Thursday - School is out.

Today is the last day of school for my youngest daughter Miss J.  I have no idea where the school year went.  We don't get much of a break as summer school starts up Monday.  Miss J. will be practicing volleyball early in the morning, one class for 6 weeks, and has also taken on an online class through her high school.  We will see how the summer goes.  I am skeptical.


We are going on a week end camping trip up the mountain this week end.  Taking the dirt bikes out to ride mountain trail for a change instead of the desert.  I am a little nervous about this trip, first time on these trails with the my new quad.  It is not that there is any thing wrong with the quad, it is just that I am still getting use to the change, and it is a big change from the old one, and when I am riding on flat desert where you don't have to worry about staying on a trail it is a very different type of riding on steep rocky terrain where you must stay on a designated trail.  I am sure I will be sliding down a few places.  I am also use to having a brake control on my handle bar and not using my foot control.  This quad is just opposite, not even having a hand control on that side. It will sure be an interesting week end to say the least.  We are also having unusually mild weather which means that it will be pretty chilly up the hill, especially in the evenings.  That should be nice campfire weather at least.


On the home front, I need to change a few things up in an attempt to smooth the flow a bit.  I am trying to get the house really cleaned, deep cleaned, so that all I have to do is a little light house keeping each morning.  I know that there are people out there can clean, cook a great meal, cook ahead meals, preserve seasonal produce and still have time to pursue their hobbies or passions.  I tell you, it has been months since I used my paper craft supplies for anything but trimming coupons.  My desk is still in such a disarray I couldn't even make a card if I had to much less even attempt to create any scrapbook pages.  I even bought this binding machine, which I thought was like a bind it all that created a book bound with a spine, and it still sits in the floor with the plastic wrap on it.  I have no idea what to even really do with it.  It binds with heat and glue apparently, oh and also laminates.  I just really need to find the manual and see how to do it.  Laminating a weekly menu plan that I could wipe off and use over would be a pretty neat thing to have. I had planned on trying to bind up some of my personal recipes, but that will be on the back burner.


On that note, I am toting my planners, a few recipes, paper, pencil, and my lap top up the mountain with me and see if I can come up with a plan of action.  Here is what I need.


List of cleaning, by room, that needs to be done.  Then I am going to assess how often I realistically need to do that.  I mean I don't want to replace one set of task for another.


I need to tweak the menus.  My current planning system is great in concept, just not so great in execution. I have the best of intentions, and the planning is working as far as having the proper ingredients in my pantry, but it just seems to fall apart for one reason or another during the week.


Each week I post my menu plan on I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog for her MPM (Menu Plan Monday) and spend a lot of time visiting all the other blogs of the group that post their plans as well. I have noticed that several of the postings are for the meals for the past week instead of the week to come.  I am thinking that I may need to do that.  At least it would be a little more honest.  I post my menu plan on Monday, then about Wednesday am already off of it and winging it.  The reasons are several.  I am unorganized for one, keep loosing myself in other task or projects.  For another, I keep getting surprised with last minute announcements of meetings or activities.  Given this a lot of thought, I have concluded there are a couple of choices.  One is to just plan the menus as always, shop accordingly, and then just post what actually hit the table.  Another choice, one which I am leaning toward, is to just plan the menu, cook the menu, and whoever is hear gets to eat, otherwise they eat it as a left over later in the week.


I am really tired of trying to figure out what to fix when I have such picky butts to feed.  I grew up on casseroles and left overs.  Kind of think that some dishes are actually more tasty the following day.  My husband didn't have left overs and they rarely had a casserole.  I don't know why, they are so economical.  I guess it is part of that "meat is the star" thinking.  Why they never had pasta either is beyond me.  Give me a great plate of noodles, casserole with noodles, spaghetti, I am set.  I can make spaghetti and meatballs, hubby eats the sauce on bread, no noodles.  He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, most of my family is.  THEY ARE JUST SPOILED. I admit, when I get like this, it is very tempting to just start cooking for me.  They never tell me until the last minute they have a meeting or such, so I plan a nice meal and end up eating it alone.  So why not plan and cook for myself?


Okay, enough of the pity party.  I have to go to the store and run by and check on my mom.  There goes half the day. I started a batch of Spanish Rolls yesterday, part of it has to sit over night for the flavors to come out, and will finish those up today.  Whether they like it or not we are taking them with us on the camping trip, just like I did when I was growing up. I think it is time for this momma to take back over a bit.  In a lot of ways.  


Thanks for stopping by and come visit again.

OH MY It Has Been A While!

My goodness it has been a while since I last posted. How terrible of me. I am really in the middle of so many things, too many to really take time and talk about, but I am going to post about a few things.

