Rudolph Day

Hello from cloudy Upstate South Carolina. Caring thoughts & prayers going out to those of you who are in the path of these storms that are sweeping across our part of the USA. I pray all of you & your families stay safe. We keep hearing that our area's chances of heavy thunderstorms is increasing, but so far, I'm just seeing some dark skies here & there.

I wanted to say a big thank you to Miss Margaret (Dutchess) for being so helpful recently. Miss Margaret is a member of the Christmas Card Club that 'meets' every 2 weeks. I wished to add a member list on my sidebar. Didn't know how, so Margaret gave me some excellent & precise instructions, which I was able to follow successfully. That's solely due to her wonderful directions!  Thanks again Margaret.

Today's 2 cards for the Rudolph Challenge have been finished for a bit, but I needed to catch up on some visits & comments before these were posted. Both images were found during the recent snippet sorting.

 

- PB Hedgie - love those little guys! Colored with copics. WoStella on the berries for some glisten. Die cut with a new S/B Labels 36*.

 

- Sponged some DI Sage while the image was still in the die. Made a rough mask for Hedgie's body and then inked a script stamp with Memento Desert sand to stamp the background. Inked off once - so the script would be more subtle.

 

- faux red mat cut from the same size die. The red was a snippet just the right size, and the cardstock has some gold glimmer spots in the paper, some of which shows up at the top left on the mat.

 

- Card shape and card front was cut with a larger die from the S/B Label 36. Green DP is from a Christmas 12x12 DCWV pack bought years ago.

 

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment sticker. Didn't want to cover up little hedgie. Doesn't he just look so happy dancing along with his holly?

 

 

 

 

This may be an Impression Obsession snowman stamp - again, it was from the snippet sorting, so I don't remember. DieNamics pierced circle die; then added someWoStella sparkles on the scarf, stickles on the snow, and some Flower Soft to the hat fur.

 

- S/B scalloped circle for the glitter paper mat. Same paper provided the snippet strips top & bottom.

 

- Glitter papers were from a DCWV 12x12 pack bought years ago. These papers are a bit heavy, and make the card curl, so some weight will have to be applied to try to get this curl fixed. Don't want to flatten the Viva Décor pearl trim, though. I was so pleased to get all the little pearls just the right size. The Viva Décor pearl pen works better for me than does the liquid pearls when doing this little trick. These were done with a red pen, but white pearls can be made, let dry, then color with a copic marker. When this is done, I make the pearls on the non-stick mat, color after drying. Scoop up with a knife or pick, dab some glue, place where desired.

 

- Elizabeth craft sentiment sticker. These sheets are so handy when you need a  small sentiment that doesn't cover up card details.

 

Submitting to the April Rudolph Day Challenge

 

Pixie's Crafty Workshop Snippets Playground - from where I have been absent far too long! Each of the cards has some snippety bits, so I think I have an entry ticket! I miss seeing Little Parsnip (and Miss Pixie of course!). Also got a glimpse of some delicious cards already entered, so check out both these places. You've still got time to enter cards at both places!

 

Thanks for popping by this afternoon. We did put the porch swing back on the chains, so we're good to go with the porch setting. Hugs

 

*Flowers to Flourishes and Molly's Square have been having some good buys on the new 2014 Spellbinder dies recently. I'm pleased to say the shipping has been satisfactory.



Christmas Card Black & White

Happy Sunday & Welcome. Today's challenge theme at the Christmas Club is Black & white plus one other color, and chosen by our Miss Karen P. The Christmas Card Club is a group of ladies who have a challenge every 2 weeks (or fortnight as is the British terminology). So here's my card for this challenge:

- 2006 Stampendous stamp inked with Colorbox white pigment ink, stamped & embossed with Hero Arts White embossing powder. Die cut with Opulent Ovals (S5-160).

- B&W mat cut with next larger size of Opulent Ovals. This background was created with white cardstock & black Pan Pastel stenciling, set with a fixative spray. (Reminder: use this spray in a well ventilated area).

