Blogger Blues

Please pardon my construction mess

but after 3 hours

I am giving up!

At least

the Halloween header and background are gone!

Now I just have duplicates upon duplicates

of buttons and widgets

and

I learned the little black cat widget

will retire in March 2014.

Sad! Sad! Sad!

Anyway-

I am calling it a night!

 

Tomorrow is another day, Scarlett!

 

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Warning: LOTS of photos follow...!

 

I know-I know-

it's not even THANKSGIVING yet...

and here I am talking about Christmas!

I have good reason.

One of our groupies,

who also happens to be named Sharon

is in charge of decorations

for her golf group's holiday celebration.

Her and her one-other-person committee

chose

A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The other Sharon

decided that the scrawny Christmas tree

with the red decoration

would make great centerpieces.

I said so would Snoopy and the decorated doghouse.

We were off an running!

We hoped to have 4 working on all this-

turns out it was only the two of us...!

This took one long evening

and one Sunday afternoon...

but we are both delighted with the outcome!

First,

we "built" doghouses.

Gift boxes, cardstock-and red wrapping paper

with little brown lines through it.

Then I printed and cut out

Snoopy and Woodstock.

Double-sided, fussy cut!

Thank God for light boxes (that allowed us to line the

two images up pretty darn close)

and Sharpie markers that helped fill in where it wasn't!

TOS (the other Sharon) stamped and put together the infamous

blue ribbon (Close to My Heart stamp set/Cricut cut).

That was the first night!

Then today--

we put the icing on the cake

snow on the roof

and glued on the lights...

bad lighting on the pics-sorry

(shooting with a window with sun shining behind them)

but here they are--

all six centerpieces...

3 have Snoopy and Woodstock on top...

three have Snoopy and Woodstock on the side

complete with maribu on their hats!

(both images were cute and we couldn't decide

so we did both!)

 

Quilt batting makes excellent "snow"!

 

Next up were the trees...

flower pots with floral foam--

covered with tin foil and decorated

and of course

the sad looking tree...

my first idea was

taking cheap greenery

and stripping off the most of the green-

not only did this make a HUGE mess-

it stuck to us and everything else.

Scratch that idea.

Coming home from church today--

I spied a pile of branches on the corner-

we went back this afternoon and collected them--

turns out

they were even covered with lichen!--

and presto! We had trees....

and the red ball ornament...?

Its  actually a red golf ball!

We wrapped and hot glued

red and white ribbon around it

and added a hanger!

 

we then covered the floral foam with more batting

to make it look like snow...

and well, to cover the foam! lol!

 

the "building inspector"...

is pleased!

The look on Sharon's face---made it all worth it!

I am sooo impressed with us!

On top of all this--

we also made 24 candy bar wrappers

as favors!

We worked our little tails off

but they are HAPPY TAILS indeed!

 

 And my cat who eats Christmas trees...

came to survey the scene, too!

Don't even think about it, Inky!

Emergency vet run and enemas

are not on my agenda for the rest of today!

Sheesh.

Hubby picked up take out on his way home from the movie.

Good thing!

dinner, hot bath and rum drink, here I come!

 

Yep, it all looks good.

I LOVE Charlie Brown Christmas.

Believe it or not,

back when I was in high school

and took a child day care class where we actually

took care of 4 year olds,

we did the Charlie Brown Christmas play.

I got to be Linus.

Fond memory---

getting to share the gospel --in a school setting!

Too bad that isn't the case today...

 

Goodnight, Snoopy!

 

Sharon,

a HUGE thank you for letting me help with this!

I really, really enjoyed it!

We do good work, girlfriend! ; )

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Setting Sail...

I really meant to post this

earlier this week

but time and life got away from me.

I spent last evening helping a friend

make Charlie Brown Christmas themed decorations.

We didn't get finished

so Sunday will have take two on that project.

They will be ADORABLE so stay tuned!

Didn't know designing dog houses was in my repertoire

but --it is!

 

Ok.

Setting Sail.

My "nephew's" birthday is coming up

and being as he is in the Navy

I broke out my Close to My Heart Tommy stash

and this is what I came up with...

I used a CTMH stamp set for the flags

and stamped and hand cut each of the letters to make the

"happy" banners

which I attached to red ribbon

pop-dotted of course!

The inside has a moving mechanism

in that circle area

I found this design on

Dawns Stamping Studio blog

for a Halloween card she designed.

As you open the card, those two flagged panels inside the circle

pull back to reveal

in this card

the "super" star stamped underneath.

At the bottom I added another panel of dp

and fussy cut the Happy Birthday and

yes, pop-dotted it, too.

I will tuck some cash inside and it's good to go.

Next up will be my goddaughter's belated birthday card

and, I gotta say, it GLOWS.

 

Until next time

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,



Lady bug, Lady bug...fly away home

It seems it's either feast or famine around here!

I have not one but 4 cards to share!

I've been busy in that magic kingdom

(that's why my blog header and background is Halloween still!)

 

Anyway-

one at a time.

I love love love this one-

red, black and white-what's not to love?

And lady bugs?!

This card is a whole lot more fussy than what I normally do

but as I kept designing and doing it,

I kept adding layer upon layer-

let's see-base, background, doily,

and 4 embellishment layers!

We won't mention the TWO layers of hefty pop dots!

This one is going to be hand-delivered

so it really doesn't matter and besides,

I am used to extra postage due to pop dots!



