Hip Hip Hooray

I've had these unfinished cards sitting around my stash for like forever so I decided to finish them off. Someone somewhere will be amazed that I did this. That person might be me.

They are bright, quirky and fun. I'm not sure why they languished for so long.

The Fine Print: Stamps and most products by Close to My Heat, exceptions: teal polka dot and solid taps by MME and card bases from my stash.

Poke Poke Poke

Let's all just agree that my shoulder hurts and not get tangled up in various details of how that came to be (because the answer is: hell if I know). My shoulder and I (and my hair because it likes to go on outings) went to the physical torturer person who made it hurt so good.  And not so good.

So while my shoulder and arm were trying to decide if they should work or not, I got this crazy urge to do paper piercing.... you know where you poke tons of tiny holes into a piece of paper?

 Close up of my insanity:

Yeah, not the best choice I've ever made, but probably not the worst either. In the end I got a great card out of the deal and my shoulder really isn't any worse for the wear.

The Fine Print: Kitty stamp from Stampin' Up, piercing template by Ornare, card base by A Muse Studio, and doily from my stash. You know what did make my shoulder worse for the wear? Kinesio tape! That stuff ate holes in my skin. 

Yum!

I'm a member (in good standing) of a smaller stamp club that meets at IHOP once a month or more. Anywho, don't laugh, but IHOP had some pretty decent salads and usually one or more of us would have them for dinner.  This last time almost all of us got a dinner salad, a side salad or something with lettuce in it.

IHOP substituted their lettuce for kale. Yes! All of it! They didn't add kale into the mix, they just outright substituted kale for lettuce. Kale has such a distinct flavor by itself, and they didn't cut the stems off.

We all would shovel a forkful of kale into our mouths and chew and chew and chew. Every time we looked up someone had stems hanging out of their mouth, so I made it a point to say "Mmmmm! Kale!" every few minutes.

When we checked out we mentioned our dissatisfaction with all that kale. The waitress said, Oh, I know! That's from the Home Office. I said to them, 'What?! Are our customers llamas?!'" And thus, this card was born.

The Fine Print: All products by Stampin' Up except alphabet stamp set and kale stems. 

Staying Home

Definitely you have to leave the lights on or else I can't find my own house in the dark, but really it's better if I don't leave there in the first place. Dorothy had it right when she said, "There is no place like home." And people wonder why I don't like to go places. All the good shit is at home!

The Fine Print: Card base, topper, stamps, and embellishments by Club Scrap except paper flower by Prima. 

Newton! And Rudolph!

I'll start by saying I actually made a Christmas themed card the other day, which is amazing because I've been bad about doing so this year. That gives me an opportunity to join in the Rudolph Days Challenge. They only call for one card a month, but I can't even do that. I'd best get cracking because Christmas will be here before we know it (sure, you laugh now).

Sorry if this looks rather blurry. It's the photo, not you. My camera is the pits. You have to argue with it to take the photo and by then it's lost its focus. Well, let me tell you that his days are numbered.

The Fine Print: Stamp by Newton's Nook (yes finally I have some Newton's Nook Stamps), designer paper by Stampin' Up, dies by Spellbinders, seam binding from my stash. 

Hey, Chick!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how a coworker told me I needed to spend more time with my hair (so I was going to take it on a road trip). Many of you felt my coworker was rude and/or out of line.

Okay, let me s'plain this to you. This woman is... well, different from us. She's not quite quirky enough to be considered "an odd duck" but she's definitely different. If she tells you that you should use a different moisturizer, shouldn't wear that color, or should spend more time with your hair, it comes from a place of love. She worked the fashion industry for 30 years and she gives these  honest assessments, like you would your BFF (even if you are barely on speaking terms). There isn't any malicious thought or back-handed compliments in them., They are just her being her.

And secondly. She's right. I went into the restroom the other day and thought, "Holy shit! I really should spend more time on my hair. Or at least brush it."

So yeah. There's that.

The Fine Print: Products by Stampin' Up.  I looked like I just came in off the back of motorcycle without a helmet the other day. Apparently, that's pretty common for me. I just don't think of these things (says the woman who religiously brushes the cat every morning).

