Enjoy Every Moment

I am not a happy camper-my boys lost, the stupid energy company has screwed up my auto payment (and they can't seem to answer the emails or phone messages) and I scratched my eye (something got under my contact) at the gym. There are so many bugs in my kitchen flying around the light (thank honey for standing with the door open) that it looks like an air show and they are diving at my head.

Here is another card with multiple scraps. The middle scrap (patterned) is also covered with vellum.The two pieces at the top and bottom are textured and have a strip of ric rac to hide the seams. I used the Trio tape runner to attach both of them. I then took a simple tag form Office Depot and stamped on it-a line of flowers at the top in one color and the phrase in another. When dry, I used a Spica pen to color over the top of the E.
The final step was to layer two flowers offset and top with a button (using a pop dot in between the layers). Then I tied a scrap of ribbon thru the tag and pop dotted it at an angle. And now I am going outside and look for the mother ship-she is long overdue. I want to go home.

Think Spring 2008

Well, I have been thinking spring for so long, in three weeks it will be summer. Spring has been slow in showing-hence the cold record we set the other night at 31F. 38F last night and about 50F tonight. At least one sweat shirt is fine tonight. There is a front moving in with possible storms (the same one that is exiting Chicago and formally of Iowa). So my cats are all crazy and the dogs-just normal crazy. I want to plant my tomatoes and peppers tomorrow. I hope. Trying some new hybrids/heirloom types too.

So I was so pleased with how nice this card turned out-until I turned on the lights. I wonder, will you see what I see? I will tell you at the end. For a starter, make a plain textured card front. Get out those seldom used nesting punches (or Nestabilities) if you have them and make some serendipity squares using the scalloped edges. Use up those odd pieces of leftover card stocks-both plain and textured. Layer them.

Take a flower punch-make some punchies. Do up some leaves too-these will be nicer with textured card stocks. Layer this stuff on top of the squares and add a crystal or some other highlight to the middle of each flower. Add them evenly to the top part of the card.

Here is a close up of one of the layered sides. You will have four with multiple colors-use pastels or jewel colors or neons-whatever you have and just change the theme a bit. All that is left is a rub on or a stamped phrase. I had an extra punched leaf, so added it at the bottom, but any small object tied into your theme will do.

So what is screwy? I had a sample tube of UHU glue. I have used this on chipboard to attach heavier papers and it works well. It was laying there and I was too lazy to get anything else out. It made a mess on the top left layers. I tried to chip it off, rub it off, and was so pissed at how messy this stuff is unless you really are almost too careful. A friend referred to this as Uh Oh glue. I believe it. I love their tape rollers but not this nasty stringy messy stuff. Never again. That is my warning-don't use this one to scrapbook. Save it for something else.

ETA-Marley was on the deck that day. I see his hair on the top. Usually it's cat fur flying.

In My Thoughts

Do we start the Requiem for the Pistons now? It was so close. I am still shaking several hours later. I get so wrapped up in my teams-not nearly as bad as I used to be when I would cry and mourn for days. One year back in the eighties, every playoff game I went to, we won. I wore the same hair ribbon and the same t-shirt to every game. I was convinced we would lose otherwise. Sadly that season, the one game I could not go to (in Boston) we lost. I was inconsolable and for years was so superstitious. I am better now but not by much. I still park under the same number in the lot (22) and always play the players uniform numbers in the lottery.

We have an interesting melange tonight. I just love this EK punch for the corners and the remnants that are punched off look like bats, so save them for later in the year. I stamped an image and a greeting and then colored with my Copic Markers. I then used a Spica glitter pen to add a little sparkle on the flower. It shows better in person but maybe another layer would be good too. It soaks in sometimes.

I used a scrap across the card about a third of the way down and then layered a piece of textured dark card on the left. Pop dot the colored and glittered piece on the right. Punch out three circles and add a small brad to the center of each and attach on the side. Notice my brads don't match? I had one fly off the table and I cannot find it, so I subbed another one-no match.

Here is a close up that if you enlarge the photo by clicking, will show a little of the glitter. I do love the Copic markers (except the three that were dried up sealed in the package-grrrrrrr) and while an expensive purchase, will prove to be cheaper in the long run as they are refillable.