The cardstock is all Close to My Heart-as is the inside Happy Birthday sentiment.

The front stamped/die cut embellishments are new Stampin' Up sets.

I am not certain who the Thank God for You stamp is by-

and the stickers I picked up at our local pretend Wal-Mart.

 The coloring here in these two bottom pics

make it look orange-y-but it's not-it's red.

CTMH cardstock has a white core-

so sending it through the Big Shot with an embossing folder

then sanding (nail file works great!)

is like having a whole 'nother paper stash on hand!

the wooden lady bug on the bow was in may stash from forever.

Kinda hated to part with it--maybe I can find some more.

 

That's it for today.

Filing and bill paying beckon me.

 

To the person wanting to see my Etsy shop opened-

please be patient!

Living on an island, we also have a pretend post office

so I have to go across the bridge to the real post office

(and pray I get the nice men and not the bi mean ladies!)

to calculate shipping,

then get some pics and I'll be good to go!

Maybe as soon as next week!

 

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,

Cat and cotusions....

 

I walked past Inky's bowl

(aka the baby)

and this is what I saw...

 

I had to laugh!

I guess he was saving one piece

for a snack!

 

Later the same day...

 

I saw him sitting on top of the TV!

 

"If only I knew how to turn this thing on..."

he seems to be saying...!

 

The next photo

is not for the faint of heart....

it shows what happens

when one is going 90 miles an hour

and runs her thigh

into the very pointed corner

of the desk in the church office...

 

The bruise is about my fist size

and I confess...

although not Catholic

I needed confession after the things I said

when we connected!

It wasn't isn't pretty!

And it sure hurts!!!

I haven't changed the background and header yet--
I will get around to it-or not.

 

And to my reader that commented on the catnip toys

and the opening of my Etsy shop---

I PROMISE it will be soon!

At least in time to order goodies for Christmas!

I cleaned the "magic kingdom" (aka my craft room)

this week-end

and one of the last things I did today

was to fill a candle holder

with some of my coconut scented bath salts

and nestled a candle down into it---

OHMYDEARGODINHEAVEN----

it smells AWESOME!!!

Maybe I need to repackage them

as room fresheners!

 

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,



Lessons from Cleaning the Craft Room...

So far

I haven't gotten lost in there

or gotten stuck under

an avalanche of stuff!

 

 What a disaster it is!

How nice it's going to be

when I get done!

Again.

So-

two lessons learned this morning:

first,

ALWAYS use the hand-held vac

(mine is a Shark and I LOVE IT!)

to sweep.

It is much, much easier

when you catch a glimpse of what you *think*

might have been a clear rubber stamp

being sucked up

to retrieve it.

Actually,

when I emptied it onto the paper towels...

I found not one

but TWO!

And yes,

one was an alphabet stamp--

I am FOREVER losing one from a set-

no matter how careful I am.

At least...I found it.

 

And,

speaking of found it...

Lesson Two is...

clean the craft room

before you buy

the second stamp set

because you lost your favorite stamp from it.

Not only did I find the FAVORITE stamp..

I found the whole darn set that I could swear I looked at

20 times before I ordered it.

Again.

Sigh.

 

At least I found it--and I will have backup.

 

And I found the pretty AUTUMN banner

and hung it up!

 

ok

back to it.

That magic wand seems to be broken again.

 

Until next time

happy stamping and scrapping.]

Blessings,

Still Here...

Halloween has come and gone

(and I know I need to change my blog backgrounds, etc.)

and so has

HOLLY DAYS 2013.

 

This is a one-day craft show that I

and my great friend Theresa do together every year.

I have worked myself to death getting ready-

and was sooo excited with new products---

I wish I could do a scratch and sniff through the screen

for the

Coconut Bath Salts, Lavender Bath Salts,

scented Mermaid Bubbles (rose, lavender or coconut)

with beaded bubble wands to match,

and some oldies--

Lavender dryer sachets

and of course CATNIP!

 

I got up at 4:45 AM Saturday--to rain.

Thankfully, by 7 AM

it was a slight drizzle and

by the end of the day

we even saw a peek of sun.

 

Our booth

was by far one of the best.

We were told that by more than one person!

We had the most unique items and great deals.

If I had a dollar

for everyone that stopped in our booth

and said how good it smelled-I'd be a rich lady today

and my offering this morning would have helped a whole lot more people.

 

Sadly,

I had lots of sniffers---not as many buyers as I hoped.

 

Maybe its the weather-the time change-

my fibro kicking up with the weather

and the wear and tear of packing, unpacking, set up, break down,

reload...unload, inventory, repack....

I don't know....

but I am feeling a wee bit sorry for myself today.

 

Granted,

it wasn't a bust;

I am a little richer

(let's not talk about cost vs. profit...that changes the whole scenario!)

and I had fun.

 

Theresa and I met at HD we can't remember how many years ago.

The first year she shopped my booth--

the second year her husband chatted with me and encouraged me

to talk to her because she stamped and scrapbooked, too.

We swapped phone numbers

and the rest is history.

 

We have one more show a little closer to Christmas.

I am going to venture to a local shop or two

and start an Etsy shop.

And put it all in His hands.

That's it in a nutshell.

HE KNOWS what I need---and don't need.

And I know I need...to trust Him.

It all works out, eventually.

 

To those that helped me get ready and get through,

a HUGE thank you.

To those that did buy---THANK YOU, TOO!

 

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping.

Blessings,