Hanna Hanna everywhere!

Hanna isn't in Montana- she's everywhere- at least on Split Coast. Well, Hanna is adorable and I had to get in on the action too. (I don't like being left out). I don't have the set yet- but my friend Jimmi has the set so she stamped some images for me. Hanna is a lot of fun to stamp. I colored her with my Stampin' Up Markers on water color paper and blended it with my Aquapainter. This is a great alternative for those of us who can't quite afford the Copic Markers yet. It works best (in my experience) with the water color paper from Stampin' Up. The paper used for this image is another brand. It works but not as good as the SU paper. There is a great tutorial for this technique at Julie Buhler's Blog HERE Her hair is Creamy Caramel with Close to Cocoa accents. One of her bags is covered with the dp from the card. The sentiment sums up how I feel about this Hanna set. :)









Other materials used

SU Blush Blossom, Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa card stock

SU Chocolate Grosgrain ribbin

White button brads from Makin' Memories

Designer Paper from K I Memories


Ok. I am done gushing about Hanna and how much fun she is. If you are interested in this set and more sets you can check her out HERE. I guess I had better get back to work.

Yes, It's been over 2 months since I posted!! I know!

It's been over 2 months since I posted on my blog and while it doens't bother me a whole lot (it's not like I have any readers) it really bothers my BFF Jimmi from The Stampin Shopper. So what did she do to make me break my fast from posting- SHE TAGGED ME!! Yeah, I know- she's done it before. But this time I think if I don't respond she really might stamp me or color on me with her new Copic markers or something else...who knows?? So here goes.

I have to link to the blogger that tagged me, done.
List 7 random things about myself - I will try- but I doubt it will be interesting....
Tag 7 more bloggers. I don't know 7 bloggers so I'm not going to tag anyone back......

• I used to competive roller skate when I was growing up- my first freestyle routine was to the music of The Pink Panther
• I grew up in a small town in the mountains of Pennsylvania and I loved it there
• I have a dog and I have a cat. I love my dog- do you want my cat?? ;)
• I know a lot of non-girly stuff and can hold my own (somewhat) in a conversation regarding truck engines, tractors and because of my job- truck driving and fuel-hauling
• I am divorced and while my divorce was one of the toughest things I have ever had to survive- it is also the best thing that ever happened to me.
• I live in a two bedroom apartment- I painted my stamp room/dining room yellow even though I wasn't supposed to (I hate white paint)
• I bought an MP3 player to listen to when I walk everyday.....and I haven't gone walking once since I bought it.

Well, that's it. The most boring blog post you will ever read in your lifetime! Oh, wait- nobody reads my blog! bawawawawaaaaaaaa!!! ;)

Have a great day. Maybe if I stamp some this weekend I will post more......but I have to work and you know how that goes.....

Pajama Party! Woo hoo!!

Saturday night was time to PARTY!! I was invited to a Stampin' Pajama Party by one of my good stamping friends. So after work I packed up my pajamas and stamping gear and headed over to her house. Everyone brought some thing to eat or drink. I brought wine and candy because what is a party without those??? :)

I used this opportunity to work on a couple of projects I needed to finish. The first was an anniversary card for my parents. They will have been married 44 years on August 17th!! Ya for them! Of course, I could have never stayed with my ex for that long.......one of us would be dead and it wouldn't be me......so in our case divorce was best. :) But my parents are doing great and they still love each other and get along- rare these days. So this is my card to celebrate their marriage. After all, if it weren't for them- my brother and I wouldn't be here today!

The card is made with the new SU set called Baroque Motifs. I wasn't sure if I would like using it- but I think I do! The colors are Blue Bayou, Soft Skye and River Rock. I punched the scallop with the new SU scallop punch (yes- I have one that actually works!) and put a rhinestone brad in the middle. Then for the finishing touches I sponged the edges with Blue Bayou ink and put Star Dust Stickles in the center of each small flower. I hope they like it!

