, raspberry fizz, white
Stamps: PTI Everyday Button Bits
DP: PTI
Ink: PTI ripe avocado, raspberry fizz
Buttons: PTI
soft blush, raspberry fizz, melon berry
Ribbon: PTI melon berry

I was a little bit upset when I realized PTI hadn't released buttons in pure poppy until I saw how pretty this turned out with scarlet jewel.

Recipe
Stamps: PTI Everyday button bits
Cardstock: SU mellow moss, PTI scarlet jewel and white
Ink: PTI Ripe avocado and scarlet jewel
Ribbon and buttons: PTI scarlet jewel

Could these birds be any cuter???

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI Spring rain and white
Ink: Palette Noir and PTI enchanted evening
DP: PTI
Buttons: PTI white, enchanted evening and spring rain
Ribbon: PTI spring rain.

Loving this set!
Happy crafting!

Christmas in July (yes, I know it's August)

2009-08-07T00:00:00.001-05:00

This is the last of the July challenge cards. This challenge was to make a Christmas card. This was super simple, and would be very easy to mass produce.

Recipe
Stamps:??? anyone know? I borrowed it
Cardstock: SU Mellow moss, PTI scarlet jewel and white
Ink: SU Mellow moss, PTI scarlet jewel
Ribbon: PTI scarlet jewel

Whew, finally caught up with July stuff. I'll try to take some pics of my August cards, and keep up with this good streak of posting I'm on.
In the meantime,
Happy crafting!

Even more challenges

2009-08-06T00:00:00.003-05:00

These are more of the fourth of July weekend challenges. The first was just to use a bird.

Recipe
Stamps: SU Always, sentiment PTU Handwritten notes
DP: Basic Grey Lime Rickey
Cardstock: PTI Lemon tart, hibiscus
Ribbon: PTI hibiscust

This challenge was to make a yellow card.

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI Summer sunrise, pure poppy, white
Stamps: PTI Floral Frenzy
Ink: PTI Summer sunrise, pure poppy
DP: K&Co Wild Saffron Collection

Only one more post of these July challenges. Then it's on to the August challenges. Oh yes, there are August challenges too...

Happy crafting!

More challenges

2009-08-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

So these are more of the fourth of July weekend challenges. The challenge on this card was to use fabric. It's not super creative, but I do like that the heart punch was able to punch through this this material. It's an old scrub top of mine.

Cardstock: PTI kraft, white
Sentiment: PTI handwritten notes
Ink: PTI Spring rain
Button: PTI vintage with hemp/twine

This challenge was actually to do something to do an "explosion" image. I love this little humming bird. It's from a really neat stamp set (one of Kimberly's). Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the set.

Recipe
Stamps: humming bird- unknown, sentiment CHF motivational centers
Cardstock: PTI soft stone and scarlet jewel
Ink/ Ribbon: PTI scarlet jewel

More to come...
Happy crafting!

Can we pretend this is really JULY 4th???

2009-08-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

These would make a little more sense around the 4th of July, but oh well...
These are more challenge cards from 4th of July weekend.
If I recall correctly, this first card challenge was to make a card with as many buttons as possible, and still have it be pretty. Not very imaginative in my button use, but I like it.

Recipe:
Stamps: PTI Star Prints and punch
Cardstock: PTI kraft and pure poppy
Ink: PTI vintage cream
Ribbon: PTI vintage cream
DP: K&Co Blue Awning
Buttons: PTI vintage

Recipe
Stamp sentiment: PTI Star Prints
Ink: PTI pure poppy
Cardstock: PTI pure poppy
DP: K&Co Blue Awning, SU Summer Picnic

More to come...
Happy crafting!

Happy fourth (on the fifth)

2009-08-02T21:56:00.007-05:00

Better late than never???
As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I actually started writing this almost a month ago. I think I tried to upload pics and had trouble. It took me a little while to get back to it... Oh well, la la (as Denise would say).
Hope you all had a great Independence Day. Friday I spent the afternoon and much of the night at the local scrapbooking store at crop night. We had so much fun! Kimberly had given some of us a list of 20 card challenges. Over the weekend I think I did 15 of them...not too bad if I do say so myself. The Crafty Pig played along from a ski lodge somewhere out west, and Debbie from Hot Springs. We had a great group of ladies at our table at crop night. They kept us laughing the whole time. I was amazed by some of the pages that were created---GORGEOUS. Literally, works of art. I'm so intimidated by scrapbooking! I'll stick with the much smaller, less intimidating forum of card making. Since I was so productive, I think I'll stretch these cards out to a few posts over the next week. That way it looks like I'm a more consistent blogger...not!

This card was made with a stamp set that I actually gave Kimberly (is that an issue if the gifts I give end up benefiting me???). Sorry, I don't have the details on the company. I do remember that I bought it at Michael's. Love this tree!

Recipe: Stamps-unknown set from Michael's
Ink: PTI Dark chocolate
Cardstock: PTI Kraft, Pure poppy, vanilla
DP: K&Co Wild Saffron collection
Buttons: PTI vintage

Oh how I LOVE this little dress image! The challenge on this card was to make an all black and white card. I love how it turned out. The dress is paper pieced with flocked paper---kind of transports me back to our entry way wall paper growing up.

Reicpe
Stamps: Retro Boutique Rupe Shevde for Gina K. Designs
Cardstock: PTI black and soft stone
DP: Cocktail Party and Dinner with Friends by Daisy Bucket Designs, 1940 beetle black chenille cardstock by doodlebug design inc.

Now that I've finally gotten Blogger to upload some pics, I'll go ahead and pre-schedule some posts.
Hope you have a great week.
Happy crafting!

June

2009-06-30T21:38:00.009-05:00

Hi all, as usual it's been quite some time since I actually posted something here. It's been a busy month. I went to Camp Aldersgate for Muscular Dystrophy camp for a week, then lots of birthday festivities, my dear old friend Esther and her kids were in town visiting, I went to Memphis to see Wicked, and finally my nephew Will was Baptised this weekend.
Here are a couple pics from the Baptism.

Now seriously, don't I have the cutest nephews ever???
I was overstaffed at work yesterday and today. Monday I was completely lazy and caught up on some much needed sleep. Today I was actually a little bit productive and had a little creative burst.
This first card is a CASE of one I did a few posts ago. This time, I used tissue paper for the flower. Sorry, I can't remember which blog I got that idea from, but I love it!

Recipe:
Cardstock Lavender moon, ink raspberry fizz, button, DP, Sentiment (Handwritten Notes) all PTI. Flower tissue paper.

This card was inspired by this cardand she was inspired by the SCS Color Challenge #225, and a Monday Mojo sketch #93.

Recipe: Cardstock PTI Vanilla, SU Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, DP K&Co Wild Saffron, Ribbon PTI Summer Sun, Stamps Retro Boutique by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs, Sentiment PTI Damask Designs.

Hope all of you are having a wonderful summer!
Happy crafting,

The latest

2009-04-26T18:52:00.009-05:00

The past couple of weekends I've been pretty productive (As far as crafting goes; housework, not so much).
This is a CASE of Dawn's card's color scheme and layout. Check out her blog. You'll be glad you did.

Here's a close up of the sentiment- "Tanks a lot". How cute is that?

Recipe: PTI Cardstock, DP, Ink, ribbon. Images and Sentiment Amy's Boutique from Amy R. Stamps

These next two cards were made with decorative paper scraps and a cute little chick.

Recipe: Cardstock, ink, ribbon, sentiment PTI, DP K and Company, Chick stamp ?clear dollar stamps--I've thrown away the packaging

Recipe: Cardstock, ink, ribbon sentiment PTI, DP Basic Gray Lily Kate, Chick stamp ?clear dollar stamps--I've thrown away the packaging

This card was inspired by me wanting to try out this paper pleating technique. YaYa Kimberly shared this ribbon that worked perfectly with the paper and buttons.

