Happy Anniversary

Ok, my week has been so ridiculously crazy that I didn't even get to make my parents' anniversary card until today, which is, coincidentally, their anniversary. Yes, they're getting a late anniversary card. And it took me all flippin' day to make. Sometimes the inspiration just isn't there. Man, I struggled with this thing. But, they'll also be getting a fabutastic, commemorative candle, decorated by yours truly, and a wonderful digital photo keychain, featuring their 3 beautiful granddaughters. See, I figure it's all in the wording. Doesn't it all sound more impressive with a bunch of lovely adjectives thrown in? Yeah, it's still gonna be late. But isn't it the thought that counts? I say yes.

Stamps: Sweet Love, Spiral Bouquet (Papertrey), Ink: Purely Pomegranate (SU!), Palette Noir, Paper: Papertrey white, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate (SU!), Accessories: Pomegranate Satin Ribbon (SU!), black brads, Marvy scallop punch, corner punch, circle punch

Merry Christmas

Hey there, everyone cruising through blog land. I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and all that jazz. Yep, that's me & Shawn at Monster Park (as a true San Franciscan, it will always be Candlestick to me) for the 49ers game on Sunday. It was a big family thing again this year - 25 of us in all. I just had to point out that we dressed in layers & had a sweater & coat for each person and here we are in t-shirts! Believe it or not, we got there around 10 a.m., and it was so warm we started stripping off our clothes. Well, not stripping. This was as risque as it got, but it was warm. At 10 a.m. In the city. In December. Just incredible. And by the time we were watching the game, it was down right hot! No kidding. And I had to keep my hat on all day, cuz you know, I had hat hair by then. Lovely. Yes, I'd rather have a sweaty head than be seen with flat, icky hair. Love me, love my vanity, people. But it was a beautiful day, the game was fun, and no one stole anything out of our truck, even tho the driver's side window was down the whole time. Ooopsie! I coulda swore I rolled that thing up....Anyways, we survived and here we are. Hope you all had an awesome Christmas!

Pretty Chocolate Love

I love this card. It's just so lovely to look at. How modest of me, huh? Well, the thing about this card is that I would've never been able to do it with mounted rubber stamps. I was lucky I got these images lined up (cuz I'm just not that good at that), but it worked because they're clear acrylic stamps (Papertrey, duh) and I could see what I was doing. And it's kinda funny that I even own this set, cuz it's really like a Valentine's set, and I hate Valentine's Day. Yes, as a matter of fact, Shawn does love that fact about me. But the designs in this set are so pretty, it's a must have, for sure. {Pssst, hey Stephanie, my last couple of cards have used Papertrey stamps. You can check the site out here. And how do you not know this?!} Oh, yeah. I'm working on using new color combinations. I can't help that I love what I love, and pink & brown are just so delicious together. How do you not love Chocolate Chip? Anyway, Darien says I need some new colors. I'll get right on that.

Stamps: Sweet Love (Papertrey), Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink (SU!), Paper: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink (SU!), Accessories: marvy scallop punches, round corner punch, making memories brads, Chocolate Chip ribbon (SU!), dimensionals

New Stuff

Guess who got their new Papertrey stamps today? I was truly in need of some new inspiration, and I finally got it. This set has given me so many ideas, and I'm so excited to be creating with new stuff. In case you can't tell, I love, love, love my new stamps. And, cuz I know everyone's wondering, I got my Stampin' Up! catalog, too. Now, I'm just waiting for my catalogs that I ordered to pass out. Well, I'm not waiting, I've already got mine. teehee. But I've got a few people who can't wait to get their own, have them spiral bound and thumb through every, fabulous page. I will say that I can't wait to get my hands on the Berry Bliss paper in the new catty. Delicious! And be prepared to see lots of cards using the Kind Thoughts set. So cute! But, I'm waiting for Sale-a-Bration (formerly Sellabration) in February (formerly January) before I order anything new, so my Papertrey stuff will just have to hold my attention until then. I think I can, I think I can...

