Wanna do something really nice? Check out this post and leave her a comment if you'd like to participate. I'll be sending the little girl a card.
Happy Festivus! ;-)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Feats of Strength
I am a slug. A total slug. I think the shoveling of snow for three days has sapped any remaining energy in my body. Luckily the sun has been shining brightly for two days, now, and may eventually MELT the snow off my car so I can go to work tomorrow.
I have done zero stamping, though Lord knows I've tried. My mojo has taken a break, and I am filling my time with other things. What other things? Well lookie what arrived at my house:
That's right! My card catalog! I bought this on etsy and it has arrived chez moi, at last. I had the nice FedEx guys bring it inside for me, since I just knew I'd have 'lifting' issues. At least if it started out indoors, I'd have a shot at assembling it. In total it weighs about 350 pounds, and I estimate (based on the few remaining unpulled muscles in my body) that each drawer section weighs about 100 pounds. There's three of the drawer sections plus the base and top cap piece, which is set there on top.
Before I could unpack it, though, I needed to have a place for it to live, so I decided to take the brown cabinet from my front hall and temporarily move it into the Dining Room.
This is the brown cabinet that was in the front hall:
It held my CDs and my VHS tape collection. (I'd already emptied the top shelf before I thought to take this picture. ) After I emptied all the CDs out onto the Dining Room table in an attempt to lighten the thing, it was still too heavy to lift (darn particleboard) so I dragged it, and broke off one of the supports in the process. Oh, well, that's what you get with put-together-yourself furniture. Maybe I'll just give it away, or something.
Then I started to unpack and assemble my card catalog. Here is the base plus one of the drawer units:
See those little slots on the top? There are pieces on the bottom of each drawer unit that fit into them so they nest nicely. This also keeps them from living anywhere ELSE as separate units, though. I had thought I'd put one of the drawer units here, and maybe stack up the other two in another room, but that was not to be. ;-(
Here is the whole thing assembled in my front hall. (Please ignore the cans of Raid - they keep the ants at bay. ) Then I decided the cabinet is too big to stay in the front hall, so I started to move things around.
I took out all the drawers, then took off the top cap piece and disassembled the parts-is-parts and set them in the Dining Room.
Then I moved this green cabinet from the back Dining Room wall into the front hall:
It holds all sorts of miscellaneous crafty stuff inside, and on top, too. I need to find homes for all the stuff on top, anyway, and re-purpose this as a front hall piece to hold my keys, etc.
Just around the corner, in the dining room, is the brown cabinet that used to be in the front hall:
... and some packing materials I had to move out of the kitchen so Her Highness could find a path to her food bowl.
There's the card catalog relocated to the back Dining Room wall where the green cabinet used to live:
It is still too big for this spot, but it's better than the front hall. There was a cross stitch piece on the wall here, and those screws in the wall above the cabinet used to hold a shelf that is now gone. All the stuff from that shelf now lives on top of this cabinet.
Then there's the CDs:
Okay, I have a huge collection of CDs. Most of them are by people most of you have never heard of - I like to support the independent small-type musicians, so I buy their CDs when I see them perform live. I also have CD players in both my cars, so it was a natural for me to collect them.
But NOW I needed to find them a home. They are too tall to stand up in the card catalog drawers, but not too big to lie down:
In alphabetical order (you expected less?) I started at Z (Warren Zevon) and worked my way backwards to A, laying what I could fit into each drawer. The only artists that got their own drawers are Bruce Springsteen, The Kennedy's, and maybe Mike Cross and Tom Paxton.
A few of the drawers came with the cards still in them YAY!), so I put them in the top section, which is pretty much too high for me to see into the drawers.
It is tough being vertically challenged. Oh, and for all you young uns, THIS is what we used to have to plow through to find books in the library. Uh-huh. It's true! The drawers slide out easily, and you can take one to a table and look through it, then bring it back and take out another drawer. I used to find all sorts of things that I had no idea were there. Kindof like reading the dictionary. What, you don't ever read the dictionary? You should try it some time! Seriously!
So that's it with the furniture movement. I'm thinking I'll get a pretty basket or box to put under the cabinet to hold all my VHS tapes still in that brown cabinet. Then I can freecycle the cabinet. Or not. I may actually fix it and leave it there. Only time will tell.