Recipe: Cardstock,ink, buttons, sentiment PTI, ribbon ?Michael's. DP PTI and Basic Gray

This next card is my attempt at this Splitcoast sketch challenge:

Recipe: DP, ink, cardstock, stamps SU, sentiment PTI
Below is my favorite. It was inspired by this wide paisley ribbon that Kimberly shared. I also tried out this little technique I've been seeing out in the blog-o-sphere. I layered graduated circles/ scalloped circles. I crumpled the top black circle then straightened it out and distressed the edges. The cardstock actually started separating into two pieces. Very cool.

Recipe: cardstock, ink, DP PTI, ribbon and brad unknown treasures from Kimberly's stash.

Anyway, that's about all I've got to share. Have a great week!
Happy crafting!

A few cards

2009-03-29T16:48:00.008-05:00

This month I had a couple of baby cards to make. First is a card made for Audra and the soon-to-be-born Mason.

Recipe:Cardstock PTI, DP Basic Grey Lily Kate, Stamps Whipper Snapper Bundle of Joy, Ribbon PTI

This card was for Wendy and her twins Cason Paul and Marcy (I'm not too sure if that's how they're spelled). Wendy's twins came a bit early and last I heard were doing well in the hospital trying to figure out the whole eating thing.

Recipe: Cardstock PTI, DP Basic Grey Lily Kate, Stamps Whipper Snapper Designs Bundle of Joy

Here are a few cards I made at a crop night. I still haven't gotten too into the scrapping thing so I made cards.

Recipe: Cardstock, Stamps (Everyday Classics), ribbon, ink all by Paper Trey Ink, DP Stampin Up

Recipe: Cardstock (kraft,black, raspberry fizz and white), ribbon, ink, stamps all by Paper Trey Ink

Recipe: DP Stampin Up Summer Picnic, Sentiment PTI Handwritten Notes

YaYa Stacie had a card making class at the crop night. She showed us how to make two cool pop-up cards. She got the templates off of this site. Robert Sabuda is an incredibly talented pop-up illustrator. I have a couple of his pop-up books. They are so intricate and detailed. Our cards were very basic, but still give a neat "wow" effect when you open them. I had lots of fun opening mine up repeatedly once I got all the kinks worked out.

Recipe: Robert Sabuda pop-up template, white cardstock, markers

Recipe: Cardstock and ribbon Paper Trey Ink, DP Stampin Up Summer Picnic, Sentiment Paper Trey Ink Everyday Classics

Recipe: Cardstock, Ink, DP, Stamps (Life) all Paper Trey Ink

Ace of Cakes?

2009-03-28T16:47:00.008-05:00

Have you seen the show "Ace of Cakes"? It's on the Food Network (I think). It's nothing short of amazing what these people can do with flour, sugar, and fondant. I know talented people. See for yourself.

For John-John's third birthday my brother-in-law, Shawn, took another stab at a fancy cake creation. John-John LOVES Buzz Lightyear so that's what inspired the cake. He made a planet that was two halves of a sphere covered in fondant put together, with a "ring" of candied sugar between the two halves of the sphere. It was pretty impressive. The kids were all treated to cupcakes with fluorescent green frosting and three marshmallow "eyes" to look like one of the aliens in Toy Story.

Then, at work we had a baby shower for Audra who is due in a few weeks. Angel, cake baker extraordinaire, really out did herself. The top of the cake was made to look like a lawn with pavers through it. Sitting atop the pavers was a stroller/ wagon that said "Newest Hog Fan" and had a little baby and a teddy bear in it. They were even covered up by a camo blankie. Sitting out on the lawn was a little doggie (Roscoe). It was incredible!

Here's the proud Mama to be, Audra. She was so surprised!

Like I said, I know talented people.

Back to work...

2009-02-22T22:48:00.005-06:00

Ten days of not having to go to work has been wonderful, but all good things must come to an end. I'll be reporting back to work bright and early tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see all the mail and other fun stuff that'll be piled up for me...
I got in a little crafting today with YaYas Debbie and Kimberly. Here's what I came up with:

Recipe: PTI Melon berry paper, ribbon, buttons, dark chocolate DP, new leaf buttons. Stamps ??? a cute set I gave Kimberly for Christmas. The sentiment reads: "Trees teach us to stay grounded but also to never stop reaching for the sky".

A sympathy card:

Recipe: SU Soft Sky cardstock, Spring silhouettes DP, PTI New leaf cardstock and ribbon, PTI sentiment.

Here are some springy/ summery cards:

Recipe: PTI Summer sun and Pure poppy cardstock, PTI sentiment from Handwritten Notes, SU Washington Apple DP, Dress image Retro Boutique by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs.

Recipe: PTI Pure poppy cardstock, Summer sun grosgrain ribbon, SU Washington Apple DP, Bikini image Amy's Boutique from Amy R. Stamps.
Hope you have a great week. Happy crafting!

More pics

2009-02-21T12:55:00.006-06:00

When John first got to the hospital after baby Will was born, he marched into the room and asked to see his baby. He got up in Amy's lap and checked out his brother.

The looking lasted about 2.3 seconds when he decided to check out baby's face with all the adults in the room anxiously saying "gentle, be very gentle...just touch the top of his head".

Then, without prompting, John kissed his baby. Isn't that the sweetest thing ever?

Here's proud Auntie Lisa:

Since brother Will made his appearace, we've had another important birthday. John turned 3 on Feb 18th. Here's the birthday boy opening presents:

And once again kissing his baby:

I babysat John and Will a few nights ago. John periodically had to stop what he was doing to check on his baby. Here he is in his dinosaur jammies:

The little angel asleep:

Whew! How many posts was that? I think I'm caught up now...back to work on Monday.
Have a great weekend!

Valentines Day

2009-02-21T12:19:00.012-06:00

About a month before Valentine's Day, YaYas Kimberly, Debbie, and I got together to do a little crafting. Kimberly had seen this cute project on one of the blogs. It's a cupcake baking kit---a cute way to package up a cake mix, frosting, and sprinkles. Here's Debbie with her completed project.

Here are some close ups of mine:

Cute project right? If someone were to give you this, you wouldn't make comments about the giver having nothing better to do would you? I gave this to John-John so he could have a special project to do with Mom and Dad now that his only child status has been taken away. Shawn rolled his eyes about the cute packaging...oh well, what does he know.
On the day before Valentine's Day baby Will had to be admitted to the hospital because he was very jaundiced and needed to be put under bili lights to bring down his bilirubin. That was the day of John's daycare Valentine's party. Amy had planned to go to the party with John, but couldn't because she had to take the baby to the hospital. So Aunt Lisa got to go to the party. The party basically consisted of LOTS of Cheetos cheese puff and cookie eating. Then there was a little running away from "the tickle monster".

All in all, big fun.
At the hospital, baby Will got his protective eyewear and was placed on a bili blanket and under bili lights. He stayed overnight for 2 nights (one night with Aunt Lisa babysitting so Mom could get some much needed sleep).

He looks so pitiful under the lights. Will is at home now, no longer a little pumpkin. He's a good baby, only cries if he's hungry or wet.
Stay tuned, one more baby post. I just KNOW you're dying to see more pics...

Welcome Baby Will

2009-02-21T12:06:00.004-06:00

My newest nephew was born February 10th at 0628. Weight 7lbs 2oz, Length 20 inches. Lots of dark hair---where'd that come from??? His name is William Joseph and we've been calling him Will. Amy and Shawn dubbed him "The thinker" after one of these first pics.

So then they had to show that they were just as smart by striking this pose.

John-John seems to really like him so far. He asks about "his" baby a lot, and loves to give him kisses.

This pic cracks me up...sticking his tongue out at the baby already.

Poor Will was ever-so-slightly pumpkin tinted... I think this picture is a cry for help:

Stay tuned, there's more to come...

