Saturday, August 30, 2008

A card for a homesick friend...

My friend Dawn (flowergal36 on SCS) recently moved from Illinois to North Carolina. Although we've never met we've become good friends. She's all settled in her new home with her husband & son, but she is terribly homesick. She had really liked a card I made for one of SCS's sketch challenges a while back using Stretch from High Hopes. So I made her one with the same image, same colors, a little bit different layout. She received it the other day, so that means I can share it with you here:


The Cuttlebug Mosaic folder is perfect for this adorable giraffe!! I used Barely Banana, Chocolate Chip & Close to Cocoa papers. I colored Stretch with pencils & gamsol, cut him out & popped him on dimensionals. Colored & cut out the leaves (also from High Hopes), added some brads & sent it to its new home!! I'm so glad to hear she likes the card, & hopefully I put a smile on her face. Thanks for being such a good friend, Dawn!!!

What are you all doing for Labor Day weekend?? Today we are visiting with my mom, & hopefully the rest of the weekend we'll be working & playing outside. It's supposed to be beautiful here, sunny & in the 70's so we are going to take advantage of that!! The cold weather comes much too quickly in Wisconsin & we need to spend the weekend playing before school starts on Tuesday!!!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Some FUN blog candy!!!!

Nope, not here. It's over at Kreativ Kristin, an amazing blog I found from perusing the blogging forum on SCS. Not only is she giving away an amazing array of candy, but she's got some really fun creations to check out. This blog is new to me, & I know what I'm going to be doing for the next hour or so :)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Fall fun....

I've been seeing lots of fun fall & Halloween cards lately, but sadly I've had no time to create any of my own. I decided to post a card that I did last year around this time, because it's one of my very favorites!

This cutie image is from High Hopes ~~ how fun is this??? I just love these little raccoons frolicking in the leaves. It was hard to get a good picture ~~ I'm finding that my camera is just not liking certain colors these days. Mainly red & orange. I tried editing it about a thousand times, & this was the best of the bunch.


I stamped the image onto watercolor paper, then used my SU markers & blender pen to color it. This is the only card I've ever made with this stamp, because all those leaves took just a bit of time to color, lol!! But I love how it turned out. When I posted this in my SCS gallery last year, it didn't have the Prima & leaves in the corner. Just the twine. Which was fine, but the more I looked at it yesterday, the more I decided it needed something. I definitely believe in "more is more". I didn't want to overpower the image, so I just added a Prima, brad & some leaves punched with my EK Success leaf punch. The Pumpkin Pie layer is stamped with a maple leaf, also a High Hopes stamp.

Here's a picture of the inside:


I used that same leaf punch & punched some leaves in gray, olive & orange, & arranged them in the corner. Added a bit of sponging on the white layers with SU Basic Gray ink & called it done.

Today my hubby had his last test at the hospital. It was supposed to take just a half hour ~~ basically they put a tube down his nose & into his esophagus to measure the contractions. He called me to tell me he'd be there a bit longer ~~~ they ended up having to sedate him. I won't go into all the detail ~~ TMI ~~ but he's done & home. Now he has an appointment with the surgeon, scheduled for next week. They sure aren't moving very quickly with this. I was really hoping the surgery would be scheduled today, but we have to wait another week. How long can one survive on a liquid diet?????

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Speedy delivery!!

Sometimes the Post Office surprises me. I mailed this puppy card to my friend Cris on Friday, & she received it yesterday already!! Now, she does live in the same county, so that's the way it *should* be. But I've had mail going across town take more than a week!!

Anyway, Cris got a black lab puppy a couple of weeks ago so I HAD to make her a card for the occasion. Seems having a puppy is a lot like having a baby ~~ getting up at night to let it out, putting up baby gates to keep it out of trouble, & taking it *everywhere* to show it off!! I've only seen pictures of "Lola", but I hope to meet her soon!!


