More Dinos

Can I just say that Kim over at My Favorite Things rocks? I emailed her about the broken tail on the dino and she promptly sent me out a new set. I'm beyond excited and will definitely continue to order through her. Cute stamps and great customer service--what more in life could a girl want?

This was a quick card for Cousin Brian. He is exactly one year older than Miles so we generally have a combined birthday party to make it easy on family. The card base is Buckaroo Blue and other colors used are True Thyme, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White. I stamped the image and sentiment with my Versamagic Dew Drop in Jumbo Java. I colored in the dino with a blender pen and the inks from my True Thyme, Buckaroo Blue, and Pumpkin Pie ink pads. Then, I used some Orange Peel stickles on the candles, hat, and some of the frosting. I colored over the dino and sentiment with my Clear Glaze pen and then dotted the outside of the image with an Orange Glaze Pen which is probably the closest I'll come to doodling.

I'm not 100% thrilled with it but it served its purpose. Sometimes I don't like giving my cards away because I know that they're not going to be saved so it's probably better that I didn't agonize over this one for hours :-)

Delta and Dawn

I'm so glad that they've made it back to the ocean. I've been following the story of the Humpback Whales who accidently came up into the Sacramento River. I vividly remember Humphrey the Humpback whale from when I was a kid and still find it amazing to this day.

So, roughly 20 years later, we've got 2 humpback whales who are far, far from sea trapped in a river. A mama whale and her baby. The first few days this was breaking my heart since they really talked about the mama wasting away since she was giving all her nutrients to her baby by nursing her. . .those of you who don't know me--I'm a DIE HARD nursing mom who totally and completely believes that breast is best and kids should nurse till they self wean (or mom helps them in a gentle way). Anyway, this has been a huge news story lately and I know it's more than local. Apparently, they made it under *my* bridge and are back out in the open sea. You can check it out and see what I've been staying up at night to watch here :-)

A Rak from Yvette

I love this RAK I just got from Yvette. Petal Prints was one of the first sets I bought as a demo and even though it's retiring, I'm definitely hanging on to it. This card is gorgeous! I love pink and brown together and since this is one of my favorite sets, can I just tell you how much I love it!!!!!!

That said, it's Wednesday and I love hump day since the week is nearing the end. There's a carnival at Mason's school in the afterschool program so I'm going to try to get out of work a little early so that I can grab Miles and Maya and take them as well.

The room is coming along slowly but surely--dh gave me a hard time that I was going to disappear in there since he was leaving Tuesday morning and wanted us to spend time together. . .his reasoning is that I can work on it at night while he's gone. . .ummmmmm, that's part of the reason it got that way. I'm too tired at night! Anyway, my goal is to have a gorgeous room to show you soon and then I'm not going to keep throwing things in there. I know if it's usable, I'll use it and won't have to keep bringing things from one room to another and then just throwing them in there.

Have a great Wednesday and send some sun my way. We're having unseasonably cool weather right now.

Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up 2006 (Live)

I'm loving this!

Happy Memorial Day

I really wish every weekend could be a 3 day weekend. We've had a great weekend here and glorious weather.

Miles turned 5 on Friday so we started by taking donut holes to preschool and ended the day with letting him pick where we had dinner :-) Saturday was his party at a park and we could not have asked for better weather. Sunday was a lazy day around the house but we finally found a Nintendo Wii!!!! I think dh and I are enjoying it much more than the kids at this point. Dh and I also managed to get out to dinner with a couple friends with no kids!!!!! We went to Equinox which is on top of the San Francisco Hyatt and revolves. We had some great views, good friend, and good conversation. I'm glad that we went since the restaurant is closing indefinitely at the end of the month. Today is going to be another lazy day at home but I do have one major project that I want to tackle.

Everyone shows their stamping spaces and they're so neat, clean, organized, perfect, etc. I thought I'd show you a little bit of my reality :-) My daughter's room aka my stamping space until we move her out of our room is a disaster! I don't really stamp in here so I take my stuff downstairs to work and then when I'm done, it's late and I'm tired so I shove it in the room with the promise to myself to put it away in the morning. Well, as you can see that's just not happening. Today, I resolve to get this space cleaned up and then I think I may start stamping in here and putting things away when I'm done. My goal is to get it neat, cleaned, organized, and perfect so I can show you an awesome after shot with a nice stamping space.