I am having fish issues. I have a silver molly (I think that is what it is) that suddenly swelled up while we were on vacation. Was sure it was pregnant, went and bought an isolation box that goes in to the tank so that when it has the babies (called a fry...which I find very amusing) it won't be able to eat them. We are going on three weeks now, still looks like a balloon about to pop, and often I find the fish laying on it's side or belly up. Just when I think the thing is dead it starts swimming around again. Some time this week, I will be cleaning my tanks and moving some fish from the big one to the smaller one. The larger tank has about a dozen brand new red platy babies. They are too small to safely net and move, plus, have a fish I am not sure would be nice to them. I need to conquer the vacuum, other wise will have to some how talk hubby in to doing it for me. It really is a simple thing, but the trick is to get the suction action to work with the water level. Maybe YouTube will be useful.

Speaking of YouTube, isn't that place great? I have found all kinds of helpful information on there. Just today, did a search and found a video on how to clean a beef tongue. Bless the people that have nothing better to do than to make a video of them self doing these kinds of things, but I could never do it. This tongue project is just plain grossing me out, but if hubby likes it then it will all be worth it. Our town, well this region, has a unique type of food called Basque. It is passed down from the sheep herders of long ago. There is French Basque and Spanish Basque which each has it's subtle spice differences, but for the most part is the same. The restaurants serve you family style as was the tradition of the old days. The women would cook the food and take it to the herders, which ate in shifts so that the sheep were never left alone. It is very pricey to go to one of these local restaurants, but so very good. Served in 5 to 6 courses, the Hors D'oeuvres brought out are pickled beef tongue and tomato salad. My husband and sons love the tongue, all of us love the tomato which is marinated. I was looking through an old copy of my church's cookbook and found many of the recipes from one of the local restaurants called Wool Growers. Click on it to see more about the restaurant or history of the food. The tongue and tomato salad are the first two I am trying. The soup recipe is in there too and am possibly going to try it tomorrow to go with them.

OH MY, have a show about the real pirates of the Caribbean going. This guy just loaded a cannon with silver ware to see if it is a myth. When he fired the cannon, the boards set up to be the target was loaded with embedded silver ware and impressions of some that hit hard enough to leave indention, but not stick. I have to laugh though, what he is calling a knife is actually butter server. You know, put in to the tub or stick of butter to serve during a meal. Kind of looks like a short skinny spatula.

Now am back to cooking shows. I watch way too many of them. Have seen contestant on some of these shows use plantains, so I bought some, HAVE NO IDEA what to do with them. Thank you internet. Did find some on the Food Network which were interesting enough to print out and try. Although, I should do a little more research on an item before I just buy it. The people working the meat department told me that Basa fish was in the cod family, cooked like cod, tasted less fishy like cod. Guess what? Did a little Googling for recipes and found out quick that it is actually in the catfish family. I do not like catfish at all, but thankfully the family does. Along the lines of food, have been working on some new menu plans and coupons, more like the organization of all of it. My desk is over flowing with print outs of recipes, calendar pages, coupons, magazine pages I tore out, receipts for the price book I am working on. You get the idea. I couldn't even sew a stitch or glue a card if needed to.

Speaking of card making. I got so behind last month on my swaps that I wondered if I would get them all out. Still have not taken time to scan all the great cards I received, need to work on that this week as well. I did. But vowed to take the month of May off and may even take off through the summer to get a bit caught up. I would really like to do some quilting, need to make a couple of quilts for my new grandsons. One is already 9 months old and the other one will be here in August. The oldest grand son is almost 8 but he got his quilt back when he was born. Although, I have not seen it since, so not sure he even still has it.

Oh, and my camera is dead. I have been unable to find my battery charger, which is a special charger for the odd type battery it takes. I have no been able to find the batteries that I bought before that would work, just not rechargeable. It is frustrating. Apparently my Kodak camera has been discontinued and am no longer able to buy the batteries, charger, or USB cord. It is almost to the point to where it would be cheaper in the long run to buy a new camera. And I really need my camera. I took some photos during spring break, need to download them so I can post them.

I threw out the hints, just hope they stuck. Told my daughter that for Mother's Day I wanted the family to eat together at home, just wanted them to pick up a bucket of KFC and then we could fix some sides here. Also told her that I don't want flowers, they can get me some herb plants to grow in pots around the house, some plants for my hanging baskets as well.

I have had a nice little break here, so need to get back to work. Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

They Shoot Horses!

Back in the day, they would shoot a horse that felt the way I have been feeling. Some one, please shoot me...with a sleeping potion...so I can get a few hours of sleep.

