This was taken a few days ago before Santa really got busy with the wrapping.  We're enjoying a nice visit with my father in law.  All of the cookies are baked and we all enjoyed the taste testing yesterday.  We're off to my parents today to begin the festivities with a big ham dinner.  I hope you're enjoying some time with loved ones and all the yummy goodies that go along with it.  Merry Christmas

Thanks for all the well wishes. I'm all recovered and ready for the holidays. All of the packages are wrapped up under the tree and flowing out into the living room. I still need to bake those cookies, but they can wait until tomorrow.

My sister and I saw Riverdance this afternoon. It was one of the best live performances I've ever seen. The energy was palpable. At times I wanted to jump out of my seat and then there were moments that gave me the chills and brought tears to my eyes. It was everything an experience at the theater should be and more. This is the farewell tour of this show. Be sure to grab some tickets if it comes anywhere near to you. I'm still giddy.

I made this card for a dear friend who recently finished treatment. Lots of hope that her future is full of good health and happy days. The butterfly is by Lost Coast Designs.

So, I went to the doctor. She was wonderful and she gave me good care and healing medicine. I hope I'll be able to bake those cookies soon. I hate being so isolated from the world. I'm no good just laying around at home. I need to shop and visit my parents and play with their new puppy. I guess I'll just have to wrap presents for now. and stamp, there's always something to stamp. Thanks for stopping by.

I made this tag with a Lost Coast Designs stamp for SNR Magazine recently. I have to say that company has some amazing stamps. This one is heat embossed on a distress ink background. I used a metal piece by Stampin Up for the body. I'll get back to Tim's tags soon. I'm just halfway through them.

We finally decorated the tree today and I wrote out a few holiday cards last night. We even have a couple of presents wrapped under the tree. I think I'm slowly getting in the swing of the season here. I'm going to the doc tomorrow because 10 days is just too long to be sick. I'm hoping they can give me something to kick this thing out of me because I'd rather be baking cookies than coughing. Seriously. I hope you're having a beautiful start to the holiday season.

Here's my take on Tim's Day 5. This one was a challenge for me because it didn't translate so easily into an ATC. I just went with one larger fragment instead of multiple small ones. The branch is Hero Arts and the image in the fragment is a large Stampin Up background. I'm not thrilled with the way the colors contrast from the fragment to the ATC, but it's probably more realistic to how my actual tree looks. I have a plethora of ornaments in every color and design from a lifetime of collecting them. I really need to get them up on the tree that's set up with lights and no ornaments. Working on getting some holiday cards in the mail today. Thanks for stopping by.

Back to ATCs for day 6. I only had this tiny little car in a collage type stamp by Club Scrap. I love how Tim made his with the old fashioned car, you can see it here. Used some Christmas sheet music for the background and most of the rest is like what he did. I didn't have the sparkly fluff he used on his tree, so I used some old SU fun flock. It's not as pretty, but it works ok. I really liked the tape trick to rough up the vintage paper. I didn't have any masking tape handy so I used scotch tape, but stuck it to my robe first to take some of the sticky off of it. I've been sick, so I'm hanging out in my pjs this week. Stamping is good medicine. Thanks for stopping by.

Here's Day 7 and it's an actual tag this time. I know I skipped days 4, 5, and 6 and I didn't make an ATC this time. That's just where my creativity went today. In case you haven't been around this week, I'm working on Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas tutorials. I loved making this one. I don't have a white paint dauber, so I used silver for this and I like the silver and gold together. It was like magic when I got to the part where I wiped away the ink from the paint. Seriously, even the black ink wiped off. So cool. I suppose you could get the same look by stamping with paint at the end, but the magic part was worth it. This santa image is by Paper Inspirations. I love how vintage he feels. I have no idea about the purple, I just had to do it. I fell in love with purple on the first day's ATC and had to go there again. Who knew purple worked for Christmas. It just does.

We have another snow day today. There was absolutely no shoveling done yesterday. I forgot about Kyle's cast. Guess I haven't mentioned it here, but he broke his hand in the midst of the whole surgery thing with my mom. Anyways he has a cast on the last two fingers of his right hand up to the elbow. The only good part about the whole deal for him is he can't shovel snow, can't get it wet and can't manuever a shovel and follow the docs orders at the same time. I'm fighting off a bug of some kind, so I really don't feel up to shoveling either. We're snowed in for now. Not such a bad thing. I may hire Kyle's friends to shovel for me later after they get their own place dug out. I guess we'll just have to make more hot chocolate and watch another movie. Enjoy the view below. That's what we see off our back deck. Not too shabby.

