H For Help?

Or halitosis or hubris or hell heck holy hit the fan crap. Take your pick. I am in such a pissy mood tonight (putting new virus protection on 3 computers, too much chat on the phone, having a return from hell at Hobby Lobby AND Ruby Tuesday doing away with the best veggie burger in the world-want to guess which one pissed me off the most?) I was hoping to get the rest of my Christmas cards photographed and on the blog. Yeah , Christmas cards. Then maybe I might add the winter ones, valentines and bring myself up to Lent, when I give up Internet shopping and peanut butter. Maybe I won't this year-start a new trend?

This is another lost file-I am not really good about putting photos in files that make sense. this was listed under a date, not a name. It's from last summer, I think and while simple, that chalk ink is what made it right for me. I don't use the chalk inks enough, preferring my Tim Holtz Distress inks or VersaFine. I used a large background stamp on light purple to place 2/3rds of the image on the card stock. I also edged this piece in gold ink as is the base card of dark purple . Layer them. Then stamp the letter you wish to use on a small piece of scrap card stock and edge this in gold, too. Another scrap of card-this time it's black texture (with the edges roughed a bit and then inked in gold) and pop dot this to the front. One of those curly Q's is tied with a silken scrap of ribbon and added to the corner. Pretty simple and quick.

Ring A Ding Ding

Courtney and Chris Feb 14, 2009.

Stolen from Facebook

(see how easy it is to steal?)

No Date Chosen-probably Fall 2009

Triple Leafy Fall

Well, somebody got happy stuff this Valentine's Day. I got a free piece of pie from Bob Evans (it was kinda nasty-as were my fries). Somebody got a rock for her finger. The culmination will be sometime this fall-no date yet. I can't even think that far ahead. All that matters to me right now is spring. Then maybe my head will clear and I can get used to mother-in-law mode for the second time. I would post photos but I don't have any yet. Hopefully, daughter will be more on the ball than son.

I found this unpublished card in a long lost file from a year ago. I used a multi colored pad and a brayer on the leaf stamp on glossy paper. I then stamped over it with a wordy background stamp after I attached it to the base card. This way I hit up two layers at once. The top of the card is crowned with a piece of corrugated card stock (click the photo to enlarge). Lastly, I tied some polka dotted gauzy ribbon around the top in a bow. Perfect card for any occasion but especially nice for fall (which can't come until I have 10 months of summer).

Birthday Normal

I think I want the 10 normal days. Hell, I think I want one normal day. And I want the people to stop changing the deal whenever they feel like it. I really don't like birthdays and haven't celebrated my own since I was 18.

You can get this stamp at Hobby Lobby. It's from Stampendous and there are lots more of these kiddie cut ups. I made this card like a year ago and found it in a folder. Sadly, I did not find my wit's end at the same location.

Antique Auto

I grew up part time on a farm in middle Michigan. It was the same farm my dad was born on and oh , the exploring I did. I had barns to climb into the lofts and corn cribs and chase the baby kittens. There were acres of corn and hay. Rutted roads that led to a church and a creek that would dry up many a summer. The farm house had a Michigan basement (dirt walls and floors), outdoor pump for water and no real toilet (you brought in water to "flush" into a septic tank. No one ever closed the kitchen door except in the winter when the pot bellied stove heated the place toasty warm. I won't go into how torturous the rest of the house was with no other means of heat. I always knew where my brother Boo was if he wasn't eating at the kitchen table (complete with a fly strip hanging from the lights). There was a car off by the chicken coop similar to this one. Abandoned after years of use, it was the gangster wheels one day and the carriage to the prince's castle another.

This card is just some scraps layered and distressed with Tim Holtz inks. I love the look and it takes me back to an innocent time in the 60's when I wanted nothing more than to play pretend with my little brother. I bet he has a car like this in heaven or wherever he chose to be in his daydreams. We got our kicks on Route 66-somewhere in a farm field in small town Michigan.

Changing of The Moniker?

I always wanted a different name-plain old Jan did nothing for me. I wanted something exotic like Jacqueline. I even tried to pass that off as my name when I was about 8 or so, signing my school papers with it. I was driving the nuns nutty (well, nuttier than they actually were), making up homework for myself and doing special projects (I rescued a lot of throw aways from the trash in the school cans then-the start of my recycling obsession, I guess). Finally, Sister Ann Isabelle called for a parent conference and the days of Jacqueline were gone forever (but I am still not a Jan). My niece and nephew refer to me as "Just Jan" not auntie or Jan or Hey You. "Just Jan". Stuck with it, I guess. Always said if I open my own business, it will be called "Just Jan".

Yesterday, I got a newsletter from one of my favorite stamp stores-Jane's in Waterford. I rarely get a paper newsletter from them, as I thought they were going electronic, or post cards or whatever was the flavor of the month, since honestly, I hadn't gotten ANYTHING in a long time (two years?). This was a monthly hangout when hubby was still working and daughter lived right down the road. I would hit this place up and then have dinner in Clarkston at the Union or wherever we could all meet up or made the rounds to several scrap stores for the newest stickers and designer papers in the area (for cardmaking). Multi shopping to save trips (not money-can't save money if you visit fun stamp/scrap stores).

Now, this store is NOT closing. But it has changed owners-actually a few years ago. But they kept the name Jane's, which was good as far as I could tell. I just love Jane so much-what a wonderful and special lady she is. All the welcoming hospitality she brought from her upbringing in Kentucky is always evident. I heard she was ill and needed to de-stress a bit and she wanted to move to where her grand babies were-back to Kentucky. Maybe part of the contract was to keep the name (for a while at least). But now it's been decided to change the name to Sandee's. Sandee is the new owner but she retained many of Jane's employees, especially Laurie who is extremely talented despite having to deal with crippling arthritis. If you look thru many of my posts, you will often hear me cite Laurie in them.