Going to the bank to sign papers for a home equity loan tomorrow. I hate to borrow money but am so anal about having a certain amount of ready cash for emergencies, so decided to borrow-at 5%! Is that a great deal or what? New roof, outside painting, new cabinets and some other incidentals and talking about a Michigan room. We shall see!

It's A Girl!

Not really! No one has girls anymore. Anyways-I was prepared for either/or. Same as here only different colors.I already know another boy is coming soon, so this one will be put aside-maybe for a long long time.

It's A Boy!

The trend in my extended family continues. Another male was added this past week-born to Kris and John Kennedy of Minneapolis (formally of small town Iowa). Kris had a particularly scary pregnancy, and it was touch and go whether she would be able to carry it thru. Hopefully, I will know the baby stats before he is college age as hubby never gets it right and usually tells me months later.This time it was 4 days before I knew of the birth and he told a stranger first! What a putz.

This was so so simple. Just pieces of scraps and a button, tag and pin and a rub on! Layer it up and you are out the door in 5 minutes tops. You could even put an image on the front (or attach a cute baby gift card like I am so I can write inside). This would even work as an announcement!

I am off to read-or not. I am already out of whack with the holiday, which I spend sorting plastic bags for the twice a year recyclers. All 2's and 4's except ONE 5. But at least they will be remade into stuff again. Odd that these aren't taken with the normal weekly recycling and that packaging Styrofoam is not taken either, but food container Styrofoam is. It's the same thing!! Wankers all of them.

Amazing Wahoo

I was not going to blog tonight but when I couldn't sleep (the 4 legged creatures are uptight with the storm coming and the two legged slug is crabbing about his allergies), I started my cooking routine. Sometimes I wonder if I should get a late night diner job that would let me be creative but I would get too pissed off at the drunks at 4 AM. They only want greasy crap anyways. I certainly remember the frat guys (of which hubby was one) wanting Rancheros. This was a greasy burger, topped with hot hot chili and a runny fried egg on top. Every Saturday night. I doubt any of them tasted it tho-those tequila shots were nasty on the tongue and the psyche.

Here I present what could be a graduation card or just telling someone they are terrific any time at all. I used translucent embossing paste on a black piece and when it was dry, I used the oil crayons again. There is a nifty trick to using the crayons-they have a scum to seal them after each use and last forever. So just rub off the end with a paper towel and scribble on wax paper. This will be your palette. Using a stiff brush, swirl the color around on the wax paper and apply it to your dried image using the stencil as a guide for the placement.

I then cut out the butterfly. Using a dark blue base card and layering it with silver, I then put a medium green piece thru an embossing folder (I used paper with a white core so that is why it looks odd). The paper cracked as it went thru the embossing process, and at first I thought of bubbles but now I like to think its fuzzy dandelion tops. I applied that and placed the butterfly using pop dots. I then embossed a piece of metal for the greeting. This metal I think might be from Making Memories but it was in blog candy a while back and I was not sure what to do with it. So I used mini embossing plates and made up a bunch for later, then cut to size.

This was fairly simple while using a lot of fun techniques. And versatile for giving purposes. Now I can't get the lyrics out of my head-I'm wide awake at 4 AM without a friend in sight-I'm hanging on a hope and I'm all right. This after expunging Cole Porter from my humming tune book.

Thinking Of You

Just a quick one tonight-this was pretty simple to do and is open to many interpretations. Change colors and phrase and you will not run out of ideas.

Using a white shimmery piece, I punched corners (use whatever you have) and then stamped a flowery border top and bottom in blue. I then stamped a small greeting. Fold a silver piece into a card and top with a corduroy-like piece a bit smaller to fit the card front-leaving the top and bottom open for the ribbon.

Die cut a faux buckle and slip a shimmery piece of ribbon thru it and tuck the ends behind the front layer. Slip the stamped piece behind on pop dots. Add some small jewels to the corners. Five minute card if you are prepared!

Taking a few days away as I have a ton of work to do outside and it's gonna rain Monday and get cold again. I can't believe it's almost June and barely getting to 60 during the day and into the low 40's or worse at night. I need my jammies and quilts tonight.

