A lovely day of shopping

I am so very happy I met Julie and Heather for a fun shopping day today. We started out at Stampington's parking lot sale. It wasn't as fabulous as we hoped, but it was good. Here's my loot.

Then Julie whisked us away for a tour of the area. Our first stop was my favorite because I got to see all the wonderful luggage art in real life. It's truly amazing in person-so much depth in every piece. She took us to Michael's and I have to tell you it was like a dream. All this stuff was on clearance and then 90% off of the clearance price. It was nearly free. I spent more on the toll roads today than I did there. This is only part of what I bought, because I already dropped off mom's loot at her house. Here is the loot I got for $6.18.


And we had a yummy lunch and a stop at the Tall Mouse. Thanks for an amazing day, Julie. The guys came home from their camping trip early and were here when I got home. They think the fish count was around 47 trout. They only kept what they could eat, the rest were released.. Holy cow....they said it was the best camping trip ever. I'm glad they are home and so glad I had the best shopping day ever, too! Great to catch up with you Heather and Julie :)

Friday Giggles

when the boys are away...

My guys left for an end of the summer camping & fishing trip this morning. So, what's a girl to do all alone for 3 days. Well, today I picked up my mom and we got pedicures and went out to lunch at a yummy place called The Eating Room--pulled pork sandwiches, sweet potato fries and iced tea. It's such a cute place all decorated with chickens everywhere and the best food. Then we shopped until we dropped. We found some wonderful vintage sewing and crafting goodies at our favorite thrift shop. I spent a whopping $10.83 and got a new speedball brayer, an old PIT game with fantastic 50's cards, 6 kimono shaped chipboard coasters, some wonderful buttons, sequin pins, copper acrylic paint, gold metallic elastic cord, tiny googlie eyes, 20 yards of 1/8" black ribbon, 50 yards of blue grosgrain ribbon, 2 books of old sheet music, a package of silver snowflake sequins, and a pack of 8 green cards with envies. Also in with all of this I got a cool pair of Quicksilver shorts for the kiddo. It was a great girly day.

I think tomorrow will be a creative day and then on Saturday is another shopping adventure at Stampington's parking lot sale. Maybe I'll hit a yard sale or two on the way. No pics until the guys get back since they have the camera. I hope you are having a creative day.

Spumoni

While making these cards for Barb's bingo color challenge, I kept thinking of spumoni ice cream. Since Rite Aid doesn't have spumoni, I had to settle for mint chip, which was yummy. Both of these cards are made with new stamps I bought from Ethel. I adore them.



This first one is by the Queen's Dresser Drawers -such a cute name. I applied distress ink in peeled paint & worn lipstick to glossy white CS. Then I stamped the image with brown staz-on. I layered it and added some doodads. Can you guess what the pink ribbon and metal thing are from?




This card's image really didn't turn out right, but I love how it looks old and water damaged, so I used it. I used the same distress inks on photo paper and then stamped the image with walnut stain distress ink. I think the ink & photo paper is why it didn't come out. The pp is Basic Grey, and some doodads from my stash. Thanks for a grand color challenge, Barb.

I should buy a lottery ticket

I'm having one of those days where it all goes right. I think it's because I cleaned up my pit of a craft room yesterday...got a little good mojo going. I woke up this morning and created some pretty cards that I'll post later.

I was nominated 3 times for a the rockin'girl blogger thing and once for the nice matters award. Thanks Lesa, Heather, Donna, and Kim. I think you are all rockin nice bloggers.

I went to see my amazing chiropractor today. I would marry him if I wasn't already married to mr. wonderful. After all the activity on vacation and then the moving of furniture for new carpet and then the sewing of curtains and re-upholstering chairs...I really needed it. My back sounded like a bowl of rice crispies on steroids.

At the post office I finally got my Stamper's Sampler mags. I subscribed back in February, but never got one. After a phone call to some very nice folks there, they sent me a pile of back issues. I also got the last set of images for a swap I'm hosting, so I can swap that out tonight.

At the library I found the sequel to the best book I've read lately. You just have to read Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama. It's a beautifully written book about women who worked in the silk factories in China in the 1930's.

I won 3 sets of blog candy in the last couple of days. One set is for a friend. The other two are coming my way. Wow! Thank you Deborah, Penny, and Glitterangel. So, I nominate all three of you generous ladies for both the nice matters award and the rockin' girl blogger award. Holy smokes does it get any better? Oh, and it just rained a little. We are having such a dry year, that any little bit helps.

More Distress Fun

Here is another one I made with the distress ink and cut & dry foam. Portions of it are colored with prisma pencils. Images are by Rubber Stampede. I'm having a hard time embellishing cards this week. I think it's because there is so much going on with the ink.

Yes, Lesa, I do get a ton of ink on my fingers with the cut & dry foam. I think that's why it would be wise to get an extra handle tool and take off the hook & loop tape and just use double sided tape to hold the cut & dry foam on. That's how we did it in class, and it was so much less messy. On my list this week is to stop by one of those big office stores that make custom stamps. I just imagine in my mind that I can buy some of the handle things there pretty inexpensively.

Ranger Inkpad Labels

I just remembered another thing I found out about at the classes last week. Ranger has printable labels of all their inkpad colors on their site. All you need are the right label sheets and you can print out labels to put on the sides of your inkpads. So much easier to find the right colors.

Distress Fun

I've been busy playing with my distress inks and cut & dry foam. It really does make a difference in the end result. I used color dusters & makeup sponges in the past, but never really got the effect I wanted. I do have a piece of foam for each color, with plenty left over. It sure is messy around here with all this distressing, but I love that.

Bingo Fun

Barb is hosting a bingo game over on her blog. This is the pattern on the card we are playing for this week. Good luck everyone and thanks for all the fun Barb. I used an old bingo card and distress inks in marmalade and aged mahogony. The heart & sentiment stamps are SU, the blotchy one on the base card is club scrap.

On a side note, my hubby changed his blog name this week...thank goodness. So the new link is over there on the side if you can't find him. I hope you have a creative week.

A Ribbon Tip

I was just browsing around and saw that someone actually makes a ribbon iron that retails for $16.99. Ok, well it's a great idea, but I have a free solution for you if you need one. I keep an old curling iron in my ribbon bin. It heats up quick and works like a charm. Just pull the ribbon or lace through the iron and it's perfectly straight for any project. I pull it through fast for lightweight ribbon and slower for cotton or heavy ribbon. I have to give my smart mom credit for this tip, but I'm sure she won't mind if I share it with you. What are you using that old curling iron for anyways?