In other news, kitty has found a new nest. In my wanderings the past two days, I have actually managed to do a few loads of wash, and I had left the light on and door open to the laundry room, and lookie what I saw:
She actually jumped up onto the washer & dryer, which is no small feat for her, because sometimes she forgets she is a cat, and that she CAN jump. I have a stool next to the end table where her water fountain lives so she can get to it, since she forgets she can jump. I could not make this up. She has issues with 'up' and 'down'.
So you can see she chose the laundry basket for a perch. I looked back later and saw this:
Yep, all cozy and comfy. To her it is new, so it is fun. Then I turned on the shower and broke the spell. She needed to assume her position on the counter while I showered. Kids, whatareya gonna do.
That's about it for now. I am working on an acetate card for my January stamp camps. I even bought enough acetate to go around, just in case I get a clue about what to do with it. You can be sure I'll be CASEing something. I'll show you what I make once it happens.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have done zero stamping, though Lord knows I've tried. My mojo has taken a break, and I am filling my time with other things. What other things? Well lookie what arrived at my house:
That's right! My card catalog! I bought this on etsy and it has arrived chez moi, at last. I had the nice FedEx guys bring it inside for me, since I just knew I'd have 'lifting' issues. At least if it started out indoors, I'd have a shot at assembling it. In total it weighs about 350 pounds, and I estimate (based on the few remaining unpulled muscles in my body) that each drawer section weighs about 100 pounds. There's three of the drawer sections plus the base and top cap piece, which is set there on top.
Before I could unpack it, though, I needed to have a place for it to live, so I decided to take the brown cabinet from my front hall and temporarily move it into the Dining Room.
This is the brown cabinet that was in the front hall:
It held my CDs and my VHS tape collection. (I'd already emptied the top shelf before I thought to take this picture. ) After I emptied all the CDs out onto the Dining Room table in an attempt to lighten the thing, it was still too heavy to lift (darn particleboard) so I dragged it, and broke off one of the supports in the process. Oh, well, that's what you get with put-together-yourself furniture. Maybe I'll just give it away, or something.Then I started to unpack and assemble my card catalog. Here is the base plus one of the drawer units:
See those little slots on the top? There are pieces on the bottom of each drawer unit that fit into them so they nest nicely. This also keeps them from living anywhere ELSE as separate units, though. I had thought I'd put one of the drawer units here, and maybe stack up the other two in another room, but that was not to be. ;-(
Here is the whole thing assembled in my front hall. (Please ignore the cans of Raid - they keep the ants at bay. ) Then I decided the cabinet is too big to stay in the front hall, so I started to move things around.I took out all the drawers, then took off the top cap piece and disassembled the parts-is-parts and set them in the Dining Room.
Then I moved this green cabinet from the back Dining Room wall into the front hall:
It holds all sorts of miscellaneous crafty stuff inside, and on top, too. I need to find homes for all the stuff on top, anyway, and re-purpose this as a front hall piece to hold my keys, etc.Just around the corner, in the dining room, is the brown cabinet that used to be in the front hall:
... and some packing materials I had to move out of the kitchen so Her Highness could find a path to her food bowl.There's the card catalog relocated to the back Dining Room wall where the green cabinet used to live:
It is still too big for this spot, but it's better than the front hall. There was a cross stitch piece on the wall here, and those screws in the wall above the cabinet used to hold a shelf that is now gone. All the stuff from that shelf now lives on top of this cabinet.Then there's the CDs:
Okay, I have a huge collection of CDs. Most of them are by people most of you have never heard of - I like to support the independent small-type musicians, so I buy their CDs when I see them perform live. I also have CD players in both my cars, so it was a natural for me to collect them.But NOW I needed to find them a home. They are too tall to stand up in the card catalog drawers, but not too big to lie down:
In alphabetical order (you expected less?) I started at Z (Warren Zevon) and worked my way backwards to A, laying what I could fit into each drawer. The only artists that got their own drawers are Bruce Springsteen, The Kennedy's, and maybe Mike Cross and Tom Paxton.A few of the drawers came with the cards still in them YAY!), so I put them in the top section, which is pretty much too high for me to see into the drawers.
