Royal pennies...

Ok-so my post earlier today showcased the cute card made by Amy Sheffer over at Pickled Paper Designs. As I said, I have a soft spot for bike stamps.  This stamped image is from Unity Stamp Company so I rode on over and checked it out. Literally. It was $ 5.99 and I just slipped it right into my cart. I drove through all the roadblocks of setting up a new customer account (they have a lot of cute things!) as I *thought* I would be purchasing more things from them when the royal pocketbook was a little fuller. Then I got to the shipping charges. I almost had heart-failure! On a $ 5.99 stamp...shipping was---drumroll please...a WHOPPING $ 6.95?!!! I'm sorry---but that is just outrageous!  I sent Unity an e-mail expressing her Highness' dismay, saying I would have ordered but...and this was the reply I got:

From: Andrea Garvick

andrea@unitystampco.com To: sentbysharon

Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2011 9:42 am

Hi Sharon,

Our shipping is a flat rate of $6.95 for all US and Canadian orders, no matter the size of the order.

Thanks

Andrea

WELL! I can tell  you right now...this Stamp Queen won't be ordering from UNITY STAMP COMPANY anytime soon! I just got back on my cute little bike (still waiting on the royal mini cooper!)..and rode on over to that e-bay place...found the exact same stamp for the exact same price....$ 5.99...and shipping was only....drumroll, please....$ 2.50! And it was EXPIDITED shipping at that!

I don't know about you, but every little pound and penny counts for me these days. I work HARD for what I earn...and there's too many things I have to pay (doctors, etc.) that the little I splurge on myself has to go a looooong looooong way.  So paying exhorborant shipping charges is a no-no. Not gonna happen.  Unity may have cute stuff-but I am not going to let them rip me off!  I had to give a shout out to maybe save you from the same shipping scan(del)!  Granted, you may not *always* be able to find a better deal-but it makes me feel better trying--or finding an alternative!  Anyway...back to the housework!  It's the maid's day off unfortunately.  Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping. And don't skip my previous post-Amy's cards are really cute! Blessings, Sharon

Just stopping by...

since my blog was next on my blog-hopping list! No great new projects to post---at least not of my own creation today--so sorry (some great ones from blogger & designer AMY SHEFFER-http://pickledpaperdesigns.blogspot.com/ at the end of this post!)  I just haven't been up  to par and the gall bladder's been raging and keeping me up all hours-and, as much as I dread the thought of surgery (being unconscious and at the mercy of God knows who (with recent experiences with the medical profession-I have some major trust issues!), I do sense that that organ is going to have go sometime soon!

Gasp--I did not get up to watch the Royal wedding (we don't have tv other than dvd/video capability)--but I have watched the news online.  Can't help but remember Princess Diana's wedding and pray that the press and like don't do the same to the newlyweds as they did Charles and Diana...

Today...I am cleaning house and updating the "honey-do" list (one of which is fixing my bicycle so when I do feel good I can ride!) -Tomorrow--back to the craft room.  Theresa and I are still contemplating a crafty yard sale--so gearing towards that and getting some workable space in there once again.  THEN going to use the stuff that I keep SAVING--you know-those papers you fall in love with and then can't use--'cause you love 'em?  Going to make myself some 12x12 framed pages to decorate with with the ones I can't part with. And those stamp sets I LOVE that have never seen ink or paper? That's gonna change, too! I am ANXIOUSLY AWAITING...my week-end get-away to Charleston with my friend, Betsy, next week-end. 

Pinwheel Card by Amy Sheffer--Pickled Paper Designs

If I take a "time out" and attempt anything crafty (particularly if today's mail has the PINWHEEL DIE...I will be sure to share! Check out Amy's blog-- http://pickledpaperdesigns.blogspot.com/ for some great ideas---I just might have to snag her pinwheel card as a thank you to Betsy for taking me away! I LOVE the trike card she has posted today, too! I have fond memories of riding my little red trike-with streamers from he handlebars in my grandparents unfinished basement when I was little (I grew up in OH--lots of snow and ice--so riding inside was a real treat!  Until next time, have a GOOD DAY and happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

It's a Good Day card also by Amy Sheffer-Pickled Paper Designs

Happy Easter!

