I know - two posts in one day....but these guys are too cute not to share:
http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2009/02/tawny-frogmouth-chicks.html
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Gone to the Dogs
Two nights ago I stamped and colored these images, then I sat and looked at them. I do that a lot when an idea I have does not work out like I thought it would. Fortunately for me, I have no life, so I finished these up last night.
First, I stamped the image on white card stock and colored the dogs. Then I decided I was NOT going to color the chairs, so I dug through The Stash and found a cool piece of mottled green paper, and decided to stamp the image again and cut out the chair - 4 times. This was a clever idea until I had to cut around the dogs. Note to self: next time, stamp on the green paper first, stamp the DOGS separately, cut them out and stick them on the chair. (By the way, I have the green cut-out dogs, and I am trying to think what to do with them. Any ideas?)
To get the doily thingie, which was part of the original image, I stamped my Cornish Heritage Farms (CHF) Lace Backgrounder in Sahara Sand on Naturals White and ... cut them out.
And that sentiment? It hides my goof of stamping it directly on the card stock, where it proceeded to become difficult to see. I just stamped it again on white and cut it out with my Nestie, taped it over the original sentiment and anchored it with brads. It is not going anywhere.
Here is a closer look at one of the chairs. (Please ignore that mystery black dot ... dunno what that is...) I think I need to go back and fill in some of that space around the puppies with the Copic, or maybe I should just leave it alone. See why I think cutting out the dogs would be easier?
Here's the other two chairs. You can see where I picked up the different colors of the green paper. And the fact that the doily things stick up actually looks like I meant to get that effect. I love it when a plan comes together. :-)
Ach - off to the Day Job. Ooooh, look at the counter! We are approaching another milestone, peeps! And maybe this time I'll give away something GOOD!
First, I stamped the image on white card stock and colored the dogs. Then I decided I was NOT going to color the chairs, so I dug through The Stash and found a cool piece of mottled green paper, and decided to stamp the image again and cut out the chair - 4 times. This was a clever idea until I had to cut around the dogs. Note to self: next time, stamp on the green paper first, stamp the DOGS separately, cut them out and stick them on the chair. (By the way, I have the green cut-out dogs, and I am trying to think what to do with them. Any ideas?)To get the doily thingie, which was part of the original image, I stamped my Cornish Heritage Farms (CHF) Lace Backgrounder in Sahara Sand on Naturals White and ... cut them out.
And that sentiment? It hides my goof of stamping it directly on the card stock, where it proceeded to become difficult to see. I just stamped it again on white and cut it out with my Nestie, taped it over the original sentiment and anchored it with brads. It is not going anywhere.
Here is a closer look at one of the chairs. (Please ignore that mystery black dot ... dunno what that is...) I think I need to go back and fill in some of that space around the puppies with the Copic, or maybe I should just leave it alone. See why I think cutting out the dogs would be easier?
Here's the other two chairs. You can see where I picked up the different colors of the green paper. And the fact that the doily things stick up actually looks like I meant to get that effect. I love it when a plan comes together. :-)Ach - off to the Day Job. Ooooh, look at the counter! We are approaching another milestone, peeps! And maybe this time I'll give away something GOOD!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Using Re-discovered Items
When I re-discovered the tree stamp the other day (source: Paper Parachute...it is old), in the same box were a few sheets of 12x12 paper, so in a desperate attempt to not have to put them away, I decided to use them! Crazy, I know! Two of them are cat-themed, so I made four of these out of one of the sheets:
I just LOVE this stamp (source: Eureka Stamps). I originally got him to go with a custom sentiment I had made: "It's all about the attitude!", and I had that made to go with my Red Hat stuff. See? If you have enough stuff, it all eventually goes together. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it!
I broke open my square Netabilities to cut him out, and I ended up just hand-cutting a Rust layer to set it off a little from the yellow background. The only thing I colored on the cat were his nose and the outline of his body, including the legs.
And the sentiment? Here it is, up close and personal. I think the shades on this guy make the sentiment perfect, don't you agree? (source: Viva Las Vegas Stamps)
Continuing with my use-em-up theme of the day, I also re-discovered a partially-completed card, known in some circles as a UFO (Un-Finished Object). I just added the already-punched hearts (I was experimenting with some of my new DS papers) and the sentiment. DONE! It's kinda plain, but some people like that. I'll put a 1/4 sheet of white linen paper inside so the sender can have a light-colored surface on which to write.
Well, I have another dog stamp out, and I plan to cut into another sheet from my must-have slab of Pet papers. Thanks for stopping by!!