I used one of my very favorite images from Whipper Snapper, Spunky Pup. It's a small image but I do seem to get a lot of use out of him!! I stamped him onto Cryogen shimmery white paper (I prefer this over SU's shimmer paper ~~ the shimmer is a bit more subtle) & colored him with my Prisma pencils & Gamsol. The papers are from a K&Company paper pad I picked up at Michael's a couple of months ago. The circle/scalloped circles were all created with my Nestabilites. I added some of my favorite Offray dotted ribbon, a bone button I had in my stash, & finished with some faux stitching. Oh, how I would LOVE to learn how to operate a sewing machine! The last time I operated one was in middle school, in Home Economics class, in the year 19-none-of-your-business. I'm pretty sure they've changed since then, but unless it comes with an elf who can operate it for me, I'm out of luck. Those who can't sew, faux sew!! I added a bit of Crystal Effects to his cute little nose & sent him off to his new home!!!! I know I've seen this layout before, but I can't remember where. I hate when that happens. I just look at too many galleries & blogs to remember exactly what I've seen where! Thanks to ALL of you for your inspiration!

Hope you had a pleasant Sunday!! It was so gorgeous here ~~ sunny & perfect temps. We were outside most of the day & I even got a bit of gardening done! My asters are close to opening, & my mums are getting buds, which means fall is just around the corner!! I *heart* fall, but then another Wisconsin winter follows very quickly. And after LAST winter, I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for that!!!!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Our little visitor....

Lookie what I found on our patio door when I woke up this morning. Isn't he adorable?? Poor little guy was between our doors, because my husband insisted on closing all of them last night. I usually just close the inner door & leave the screen & outer door open. And of course, as I tried to open the outside door so he could get out, he kept crawling towards where the doors meet. Silly froggie, doesn't he know he'll get squashed if he does that? I got the door open a few inches, & eventually he found his way out :)


As long as I had my camera in my hand, I stepped outside for a few more pictures. Unfortunately on this less than sunny morning, only this one turned out. Do not ask me what kind of lily it is, it came with the house :) Every time I try to plant fun, unique lilies, they don't grow. These are all we get. I never said my thumb was green!!!


I've actually made 2 cards in the past 2 days. However, they are for friends, so they must remain secret until they receive them!! After seeing all the fun Halloween stamps & cards in the SCS gallery lately, it's made me realize it's not that far away!! School starts in a little over a week, & it seems like Halloween comes a week later! Eek!! I'd better hurry!!

Have a great weekend!!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The birthday cards keep coming.....

Well, of course I'm happy to keep celebrating my birthday, if it means I keep receiving fabulous cards like these!! These have trickled in over the last few days & I thought I would share with you.

This gorgeous card is from Jennifer Bradley (mackbrad on SCS). Jennifer & I met on the Inky Antics chat board & have been friends for a couple of years now. I just love the glitter on the turtle's shell :)


This gorgeous card is from Inge, one of my very favorite artists & a fellow High Hopes diva! She is AMAZING!! Her creations are all so unique, so perfectly colored, so well put together. She sent me a little project along with my card ~~ a paper bag project. Hopefully I'll be able to put it together, since the instructions she sent with it are not of the English language (Dutch??) but there are pictures & I know Inge will help me if need be. I can't wait to try it!! Meanwhile, I can't stop gazing at her adorable card!


This card is from Deb Corder (dcorder on SCS). What a perfect summertime birthday card!! The fruit is adorable, & I love how she did the grids & the teeny weeny "birthday wishes" from Papertrey Ink is the perfect touch!!


Thank you to everyone who sent me cards, gifts, projects & even Happy Birthday emails!!! You truly made my birthday special!!!

Vanilla blueberry oatmeal

I made this for my kids for breakfast this morning, & I thought as long as I had the recipe out I would share it with you. It's quick & easy, & my kids love it. It's from Simple & Delicious, one of my very favorite magazines (it used to be called Quick & Easy). I love simple, & many of their recipes are so easy, my kids could make them. These days it's hard to find stuff to make for dinner, because my husband isn't eating. I hate slaving away in the kitchen making a complicated meal for just the boys & myself. This magazine has GREAT recipes & ideas!! Click on the link ~ I think they're even offering a free issue this month!

Vanilla Blueberry Oatmeal

3 cups water
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons refrigerated French vanilla coffee creamer

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in the oats, sugar & salt. Remove from the heat; stir in the blueberries & creamer. Yield: 4 servings.


Easy peasy!! I'm sure you could substitute any fruit, but my kids LOVE blueberries so I've never tried anything else. I have frozen strawberries in my freezer, maybe I'll try that tomorrow!!