Day 3 was so much fun to make. I've done the plaid thing before, but adding in some of the new colors made it more intresting. I forgot to put in the black stripe, but there's so much black stamping that I think it looks good without it. I added in a vintage black snap up in the corner. I pick them up in my treasure hunting excursions for a song and they make a great embellishment. Not enough twine here to wrap up the little set of these that I made, so I subbed in a bit of gold. I think it looks festive, so it works for me.

We had a grand time at Knott's and the snow is coming in like crazy now. We made it home just in time last night. It's a snow day, no school. Kyle's happy about it and I'm just going to let him enjoy his morning before I remind him about the snow shovel and the work that comes along with a snow day. For now, I'm off to make us some hot chocolate. Thanks for stopping by today.

This is day 2 of the 12 tags of Christmas. I'm having so much inky fun with these little ATCs. I didn't have any of those cool metal flowers, so I used a Making Memories flower and sprayed it with walnut gold Glimmer Mist. It's my favorite color. This one came together more quickly than the first tag and I love the colors. I definitely wouldn't have used black for the swirls and sentiment if left to my own choice, but I'm trying to follow along as closely as possible. I love the touch of black here and I'm so glad I used it instead of the brown that made more sense to me. I remember my mom telling me in decorating any room you should always include a touch of black because it grounds everything. Of course Mom is right and it works in creating art, too. Thanks Mom.

We're running away to Knott's Merry Farm today. It's become one of our favorite holiday traditions. We ride roller coasters, listen to carolers and other live holiday music, watch Snoopy on Ice, and eat at Mrs. Knotts for her famous fried chicken dinner. I can hardly wait. It was supposed to start snowing here tomorrow, but I see a bit of white on the ground now. That makes it truly a run away escape day. I'm not a fan of the snow even after living here for 18 years.

Here's my take on Tim's first day of the 12 tags of Christmas. I love that he shares these classes each year. I started out making them as ATCs last year, so I decided to roll with it again this year. Working on a smaller canvas of an ATC means I have to scale it all down. I don't use everything he does, but I do try to follow the background technique. This one was so much fun. I really love the rock candy crackle paint. I improvised on my bird which was a snowman on his design. I painted some grungepaper with gesso, then stamped the design over it with black soot distress ink. When I tried to smear on some rock candy stickles it smeared the distress ink. So, just a little tip for you, the embossing is a necessary step. I ended up clear embossing over the whole image and skipped the stickles.

I've been slammed with life stuff, so not much art time. Trying to play catch up today. Hope you're finding some creative time amongst the hustle and bustle of the season.

Mom is home and doing great after her surgery. Thank you so much for all the well wishes and kind comments. I had a little stamping time today now that I'm back home. You can see the cards I made here and my adventures in coloring with Copics here.

These next cards are all made with Darkroom Door stamps. Oh, how I love this company. Such gorgeous images and the owner is an amazing photographer. Stop by Rachel's blog here to see all of her beautiful artwork and stamps that she makes down under. I have a long wish list for her stamps. These butterflies that I worked with stamp so beautifully. I can't stop using them and they arrived on cling mount for easy storage.







I hope you had a lovely beginning to the holiday season yesterday. Thanks for stopping by today.

thankful

Mom is amazing. She came through surgery like a champ and even walked a lap around the floor today. By tomorrow afternoon all the tubes should be out. It's very likely that she'll go home on Thanksgiving. Thank you for all the beautiful wishes and sentiments and prayers. It's truly a beautiful day.

mom

Here's my beautiful mom. She's beautiful from the inside out. This picture is from a quilt show we attended in January. Quilts are something we both love and we had so much fun oohing and aahing over them. Mom's partial to the very traditional hand quilted designs and I love the wild artsy quilts. It was fun to share what we loved about all the different types of quilts. I'm feeling very sentimental today. Tomorrow morning at 7:45 Mom goes in for major surgery. It's her best shot at getting rid of this disease that she's had growing for 2 years. We're all feeling very hopeful that after her long recovery period she'll feel better and not have to take all the toxic medication she's been on for the last two years. She'd like to have more energy, more hair, more health, more quality of life. We all want that for her. Please send out some good karma, vibes, prayers, or hopes that her surgeons have a good day tomorrow, and can give her better health. Any positive energy you can send her way will be so appreciated. I'm working on breathing in and out until we get to the other side of this journey. Thanks for stopping by today.

I made these cutie little paper fruit pieces using punches and Basic Grey Papers. I love the designs and weight of Basic Grey. The pear is made with a large scallop heart punch by Fiskars and the pumpkin is made with a large oval scallop punch by EK Success. Each punched shape is edged with distress ink, folded in half, and then glued to the next one. I got the idea for these from this blog tutorial and amended it to suit my needs and supplies. These were a part of an event we had over at SNR using Basic Grey products. They sit on the lazy susan where I keep fruit in the kitchen.