Despite feeling worse than last week when I played hooky from church, hubby managed to wake me up in time to make the sunrise service at Caswell Beach.  The three "island churches" participate in the service and regulars and tourists come from near and far to Ft. Caswell to congregate on the bluff and watch the sun rise as we listen to great music and hear His Word proclaimed.  It's always moving, sometimes quite chilly (not today, thankfully) and well-attended. Had enough time to grab a cup of coffee and do some blog hopping before I donned my Easter apparel and we went to our 9:30 service. More great music  and preaching. 

I am really depressed over feeling bad (cough, sneeze, blow, repeat) and just life in general today.  But--there is GOOD NEWS. I have a Risen Savior who will see me through. Despite how I feel, I KNOW it will get better.  He will not leave me alone.  That's the promise of Easter. He died that we might live.  All days may not be roses and sunshine, but He promises to see us through. He has. He will. I believe that! Have a BLESSED EASTER--not just today, but every day and, until next time, happy stamping and scrapping.  Blessings, Sharon

Next Up...Mother's Day...

 OK--so I don't do Mother's Day well for a number of reasons.  The sentiment that says, "My mother is a travel agent for guilt trips" pretty well sums it up. So much so---we simply e-mail. Very seldom at that.  There are those out there who don't have great mom relationships--or don't have children of their own-or have step children (and husbands of the same)  who simply don't recognize them since they are merely "step mothers". Whatever the case, please be sensitive and think about that BEFORE you wish someone happy mother's day.   That's my rant for today!

There are those, however, who have GREAT MOMS and who do want to recognize their WIFE on Mother's Day.  So here's my before--these are purchased blank notecards wayyyyy to pretty to pass up from Michaels....and here's the outside of the finished product....I added a silk ribbon, bow, hand-stamped (popped up, of course!) tag (SU set that's older than dirt!), crystals and then added a K& Co. glittered dimensional flower group. Once again, my poor photography doesn't do it justice!  The sentiment for the Mother card

 that I printed out using the RBG code to match the CTMH hollyhock ink color says: " There's no velvet as soft as a mother's lap, no rose as lovely as her smile, no path so flowery as that imprinted with her footsteps.-Archibald Thompson

   Happy Mother's Day"

The sentiment for "To My Wife" card says:

Happy Mother’s Day To My Wife

On Mother’s day, I want to wish
Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful wife;
My friend, my love, a terrific mom,
You bring so much happiness into my life.
You’re everything to this family;
I appreciate you, and I want to say,
The day we met, I was truly blessed.
Happy, Happy Mother’s Day!

I *think& I got everything sufficiently sappy enough?! 

I was cleaning today and the empty clothes basket ended up under the "pew" (we have a church pew from our old chapel that we cut down to use as a bench at our kitchen table...)  It didn't take long for this to happen...Poppa Cat is on the outside trying to figure out how to get to the "baby", aka Inky, who's inside the basket! Or perhaps PC is holding him hostage?! Lol. Cats LOVE boxes, baskets, anything they can try and squeeze into.  Well, I am off to put the sentiments into the cards and bundle them up for the office on Monday. My hubby's boss liked them and allows me to send them in so people can "shop" in the breakroom! How sweet is that?!  Until next time, HAVE A BLESSED EASTER and happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

well, DUH....

 So yesterday, between the coughing and choking and sniffling...I decided to play with these.  I needed to make ONE birthday card but, in a moment of weakness, I decided I could mass-produce a few of those as well... Now, I had not used the spinner hands before.  They are NEW from Stampin' Up.  Never mind I ordered one package and then THREE MORE having not broken the seal on the first one! Lol. I just *KNEW* I would need more...! Anyway, 3/4 of the way through my project I discovered this...scroll down a bit...see that small circle thingy in the dead center of the container...?