It is tough being vertically challenged. Oh, and for all you young uns, THIS is what we used to have to plow through to find books in the library. Uh-huh. It's true! The drawers slide out easily, and you can take one to a table and look through it, then bring it back and take out another drawer. I used to find all sorts of things that I had no idea were there. Kindof like reading the dictionary. What, you don't ever read the dictionary? You should try it some time! Seriously!So that's it with the furniture movement. I'm thinking I'll get a pretty basket or box to put under the cabinet to hold all my VHS tapes still in that brown cabinet. Then I can freecycle the cabinet. Or not. I may actually fix it and leave it there. Only time will tell.
In other news, kitty has found a new nest. In my wanderings the past two days, I have actually managed to do a few loads of wash, and I had left the light on and door open to the laundry room, and lookie what I saw:
She actually jumped up onto the washer & dryer, which is no small feat for her, because sometimes she forgets she is a cat, and that she CAN jump. I have a stool next to the end table where her water fountain lives so she can get to it, since she forgets she can jump. I could not make this up. She has issues with 'up' and 'down'.So you can see she chose the laundry basket for a perch. I looked back later and saw this:
Yep, all cozy and comfy. To her it is new, so it is fun. Then I turned on the shower and broke the spell. She needed to assume her position on the counter while I showered. Kids, whatareya gonna do.
That's about it for now. I am working on an acetate card for my January stamp camps. I even bought enough acetate to go around, just in case I get a clue about what to do with it. You can be sure I'll be CASEing something. I'll show you what I make once it happens.
Thanks for stopping by!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
We Got A Little Snow
We had a little bit of snow. We do not get much snow in the DC area - we get lots of ice, though. If it does snow, it's usually in February, not December. It's usually still 50 degrees in December. In fact, I think it was 50 degrees last weekend!
Saturday morning I was on schedule to leave for Michigan. I stubbornly decided I could deal with the snow and just planned to drive out of it. The patch of clouds on the weather map seemed to stop somewhere in PA, and I was headed West into OH and then North into MI. No problem.
I started out shoveling my front walk, like a good citizen. I'd arranged for my cat sitter to bring her son along to shovel the rest later into the weekend.
Even though it was still snowing, this does not look too bad, does it?
Bah, it's just a little snow! I showered, packed the car, calmed kitty, and hit the road.
About 3 miles North it started looking more like this:
This is I-270, near Germantown, for the benefit of you local types. The 'I' in I-270 means 'Interstate', but does this major road look plowed to you? Nuh-uh. But I was OKAY with that, since I only needed to go about 30 miles up to Frederick and pick up I-70 West.
Silly me - this was I-70:
DO YOU SEE ANY PAVEMENT? I did not. It was snowing and not well-plowed and if I exceeded 40 mph it was slippery. We were all driving with our flashers on, as we were all going under 45 mph. There were some yahoos passing on the left, and there were also some yahoos in the ditches and medians along the way.
A lot of the time it looked like this:
... which was fine with me, since I was pulling over the best I could ever few miles to stop and clean the ice off my wipers so they'd actually WIPE.
It took me almost 2 hours, but I made it 45 miles to Hagerstown, exited the "expressway" and pulled into my usual coffee-and-potty-stop McDonalds. Ach, I said, ach - it's just a little bit of snow, right? So I got back on the highway and kept going. I almost did not make it to the next exit. I could not even SEE out the windshield. I stopped in a parking lot and called my Brother to tell him I was not going to make it. Then I called my Son and told HIM I could not make it. Then I turned around and headed home, and I arrived around 1:30.
This is what I came home to:
Those are my footprints in the snow, coming down my steps (remember those steps?) so I could get my shovel. That's my car parked perpendicular to my parking space - flashers still on. I had 10" of snow in my spot that needed to be removed before I could back the car in. I only took out what needed to be tooken out to get the car mostly into its spot. I am no fool. The snow was still coming down hard, and I knew it was not over. Get her in and get inside.
I did, and kitty stuck to me like glue the rest of the day.
This morning, I awoke to this:
There is a bush right next to my front door, and I included it for perspective. Lotsa white, huh?
I shoveled my way up my steps:
... and turned around to assess the vehicle situation. This is the Miata:
Not going anywhere any time soon. Poor thing.
I shoveled my way to the front of my car, but this heap of plowed stuff? Third time? Not going to do it. I AM NOT.