Catch Up

2009-02-21T11:48:00.006-06:00

It's been over two months since I've blogged, oh the shame...
In that time work has gotten crazy busy, my nephew Will was born, and I had 10 days off of work. It's been great being off work. I've gotten lots of little projects done, and I've gotten to spend some time with John-John and his new brother Will. Now here I am with less than 2 days left of my time off, and I'm finally going to play "catch up" with this blog.
Below are a couple of birthday cards that I made recently. This first one should really be rotated so that the sentiment is horizontal. I had already rotated it and it shows up as rotated in "My Pictures" on the computer, but won't cooperate when I upload it. This is my attempt at a "masculine" card.

Recipe: PTI Ripe avacado paper and ribbon, PTI black and white basics DP, SU sentiment from Wonderful Words.

Recipe: PTI Berry sorbet cardstock and ribbon, PTI black and white basics DP, SU sentiment from Upsy Daisy, Rain Dots Cloud 9 Design, Flower embellishments ?can't find the packaging.

Anyway, you should see a couple more posts in the near future. Have a great weekend and happy crafting!

Finally Done!!!!

2008-12-15T20:45:00.004-06:00

I don't know why, but I really had a hard time making Christmas cards this year. It was partly just getting motivated to do it, but also coming up with a design. So at long last, yesterday I finally designed and made my cards. It's nothing exciting, and actually kind of basic since I was making so many of them.

Recipe: cardstock SU Kraft and blue bayou, PTI ocean tides, DP SU soft sky collection, ribbon SU cranberry crisp, PTI chocolate, spring rain, ocean tides, dark chocolate, Michael's gold, Ink PTI vintage cream. Stamps SU Star Studded Season, Cornish Herritage Farms Christmas expressions--the sentiment says "O holy night the stars are brightly shining", inside the sentiment says "may the blessings of the season shine upon you"--also from SU Star Studded Season.

As you might imagine, there were a few problems with designing and making my cards so late. For one, I kept running out of supplies (especially ribbon). I had to change colors several times because I didn't have anymore ribbon in the particular color I was using.

I'm loving the Hansel and Grendel story additions. Who knew the turns it would take?
Have a great week!

Whatever Martha!

2008-12-13T22:03:00.008-06:00

Have any of you seen the new show hosted by Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis, and her friend, Jennifer? It's called "Whatever Martha". The basic premise of the show is this; they watch old clips of the Martha Stewart show and joke around about how unrealistic her various crafts/ recipes are. I could totally be another of the hosts of the show because I've never been a big Martha fan. I mean seriously, when the recipe calls for the finest Madagascar cheese cloth to strain the Veuve Clicot champagne infused sheep's brain you're a little out there. So this brings us to last week when YaYa Kimberly calls me and invites me to make Christmas cookies. She was so inspired by the latest issue of MS Living and heck, it's Christmas. Time to do some baking. So YaYa Stacie and I went over to Kimberly's house for a Christmas cookie baking extravaganza.

Kimberly and Stacie had both already made some cookie dough. All we had to do was get the cookie cutters, bake, and decorate. Easy right? I mean just a few simple steps and we would have edible works of art ala Martha. Well, they are definitely edible. Works of art? I'll let you be the judge. Here are some of the cookies before baking. They look okay, right?

Here are some of the finished products...not too shabby, but not quite up to Martha standards I would guess.

Now these next cookies are straight out of the magazine, and they are absolutly precious! It's just 2 Nilla Waffers for the bun, 1 grasshopper cookie for the meat, red/ yellow icing for the ketchup and mustard, and sesame seeds on top for an even more realistic look. Aren't they too cute? Kimberly whipped out a dozen of these in no time at all.

As you might imagine, a teeny tiny bit of cookie consumption was going on through all of this decorating. I think we might have had just a bit of a sugar high going. We started having a little more fun with our creations....

To further illustrate the crazed sugar high concept, here is exhibit B. Why yes, that is me, holding a lovely little cookie. What is that cookie you ask???

Well, it's a traditional Christmas outhouse cookie of course! I'm not sure I can even remember how this whole outhouse topic came up, but I think it went something like this. Stacie brought a gazillion cookie cutters to use. Some of my favs were the little bitty stars. Stacie cut out a teeny star out of some dough, and commented that it looked like the star/ moon cut out in an outhouse door. Being in my sugar induced haze, I thought, "an outhouse, yes, that's what I'll make next". So with no cookie cutter, or pattern; nothing but my own brilliance I made this super fab outhouse cookie. Take that Martha!

Debbie, I know you're traumatized already reading this, so you'd better cover your eyes and scroll down. After I had crafted this work of art, I thought that it still needed something. I thought perhaps it needed some words above the door. When I asked what I should write up there, without missing a beat, Kimberly suggested "Sh*t happens". So, thus it came to be. My little Christmas sh*t house. My mother must be so proud of me...

By this time, the sugar was REALLY kicking in. We even made a little Christmas vignette.
We weren't sure if these guys were rejects from a Dutch boy band, or what. We named them Hansel and Grendel (no, not Gretel, he's a boy! He's named after the character in Beowulf). There was a minute there in my sugar induced state of euphoria that I was afraid they'd break out singing "Macho, macho man..." ala The Village People.

I thought perhaps my readers could create a little story. You could just add on to the story in the comments. Here, I'll start. Once upon a time, there were two young boys named Hansel and Grendel. Grendel had grown very tired of his life as a back-up clog dancer for Abba. One day, he convinced Hansel to take a trip out into the lovely Dutch country side....

So, if you've made it this far through the post, you should probably reward yourself with a fresh, homemade cookie. Just remember, friends don't let friends create on a sugar high!
Have a great week!

Christmas music

2008-12-07T21:33:00.005-06:00

During all my curtain hanging/ Christmas decorating I listened to some Christmas music. It's no secret that I love to listen to music, and sing. I have lots of Christmas favorites, but this one has to be near the top of the list. Click on #5 "A Stable Lamp is Lighted". The text is taken from a poem by Richard Wilbur.

A stable-lamp is lighted
Whose glow shall wake the sky;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.

And every stone shall cry,
And straw like gold shall shine;
A barn shall harbor heaven,
A stall become a shrine.

This child through David's city
Shall ride in triumph by;
The palm shall strew it's branches,
And every stone shall cry.

And every stone shall cry,
Though heavy, dull and dumb,
And lie within the roadway
To pave His kingdom come.

Yet He shall be forsaken,
And yielded up to die;
The sky shall groan and darken,
And every stone shall cry.

And every stone shall cry
For stony hearts of men:
God's blood upon the spearhead,
God's love refused again.

But now, as at the ending,
The low is lifted high;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.

And every stone shall cry
In praises of the child
By whose descent among us
The worlds are reconciled.

The link above(if it works)is to a version of this that is so lovely. You'll only get to hear a snippet, but it gives me chills every time I hear it.
We're singing a song with these lyrics at midnight Mass this year.

My other all time Christmas favs (in no particular order):
O Come All Ye Faithful
Joy To The World
I Wonder As I Wander--as sung by Vanessa Williams
Gabriel's Message---as sung by Sting
O Holy Night---as sung by Josh Groban
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas---as sung by Judy Garland (this is probably the saddest Christmas song ever, but I still love it)

So how about you? What are your favorites?

Productive weekend

2008-12-07T20:38:00.003-06:00

I had a busy, but productive weekend. Friday, the last 4 windows were installed at my house. This meant I had no more excuses to stall with window treatments (I've had SHEETS taped up to cover windows in my living room/ dinning room), and decorating for Christmas. I found some red shades and curtains at Tarzhay that I hoped would look okay. The only problem was the Target by me only had 2 of the shades. I found the other 2 in NLR. I hung 2 shades and the curtains on Saturday. I might have used some inappropriate language when I was trying to figure out how to get everything up, and have it be level... Sunday I hung the final 2 shades. Those went relatively quickly now that I had it down to a science. Gotta love the tape measure and level. Once I got the curtains up, I couldn't procrastinate with my Christmas decorations any more. Here are a couple views. I think I'm really liking the red curtains/ shades.