Stamps: Sweet Love, Paper Tray (Papertrey), Ink: Bashful Blue (SU!), Palette Noir, Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Bashful Blue (SU!), Accessories: rhinestones, Marvy punch, Mike's ribbon

Happy For Theresa

Oh man, was last week crazy! Every year at our elementary school, we have a holiday gift shop for the kids, and I worked it all day, every day. What was I thinking? It always sounds like a good idea, but by Thursday, I start to doubt my judgment. Was I on medication when I agreed to this? If not, can I have some now? Oh well. By the weekend, I'm completely fine. And since I'm feeling better now, I'm not going to dwell on it. Especially since there are other things going on. Like, take the fact that Stampin' Up! shipped the complimentary catalogs out to their demos last Monday. And so far, people in Canada, Michigan, Kansas and Southern California (among other places) have gotten theirs. Ok, what kinda crap is that?! I'm in sunny Northern California and we have great weather (no ice storms!) and I don't have mine. So, since I didn't get mine by Friday, and coincidentally, Papertrey had a new release, I made myself feel better by ordering some new sets from them. So there. Of course, I'll probably get my new catalog before my new stamp sets, but that's ok. It's just comforting knowing that I have stuff coming to my house. It's a good feeling. Merry Christmas to me!

Ok, I just have to quickly talk about this card. My sister-in-law graduated from USF on Friday with her Masters(!), and no one in her family could go. Not even her husband. So, when I see him next week, he's getting a good talking to. She said she was ok with this once she got over feeling sorry for herself. Riiiiiigghht. I bet she can guilt a nice diamond out of him for this one. Anyway, since I was so busy last week, I didn't get around to making her card until this weekend. But I didn't want to make a stuffy congratulations card for her, cuz she's not really like that. And she's probably already got a million of them from all the people who couldn't go. So, I made her one that will hopefully make her smile. And can you believe, that with all the stamps I have (it's not that many, really. No, really.), that I don't have a simple congratulations stamp? I was really shocked. Apparently, I don't congratulate a lot of people in my life. How sad. So, I had to piece together a bunch of Papertrey stamps to say Happy For You. And I am happy for her. Congratulations, Theresa!

Stamps: Paper Tray (Papertrey), Ink: Mellow Moss, Blush Blossom sponged (SU!), Paper: Pretty in Pink, Blush Blossom, Certainly Celery (SU!), Brenda Walton DP, Accessories: Marvy punches, Certainly Celery ribbon, Making Memories brads, dimensionals

Poor Dana

I have a little personal business to conduct really quickly before I, uh...well, I guess this will be my post today, cuz it's all I got. My friend Dana (hey, girl) saw my candles and will probably attempt to do them someday when she's got time. First, I would like to point out that she saw them in person, cuz she hasn't visited the old blog in a while. *gasp* I know! And it will be some time before she has time to try the candles cuz she hasn't even had time to stamp lately. *double gasp* Again, I know! (Well, she did do her Christmas cards.) I mean, after all, this is the person responsible for my even knowing what stamping is, and now she's annoyed with me for having the time to make tins that coordinate with my Christmas cards. People, let me just say that it's all about priorities. See, Dana thinks that what's important in life is working out, cleaning her house, helping at school and feeding her kids. You can't see me, but I'm sadly shaking my head at this. No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. What's important is stalking blogs of the brilliant people, like Nichole. Buying and playing with stamps as soon as they become available, even if it means your kids are heating up frozen snack foods for dinner. Hey, there's nothing wrong with a couple of Cheetos and a good veggie-filled Hot Pocket. Cheese and vegetables - that's balanced, right? Right?! Anyways, my sad, lost little point is that maybe one day (fingers crossed), Dana will find her way back to the dark side, er, find her creative side once again. And should she find time for this fabulous obsession/hobby (tomato, tomahto), I just wanted her to have written instructions for the candles. Here ya go, girl. Click me! Come on back!