I have a neighbor with a plow on the front of his truck. See HIS spot? -->
If *I* had that plow, I'd plow all that City-truck-plowed snow from in front of my neighbors' vehicles. But he is not me.
Oh, look, I guess the Miata is REALLY not going anywhere any time soon:
My right arm already feels like it's going to fall off, so I made the decision to not dig out the front of my car. If I cannot hire someone to do it for me, I may not ever leave again. It will melt by Spring.
ETA: The maintenance guys were coming around putting down sand, and another neighbor stopped them and asked if they spoke English. One said yes. So she asked him if she could pay him to shovel her steps and front walk. He just smiled. Speaks English - uh-huh. I pointed to my shovel and made the universal 'money' motion with my glittened right hand (you know, rubbing thumb and forefinger together?) He smiled REAL BIG and followed her. Yeah, money talks.
Then this little fella came home from his walk:
This is my neighbor, Jake, who lives upstairs from me with his humans. Nice hoodie and boots! Jake hates the snow on his feet.
This is one of my other neighbors and her human:
She is a wiggler, but she was wearing a nice purple frock! Little MinMin just lost her sister, and her Mom is going to adopt another pup as soon as she can. Her Mom also has a 19 year-old son who will come dig me out as soon as he returns home from work this afternoon. Yay!
Thus ends my tale of woe. Kitty and I have assumed the slug position once again:
... and plan to vegetate the rest of the weekend. I may put on real clothes and walk across the street to buy some food, but then again, maybe not. I have a potato I can call dinner.
I feel another nap coming on. Thanks for stopping by!
Saturday morning I was on schedule to leave for Michigan. I stubbornly decided I could deal with the snow and just planned to drive out of it. The patch of clouds on the weather map seemed to stop somewhere in PA, and I was headed West into OH and then North into MI. No problem.
I started out shoveling my front walk, like a good citizen. I'd arranged for my cat sitter to bring her son along to shovel the rest later into the weekend.
Even though it was still snowing, this does not look too bad, does it?
Bah, it's just a little snow! I showered, packed the car, calmed kitty, and hit the road.About 3 miles North it started looking more like this:
This is I-270, near Germantown, for the benefit of you local types. The 'I' in I-270 means 'Interstate', but does this major road look plowed to you? Nuh-uh. But I was OKAY with that, since I only needed to go about 30 miles up to Frederick and pick up I-70 West.Silly me - this was I-70:
DO YOU SEE ANY PAVEMENT? I did not. It was snowing and not well-plowed and if I exceeded 40 mph it was slippery. We were all driving with our flashers on, as we were all going under 45 mph. There were some yahoos passing on the left, and there were also some yahoos in the ditches and medians along the way.A lot of the time it looked like this:
... which was fine with me, since I was pulling over the best I could ever few miles to stop and clean the ice off my wipers so they'd actually WIPE.It took me almost 2 hours, but I made it 45 miles to Hagerstown, exited the "expressway" and pulled into my usual coffee-and-potty-stop McDonalds. Ach, I said, ach - it's just a little bit of snow, right? So I got back on the highway and kept going. I almost did not make it to the next exit. I could not even SEE out the windshield. I stopped in a parking lot and called my Brother to tell him I was not going to make it. Then I called my Son and told HIM I could not make it. Then I turned around and headed home, and I arrived around 1:30.
This is what I came home to:
Those are my footprints in the snow, coming down my steps (remember those steps?) so I could get my shovel. That's my car parked perpendicular to my parking space - flashers still on. I had 10" of snow in my spot that needed to be removed before I could back the car in. I only took out what needed to be tooken out to get the car mostly into its spot. I am no fool. The snow was still coming down hard, and I knew it was not over. Get her in and get inside.I did, and kitty stuck to me like glue the rest of the day.
This morning, I awoke to this:
There is a bush right next to my front door, and I included it for perspective. Lotsa white, huh?I shoveled my way up my steps:
... and turned around to assess the vehicle situation. This is the Miata:
Not going anywhere any time soon. Poor thing.I shoveled my way to the front of my car, but this heap of plowed stuff? Third time? Not going to do it. I AM NOT.