I've been lucky lately on the work front and have worked the last 4 school days subbing at the high school. High school is a whole different ballgame than middle school where I normally work. I survived, but I'm looking forward to hanging here, going to yoga, and getting some things done around the house. I'm hosting our early Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday and I have a small craft show at my friend's house on Sunday afternoon. It'll be an action packed few days. Guess I'd better hop in the shower and get moving. Yoga starts at 11:00. Thanks for stopping by.

more snow babies

These are the two little snow babies that are joining my collection. The guy on the left is made from a parmesan cheese shaker and the one on the right is an old pint milk bottle. I just can't begin to tell you how fun it is to make these. Each one took on a little personality as I worked with them. We used all sorts of goodies to create them including bits and baubles from old jewelry, old cookie cutters, jingle bells, wire, ribbons, safety pins, brads, bottle stopper and lots of glittery goodness. I think my cousin and I have started a tradition we'll long to continue. It's so much fun to get together and make things like we did when we were teenagers before college and husbands and kids and jobs took priority. That's one of the blessings of having teenagers and working part time. We can play again once in a while.



Here's last year's snow babies that were in the Cloth Paper Scissors Newsletter. That was so fun. I can hardly wait to unpack the holiday decorations. For now the two newbies are hanging out in the craft room with me. I haven't figured out their names yet.

snow babies

Here's a peek at the newest crop of bottle snow babies. My cousin came for a visit a couple of weeks ago and we made 34 of these guys. We didn't get to the glitter part while she was here, and I just got to that last week. These guys are all boxed up to take to a craft fair in a couple of weeks. It's been years since I did a craft fair, but I'm drowning in crafty goodness that really needs to find new homes. My friend who makes amazing candles is hosting a quick afternoon holiday open house in a couple of weeks. It's the perfect venue to hop back into the fray and it's before mom's surgery. Perfect. Here's the link to last year's edition in case you missed them.

I'm running off this afternoon to an event called Wrap Up Christmas with some of my stamping friends at the scrapbook shop down the hill. It's a wonderful event with lots of inspiration, make and takes, and yummy food. Can't wait. I hope you're having a beautiful Sunday. Thanks for stopping by.

Holiday Inspiration

If you need a little inspiration to jump start your holiday projects, stop by Scrapbook News and Review for our holiday sampler. New classes posted each hour for the next 7 hours along with lots of inspiration, games, and prizes. I'm teaching two classes today.


This is a little peek at my 2:00 class sponsored by Graphic 45 that might help you contain a popular gift.


Here's a peek at my 3:00 class sponsored by Stewart Superior Ink. It would make a wonderful hostess gift over the holidays.

I have to say that I adored working with both of these sponsor's products. I fell in love with Graphic 45 papers at CHA in January. Their double sided papers and punch outs are amazing. I love the vintage feel of these and they go so well with all my vintage embellishments that I treasure hunt for and hoard. The Stewart Superior ink is new to me, but it was love at first stamp. So much shimmery goodness in the colors I played with. These are the folks who make Palette inkpads. Good stuff. I hope you'll have time to stop by to play.

joyful

Supplies: Cardstock: Stampin Up; Stamp: A Stamp in the Hand, Stampin Up; Ink: Tsukineko; Alcohol Ink: Ranger; Leafing Pen: Krylon; Glitter Glue: Ranger; Other: Button, Ribbon.

Here's a little joyful pear ATC to share with you this morning. I used just a part of a larger stamp for this one. The original stamp is huge and has three pears on it. I masked the stamp and used cactus green stazon ink to ink up just the last pear in the trio. I wasn't sure if the green would cover since it was a lighter color, but it worked beautifully. Getting the sentiment in that little tag was tricky, but I just eyeballed it. I know a stamp positioner is easier, but I'm too lazy to mess with it. I'm not sure what alcohol ink colors are in the background. This is one of my clean up bases. What I mean by that is when I'm doing alcohol ink techniques that I use the craft mat for, I clean it up with an ATC base. I keep some glossy cardstock cut to ATC size and when my craft mat needs to be wiped off, I add a little blending solution and wipe it up with a base. I do the same thing with regular cardstock and distress inks. Sometimes I use a tag as my clean up base with distress inks. Just spritz with a little water and wipe it up. I do the twirl and lift thing. Lay down the cardstock, then twist it around in the ink and lift. Repeat until the craft mat is clean. These are some of my favorite backgrounds and I try to always include this in my classes. It seems like the best stuff comes out of my just roll with it and see what happens play sessions. I hope you'll find some time to play in the ink this week.

On a personal note, Mom's having surgery on the 23rd. It's been a very long two years of illness for her, and this is her chance at getting rid of most or all of it. We're feeling very hopeful that this will give her the quality of life she deserves. Thanks for stopping by today.

fashion

Supplies: Cardstock: Stampin Up; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Flowers: Prima; Crystals: Prima; Stamp: Paper Bag Studios; Ink: Ranger.