I have a couple of beefs, tho. I hate name changes for so many reasons. Anybody ever heard of Pine Knob in Clarkston? This venue opened about the time I got married and I saw so many concerts there. Then the peeps who own the Palace took it over. I don't remember if the name change came before or after this change but they gutted the place, taking so much of the charm the place had, to add more seats and DTE got the naming rights (money talks? and your rates go up) -the whole deal sucked as far as I am concerned. I haven't been back since 2003 when I saw Mellencamp. And anyone over 25 still calls it Pine knob since the ski resort, golf club and community are still called that. DTE Energy is not a cool name for any entertainment complex.

So my other beef has to do with Jane's/Sandee's store. Sandee's is now a stamping and scrapbooking store. It was predominantly stamping at first and that is why I was drawn to it. The contents of the store are changing and not for the better. I can understand Sandee being drawn to scrapping as she has a bunch of kids, is involved at church and has a child she adopted from Ukraine recently. All great opportunities to scrap. I prefer stamping and with only one other stamp store within an hour's drive (hi Stacey) I find myself torn. Because I want both to survive. But if the goodies are not in-store, I can't buy. If I don't see it, I can't want it.

I know stores can't carry all of it. I don't expect them to. I am also on a strict self imposed budget with hub/sofa boy retired. So I want to make the most of my spending dollars and keep it as local as possible. Every dollar spent locally keeps one of my neighbors employed, right? But if the store swaps space out from my preferred hobby to add others, they won't have the stuff I want or need. And that is why the scrapbook moniker on the new title for the store bothers me-a lot. Even with all the scrap stores who have gone away, there is still a lot around. Most do NOT carry stamping items, or when they did, they quit to add more scrap goodies. It doesn't happen the other way around at all. Stacey and I had a conversation about the new Hero Arts line of stamps and how scrap oriented it is. I saw very little worth pursuing in the catalog. I used to love them. If a store goes scrappy, I won't have any reason to shop other than cardstock or some papers. I can get cardstock anywhere. And usually cheaper, too.

But the really saddest part? Sandee does not have the charisma Jane has. She seems to be detached emotionally from her own store and is rarely there. I think I have seen her twice in the last year. It seems like Laurie is actually running the store and honestly, I was surprised when SHE didn't buy it to begin with. Another thing, is that I thought maybe they should move the store to a better location-a five lane highway with a non-descript building is not the best place. I actually drive by it myself if I am not looking closely.

I don't get down as often to shop as I used to. I have no other reason-sofa boy is always here now. And daughter moved (how many times is it up to now, Courtney?). But I still try to get there every 2-3 months in good weather. I hope I can still find enough goodies to make it worth my driving the insane roads of Oakland County at rush hour (which is every hour during daylight now). But something is missing. At least the name Jane kept a memory alive.

Rag Top

Did ya ever do something so totally weird and not realize you were doing it? And when you figured out what you did, you almost peed your pants? Happened to me last night/this morning. I had a bag of rice tortilla chips that I had purchased at Costco and there were crumbs in the bottom I was NOT going to waste. These are so yum, you have to search them out and try them. So the crumbs-I decided to dump them into a small bowl to nibble on at 3 AM. I did this in the dark (just as I usually craft). So I grabbed a bowl, did the dump, and ate. The next morning, I realized the bowl I grabbed was the cat's special twice-a-week wet food dish (it was clean) and I have no clue why it was in the cupboard with all the regular dishes. Makes me wonder what else I will find in an odd place (did I ever mention finding the Windex in the fridge?-4 months later??) I yelled at the slug for taking the container as he had used it to clean his windshield. I must have grabbed it back and put it in the fridge (he didn't look there, either).

Here we have another car sticker card. I see this was a light of the Aerogrow card, too. My blue layer under the car does not even come close to matching the blue in the background pieces. Not that any guy would notice but still it was way off. I need some sunshine, please. Why can't I make any cards during the daytime?? The base card is stamped using Distress Inks from Ranger and some Inkadinkado acrylic stamp. I think you can pick up the rest of the ideas-and don't forget to punch the lower edge and let a little more color thru. I then punched two small holes in the right side before pop dotting the car layers-then tied a ribbon thru. I am off to bed-making sure I at least make it into the right bedroom. No snacking under the covers tonight. I am out of crumbs.

Edited---I punched the LEFT side. Jeez, even my directionals are off in the middle of the night. Maybe that is how I got lost in space when the mothership dropped me off? As Indy would say, she would get lost in her own museum.

Roadster

The only car I could look at and tell you it was a certain model is a "Herbie". The cool Volkswagens of the 60's are so unique and I have always wanted one. Alas, it won't be. We are third generation (and probably last) GM people. I am loyal to GM for cars and won't own anything else. And I don't want anything fancy, just my manual transmission and a keyless entry. I would LOVE heated seats (I never use AC even in the summer) but you have to order leather seats to have them. I don't do leather.

For the next few days, you will see cards made with car stickers. I so love these stickers as they look as if you colored them with Prismacolors. And they are pretty neutral, so if you knew a car buff who was girlie too, they would work. Other than the normal layers, this card has paperclips tied with sheer ribbon on both sides. It's a little hard to see on the right side as the card is so dark (black). Just for the record, these are ideas from Laurie at Jane's in Waterford. I think we all need to pull out our stash of stickers and use them more. I got one sheet yesterday that for less than two bucks, I will get 13 cards. Can't beat that.