I have a neighbor with a plow on the front of his truck. See HIS spot? -->
If *I* had that plow, I'd plow all that City-truck-plowed snow from in front of my neighbors' vehicles. But he is not me.Oh, look, I guess the Miata is REALLY not going anywhere any time soon:
My right arm already feels like it's going to fall off, so I made the decision to not dig out the front of my car. If I cannot hire someone to do it for me, I may not ever leave again. It will melt by Spring.ETA: The maintenance guys were coming around putting down sand, and another neighbor stopped them and asked if they spoke English. One said yes. So she asked him if she could pay him to shovel her steps and front walk. He just smiled. Speaks English - uh-huh. I pointed to my shovel and made the universal 'money' motion with my glittened right hand (you know, rubbing thumb and forefinger together?) He smiled REAL BIG and followed her. Yeah, money talks.
Then this little fella came home from his walk:
This is my neighbor, Jake, who lives upstairs from me with his humans. Nice hoodie and boots! Jake hates the snow on his feet.This is one of my other neighbors and her human:
She is a wiggler, but she was wearing a nice purple frock! Little MinMin just lost her sister, and her Mom is going to adopt another pup as soon as she can. Her Mom also has a 19 year-old son who will come dig me out as soon as he returns home from work this afternoon. Yay!Thus ends my tale of woe. Kitty and I have assumed the slug position once again:
... and plan to vegetate the rest of the weekend. I may put on real clothes and walk across the street to buy some food, but then again, maybe not. I have a potato I can call dinner.I feel another nap coming on. Thanks for stopping by!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Blizzard of 2009
Well, my friends, I got smart, bailed from the road trip and came home. When I pulled my car OUT of my parking spot at 9 am this morning, it was clean where the car was parked, and when I returned 5 hours later, the snow was 10" deep, at least. I got smart AGAIN and only shoveled enough to back the car into it. Then I shoveled my way down my front steps and am now curled up on the sofa, under a blanket, with kitty laying on my feet. I do not think she will leave my side for a few days. ;-)
They are calling this a blizzard, so I guess that explains why the white stuff is still falling from the sky. I have read it will keep falling until some time tomorrow morning. The Metro is only running the under-ground stations, and no buses. Yeah, I'd say we are pretty shut down.
In other news, since I am home I can write my holiday cards! Have I confessed here yet that I bought (BOUGHT) holiday cards for the first time in 6 years? Uh-huh, I did! Ya know why? I was in a book store at lunch yesterday, and my co-worker said I could justify the purchase since I make cards ALL YEAR LONG, and by buying them, it was like giving myself a break. That worked for me! They are pretty - the Capitol in winter. I'll post one once I get them out of the box.
So that is all for now. A failed road trip, a reclaimed weekend, and a kitty curled up on my feet. Not bad ... not bad at all.
Thanks for stopping by!
DEC09 MD -85
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
DEC09 MD 29
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
DEC09 MD -85
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Friday, December 18, 2009
Setting The Stage
I have had a ca-razy busy week, and have done NO stampin', so I have absolutely nothing to share with you. BUT, I am about to embark on a mini Road Trip, and I thought I'd post cryptic random thoughts and pics along the way.
Then I thought up a little naming convention, so I've decided to divulge the secret code now. That way, when they hit you from my Crackberry, or wherever, you will be able to de-code them.
Here is my plan for the post names:
DEC09 = December 2009 (DUH)
PA (or OH, or MI) = the state of the Union (not my mental state)
### = a mile marker if I am on the turnpike or other numbered interstate
Yeah, that ought to do it. So let's have a short pop quiz, shall we? If I send the following from my Crackberry, what does it mean?
DEC09 OH 239
Guesses? Anyone? You can cheat (like I'd know). Okay, it means I am in OH, and near mile marker 239 (which also means I have 239 more miles to go before I leave Ohio). I do NOT plan to bore you with simple progress reports. Oh, nonononono, each post that I send will be accompanied by a photo, probably of questionable quality, for your entertainment pleasure.
Okay, can you handle this little wacky idea of mine? Well, CAN you? GOOD! It will undoubtedly begin tomorrow morning when I wake up to see if we got any of the predicted 20" of snowfall. Yes, I plan to still go, though I might be delayed by the amount of time it will take me to dig out my car.
So thanks for hanging in there for me, and I'll see if I can find some interesting stuff to share along the way.
Thanks for stopping by!
PS: Do not make plans to rob me or steal my kitty while I am gone (and you know who you are!). My cat sitter can take any one of you with one arm tied behind her back! I'm just sayin' ...