Happy Mail Monday - April 24

This card is from my mom and came with a nice chatty letter. It was put together with bits and pieces that I send her from time to time. I actually received this card last week and forgot to share it. As the week wore on I was glad I had it to share because it looks like the mailman wasn't going to be bringing me anything to share this week.

When I mentioned the lack of mail to hubby, he reminded me that I got a box on Tuesday. I got it because I have cool friends who make sure I don't miss out on cool things. You may recognize this box as coming from Paper Pumpkin.

In case, I didn't have enough new things to play with my Green with Envy prize arrived on Friday. I've seen some cool things done with this set so I'm looking forward to playing with it

On Saturday the mailman decided to stop holding out on me and brought me these three on Saturday. The first two cards are from my weekly swap. One from last week, one from this... It was sender error, not the post office this time. The bunny card is from a spring themed swap I joined. I was going to do a rainy day card but rain isn't really what defines spring in Arizona. I should have though because everyone else did.

 

This is the card I made for the spring themed swap. I'm not sure why I nixed rain but opted for this card instead. This card isn't what Arizona is like in spring either.

The Fine Print: Stamps on my card by Stampin' Up, designer paper by Basic Gray, and card base from A Muse Studio.

Lot of Wonderful

I made this card as part of that Green with Envy challenge I mentioned several posts ago. I originally made the pots in all sorts of green patterns but that was too eye-jarring so I changed them to all polka dots. Green 'n yella, kiss a fella.

The Fine Print: All products by Stampin' Up. Again.

S'up Saturday

Now that my mother's birthday has come and gone I can share with you the card I made for her. It is one of those twist and pop cards that look like you need a degree in engineering, but really you only need a patient teacher to show you how.

The Fine Print: All products by Stampin' Up except for the numbered washi tape.

Award Winning Leaf

I took part in a Green with Envy challenge in which you were to make cards that were predominantly green. I have this leaf stamp that came out in a fall collection and has always been done with autumn colors, but I always wanted to try it in fresh greens for spring.

So this challenge was the perfect excuse to do just that. And then my card won the challenge! Sure, it was a random draw, but that's still award winning, right?  I won a retiring SU stamp set and I'm sure I'll share it with you on Happy Mail Monday when it shows up.

The Fine Print: All products except Stampin' Up except dark green baker's twine by May Arts and the Copics I colored it with. Did you know SU had stamps retiring soon? LOL! If you don't you must live under a rock. For awhile there I couldn't visit anyone's blog without being hit with that. I think even the Simon Says Stamp blog mentioned SU's retiring stamps. 

Colored Doily

I pretended that I was all artsy fartsy the other day and made this card complete with blending and a randomly stamped background. My real goal was to use one of these small colored doilies I have lying around, but somehow it brought out the artiste in me. Ha!

The Fine Print: All products by Stampin' Up unless they are not, like maybe that card base. Stamp set used "Butterfly Basics."

Let's All Scream

Now ya'll are screaming for ice cream. Me, I'm just screaming in general and because I had several ice cream cards to share with you but I can only find these two, which is really just one with different greetings.

 The Fine Print: All products by Stampin' Up. 

Happy Mail - April 17

Let me show you the happy mail I received in the last week. We'll start with a couple of cards from my friend, Helen. The first card was a thank you card because I sent her the stamp that she used on it.  The second card was for a gardening themed swap we were in.

I received a couple of Easter cards from friends Darlene and Patty. What do you mean the Siamese card isn't an Easter card?! Patty found it in the Easter Card section and wrote 'Happy Easter' in it. That makes it an Easter card!

Last, but not least, I received this puppy dog card for a baby swap (where the baby could be of any species).  The baby duckie card under that was my card for the baby swap.

The Fine Print: Momma and baby duckies by A Muse Artstamps, umbrella by Taylored Expressions, narrow oval die by Sizzix.

Solid Chocolate

Happy Easter!

The Fine Print: Stamps, dies and punch by Stampin' Up, designer paper from my stash.

Happy Easter Everybunny

They've been keeping me really busy, so that's why you haven't seen me around Blogland lately. I decided I'd better get my Easter cards up here to show you before the holiday is over and done with for this year.

Since I was lacking for ideas I came up with this card and then copied it several times over. You can see that I switched off between ribbon styles.