Recipe for the card up there. Yeah, I realize it's not candles. Where have you been? They're 2 posts down. Stamps: Spiral Bouquet, Beautiful Blooms (Papertrey), Ink: Soft Sky (SU!), Colorbox black pigment, Palette noir, Paper: Soft Sky, Basic Black (SU!), Papertrey white, Accessories: clear EP

Time Well Spent

K, I'm a little behind on my regular stamping. This is the Time Well Spent stamp set that SU! sent out to their demos as a gift. They sent them out about a month ago. Could be more, I'm not sure. Time just kinda goes by in a blur these days, so I have no idea when anything really happens. I kinda sound like Tiara did a few years ago. Everything happened "yesterday". Like, "Um, remember when we took that trip to Disneyland and then went to Grandpa's house in Las Vegas and then I started kindergarten...yesterday?" Yeah, to me, it was all about a month ago. Sometimes I get daring and say, "Uh, I believe that was last week." I really have no idea. And these days, Tiara's a bit more precise. Now everything is, "I woke up around 5:27 this morning...I think I had lunch around 1:12 or 1:13, I'm not sure." That's usually met with eye-rolling from her sisters, but it cracks me up. It's not really important, but it's a detail she just likes to throw out there. Kids are wacky.

Stamps: Time Well Spent (SU!), Ink: Colorbox black pigment, Pretty in Pink (SU!), Paper: Papertrey white, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black (SU!), Accessories: clear EP, Mike's ribbon, Primas, rhinestones

Christmas Candles

Here I am! I know, I know, I'm a naughty blogger. I've been busy. I'm not sure what I've been so busy with, but apparently it's big enough to keep me from posting. I've finally finished everything I need to do as far as Christmas goes. Well, ok, not the tree or wee bit of decorating I do, or the shopping for presents, but hey, my cards & tins are done. And, so are my gifts for our family. We have a lot of family that we only see a few times a year...you know the people you know, but not well enough to know what they'd want? And they usually get us stuff from Bath & Body works, nice shirts and dolls for the girls. I try to do things for all of these people so that it's relatively inexpensive, but still nice. Last year, I bought ornaments for them, painted them and put everyone's names on them. Not the most original idea, but original for me. So this year, thanks to the inspiration of Splitcoast, I personalized candles for everyone. I did not know that you could print (from a printer) on tissue paper! I love learning new things like this! How sad is my life? So here is my absolute last holiday offering:

Ok, looking at the picture, I really hope it's my picture taking that's a little crooked and not the candle. Oh well. It's too late now. I mean, doing these candles was was fun. At first. But, by candle #8, I was hatin' life. And these are the ginormous candles, so it's the length of a stamp wheel x 2. And of course, I had to do both sides. Wanna see?

No, you're eyes aren't messin' with you. This one is for Shawn's grandpa & it's a different color. The top one is Elegant Eggplant. I did purple on that one cuz my sister-in-law Dawn is the only female in her house, and I would imagine she's surrounded by guy colors & stuff. So, it has everyone's name's on it, but it's really for her. This one is a blue, even tho you can't really tell. It's actually Night of Navy (for those who know SU! colors), but it just fades on tissue paper. And yes, I realize that my picture taking leaves a lot to be desired, but I'm a stamper, not a photographer. And you get the general idea, right? Good enough, then.

Of course, I couldn't end this without showing you the red one. Ok, it's Purely Pomegranate. I just love how the So Swirly wheel turned out on these candles. And I'm so glad I found out that you can print on tissue paper. Could you imagine if I had to stamp all these names? Gag. You think my picture taking is crooked? Holy cow! These gifts would be waaaay less appealing with jagged names stamped on them. Oh, and I can totally feel your concern coming through my monitor - how you're concerned that people will see their gifts on my blog. Yeah, these people don't read my blog. Wait, lemme think. Yeah, they don't even know I have one. And those that do that read it (don't everybody get excited, cuz chances are you're not getting one) don't get to see theirs. Ha ha. I made myself laugh. Well, now I'm off to create some non-Christmas items. I'm so excited. Later.

Stamps: So Swirly Jumbo Wheel (SU!), Snowflake Serenade (Papertrey), Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Night of Navy, Purely Pomegranate (SU!), Paper: Tissue paper, Accessories: candles (duh), wax paper, heat gun, printer