- outer black mat created by tracing outline of the previous die and hand cutting (faux mat).

- card front is from a 6x6 Authentique Irresistible collection - which consists of black & white pattern papers.

- Joanna Sheen Britannia sentiment dies - & red glitter ribbon. Red Rhinestones (for + one other color).

This was a challenge for me, as I had never made a black & white Christmas card before..so a bit out of my comfort zone. It was fun though.

Edit: Thanks to Miss Lynn for suggesting that this Black & White + one other color be submitted over at Digi Haven for their color challenge. I did it! What nice folks blogging friends are...they have your back and isn't that great?

Thanks for your visit today. I hope it's a beautiful afternoon where you may be in the world. Hugs.

Purple Grasses

Happy Friday afternoon, and such a beautiful one it is in our neighborhood. Sunny, warm, but a very strong breeze is about. We have been able to open a few doors & windows. We have some fellas here putting down mulch, so that nice smell is permeating the house. Thanks to all who left comments for us to enjoy the DD. We did - immensely; it's just that her visit is always way too short. It seems as though she just arrives, then has to leave once again. Hopefully she will be able to return near the end of June. We did get our family legal business squared away, so that took up a good amount of her visit, but at least it's an item that we can mark done as a family.

The card share today is one that's been underway for a while. In the recent snippet cleanup, the colored image was found. Yesterday while moping around & missing the Kid, the card was finished.

- don't remember the stamp image. I think the stamp may have been inked with markers, then stamped. There's purple Spica pen on the flower heads, Distress Inks smudged around the die, which is either a S/Binder or a Sizzix rectangle.

- cardbase is a coffee colored prefolded card, bought on sale somewhere.

- background layer was inked with DI Lilac, Shabby Shutters and Victorian Velvet - which I think was the color smudged on the image panel, along with the Shabby Shutters. Spritzed with Tattered Angels gold spray. Let it dry, then embossed with a SU EF - maybe Vintage Wallpaper.

- Purple lacey layer is a S/Binder die, and the green top & bottom trim is a small die from the Exquisite Labels 11.

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment die cut from a snippet of Distress Ink background paper.

That's it for today. Hope that you have a fantastic weekend in store, and that Spring has arrived in your area. We're hoping we've seen the last of the winter weather. Expecting some thunderstorms later this evening, but I won't feel sad if they blow on by us. Thanks for joining me this afternoon. Big Hugs.

One More Easter Card

Good morning, and I'm popping in for a quick post to share a lovely card that arrived in yesterday's mail. DH is off to pick up DD - who is in town and just called for chauffeur service. Her DH is at work, so she has no wheels available. Thought it would be a good time for some Father/Daughter stuff, so perhaps they will stop on the way here for a latte while I get presentable for public view.

Here's the card for today, which was made by my sweet friend, Gloria:

Gloria's card

I'm guessing this is a Northwoods image, because I know Gloria likes those as much as I do, and let me tell you, there's some fancy fussy cutting around those flower edges. The basket is popped up on dimensional tape, and is colored beautifully.

- tiny bunnies are Impression Obsession dies with little white pom-pom fuzzy tails. Do you know the phrase "cute as a bunny"? - cause these sure are, with the little google eyes which make it appear that Bunny is looking at you. So cute!

The turquoise mat is a S/Binder, but off the top of my head I don't know which one.

- Sentiment is a raised glossy surface, so I'm thinking could be one of the very nice epoxy K&Co. stickers, as it is very glossy & perfect on this card. I love the bright colors and the way the mats are placed for the sentiment. Oh did we receive so many simply gorgeous Easter card, which made our holiday so special. Thanks to all of you who thought of us with these awesome cards.

I do have quite a view comments waiting on me in the email, and I'll try to get back round for return visits, but it may be a few days in happening. DD has to go home on Thursday, so of course we want to maximize the time we have with her.

So catch you later, and thanks for your visit today. Hugs, Hugs & more Hugs.