The Fine Print: Everybunny stamp set and dies by Stampin' Up, designer paper by Basic Gray, and ribbons from my stash.

Going Postal

I'd like to give a shout out to the postal employee who did not kill the lady in line in front of me. He would have been totally justified if he had. He just smiled and nodded along like a good customer service person should.

It started with her slapping a tracking number down on the counter and demanding to know where her package was. The postal dude politely explained that you can go online and check the tracking number and that way you wouldn't have to come into the post office and wait in line. She was having none of that telling him that she didn't go online or mess around with "any of that nonsense."

Nonplussed, he explained that there was a phone number you could call as well to check the tracking number. She interrupted that spiel to inform that she did indeed call and the package was not received because the person she sent it to told her so. After some serious back and forth we discovered that the phone call she made was not to the PO tracking line but to the person she sent to the package to.

Finally the harried postal worker took the number from her and went into the back. Presumably to look up the number and maybe sneak a sip of gin. He came back to tell her that the package was returned to her because it could not be delivered as addressed. "So, where is it?!" she wanted to know, going on to explain that she was told that it was in Phoenix (where our mail is sorted) on Monday but she still didn't have it back.

The postal dude told her that it was back at her branch postal office, the one that serviced the zip code where she lived. "Yes, so I'm here to pick it up," she patiently explained to him. He equally as patiently explained to her that it wasn't at the branch she was in, but that it was in the one that serviced her zip code. Frustrated she told the man, "But I don't like that branch" and left in a huff.

You just know she considers that poor service. After all, the PO should just magically know which branch she likes best and return the package there, or better yet delivered it to the address she meant, even if that wasn't she wrote on the box.

The Fine Print: I shall raise a drink in toast of that poor man, from one customer service slackey to another. Of course, my drink will only be OJ but the thought will be there. Card supplies by Stampin' Up, which you can have delivered to your house or a postal branch near you.

Outing Planned

A coworker told me that I needed to do more with my hair.  So I think I'll take it on an outing, sort of like how this bunny is taking these chicks on an outing. Maybe we'll even catch a movie.

The Fine Print: Oldie but Goodie stamp by Penny Black. Other stuff from my stash.

Mail Bag Monday

Happy Monday Mail day! Last week I shared the cards I received in the previous week, inspired by Stamping Serenity. I commented I wasn't sure I could or would do so every Monday. I definitely have to this week because I hit the jackpot.

We'll start with this card from my friend Pam. Yeah, it's store bought but she does know how to make them. She's been my penpal for many, many years. She came to visit last month. We had lots of stamping fun.

Then came a mysterious padded envelope.... which was chock full of Stampin' Up swap cards. I forgot I joined a swap and these are my returns. Such great inspiration!

The weekly swap I do (you sign up a month at a time) netted me this gorgeous card which would have been right at home in the Stampin' Up swap.

My friend from back east sent me this flip flop card. She spends her time dreaming of summer because she says you can't trust the weather gods to not dump snow on you on Easter (It's true! They've even done that to us here in Southern Arizona).

This card came to me from the Pacific Northwest. It was a good reminder that Easter was coming. This elegant card comes from swap pal, Yara.

This card also made an appearance this week. It by the same artist who made the stand alone Stampin' Up card, Darlene. It is very fancy. I'm impressed with her command of wide ribbon.

This last card is made by me. No, I didn't mail it to myself. This is the card I made for the SU swap.

The Fine Print: Everything on my card was by Stampin' Up which was hard at the time I made it because I didn't own a lot of their products (besides stamps and dies). Now I have the sample packs of cardstock in every one of their color families. Go me!

Time to Chill

It's all just chill here today in the desert. And I meant that like laid back, not like cool temperatures but it is due to be 10 degrees cooler today so perhaps I mean both.

The Fine Print: Everything by Stampin' Up. This is becoming a habit isn't it?!

Chipboard Flower

I had this black and white chipboard flower hanging around so I decided to put it on a card with all black and white. Well, that turned out to be dull so I went for yellows instead. I swear these yellows match better in real life. My camera likes to play tricks.