I hope to have a card soon. The last few days I've had to tend to a sick kitty. He was really cranky & not wanting to be touched, so I took him to the vet on Tuesday & he had a nasty abscess on his chin. I don't know how I missed that. They lanced it (yuck), put him on AB's & he's doing much better. But I've been busy trying to clean up the wound ( I have to put peroxide on it), making sure he eats, giving him his pills (fun) & doing his regular testing & insulin shots. Yep, he's diabetic ~~ 5 1/2 years now, & he's doing really well. If any of you have a diabetic cat, email me ~~ I can give you THE best website out there where I learned EVERYTHING!!!

Ok, a recipe & a diabetic cat. This was a fun post!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Deja vu!

Seen this card before, have you??? Yes, it's a "redo". I just had to redo my Copic clown card. Why?? Just too many goofs. And because I sell my cards on Ebay, they can't have any goofs. So ~~~~ I tore the image panel off & put a new one on. Unfortunately, my Copic blender pen really did die, so I couldn't use my Copics. So I turned to my trusty Prisma pencils & Gamsol. Which, of course, makes this card no longer a WT card since the challenge was to use Copics. You can see that card here.


Notice I also took this picture outside. Seems the only way I can get a clear picture now is to take it outside. Which is just weird, because I didn't have to do that before. I took all my pictures right next to my patio door, where there is plenty of natural light. But now my camera has decided that's not good enough. So.....outside it is!! I used the exact same colors I used on my other card, because I kept all the other panels intact. Instead of Stickles on the flower, this time I used my Spica glitter pen so it's just a shimmery flower instead of a sparkly one :) This card *will* enlarge if you click on it (unless that's broken too) since I made less boo-boos on this one, lol!

I ended up having to uninstall my whole email program on Sunday, & I know I had some important emails sitting in my inbox that I now cannot get to. If you emailed me in the last few days & I haven't emailed you back, please resend it. I'm still trying to recoup everything I lost ~~ my contacts, my folders, my addresses. I saved them onto my desktop, but I have to convert then to a file that my current email can read, then I can import them. Computers ~ can't live with them, can't live without them!!

Thanks for your continued concern about my hubby. He's still on a liquid diet, only because no solids will go down at this point. He won't be able to eat until after his surgery, which isn't even scheduled yet. It's been rough on him ~~ he's a welder, which is very physical work. Add to that the heat in the factory in August, & no food other than soup, & I'm surprised he hasn't keeled over by now. After Googling info about the surgery, it looks like he will still be on liquids for a few weeks after. I told him I'll start buying him some baby food!

Well, I've got a whole list of things to get done today ~~ none of which include sitting on the computer. I haven't been stamping with everything else going on, but I'm hoping to get something done soon. I'm sure you don't visit my blog to see cards you've already seen, hear about my computer woes, or to find out about my husband's diet (or lack thereof). As always, thanks for visiting, & have a great Tuesday!!!!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

A very un-fun Sunday

Hope you all are having a terrific weekend!! I've had a few bumps in mine. Nothing major, just irritations, but it seems like they all happen at once! My email froze up on me yesterday, out of the blue. I have Incredimail, & I've had it for years with no problem. For some reason yesterday when I opened it, it not only froze but it froze up everything else. I had to do a hard shut down. Not once, but many times as I tried to figure out the problem. I'm probably completely ruining my laptop by doing that, but there's no other way when it's frozen! Then I decided I was just going to use Outlook, but I can't get my files, messages & addresses from IM because I CAN'T GET INTO IT!! So.....if you've emailed me lately, that's why I haven't emailed you back ~~ I probably can't get to the message! I *can* go to Roadrunner's home page & get my mail that way, but that still doesn't give me my old messages or my address book. ***sigh*** I've been Googling away trying to find an answer as to how to fix this, if you have any ideas bring 'em on!!!

My cat has also been giving me fits this weekend. He's diabetic, & has been for over 5 years. He gets 2 shots of insulin a day, plus I home test him. I recently took him off dry food (which is bad bad bad for cats!!) & he now gets high protein, low carb canned food. Because of this, I've had to refigure his insulin dosage so I basically had to start over. He got pretty low yesterday ~~ not to the hypoglycemic point, but I was pretty anxious about it. Plus he scratched his chin raw & I'm not sure what to do about that. It's a full moon. Did you know that can affect diabetic cats numbers & behavior???

Anyway, I redid my clown card from the other day ~~ it was bothering me. I'm still also trying to figure out the quirks of my camera ~~ why it's suddenly giving me blurry pictures after taking perfectly clear pictures for so long. Seems every aspect of my life is a mystery lately, lol!!!! I will post my "redo", even though it's essentially the same card, just colored a different way, as soon as I can get a good picture & as soon as everything else around here is back to normal!! LOL!!