Easter Flowers

Welcome and Good Morning. This will be a scheduled post as Monday is expected to be a tad busy. Hopefully our daughter will arrive this afternoon, and we plan to enjoy as much of her time as possible. Today's card was mailed out Thursday so I hope the recipient will have it before it shows in this post! It was an easy card to make, once I had the design planned in my head...after studying the pretty paper and deciding how best to show off the pretty flowers.

- S/B elegant ovals die cut the pretty rose motif from a 12x12 paper pack, Some more of the roses were hand cut. Used a stylus & rubber mat to give the handcut roses some dimension and adhered with Aileens Easy Flow glue. Derwent Inktense pencils in several lavender & purple added a bit more shading.

- Lavendar textured Bazzill for the card, scored on each side of the border trim.

- Border trim was just a straight cut from the reverse of the floral paper. After placing this trim, then added the scoring on each side.

- SU punch from a snippet of the floral left after the oval die cut, stamped with Memento Grape Jelly using a SU tiny sentiment stamp. Tiny white pearls were colored with various Copic BV markers to get the shade I wanted.

This card puts me in mind of old fashioned afternoon teas for some reason. As a Southerner, I know that most folks 'round here think of tea as "sweet Ice tea". I was an adult before I knew that people drank hot tea from cups, and I'd never heard of unsweet cold tea either!! Now we know that in a restaurant, you'd best request sweet ice tea, or it will be served unsweetened. You also must ask for 'hot tea' if you want a cup of it here in the South. In our house, we have hot herbal teas on winter evenings. DH doesn't drink cold tea, so we seldom serve ice tea, unless I get a taste for it in the summer and use Crystal Light to make up a pitcher. My Momma made the best-est sweet ice tea I've ever had. I've only ever come close to that taste in a lovely Amish Restaurant that is about 2 hours away from where we live. It reminded me so much of my childhood, I bought a gallon to bring home and enjoy.

Have a lovely day. Thanks for visiting. Hugs.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter and welcome on a lovely sunny afternoon. I hope you've been having a wonderful day so far. First, I'd like to say welcome to a new follower, Maria K. whose link I found at Miss Shirley D's. (There's a language translator at the top of Maria's blog). Maria has some marvelous inspiration for us all using those fabulous Chocolate Baroque stamps. Maria has 2 blogs, so I hope I've provided the proper linking to her website. Thanks Shirley - for the link to this lovely blog, and thanks Maria, for becoming a new follower.

Next there are 2 more lovely Easter cards from some sweet blog friends, that I wanted to share for all of you to enjoy right along with DH & me.

Darnell's card

 



Brenda L's card

What a blessing Blogging has been, allowing me to make these friends, who are so talented & kind enough to share their talents to brighten our lives. Thank you both, ladies, because you can't possibly know how much we enjoyed these beautiful cards. All the Easter cards plus the recent birthday ones are lined up across our mantel.

Now here's the card that Mr. DH got for the holiday.

- Our Daily Bread Designs image, die cut with a new S/Binder Decorative Labels 34 (found this on sale at Molly's Square).  The die cut nicely, considering the edge trimming details.

Papers were from a sale pack of K&Co and Paper Studio Sunbeam Meadow.

- Card base was trimmed with a die from the set of A2 Scalloped Borders One.

- glitter twig is a snippet discovered when I was sorting scrap paper yesterday afternoon. Tucked in quite nicely, didn't it?

Costco has some colored plastic bins (5 for $19.99) which I purchased, thinking to sort scrap(snippet)
with each color in its own plastic container. Currently I have file folders that started with each color in that folder, in a larger clear bin. Well, one gets in a hurry, and things get jumbled ...or perhaps it doesn't at _your house_! The bins have sat on the floor for weeks, and yesterday, while it was drizzly rain, Mr. was napping, I not in the mood to do much of anything...traipsed downstairs to watch some recorded stuff and sort papers. I took all the bins where I've stashed snippets and played ring toss. I had the bins open, spread in a semi circle in front of my chair, with a jumbled bin on my lap. Each paper scrap got tossed into the appropriately colored bin. At least I can hope that the pinky-red bin only has that color. These are now stacked in a Ikea fabric cube - which did not fit the Recollection cube holder that I recently purchased at 60% off. Oh well, I've plenty of other things that will. So even though only I can tell I've done diddly in that room, I did make a start at straightening out. More this afternoon - but first I am going to enjoy the treat of visiting some blogs. Oh yes, putting on the clean bed linens too.