The Pistons sucked tonight! Not looking good at all.

The Masks of Africa

I wonder if Indiana Jones ever came across these archaeological artifacts? At least they "look" as old as he did tonight. I have always been enthralled with African images-both modern and old. Sometimes it's the simplicity of some of the photos or art and that is why I did not add anything to this piece. I wanted the image to stay centered and not have to compete with anything around it.

This was done using a Dreamweaver stencil (this was the one I chose free with my class). The base layer of card stock is white! Yes, white. I sprayed it with 3 different colors of Memories Mists to achieve what looks like it's sand blasted. I have had people run their fingers over this expecting a rough finish. It's very smooth.

The embossing paste I used is black. When it was dry, I tamped the image (still using the stencil so as not to over paste) with a heat and glue pad and a stiff brush until tacky then laid metal leaf over the image and tamped down with the stiff brush. When this was finished, I swirled the brush over the leaf to remove any extra flyaway bits and in doing this, the edges of black appeared around the masks. I think this is what really set it up perfect.

I then used some textured cardstock scraps for layers, finding colors that emanated from the leafing. Each package of leaf is different with some dominating colors. I found the teals and golds were the main colors in this. One layer is distressed. I then added to a simple black card. You could add some small artifacts to this-bits of whatever to give it more depth maybe.

Hello In Neon-Goodbye Too!

Almost a year ago, a local store had a contest using neon colors and I honestly hated neon colors. Here was a link to a couple of the cards I entered back then. But I bought extra paper to play with until I got it right and had some leftovers (I still have left over pieces but after this ugly card-they are going in the Do Not Use drawer!)

I must have been drunk to make this. The only part that is cool is the stamped image inside the scalloped circle. I used a Spica glass glitter pen to highlight the image, which you can see a little better in the below photo. It could probably use another coat of glitter as it seems to have sucked into the card stock.

Now I can give this card away as I have archived it here-yuck yuck and more yuck! I was gonna start a slow cooker of asparagus soup but might wait until morning. Hopefully the new contacts work better-the other ones left me more blind than without. Night.

Wild Horses

Allison has a challenge going on for masculine cards-I am not sure if they need to be stamped or what, so if this doesn't qualify, it's okay. It's the next one in the queue. When I made this card, I thought of the book I read when I was in 2nd grade-Misty of Chincoteague. I was not into horses like many young girls were/are but I loved to read anything I could get my hands on. I would just pick a shelf and go down the row until I had read them all.

This card was made using a brass stencil from Dreamweavers and embossing paste (see above link for more items, including videos).First I colored the image using oil paint sticks and a stencil brush, shading here and there. Then I used the translucent paste over the oils. When the paste was dry, I took a stiff brush and burnished the image. To give it more dimension, I used the heat and glue pad and then added very fine glitter. I just loved how the edges of the image seemed to bleed out a bit, almost giving the illusion of movement.

Here is a better close up of the horses. The colors I chose remind me of deserts in the southwest. I left room to add a sentiment or other embellishments but I think the image needs to take center stage, so here it is. I have become hooked on using brass stencils since taking a class from Lynell Harlow last month, so watch for more to come in the coming weeks. And if she comes to your town, try to take one of the classes-they are well worth the money and you get a free stencil included!

Anybody Know Who Makes This Stamp? Updated!

For anyone interested-it's by .B Line Designs

And here is the catty page.

I need to find out who made this stamp and if they made anymore with the baby image or similar style. I love this! I heard there was a baby in a bassinet too. The only thing I have is a UPC code which I tried to look up and it seems you can buy your own. There is no name or date or anything on this-but there is a blank sticker like they were going to add the info but didn't. The UPC is 844248001651 and the stamp retailed for over 13 bucks wood mounted (really nicely I might add). Red rubber.

If you can find out the info I need and I can buy this, I will send you some images to work with yourself as a thank you for helping me. I NEED this stamp really bad. But the store would not sell it to me :(

Giving Tongue

Mousie Congrats

Bet ya never thought you'd see anything current from me again! I have about 30 items but needed some time to photograph and load. It was so windy today that my cards blew all over, the dogs were climbing up my back and Jackson-----ooooh, I should have named him Diablo----somehow got in the composter! I am hoping I can find a way to close it back up but he pried the side open.