The added bonus with the red curtains/ shades is that maybe it won't look so bare when I take down my Christmas decorations.
Next project: Christmas cards---I don't even have a design thought up yet!
Hope all of you have a great week! Happy birthday to Lynnetta-butta-kid!

Challenges

2008-11-10T13:20:00.006-06:00

For Christmas last year, YaYa Kimberly gave us all a paint bucket full of monthly crafting challenges. She included some rough instructions/ ideas of where to start and some embellishments/ supplies we could use each month if we wanted to. Then, once we had completed our project we were to mail it to one of the YaYas according to the mailing list she had made up. Up til last month I had done fairly well meeting my challenge goals. I can already feel that we're coming up to the time of year when the frenetic pace begins. There are always lots of events to get to, and things that must be done. Is it just me, or does it seem to start earlier each year???
Anyway, I finally did my October and November YaYa challenges and they are literally in the mail.
Here's my October card. (Janna, close your eyes if you haven't gotten yours yet). It was supposed to use a picture of a leaf/ leaves, but I used this pretty little stamp instead. The sentiment says "Happy fall Y'all".

Recipe: Fabriano Mediovalis card, PTI summer sunrise cardstock, Stamps Rubber Stampede, Just Rite alphabet, Ink PTI dark chocolate, summer sunrise, pure poppie, ripe avacado.

This next card uses the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge

Recipe: Cardstock PTI pure poppy, SU cool carribean, DP BasicGrey Figgy Pudding, Ribbon/Ink PTI pure poppy, oval hardware/ brads SU, sentiment from SU Cute and Curly.

So my challenge for you in this holiday season, dear reader, is to only take on those projects/ events which will truly enrich the lives of you and yours, and feeds your spirit-like crafting. If you're doing something just for the sake of doing, let that be the thing you say "no" to. Speaking of "feeding the spirit", tonight is my choir's Requiem Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew. The program begins at 7pm, and is free. Come join us (if your spirit could use some feeding). It is a memorial service for our loved ones who have died, especially those who have died during the past year.

Have a great week, and happy crafting!

Road Trip!

2008-11-03T23:20:00.003-06:00

I got a call last week from LaThonya (one of my dear college roommates from University of Dallas). She invited me to an impromptu gathering of a few old friends from college. The real occassion was to hear the Faure Requiem performed by a mixed group of UD choir alumni, and current UD choir members. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I've sung the Faure Requiem with my choir twice in the last ten years, and it's a favorite of mine. Of course, it was also a great excuse to see LaThonya, Angela, and Elisa. We were missing our other roomie, Lynnette. She had just visited Texas the previous week, and had to get back to NYC. On Saturday, LaThon and I met up and went directly to North Park Mall to do some power shopping and to have lunch at La Madeline. Yum! Their tomatoe basil soup is the best! LaThonya informed me of her wish for a picture perfect, Martha Stewart Thanks Giving at her house. This involved lots of shopping in kitchen stores to find all the accoutrement (table linens, and serving pieces). Then we had dinner at Uncle Julio's, one of our old favorites. Love those fajitas! Next we took a tour of all the old hot spots in Dallas. It's weird how so much has changed, and yet stayed the same. Late that night, we finally got to meet up with Elisa who had been rehearsing with the choir all day. It was so good to see her! Here are a few pics.

This is me and Elisa---otherwise known as Lisa2 (that's supposed to mean squared, I can't figure out how to do a super script 2).

LaThonya

Elisa

Sunday, LaThonya and I slept late, did a little more shopping, and then had brunch at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. It had been quite awhile since I'd been. They have a new chef so the menu had totally changed. The one thing that they did keep on the menu was the tortilla soup---thank goodness. That soup is the whole reason for eating at The Mansion! After gorging ourselves we did yet more shopping, and then headed to the Requiem Mass at Cistercian Monastary. At Cistercian we met up with Angela-another UD roommate, her mother Syvia, and JP-another UDer from back in the day. We were treated to a lovely service. The monastary had great accoustics! I had to hum along in my head, and restrain myself from singing along. Afterward, we all got to talk with Elisa (the star of the whole performance), and her sister Gloria. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures after the Mass. With Monday work looming we all then headed our separate ways. I made VERY good time getting home, and was blessed not to get any speeding tickets.
It was so great to see everyone. I love that we all picked up and drove/ flew from different areas to spend a bit of time together. I think I will have to make more road trips. I've missed my old roomies!

Tagged

2008-11-02T23:40:00.005-06:00

I've just been tagged by fellow YaYa, Denise
Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself. (See below)
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (See further below...)
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random facts:
1. I've never had a cavity, or a broken bone (yet).
2. I'm a Jack of all trades, master of none. I speak (some) German, Italian, and Spanish, but am fluent in none. Someday, I want to be fluent in another language. I also play piano, baritone, and the bugle (none of these at a level that anyone could call "good"--think "easy big note").
3. I subscribe to over 50 blogs, most of them are crafting related.
4. My sister and I used to play "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl". This involved me riding in our pedal powered car (nick-named "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") while my sister pushed so I could go really fast. I of course, was Electra Woman.
5. I love to sing when I'm alone in the car. It's hard to really get into it if I'm worried about other drivers seeing me so I do my best singing at night when no one can see me.
6. I have a punctuation addiction. As you may have noticed, I love elipses...(is that the proper plural form of elipse?). I have a hard time remembering all those punctuation rules, so I often throw in an extra comma, or twelve. (I'm also a big fan of parentheses).

All of my blogging friends have already been tagged so I won't pick on anyone. If anyone would like to play along, feel free to post in the comments section.

Have a great week!

Back in the groove

2008-10-26T19:15:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! I've had a fun weekend. Friday night I went out with friends to celebrate YaYa Debbie's birthday. Happy birthday Debbie! Saturday, Kimberly and I did some crafting. The results can be seen below. Saturday night I went to an Oktoberfest party at Carol and Eric's house. My sister brought my nephew for a few minutes to show off his lederhosen that she bought when we were in Germany earlier this year. I taught him to say "guten tag"...too cute! I probably should have taught him guten abend, but oh well. Anyway, look at the cutest little nephew EVAH!

Now, on to the crafty stuff.... I don't think I'll ever tire of SU's Baroque Motifs. The color combo was from an SCS challenge that I jotted down a while back, and finally remembered to use.

Recipe: Cardstock- SU certainly celery, not quite navy, bashful blue, ink- not quite navy, stamps- baroque motifs, sentiment PTI.

Judging by these next few cards, you might think it's really cold here in Little Rock. Not so. We had gorgeous weather this weekend, and even did some driving around in Kimberly's convertible with the top down.
This card uses SCS sketch challenge 187 for the layout.

Recipe: Cardstock and ink PTI dark chocholate, vanilla, DP PTI chocolate remix, ribbon PTI.

These next cards use my new Papertrey Ink set Snowfall. I love the little mittens and snowflakes.

Recipe: Carstock/ Ink PTI Ocean tides and aqua mist, Ribbon PTI, Stamps PTI Snowfall- mittens are covered in Martha Stewart brownstone glitter.

Recipe: Carstock/ Ink PTI Ocean tides and aqua mist, Ribbon PTI, Stamps PTI Snowfall

Recipe: Cardstock PTI kraft, pure poppy, Ink PTI pure poppy, Pallette Noir, Ribbon PTI pure poppy, twine SU.

I just had a call from LaThonya, one of my old University of Dallas roommates. I may meet up with some of the girls for the weekend. The UD Collegium Cantorum is celebrating is 15th anniversary, and will be singing a Requiem Mass. That will be a nice excuse to get all of us together. Unfortunately, I think Lynnette will have just ended her Tejas visit, and will be back in NYC. My choir at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew will be having it's Requiem Mass November 10th at 7pm. It is free and open to the public.
Have a great week, and happy crafting!