Before I leave here's the card DH had for me....I liked it a lot.

DH's card

A little mushy - um yes - but love it! He also had my coffee ready when I rolled out of bed. Yep, he's a nice guy, definitely.

Will share one more personal tidbit before signing off this afternoon. You all know that _My_ name is Mary. His name is Joe.* Long years ago, he had an appointment with a neurologist. This young fella told us that he just had read the Christmas story to his young children the night prior to our appointment. When we introduced ourselves his reply was "Now I can tell my kids, today I met the _other_ Mary & Joseph!"  A bit corny, yes - but it often helps people remember our names! LOL.

Happy Easter, thank you to all my wonderful blog friends, and have a wonderful afternoon. Hugs.
*Our only child is Dana.

A Friend's Card - Easter Basket

Good afternoon on Good Friday. In our area, the day has been overcast and quite cool. My morning has been spent on the phone & sending documentation to the manufacture of our LG Refrigerator, which is 2 yrs old. This is the most expensive fridge we've ever purchased - bought because we thought it would be a quality appliance due to name brand and reports we'd heard or research read. WRONG! After many service calls in the past 2 year, repeated calls to the company, emails and any other way I could think to contact them, I got into a customer complaint forum after the recent last service call, and wrote up a very unflattering review. Saw another company contact email, so they got some verbage too. This morning, a fella called - basically trying to pacify me - which didn't work! Had we not taken the extended warranty, we would have been paying for all these service calls. He asked me to send all the service documentation that I have - which is a ton of it! - so I scanned & emailed. Then tried to call the phone number he'd given me to get back in contact. Guess what? When I get the customer service & finally get to a real live person, give them the extension, no one answers! Oh well...that's how my morning has been. We'll see if this last effort to get LG to be responsible for this Lemon of a refrigerator will do any good. And yes, I did use the word LEMON in my comments on the forum and in the email...which is why I suspect I got this morning's phone call. I'm usually not that explicit when dealing with this kind of issue, as I try to be respectful, but that's what we think of this refrigerator in the 2 years we've had it. The repeated service calls are for the same problem...the fridge part freezes our food; same parts get ordered, Fed Ex brings the wrong parts, we lose food each time, wait on a technician. Temporary fix, then it happens again.

On the bright side - and yes - there's always a bright side - yesterday we opened our mail to find this beautiful card I'm sharing today. It's from the very talented Brenda W. - who started blogging last year. We were so pleased that Brenda thought of us and shared some of her card skills with us:

Brenda W's card

I can't provide card specs, but I can say I really like the way Brenda has used the pretty Washi tape as photo corners. This is the first I have seen Washi tape used this way and it's so pretty. The eggs are very bright & cheery, and I'm really impressed with the basket shading. You will already know I'm loving the stitched die of the focal image. I really do like these stitched & pierced dies.

Thanks Brenda W, for thinking of us. It made our day. Please give yourselves a treat & check out Inkspired to Stamp for a most enjoyable blog visit. In the meantime, enjoy your afternoon. Hugs.

Friends' Easter Cards

Hello and welcome. Thanks so much for all the lovely birthday wishes for my DH yesterday. It was so very much appreciated. He did like the card. (I expect he already knew I had the stamp since usually if he mentions buying a particular stamp, I don't act all that disinterested. As it was an old truck, I imagine that he knew it had already been purchased. After 50+ years, he knows me well. Doesn't always understand me... mind you... but he knows me! LOL).





We've been blessed to receive some beautiful Easter cards lately. Thought I would share them here so that you might enjoy them along with us.