Have a great day and thanks for visiting.

Blogger RAK

I got this wonderful RAK from Heather Stevens. She wrote the sweetest note on the inside. I love getting happy mail and I love this card! The card base is Perfect Plum which was the first cardstock color that I purchased from Stampin' Up! way back when :-) The white layer is embossed with the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls embossing folder and I'm not quite sure what she used to cut out the "thanks". I love these butterflies from PAPERTREYink and she used the diamond shaped brads from the vintage brads in the centers of the bodies--clever and I'll have to copy that idea since these are the least used brads in this assortment :-)

Go check out Heather and her creations when you get the chance. You should also consider joining the Splitcoast Bloggers club. It's a wonderful chance to get some happy mail and send out these cards we make to people you know will appreciate them. It won't be a quick, "uh huh, that's nice" and into the circular filing bin :-)

Have a good one! I hope you're all having great weather and are getting the chance to enjoy it!

Can you believe this?

So, it's costing me an arm and a leg to fill up my car these days. I haven't been driving our Tahoe lately because it's having some transmission problems but the car I am driving takes premium gas. At this rate, it's gonna hit $4/gallon before I know it!

I took this pic yesterday while participating in the Bay To Breakers. Dh, the little ones, and I were among the roughly 70,000 participants in this. We were literally in a sea of people the whole way. It was fun and definitely a San Francisco experience that we're glad we did but don't know if we'll do it again in the future. Anyway, Simone mentioned a few weeks ago that gas in Chicago is astronomical. Now, I feel for her because I live in one of the most expensive areas in the country and our gas prices top the State. I thought I'd heard that San Francisco topped the nation but doing a quick search today proved me wrong. It's still pretty darn pricey here and if you don't believe me, check this out!

The other pics are from various points along the way--see all the people? I'm only showing some of the mild pics. I will tell you that my 4, almost 5 year, was baffled by one of the nudies. . . .his only comment was "hey, that guy isn't wearing any shoes!" Dh and I chuckled since that wasn't the only thing he wasn't wearing! Fortunately, we were pretty much in the back a lot so I didn't scar my kids forever :-)

My Favorite Things

Ok, I love this stamp set by My Favorite Things My oldest ds desperately wants me to let him use this set since he's has alway LOVED Dinosaurs. I made both of these cards to give away. One of them is for Mason's birthday buddy and I'm so behind that this is about a month late. The other one is for one of dh's friend's son.

Card #1 is on a Cool Caribbean card base. The image is stamped in Versafine Black Onyx on Whisper White cardstock. It's colored in with Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, and Real Red Markers and then highlighted with my Sakura Stardust pen. After coloring it in, the white was a little stark so I dabbed on some of my i kan dee pearlescent chalks for a light blue shimmery background. This image is matted on Tempting Turquoise and Real Red cardstock and then put on an Old Olive strip that has some silver eyelets attached to the side. The sentiment is stamped with Brilliance Lightning Black to go with the shimmery theme.

Card #2 is on a Yoyo Yellow card base. The image is stamped with Versamagic Midnight Black on Whisper White. I colored it in with various Sakura Glaze and Souffle pens and then matted it on Real Red carstock. I layered this on a piece of Only Orange cardstock cut on the diagonal. The sentiment is stamped in Versamagic Red Magic.

My only complaint is that when I pulled my stamp off the block ( the dinosaur with the prezzies on the back), it ripped. I'm soooooooooooo sad. Is this user error or is the stamp flawed? I emailed Kim about it and hope that I can get the one stamp back instead of buying the whole set again since I really, truly must have this set!

Anyway, it's late on a Friday and dh and I need to get to bed before the kiddos wake up! In case I don't make it back, have a great weekend!

Isn't she cute?