The second project I needed to do is a birthday card for a friend of mine. I made two birthday cards but I think this is the one I will send her- I really like it. The idea isn't completely original, but then what idea is? We all use the same sets and colors so eventually something overlaps. I used the SU set Doodle This and filled it in with Soft Sky ink with a blender pen. Then I highlighted with my white gel pen. I stamped the main flower in black on white paper and colored the same way. After cutting it out and attaching it with dimensionals- I used my Star Dust stickles (again- I know! I love them!!) and made it all sparkly. I stamped Happy Birthday from It's your Birthday in Black and attached a ribbon (non SU).

Anyway- I made two other cards as well. I tried a lady bug card with the Pick A Petal set then all of us (those who were left at 2 am that is....) made this cute birthday card that looks like paper on a clipboard- complete with a pencil! I wish I could take credit for designing it- but I can't! It was brought by one of the other ladies- and I think her sister designed it. But we had a lot of fun making it!

So you see- I may be mostly work- but this week I was some play too! It was really needed fun time. All work and no play.......makes you me most of the time- and that's not good! So add a little fun into your life wherever you can!

I think I am a stamp collector!

Well, the Summer is officially here. If you're not sure- just stick your head out the door and enjoy the 90 degree temperature coupled with the 90% humidity. YUCK! Between my crappy work schedule and this heat- stamping has not been a priority. Well, in my mind it has but by the time I FINALLY get a day off, clean my house (I must say my house has been the dirtiest it has ever been lately), go grocery shopping, and cook dinner- I am totally exhausted. SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE!! (do you think my boss reads my blog....????) Ha ha ha!!

Ok. I am done ranting. :) I have installed a new rule for myself, however. I will not buy or order any more stamps until all the sets I have are trimmed and mounted. That's right- I had about 8 sets sitting on my shelf that I hadn't even mounted yet. And let's not get into the retired sets I just bought from other demos that haven't seen ink yet. It's insane. I have to stop "collecting" stamps and start using them. That doesn't mean, however, that I have to stop buying accessories, right? (just agree with me here- there's no use in arguing....)

Well, I have made two cards recently- but I did not BUY the stamps to make them. The first card is made with the "Hit the Beach" set from My Favorite Things. This is the set I won at the Williamsburg Shoe Box Swap (see last post.) It was pretty fun- I had to make the card for my little sister in the Divine Secret Siblings Group. I used Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, and Soft Sky card stock- in addition to Whisper White for the image base. The exciting thing is- I finally got to use a jumbo eyelet from the new SU Catty! Oh, they are so cool. The finishing touch on the card is Stickles in Stardust. If you don't own stickles- that is a good color to start off with- it goes with EVERYTHING. Once you try them- you will use them all the time.

The second card I made for my friend. She is really sad right now missing her sister. Her sister was supposed to come back for a visit but didn't get on the military flight at the last minute. I wanted to try and cheer my friend up- so I made her this card. The Bella Image was sent to me by my Big Sis in the Divine Secret Siblings group. I thought it was appropriate for this occasion. The base is Brocade Blue and the designer paper is from my Pocket Full of Posies Matstack. It has beautiful paper and I am just now starting to break out and use it. I colored the image with assorted Stampin Up markers and then heat embossed iridescent ice on the dress and the shirt of the bellas. The finishing touches are prima flowers attached with a jeweled brad and some organdy ribbon. I love the organdy ribbon and I will miss it now that SU doesn't carry it anymore.

Anyway- I haven't had time to stamp anything else- BUT I did finally mount four stamp sets so maybe I will be stamping again soon.....it's too hot to do anything outside. So if work doesn't kill me first- I will create some more cards!

Thanks for reading!!

Ya! The Shoebox Swap Was a Success!!

I didn't think I was going to make it. I only had one day off in almost a week and a million and one things to do. Time was running out and I had not a thing made or designed. But God smiled upon me in a huge way. My "nice" boss (I have two) said I could be "sick." Now normally I don't even call in sick when I AM sick- but this was an emergency of epic proportions! Action had to be taken.

Here's the deal: I had signed up to participate in a Shoe Box Swap (for those who do not know what that is- it is where you design a card and then provide enough supplies and material for all the participants to re-create your card) in Williamsburg, VA. Then silly me also signed up for the optional 3-D swap. Now if you have ever read my blog (or even read the title) then you would probably be right in guessing that I work way too much to have time to do any of this (including my blog). So you may pose the question, "What was she thinking signing up for the optional 3-D swap??" Well, I threw caution and logic to the wind and said, "heck yeah!" I wanted all the cool stuff that would be swapped in return, what else can I say??

