Happy Pumpkin Day!

I'm going out on a limb and say that the Stephanie Bernard Sizzix Fold-it Pumpkin die was really popular this year.  I base that assumption on the contents of my mailbox this season:

 

Almost Halloween

I figure I'd better share the Halloween cards I made this year or else I'll have to save them until next year. I'm sure they would be stale by then, just like candy corn.

Then I got really ambitious and made this Halloween waterfall card.

The Fine Print: The local grocery store started selling candy corn in early September. When I laughed about it, I was told that it had been in the back room for 2 months already and the manager wanted it out of there. So no one can tell me that candy corn is fresh, ever. Top card: greeting by PSX, owl and papers by Stampin' Up, second card all by SU, third card monster by Paper Smooches, chipboard topper from K and Co., dracula card 3D stickers by Recollections, waterfall card stamps by SU. 

Happy Cat Day!

I asked the kids if they wanted to do anything special for National Cat Day. They said they already had big plans.

Last Day

How sad is that that today is the last day for the Cat Lovers Hop? I decided that I had to show off my newest cat stamp from last month. I kept the project sweet and simple today (just like me! [don't laugh]) . Isn't he just a sweetie?!

But before you go, I want to share with a you a picture from a few years back. I pulled out some stamping storage to make room for bigger and better storage and in true cat fashion Dio had to go sit in the place where the furniture had come out from. He also found something I lost under there and saved it to show me when I peeked over at him.

Look! Mom! I found your paper spider!

Yeah, that's enough to give you a heart attack, isn't it?!

The Fine Print: Simple Elegance cat stamp by Carabelle Studio.

Quiet Time

It's time for the Cat Lovers Hop again, but this time, shhh..... me and Dio and Cindy, we're all relaxing and taking it easy today.

The Fine Print: Stamps by Newton's Nook. And no, I'm not really getting to relax and take it easy today. I don't doubt that Cindy and Dio are though. I mean they are cats, that's what they do. 

Big Cats

Today is Day 4 of the Cat Lovers Hop over at Janis' place. If you like cats you really should check it out.... lots of people sharing their felines. 

I have big cats to share with you today. This is the maiden voyage for this stamp that I got many, many months ago. I love Laurel Birch designs and I love to color so this was the stamp for me.

It is kind of a big stamp though so one you use it you can't do much else with it. I did decide to make a bigger card with it too so I could have a couple of layers. It's actually not that much bigger as I went from A2 to A6.

That's my offering for today, but before I go here's a little cat with a big purrsonality.

The Fine Print: Jungle cats stamp by Stampendous/Laurel Birch.

Oh, The Irony

No cat story today for the Cat Lovers Hop, but one that will have you reaching for the nip.

Today I learned that my employer is doing one of those really stupid things that would make any sane person face palm themselves so hard they break their nose.

So I broke the shackles to my desk and wandered off to a trusted coworker to complain about situation. He laughed and asked me, "Are you saying you're not 'Team OurEmployer'???!"

I answered, "Of course I'm not 'Team OurEmployer' they only pick the fat, out-of-shape kids because they feel bad for them. That's no way to run a business!"

Then I went back to my office and answered the phone. They wanted to schedule a professional development workshop in my conference room.  Professional development means it is for the employees, not our customers.  The name of the workshop: Suicide Prevention.

Yep.

And here's today's cat card. It is a waterfall card so lots of different pictures to show off the different sections of it.

The Fine Print: Cat face stamps by Hero Arts, cat accessory stamps by either SU or CTMH. 

Halloween Cat

Hi. My name is Cindy and it's like cat blog hopping thing again today so I thought I'd tell you a little about myself. I'm very soft and pretty and loveable but there are rules. One of the rules is I get 400 attentions every day or else then I cause troubles.

The best thing ever is my favorite toy--it is a fish plushie. My mom's friend gived it to me when my mom's fish died. My mom seems to think it was for her. My mom steals my planet Mercury squishie ball all the time so I can have her fish. His name is Norman. I have a red big nosed mousie too and he is the best thing ever.

I like to eat salad, because a girl has to watch her figure. That's me in the picture after I finished my salad. I like spring mix. It is the best thing ever. Sometimes I eat spinach. That's the best thing ever too. Don't give me iceberg because that's not even real lettuce. I eat cheese too and that's the best thing ever. Did you know I just learned that crab meat is the best thing ever? I just had some for the first time this weekend and now I have to have some all the time. I put an order in on the grocery list. I can tell time and when the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 5 I get my dinner. I have to remind my mom because she can't tell time.

I have a best friend ever and his name is Joel. He flies around outside in circles and circles really fast. He is a mummingbird. I'm not allowed outside because dad says there are dragons out there. Joel says he saw one once and it said "City Bus" on the side. How scary!

Oh, do you want to know what is the best thing ever?  It's this Halloween card my mom made:

Did that spook you? That's good because it is Halloween time and you are supposed to be spooked. And give me treats.

That's the end.

The Fine Print: Zombie baby from the Spirit Store, stamps from Stampin' Up, embossing folder by Tim Holtz. 

Dear Cat, the Earth is Tilting

The Cat Lovers Hop has started! I hope you are emotionally prepared for all things catty for the next few days.  In honor of the CLH I have a cat story for you.

Every morning I find myself explaining to the cat about axial tilt and seasonal changes. Explaining that to a cat is rather like explaining quantum physics to... to... ...to a 50 year old school secretary.