Just when I seem to hit a groove with my battle of the bulge, something always kicks me in the back side. First was some muscle pain. Which I could work through, I expected as much. Then, my family loves me so much they brought home a nasty bug to share. So much so that as I got over it they decided to give it back...a second time. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Then we had a death in the family. Now, I didn't have to go anywhere, didn't have to make any decisions or arrangements. But, this was some one very dear to me. While I am saddened for her family to have to go through this, I am happy that she is now in a better place, with the loved ones that have gone ahead, her mind is now clear and she is happy once again. It does, well any death that is close to me, bring up feelings of loosing my dad. I still miss him so dearly and have absolutely no idea how to manage the feelings of overwhelming sadness that come over me, the pain of feeling all alone even though I am not, the anger at him leaving me. He was laying there in a bed, unable to speak, looking at me that those loving eyes that I grew up with. I promised him to take care of my mom so if he needed to leave he could. Maybe I shouldn't have told him that, maybe he would have fought a little harder. Did I make it too easy for him to leave? At any rate I have kept my promise.

Taking care of mom in some ways have been a lot easier than I had anticipated, but more time consuming than I ever thought in others. This week has been one of those weeks, and of course since we will be gone several days this next week she gets a little anxious. All in all, she does well.

I have been receiving several of the cards from all the group swaps I participate in. I have been so tied up with being sick, dealing with my pity parties, that I have now become late in mailing out. I will get that corrected tomorrow. Also hope to get a birthday card out to my oldest daughter. Last year it was about 4 months late.

I am so ready for out two little vacation trips. First, a few days in the desert to ride the quad. We have had an unusually wet few months, lower temps than usual, so the desert is alive with spring blooms of every kind of color. I am taking my camera out on some rides to see what kind of photos I can get. Then home to unload the trailer from riding and reload for beach. God knew I was in a sad spot, we accidentally came across three nights together at one of our favorite spots. I REALLY NEED THESE DAYS OFF.

Now, I wasn't going to go back on the soap box about Extreme Couponing on TLC, but I really have to. OH MY GOSH. First, I have to say a thing or two...maybe three...about the twin "Saving Divas". Where to start? I totally get all the free stuff they signed up for and get for their birthday. I do the same thing, most restaurants have something free for a birthday. Like I said, I totally get that. HOWEVER...the shopping trip. The one sister gathered all the product from the shelf, made a comment that she was taking it all then looked at the camera and said she didn't care what anyone thought. Of course, diapers were in the basket of products. Why do I mention this? The start of the show when she is showing off the stockpile, there were over 4,000 diapers. The narrator comments that comes out to enough diapers to supply a baby for a year and a half. HELLO, one they were all the same size. TWO...she has no children. But says she might some day. INSANE. The other person on the show was second visit from the guy who bought all the deodorants in the first show. He was showing off the special room he built for his stockpile of over 1,000 tubes of toothpaste. GIVE ME A BREAK. If you plan on using it why build it a shrine? Can one human actually use over 1,000 tubes of toothpaste in a life time? You know he is going to buy more when he gets more coupons. As I suspected, this second episode only strengthens my belief that these people are just organized hoarders, but hoarders. I really can't see this show making long either, at least I hope not.

Okay, enough whining for the night. Thanks for dropping by.

Zentangle - Cards

I have recently gotten very interested in Zentangle. It is an art form, technique I guess, where an image is created by repeating a pattern. I am the type of person that needs something to look at to be able to make a project. In other words I am visual in learning. Do the same thing with my sewing and quilting, mainly just look at the photos or drawings to see what to do next. At any rate, although I would love to try Zentangle out, and there is even a class at the local scrapbook store for it, I need something to look at. I can get a significant amount of "tangles" as the patterns are called online, but would like something already printed so have ordered a book of patterns. Will post all the info about the book when it arrives. I had to do the same thing with my embroidery embellishments and crochet, bought a book of stitches to learn how to do them.

Back to the point. When my oldest daughter was in high school, oh about 12 years ago, she took art. They had a project to do. Beginning by using water color paper and water colours to create backgrounds. Then they had to use designs to fill in what ever they made. I loved this fish and kept it all these years. So very unique and so creative, not to mention talented, my daughter C. is so gifted. We didn't know that it was called Zentangle at the time, but here is a photo of each side, completely different from each other, of the fish.



I think they are just awesome.








Can't wait for the book to get her, but enough is online that I can get started trying it out.



This is another card I made using the alcohol inks. As I posted earlier, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these inks. It doesn't show up so great in the photo but the card is a mustard yellow, the alcohol ink background was stamped with part of the Footprints poem, frame cut and corner punched from black card stock, used the same black for the butterfly punches. The edges were chalked for a softer look.