Bonnie's card


 



Inside of Bonnie's card

Candee's card

 

I feel so very fortunate to count both of these extremely gifted cardmakers as friends, and feel so thankful they think of us with beautiful handmade cards. Thank you to both Bonnie & Candee. These are lovely, and are on our mantel.  Anyone who comes into our home, can enjoy these sweet cards too.

 

That's it for today. A trip to the post office & my allergy shot are my 'to-do' for this afternoon. I'm hoping the Easter cards I must get in the mail will arrive before Sunday. But if not, at least when they do reach their destination, the recipients will know they were thought of with love. Ya'll have a great afternoon. Come again when you can. In the meantime, Big Hugs. 

Impression Obsession Birthday for a Special Fella

Hi there and thanks for joining me this afternoon. A very special fella in my life celebrated a big milestone birthday yesterday (70) and here's the card I made for him. (he likes trucks, and has been trying to get me to buy this stamp every where that we saw it. I couldn't tell him we already had it, as I had intended it for his birthday card. Well, I had another card that I was going to use if this one didn't get finished in time).

- Impression Obsessions image, stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa, colored with copics on a snippet of Xpress paper. The chrome on the truck has silver Spica pen & silver Wof Stella over it. The rusty places on the truck were covered with E41 and do look a little 'rusty' IRL, but not showing well in the photo.

- Grass is cut from snippets of different greens (3 layers) - using Impression Obsession dies - and the front bit where the different colors show, is from overspray waste paper. I liked the patterns that were created and thought this looks like some of the dried grass we see in our area during the fall, when the grass is dying off. If you look closely, to the left side - you'll see where there is a branch image from some overspray.

- die cut main image using MFT pierced rectangle. Mat is a black snippet.

- S/B lattice die trim from snippet of orange, as was the Elizabeth Craft sentiment. Outlined the letters with a black spica pen.

- Background was created by using liquid pearls in mint green and gold, just blobbing it on the paper, twisting into the blobs with a piece of plastic wrap. This created some texture, then let that dry. Used DI Rusty Hinge, Broken China, Shabby Shutters and Spice Marmalade to sponge on more color to the dried Liquid Pearls, spritzed with water. I had seen a Youtube by Cropstop showing this technique, and it looked interesting so I tried it. Quite liked the effect. Didn't keep the link, so you may be able to find it by searching Youtube for Cropstop, Liquid Pearls. I was just browsing and stumbled on it.

Hope your day is going well. We have some outside chores to try to do today, plus a repairman to wait upon. Yesterday was rainy but warmer than today's sunshine & cooler temps. At least we didn't get snow as some of our northern states did. Thanks again for joining me, and I'll do my best to get around to visit as soon as I can. Life is just rather busy at the moment; I expect it is for you as well. Hugs

Christmas Card Club - Lights

Good morning. This post should have been published yesterday, so let me get the apology for being a day late out of the way first! There's a wonderfully talented group of ladies who make Christmas cards all year long. I'm honored to be a part of this group where our lovely Asha selected the theme for this week as Lights. My original idea was to use a very pretty Memory Box candle die that I have. While looking through the dies for the candle set, I saw the die used in this card, and thought to make a card which I feel truly represents The Light  -- at Christmas, every day and for all time.

 

- Nativity Silhouette (4x4) by Cottage Cutz - blue lightweight glitter paper

 

- S/Binders Decorative Labels 8, gold lightweight glitter paper (which looks beige in the photo)

 

- Memory Box Parker Upper & Lower Alphabets sets*

 

- Bazzill navy blue texture top fold card base

 

The nativity die was a bit fiddly because I did not use wax paper or the metal shim and this particular paper is from a 6x6 DCWV pack of glitter paper. It has a sort of 'backing' on it, not thick at all, and I didn't think it would be a problem. When I used the S/B die, I did use the metal shim, gave a couple of passes, and the tiny bits came out quite nicely.

 

*These letters are a little too large for this card, so I will be looking for an alpha set that is a tad smaller. Appreciate any die suggestions you may have.