We have a rabbit's nest somewhere in our yard and Jackson had the babies in his mouth yesterday. Hubby did not tell me until after the fact as I would have spazzed. We can't find the nest but I think it may be behind the storage shed or thereabouts. Thankfully, the babies seem to be fine but no mama either.

It's that time of year again-weddings and grads. I will be needing some of both. Don't you just love these House Mouse images? I used Prismacolors and Gamsol to color it. Did a couple of scrap layers that matched the larger piece of dotty paper and distressed them and layered with pop dots. Then I layered a couple of pieces to add to the white card.

I added a green piece then stamped a message on white and layered it. Those two jewel flowers would not have looked good had it been a boy's card but it's for a girl. I might have added brads for a boy. Inside I stamped a message about soaring with your dreams. I hope the beautiful graduate aspires to more than minimum wage and waiting for a man. I hope........

Triple Play-Sorta Makes Up For Being Stupid

I had to go up to Lansing to pick up my laptop today and we went to the Red Cedar Grill for roasted garlic with chiabatta. It is one of my fav appetizers anywhere (and I had a 10 dollar GC off my bill too! as part of my frequent dining club). The appetizer is 12.95 but very much sharable with multiple people. Problem was, it was not good tonight. It was not cooked enough and was cold, so we sent it back (and they microwaved it-yuck) but it's still not cooked to spreadability. So we bitched. And got it free! The entrees we got were fine (I had Thai peanut fettucini-very spicy) and there was enough left over to send home for daughter to have for lunch tomorrow. Then the manager came over and apologized and not only gave us the appetizer free but gave us a 10 dollar gift certificate for next time too! Triple play!

Now the laptop story and why I feel stupid!

So I bought a new laptop a while back and was "saving" it for when the desktop started acting up. I wanted to make sure I got XP (no Vista for me). I used it twice in an internet cafe and everything worked, so I put it away. Last week I decided to take it out, put on the newest virus protection and add my new office software. I added Symantec and restarted and ejected the software.

When I went to put the Office disc in, the dvd/cd-rom drive would not open, so I used the bypass. Put the disk in and nothing. Nada. The drive was no longer there and nothing was read from the disk. WTF? I played around and still nothing, so called the brains in the family and one of them answered. Courtney tried to fix it and when nothing worked (mind you the warranty is up as its been stashed a year), she said she would keep it a few days as the battery was dying anyways.

She calls me today and said she fixed it-I am assuming she took the back off and maybe plugged it back in. Nope. She plugged the power cord in! It seems Sony laptops have a power save and when that kicks in, it disables the optical drive to save power. When she turned it on after plugging it in at home, there was the drive! I had no idea and boy do I feel stupid. It would have been nice to have some small booklet included with the machine to at least explain the special features, ya think?

Thank You For The Hugs

To everyone who wrote me today with hugs and encouragement over a recent development, thank you so much. I appreciate all the positives uplifts you sent. Us humans make mistakes and none of us are immune. I was up all night upset over it and have not eaten today as my stomach went into overdrive. I will be better tomorrow, I think.

I consoled myself with a new cookbook, a grass de-thatcher (see what a weirdo I am) and some glittery 99 cent rub ons from Micheal's. I am easy-and the grass is finally gonna get mowed (I could not find a rent-a-goat locally to munch the weeds-but the dandelions are pretty)

Happy 31st birthday to my baby boy! Ben and his lovely Johanna are out hiking for the day and I am sending the GC via email so they can add some goodies for their kayaks. (did you know you have to get a license for a kayak in Iowa? Grubby taxing scum everywhere).

Anyways-thanks for everything. I need to simplify my life for a while and go smell my blooming lilacs! I now have 6 beautiful dwarf Korean bushes in light purple! Photos as soon as I can find some time.

One Giant Leap Into The Universe

Have you heard of this? Microsoft has a new FREE pc program that lets you explore the universe. It is incredible and did I say it was free? Go check it out here.