I was also trying to clean up my messy work space a bit so I could start fresh, had some scraps I just could not throw away so put them together in this little ATC with a butterfly theme.

I was all excited at how nice it turned out. See, I am still new to this type of craft as well. Then it hit me, I am not involved in swap that this little card could be used in. Guess I will just start a folder for hoarding, I mean collecting ATC cards for future use. They are so fun to make, great for using up scraps. Have also seen some talk on the groups about other types of projects that are smaller sizes and traded as well. I guess the next time I go buying supplies...I mean groceries (LOL) I will have to see about buying some baseball card protectors to hold my ATC cards and then find a couple of places to start swapping them.

May even have to give in and try my hand at an art journal. On the subject of new projects to try out, I found some groups devoted to "Altered Books" which at first glance looked fantastic. HOWEVER...after getting in to one of the groups, I doubt very seriously I can ever do a project like they do. They totally destroy books then put them back together, cover them up, carve up the pages and such. Ink, stamps, layers of papers, textures, embellishments are all added to cover up the majority of the pages and completely redesign the covers. All my life books have been so special to me that I just can't imagine desecrating one in such a way, seems almost sacrilegious to me. Now I know...they are just books, and for the most part the books used are bought up cheap at thrift shops, book sales, garage sales and such, and the work that I have seen done by these people is nothing short of spectacular. I admire their talents. I am just being honest by saying I have my doubts that I can do that to a book, but we will see, am going to give it a little time to see how it all sets.

On a really bright note, found out last night, my son and his wife are going to be having a boy. I couldn't help it, just had to go buy something male. He will arrive the later part of August. This will be my third, stinky grand baby boy, but hey, at least I know what to do with boys. And best part is, this one lives in the same town as I do. Am looking forward to being able to see him more than once or twice a year.

Off to check my email, do a little surfing, then make a quick supper and see what I can get done this evening. Thanks for stopping in.

New Stamps

So...I went on a little spending spree. OKAY...a big spending spree. Really I spent too much at one time and am feeling a tad bit guilty about it. But, I am determined to make up for it, and of course I am the only one that knows I did this. LOL I hit some great sales though, so it was justified and I didn't buy anything that I didn't really need.

I bought some great new stamps. At least great for me. Still not exactly what I am looking for, but definitely a lot more usable than past choices. I am thinking that maybe I should try and unload some of my "poor choice" buys on Ebay, but part of me is positive that I will absolutely need what I get rid of two weeks after I do. Most of the stamps are all great for collage projects, but are great sizes for cards or ATC's. For some reason I am really hooked on vintage and collage style, so of course that is what I lean toward these days.

This card is another collage style card. The card is a green background, the next layer is a paper that I just fell in love with because of the colors and print design. I bought it for the opposite which is purple nautilus shells. Now why I wanted purple shells, no idea. Maybe needed purple for something and just picked up a few colors of purple, seem to remember a project with purple, at any rate, I turned it over and found the treasure of the other side. Kind of a vintage form of long hand script but with corral and jelly fish printed over it. Now I wish I had a few more sheets. Why can't I learn to buy more than one sheet of a design? At any rate, this is the card that came to be.

I stamped the image on one of the sheets I made from the alcohol inks. This particular sheet was one made by adding blending solution to clean the pad a bit. Kind of crazy, I figured with all the darker colors that totally blending them together would have mad a mud or brown color instead of the really interesting yellow and cream tones. I finished it off with a black frame from my Cricut then added some dimensional stickers that co-ordinate with a totally different paper stack and a little ribbon know that was ribbon I found in the clearance bin on this last spending spree.

I really like the end result, will have to do this a little more.

I have a couple of things I need to finish up for a swap and get them in the mail. Then I need to take a couple of days to do some housework around here. I think I will also do a little re-arranging in my craft room. I need to make a little more arm room and see if I can make things move a little easier. I don't really mind having to go up and down a step stool so often to get to things, figure at least it is a little exercise. But the constant moving around the room back and forth is just not working. I need to find a better set up for my computer so I can get it off the desk I use for my projects. That is the worst of the mess at the moment. I spread out the papers and cutter or stamps and ink, am working on something then inevitably need to pull up something on my computer so I have to move everything aside and make room for the laptop then move it out of the way to get back to the papers, well you get the idea.

The weather today is so gorgeous. I have the doors open, a window open and sunshine. In fact, it is so nice that I decided to cook supper outside. Albertson's has whole chickens on sale really cheap, so I bought a few. I am thinking beer but chicken for supper. Another grocery had red potatoes on sale so bought a few and will season them and bake them in the oven, or maybe put them on the grill with the chicken. I wanted to make a salad, but at 1.99 a head for lettuce, that will have to wait. Wow, the sign at the store stated a "severe shortage" on lettuce due to a freeze that destroyed crops. Stupid global warming.