Follower

2008-09-29T23:44:00.002-05:00

Wow, I actually have a "follower", and it's someone I don't even know! I'm not sure I'm super comfortable with the term "follower" since that would make me a leader. How about we just walk along side by side? Click on the "follower" link in the top of the right side bar to join me in my "adventures".

One month

2008-09-28T16:28:00.012-05:00

Wow, a whole month has gone by since I posted anything. How did that happen??? What have I accomplished in the last month? I did get my windows put in (except for the last 4). I saw The Pajama Game with my friend Lisa (not me, my friend Lisa). It was pretty cute. I really need to get back into the swing of being "Julie, cruise director" (remember from The Love Boat) and book some tickets to see Les Miserables at The Rep. I've heard it's awesome. I've seen it a couple of times at other venues, but I would love to see it again. Last weekend we had a YaYa day here at my house. We had a good time seeing each other, crafting, and eating. As always with the YaYas, the topic hit the gutter at some point in the day. I can't go into it here in "polite" company. ;-)
This weekend Kimberly, Pig, and I did a virtual YaYa day. Here are some of the cards I made. The first uses SCS sketch challenge 195. I am so loving this SU Urban Garden DP.

Recipe: Cardstock SU basic gray, going gray, and kiwi kiss, DP SU Urban Garden, Ink SU night of navy, Stamps PTI Floral Frenzy and SU Upsy Daisy.

This next card is a super simple one I did last weekend.

Recipe: Cardstock SU basic gray and kiwi kiss, DP SU Urban Garden, Stamp SU Upsy Daisy.

This card uses SCS sketch challenge 187. I like this layout. Seriously, did I mention that I love this Urban Garden DP???

Recipe: Cardstock SU kiwi kiss, basic gray and soft sky, DP SU Urban Garden, Rub-ons SU Bella Chateau.

This card uses that same SCS sketch 187.

Recipe: Cardstock SU Real Red and Cool Caribbean, DP BasicGrey Figgy Pudding, Stamp SU Cute and Curly with punch, ribbon Michael's, ink Pallette Noir.
Have a great week!

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Slacker

2008-08-29T11:09:00.004-05:00

Yes, I'm a slacker. It's been awhile since I've posted, but in real life I've been somewhat productive. While away from the blog, I've been helping fellow YaYa Kimberly with some home remodel projects. So far, I've taken down old 3X3 blue tiles circa 1970 out of a bathroom, and yesterday did lots of priming walls. What a difference a fresh coat of paint makes! I will share one "adventure" that happened at her house last weekend. I went to the restroom only to find myself "trapped" inside when I tried to leave. The door knob was messed up (partially hanging from the door). I tried for a couple of minutes to jiggle the knob, and the lock. I even tried to unscrew the screws with my fingers (like I said, they were sticking out already). The whole time muttering to myself, "Seriously? Seriously?". Typical me to get stuck in a room... Finally my knocks on the door were answered. Eventually Kimberly and Floyd (the floor guy working in the kitchen) heard my cries for help. After some fruitless tries of jiggling the door knob, and even a couple of TV cop tries of breaking down the door (them, not me), they were able to squeeze a screwdriver under the door for me to use. Thank goodness for the 70's when doors had to have the bottoms trimmed to accommodate shag carpet! With a little coaching from Floyd, I got the screwdriver between the door jam and the door and was able to spring myself free. Too funny. My dear friend Kimberly was there with camera in hand to document the event, and no, you won't be seeing those pictures here.

Anyway, here are some cards that I made last weekend. They're very simple, I just needed to try out some of my new PTI order stuff.

First is the PTI card made with the Remember set and all that beautiful poppy red. We did a little comparison, and the PTI pure poppy is VERY close to SU real red. I think the linen vellum gave a bit of a 3D effect to the flowers.

Recipe: SU kraft cardstock, PTI pure poppy ink, cardstock, linen vellum, ribbon, stamps

This card is pretty boring, but I just had to use this scrap of SU summer picnic DP. Love it!

Recipe: PTI pure poppy cardstock, ribbon, SU summer picnic DP, Cornish Heritage Farms Motivational Centers sentiment.
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend, and happy crafting!

Circles

2008-08-17T19:16:00.007-05:00

Looking at what I made today, I think I may be on a bit of a circle kick.
This first card is my take on Taylor's cupcake challenge Taylored Expressions: Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #29 It's not all the way true to the orginal design, but I think it turned out okay.

Recipe: SU kraft cardstock, DP SU sky blue designer series, SU Summer picnic, SU spring silhouettes, Anna Griffen, Autumn Leaves Lotus, K&Company Margo Large botanical wallpaper flat paper, Sentiment SU wonderful words, Ink Pallette Noir

Recipe: SU kraft cardstock, stamps Michael's margarita stamp, PTI mixed messages

This last card is my version of the sketch challenge found here http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2008/08/saturday-sketch-challenge.html at Our Creative Corner.

Recipe: SU certainly celery, real red, and so saffron cardstock, Anna Griffen paisley DP, stamps SU seeing spots, ribbon Michaels

That's all I've got for today. Hope you all have a wonderful week.
Happy crafting,

My Celebrity Look-alikes

2008-08-16T00:05:00.003-05:00

Click on the link at the bottom of this collage. It's free and pretty entertaining to see what celebs you look like. I'm thinking not so much...

Of note, Gaines at work has always said I look like "Kristen Drunst" (he mangles her name everytime), so it's pretty funny that she turned up as one of my look alikes.

August Challenge

2008-08-14T12:53:00.005-05:00

Our YaYa Challenge this month was to make a purse for our swap buddy. I had never tried this, but found a super easy pattern over at www.splitcoaststampers.com (where else, this is a stamper/ papercrafter's home away from home). I don't think my swap buddy for this month is much of a blog reader so you guys are seeing it first.

Pretty cute, huh. I used double sided paper so the inside would be cute too.

Still, it needed a little something to jazz it up. What else but a monogram?

Much better, right? Love my JustRiteStamper Monogram set!!!
Here's my coordinating card to go with. At first the color combo was kind of overwhelming so I toned it down (I think) by putting it on kraft cardstock.

I think I'll have to fill the little purse with some goodies for my swap buddy. Try out this super easy purse over at SCS. Here's the link to the pattern http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200810&highlight=purse+instructions All it takes is one 12X12 sheet of patterned paper, lots of folding and some adhesive---no cutting!

Purse recipe: DP K and Company Wild saffron, Cardstock: SU taken with teal, PTI summer sun, Ribbon PTI summer sun, Ink SU real red, Stamps Just Rite monogram

Card recipe: Card Stock SU kraft and taken with teal and PTI summer sun, DP K and Company Wild Saffron, Stamps Just Rite monogram.

Happy crafting!

Watermark

2008-08-10T20:19:00.005-05:00

Dang, that was pretty easy too. This is one of my Christmas cards from a few years ago. It very likely is a CASE of something I saw in the Splitcoast gallery way back when. If it is, I'm sorry I don't remember who to give credit to.
Recipe: Paper and ink SU white, bliss blue, ballet blue and brilliant blue, stamps SU Snowflakes.

Signature: testing, testing 1, 2, 3...

2008-08-10T19:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, that might have been extremely easy. We'll see if it works at the end of the post. I went to http://www.mylivesignature.com and made it for free.

Wow! It totally works!
(again)

A new blog banner!