Hope YOU have a good Sunday!!!!!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Copic fun

Fun??? Ha!!!! I can't even begin to tell you the problems I had with this card!!! The Ways To Use It challenge today on SCS was to use your Copic markers. Now, I've had my Copics for quite a while. I've taken a Copic class with the greatest Copic colorer ever, Kathy Sanders. I just can't get it. I can't shade as well as I can with the Prismas. A lot of people use regular cardstock with their Copics, such as Walmart's Georgia Pacific. I color even less well with that paper! My paper of choice is a coated paper called MatteKote. That way I am able to use my blender pen as a paintbrush. I color some Copic onto an artist's palette & pick up the color with my blender pen. That allows for better blending. When your blender pen is actually working. Apparently, somewhere during the course of making this card, I must have touched some glue or something with my blender, because it suddenly wasn't blending anymore. And it's sticky. Ugh. I had to finish with the chisel end, which I *never* use. So ~ my blending stinks even more than it usually does. Anyway, here is the card I did for today's WT challenge:


I used the sketch challenge from yesterday, & I had wanted to use the Color Challenge from Tuesday but I didn't have the right color Copics for that. So to color High Hopes' Juggles the Clown, I went with this fun olive, red & blue combo. This picture will not enlarge when clicked on, because I'm also having camera issues. More on that later. The bottom red piece is from DCWV's summer stack. I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder on the olive panel. The olive flower is a Prima, the other flowers are all punches. Some of them I also ran through the Cuttlebug for some texture. I added Crystal Effect to the balls & Stickles to the flower. Done!! Whew!!

I went through some issues when I first started this blog regarding picture size/resolution. Well, lately when I take pictures at the higher resolution, they come out a bit blurry. My good friend Ila has been so kindly & patiently trying to help me, but a lot of camera stuff is over my head. I know enough to be able to edit my pictures so they look ok, but I don't really know a lot about pixels & resolution & quality. For this card, I tried taking the picture at the higher setting I had been using, but again it came out blurry. If I sharpen it in PSP, then when enlarged it looks grainy ~ yuck. So I took the picture at the lowest setting on my camera (.3M) & it came out great!!! The only problem is, using that setting makes it not enlarge-able here. Which *isn't* a problem, because there are so many mistakes on this card I'd rather you not get a close up view!! So.....back to the camera user guide for me. If I can figure it all out, & *IF* I can fix this card & all its mistakes, I will repost the picture so that it does enlarge when you click on it.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Better late than never

That seems to be my motto lately, lol! I hate being late ~~ I'm one of those who's always early. But with my cards ~ not so much. I received this adorable Magnolia image from Ila last week. She's so sweet, she sent me a whole envelope full of fun images ~~~ not just the cutie-pie girls, but also some accessories!! I can't wait to play with more of them!!

Knowing I wanted to play along with SCS's sketch challenge last week, I pulled this Tilda out, plus the papers I wanted to use. And there it sat. And sat. And sat. After it sits for so long I don't even want to do it anymore! But I was determined to get it done before the next challenge was posted. That would be today!! So, at 11:00 last night, I finished this card. I couldn't take a picture, though, until this morning, so you'll just have to take my word for it that I did in fact finish it BEFORE the next challenge was posted!!


I used a lot of paper from DCWV on this ~~ Pocket Full of Posies, the Fall matstack & the Brights matstack. I just love all those pads ~~ I love how everything coordinates & I love that many of the papers have glitter on them. Less work for me!! I found a sun in one of my Michael's clear dollar sets so I stamped it, colored it with Twinkling H2O's & cut it out. I think it's the perfect compliment to this beautiful little angel. I used a glue pen & Dazzling Diamonds glitter on her wings. I finished the card off with some pseudo Dew Drops. That's what I call the little drops from Michael's. How did I get them purple?? I used my 1/4" hole punch to punch out some of the purple cardstock I used as a matte & used Crystal Effects to glue it to the bottom of the bauble. Voila ~~ a matching pseudo Dew Drop!!

Here's a better picture of her beautiful, sparkly wings :)


My hubby is at the doctor right now for his follow up ~~ I'm pretty sure surgery is in his future. I hope they can schedule it quickly, because without it, he can't eat!! He can only survive for so long on chicken broth & ice cream!! Thanks for all of your continuing well wishes & support!