The Fine Print: I have no idea, the flower came from somewhere as did everything else

Spring has Sprung

So it is yellow season here in Tucson. Yellow season is marked by oddly enough, the color yellow. You can also tell it is yellow season by the increase in facial tissue and allergy medication sales. Basically, I think yellow season is what the rest of you call spring.

Anywho.... spring has sprung here.

The Fine Print: Palo Verde tree photo shamelessly swiped from the web (Artist: Kirk Tisdale). Card stamps and dies by Stampin' Up, designer paper and glitter card base by DCWV. 

Cute Cat

I'm reading this book where the smooth talking con man is milking an older lady for all she's worth. He also hits up her adult children, sisters, other family members and long time family friends. He always has some invention or scheme that is going to be the big one, the big score, the one that makes all these "investments" worthwhile.

The book is making me think of my older brother, except my brother wasn't charming and didn't have all these schemes and plans that didn't work out. He just had some oh-poor-me stories that he'd use to talk folks out of money because of course you didn't want him to have no electricity or no food in the house or even no house.  However, he rarely used the money he "borrowed" from anyone to get his life on track. The guy in the book, never saw any of this inventions or business deals come to fruition either. I guess the thrill was in the chase.

At least my brother didn't kill anyone to further his pipe dreams, like the guy in the book did.

Huh, what a lousy story to go with such a cute card. You can rest assured that this cat has never bilked anyone out of money or possessions. He's never ever even pooped outside the litter box.

The Fine Print: Cat stamp by Stampin' Up, other stuff from my stash. The book I'm reading is Bones in the Desert, our scam artist kills his older lady friend after he takes for all she is worth. She wised up and told him to hit the road. So he did, with her body in his van. 

Road Trip!

Last night I dreamed that my dad told me to look in his file cabinet and I found information on how to find a black diamond mine in the Santa Catalina mountains. Those are the mountains along the north of the city I live in. They were in cave that wasn't easy to find. While I was rifling through my dad's files my mom was having all these ladies over for a pool party and the pool was only half full. One lady wanted to be in a floating lounge chair and read the newspaper only we didn't have a floating lounge chair. We had a metal lawn chair. She threw it into the pool and it sank. She was bringing the mood of the party down.

But I didn't have time for a pool party! I had black diamonds to find! So who do I pick to find this hidden treasure with? Why, my cat, Charles of course! It was a dream so it made perfect sense. Only first Charles and I had to stop off at this gun and drug dealer's house to see a guy about a thing. While I was talking to the guy, one of his hoodlum friends was giving Charles important life advice. I remember thinking, "Charles is probably too young for that." (But apparently not too young to climb all over a mountain looking for a hidden cave).

The Fine Print: All products by Stampin' Up. Are black diamonds even a real thing? I have no idea what this dream was telling me. I didn't even get any good life advice out of it (Charles got it all). 

Happy Mail Monday

Have you ever run across a blog called Stamping Serenity by Jennifer M? She does this thing she calls "Happy Mail Monday" where she shows off the cards she received during the previous week. I thought that was a neat idea because it gives those who send you mail some recognition and it gives you a chance to share other techniques, ideas, and projects.

That said, I decided to give it a whirl. Right away I realized a problem--you have to remember to photograph the cards you receive! Also, you have to actually receive cards in the mail. I join a few swaps to keep the cards rolling in and have a couple of penpals so we'll see how it goes.

 This card is from Fiki and is a heart shaped easel card, which I find very impressive! Fiki sent it to celebrate our 25th anniversary. It came from Croatia so it is a well traveled card.

This card was by Linda W and made me go "awwww" because of the nice note she wrote inside. She thanked me for all the hard work and effort I put into our stamp club. Sometimes it feels like shouting into the wind, so it is nice to get recognition.

This card was received from Patty M and was received for an open theme swap (which we do weekly). I recently looked at this stamp set and wondered why I had it. Patty has inspired me to break it out and use!

This card was received from Patsy C for a step card swap, and actually I received it a previous week but it was in the pile so it gets counted. I interpret it as the birds are sitting there thinking about all the cats they are taunting with their presence. It definitely made me smile.

And in case you came here to actually see a card I made, here's one from one of those blah, blah, blah kit cards.

The Fine Print: I love mail so how fun is this! My card was from a Club Scrap kit with a gear brad from the Eyelet Outlet (which is an evil place).