Supplies: Carstock: Stampin Up; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Ribbon Flower: Offray; Ticket: Advantus; Stamp: Peddlers Pack; Ink: Tsukineko; Embossing Powder: Stampin Up; Gel Pen: Inkssentials; Tools: Paper Piercer, Heat Gun; Other: Tulle, Lace.

These were in a fashion article of the Aug/Sept issue of SNR. I really love how these cards tie into sewing and girly things. There's just something about shoes and gloves that remind me of childhood. Maybe it was those fancy little Easter outfits with matching hats and gloves and new shoes. I know it's almost Christmas, but we had new outfits and shoes for that, too. My mom and my aunt sewed all of our little dresses and we all matched. So much fun.

It seems like there's lots happening around here these days. If you just stopped in for the cards, skip this part, if not then here's the quick rundown.
-My hubby is back home now after spending a week with his family and attending the public memorial service for his mom. By all accounts it was a beautiful celebration of her life.
-My father in law is about to embark on his grand adventure in this new chapter in his life. He'll be here for Christmas after traveling around the country in his new home on wheels.
-My son found his bliss last week as he helped build, paint, and decorate the haunted house put on by the Arts Foundation. Of course the best part was that he got to work in it for 4 nights as the Predator and scare the heck out of all who entered. I can personally attest to how incredibly scary the house was, I was hoarse from screaming after walking through it. The scary clowns sent me over the edge.
-I won a huge pumpkin at the little coffee shop by my parents house when I correctly guessed the weight of 81 pounds. You should have heard that phone call to hubby asking him to pick it up on the way home.
-I taught wood shop last week for 2 days, which was my first full days of teaching this year. It's good to get back in the swing.
-I'm busy working away like an elf for the holiday sampler event at the magazine on Saturday. So many pretty holiday goodies that will be available for all to see. Be sure to stop in on Saturday afternoon and evening to see it all.
-Oh, and I almost forgot about the snow people. My cousin was here for a couple of days for a creative extravaganza. We made 34 new bottle snow people, dozens of stamped dominos, and several button charm bracelets. I'll take some photos to share with you as soon as I'm done with all this elf labor. Here's the link to the snow people we made last year.
-Here's the plan for this week. Hubby's home today and we're installing a new vanity/sink in the bathroom. Taking the kiddo to the dentist on Wednesday to see if the pain in the back of his mouth is wisdom teeth. Going to see the surgeon tomorrow with my mom to find out what they are going to do for her. Teaching a fun distress class on Saturday in Escondido. Oh, and yoga, there's definitely yoga in there. I think I need it! I hope you're having a great week. Thanks for stopping by today.

blog hop with candy

Wonderful Friend Supplies-Cardstock: Stampin Up; Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye; Flower: Making Memories; Gems: Mrs. Grossman's, K & Co; Stamps: Our Craft Lounge; Ink: Ranger; Mask: Advantus; Edge Distresser: Tonic; Other: Linen Thread.
I really enjoyed using OCL cling mount rubber stamps to make this card. First I put a mask down over patterned paper and applied broken china distress ink with a blending tool. I removed the mask and stamped the flowers with the same broken china ink. I love layering inks this way for a subtle look. I stamped the sentiment, the same flowers on the paper flower, and added color to the distressed edges with tea dye distress ink. The flower is folded in half over a loop of linen thread. I like to add a hint of bling to brighten up a distressed card. These gems do the trick.

Welcome to the Scrapbook News and Review/Our Craft Lounge Spotlight Blog Hop. It's a hop to the blogs of SNR staff members who produced art for the Our Craft Lounge article that first appeared in the giant Aug/Sept double issue. Today's your chance to take a peek inside this great digital magazine. Each blog on the hop will give you a look at projects from inside the magazine.

Our Craft Lounge Stamps and Scrapbook News and Review is offering prizes for two very lucky winners. One winner will receive 2 sets of OCL stamps and a 3 month subscription to SNR magazine. The grand prize winner will receive 3 OCL stamp sets and a 6 month subscription to the magazine. Visit the blog of every staff member on the hop, take note of the titles of their featured projects, then drop a note to games@scrapbooknewsandreview.com with the list. Be sure to include your full name, the names of all featured projects, and your email address. Winner will be chosen at random. All entries must be received by 10 pm EST Oct 25, 2009.

Next stop on the hop is Erika's blog . If you're joining us in the middle of the hop, you can find the first blog post at the Scrapbook News and Review Blog. The blog hop will conclude on the Scrapbook News and Review main page where you'll have the chance to read the entire Our Crafts lounge article, and enjoy all of the art and ideas included. Thanks for stopping by today.