Yep, it's a WASHER.  It helps to give a little room for the spinner thingy to move and work.  Well, DUH, Sharon!  I tossed the match  aside that I was using as a "spacer" to fix the brad in place and put the washer in.  It worked pretty good. Even with that (and I have to confess, with the match, too...) I was still managing to get the brad a little too bit tight (I have super powers when it comes to craft supplies!).  I found that if I flipped the whole thing over and took the tip of my scissors and placed them at the very edge of the brad prong and folded it over that way...there was plenty of room for everything to move. I also discovered (for what it's worth) that popping up the actual stamped spinner board looked better than popping the whole thing (layers and all ) up.  The spinner hands ARE NOT HARD AT ALL to use.  Sometimes I think Martha and I are related-if I can find a hard way to do something---! Geesh.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE these little gizmo's and even hubby was impressed (I guess they fall into the hardware category!)  and that stamp pad (Creole Spice--by Kalediacolor) really gives it a playful look I think (better pic of the card in yesterday's post!)  The spinner hands are a great deal--a pkg of 12 for $ 3-4!Visit Theresa at www.artful-whimsies.blogspot.com and she can order some for you!

Today...despite STILL not feeling better...I have to go to work and then this afternoon try and figure out how to get the preschool photos--photos-not digital images-scanned and uploaded to Shutterfly. I hate Picasa almost as much as Blogger and it's saving some scans and not others.  They are there-until I go to upload them and then they disappear.  That, and then I can't open the pics the teacher with the digital camera e-mailed-short of doing it one by one and it taking at least 10 minutes per photo. Did I mention there's a deadline looming for these THIRTY BOOKS I promised?!  Anyone in Blogland that has any answers--PLEASE HELP! The rest of you---PLEASE PRAY!!!

Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping! Blessings, Sharon

Over ambitious...

 While hubby was at church, in between my coughing and sniffling, I mass-produced a batch of sympathy cards.  We've had three deaths in the last 4 months...and I am always scrambling to make cards at the last minute. So I took the time to make a bunch of these to have on hand.  Sympathy cards are always hard-you don't want a lot of "fro-fro" but you don't want it to look like a store-bought card, either.  My "go-to" image is the bird in the marsh grass...it's simple, clean, and he looks like he's thinking...so it ties in the "thinking of you" (CTMH) sentiment.  I layered some dp that I have had in my stash for at least 5 years and it matched the CTMH juniper ink perfectly (it has a mix of blues, the teal green and brown).  The thinking of you is a flap that attached to the back of the card. It opens to the right, then you open the inside (card front) to the left as normal. And...NO POP DOTS! Gasp!

Then I felt ambitious enough that I thought I would do my "nephew's" belated birthday card as well...and why not do a bunch of those, too?  So I printed the backside and started playing with that design.  It was a little more challenging for whatever reason--even though I LOVE the Stampin' Up sentiments and spinner hands!  A trick to putting the spinner on and leaving enough room for it to move...I slipped a toothpick between the spinner and the card base and then folded back the prongs on the brad.  I did pop up that part of the card to be sure the brad would have room to move.  Instead of trimming off that extra little bit on the card front, I simply scored it and folded it back to make a pocket.  I usually tuck some money in for them and this worked great! I ended up rotating his card (the second one--and those brads are orange-not yellow?!) so its at the top instead of along the side. oh well. And, I didn't see it until I went to post the pics...can you see my goof? Or hmm, maybe it was meant to be that way...

I accidentally switched my layer colors around! Oops. Oh well. It's the thought that counts!

I'm a bit worn out now so I think I will go fix a hot cup of spice tea with honey and lemon and take a nap.  I can clean up later and finish the class kits. The cards I will do another day.  I've found that the boxes the CTMH orders come in (much like pizza boxes!) are GREAT for storing projects in progress in!  I simply tape a label to the outside and its good to go.

Oh-another tip...the older style SU stamps are really really sticky and leave a tough to remove residue on my clear blocks. The newer style stamps...if you put the label on (which I like to do) don't stick as well.  I found a small piece of tape from my Scotch tape gun put on the block itself-then attach the stamp-works great! It holds the stamp secure and then just rolls off when I am done! Easy peasy.

Time to rest.  Until next time, happy stamping and scrapping. Blessings, Sharon