The system requirements are not for the cheapie desktops. Here are the minimum needs to use it.


WorldWide Telescope minimum system requirements

For PC:
Microsoft® XP SP2 (minimum), Windows® Vista® (recommended)
PC with Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 2 gigahertz (GHz) or faster, recommended
1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM; 2 GB RAM recommended
3D accelerated card with 128 megabytes (MB) RAM; discrete graphics card with dedicated 256-MB VRAM recommended for higher performance
1 GB of available hard disk space; 10 GB recommended for off-line features and higher performance browsing
XGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution monitor
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing and scrolling device
Microsoft® DirectX® version 9.0c and .NET Framework 2.0
Required for some features; Internet connection at 56 Kbps or higher through either an Internet service provider (ISP) or a network. Internet access might require a separate fee to an ISP; local or long-distance telephone charges might also apply

Estimated download time 1 hour (56Kb), 10 minutes (DSL 512Kb)

What TV Mom I Am?

This is too white here so I moved the post to my other blog. Check for it here .

Family As Friends and Making Hard Choices

I still have not found time to photograph my new cards but maybe tomorrow or Friday if the rain and wind stops. It's still so cold here too altho I had hubby turn off the heat because I am here alone and my quilts are fine and a lot cheaper than the gas company. I spend all day perusing the Yellow Pages trying to find a few roofers to give me estimates. The whole housing market is bad here-so the fringe people (painters, roofers, cabinetry, etc) have taken a beating too. I got not one phone pick up so emailed several to see what is up.

I found this card in my archived file. I can't even remember anything about it. It's a printed acetate overlay that is attached to a card with several odd pieces of card stock. I inked the edges of the card stock to distress a bit but jeez, have no idea how long ago it was made.

I think I need to go do some heavy thinking. I am not having a lot of luck with the dog I adopted back here . I have to decide whether he will be going back to the Humane Society . He does not respond to me at all. Unless I have a cookie. I have tried every possible thing (the dog whisperer is not working with him either) but I cannot even walk him on a leash or take him in the car as he is too hyper and won't obey me-he is at least a year and a half so not a puppy. He is a little better with hubby but not by much (and hubby is not here much anyways). I have never failed with a pet-until now. I think Jackson needs a larger expanse of land (a farm maybe?) , and a "job" like keeping the vermin away. I am afraid to even have kids around as he is so strong and could hurt them (not on purpose but because he is so so strong for a 55 pound dog). He barks at the birds, squirrels and anything that moves for hours and I am waiting for the cops to shop up with a noise violation. Even an obedience collar is not working (and I vowed I would not use one) .

He has all his shots and is neutered. He has heart worm meds for a year (all dogs in Michigan should have this). His own special sleep cage and sleep pillow with blankets. I spared no money on toys and top of the line food and he gets a lot of attention. He is a beautiful dog and is very intelligent. I can tell him to go get a certain toy and he knows what it is and picks it up. But when I tell him to come, or stay in the family room or any simple thing that requires I being the boss-it's no go. I find myself crying in frustration and I have bruises all over from trying to grab him and force a submission. He doesn't respect me as the head of the pack. And good boy Marley is showing frustration as Jackson will not let him be still at all.

Jackson has also eaten anything not tied down outside-my table, a pot of flowers, the mulch bags (all over the yard now) and the cover around the deck. All my hostas are dead as are the chicks and hens and several bushes he ate. And when I tell him no inside (I don't want him upstairs at all), he lifts his leg and wets on my coat, books and just missed my bag with laptop. He is healthy-so what is going on?

I feel like I am failing him---and myself. But what do I do? I don't want to hate him or resent him and I find myself slowly falling that way. Any ideas?

Monday Morning Political Humour

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain were flying to a debate.

Barack looked at Hillary, chuckled and said, 'You know I could throw a $1,000 bill out of the window right now and make somebody very happy.'

Hillary shrugged her shoulders and replied, 'I could throw ten $100 bills out of the window and make ten people very happy.'

John added, 'That being the case, I could throw one hundred $10 bills out of the window and make a hundred people very happy.'