Chicken and Dumplings

This is not your grandma's chicken and dumplings, but it's pretty darned good. I can't tell you how many pots of this I made for my mom when she was sick. It seemed to make her happy, so it made me happy. When I found out that my neighbors have H1N1 that has turned to pneumonia, I decided it was time to cook some of this elixir. If you have friends, family, or neighbors with the flu, drop some by. We need to help each other through this flu season. We're going to get our flu shots tomorrow night when I pick hubby up from the airport. He's been visiting his dad this week.

Chicken and Dumplings

Get out a great big soup pot and put a whole chicken in it, without the giblets. If you have chicken parts, that works too. Fill up the pot with water. Add in 1 garlic clove, 1/2 tsp. Emeril's Essence Seasoning, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. or 1 cube chicken bullion, 1/2 tsp. dried minced onion, and bring to a boil. Simmer on the stove for 2 hours. Your house will smell yummy. Take the chicken out of the pot and let it cool enough to handle it. Take all the meat off the bones and put the meat back in the pot. Throw away the skin and bones and garlic if you can find it. Bring back to a boil and here's the tricky part. Cut up a package of flour tortillas into squares about 2" x 2". Put them in the boiling pot, and they will puff up and make yummy dumplings. Whisk together 1/4 c. flour with water and whisk it into the pot. Taste it and add more salt if needed.

My great grandma made amazing chicken and dumplings which involved first catching a chicken from the yard and wringing it's neck. I was pretty horrified by the whole process, but she knew how to make good chicken and dumplings. This version is much easier.

I lost my mojo a few weeks ago. I missed it so much. I need to get ink on my hands. It's good for my soul. I found it, and my spirit is singing. Guess where it was? It was hiding amongst a group of incredibly talented and creative women. To my great surprise I had a nearly full class last night and I agonized about whether or not I could inspire them. They paid good money to learn and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to deliver. Their light and creativity surrounded me and I taught and laughed and learned. Ahh, it's so good to have ink stained fingers. Thank you ladies for all of your creative energy.

I made this tag using my old neglected Tombow Markers. I forgot about those fun little guys. The stamp I used is an oldie, too. It was one of the first used stamps I ever bought and it's made by Rubber Stampede. Here's how I made the tag. First I stamped the apples using a dark red and dark green marker directly on the stamp. Then I colored in the image using lighter colors and a bit of the blending marker. I put the whole thing in embossing folders and embossed it right over the image and words. A bit of distress ink over the embossing makes it pop. That's a piece of vintage measuring tape up there at the top. Stop by 2peas for their free stamp camp classes. Every monday they're posting a new class, and this week is Stamping with Markers by Nichol Magouirk. Thank you for the inspiration, Nichol.

I really want to thank all of you for your support through these last few weeks. It was a rough road, but we all have to travel the difficult roads so we can enjoy the happier times. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

I've been on staff with SNR now for almost a year, but it's been really hard to share it with you since it's by subscription only. Great news, we have a brand new site that's absolutely gorgeous and we're holding an open house this weekend. Stop by between Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EST until 8:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, you'll have complete access Double-header, double issue FREE weekend at Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. Come get a gander at the site, chat on the forum, join in a challenge, play a game or two and the best part of all, see the inside of the magazine for FREE. Don't delay -- register on our site today. You must be a registered user to play.

back home

There really is no place like home to rest, heal, and recharge. I'm glad I could make the trip out to help my inlaws. My mother in law passed on Friday and we had a small gathering at the house on Sunday before I came home Monday night. I don't have any grand insight or wisdom to share yet. I'm still processing it all. I've never been that close to death before it happened. It's not a pretty or peaceful sight. It's messy and intense, sort of like birth. In fact I'd say it's very similar to birth. When it's over everyone breathes a sigh of relief. I don't mean any disrespect by that, I just mean she went through so much we were thankful that her struggle was over and she could move on to the next journey. Thank you all for the kind words and thoughts and prayers. Shared sorrow is a lighter load to bear.

I'm running off to spend some time with my mom to hang out, do girl things, and have lunch. Happier posts and art coming soon. Thanks for stopping by today.

"You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give." -Eleanor Roosevelt

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt

I've taken great comfort in Eleanor's quotes over the years. No matter what life hands me, it seems she has an appropriate quote to guide me. As I reflect on the life of one of the strongest women I've ever met, I'm comforted by these quotes. We received the very sad news this week that my mother in law is losing her battle with lung cancer. She is resilient and opinionated and we hoped just tough enough to win this fight. The cancer fought dirty, didn't follow the rules, and hit areas we weren't expecting. In the midst of her valiant fight she did an amazing thing. She pulled the family back together. She showed my family love and peace. There's no greater gift.