Another fun award ~ I'm honored!

Look at the surprise I woke up to this morning!!!!!! An award!!!

This is from Kimberly over at SeaStar Creations ~~ she's got some fun stuff on her blog so go check it out!! Here are the rules of this award:

1. THE WINNER CAN PUT THE LOGO ON HER BLOG.
2. LINK THE PERSON YOU RECEIVED YOUR AWARD FROM.
3. NOMINATE AT LEAST 7 OTHER BLOGS.
4. PUT LINKS OF THOSE ON YOUR BLOGS.
5. LEAVE A MESSAGE ON THE BLOGS OF THE GIRLS YOU HAVE NOMINATED.

Here are the 7 blogs I nominate:

Ila ~ Artfully Ila

Trina ~ Trina's Timeless Treasures

Kim ~ Paper in the Works

Inge ~ Patterned Paper

Amy ~ Pickled Paper Designs

Kim ~ Kraftin Kimmie's Korner

Niki ~ My Paper Creations

Of course, ALL the ladies on my blogroll are deserving of this award so check them all out when you get a chance!!!

I'll be back later, with LAST week's SCS sketch challenge!!! Better late than never!!!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

At a snail's pace

This is exactly how I'm feeling lately! Summer is moving quickly, only 3 weeks till school starts & I'm not ready! I love summer. My younger son is starting K this year & even though we waited an extra year (he's 6) I'm still not ready!! HE'S ready, but I'm not! I keep reminding myself of all that extra time I'll have but I'll still be behind, lol! I'll be subbing in the school district & while I'm hoping to work a lot because we need the money, I don't want to work TOO much because for the first time in 10 years I can run errands by myself!!!

Enough of my wishy washy mood ~~ on to the card!! I received this adorable Penny Black stamp recently from HM Stamps. This is the best place online to buy Penny Black, House Mouse, Peanuts, Great Impressions.......go check them out!! I actually made this card a week ago, but am just now able to take a picture & post it. The mouse is stamped twice, cut out & is placed on dimensionals. I used my Versamark marker & clear EP for the snail ~~ because snails are gooey, aren't they? The paper is from a K&Company pad I bought at Michael's a couple of months ago. The vertical strip is embossed using the Cuttlebug with the textile folder. A bit of ribbon, some Dew Drops & it was done!

Here's a better look at the dimension of the mouse & hopefully you can see the slimy snail better :)


I've been meaning to do a card for last week's sketch challenge on SCS but I haven't gotten around to it. See?? Snail's pace. I have the image sitting out ~~ one of the adorable Magnolia's that Ila sent me. I have the paper picked out. I just need to get to it!! I really wanted to get it done before the next challenge tomorrow, but it doesn't look like that will happen!! I think I can count on one hand how many times I've posted a challenge card on the day the challenge was posted! Good thing we're not graded on timing!

Ok, off to feed my kids lunch, then we're going for a bike ride. It's been in the 70's & sunny just about every day for the past week ~~~ very unusual for August in Wisconsin!!! I received my Schwan's catalog in the mail today & I'm very excited to look through it. I've never ordered, but have heard only good things about them. I came across a thread on SCS where everyone stated their favorites. They are a bit pricey, but it looks like they have some sale items (pizza & ice cream ~ yum) so I will definitely be getting those. If you've ordered from them in the past, what is your favorite item????

Monday, August 11, 2008

Fun animal food donation site...

Hey, all you animal lovers!! I just added a couple of banners to my sidebar ~~~ please click on them to check them out. There they are >>>>>>>>> right under my profile. One for dogs, one for cats. Every day they have a trivia question ~~ whether you are right or wrong, your answer means a donation of 20 pieces of kibble to animal shelters to feed their hungry animals. You can play once a day, so be sure to bookmark the site! Add it to your blog (they have banners on the site), email all your friends, spread the word on your favorite forums. Oh, & make sure your sound is on when you answer the question!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Happy Monday everyone!! It was my birthday last week, & I received some FANTABULOUS cards!!! I gathered them together into 2 groups, so I didn't clog this post with pictures. Thank you so much to everyone for thinking of me!!!!