 

The weather has been quite nice in our area recently which we've enjoyed. We've also had some family medical appointments and been doing some 'house things' that seem to take up time. I hope you'll forgive me if I'm not posting frequently, but I'm still around-- just doing some things other than making cards or blogging. I expect it's probably much the same at your house too, if Springtime has arrived. I'll be here when I can, and when I can get MoJo working too. Maybe it's Spring Fever???

 

In the meantime I appreciate your visit today, and hope that your Monday will be productive, wonderful, relaxing, or whatever you may need it to be just at the moment. Hugs.

Sparkle n Sprinkle Red Hat Lady

Good morning. Please help me welcome two new followers:

Maarit of Violet's Corner

Dawn of LilyPinkScraps 

Thanks so much for becoming followers here.

 

Have been MIA for the last couple of days after our trip to North Carolina for a very exciting craft garage sale. We left Friday morning, made a stop at Spartanburg's Scrapbook Creations, where 2 stamps were being held for me. Of course I also found some of the new Elizabeth Crafts embossing folders. Had a nice little brunch, and headed on up the road to Greensboro, which was about a 3 hour drive. We had the opportunity of going into the Event Room to look over what had been brought into the sale at that time, which was helpful in deciding what my main interests would be the next morning when the sale was opened.

 

Customer numbers were to be given out at 7am on Saturday, so we thought we'd be early birds and arrive at 6ish. At 6:15, we were assigned #14 & #15, so that shows you how many folks got there much earlier than we did! Once numbers were assigned, then off to find some coffee & breakfast, and be back for a 9am opening. Only 25 people were allowed in at first, and as those folks began to leave, the next 25 were allowed in the room, due to Fire Regulations...plus size of the area. There was so much stuff on lots of tables, that it was sometimes difficult to get to see something that really caught the eye. I managed however!! We had a good time, but were tired when we finally got back home that evening, and we've been sort of dragging around ever since. It was fun though, and I did snap up a few things I wanted.

 

Here's today's card, which has been in process for a bit...just being slow to finish it.

 

 Sparkle n Sprinkle Hat Ladies (00-222P4) bought at an estate sale. The set caught my eye, because I have a cousin who does the Red Hat Ladies bit.

 

Stamped on Xpress, Memento Tuxedo Black, colored with copics*. Spica & WoS sparkles added

 

Versamark applied to the drape at her shoulders, then sprinkled with SnS Morning Glory EP and heat embossed

 

- Image was fussy cut and adhered with dimensional tape over a lavender S/B Label 18 die cut

 

- Cut a piece of SnS Adhesive sheet to the size needed. Used a TCW Mini Kaleidoscope stencil, versamarked the surface that would be against the adhesive. Sprinkled Amethyst Silk Glitter over the stencil, brushed off the excess, and burnished. Removed the stencil, sprinkled Lavendar Silk Glitter over the remaining surface. Cleaned excess & burnished. I had already removed the center portion of the adhesive sheet (where the main image would go) prior to applying the stencil.

 

- adhered the glittered piece to the white top fold cardbase. Then placed the die cut with the image over the cut away portion.

 

Decided that I didn't like the white edges at each side of the glittered piece, so used a narrow S/B border left from the sentiment matting to cover the white.

 

- Elizabeth Craft die sentiment on a snippet of red glitter paper. This was thick, and did not cut well (paper problem, not the die..this was thick paper that had sort of a 'backing' on it.).

 

- card base had been edged with S/B Curved Borders Two. Inside is trimmed with the matting lavender, using another of the Curved Borders so that it shows through the front die cut.

 

 

 

 

*If you look closely at this image, you will see why I had to fussy cut for the card. I was being very careful with the red, but it still managed to bleed outside the hat area. Sometimes the colorless blender will move the red back inside the lines...sometimes it won't. My mistake on this piece was that I should have done the background area first...instead of doing the red first. The image was finished, looked fine. When I went to do the blue background - just using the marker & not airbrushing since I didn't want to make a mask, there were several bleed areas. Had been pleased with the facial coloring. Used darker markers than I normally would choose - my normal would be E0000, E000, E00, & E01. I used E11 and some darker E colors, just experimenting - and was pleased with the look. Until I messed up the reds when doing the background! Fussy cutting was the only way I could think to save the image.