I'll be away for a couple of weeks staying with them to help out. Thank you for stopping by.

These are some projects I made for SNR early in the summer for a kit club review of Mosh Posh. This kit reminded me of Grandma's kitchen, so I had to make a recipe book with it. Love the cherries and bright colors in this.

I know today is a somber day of remembrance, but it's also a day to celebrate our resilience. We are still flying the flag and living our lives free from fear eight years after that devastating day. Thank you to each and every person working to protect our freedom.

all things distress

This is a sample for a new class I'm teaching at Stampfully Yours in Escondido in November. I had so much fun getting inky with this tag book. I can't wait to see how the students change it up and make their own versions of this one. I'm planning to write my favorite quotes in here. Eleanor Roosevelt is sure to have top billing. It would make a fun little art journal or mini scrapbook, too. I'd love to hear how you'd use it.

Other news highlights around here this week:
*High School is still going well, even with homework.
*Hubby is flying out to visit with his family this weekend.
*I noticed on our walk today that the leaves and acorns are falling.
*We're up to our eyeballs in seafood. I'm officially a fishing widow or fish wife or something like that.
*Labor Day weekend around here means garage sale mania and a very happy fish wife.
*The stamping girls came over Monday and we stamped ourselves silly. I love stamping days.
*Tomorrow is yoga day, ahhhh

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a beautiful holiday weekend.

eye candy

Here are a few things I made for a sponsored event at the magazine earlier this summer. The stamps are from Magenta, one of my favorite companies. Thanks for stopping by. Happy September.

first week of high school

I've been afraid to say anything to jinx this magical beginning of high school, but I can't wait any longer to tell you. Kyle loves high school so far. Every single day this week he got up by himself, got ready, including brushing his teeth without me reminding him, and walked to school on time. I must admit that I was on pins and needles all day the first day until he got home. He came in smiling and talking. The first words out of his mouth were about his great math teacher and how cool he is and how he teaches math the way I understand. Music to my ears. I've been hoping for this day for a long time. Math's been a struggle and a drudgery for him for so long. He likes most of his teachers and has a nice schedule of classes. The funniest part of the week was about lunch. He has lunch with his best friend and they were sitting over away from most of the crowd to talk about a video game. He said there was a boy and girl there who were intertwined in ways it was embarrassing to talk about to me. His friend's comment was "oh good, lunch and a show". Just cracked me up. I guess they're getting a fast education in many ways. So, we have a reading list for english and are going to the bookstore this weekend to pick up The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Curtis and I are going to read them, too, since we can't really remember if we read them or not. Should make for interesting dinner conversation. Oh, and I only cried once this week when we chopped the onions for salsa.

salsa

Instead of shopping on the first day of school I went to Mom's and we canned salsa. She's growing amazing tomatoes this year and is nearly buried in them. My great aunt Lois was the original salsa maker in the family, only she pronounced it sel-sa. There's something magical about canning. I love all the chopping and measuring and stirring and laughing. It's always hot when we can things, but that's because you have to do it when the produce is ripe. Fortunately, Mom has air conditioning, so that makes it easier. Then there's the sterilizing, dipping into jars, sealing, and steaming. And at the end of the morning, we admire the beautiful filled jars. I took this photo of Mom after we finished canning just the first batch. The second batch was processing in the steamers. We change up our recipe a bit each time and write it down to help us with the next one. Here's how we made it this year:

Shyron & Tami's 2009 Salsa

14 C. chopped tomatoes
4 chopped onions
3 C. chopped roasted red peppers
1 1/2 C. diced ortega chiles
4 T. cider vinegar
2 1/2 T. sugar
4 t. salt
2 t. chopped garlic
2 chopped large yellow banana peppers
1 large and 1 medium chopped jalapeno peppers
1 t. black pepper
1 t. ground dried jalapeno pepper

We use the food processor for all the chopping. It's ok to use canned chiles, peppers, or tomatoes if needed. Cook in a huge soup pot on the stove and boil for 10 minutes. Put into jars and process in hot water bath for 25 minutes. Makes 12-13 pints of salsa.

a little bird

Just a fun little card for you. I fell in love with this little bird stamp by Invoke Arts at a stamp convention and it followed me home. You know how that happens, I'm sure. Things just yell out my name and want to jump in my bag when I go to those conventions. The background is alcohol inks and I masked the image to stamp some other things around it. I colored in some detail with spica glitter pens and used a little rub on paste around the edges.