Left to right, top row: Collette (heavensent), Dody (beachbound)
Left to right, bottom row: Dori (rtjmom), Linda Palmer (also her SCS name), Michele (mlehmer)



Left to right, top row: Ila (craftess, who also sent some Magnolia images ~ thank you!), Anna (sweetmissdaisy), Lynnor (icensheba)
Left to right, bottom row: Cindy (cynamom), Stephanie (StephStamps1982), Joyce (broncomom)

You all made my day special ~~ my birthday usually gets forgotten about, since it's so close to Michael's ~~ I can always depend on my SCS friends to make the day wonderful for me!!!

Friday, August 8, 2008

State Fair fun....

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the boys at the Fair. I was so glad we bought the wristbands this year, so they were able to ride ALL the rides, as many times as they wanted. Those fair rides are expensive!!!

Here's the big slide in the Kiddie Kingdom. The other one in the regular part of the fair is twice as big. I'm not keen on heights ~~ okay, heights make me hurl ~~ so I wasn't thrilled that they wanted to go on this. Twice. But I was brave!!!


This is, of course, a must-have picture!!!!!


Yep, all kinds of animals wandering around. Gotta watch where you step!!


The Tilt-A-Whirl. I had to laugh, this is a picture before the ride started, the first time they went on. They both were holding their stomachs when they got off & said "Never again!". Even though it's a "kiddie" ride, that thing tilted & whirled like nothing I'd ever seen!!! When we went back later that evening, before we left, this is the first ride they wanted to ride again!!! After eating all day!!! Thankfully all their food stayed where it was :)

It was a such a fun day!! I love the Fair, & I sure wish it came around more than once a year!!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Magic happens!

Well, we had a great day at the fair yesterday. I'm paying for it today, though ~~ between all the walking (we spent 10 1/2 hours there!!) & the hay & crud that got into my eyes, I'm a mess!! My eyes are all puffy, almost like I have pink eye. Ouch! I'm going to go through my pictures today & see if any are upload-worthy!

This is the first I've inked up this stamp, which is one of the new releases at High Hopes. I'm not sure why my picture didn't turn out too well, maybe it's the drab colors I used, lol.


For the layout, I used Sketch Challenge #187, last week's challenge on Splitcoast. A week late, as usual :) I picked out the designer paper first, but had a hard time finding cardstock to match. I finally looked through my "cheapie" packages ~~ the stuff you can buy at Michael's or Joann's for just a few bucks. There is usually an assortment of unusual colors, but sometimes I need unusual. I used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder on the olive brownish CS (or would that be olive-ish brown?). I punched some flowers from the same cardstock & also ran them through the Cuttlebug for some texture. The "Magic Happens" sentiment is actually one line, but I cut the words so I could easily use them as I did here.

Now for the coloring ~~ I do NOT watercolor well at all. Usually when I do watercolor, I use my SU markers & a blender pen, because I've never liked my aquabrush. Well, since I touched Anna Wight's arm when I met her a few weeks ago, I figured I should be able to color as well as she does now. So I bought a new Niji brush, since mine was obviously defective (it couldn't possibly be an operator problem), got out my ink pads & the few reinkers I have & went to work. It's not perfect. It's not even close to anything Anna creates. But at least I tried. The bunnies turned out fine. The magician ~ not so fine. In fact, I paper pieced his tie because it ended up looking so horrible, lol!! I did a bit of doodling to direct your attention AWAY from my watercoloring mistakes, & I was done. My first card colored with actual ink & a waterbrush. Usually when I attempt this kind of coloring, I give up shortly after starting & break out my markers & blender pen. But I persevered & hopefully it's not TOO too bad!! LOL!! All comments & criticism welcome :)

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

High Hopes POTM for August

FINALLY some stamping ~~ yesterday was catch up day & that included getting some inking & coloring done. This card is made with all the stamps in the High Hopes "Project of the Month" collection.


This collection includes 5 of the new release stamps ~~ On Guard Oberto, Ships Wheel, Polly, Treasure Map, & "Ahoy!" ~~~ during the month of August you can buy this set of stamps for 25% off the regular price! I included a close up of Polly, because I think this is one of the cutest birds I've ever seen!!! That Crissy, she's done it again!!!