I love this stamp! This is one of the ones I got on the way up to Sacramento yesterday. I stamped a little last night before falling asleep. It's amazing how productive I can be when I'm not disturbed. I actually got 2 cards done but I'm saving the other one for tomorrow's post (unless I stamp something better tonight). This stamp is called With Flower and is a Karen Stolper stamp from American Art Stamp. There were a few others at the store that I stopped at that I almost got and when I checked out the site, there are tons that I absolutely must have!!!!!! I love these little figures!!!!!!!!!! I stamped her with my Tsukineko Dew Drop Versamagic Midnight Black ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and then colored her with my i kan dee pearlescent chalks. I matted her on Pretty in Pink cardstock. The sentiment is from Butterfly Kisses by PAPERTREYink and is stamped in Tsukineko Dew Drop Versamagic Pixie Dust ink on Vintage Violet cardstock. The card base is one of my Sahara Sand long notes and the ribbon is from a set that I got from Making Memories (I think). This is going to a teacher at Mason's school since she picked him up and took him to school today while I was gone. I love that it's cute but not too girly since she's not a girly girl.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of dh. His plane should be landing any minute now so that means he'll be home within the hour! We're off tomorrow for Malcolm X Day and Miles has his 5 year well child check and then I think we'll go see Shrek 3. I'm looking forward to it and you gotta love when a kid movie appeals to adults as well as kids.

Thanks for visiting!

A Make and Take

So, I'm in Sacramento all by my lonesome right now. I came up earlier today for a conference/event and honestly didn't realize the importance of this thing. My boss asked me to attend last Thursday because he couldn't and now that I'm here, I'm totally honored that he thinks highly enough of me to send me to this. This is an important political networking/shoulder rubbing/political deal :-) Everyone I've met has been super nice and is so interested in mentoring me and helping me move up the career ladder. . .and they're connected and are encouraging me to apply for new jobs like right NOW! Whew!

Anyway, on the way up here, I had to make a stop at a rubber stamping store that carries Amuse stamps since I'm still on a hunt. Well, I didn't find any Amuse stamps that I absolutely needed but I did find some other things. . . .I got some Petaloo flowers that are super cute, a Marvy Mega scalloped square, i kan' dee pearlescent chalks, the Tsukineko Essential Glue Pad, and 2 stamps--a scalloped oval by My Sentiments Exactly! and another cute little kinda stick figured girls with a flower by American Art Stamp.

But that's not all--they had a *free* make and take which I did. Super quick and super easy. I'm gonna have to remember this and whip out something like this one when I need to have a bunch of cards on hand.

Anyway, I'm going back home tomorrow after our meetings--I get to be an actual delegate and vote on important issues that affect the whole membership of the organization! Eeks, little ole me with all this responsibility! Until then, it's still relatively early and I did bring some stampin stuff with me so I'm about to play with some new toys before I hit the hay.

Do You Have a Life?

I've seen this floating around on a few other blogs. Apparently, if you've seen 85 of the 239 movies on this list, you don't have a life. . . .So, cut and paste this and check off the movies that you've seen. I don't think it's gonna surprise you that I don't have a life :-) Then again, many of these movies weren't seen in the theater so does that count?

() Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
() Pirates of the Caribbean
() Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
() Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
() Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
(X) AnchorMan
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
() Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
() White Oleander
() Anger Management
() 50 First Dates
() The Princess Diaries
() The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 8 out of 22

(X) Scream
() Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
(X) American Pie 2
() American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
() Harry Potter 1
() Harry Potter 2
() Harry Potter 3
() Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
() The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 13 out of 43

(X) Finding Nemo
() Finding Neverland
() Signs
() The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(X) White Chicks
() Butterfly Effect
(X 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
() Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
() KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
() King Kong
Total so far: 23 out of 66

() A Cinderella Story
() The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving Christmas
(X) Flubber
() Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
() Chicago
() Ghost Ship
() From Hell
() Hellboy
() Secret Window
() I Am Sam
() The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 26 out of 90

() The Day After Tomorrow
() Child’s Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
(X) Remember the Titans
(X) Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
(X) Bad Boys
(X) Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
(X) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
() Lone Star
() Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
(X) Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far: 40 out of 121.

(X) Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
() Christine
(X) E.T.
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
() Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She’s All That
() Calendar Girls
(X) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 56 out of 147.