So, in other news, we had our last hurrah of summer yesterday at Disneyland. We closed the park at midnight and rolled in about 1:30 this morning. Oh my, I can't do late night like I used to. I had to sing loudly and tap my hands on the steering wheel to the beat just to stay focused. I'm still hanging out in my pj's. Kyle starts high school tomorrow. Not sure I'm ready, but I know he is and that's what matters. I can't believe my baby towers over me at well over 6' now. It seems like I was holding him in my arms just yesterday. I plan on hugging on him today when nobody is looking. I'll save those tears that are sure to roll until after he leaves tomorrow morning, then I'm going shopping.

a challenge

I'm hosting a little challenge over at SNR Card Universe based on my embossed pearls tutorial. This is another card I made using the technique. On this one, I didn't paint over the embossed design with perfect pearls. Instead I used a bit of rub on paste over the bird and left the grass as it was. I hope you'll try this technique. If you want to be entered in the challenge drawing, please head over to Card Universe to get all the details.

I'm off to work freshman registration at the high school this morning. Should be an interesting day. Thanks for stopping by today.

ahh, this is my life

Thanks for all the great comments on the lucy post. I'll fill you in on the trip, but first a little background. I've never been much of a camping girl. My dad is a retired fireman and spent his whole working life camping out at a fire line somewhere. So, we never had a camping vacation as a family. I went to girl scout camp and I camp when I white water raft, but that's about it. Both of those include somebody else cooking for me and are a rather cushy camping experience. I've been camping two other times with my dear husband, once before we were married and once when I was pregnant. Neither time went well. Our relationship and then later our marriage survived, but it was a tough call there while I was sleeping in a tent. I was really nervous about our RV adventure.

It was a bit of a rough start. No trees at the campground which means no shade. I need my shade. The brakes on the car don't stop when towing like they do when nothing is attached to the car. I nearly wore out my foot putting on the air brakes on the drive up. The teenager drank two Dr. Peppers and slept all the way up to the campsite. So, when we wanted to sleep he rolled around rocking the whole trailer. As I shivered in the middle of the night, hubby rolled over and I asked him to turn on the heater. "It doesn't work like that, I have to light a pilot light or something. I'll figure it out tomorrow." I'm cold now. In the morning I saw the thermostat right there next to the bed, pushed the lever and voila heat! Ok, so day 2 had to go better.

And it did. We had a lovely trip. Lots of family bonding time, meteor showers, campfires, smores, fresh trout cooked over the fire, hiking, rummy, laughter, relaxation, reflection, reading, knitting for me and fishing for the guys. I love that the guys fished right there next to the campsite, so I didn't have to join in, but could watch. Oh, and cows. We were in a grazing area and there were cows everywhere. It was pretty comical. They don't just moo, they make all sorts of crazy noises. So, mostly I didn't have the is this really my life moments on the trip. I surprised myself. I had the ahhh, this is my life moments. Love that.

just call me Lucy

There are moments in my life when I have to laugh and wonder if this is really my life. Last night I was presented with one of those moments. My adorable husband has dreamt of owning some sort of RV for many years. My son and I laugh about the movie RV and just go on. Well, after all this time he was presented with an opportunity to make his dream a reality. Since we aren't earning any interest to talk about on our cash reserves, we used some of it for his dream trailer. Let's just call it our part of helping stimulate the economy.

So, it's been sitting in the driveway or garage for just over a week now. I knew the clock was ticking. It was like a little time bomb out there counting down my carefree days of sleeping in a normal bed and taking a hot shower in the privacy of my own bathroom. I started in the afternoon making trips out to the camper to load it up with essentials like kleenex, tinfoil, playing cards, paper plates, sheets, towels, etc. I must have made 50 trips out to the driveway. Adorable hubby comes home and starts flitting around like a mad man adding to the camper. I have no idea what he's putting in there, but it seemed like everything in the house to me.

Just before dark he starts hooking it up to his car. That goes ok, but the car is now half way out in the road. I said you can't leave it like that all night. He argues with me and then the next thing I know he's moving it just as I'm about to step into the trailer to put something else in it. I jump out of the way. He pulls out and then backs in and out and in and out for about 5 times until he gets it just right running along in front of the driveway in the wrong direction. He's working this morning and we leave early this afternoon. Kyle informed me last night that they packed an extra fishing pole for me. I'm going to yoga to find my peaceful zen place before we embark on this adventure. I can only imagine how many is this really my life moments I'll experience this weekend. I hope we don't end up like Lucy and Ricky.