I just LOVE this stamp (source: Eureka Stamps). I originally got him to go with a custom sentiment I had made: "It's all about the attitude!", and I had that made to go with my Red Hat stuff. See? If you have enough stuff, it all eventually goes together. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it! I broke open my square Netabilities to cut him out, and I ended up just hand-cutting a Rust layer to set it off a little from the yellow background. The only thing I colored on the cat were his nose and the outline of his body, including the legs.
And the sentiment? Here it is, up close and personal. I think the shades on this guy make the sentiment perfect, don't you agree? (source: Viva Las Vegas Stamps)
Continuing with my use-em-up theme of the day, I also re-discovered a partially-completed card, known in some circles as a UFO (Un-Finished Object). I just added the already-punched hearts (I was experimenting with some of my new DS papers) and the sentiment. DONE! It's kinda plain, but some people like that. I'll put a 1/4 sheet of white linen paper inside so the sender can have a light-colored surface on which to write. Well, I have another dog stamp out, and I plan to cut into another sheet from my must-have slab of Pet papers. Thanks for stopping by!!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Under-Appreciated Holiday Challenge # 5
Happy Monday, everyone! It's the middle of February, so I get to dip into the March holidays for my next Under-Appreciated Holiday Challenge. This time I selected National Poultry Day, March 19th. I suspect this holiday was created by the combined turkey, chicken, and other poultry farmers of our great land, but it just has not made it to the mainstream yet. I am pretty sure Hallmark has not learned of it, though I did find several online card sites that offerred poultry-themed e-cards.
I was accused of selecting holidays for which I already own stamps. NOT SO! Well, maybe another way to look at this is perhaps you have not yet realized that I own them all?!?!?! I think I might ... So far the only exception was Ferris Wheel Day, and I am still looking forward to September 19th, which is Talk Like A Pirate Day, and I have no pirate stamps. Yet.
So in honor of Poultry Day, I used one of my ... chicken stamps! And no, I did not buy the chicken and the sentiment at the same time, but I did mentally put them together when I saw the chicken! I think I got the sentiment to use with my Best of Cluck set from SU, but then I saw the chicken, and I made him mine.
The patterned papers are left-over pieces of the Basic Grey Sultry papers I used yesterday to make my paper-pieced tree cards. I had all sorts of strips left, so I put them together to make a striped background.
I used more brown ribbon from my stash, and I thought it was stepping out of the old comfort zone for me to use that polka dotted ribbon with all those other patterns. Once I did it though, I liked how they looked together!
Here's two more, and these stand up like tents, just to be different. Almost all the scraps are gone, and I have used half the pack of BG papers. Yay, me! Unfortunately all this means is I am making room for more, which I have on hold at Angela's as I type this. I am weak.
Stamps by Inky Antics.
That's all for today, peeps! Gotta head to the Day Job to pay for all this paper! :-)
I was accused of selecting holidays for which I already own stamps. NOT SO! Well, maybe another way to look at this is perhaps you have not yet realized that I own them all?!?!?! I think I might ... So far the only exception was Ferris Wheel Day, and I am still looking forward to September 19th, which is Talk Like A Pirate Day, and I have no pirate stamps. Yet.
So in honor of Poultry Day, I used one of my ... chicken stamps! And no, I did not buy the chicken and the sentiment at the same time, but I did mentally put them together when I saw the chicken! I think I got the sentiment to use with my Best of Cluck set from SU, but then I saw the chicken, and I made him mine.The patterned papers are left-over pieces of the Basic Grey Sultry papers I used yesterday to make my paper-pieced tree cards. I had all sorts of strips left, so I put them together to make a striped background.
I used more brown ribbon from my stash, and I thought it was stepping out of the old comfort zone for me to use that polka dotted ribbon with all those other patterns. Once I did it though, I liked how they looked together! 
Here's two more, and these stand up like tents, just to be different. Almost all the scraps are gone, and I have used half the pack of BG papers. Yay, me! Unfortunately all this means is I am making room for more, which I have on hold at Angela's as I type this. I am weak. Stamps by Inky Antics.
That's all for today, peeps! Gotta head to the Day Job to pay for all this paper! :-)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Paper Piecing (outta control)
Several years ago, a fellow stamper loaned me this stamp, which is one of the items I 'discovered' whilst cleaning out a box last week. No, she does not miss it, so not to worry.
