sketch challenge:stamping 411

forgive the picture...my camera is out of town, so i had to rely on the scanner.... with 3-d elements! i guess it turned out ok. you get the idea.

http://stamping411.blogspot.com/

i have also shared this with "flourishes": http://flourishesnewsletter.blogspot.com/ the challenge requires that images are not to be colored in, but beyond that, anything goes!

i'm old...

of course, i have a birthday every year around this time. so, happy birthday to me! (and, happy birthday to my brother, aaron, who is 14 years younger than i. can you imagine being 14 and getting a new baby brother. i didn't get my birthday cake iced that year. the cake was butter brickle, and the icing was supposed to match. i don't remember eating it. i think it dried up, and someone threw it out. i just wish that i was equally as important at the time. aaron is a super good brother, so i am glad to have him.)

no matter what the date says above, it is august 19th in greenville, nc...all the way up into columbus, ohio, where my brother lives........................

verve challenge: avs201

verve challenge: avs202

verve challenge: avs203

verve challenge: avs204

verve challenge: avs205

beat it to death! card-making at it's finest

there are plenty more cards made with this stampin' up! "bella rose" dsp. see previous posts. the pink paper is from a different su! set.

all from stampin' up, except pink eyelets.

notice the cut-out flower and leaves.

paper flower tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK7yYeNavGw&feature=player_embedded

vsjun01

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1394475

vsjun02

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1394476

vsjun03

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1394477

vsjun04

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1394478

verve challenge vsjun05

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1394479

twinkling h2o's

from greg smallwood at marco's paper: "And a note for those of you mourning the passing of Twinkling H2Os -- LuminArte announced about ten days ago that they have decided to stay in business. So the pipeline should be open again within a month."

visit marco's: http://www.marcopaper.com or visit: 14 Marco Lane
Centerville, OH 45458 (near dayton/springfield ohio)

showin' off with stampin' up

cleaning and organizing

i am cleaning out. sometimes it is agony to go through stuffs and decide what needs to go. sometimes i am ok with it. the best part is when i go to the studio in the morning and admire what i have accomplished. there are more empty spaces. however, the next room over is getting all of the boxes of stuff. ebay and my snagging stampers trading group are on the list of dumb junk i gotta do.

mother's day cards

the first one went to my daughter, jawnna, who is the mother of 7. the second went to my mom, who is the biological mother of 5, "mom-cat" to 1 and "cathy" to so many others.

i used stampin' up's designer paper "le jardin", retired from the spring/summer '08 catalogue.

i CAN make frillie if i have to!

ugly paper

sometimes i get a paper pack, and some of them are just plain fugly. you might still be able to use it.

i got a paper pack from stampin' up! called "raspberry tart". thank goodness it is double-sided! there are 3 sides that i just hate. the good thing is that i can use one side of one paper. the good/bad thing is that the other two are on the same paper. with this one, i found a way to use one side of the paper. i use it for the color!

the double-sided one i hate is the top right. the paper on the left side we have lovingly called "whore house wallpaper". the other side is useless. the single side i hate is the bottom middle...the one on the left. i like the other side, so it is a keeper.

cuttlebug embossing folders

cuttlebug embossing folders are reasonably priced; the machine is expensive.

i just found a tutorial about using cuttlebug embossing folders without the machine. use a rolling pin!

see the tutorial here:

http://www.allthatscraps.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=17&chapter=0

ltl blonde's flicker site

dolls, atc's, 4 x 6, shadow boxes and other art pieces...

paper, sequins, glitter, vintage images and other luscious embellishments...

enjoy the eye candy... gorgeous work...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltlblonde/

swap results

the swaps i received in exchange for the one's in the previous post were less than desirable. they have been tossed into the growing pile of rejected atc's. the dilemma is what to do with them.

there has been a discussion on one of my yahoo groups as to what to do with the unappreciated atc's. these are some of the options: send them back to the creator, throw them away (after gleaning the usable elements) and even one person offered to accept all of the unwanted atc's. on top of that, the discussion included another solution....send all of the atc's to one person who would put them together in a box and pass them around to the members so that they may choose the ones the ones they like and pass the rest onto the next person. sounds a little silly to me. why would anyone want a previously rejected atc?

if my atc's are not appreciated, i would like it returned to me...no hard feelings. but, others may feel personally rejected. i haven't thrown any away yet. i am considering sending them to the person who would gladly take them off of my hands.

i have decided that i will only trade on a one-to-one basis using the swap descriptions as a prompt. i have been tempted to join a swap because the subject matter intrigues me. i will resist.

new atc's

these are atc's i made for a swap called "Retro sewing pattern and dress form ".

i kept the one on the bottom right, and katie kept the one on the bottom left.

i used a variety of gleaned pictures of women who appeared on the front of sewing patterns and added bits of sewing ephemera...buttons, trims, lace, pins, toile, fabric, snaps, hooks and eyes, thread label, etc. and, of course, i sewed on the cards - mostly straight-stitch. the bottom left has a fancy stitch.

it's funny...with a swap, i never know if i have gone in the right direction, but i guess that is what swaps are all about .... personal interpretation!

i need to make more of these!

generosity

generosity is giving and expecting nothing in return. gratitude is thanking - no matter what, no matter who. today.....express both. tomorrow, do it again. repeat.

i wonder....

who is footing the bill for the inauguration?? and, how much does it cost to put on the big party for the elite*?

on another note...i really hate it when hollywood and others have awards ceremonies broadcast for the world to see. tooting the horn...by the elite* for the elite*.

*elite is my working definition of the already-rich who have been recognized for their accomplishments.

if that money could be used to elevate the needy instead of the status of a few individuals, that money could be put toward good use by going to charities or the national debt (depending on your idea of "good use"). charities: the red cross is in the red, the shelves at the food bank are bare, etc.

now, don't get me started on the "bail-outs" where good money is shoved after bad. the intention of the bail-out was to keep the elite* companies from sinking in a negative economy and avoiding bankruptcy. now, the money has been misused, because there were no stipulations in place. WHAT??? they didn't see it coming??? how did those elite* companies get there in the first place? misuse of FUNDS, perhaps????