Then I thought up a little naming convention, so I've decided to divulge the secret code now. That way, when they hit you from my Crackberry, or wherever, you will be able to de-code them.
Here is my plan for the post names:
DEC09 = December 2009 (DUH)
PA (or OH, or MI) = the state of the Union (not my mental state)
### = a mile marker if I am on the turnpike or other numbered interstate
Yeah, that ought to do it. So let's have a short pop quiz, shall we? If I send the following from my Crackberry, what does it mean?
DEC09 OH 239
Guesses? Anyone? You can cheat (like I'd know). Okay, it means I am in OH, and near mile marker 239 (which also means I have 239 more miles to go before I leave Ohio). I do NOT plan to bore you with simple progress reports. Oh, nonononono, each post that I send will be accompanied by a photo, probably of questionable quality, for your entertainment pleasure.
Okay, can you handle this little wacky idea of mine? Well, CAN you? GOOD! It will undoubtedly begin tomorrow morning when I wake up to see if we got any of the predicted 20" of snowfall. Yes, I plan to still go, though I might be delayed by the amount of time it will take me to dig out my car.
So thanks for hanging in there for me, and I'll see if I can find some interesting stuff to share along the way.
Thanks for stopping by!
PS: Do not make plans to rob me or steal my kitty while I am gone (and you know who you are!). My cat sitter can take any one of you with one arm tied behind her back! I'm just sayin' ...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Mixing It Up at Stamp Camp
Nobody likes me, everybody hates me; I'm gonna go eat worms.
That's what popped into my head when I looked at this sad, forlorn creature, presumably warming herself under the light over the table. NOT! She spent most of the Stamp Camp time roaming from station to station, carefully stepping over open ink pads and generally getting in the way. Monday night she decided to nestle in the coats, instead. She is so neglected.
SO, my Stamp Camps went swimmingly, and everyone seemed to have a good time. My favorite part of these sessions, aside from people saying they LOVE one of the projects and cannot believe THEY made them themselves, or introducing new people to the craft (had two of them this month!), I love to see how people take my serving suggestion projects and mix 'em up!
I mean, come on, most of these are CASEd from other people to start with, and my customers are only putting their own spin on my versions of the projects. I tell them they can do anything they want with the materials provided, and I also leave out the rest of the sets that belong to the stamps we use. That not only shows them what else comes in the set (in case they like it), but it gives them options. I love how the creativity just flows.
So tonight I thought I'd show you a few examples of change-ups that were done. First, we have my version of this card:
And here are a few variations:
Different sentiment in a different color. She also did her random dots in more of a pattern of three, based on what I'd noted AFTER I'd done mine the messy way. She even added some dots around the green sentiment. Very nice!
Next we have a very minimalist version with only one of the flowers stamped. And no added knot. And no dots.
And the last example is one with only three images and yet another sentiment. I love them all!
Next we have my version of the cardinal:
Let's see what other people did:
Here we have an example of what happens when someone reaches into a stamp set from another station and goes to town. The design was turned 90 degrees, and she added a snowflake as an ornament hanging from her branch. Very clever!
This one is included because one of the new people is crazy-good at tying the perfect bow. Just LOOK AT THAT! Also check out how she cut her branch. Soooo creative. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this one. ;-)
Oh, and this guy was included because of his flat-top! I think The Ladies secretly had fun cutting the hair for this guy. :-)
Back to our perfect bow-maker - look at this:
I'm telling you, she's got it! I was humbled.
That's all I have from the Stamp Camp notes. I had today off to recover from being on my feet for 2 days, and I did, well, not much at all. Had the furnace and heat pump serviced this morning, did some laundry, made a batch of buckeyes, spent an hour figuring out how to pay my VA Sales & Use taxes online, and then mostly rested. It's back to the Day Job bright and early tomorrow morning.
I hope to find time to STAMP this week so I have something new to show you.
Thanks for stopping by!
That's what popped into my head when I looked at this sad, forlorn creature, presumably warming herself under the light over the table. NOT! She spent most of the Stamp Camp time roaming from station to station, carefully stepping over open ink pads and generally getting in the way. Monday night she decided to nestle in the coats, instead. She is so neglected.SO, my Stamp Camps went swimmingly, and everyone seemed to have a good time. My favorite part of these sessions, aside from people saying they LOVE one of the projects and cannot believe THEY made them themselves, or introducing new people to the craft (had two of them this month!), I love to see how people take my serving suggestion projects and mix 'em up!