She had done some sort of magic with PearlEx or something, and I'd borrowed it to try the technique. Apparently, I had not gotten too far, and the stamp got 'put away someplace safe'. So this weekend, I happened by the pile of stuff I plan to bring back to my friend tomorrow at work, and I thought, "Hmmm ... paper piecing?" So I grabbed one of my many unopened Basic Grey 6x6 packs (this one is Sultry) and got to work.
First I made the one on the left, using pieces I thought looked right - green for the grass, a paler pattern for the tree and background. But then I realized I had all those other parts-is-parts left over, so I decided to throw away convention and do a little Lauren channelling.
After a few minutes, I just settled for putting papers next to each other, trying not to use two of the same pattern too close to each other.
I found that green velvet (faux, to be sure) ribbon in the All The Greens but the Right Color Green Box of Green Ribbons. Did you notice three of the four are at the bottom of the card, and one is sorta in the middle? That is hiding a boo-boo, where the tree trunk was not even close to being aligned, so it had to be cleverly disguised.
Not bad for an afternoon! I have also made my cards for tomorrows Under-Appreciated Holiday post, so make sure to check back tomorrow for that one. Thanks for stopping by!
She had done some sort of magic with PearlEx or something, and I'd borrowed it to try the technique. Apparently, I had not gotten too far, and the stamp got 'put away someplace safe'. So this weekend, I happened by the pile of stuff I plan to bring back to my friend tomorrow at work, and I thought, "Hmmm ... paper piecing?" So I grabbed one of my many unopened Basic Grey 6x6 packs (this one is Sultry) and got to work. 
First I made the one on the left, using pieces I thought looked right - green for the grass, a paler pattern for the tree and background. But then I realized I had all those other parts-is-parts left over, so I decided to throw away convention and do a little Lauren channelling.
After a few minutes, I just settled for putting papers next to each other, trying not to use two of the same pattern too close to each other. I found that green velvet (faux, to be sure) ribbon in the All The Greens but the Right Color Green Box of Green Ribbons. Did you notice three of the four are at the bottom of the card, and one is sorta in the middle? That is hiding a boo-boo, where the tree trunk was not even close to being aligned, so it had to be cleverly disguised.
Not bad for an afternoon! I have also made my cards for tomorrows Under-Appreciated Holiday post, so make sure to check back tomorrow for that one. Thanks for stopping by!
A Towel's Inspiration
My laptop is still not happy, so I am using my PC with the tempermental mouse, and no cropping of photos is possible. I thank you for bearing with me through this stormy time.
Remember this towel?
It gave me the idea to emboss some leaves on Mellow Moss card stock ...
... and this is what came out. I decided to treat it like a One Sheet Wonder ...
... which resulted in these two cards (with poorly-stamped sentiments) ...
... and this one, which has the pattern on both front and back. Lazy? Maybe, but it is still kinda cool-looking. I used up some of the half-pearls from my Pretties kit, and the sentiment on the last one is a rub-on from SU's Chit Chat pack.
Well, I am off to start my taxes (ugh) and get ready for tomorrow's Under-appreciated Holiday. Y'all come back now, and thanks for stopping by!
Remember this towel?
It gave me the idea to emboss some leaves on Mellow Moss card stock ... 
... and this is what came out. I decided to treat it like a One Sheet Wonder ... 
... which resulted in these two cards (with poorly-stamped sentiments) ... 
... and this one, which has the pattern on both front and back. Lazy? Maybe, but it is still kinda cool-looking. I used up some of the half-pearls from my Pretties kit, and the sentiment on the last one is a rub-on from SU's Chit Chat pack. Well, I am off to start my taxes (ugh) and get ready for tomorrow's Under-appreciated Holiday. Y'all come back now, and thanks for stopping by!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Some Stamping, and 30 Seconds of Fame
The laptop is still in a hissy fit and may not be long for this world, so I have been reduced to working on the PC, which has a tempermental mouse. By tempermental, I mean I am unable to use it to copy and paste, or drag anything, or (more importantly for you, my beloved readers) crop a photo. So sad. I tried to take the pics as close as I could so as to reduce the extraneous schtuff.
But first: I HAD THIRTY SECONDS OF FAME! Okay, maybe not actually fame, but I was in the presence of greatness, and my name was kept secret. Today, as I arrived at work looking like I'd thrown on some clothes as an after-thought as it is Casual Friday and we can wear jeans, I finished putting the elastic in my un-dried hair, and guess with whom I walked into the building? The CEO, the CFO, and ... drum-roll please ... WARREN BUFFETT! No kidding!!!! Then I hit the button for the elevator, two of them arrived (we have three at that entrance), and the three suits got on the elevator WITH ME! Warren and the CFO were chatting about Wall Street and the Stock Market, and as I got out on my floor, the CEO leaned over and said, "Have a nice day", to which I muttered something clever, like, "You too!". Thank goodness he knows OF me, but not enough to call me by name. Man, did I look like a rat drug (dragged) in from the rain.