(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
() Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
() Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
Total so far: 65 out of 165

() Swimfan
() Miracle on 34th street*
(X) Old School
() The Notebook
() K-Pax
() Krippendorf’s Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 73 out of 181

() Base-ketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
() Elf
() Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
(X) American History X
() Three
() The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
() Willard
Total so far: 77 out of 200.

() High Tension
() Club Dread
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
() Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 days later
() Orgazmo
() Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 1
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() The Hills Have Eyes
(X) I Spit on Your Grave
() The Last House on the Left
(X) Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far: 83 out of 220

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
() Animatrix
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal
Total: 94 out of 239

Have a great day!

Lookie--I got RAK'ed!

Hi all! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We made it back yesterday evening and I had some happy mail. I got this wonderful RAK from Debbie Seyer. She used Blossoms Abound and it's so pretty and sparkly! I love it. Can you believe that I actually don't own this SU set ;-) This is making me think that I need it. I love the soft colors of this card and the sparkles. I especially love how the focal image is attached under the slit punched edged. I do admit that I'm slit punch impaired and I totally love this effect--I just haven't figured out how to make it work for me. Debbie is super talented and you should definitely check her blog out when you get the chance.

Today, I got 2 more RAKS!!!!!!! The first is from Cindy because I won one of her FRAKS. I loved this card when I saw it on her blog but it's even more amazing in person. I'm so glad that she's my stamping/blogging bud. She is amazing talented and has a great sense of humor. You've got to check out her blog when you get the chance--it's never a dull moment over there.

The last RAK is from Allison. Allison rocks and is the blogging queen :-) I check her blog out daily and love how she highlights what's going on in the stampin blog world for all of us. Who needs Google Reader when I can check out Stampin When I Can :-) I love the patterned paper that she used on this card and the flowers. This card is sooooooo pretty and so feminine and I'm totally loving it.

But wait, that's not all! I also had a package waiting for me over the weekend from My Favorite Things. I got a few acrylic blocks and the Dino-Mite stamp set. My 8 year old love it :-) and has said more than once "that's a really cool dinosaur stamp set! Can I use it?" ummmmmm, yeah right! This is one of mommy's toys, not yours! I do have a birthday card to make and was going to do it last night but we got in a little late and dh asked me to make a Mother's Day card for his grandma (which I didn't get a pic of before he popped it in the envelope).

So, did I score or what? But wait. . .I'm still not done! I also got a little box from Ellen Hutson today. I ordered some of the Arturo cards and Amuse micro dot twinkle stickers. I cannot wait to play with these toys. The coolest and sweetest thing is that sends a little thanks for ordering so I have one of her works of art now. She is super talented :-)

Finally, since it was 9:00, I had to go to PAPERTREYink to order the newest stamp set, Little Lady, and while I was there I ordered Green Thumb since I didn't have it yet and darnit, that's only $39 and I need to spend $40 for free shipping so why not throw in some clear boxes as well?

Somebody, stop me! I've spent so much lately on non-SU items and am remembering that this is why I became a demo--to save money! I just can't help myself when there are so many cute things out there.

So, I'm watching 24 and will attempt to get a little stamping done since the kids are in bed. I've got an incredibly busy week this week. Friday is a holiday for us but I'm feeling like I'm cramming 7 days of work into 4. I'll be at work till 6:30ish tomorrow night because I've got a meeting that will go late so my dad is picking the kids up for me. I'm leaving for a conference Wednesday afternoon and am trying to decide if I'm bringing the kids home early or checking to see if my dad can pick them up again. I had to figure out a way to get my 8 year old to school on Thursday since I'll be gone over night and have that figured out. Oh, did I mention that dh is gone again? This is going to be a pretty regular occurence with him gone during the week. He usually comes home Thursday but the client just asked if he could travel on Sunday night so he's there first thing Monday morning. . .ummmmmm, I don't think so since our weekends have been sacred and are family time. So, he's thinking of starting to come home on Friday instead of Thursday even though it's a sucky travel day. Methinks it's time for him to look for a job that doesn't entail so much travel. We'll see what happens.