 

Sorry this is such a long post!  This image will be submitted to:

 

Sparkle n Sprinkle's April Monthly Challenge

 

Pixie's Crafty Workshop Week 119

 

So thanks for your visit today. Have a wonderful afternoon, and come again soon. Hugs

 

 





All Occasion Gold & Burgundy

Good afternoon. Our Blog Buddy Darnell who has the gift of words, had a post yesterday that was so well written, along with a suggestion that we all bombard Blogger with this following button problem so many of us are having. I copied and pasted Darnell's wording into the link she provided for the problem forum, and here's the reply that came back last evening:

Blogger Engineering is aware of several problems with Following / Google Friend Connect / Reading List, and is working on solutions.

Please note that all problems with Following may not be under their control.  Some problems start with you, and with your computer (or your potential Followers computers).

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2007/04/your-computer-and-blogger.html

As I was reading through the threads, I saw lots of complaints about this same problem, so I'm flattered I received any kind of reply. I was in a good enough mood to be amused with the last statement that the problem may be with me, my computer or my followers' computers. Well, yeah, could be. So he can give me some suggestions to try for a fix, aside from those I've tried awready. Just coincidence that so many of us are having the same problems, though, doncha think? Huh? Anyway....

Here's a card to share, that has no sentiment, so it can be for whatever it needs to be. It was a pretty easy one, aside from one little blip.

 







The little blip was I used a S/B die (don't remember which, but think it was one of the 'gold sets') - and I liked the cut out design. However, the cutout stayed within the cardstock, did not produce the circle that I thought the die would cut. (operator boo-boo & ignorance). So left it alone for a few days, hunted up the MFT pierced circle, and one size just did fit the circle. Voila...here it is. There's some shiny gold mirror behind the circle.

- card front is from a 99cents pack purchased on clearance at our local Tuesday Morning. I thought the pack had 12 sheets - it did - but they are all the same sheet! Cut off the portion I needed, which has some light brown script in the very light lavender base. Used Delicata Gold and Impression Obsession CAC Script stamp to add some more script in gold.

- border is a S/B border set purchased recently at AC Moore for $10 - 5 narrow borders, so thought that was a good buy. The little hearts are punchouts from the design.

This cardstock is burgundy, but the photo is making it look red. I thought the burgundy & gold looked nice against the pale lavender. Added a few pearls, and boom, it's done.

Ya'll have a nice afternoon. We had to rise early this morning for an 8am dr. appt. for DH. As you will remember, I don't "do" early, so a nap is on my afternoon's agenda. Hope you can sneak in a nap too. Thanks for visiting, and Hugs.

Colonoscopy Journal

Back again, with something that just came into our email, and I was laughing so hard I got tears in my eyes (on something that is really a quite serious subject to me, as you will know from previous posts I've made about The Colonoscopy). I could identify with all of this, and if you've ever had this procedure, I expect you will also. I just had to share this. It's good to find the humor in something that is truly not all that funny...Hope you will laugh as much as we did here at our house.
**************************************************************************

 

Those of you who have already had one, it's fairly accurate and funny. For those of you who haven't had one yet, it's fairly accurate and funny.

Colonoscopy Journal:

I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy. A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis.

Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.

I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!'

I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now, suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America's enemies.

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I
didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.

Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it,  'a loose, watery bowel movement may result.' This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

 After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep. The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space;  took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts. The kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked.

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me
that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.

When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I
knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point..
Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.

There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy  that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate.

'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me...
'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you,
in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.
*****************
I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.

 Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying
colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.
************************************

On the subject of Colonoscopies...
Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous..... A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients - (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:

1. Take it easy Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone before.

2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'

3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'

4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there  yet?'
 