Okay, enough of that. As you can see, I have STAMPED sumptin'. Yeppers, I gave up on the laptop resuscitation effort and dug into my new stash of goodies from my buying spree on Tuesday.
In addition to this cool stamp from Purrs & Pants, I picked up the sentiment from A Muse to go with it. I also got a slab of Pet papers from Mike's, which of course I do not need, and now gets added to my SABLE list. This card was an effort to justify the collective purchase, if only in my little brain. The paper is really busy, so in an uncharacteristic moment, I cut down the white piece to show more 'busy'. It was just so pretty I did not want to hide any of it! The rest of the card is all Stash. I used up the brown ribbon left on one of the wooden clothespins in my Everything Black, White or Brown Box of Ribbons; the card base is from a miscellaneous pile o'card stock; the blue layer barely peeking out around the edge of the patterned paper is from a shopping trip several years back when I was on vacation in FL and in desperate search of anything resembling card stock; and the doggie bone clip is from a partially-used box of them I got at Recollections many, many moons ago, when they were still in existence.
This is pretty much the same card, but with a different section of the 12x12 patterned paper and a different treatment for the ribbon ('different treatment' ... sometimes I crack myself up!) Oh, wait a minute ... let's see ... that should be 'sometimes ... um ... I make myself laugh' ... no, that's not it ... oh, forget it.
ANYway, it's nice to be back in stampin' mode. But guess what I get to do tomorrow? Buy my tax software. Oh, joy. Luckily I managed to copy my just-about-finished 2008 spreadsheet for The Biz off the laptop and onto a CD so I can port it over to the PC and do all the higher mathematics. There will not be much joy in Muddville until I make it through that task, but I'll be stampin' when I can!
Thanks for stopping by and listening to (reading) my whining. :-) And for those of you with sweeties in your lives, have a happy Valentine's Day!Wanna Name A Gorilla?
Still no stamping here, but the SF Zoo is having a contest to name their new baby Gorilla. They have a preference for an African name. All the details, plus pics and a video can be found here: http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2009/02/sf-zoos-baby-gorilla-needs-a-name.html.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Crooked Stamper - Unplugged
Yes, peeps, my laptop is among the dying, and I have been spending much precious stamping time wrassling with the darned thing! You'd thing that being a Computer Professional prepares me for these situations, but let me tell you: when the network connector says "I see your network, and it is good, but I cannot connect to it, so pttttht!", it makes one weary.
Yes, my PC in The Other Room is working. Why, I am typing on it right now! But all my photo editing software and everything else is on the laptop, and I reeeeealy do not want to re-install all of it in here. And what would I post, anyway, since I am so busy futzing with the laptop that I am NOT STAMPING!
Did you know that both Abraham Lincoln (Prez #16) and Charles Darwin were born on this day 200 years ago?!? I am sure someone has figured out some deep meaning there, but I prefer to think it is just a cool coincidence.
Now please excuse me while I look up the weird things I see on the laptop... it may be savable....
Yes, my PC in The Other Room is working. Why, I am typing on it right now! But all my photo editing software and everything else is on the laptop, and I reeeeealy do not want to re-install all of it in here. And what would I post, anyway, since I am so busy futzing with the laptop that I am NOT STAMPING!
Did you know that both Abraham Lincoln (Prez #16) and Charles Darwin were born on this day 200 years ago?!? I am sure someone has figured out some deep meaning there, but I prefer to think it is just a cool coincidence.
Now please excuse me while I look up the weird things I see on the laptop... it may be savable....
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Crooked Day Off (Caution: Much Whining)
I took today off from the Day Job to catch up on life, and, well, once again I got about half-way through the list before I ran out of day. At least I checked off a few things. ;-)
Lessee, got up around 6 (why in tarnation do I get out of bed earlier on a day off than I do when I have to go to the Day Job!?!?!), and by 9 am I was still in my jammies, but boy-o-boy did I get stuff done. I emptied (EMPTIED) three (THREE) boxes from The Other Room. It's funny how much stuff you save that eventually becomes trash. (If you are keeping score, that's 5 boxes I've cleared out, and I still cannot reach the table. Just making sure you understand the severity of the situation In There.) Moving on ...