2008-08-10T19:41:00.003-05:00

Okay, I'm so excited. I made a new header. I've been wanting to do this, but figured it was too hard. I even started looking around online for people who created blog banners, but I decided to give it a try, and I did it! Woo hoo!
FYI the images from top L to R then bottom L to R are: A cool row of barren trees at the top of one of the seven hills of Rome, a birthday card, a photo of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, after that 3 more of my cards, and in the bottom right corner a pic inside the Cologne (Koln--needs an umlaut) Cathedral in Cologne/ Koln, Germany.
The back ground papers are SU on the left and right and the black and white paper is from Heidi Grace Designs.
You may see a couple other changes to the blog (if I can figure out how to do it). I'm going to work on a signature line and a watermark. We'll see how that goes. As for crafting, I've been a bum this weekend, so nothing to show.
Have a great week!
Lisa

A day off

2008-08-07T15:06:00.003-05:00

I got an extra day off today which gives me a four day weekend! Woo hoo! So what to do with an extra day??? It rained (we so needed it), so I had to have a little nap. Also, that freed up a guy to come put up a ceiling fan (in the room where the light fixture was was off to one side). What he discovered in the ceiling was wood slats (he described it as having hard wood floors, but on the ceiling) covering up a plaster ceiling, above the drywall ceiling that we see in the room today. The wooden slats had shrunk over time, and someone had put concrete mortar between the slats. So the project wasn't quite as big of a deal as we thought it might be
Here's the new fan, and kind of behind it you can see the whole where the old fixture was. Hopefully my painter guy can fill that in. I'm not sure what we'll be able to do to mimic the new texture.

I also tried my hand at the color challenge over at kwernerdesignblog.com. I substituted PTI summer sunrise for SU summer sun since I didn't have any summer sun. Once I had completed the whole thing, I realized I had left out one of the challenge colors (pumpkin). Oh well, here's the card.

Recipe: SU basic black cardstock, PTI bitty baby blessings DP and summer sunrise grosgrain ribbon, SU chipboard stars covered in rose DP, Making Memories shimmer stickers.

Thanks for dropping in!
Lisa

Crafting Smorgasbord

2008-08-03T13:31:00.002-05:00

This weekend, fellow YaYa Stacie (check out her blog here: http://staciehoo.blogspot.com/, had some friends over for a "Splatters Platters" party to benefit The Centers for Children and Families. For a set price, we were provided with a platter, and all the paints/ brushes to decorate to our heart's content. Of course, there was extreme potlucking as well (that's in the unofficial bylaws of the YaYas...something about crafting and extreme potlucking). It was so neat to see the designs that everyone came up with. You can check them out on Stacie's blog. I can't wait to see them after they're glazed and fired.
By the time I got home I was pretty tired so I took a little nap. When I woke up I was drawn to the craft room. I broke out my PTI Floral Frenzy set and had some fun. Here are some of my creations.

I really like how this one turned out.
Recipe: Cardstock SU Kraft, PTI white, Stamps PTI Floral Frenzy, Ribbon PTI Summer Sunrise and dark chocolate, Ink PTI summer sunrise, dark chocolate, and SU old olive.

This next one is kind of blah. I do like the look of the sweet daisies, but I think it needs more color/ layers.

Recipe: Cardstock SU Kraft, Stamps PTI Floral Frenzy, Ink StazOn Cotton white, SU Old Olive, PTI summer sun.

As you may know, in the past I was a paper hoarder. Only recently with the help of some of my fellow bloggers have I really started using my decorative paper. Kristina (http://kwernerdesign.com/blog/) has especially helped me to use more DP.
I think this is a partial case of someone's sketch challenge (the curvy cut to the DP). I love how the sentiments curviness works with the cut in the DP.

Recipe: Cardstock SU wild wasabi, DP SU spring silhouettes, ribbon PTI aqua mist, ink Palette Noir, sentiment SU Elegant inspirations.

So, If you've read this far, I'm sure you're dying to know the house update. I've got someone lined up to paint ceilings starting next week. He is a painter during his daytime job, and does some jobs "on the side". He'll be coming over after work to paint. I also got some bids on windows (and had some major sticker shock). I think I'm going to try to save money for another couple of months and then get that done. I had one quote that was twice what the other was...that guy was really trying to make a sale, and apparently thought I was incredibly stupid.
Anyhoo, that's all for now. Happy crafting, and have a great week!

Halleluja, Amen!

2008-07-27T15:31:00.003-05:00

This post has nothing to do with crafting, but here goes. The title to this post is appropriate because "Halleluja, Amen!" the ceilings are done (except for painting), and this is what our choir sang this morning at church from Handel's Judas Maccabeus (sp?). On the note of singing, check out my friend Matthew in this YouTube video. He sings in our choir and is awesome. He's the one on your right, and he sings first.

He's a Supah Stah!
Have a great week! If you've got a ceiling painting connection in Little Rock, "call me and let me know".
Lisa

Clock

2008-07-26T16:57:00.003-05:00

Here's my finished clock:

Recipe: clock Creative Imaginations, DP Wild Saffron Collection K and Company, carstock SU So Saffron and PTI dark chocolate, stickers Making Memories shimmer stickers, sentiment Time To Stamp by Cornish Heritage Farms Rummage Bin.

I thought this sentiment was perfect for the clock. It reads "Every day is a blessing. Every hour is a dream, Every minute is a possibility."
Enjoy,

Lisa

Another card and a ceiling update

2008-07-26T13:44:00.007-05:00

This morning we had a "virtual birthday party" for my friend Pig (The Crafty Pig from SCS). We tried to do a video conference with Yahoo messenger and our webcams. We did get to see and hear each other on and off so that was fun. I've still got to put some numbers on my clock and get the clock mechanism working. I used my fave Wild Saffron DP from K and Company. I'll post a pic when I get that finished.
Speaking of Wild Saffron paper, here's a card I made with some of the paper. I used Taylor's sketch here:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_v5PSbVeSQHw/SIlmtw6KNVI/AAAAAAAABoA/XuxrxJD9cRE/s1600-h/TECC26-(sketch).jpg

Recipe: Cardstock So saffron SU, Dark chocolate PTI, Blue bayou SU, Stamper's select vanilla PTI, DP and stickers Wild Saffron collection K and Company, ink dark chocolate PTI, sentiment SU Warm Words.
Here's the update on the ceilings. Todd is here as we speak working on them. So far he's done the master bedroom and bath and kitchen. I think he's going to do one more room and then come back tomorrow. Here's what it looks like so far (it's not painted yet, it will be GORGEOUS when it is:

The pattern is called "California knock-down" or "Bungalow knock-down" which should be period correct for my 1920's craftsman home.
I can't wait for it all to be done!!!
Lisa

Organization!

2008-07-25T22:28:00.005-05:00

Several years ago I saw an episode of The Christopher Lowell Show (remember him?). He showed how you could use a door across two saw horses as a desk. I made my version of the desk, complete with a faux painting technique. He even showed a picture of my desk during his letters from the viewers segment...y'all didn't know I was that famous did you? This has worked well for my computer desk for quite some time. I had been using this small 4ft X 2.5 ft table as my craft table along with an iris cart and some bins for storage. In the midst of all my household projects I got the idea to use my big computer desk for the craft desk...lots of room to spread out, but still no storage. I found the greatest file cabinets/drawers at Target. http://www.target.com/Coastline-3-Drawer-File-White/dp/B000MRD5A8/ref=sc_ri_1/602-3922306-9809428 They had free shipping so I had them sent right to my house (which was really smart because they weigh 60 lbs each). The first one took me almost 2 hours to put together, but the 2nd only took an hour. I think they turned out pretty good. I may have to get a couple more of these for my computer desk. I put them in place of the saw horses and VOILA:

As you can see, there's still lots of stuff that needs to find a better home underneath, but this is great for starters. My first task once I got my new desk set up was to put my paper in the file drawers. I love these little labels for my SU paper that I got on Ebay a few years ago. I will need to get some more folders for all my PTI paper.

Here are a couple more cards I made yesterday:

Recipe: Cardstock SU wild wasabi, Stamps SU Happy Everything, DP and buterfly sticker K and Company Wild Saffron collection, ribbon PTI dark chocolate.

This next one was my try at Taylor VanBrugen's sketch challenge a few weeks back. I must be hungry for neopolitan icecream with this color combo.

Recipe: Cardstock PTI dark chocolate, DP Making Memories Comopolitan Collection, Stickers Sandylion Essentials, sentiment SU Sincere Salutations.