Thanks for stopping by.

These are some new cards I just made. They were kind of fun and went together fairly quick. The only one that took any time was the Easter egg card. I used alcohol inks to make some background pages, posted those pages earlier, took one of the sheets and stamped Easter eggs on it and then cut it out. I love the multicolor effect. At any rate, the original card was nice, just needed a little pop so I added the black strips and then layered some butterfly punches with smaller punches from the egg paper. I really like it now.
















These are some cards I recently made and sent off for a swap with one of the groups I belong to.





























I went on a little spending spree, okay it wasn't little, but got everything at sale prices. I bought some more alcohol ink, different colors, a template of clocks, a lot of stamps too. I will post some of the images later, I have just fallen in love with one of the stamps and am sure I will wear it out in no time. It is vintage looking, reminds me of a cameo in a way. It will really be a great focus point for some more collage projects.

My oldest son called and wants me to go eat lunch with him when he gets off. So, I am not about to pass that up. I have turkey soup in the crock pot for supper, will make some cornbread to go with it. It is nice and warm today, but it is Ash Wednesday which starts lent and for some reason soup on Wednesday seems to be a lent thing.

Thanks for dropping by.

Alcohol ink

I have been playing all morning. Made a few cards.


This card went together quickly after I figured out what I wanted to do with it. The image is from the stamping class last month that I did not really care for. I am still learning to blend, but am liking what I do a lot better these days. I am sure it just takes lots of practice. I colored in the image with chalks.

I am still playing with the collage technique that I read about. A tutorial can be found on Splitcoaststampers. They are a great resource sight. I actually think that at the moment this is my new favorite technique and will be doing a lot more experimenting with it. It is a very forgiving technique as you can just add something over any mistakes.

This is a new stamp for me. Got it off of Ebay. I love the clay pots, reminds me of the Native American culture that was strong in the mountains of New Mexico where we went often for week end camping trips when I was growing up. I like the crossing over of Native American and Southwestern arts. Hoping to find a stamp of some chile peppers some day. At any rate, this card is nothing like what I had in my head, but I just can't seem to figure out how to have a light touch on the ink when making a background. Maybe some day I will. I have decided that I think the biggest problem is that I have all the wrong colors of ink for what I am wanting to do. After I finished with this card, I was putting everything away and learned that all my colors of ink are water based dyes. Wow, I could have used a little water to blend and soften, had I used a better card stock. I had a lot of fun working it up though. Have no idea what I will do with it, but I am sure that down the road a need will be met with this card.

Another card I made this morning.
I don't have a need for a sympathy card, but for some reason after I got this put together, the card was just telling me it should be a sympathy card, not the spring card I had started out to make. I guess that is how it works though, just start making it and then it takes on a life of it's own. I bought a box of metallic pencils thinking it would be a cool look to the card. Well, I just wasn't impressed. I really like the end result of this card, just think it is the wrong stamp design to really show how great those pencils look.


Okay, now that the finished cards are out of the way, let me show you some backgrounds I made.

There are four separate backgrounds here. I had so much fun playing with my new alcohol inks. I love them, must have more of them. I only bought five colors, a blue, red, purple, yellow, and green. I need a deeper green, a redder red and a darker purple. Not that I would trade the colors I have, they were about all that was in stock when I bought them from the local scrapbook store. I have since learned that at Michael's I can buy the inks, three colors in a set. They are Tim Holtz's brand and I am sure that I will be burning up the gas hoofing it back and forth to Michael's with my coupons to get the sets. I have a couple of ideas in mind for these backgrounds, which since I was playing figured I would make up several at the same time. It is just impossible to make two the same. I have one that didn't make it in the scan, a total of 5 backgrounds. I did figure out very quickly that I will go to JoAnn's and buy a piece of felt and cut my on pads to put on the handle.

When I first learned about this technique, we were told to use glossy card stock or glossy photo paper. We used the photo paper in the class. That gave me an idea, our dollar store has photo size sheets (4 x 6), 25 sheets to the pack age. I figure that is cheap enough, and a great size for card making. I purchased a package of invitation envelopes that are just perfect for a 6 x 4 inch card, or the standard 5 1/2 by 4 1/4. At any rate, the photo papers worked great. The thing I like about the alcohol inks are that they dry pretty much instantly.

Now, look at these two backgrounds.




They are much lighter and a bit softer, but wait until you hear how I did them. I took the alcohol blending solution to clean the pads and then stamped that out. This is the left overs. I think that it is so cool that even the clean up leaves a great background.