So two days before the SBS I found myself in quite a pickle. I had an idea for my 3-D swap, but nothing was started. I didn't have a clue what I was going to make for my card. I wanted to use items from the new SU catty (isn't it great?) but they would not be here until the day before the swap.....what to do? Well, I started on my 3-d swap but since it was also my only day off to do any chores or errands (did I mention that it was also my son's birthday?) I had to do those as well. So by the end of the day- I was barely started let alone finished. And I was EXHAUSTED. I mean I literally could not keep my eyes open. Here comes the part where my hero saves the day! My "nice" boss said I could be "sick" that Friday! He is so great- we should do a RAK for him!! I took the day off- and the morning I finished my 3-D swaps and by the time I was done with those- Mr. Brown had delivered my new catty stuff! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!

Thanks to my "nice" boss and Mr. UPS Man I completed everything and had a great time! We made so many cool cards and ate pizza. It was great to stamp with others (Jimmi, Cyndi and Jen are picutred but there were other great stampers there too!) and re-create everyone's projects. There are some very creative people in this world! Oh- the door prizes were great too! Here's a picture of the ones I won! The book and Post-it-Note holder were made by Paulette Martin- a fellow swapper and SU demo. Isn't she awesome?? The stamp set is a "bonus" door prize. I have not tried anything from My Favorite Things but I can't wait to use this set. Isn't it cute? I will be using it VERY soon.

Anyway- that is the big news for now! I will hopefully be stamping some more projects this week. I have my new sets to play with- and my friend just moved so I am going to make her some cards too.

Totally Exhausted- but I got some cards done!!

Whew! I am finally updating my poor, neglected blog. I have done minimal stamping - unfortunately, work is to blame for that. I am not so sure anymore that I am a workaholic anymore as much as I have to work because my boss gave me a crappy schedule. I used to give 110% at my job- but now I am so exhausted all the time I am lucky if I can give 90%. When I finally have a day off- I have so many household chores to keep up with- stamping gets put on the back-burner. Usually I am way too tired and what few creative juices I do have in my body are not flowing at all. BUT I did manage somehow to get a couple projects done. Check them out.

The first card is a card I made for my little sister for the Divine Secret Sibling group. (Hopefully she will not read my blog- ha ha ha) I love that group. Unfortunately, this is her second June card and I still have not mailed it. She knows I am running behind - and I am going to make it up to her in a big way this month- especially in my reveal gift. But I finally got to try dry embossing with my new template and stylus. I need more practice- but I had a lot of fun doing the paper piercing around the flower too. The designer paper is from Pocket Full of Posies Mat Stack. I bought this two months ago and still hadn't used it. So I basically designed the card around the paper. I hope she likes it!

The second card is another cracked glass creation. I love the Farm Fresh set- and it has been calling my name since I learned of this technique. I used sponging on the card stock to give it that more vintage feel. I am starting to think the vintage look is more my style than the cutesy stuff. But I could change my mind tomorrow- so I am not going to commit to that yet..... :)

The third card is just a simple birthday card for my son. He turned 16 years old now! Wow! He is growing up so fast!! He will be driving soon- but I don't have time to get into that right now.... I don't have many masculine sets and it was really hard to come up with an idea that wasn't to young or too old for a teenage boy. I needed to get it done so I settled on this design. I did paper piercing since I didn't want to use ribbon on a "guy" card. (what torture to not use ribbon!!) I did however add some sparkle with Dazzling Diamond glitter. Just for that little extra something.

Anyway- I have a lot more stamping to do this week- I am participating in a Shoe Box Swap (see my side bar for details) this Saturday. I have not designed my card yet- and I have not come up with a door prize or my 3-d Swap. I am in BIG trouble!! But hopefully when I get my next Stampin Up shipment - there's a couple things from the Preview mini in the order - I will come up with something to WOW everyone. Now if work would just give me an extra day off........yeah, right! But a girl can dream, right??