yoga

I took a yoga class today. It was like coming home. I forgot how wonderful I feel when I practice yoga. Why the heck did I wait so long? I had to take a journey back a few years to find the answer. Back when I was a crazy full time working driving up and down the mountain every day person I started taking yoga. I was a mess from all the work stress that we don't need to go into here. Yoga was my oasis. It was the one thing I did for me and I felt so good there. In fact it helped me change my life. I finally stepped off the merry go round and quit working full time and all the commuting. For some crazy reason I stopped doing yoga. I was thinking that the stress was over, I needed to save money, and I didn't need it anymore. I went to Curves then for quite a few years for my exercise. It was fine and I stayed fit, but honestly I got bored with it. I've been pretty much without exercise other than walking the dogs for a few months now. I'm feeling lazy, feeling heavy, feeling tired. So, I really sat down with myself and asked what feels like play to me. Three things came to mind- yoga, swimming, cycling. I looked into where there were yoga classes near me. I decided to start in the one at the library for free. What a lovely experience. It was before the library opened and the yogi was so warm and welcoming. She calls it restorative yoga. Just what I needed. I'm so glad I got back to this good place. I can't wait for the next class. Namaste.

bike with passion

Toys is the theme this week for the gothic arch challenge. The two things that came to my mind first were my bike and board games. So, here they are together. Nearly everything I used in this arch has a history and a story. The base is a vintage bingo board and the scrabble tiles are vintage, too. I picked them both up in games in my treasure hunting. I'm lucky that there are many old vacation cabins here where I live that periodically get sold and cleared out. I'm always amazed at the great games I can find to scavenge parts from. The heavy piece of wire is from a huge bag of wire and beads I bought at the LSS yard sale yesterday. The little word charm was a part of a bracelet that I tore apart after I picked it up at the thrift shop. The stamp is by Club Scrap, and I bought it from somebody at 2peas for sale board. There's a tiny little watch part up at the top from my jar of metal things. I used a bit of distress ink and some masks to dress up the background. Using things I've scavenged and treasure hunted in my creations makes me happy. I hope you're having a creative day. Thanks for stopping by.

ATC Attack

Sharing a few of my ATC's that have been in SNR recently. I'm excited to tell you that I'm now heading up the ATC section of the magazine. That means I'm looking for ATC's from readers to include in upcoming issues. Here's the call for the next three issues with all the particulars. I'm looking for some specific colors: black and white; orange; and heavy metal. I'm also looking for these themes: Things that go bump in the night; Falling Leaves; and A Jolly Old Elf. I'd love to include some blogging friends in the articles. You'll receive two free months of the magazine for each published ATC. You even get to keep the ATC. I just need a great photo of it. Please share this call with your creative friends, too. They can be painted, stamped, digital, or any other medium you like to work in. Thanks for stopping by today.

sideshow stamps

Palm Domino Pin Supplies Stamp: Sideshow Stamps: Ink: Ranger, Tsukineko; Embossing Powder: Stampin’ Up; Other: Domino, pinback

Tropical ATC Supplies Cardstock: Stampin’ Up; Stamp: Sideshow Stamps; Ink: Tsukineko, Ranger; Other: Linen thread, bark paper, pop dots


Gift Card Holder Supplies Bag, Tag: Hot off the Press; Ribbon: American Crafts; Ric Rac: Wrights; Stamp: Sideshow Stamps; Ink: Tsukineko, Ranger


I made these for the a review of Sideshow Stamps for SNR. I have to tell you I love this company. The stamps are beautifully pressed and cut. The designs are unique and so much fun. I love their tropical stamps that I used here and those owls are the only owls living in my house besides a very old realistic psx owl. I have this odd aversion to anything extremely trendy. As soon as everyone wants it, I'm no longer interested. These little owls are different than the "everyone is making them trendy owls", at least to me they are.

I'm going to make a much bigger effort about sharing the items I'm making for the magazine. We have a no show for 30 days policy and I guess after that I just get lazy. It seems that the majority of my creative efforts are going toward the magazine, the videos, and teaching classes. If I don't start sharing these, things will get pretty dull around here. Thanks for stopping by.

rappers delight babies

I don't think I've ever put somebody else's video on my blog, but dang, this is hilarious and adorable. Side note: My hunky hubby knows every word to this song, which always cracks me up. This one's for you, honey.

faux art glass embellishment tutorial

Here's a new one for you. Some of my videos are basic techniques that have been around for a while. As far as I know, this one is all my own. I took a stroll through the cake decorating section and was inspired by the tiny cookie cutters. I had to laugh at myself working with this hot stuff right in the middle of summer. I'd love to know if you try this one and how you use the embellishment.

home again

This is a traveling summer for us. We took a wonderful trip down to Cabo San Lucas. Cool water, beautiful snorkeling, gorgeous hotel, amazing food, fun family time. My sweet hubby beat me to the punch posting photos on his blog, so here's the link if you want to peek at some of the photos.

fair fun

The giant slide. Oh, I do love the giant slide.

These little piglets are only 6 days old. Awwwww.

The grandfinale. Deep fried cheesecake.

We had an amazing day at the fair. Neither boy threw up, though they admit they came close. Lots of rides, lots of good food, and lots of fun.