Thanks for visiting!

An Oldie but Goodie

I found this going through my stash of cards the other day. I probably made this card more than a year ago. I was trying to use Blush Blossom since it's a color I rarely use. I got the other colors from the color wheel and they are Close to Cocoa and Night of Navy. I stamped the Canvas background stamp on the card base in Blush Blossom and then overstamped it with French Script in Close to Cocoa. This might have been one of the two times that I ever used that background stamp before I traded it away--like it but I never found that I *needed* to use it. I stamped the flowers from Petal Prints in Night of Navy on Confetti White and then matted them on Night of Navy. I stamped the sentiment from Sincere Salutations with Night of Navy on Confetti White and overstamped the leafy image from Petal Prints with Close to Cocoa that was stamped off a couple times and then dtp'ed it with the Night of Navy ink pad before matting it on Night of Navy. I scored the top of the card about a half inch from the very top and then inserted 3 vintage brads. Looking back, I actually like this card and think it's a pretty unusual color combo for this particular set.

Like my new watermark? I got it from Dina over at http://mamadinis.blogspot.com I think it's pretty cool and she's very quick and it's reasonably priced. I have to play around with it a little more to work on resizing it and moving it but just wanted to get this up quickly before I hit the hay. The plan is for us to leave super early--like 3 am--so I need to finish packing and get in bed!

Thanks for coming and I won't be home again until late Sunday so have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks!

Thanks for all the comments and insight on my last post. In all honesty, I do this blog for myself and because it's fun. I was just a little taken aback that I was found offensive. . .I know I got a little defensive since if I recall correctly, the reason for unsubscribing was "offensive, vulgar, rude content" or something like that. It made me feel like I was creepy or lewd or someone actually had that perception of me. I prefer open minded :-) I loooooooooooove my dh to death and I'm totally and completely happy and satisfied with him but my eyes still work, ya know!

Anyway, I got no stamping done last night and was hoping to get some done tonight but dh is now talking about driving down to LA tonight after dinner. . . .ummmmmmmm, yeah, the kids will sleep so it won't be horrible but I need to finish some of the never ending laundry that we've got going on. The kids (and I) need clean clothes for the weekend. I suggested he get some laundry done today since he's working at home if he wants to leave tonight. Let's see what happens when I get home from work.

Ummmmmm, wow. . .

Ok, I don't know what to think right now. I just checked my email and someone unsubscribed from my blog. Now, people subscribe and unsubscribe regularly so it's really no big deal in the overall scheme of things. I do this for me and if people like it and we start *talking* and viewing each other's blogs then great.

This part kind of bothers me though. Most of the time there is no reason for unsubscribing and I didn't even know it was an option. This particular person unsubscribed because she found my blog "offensive". Wow! I didn't realize that my blog would offend someone. The only thing I can think of is that one of the pics on this Tuesday's eye candy is risque. . .but offensive? Yeesh! To each his own!

So, let me put out a little disclaimer now--most Tuesdays I'm going to post a pic or pics of some guy that I find attractive or sexy in some way, shape, or form. This could include just head shots and/or full body shots. Some of these pics might be semi-nude but I will not post full frontal nudity or even booty shots. At most, my pics will be rated R ;-)

My intent is not to offend anyone and if you think enough of my blog/me to visit it and even maybe subscribe to it, I welcome your thoughts and comments. I'm fairly thick skinned and don't offend easily. I'm also *really* liberal--I live in the Bay Area and work in Berkeley, ya know! So what may offend others really doesn't bother me. I'm very, very open minded and totally try my best to be politically correct and make sure that anything I say and do would not offend anyone based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or any disabilities!

Ok, off my soap box and thanks for visiting!

Birthday Ensemble

My oldest went to a birthday party on Sunday for one of his classmates and I made this for him to give to her. She also got a couple other goodies but I'm finding that the decorated lunch tins are big hits in the elementary girl crowd :-) So, I decorated the lunch tin and journal, made a beaded pen, and then a matching card for her and she (and her mom) were thrilled and think I'm soooooooooo crafty. I'm almost embarassed to tell them that it's really not that hard and if I can do it, almost anyone can.