I was going through my fair sized stash of paper this afternoon, still didn't find the paper I was looking for, but found it interesting to explore my choices. You know, look at something and think "what on earth was I thinking" but am stuck with now. One set of papers is called "Once Upon A Time" I bought the paper pack, 8x8 paper pack, the 6x4 paper stack, ribbons and letters that coordinate. I still love the colors in the paper, but when looking over the stack think "what a waste" at so many pages that have beautiful artwork but the proportions are way to large. There is absolutely nothing you can do with it that won't take part of it away or cover it up entirely. Guess I can see them a spacer sheets.

I have to go pick up my daughter from skating, had every intention of dropping in the craft store on that side of town, they are having a stamp sale. Had it all figured out, since hubby was off riding with some friends, he won't be home until dark...I thought. He showed up quite a while ago so that trip is off. Guess I will have to sneak over there next week.

Like I said, I have to go play taxi driver, then I will do some more playing.

Friday

It is Friday. That usually means a yeah for most people, but since I have to get up early EVERY morning, it just means that the whole family is home and the taxi service is going, which at the cost of gas these days is going to be really cutting back. On the way to bowling this morning I noticed the gas prices at the corner station had changed. $3.79 a gallon. Most of places it is now over 3.80 a gallon. A few days ago I filled up the car, a little over 16 gallons was almost $60, ouch! It is expected to go even higher, thanks to all the violence in Libya and Egypt.

On to crafty matters. Yesterday I put together a couple of cards using some dimensional stickers. The brand is Jolee's Boutique.


This is one I did for a replacement card. A masculine birthday themed card. I just thought it was too cute. Especially the little sign that says "No Girls Allowed". Oh how I wish I could have found a sticker that said "He Man Woman Haters Club" then it could have been a Little Rascals card.

The other card is for a swap too, "teddy bear" theme. I never really have been much of a teddy bear person, even when I was little. I had and "Elsie" cow stuffed animal, a promotional item from the early 60's by Borden Milk. Our milk man, back then they came door to door, liked me and brought it for me. I think he may have had a little crush on my mom.

At any rate, it is a little simple, but sometimes less is more I think. This is the first time I have used jewels on a card. Pretty neat look in my opinion.

Thanks to a member on one of my Yahoo groups, I was able to print off and use a Michael's coupon for 50% off. I was so happy because when I was there yesterday I noticed they had gotten some of the 2.5 inch Xyron sticker machines in. I have the small one and the 5 inch one. The small one is just not quite big enough sometimes, and the 5 inch is too big to mess with a lot of times. I wanted to buy it yesterday, when I really went a little over my budget for so close to the end of a pay period, but it is justified. At the time, all I have had to color in stamped images in the way of markers was a cheap set bought at Walmart in the school supplies. The tips are pretty broad for some of the detail work and not especially compatible with learning to blend or shade. But, it was a lot of colors for little money and I have been using them with some success. Well, I had noticed a week or so ago that Michael's had some LePlumme sets on clearance. The colors are kind of weird colors but for learning how to use markers, the price was too good to pass up and the more I thought about it I was afraid they would be gone. As it was, there was only one set left of each of the clearance sets. One is called Victorian, one is called Renaissance. They are double tipped markers, one end is extra fine which is just was I was after. I also bought the blender pen. I normally don't buy all the things that go with some product, but a couple of demo videos I have watched all made a point of listing the blender pen and showing it used. The sets are 12 markers to a set, normally they run $21.99 and they were on clearance for $8.49 each. That is less than half and way less than a coupon would get me. Now I know that they were probably on clearance because they are being discontinued or such, but I don't really care. No colors are duplicated in the sets and they are colors I can work with, especially while learning. Then if I find out I can use them fairly well I can use the sales and coupons to buy the other sets as I find a need for them. I mean really, this same set is at the local scrapbook store listed at over $30.00 and the ladies at the shop all swear by their LePlumme markers. Oh, and these are LePlumme II, don't know what the first ones were like. Of course I also bought a few other things I needed, blender sticks and sponge applicators for blending, and a few things in the clearance and dollar bins as well. Walked out with a bag for about $40 or so. Next major purchases are to invest in some Ranger Distress Inks and embossing powders along with a few more colors of alcohol inks. Michael's sells the inks in three color sets which is great for me because I can never figure out which colors to get. I need to make a list of the colors I do have, bought five colors to start out with last month, the pads and blending to go with it as well. I used the alcohol inks during a class I took called "ink boot camp" and really fell in love with it. I am breaking them out tonight to play with for some Easter cards.