I colored everything with Prisma pencils & gamsol, & used a bit of Twinkling H2O's for added shading. This is a trick I learned from my friend Ila ~~~~ if you've never visited her blog Artfully Ila, you MUST MUST MUST check it out ~~ she is the QUEEN of coloring & shading!! Anyway, I used Ranger Distress Ink in "Old Paper" on the map, added some Magic Mesh behind it (does anyone use this stuff anymore? LOL), & distressed all the edges. Distressing really gives me the willies, something about rubbing that sharp edge on paper ~~~ ick. But sometimes I must. ***sigh*** what I do for my craft......

Hubby is on Day 4 of his liquid diet ~~ I'm afraid he's going to wither away!!! He's already lost so much weight, & they are worried about his very low blood pressure. At least he has that cream puff to look forward to tomorrow!!!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Hello everyone & happy Saturday!! I got most of my "party" duties done, & we have an hour before we have to leave for the baseball game so I'm ahead of schedule!! That almost never happens!!

We are having Michael's birthday party tomorrow, but it's also my grandma's 89th birthday!! We are very close ~ I don't have any other grandparents so I always tell her she has to live to be 150!! Last year she was in the hospital on her birthday, so this year is extra special. Sadly, with all the goings-on of late, I didn't have time to make her a birthday card, but I found this one in my stash which I know she'll love:


This cute mouse is from Whipper Snapper. I had sent this plus 2 other cards in for their spring contest this year. None of them won :( But I know my grandma will love it ~~ I made the inside extra special just for her!! I colored the mouse with Prisma pencils & Gamsol, & added Twinkling H2O's on the goodies. The background is stamped with an Inky Antics stamp ~ I think it's called "Chocolate Treats". I added Crystal Effects to his nose & the cherry on top.

Thank you to all of you who have e-mailed me about my hubby. He's doing a bit better since having the Upper GI yesterday. When the doctor called me after he was done, he said there was a TON of food stuck in his esophagus. Ewwww ~~ gross, but I'm sure that's what's been causing all the pain in his stomach & chest. They think he has something called Achalasia of the esophagus. It's very rare ~ apparently none of the nurses that assisted had ever seen a case of it. Basically, the muscles of his esophagus aren't working, so the food isn't going down as it should. He is on a liquid diet until he sees the doctor again, at which time they'll perform a manometry. They will stick a tube down his nose, & he will swallow several times. This measures muscle contractions in different parts of the esophagus. This will determine whether or not it IS achalasia. They also did a biopsy, so hopefully all of that will come back okay. Treatment would be either medication, which is the easiest but is inconvenient & doesn't always work, dilation, or surgery. We will know more after his appointment, which isn't for another week & a half.

And we're going to State Fair next week!! Poor guy can't have anything fried or on a stick. He must have shed a tear or two, because the doctor did okay a cream puff :)

Friday, August 1, 2008

The best dip in the world!

And I'm not talking about me!!! Although I am feeling a little "dippy" this week, with all that's going on. I am taking my hubby into the hospital at 11:30 today, then running about 1,000 errands for Michael's party on Sunday. As I was making my list of things to do/make/buy, I thought it would be fun to share how I make my chip dip. It's got to be better than listening to me drone on about icky medical stuff!!

This recipe came about in our family a couple of years ago, when my aunt's friends had a gathering at their house. I was floored by how good it was, & equally floored by how easy it was to make!

CHIP DIP

Softened cream cheese
~ I am using 4 tubs for Sunday's party, but it depends on how much you want to make :)

Grated onion ~ sometimes I'll just chop it real fine instead. Heck, if I'm *really* lazy I'll just add Onion Powder instead!!

A wee bit of milk ~ again, it depends on the amount of cream cheese you're using, & how soft/stiff you like your dip.

Blend together with a mixer. Keep adding milk ~ a little at a time ~~ until you get the consistency you like. You *can* eat it right away, but it's better after it's been refrigerated a while. I will make the dip tomorrow, so it's all yummy ready for Sunday. But take it out in time to let it soften up a bit, or you're going to have a lot of broken chips in the dip, lol!!

So that's my fabulous gourmet recipe for the day! I'm all about simple, but sometimes the simplest things taste the best!!! Trust me, this dip is so yummy, you will want to make more right away!!! And I would love to share more "simple" recipes with you in the future. One of my favorite magazines is, in fact, called "Simple & Delicious" ~~ it's published right here in Wisconsin & I just love it!!

OK, I'm off to start my busy day!! Thank you again for all the prayers & good thoughts you all have been sending our way!!! I will let you know later what they find!! Happy Friday!!


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