The patterned papers are the Loves Me Designer Series double sided paper that was in the Stampin' Up! Winter Mini catalog. I love this paper and I love these colors!!!!! I also used the Flirty Ribbon from the same catalog. I'm sad that these are no longer available but am totally loving all the new things that are out there. I used one of my giant primas on the lunch tin as well. My LSS is having a buy one get one free sale on Primas and I decided to give the giant flowers a try. The journal is from Bare Books--I got a bunch of these awhile ago and they're great to stamp on and personalise when I need a quick gift for someone. I used a little more of the Loves me paper to make a beaded pen and then finished it off with a birthday card. All colors used coordinate with the paper (Regal Rose, Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Close to Cocoa) and the stamps sets used with Doodle This and Eat Cake. Easy Peasy and totally fun!

I'm going to attempt to get some stamping done this evening but we'll see how that goes. One more work day for me and then I'm taking Friday off. We're going down to LA for the weekend to participate in the Revlon Run/Walk and then have Sunday/Mother's Day Brunch at the House of Blues :-)

Thanks for coming!

A Muse again

So, I've been totally browsing the A Muse site and did manage to find 3 A Muse stamps at my LSS and this is gonna be a vent. WTF??? Why are they so pricey? I could have gotten a cutie patootie (probably spelled wrong) sentiment that is tiny for $8.75ish. Huh? They also had one other sentiment the same size and the ties stamps for about the same price. Love them as I do, I'm not about to spend roughly $9 on one stamp!!!!! I'm not *that* creative and can't get that many good uses out of one $9 stamp!

That said, there were many, many other stamps that I loved today. I'm digging a couple other lines like Rubber Soul and Savvy Stamps right about now. They're much less pricey and totally cute. If I hadn't spent way too much recently on stamping stuff, I'd have easily droppped mucho cash on these two stamp lines today.

Amuse*A*Palooza

Ok, I own no Amuse stamps but I love them dearly and am about to go to their site to order them. I've hunted high and low for them locally but to no avail. I'm sure that you've already heard about Amuseapalooza but if you haven't, run, don't walk over to their site


Tell them Kathy Hatzke sent you if you register since I could use all the help I can get :-)

What year do you belong in?

I love these things!

You Belong in 1985

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

First Papertrey :-)

So, I only got one card done last night but that's one more than the night before :-) All I can say is that I absolutely love Butterfly Kisses from Papertrey. I don't know why on earth I waited to order it. I like the Faux Ribbon set as well, especially because of all the little sentiments but I can tell it's going to take me some time to get the ribbon images to work correctly for me.

The card base is Ruby Red and the patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Perhaps line. I used my Versamagic Dewdrop chalk inks for this card as well. I'm sure that I'll have all the colors before too long. The small strip in the middle is a few of the Faux Ribbon pieces stamped on Very Vanilla in Sahara Sand and Spanish Olive. The focal image is stamped in Pink Grapefruit and overstamped with Red Brick. The sentiment is also stamped with Spanish Olive. I added Candy Cane and Frosted Lace stickles on some of the spots as well as the little pierced trail. I rounded the corners of this piece, edged it in Red Brick ink, and matted it on a piece of True Thyme that also has it's corners rounded. Once I finished, I liked it but thought it was missing something so I added a few more of the small butterflies that were inked in Pink Grapefruit and Red Brick. Aha! That did it for me! My dd loves this card as well but she tends to like most things I make if I let her stamp, too.

Thanks for visiting!

Mohawk Boy!

Dh gave our 4 yo a hair cut this weekend and this is how he came downstairs. He totally loved it and dh took him back upstairs to even it out a bit. . . well, I guess he evened it out too much because when I went upstairs, there was a sad 4 yo with no mohawk :-( Now, I'm not big on mohawks and didn't really like them when they were first in style but since my little guy looked adorable with it and it made him so happy, I'm willing to let him have one. We've decided to let his hair grow out a little again and try it once more in a few weeks.

In other news, my Papertrey sets made it to my local post office this morning so I should have them to play with tonight. Woohooooooooo!!!!! New stamps to ink up!!!!!!