I bowled a great game today. First game was 114, my second game, a record breaker for me was 154, but then my arm wore out and I ended with a 71. Now remember, my average game is 95 and last week I didn't break 90 in any of the 3 games. I had a 95 pin handicap for this week's game. WOW, it was great. I even treated myself to lunch at the grill there and had the best liver and onions I have had since my aunt made hers. I should not have spent the money, since I spent so much at Michael's yesterday and today, but hey, I am making a good day better for myself for a change and I think there is nothing wrong with taking a little me day for a change. Thanks for stopping by and check back soon.

New projects

As I posted earlier, I have a lot of cards in the last few days. I am just totally fascinated with one technique called "Never Ending Card" and you can see a video for it here. It is a card that you open , over and over. It never really ends. Here are some photos.

It really is a neat card when you can hold it and just open it, open it, well you get the idea.

At any rate, that is what I have been doing. Oh, and I had to get up really early to take my daughter to ice skating practice this morning, she was still feeling sick so she didn't go, but I couldn't go back to sleep so I stayed up and worked on a card for my mom. She was a little put out that my daughter hasn't thanked her for a gift she gave her, so I made a nice little card for my daughter to write in.

It is really my mom's type of card.

Well, I am closing for tonight, I know...kind of short winded for me. I am tired and I have to get up really early in the morning. Thanks for dropping in.

Friday Night

The sound of the rain coming down is soothing for a change. I am sure tomorrow is going to be mess weather wise. They are expecting snow down to 1,000 feet which is very rare for here even in dead winter. It also means that more than likely the roads out of town will be closed a while. It doesn't snow here in town, like ever, so for them to even forecast a chance of it is all the talk. At any rate, it is just pouring down. I think rain is still a hard concept for me since moving here. We moved here from West Texas and when it rained, you had drops of water or sheets of water pouring down. Now granted, it might not be raining across the street, I have watched it pour in the front yard and leave the back yard dry. But it was still rain drops. We moved to California and here the rains are more like a heavy mist. No true drops, is a little damp, but not much more. I mean really, is it truly rain if you can't hear it on the roof or against the window? I think not.

I really got on a roll the last couple of days. Where do I begin? My little craft room is half straightened so many papers, ribbons, glues, you know. I got the Cricut carts put back in their place, the Cricut up on the shelf and decided to post on the old blog spot. I have made 3 cards for one group's swap, 4 cards for another group's swap (still need to make one more for that set) and also made a replacement card for one of the group's hostess that was in need of some. It is a card called "Never Ending Card" and is just the coolest thing. I am sure you all already know about these, but go check it out if you aren't. I had never made one so was really fussing over the final card because I wanted to make sure of the quality before sending it out. But, I did good with it.

Here is the side story to that. We have two local scrapbook stores in town. The one I usually go to is literally only blocks from my house. That is where I have attended some classes and to buy the more specialty items that the general craft stores may not have. It is also the home of the classes I have been a bit ...put out with...lately. So, since I was headed to that side of town anyway, I thought I would just pop in that store and give the place a look over. First impression is the difference between Macy's and Walmart. Only the prices weren't much different. The staff was quite friendly as was one of the owners that was in the store putting an order together. Got started talking and she asked what my current project was, I told her about the card and that I had not made one before. She asked to see it, I showed it to her and next thing I know she was asking for my name and phone number to see if might be interested in teaching it to a class. OH MY GOSH! Guess the card is good to go at any rate. Now, I don't know if she will ever call me, but just the thought is pretty awesome for me. I did notice, that they must have the same phobia about handouts as the other store. There were signs up asking us to please not take photos of the class samples. I just don't understand this mentality that the directions are not meant to be shared. REALLY NOW, do you think that your little project is so special and only thought up by you? I may try one of their classes just to have some idea of how a different class would be held. I was overwhelmed by the amount of papers and flowers this store carries, disappointed in the amount of stamps and products. She carries no Flower Soft at all, I took her last paper distress tool, her last set of small sanders, and she is ordering some water pens so I can buy one. They are very pricey so may have to wait a bit on that. Sure wish I could find them somewhere cheaper.

At any rate, like I said, I only have one more card to make and my March swaps are good to go as soon as the name for our swap partners are listed. The next card to make is another new technique, but will get to use a rubber stamp. I also need to go through my stash and find ten stamps that will give great stamped images to swap as well. Ten different stamps that is. I am up for the challenge though. I just pulled a bunch of acrylic butterfly stamps out of the dollar bin at Michael's. Also got some rather unique shoe images that I feel could be really fun to use as well. Even a purse to go with them. LOL Next week, I have cleaning and sorting all over the house to do, will have to take a little break from the papers and do a little laundry. I need to better sort my punches and do some playing with them. Don't won't them to have any hurt feelings, I know they are already feeling very left out.