I mean, come on, most of these are CASEd from other people to start with, and my customers are only putting their own spin on my versions of the projects. I tell them they can do anything they want with the materials provided, and I also leave out the rest of the sets that belong to the stamps we use. That not only shows them what else comes in the set (in case they like it), but it gives them options. I love how the creativity just flows.
So tonight I thought I'd show you a few examples of change-ups that were done. First, we have my version of this card:
And here are a few variations:
Different sentiment in a different color. She also did her random dots in more of a pattern of three, based on what I'd noted AFTER I'd done mine the messy way. She even added some dots around the green sentiment. Very nice!
Next we have a very minimalist version with only one of the flowers stamped. And no added knot. And no dots.
And the last example is one with only three images and yet another sentiment. I love them all!Next we have my version of the cardinal:
Let's see what other people did:
Here we have an example of what happens when someone reaches into a stamp set from another station and goes to town. The design was turned 90 degrees, and she added a snowflake as an ornament hanging from her branch. Very clever!
This one is included because one of the new people is crazy-good at tying the perfect bow. Just LOOK AT THAT! Also check out how she cut her branch. Soooo creative. I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this one. ;-)
Oh, and this guy was included because of his flat-top! I think The Ladies secretly had fun cutting the hair for this guy. :-)Back to our perfect bow-maker - look at this:
I'm telling you, she's got it! I was humbled.That's all I have from the Stamp Camp notes. I had today off to recover from being on my feet for 2 days, and I did, well, not much at all. Had the furnace and heat pump serviced this morning, did some laundry, made a batch of buckeyes, spent an hour figuring out how to pay my VA Sales & Use taxes online, and then mostly rested. It's back to the Day Job bright and early tomorrow morning.
I hope to find time to STAMP this week so I have something new to show you.
Thanks for stopping by!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
CASE Complete!
I did it! I found a card to CASE that I can actually DO first time out of the gate!
This uses one of my first must-have sets from the last catalog, and one of my least-used colors: Handsome Hunter. With or without the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, this is an easy card to make! And it has RIBBON! Nuf said.
THIS, however, is my new lot in life. If I want to sit and surf with the laptop, it is apparently an open invitation for Koshka to get into my lap and vegetate. As soon as she ... oh, here she comes again ...
Instead of sleeping in her sun beam, she prefers my lap. She is getting much squishier in her advancing years, and I have learned to type without moving my arms too much so I don't disturb her. If I wiggle too much, or reach for something, she gets annoyed and gets down. Yeah, I know, who owns who?
So my card was CASEd from this one.
Except for my choice of sentiment, it is pretty much exact. I like her dots better, though. I'll need to remember to recommend that to The Ladies tomorrow.
After I took that photo, I decided it looked not quite finished, so I quickly added the knot on the left side of the strip of ribbon to balance out the sentiment:
I like this one a lot better!
Now I need to shower, cut card stock and collate into kits, set up the tables and stations, and CLEAN! I should resurface some time on Tuesday.
Thanks for stopping by!
This uses one of my first must-have sets from the last catalog, and one of my least-used colors: Handsome Hunter. With or without the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, this is an easy card to make! And it has RIBBON! Nuf said.
THIS, however, is my new lot in life. If I want to sit and surf with the laptop, it is apparently an open invitation for Koshka to get into my lap and vegetate. As soon as she ... oh, here she comes again ...
Instead of sleeping in her sun beam, she prefers my lap. She is getting much squishier in her advancing years, and I have learned to type without moving my arms too much so I don't disturb her. If I wiggle too much, or reach for something, she gets annoyed and gets down. Yeah, I know, who owns who?
So my card was CASEd from this one.
Except for my choice of sentiment, it is pretty much exact. I like her dots better, though. I'll need to remember to recommend that to The Ladies tomorrow.
After I took that photo, I decided it looked not quite finished, so I quickly added the knot on the left side of the strip of ribbon to balance out the sentiment:
I like this one a lot better!
Now I need to shower, cut card stock and collate into kits, set up the tables and stations, and CLEAN! I should resurface some time on Tuesday.
Thanks for stopping by!
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