AAAAHHH! I tackled the mailman....

I tackled the mailman but all had for me was a coupon for baby diapers. ???? Is he trying to tell me something? (I don't have a baby.....) Anyway- we will try again tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will bring me my new SU catty- if not....I might go insane...(or moreso than I already am!!) hee hee heee......

Another day without stamping but not without anticipation!

Ok. I haven't had a chance to stamp and this time I can't blame it on work. Really, seriously- I can't. My boss even gave me an extra day off- but unfortunately the time has been taken up with household chores. My son is going to live with me FULL TIME this Summer and I have been working my butt off to get his room ready. I had to buy some furniture (still have to get him a desk) and I washed ALL his clothes for him...(aren't I nice???). Whew! I've been busy. And when I have had a spare minute- I have been too tired to stamp. BUT I haven't been too tired to think about it....... ;)

This morning I finally got a chance to sort through most of the new catty chatter. Wow! I might tackle the mailman when he gets here this afternoon.....SERIOUSLY!! I can't wait to see it. I am disappointed to hear that there is only that one single scallop punch- but I am sure I will still be ordering it. That just means I am going to have to keep stalking the Marvy Uchida punches... But I am so excited to see what we will be getting. Yippee!

I don't know what I am going to do when I get my hands on the new catty.......with my son living here my finances will be stretched even more.....but with my son living here.....I will need stamps even more than before! Yikes!! SSHHHHH...don't tell my accountant but I have already placed an order from the preview catty- and it will be here in TWO days. TWO days. (I know I said it already- I am just so darn excited!!) I will definitely post my creations as soon as I get time to make them!! (Alex, I know you are tired of peanut butter and jelly for dinner....but Mom has to stamp!! heh heh hehe!!) :)

Getting ready to go- but if there is actually someone reading this- check out the link to my trade on SCS. I need to get some new stuff!! What can I say- I am addicted. But it is better than being an alcoholic, right? No, it's not cheaper- just healthier. ;)

Working too much!

I have been working too much this week to stamp or blog! I won't post about how bad work is without posting something good about stamping so this will be a short post. But I did want to say how exciting it was to see that I had a comment on my post from last week that was NOT from my friend. Yippee! Someone actually looked at my blog. That was pretty cool.

Stay tuned...when I get a chance to stamp I will have some goodies to show you!!

Father's Day Card- FINALLY!

I finally got to stamp today and made my Dad's card for Father's Day. Yes, I am well aware that Father's Day was yesterday- BUT work and family issues have kept me from stamping table the past two weeks and I cannot bring myself to BUY a card. That would not be good enough for anyone now that I know the art of stamping. :)

Work has been actually relatively calm the past week, but my schedule is very confusing. I keep shifting back and forth from nights to mornings and I usually only have one day off in between. I literally cannot tell you what I work next week without looking at a calendar. So this week has not been different-but I am off tomorrow and I HOPE I get to stamp some more. It's too hot to do anything else!!

I have some new sets that I am DYING to play with. I really need some "me" time but that seems rare here lately. I used Lovely as a Tree for my Dad's card. I have also recently purchased Stipple Butterfly, Girlfriends, All Jazzed up and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head. It's sad when you neglect your stamp sets and you can't remember their names. I hope I don't get turned into social services and have them removed from the home!! hee hee! Oh- and it gets worse. I think I am going to trade some of my "children" (stamp sets) off in the SCS trade forum. I will keep you posted and let you know when I do!!

Hopefully I will have more to "talk" about tomorrow and have some cute cards to show you!

I've been "tagged!"

I don't know what that means since I am new to the blogging world but apparently I have been tagged so I need to answer these questions in one word. So here goes:


Yourself: Stressed

Your Partner: ME

Your Hair: curly

Your Mother: Selfless

Your Father: Loved

Your Favorite Item: Ribbon!