I don't want to post the photos of the cards just yet, but will as soon as the partners have been announced and will know which one is going where. So, check back for the photos to come.

No More Classes

Yesterday was total disappointment. The class was just not what I had expected and feel like I just wasted money. Here's my thinking. When you pay for a class you are paying for the materials, the teacher and learning a new technique. The shop gave me a list of things to bring, like adhesives, heat set tool, cutters, pen and paper. The session was supposed to be from 10 - 1. I ended up leaving early, had just had enough. I will, in the future, be a little more thoughtful before choosing to take a class.

For this class, here is my opinion of what I got.

This is the single image I ended up with for a project. I used chalk technique for coloring it in. I have a piece of pink card stock that was given to us to make a card. I used my chalks, so, I spent $22 for the use of one rubber stamp, one piece of card stock, and one small set of acrylic stamps. They are button shaped. That is it.

I admit, that this is the third stamping of the image, the first one she had us color all in the same colors, in other words no shading or blending, to show us how flat it looked. I KNOW THAT, why do you think I am taking the class. Then she had us stamp a second image to practice the shading. I would really like to figure out how to use markers and blend them, but that was not part of this class. Then the third image was stamped and we used our new blending knowledge to make the image for our card. Great, I learned that chalks and colored pencils can be erased. She was amazed that my watercolor attempt made the paper soggy. DA? Water and card stock?

I should also back up and tell you that the first hour of the class was spent making a color wheel and her going on about the technical aspects of the colors, their hue, their tint, their properties, then telling us that she was getting too technical and too deep for us at this point. DO YOU THINK she could have decided that about thirty minutes earlier?

Well, you get the point. I am now more confused than ever about shading and blending. Everyone I have seen doing these techniques has always stated to do the lightest colors first, but she told us to color in the darkest areas first. So, I will go back to spending time watching the tutorials on You Tube and Splitcoaststampers. There are a few more forums, if you go to any for ideas and techniques please leave me the link in a comment so I can try them out too.

Now, on to more positive things. I posted earlier about the card making class. Here is what I made in that class.

I really enjoyed this last card as I love the watercolor effect. However, if you read my previous post, this is the card that she let us use a set of watercolors for the flowers that is no longer available to purchase. Why showcase or teach a product that we cannot buy and use again? I don't know, but at any rate, that is about how this teacher goes. Here is another example of how this class goes. She gave us these two cutouts of an apron.

She did have this done as an example, but she had done it as an invitation for tasting party. She gave us a brief run down on how she used the computer to print the info and then cut the apron afterwards, telling us to just take them and do what we want with them. By the way, the aprons were done with the Cricut and the Kitchen cart.

I went to Michael's yesterday and really hit on a tremendous sale. I finally found the "Woodless Colour Pencils" that were used in the demo for the "Black Velvet" technique. They have all their art pencils, pens, and paints on sale as well as canvas and drawing pads. I am going to go back today and see about some more water colour sets. I saw yesterday some water colour crayons that I want to check in to a little more. I think those would be great for making backgrounds. I also want to check in to some type of color that I can apply to give a pearl like finish.

Now, you decide. "Card Making" class, $15 and two hours, all materials are furnished, come home with 5 cards. I do believe that is a much better bang for my buck. Of course, it is always the same techniques. One water colour, one embossed, one distressed, one die cut, and one that is kind of a mix. At least this month's class had only one holiday themed card, in January every card was hearts and love. I joined some more swaps, so when the theme fits I will use some of these cards for that. I have a list of about 10 cards I want to make so will busy with that this week. I can't wait to play with the Black Velvet technique, alcohol inks, and some more water colour projects.

My cake decorating class is over. The next class is flower making, then gum paste. However, this current class was cancelled mid session and will be made up in May so I will wait until then to see about taking the flower classes, but at the moment am just not inclined to further invest in that hobby. I mean really, my goal is met, I learned enough to decorate for a family cake. You really need to just practice, like anything else, and honestly there isn't a one of us in this family needs the practice projects sitting around the house to eat.

Wow, with this laptop I got a love that "control + z" to recover lost text I am writing. I guess I am touching the mouse pad that is built in to the laptop as I will be just typing away and suddenly be on a totally different place in the page and deleted half of what I just typed. Unfortunately, it only works with what is written between automatic saves.

I need to check my mail, go to the grocery store, and make out my menu plan for this week at least. It really does work so much better to know what is going to be made. It also helps me to manage my time a little better as well. I am going to try and take advantage of the gadgets I have accumulated such as the pressure cooker and slow cooker to save time so I can keep working on my projects while I try to remember to keep some laundry going. The laundry doesn't win most of the time.

Check back in as I post my progress. Feel free to leave a comment, I love knowing that someone has read this.