I finally got out of the house and got my eyes examined (not my head, my eyes); had a few heart palpitations over the cost of new glasses; went to Chloe's coffee shop to see about swapping out my Christmas cards for some fresher material (they were closed for renovations all of January, so gimme a break, k?); headed down to Angela's in Virginia to return something and to spend an equal sum on new goods...somehow I managed to exceed that amount, but not by too much; crossed back over the river into Maryland and headed over to a customer's house to, um, pick up a, er, new toy (I shall reveal said toy later this week); stopped at the eye Dr to pick up my new glasses (stayed for the fitting, adjustment, etc.); came home to print off an updated list of cards on hand at Chloe's (the original had been misplaced), then I headed back out (which is something I never, ever, ever do); stopped at Michael's to pick up a card tree thingie for my display at Chloe's; headed back to Chloe's to drop off the list and the card tree thingie (all shall be explained if the Manager and I can figure out a set-up); then finally came home and kicked off my shoes.
Then (OMG yes, there's more), I placed the workshop order I'd forgotten to place this morning, and then there's the ever-present laundry. Man, it's almost bed time! Where did my 'day off' go? How does this happen!?!?!?!?! I did not get either of the cars washed; I did not update my Retired Stamps For Sale list; I did not work on my taxes; I did not call the Time Share people to ask them to please take me off their SPAM list; I did not stop at Sears to get a new filter for my fridge; and most importantly, I DID NOT STAMP ANYTHING!!! Oh, the horror, the injustice of it all! A whole day off and NO STAMPING!
Lessee, got up around 6 (why in tarnation do I get out of bed earlier on a day off than I do when I have to go to the Day Job!?!?!), and by 9 am I was still in my jammies, but boy-o-boy did I get stuff done. I emptied (EMPTIED) three (THREE) boxes from The Other Room. It's funny how much stuff you save that eventually becomes trash. (If you are keeping score, that's 5 boxes I've cleared out, and I still cannot reach the table. Just making sure you understand the severity of the situation In There.) Moving on ...
I finally got out of the house and got my eyes examined (not my head, my eyes); had a few heart palpitations over the cost of new glasses; went to Chloe's coffee shop to see about swapping out my Christmas cards for some fresher material (they were closed for renovations all of January, so gimme a break, k?); headed down to Angela's in Virginia to return something and to spend an equal sum on new goods...somehow I managed to exceed that amount, but not by too much; crossed back over the river into Maryland and headed over to a customer's house to, um, pick up a, er, new toy (I shall reveal said toy later this week); stopped at the eye Dr to pick up my new glasses (stayed for the fitting, adjustment, etc.); came home to print off an updated list of cards on hand at Chloe's (the original had been misplaced), then I headed back out (which is something I never, ever, ever do); stopped at Michael's to pick up a card tree thingie for my display at Chloe's; headed back to Chloe's to drop off the list and the card tree thingie (all shall be explained if the Manager and I can figure out a set-up); then finally came home and kicked off my shoes.
Then (OMG yes, there's more), I placed the workshop order I'd forgotten to place this morning, and then there's the ever-present laundry. Man, it's almost bed time! Where did my 'day off' go? How does this happen!?!?!?!?! I did not get either of the cars washed; I did not update my Retired Stamps For Sale list; I did not work on my taxes; I did not call the Time Share people to ask them to please take me off their SPAM list; I did not stop at Sears to get a new filter for my fridge; and most importantly, I DID NOT STAMP ANYTHING!!! Oh, the horror, the injustice of it all! A whole day off and NO STAMPING!
However, all is not lost! Last night I only had one customer, so I got to take my own workshop! Funny how nice (and easy) it is when everything is all planned and all the materials are pre-cut. As usual, I messed up a few things and had to make it look like I'd meant to do it that way all along, but with this card, I kicked it up!
Here's the original card (largely stolen from inspired by Lydia):
It's nice, simple, clean. I did eventually replace the illegal non-SU white brads with SU silver brads layered on white 1/4" circle punches for my customers. I also set out my white Chit Chat rub-ons so they could optionally add a sentiment.
My customer last night thought the bird in the tree looked a bit somber, almost spooky or eerie, so since I had time on my hands, I started playing with the rest of the set, and I added some Kiwi Kiss leaves. That made the bird look more lonely than spooky, so I selected the Miss You sentiment. Oh, and those white brads? I live here, so I can do anything I want. My customer used the silver ones, so it was still legal. ;-)
Criminey, it really is time for bed now. Thanks for stopping by!
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