Hurray for Hubby (or...2 cards and a crazy kitty)

Lee discovered my camera cord in the abyss of his truck...which makes sense, since that's the vehicle we took camping.  haha

So, here are 2 cards and a crazy kitty...

A friend loaned me Pretty Peony and I made this birthday card for a co-worker (yes, another one :)  The 2-step flower and leaves are only 2 ink pads...I simply stamped off for the lighter layer.  And there's that topnote again...

And the inside.  I usually sell off my retired sets, since I can't demo them anymore.  But this birthday set (It's Your Birthday) is just too handy to get rid of.  So, I save valuable storage space by unmounting the retired sets I keep.  I heat the wood-mounted stamp in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds and then peel the foam (with rubber attached) off the block and apply Aleene's Tack-it Over and Over to the back.  It sticks to the acrylic block beautifully (you can see them on the left.  Also, I cut  the "Happy Birthday" into 2 words, which makes them more versatile.

Here's the second picture.  This was for Kristina's color challenge a while back, but I never posted it.  Lots of embossing on this one...almost everything.  I used my vanilla reinker and aquapainter to color in the large image and scallop-circle-punched image...man, that took forever.  The double-sided satin ribbon was from the Theatre Ribbon Originals in the last catalog, but it gives you an idea of what the new stuff looks like.

And here's the crazy kitty.  Finn loves getting inside of things.  When I set the lid aside to clean the litter box he lays inside looking out the door like it's a doghouse.  The other day I found him inside this box, which is under 2 other boxes (all empty).  So, I had my mom and sister pick up this cat tent while they were at Ikea today.  I sure hope the dog doesn't try to eat it.

Ok, so I'm a bad blog-mommy...

Yeah, I admit it, I'm a negligent blog-mommy.  I also have no real excuse other than laziness.  I've thought about blogging a lot since my last post...just haven't actually gotten around to it.  And now I can't find my camera cable!!  See what happens when I go on vacation?  So, I was going to use that as my excuse to, yet again, not post for you all.  But, instead, I'm going to share from my archives (is 6 months old enough to be considered "archived"?).

Anyway, moving on...this is a card from a workshop back in March.  It's a simple tri-fold.  Basically, fold the cardstock in half to create a standard card size and then fold the front flap back on itself.  Pretty simple.  The flower was colored by loading a summer sun marker with pumpkin pie.    Theoretically, the base of each petal is darker than the tips.  Loading is a fancy term for using a light colored marker as a blender pen.  As the dark ink is "scribbled out" the lighter color is seen.You only want to do this with like colors.  I wouldn't load my barely banana with not quite navy, for instance.  If your colors are within same generally family, you should have no problems with lingering color.

And here it is open.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll get some newer stuff up once I find that stupid cord.  Now, where would I have put that...?

stamps: time well spent; cardstock: whisper white, brilliant blue, garden green; ink: basic gray, pumpkin pie, and brilliant blue classic pads, summer sun, brilliant blue, and pumpkin pie marker; pumpkin pie striped grosgrain ribbon

A Wandering Mind...

I am truly enjoying my snow swirled set.  It's SO versatile!  I made this card after seeing this card.  Now, I came across that card while blog hopping the other night, was suddenly struck with the idea to try it with snow swirled and got right to stamping.  I originally wanted to start with mellow moss...but I was all out.  So, I tried old olive...but wasn't really lovin' it with the kraft, and I was determined to keep the kraft.  I decided to try pacific point and started stamping, lost almost all sight of the original card and came up with this.  All the stamping is in whisper white and I took the pic under a lamp in the living room at about 10 pm, so it's not a great rendition...but I like it.

stamps: snow swirled, everyday flexible phrases; cardstock: pacific point, kraft; ink: whisper white craft; fiber: hemp twine; tools: word window, 1 3/8" circle and ticket corner punches, coluzzle, sponge dauber; other: dimensionals

I'm a giver...

Today started out like any other Friday...doin' my work...makin' my calls...when *BAM* I found myself volunteering to fill a last minute opening for today's Red Cross blood drive at work.  The request was simple "We have a couple openings in this mornings donor schedule."  I didn't even realize what I was doing until after my email was sent...4 seemingly innocent words..."I can take one"...and I was committed.  Now, I'm sure you think I'm being a bit over dramatic, but up until today, aside from a vial here and there for my doctor, I'd never given blood before!  I signed up for a blood mobile in high school once, but got sick before I could make it to my appointment...but I digress...

After answering their questionnaire, which, by the way, is rather involved.  I had a bit of a wait and then up on the table.  Now, I've had bad experiences with nurses who like to go fishing for veins that simply don't want to be caught.  So, when Nurse kept pushing my right arm for a vein, I started getting nervous.  Ok, lets try the left...no?  right? no? hey, Other Nurse, come here...is that a vein?  They ended up using a blood pressure cuff as a tourniquet...but it worked.

When I was done Nurse and Other Nurse said "wow, you did great!" (yeah, they new I was a first-timer, haha)  I was surprised to be done so soon, so I asked how long it usually takes to fill a pint...8-10 minutes...you know how long it took me??  7.5!

So, anyway.  I now have 2 very nice stickers and a picture by cell phone, courtesy of a co-worker, that I'll be adding to my scrapbook journal.  This is me with Tammy, co-worker, stamping friend and blood-donation-moral-support.  Thanks, Tammy!!

I gave...did you?