Hearing their exchange, the pilot rolled his eyes and said to his copilot, 'Such big-shots back there. I could throw all three of them out of the window and make 304 million people very happy.'

I'm voting for the Pilot!!

What Kind of Fairy Are You?

I don't normally direct to other blog candy entries, but I am curious to know the answers for this. Please go look here and enter your answers. I am Janette Legume-the Vegetable Garden Fairy.

My Friend Stacey Bought a Stamp Company!

How cool is that?? You can see the images and purchase online here or you can buy them in person at Stacey's store in Fowlerville. Both links are in my sidebar under local stamp and scrap stores!

Let's Stamp Out Hunger For All Americans!

If we can afford to buy stamps and scrap materials to feed our habit, we can all afford to put out a small bag of non-perishables for the food drive for today, Saturday May 10th.

I always have fun with this food drive-making sure I box up a complete meal for 5-6 including desserts. I try to make at least a two day feast (even tho I know they will break it down and disperse it otherwise). I purchased canned chicken, dried pasta and two sauces, several soups and some boxed crackers, some seasonings, canned salmon, dried eggs and some dehydrated hash browns, and some cookie mix and a cake for dessert. I try to stay healthy in my selections and even tho I am a vegetarian, I do not force that choice on those who need healthy food and give no lecture.

I hope you will participate. Watch this video for more info and get your bag out to your mail box-even street box collection-and know you helped feed a family today. No one should go hungry in this country-the land of plenty and probably way too much.

I Saw This Bumper Sticker Today-Love It!

Jo's ETSY Shoppe

My friend Johanna makes pretty cool jewelry and she has an ETSY shoppe here . Take a look around her store. She also does ATC's of which I have dozens. Johanna has some health problems and uses her artistic talents to purchase her medicine each month-sadly she lost her job and benefits months ago.

I hope you see something you like and I have added her shop to my Friends and Family list on the right-just click to shop (and save gas too!)

Step By Step

Directions to make stuff--here is the link for paper craft items but tons of ideas are here. And you can join and add your own step by steps. Now I can't get that annoying theme song out of my head.

Plaid Greetings

I am trying to do a bazillion things while hubby is gone, so I bought a porch glider to match the chairs and umbrellie. Now, it's May so I should be able to put it together outside, right? Nope-its cold, windy and raining. I imagine all my recycling will be up and down the road in the morning, and I almost didn't put it out at all. I just needed the room to move around in my garage.

I also need to put out the old freezer but I can't lift that. So it will probably be here next year and the year after that (it's been dead 10 years-sofa slug is never here to help me get it outside).

Hey, I found a Christmas card in my files. Kinda boring but if you needed a bunch really quick, this would work. I used a Sizzix die for the phrase holder and stamped on vellum, then taped it behind and used two brads to attach to the front piece (do this before adding to the card to not have the tabs show inside when opened). I layered it on a piece of distressed card stock and then added it all to a green textured card. This could use some ribbon maybe? Or not.

Hey, like hot sauce??? I found this at a local dive and they were selling it, too. I don't like catsup and this was great on my fries. Tangy, sweet with a tiny bite.

Anything to help the local economy, right?

Free Veggie Burgers at Johnny Rockets!

Get your coupon here-it's good all month of May!

What?? Eateries in Mexico but none in Hawaii or Canada? On cruise ships but not in Iowa? Jeez. Don't forget to forward to all your friends. Give a cow a break today.

Spring Thinking?

I thought I had published this card but using all sorts of searches within the blog didn't turn it up. I must have moved the photo to the posted file by mistake. I wonder if on one of my many drunken nights I did more of this??

I love the background that I stamped with a Distress ink and the flower image. I then used a corner punch to make innie scallops. I did this on the pink too when was run thru a corrugator for more texture. I used Die Cut With a View card stock here-not my favorite as I don't like the white core but the colors are pretty.

I did not get the cards I made this week photographed as it rained and will tomorrow too-so I may break out the inside set up. I was hoping for natural light but oh well. I did lose a tiny silver brad that flew off my card-can't find it. But will when I step on it in the dark. Have a great Hump Day.