Your Dream Last Night: Scary

Your Favorite Drink: Cabernet

Your Dream Car: Mine

Your Dream Home: Any

The Room You Are In: Living Room

Your Fear: Failing

Where You Want to be in Ten Years: Happy

Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Dixie

You’re Not: Blonde

One of Your Wish List Items: House

The Last Thing You Did: Type

You Are Wearing: Pajamas

Your Favorite Weather: Cool

Your Favorite Book: Many

Last Thing You Ate: Coffee

Your Life: Busy

Your Mood: Stressed

Your Best Friend: Me

What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Hitting (my ex-husband)

Your Car: Sonata

What Are You Doing At The Moment: Typing

Relationship Status: Single

What Is On Your TV: Nothing

What Is The Weather Like: Cloudy

When Is The Last Time You Laughed: Yesterday

Finally got those cards finished- and I don't have a brain tumor!

Good news! My headaches are just regular old migraines. Bad news- they are just regular old migraines. Apparently after having my head examined- it is normal. (They should REALLY double-check that normalcy thing....) That is really good news but now I cannot blame everything I do wrong on my imaginary tumor that I named Henry. Oh well. I had a horrendous night at work last night- I was pretty much up all night talking to truck drivers. (that's my job, ya know...) I didn't get any sleep and then my very good friend called me and I had to pick her up this morning at the car service center. Even though I really wanted another hour or two of sleep- I got up to go get her because she would do the same for me. :)

Now onto some stamping stuff! :)

I finally made my niece's graduation card and decided which of my new creations would be my Mom's birthday card. Whew!

I made two cards with my new "almost favorite" set- Roses In Winter. (Bodacious Bouquet is still my FAV- thank goodness it's not retiring!) That is a really fun set to play with- I can't wait to use it again! I couldn't decide which one to send at first. The one with Cameo Coral I tried the Cracked Glass technique. The Brocade Blue card I made a scalloped circle using my coluzzle and the corner rounder punch. I have finally decided on the blue one for my Mom since blue is her favorite color!! Check them out and feel free to tell me if I made the right decision.

My neice's card was more difficult. I used the Framed Greetings set which really isn't my style but it has come in handy for things like babies, and - GRADUATION. I wanted to put Certainly Celery on black but I also wanted to write inside the card how proud of her I am so I made the Celery a little smaller and be the part that opens and mounted it on a card-sized piece of black CS. I used the Stars and Swirls Jumbo wheel and embossed it with Whisper White Craft Ink and white ep. I also used Dazzling Diamonds on the graduation caps- but that is mainly because I am addicted to ribbon and glitter and I didn't use any ribbon!! :)

If you want more details on the cards check out my Gallery on SCS!! (the BEST website EVER!!)

So I feel more relieved that those are finished- BUT I still have to make Father's day Cards! Where will I find the time????

Starting a blog....

I am starting a blog because that apparently is the 'thing to do.' I am not sure anyone wants to hear what I have to say but that's ok because Google say I can post it anyway. :)

I am a divorced single Mom with a very stressful and intense job. I love to stamp and I am a hobby demo for SU but my life seems to get in the way a lot.

At work I am a dispatcher for a fuel tanker company- which especially in the heat of summer travel season can be VERY stressful. I have one (actually two) co-workers that are making life unbearable (that's a post for another time...) at work but other than that- I LOVE what I do. I am good at it and it pays fairly decently. I don't have a college degree (some credits but no degree) so I really can't go anywhere else and make enough money to support myself. So let's all pray we get through the Summer "busy" season and I still have some sanity and my job.

My current stamping projects are......well I am really behind on them. My Mom's Birthday was on May 31st and I am still working on her card. It just has to be the best card ever. She is very sick and this may very well be her last birthday. So...not just any card will do if you KWIM.

I also have to make a graduation card for my niece. I am not really excited about that. There is nothing fun about a graduation card. You can't put flowers all over it. I do have a graduation cap stamp- but it's not girly, flowery and pretty! Oh well. I will get it done this week.

I will finish my stamping projects this week and I will tell you why. I went out this weekend with my friend Jimmi (who got me started on this whole blog business) and spent all my money. No, I haven't balanced my check book yet so I don't know how much money I "don't" have but I know enough to tell you that I will not be going anywhere for a week or two except to work and MAYBE the grocery store!! Yikes. Target and Michael's get you in trouble EVERY TIME!!! (and Bath & Body Works...NY & CO.....darn those semi-annual sales!!)