Have a great weekend, and go make something!
Lisa

Playing hookey

2008-07-24T14:54:00.006-05:00

Woo hoo! Work has been very slow for the past few weeks (with the exception of a few days here and there that were the normal frenetic pace). Because we've been so unusually slow, I got "overstaffed" from work. That means a day off! What better way to spend a day off than being lazy, and making some cards. Here's what I came up with today.

Recipe: Retro Boutique stamps by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs, DP Wing ding by ki memories, Baroque background stamp SU, basic black cardstock SU, Stampers select white PTI, Palette noir ink, sweet blush twill ribbon PTI.

Recipe: Kraft cardstock SU, DP Basic Grey Lily Kate, chip board SU, shimmer stickers letters by Making Memories, Lemon tart grosgrain ribbon PTI.

Recipe: Kraft cardstock SU, DP PTI Chocolate remix, stamps PTI Text Boxed, sentiment SU Friendly Flowers, ribbon PTI chocolate twill, and white craft ink.

Hmmmm, looking back at all these cards, I think I may be in a bit of a rut with my layouts... I'll have to try something new for next time.
Lisa

Oh my lord and taylor!

2008-07-20T15:40:00.000-05:00

So I thought I'd actually write in a few of these cards that I've made, and actually send them, but I couldn't find a pen anywhere in my office. I look in the kitchen junk drawer, and there are a few, but I'm thinking "where are all my pens?". I look in this little ceramic jar thingy that I keep on my dresser with all my stuff that I dump in it every day after work, and here's what I found:

In case you're wondering:
57 writing utencils (pens, pencils, Sharpies, and high liters)
4 pony tail holders
1 pkg batteries for
1 pager
1 ID badge
lots of little connectors for various types of tubing
20ish alcohol pads (for cleaning stethescope between patients)
several bandaids--sometimes I get owies too
3 pairs of scissors
several stickers for the kiddos at work
etc, there was even more crap in there, the lid couldn't even sit down all the way on the jar thingy.

Rest assured, I have cleaned it out, discarded all non-working writing utensils,
and separated them into ones I like for work and ones I like for home.

Just thought you'd want to know. Back to our regularly scheduled program...

Today I did something other than work on my house!!!

2008-07-20T14:27:00.000-05:00

So, as you know if you've read my previous posts, I've been doing lots of work on my house. To get most of this stuff done I've needed lots of help. Today I made some thank yous for Luke, Marshall, and Edwina who were my super awesome ceiling scraping crew.
Below is my attempt at a "masculine" card. I know, it's got ribbon on it, but it's brown, gimme a break. I also tried to distress it and used grunge board to keep it from looking to "girly".

Recipe: SU Real Red and Blue Bayou cardstock, DP K and Company "Wild Saffron", ribbon Michael's, Tim Holtz grunge board, Sentiment SU Sage Advice, Ink SU chocolate chip.

Next is my "girly" card for Edwina. It's design is a CASE I'm sure, but I don't know who to give credit to. I {heart} this set by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs http://www.ginakdesigns.com I used the last few scraps of this DP that I LOVE. This makes it a good fit for Emily's challenge here: http://emilygiovanni.com/?p=2148 Unfortunately, I have no clue about what company it's from.

Here's close up of the paper piecing:

I've been hoarding the last teeny little scraps of this DP because I liked it so much, and it's the last.
Recipe: Fabriano Medioevalis card, stamps Retro Boutique by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs, ink Pallete Noir Black, DP ??? ETA- one of the DPs is Basic Grey Two Scoops---thanks, Emily!

Thanks for coming to visit, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Lisa

It's DONE!!!!

2008-07-18T18:49:00.000-05:00

A super gi-normous thank you to Edwina, Luke, and Marshall. The scraping is done. All of it. The whole house. Here are some pics of Luke and Marshall at work.

Here's what my bedroom ceiling looked like after they attacked it.

I'm not sure if any of you are aware of this, but scraping popcorn ceilings is just a teensy bit messy...

Actually Edwina was awesome. Not only was she the foreman/ contractor overseeing the job, but she also helped with the massive task of cleaning up. I really just have the living/ dinning rooms to clean up and then drag everything back to where it belongs. Sounds like I'll be having BIG fun tomorrow!
THANKS EDWINA, LUKE, AND MARSHALL!!!! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!!!!

A productive day

2008-07-12T22:25:00.000-05:00

So it's been awhile since I last posted. Since then, I've painted my master bathroom. I'm really pleased with how the color came out. Sorry, my pics aren't the best, but it's apple green with white trim.
This morning, I put up my cute little mirror with a shelf that I bought at Tar-Zhay (that's Target for those of you not in the know).

Then Debbie and Kimberly came over for some crafting. The first card is my homage to Kristina Werner at http://kwernerdesign.com/blog/ . I love her cards! Check her out. This paper is too cool, it's kind of a flocked, velvety paper. It kinda reminds me of old wall paper.

This next card is for the July YaYa challenge. Kimberly made all the YaYas a bucket with a year's worth of challenges, one card each month. We all start with the same idea, similar supplies and then come up with totally different creations. It's a lot of fun. This month Kimberly gave us a bunch of random papers and embellishments to use on a card. I used the pretty decorative paper and the flower ribbon to create this. The cardstock and stamps are from Paper Trey Ink.
This final card is made with the Summer Picnic decorative papers from Stampin' Up. The ribbon is from Michael's and the sentiment is from PTI.

After crafting, Kimberly helped me put up the medicine cabinet. Whew! Talk about a job. That thing is HEAVY! I used a drill and everything...you would have been SO impressed. Thank you Kimberly!!!

Luke and one of his school friends are supposed to come over next Friday to scrape ceilings. I can't wait to get this done, just a couple more things and I'll be done with the latest round of remodeling.

After the day-o-crafting I went over to my sister and brother-in-law's house for boiled spicy shrimp, potatoes, and corn on the cob. Yum! My nephew and his cousin were running around 90 to nothing, shrieking for most of the evening. I think they will sleep very well tonight.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Lisa

4th of July week challenge and house update

2008-07-05T09:52:00.000-05:00

Hi all,
Hope you're enjoying your long weekend. I've been trying to make a card or two between home projects. Today there's been a change in plan. Luke and his friend will be coming next week to scrape ceilings. Today I'm going to goto Home Depot and pick some paint for my master bathroom. Right now it's this HORRID mint toothpaste color (scroll down to see the offensive color). I'm thinking I might do an apple green or a cocoa brown. We'll see what I come back with.
As for 4th of July challenge cards I did a card using glossy paper with the Joseph's coat technique.

It's a CASE from the SCS tutorial. I used my old stand-by favorite stamp set- Wonderful Wings (Stampin' Up), sentiment from Paper Trey Ink's Mixed Messages. The paper is SU cool caribbean, brilliant blue, white and glossy white card stock. The ribbon is from Michael's. I also made a 3X3 set CASE'ing someone else on a blog (can't remember which one so I'm not going to post that since I can't give credit where credit is due).
Please know that if I ever CASE you it really is an instance of "imitation is the highest form of flattery". Thanks to all the bloggers who provide inspiration!
Lisa

Update and a challenge card

2008-07-04T16:30:00.000-05:00

Yea! I now have 2 new lights in my master bathroom, 4 can lights and a pendulum in the kitchen,

2 new fans in my living/ dining room and a programmable thermostat.

Thanks to Josh and Monica. We were unable to do a can light in the pantry and a ceiling fan in one of the other bedrooms because there is CONCRETE up in the rafters. This must be some kind of weird, old house thing. Josh said he would be afraid to cut through that (and he didn't have the right tools) because it could crack the whole ceiling. He recommended having a contractor do that part. The pantry light I can do without (lots of light coming in from outside), but I would like to get the light/ ceiling fan centered in the guest bedroom.
Sorry, the pictures are kind of dark because it's getting dark and rainy outside. I'll have to take pics when the whole process is done. Hopefully, we'll do some ceiling scrapping tomorrow and then get the retexturing sometime in the near future. I can't wait til my house looks like a house again!
Here is a challenge card. This is done with acetate, and I guess it could count for the 2 kinds of dp challenge also. The image is from the Bundle of Joy set from http://whippersnapperdesigns.com/. The paper is from http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/default.asp sky blue designer series paper.
Happy crafting!