Wedding Chariot

One year ago last week, my son got married. Since they could not find a white horse to ride off into the sunset, they chose a motorized animal to carry them off into their new life together. They are still building their dream house and living over the garage-last week the basement flooded big time (someone forgot that you need to install the sump pump after you buy it). Luckily the water stopped short of the Geo-Thermal computer set up. They are predicting August for the move in date-two years after the initial start.

Happy Anniversary Johanna and Ben. Hopefully, you won't kill each other over the insanity of life. And Ben, you will be 31 one next week-my Star Wars baby.May the Force always be with you. Just let the Wookie win! There is another wedding photo here and here.

PS-maybe I should upload the "hula" picture??? Did you forget about that one?

Retro Incomplete

I made about a dozen cards today. I also made a mess on the kitchen floor and wish the sweep fairy would come over. Hubby is in Korea so I can make all the noise I want but as slow as I have been today, I am just not in the mood. I actually remembered to eat at 1 AM. Anyway, I hope to get the cards photographed tomorrow . In the meantime, I need some ideas.

I made this retro looking card about a year ago but have not come across an image I want for the front. It reminded me of those crazy mid 60's prints that were so popular (I was 10) so I thought maybe I would have a Go Go dancer or even hippie stamp stuck away but I don't.

Here is what it looks like with the tag pulled out-and you could have the card sideways I suppose, too. I could easily print out some snarky head trip for the message but what sort of image would you put with this? If I had a hippie, I thought about even a fake joint inside the envy as a joke. So let me know what you all might use.

I need to sleep I think-how many times can I watch a rerun of the same ball game and keep it entertaining. I did take an hour and watch Brothers and Sisters-Holly is an evil woman and will find a way to punish her daughter and the Walkers by screwing them over with the merger. Evil skank!

More Bad News For Scrappers and Stampers In Michigan

Another store is biting the dust. Scrap Tales in Brighton is having a going out of business sale which started May 1. The first week was by invitation only for loyal shoppers. Of course, I had to go. It was only 20% off at this time but I was able to get full packs of neutral card stock from Bazzill-25 to 50 sheets per package for 10-14 bucks. I stocked up on some single sheets too as I love the earthy pumpkins and browns.

They will be announcing the sale in the papers and on the radio this week. I have no idea if they tried to sell the business as the owner said the store was fine financially but she wanted to move on after 7 years. Honestly, I thought this and the Zone would be the only two left as they were the best stocked and were fun to visit. If you are in the area, be sure to stop by as Scrap Tales will be open thru the end of June. A lot of stock was moving fast at 20% off but other than card stock and Penny Black stickers, I held back. I may go back at 40-50 off later in the month. I have my eye on some stamps but need a better discount to follow thru.

I also went to the Zone for National Scrapbook Day and got some fun stuff but never did get to do the Make and Takes-this place was hopping! I had my name on the list but ended up leaving when the line never budged. Oh well, I forgot my scissors anyways. I found a wonderful new paper company called GCD Studios. Double sided and textured!

Now this may be here say, but I think the Scrapbook Station in Fenton is close to going under, too. I stopped to use my full punch card and they aren't accepting them anymore. There was nothing really new in the store since the winter holidays either. The owner was not there and I didn't feel comfortable breaching the topic with the clerk who kept bugging me anyways. I never get store notices anymore and there were so many empty shelves that a year ago were full. I was the only one in the store on NSD. Pretty bad.

Winning Is Much More Than The Final Score!

This was buried in the back of the sports pages yesterday-it belongs on the front page!

Happy Holidays

Another blast from the past using stickers! I know this is off season but as cold as it's been-might as well be winter again. Depressing that its May 1st and int the 20's at night.

This is an easy peasy one using scraps. White base card layered with red card stock that has been distressed and inked on the edges. I then layered a patterned piece on top of that. Cut a tag or die cut one to match your sticker. Add a brad. Take a scrap of Magic Mesh and place it on the printed card and layer the tag on top. Tie a tiny bow using scrap ribbon and snot dot it. For a little extra glitteralia (does that word sound like a body part?), I used some rub on snowflakes and snow balls and placed them randomly on the green card stock. Click the image to better see it.