5. 'You know, in Arkansas, we're now legally married.'

6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'

7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'

8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'

9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!'

10. 'Hey, Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'

11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'
And the best one of all:
12. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?'

Roses for a Friend

Hey there & welcome. Today's card is for a blogging friend who is dealing with some tough times in her life, and I hope the roses on this card will bring comfort & let her know many of us in Blogland are praying hard for her healing just now.

- Sweet Impressions Stamp (U7066-II) image done on Xpress colored with copics.  Die cut with a Sizzix indented rectangle-657569, edged with DI Broken China.

- DCWV Green cork paper mat (4.5x6.5 mat stack) done with the next size up of the Sizzix set, center portion cut out. This cork paper is a bit on the 'heavy' side.

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment. Cut 3 layers of white snippet c/stock, glued together, then colored with BG0000, G0000, G00, and finally YG03. The 3 layers give a bit of dimension. Had intended to leave the lettering white, but decided I liked it better colored.

- red twine, rhinestone trim on bow.

- Card base is World Win paper - a lovely texture to it. Scored edge done with a Scor Buddy.

Yesterday our temperature reached 83F. It was a lovely sunny day, blue skies but think we went from winter to summer all in one day. It was so pleasant to have the house open & airing out. We need to sweep off the front porch, rehang the swing, which we took down last fall, and covered with a tarp. The winter weather plays havoc with the wood finish that DH has already redone once and made it look new again. He assured me he wasn't doing that chore again.

Ya'll have a lovely day. Come again when you have time to set a spell. Although I don't know how to make a good mint julep (that's what Southerners used to offer their visitors - LOL), we can promise something cold to sip on, as we watch the neighbors drive by & wave as we swing back n forth. Hugs.

Shiny Easter Egg

Hello there and let me start off with a warm welcome to a new follower, Kim H.  Thanks for your blogger help (we connected via good blogger buddy Darnell - gosh, I think Everybody in Blogland knows our Darnell! What a resource this lady is - besides being crafty & humorous too). I have to report, sometimes with a little finagling, it seems I can join a blog, but I can't get my profile picture to change. Been doing a lot of research, reading in FAQ's, forums, and see that lots of others are having the same blogger issue as I posted about. So thanks to all of you who sent me suggestions and advice. I spent time trying each one; wish I could say definitively that something I've tried has worked, but the best I can report is that it seems to work - SOMEtime. Not always. Oh yes, I should say "April Fool's Day" - 'cause it is today, but it seems appropriate for Mr. Blogger & his troubles

too.

OK..enough on the aggravating stuff. Here's my card for today.

- image is The Artful Stamper Clingmount. Stamped out very nicely using Memento Tuxedo black.
Colored with various copics, and it really was not difficult to stay 'within the lines' as I colored. A bit more concentration required to get the shading, and there's not a lot of intense shading. Mainly I just wanted a bright look to this egg. When finished, applied a layer of SU Crystal Effects (like Glossy Accents if you aren't familiar with the SU product. Found that the Effects spread better for me than the G/A). Once the first coat was spread, set this carefully aside in a place where I wouldn't forget and bump against it. It dried overnight, then the image was handcut. No egg shaped die that fit this size well. Edged the white bits that still showed on the outer edge with a sponge dauber and Black ink.

- Lavendar Bazzill texture cardstock embossed with a Marianne EF - no name; then bottom edge of this piece was shaped with a SU accent die. The white cardbase had a piece of green waste paper adhered to the bottom portion. Then once the lavender top was shaped & glued down, none of the white base was visible. { I need to clarify this waste tissue type paper comes from airbrushing AND other product overspray. Not just airbrush spraying. When the paper covering the table gets quite saturated, it's removed & replaced with a new underlying layer}
.
- Memory Box Charlotte Border die cut both sides of a piece of blue overspray paper for the border and the Cheery Lyn sentiment die.

That's it. One more for the Bunny basket. Have a happy afternoon, come visit again when you have time. This week should be fine porch swing weather around here. Hugs.