Lights!

2008-07-04T08:34:00.000-05:00

A quick update, my friend Monica's husband is here to install my new light fixtures and ceiling fans! Woo hoo! Will try to post pics of the results later today.
Wow, I sure do use a lot of excaimation points!
Happy 4th of July! Enjoy your long weekend!
Lisa

4th of July YaYa Challenges

2008-07-01T13:33:00.000-05:00

The YaYas love to get together for crafting and card making, but lately it just seems harder and harder to get us all together in one place. (Our membership keeps growing too, so it's hard to find a place for us all to fit). Recently, we've been having virtual crafting days (weeks) that have really helped get me back into the card making groove. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to find one (or more) of these challenges that inspires you, and make something. There is no prize, just the good feeling that comes with crafting and the knowledge that you actually picked up your supplies and used them. Feel free to post a link in a comment on this post if you want to share your work with us. So, without further ado, here are the challenges:

From me:
1. card with acetate
2. card with glossy cardstock
3. two kinds of patterned paper on one card (ooo wild and CRAZY)
4. an "action" card, ie spinner, pop-up, etc
5. anything but a card

From Debbie:
6. Red, white and blue card
7. 3 different patterened papers on one card (WILDER AND CRAZIER THAN LISA'S) LOL
8. Snow man card
9. Embossed card in your favorite color
10. Bug or critter card

From Pig:
11. inchie - visit Ellen Hutson's blog for info and links for inspiration http://ellenhutson. typepad.com/ inchie_inklings/
12. 3x3 boxed set of cards. Box is included in challenge
13. something with grungeboard
14. simple card - no layers or background papers allowed. AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEE :)
15. over-the-top card - extreme opposite of #4. Lots of layers, embellishments, etc.

From Kimberly
16. 100 Step Challenge.
Take a notebook and pencil/pen and walk out your front door (or vacation cabin door) and count off 100 steps. You can go in any direciton you like .... wherever you stop .. take note of the colors you see and/or objects around you. Use these colors/images and create something fabulous!
17. Do you hear color?
Turn on the radio or put in your favorite CD .. listen to the music ... when a song comes on that really makes you happy ... toe tappin', song bubbling out of you kind of happy .... close your eyes ... and imagine what color(s) you see in your mind as you listen to your "happy song". Write down the first 5 colors that come to mind ... now go create something magnficent! Be sure to share your song with everyone when you post your creation!
18. What do you feel?
No matter what the weather is doing or what time of day it is when you start this challenge ... go outside .. your porch .. your stoop ... your driveway ... your lawn ... sit ... close your eyes ... and clear your mind of the all of the chatter from the day ... what do you feel? This is a sensory question ... not how are you feeling ... but "what" do you feel? This is not visual .. purely base this challenge on what you "feel" being outside after you have cleared yoru mind of all the junk. Create whatever this feeling inspires in you! When you post your creation ... be sure to describe what you "felt".
19. Off to the kitchen ....
The "input" into this challenge may be an all day experience. Your challenge is to "taste" primary colors: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, White and Black. Jot down the foods that you choose for each color and why you chose it. (Might be as simple as "I had mustard on my sandwhich. Or I have an egg this morning and it had a yellow yolk.") Also make note of what it tasted like and if you really liked it or if it was just so-so. Any emotion that food brings to your mind? Perhaps a memory? A guilty pleasure? When you have tasted or eaten something of every color (including white and black) ... review your notes and create something fantastic from that inspiration!
20. All the better to smell you with my dear ....
I think I will leave this one wide open ... especially for Pig who has a very quirky sense of humor! :)

So those are the challenges. I'd love to see your work!
Have a happy and safe holiday weekend, and remember our troops.
Lisa

Remodeling

2008-06-29T18:12:00.000-05:00

One of my most un-favorite things is remodeling. Living in an 80+ year old house it's inevitable that there will be some projects to undertake from time to time. I love the results of remodeling it's just the getting there part that I don't enjoy. Since I bought this house almost 10 years ago, I've made lots of cosmetic changes; painting a few rooms, new kitchen counter tops, flower beds, painting the outside of the house, etc. Here's the outside pre and post painting. The flower beds are MUCH more grown up now.

The time has come, after living here almost 10 years, to scrape the popcorn ceilings......aaaaaaahhhhh....doesn't that strike terror into your heart???

I had actually even started to scrape some of the ceilings (just the kitchen and master bath) about a year ago and just never got going again to finish the job. I got a few quotes on what it would cost to have someone come in and do the work (scraping the ceilings, retexturing, painting, and installing several lights/ fans). The prices were pretty steep for just the scraping. So now I have enlisted the help of my friend and fellow YaYa, Edwina. She's providing ceiling scraping labor in the form of her son (and my sorta-kinda-but-not-really boyfriend) and a friend of his. They are high school students and just a bit less expensive than the "professionals".
To top it off, I have a leak in the roof that has created a gross mold spot in my master bathroom. Yuk!!!

Monica at work heard the prices I was quoted for the electrical work, and promptly called her husband (an electrician) to do a price comparison. He says he can give me a much better price.

Out in the backyard, I've decided to get rid of the pool. I had started taking apart the deck myself (can you believe it???) when Leigh, my fellow YaYa and next door neighbor called up asking what I planned to do with the wood. I really hadn't thought ahead that far, except that I wanted to get rid of it and would probably have to pay to have it hauled away. She said if she and her husband, Aaron, could have the wood, he would take it down for me!!! Hooray! I get out of the heavy labor, and save the cost of hauling it away. Here's the swamp and what's left of the deck:

So, as you can see, I've got a lot of projects about to get under way. Can't wait to see the final results.

More and more I learn that The Beatles had it right, I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends....

Paper crafting

2008-06-28T21:29:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things is paper crafting. I started maybe 5 years ago when my friend Debbie dragged me to a Stampin' Up party. I did not want any part of it. I knew I had no artistic or creative abilities and that I would be bored out of my mind.
So I went to the party and loved it. I thought I was the most talented person on the planet to make (copy) Anne, our demo's, card. Since then my card making skills and tastes have evolved, and I do have to say my creations today look a bit better than when I started. (Though no where near as fabulous as many of the bloggers out there in the blog-o-sphere that I like to CASE).
Recently, my friend Kimberly challenged some of us in our crafty/ card making group (the Art YaYas) to get to crafting. Last weekend we had a virtual party and made lots of cards. I loved it. It forced me to actually use some of the crafting supplies that I've been hoarding. Pig (that's what she told us to call her, really!) sent me all of her challenge creations as a birthday gift. Am I a lucky girl or what?

Enough about that. Here are a few of my creations.

I made this card combining two of our challenges. This was a color challenge to use soft sky, chocolate chip, close to cocoa, and vanilla. The other challenge was to use Paper Trey Ink's ( http://papertreyink.com/) new set called Guidelines---love this set! This challenge was to make a card with cupcakes. The dp is from PTI and the images are from Stampendous.
This card was made using some beautiful dp from K and Company from their Wild Saffron collection. The monogram is done using the DIY monogram stamper from http://www.justritestampers.com/ . Kimberly gave me the monogram stamper with two fonts and the alphabets for my b-day. It is awesome!

I did it!

2008-06-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, you bloggers, you've finally convinced me to do it. It's official. I have now entered the 21st century and there's no turning back.

What will this blog be about? Well I'm sure you've noticed the snazzy title up there. I plan to write about my favorite things. Maybe a little about family, friends, paper crafting, travel and music, and who knows what else?

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and come back soon!
Lisa