See, Charles likes to see the sunshine streaming in through the kitchen window in the morning. He trots around chirping and purring until you open the blinds. Then he rushes over the wall where the sunshine hits. What he really likes about the sunshine is the shadows it makes as it comes through the various plants and things on the porch. He likes windy days when the shadows move. He likes it when I make my lunch and cause shadows in his stream of sunshine. He really likes it when my sparkly bracelet catches a ray and leaves sparkly bits all over the walls and ceilings.

But alas, the seasons are changing and every morning Charles escorts me down the hall to the kitchen telling me about his day and how he just can't wait to see the sun and how I'm the best mom ever for inviting the sun into our house.  Then I open the blinds and no sun.

No sun! Then Charles has an emotional meltdown that parents of toddlers will recognize. He squawks, he chirps, he runs around after me and runs back to the wall still devoid of shadows. He will not let me be until I fix it. For awhile there I got away with telling Charles the sun was sleeping in and will be by to visit soon, but now the tilt is too far for the sun to reach into the kitchen window.

I feel bad for Charles because you can see how upset he is. So this morning I was pleased when I noticed out the front window that sun had gotten up and was making long shadows across the front yard. "Charles, Charles! Come here! Your friend the sun is playing in the front yard today!" Charles came running because he comes when you call, expecting great things of you. Charles leaped into the window and saw the sunbeams. He was really happy.

That is right up until he realized those shadows weren't doing anything. They weren't moving the wind (since there wasn't any), his mom wasn't going to walk through them as she made her lunch and no mysterious bracelet sparkles were going to show up to entertain him.

Then with a crashing of gears, motors and metal the trashmen turned onto our street. "Oh look, Charles! The Green Men are here!" Charles watched with fascination as this huge noisy truck reached out an arm, plucked up the garbage can from across the street and dumped into the big hole in it's back. Charles quivered and looked at me in alarm. If he could talk, you just know he'd say, "Mom! The Green Men are taking those people's things! They are talking those people's things!" I know Charles would say that because he is concerned whenever the Blue Men come and take "the important things Dad put in that blue bin" in front of our house.

So for whatever reason I decided to explain it to Charles in kid-talk. I told him that both the Green Men and the Blue Men liked to get presents so we put presents in green or blue bins and put them on road for them to come get. I reminded him how everyone likes presents, which Charles could relate to. When I left that morning, Charles was sitting in the window waiting for the Blue Men to come get presents his Dad left them on the sidewalk in the blue bin. You could see the wheels turning in his little cat brain. I'm sure he was wondering if there were cat treats or fuzzy balls in the blue bin. After all, those are the best presents.

The Fine Print: Greeting stamp by Stampin' Up, stickers from Recollections, other stuff from my stash. BTW, the Green Men don't come down our side of the street, they visit us in the alley, but Charles doesn't care what happens in the alley. 

Don't Be An Administrator

The other day at work, a coworker was trying to get suggestions on what to bring to a function she was going to that weekend. It was a potluck type of thing and she wanted to bring something substantial. We were batting around ideas when one of our peers said, "Whatever you do, just don't be an administrator."

That made us all laugh. See, where we work administrators, you know those folks whose salary has six digits before the decimal point, proudly offer to bring the soda. They show up with a few 79-cent bottles of no-name, half-flat soda from the Dollar Store and act like they've saved the day. Meanwhile the housekeepers, who squeak by on minimum wage and no benefits, bring dozens and dozens of homemade tamales that they spent all night beating the meza all night on a rock by the river.

So whatever you do, just don't be an administrator.

Unless of course you are already an administrator then offer to bring the tequila, but for god sake's make it top shelf and bring plenty.

The Fine Print: I forgot to mention that administrators also leave said soda in the car all day until the event so every cup requires enough ice to sink a ship. Party pigs and parts by Stampin' Up. 

Swedish Death Cleaning

Have you heard the latest decluttering trend called Swedish Death Cleaning? I hadn't heard of it until a friend posted it on Facebook causing a lot of interesting discussion.

Since that friend and her friends are all around my age or younger many couldn't relate Swedish Death Cleaning for themselves but talked how nice this would be (or would have been) for parents or grandparents to take part in.

Swedish Death Cleaning sounds kind of morbid, but basically it is decluttering your belongings instead of leaving the whole kit and kaboodle for those left behind by your death.  The thought is to take responsibility for your items and don't leave them as a burden to family and friend because that's not fair.

I think it is an interesting concept, but I don't see Swedish Death Cleaning happening so much in America because we don't like to talk about death.  And also, the concept behind SDC is to keep your belongings from becoming an emotional burden on others, and I know many people who love to be as burdensome as possible. In fact, those people are probably out buying more shit right now for their loved ones to deal with later.

The Fine Print: Just a random card from a Simon Says Stamp kit, it has nothing to do with death, death cleaning, or death non-cleaning for those burdensome folks.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Remember my last post, back in the dusty era of the iPhone 5? Yeah, I mentioned that I made some cards for World Card Making Day. So I thought I'd share those cards from WCMD, because you know, why not?

I started by making one of those movement cards from Stampin' Up that look cool yet complicated. It turns out that they aren't too complicated, you just need to have some decent eyesight to line the parts up with (which basically means they are impossible for me to make).

I've heard rumors that someone has a tutorial on how to make other stamps and imagines move. Now that sounds complicated.

Next I made another highly engineered card--this cool Halloween slider card. It too went together easily enough (you know with lots of directions, guidance and hand-holding). I thought it was really cool. I spent my entire drive home wondering if I could ever make another one and the answer is no, because magic. Magic is how this card came together. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The Fine Print: Probably pretty much it is all Stampin' Up products. 

WMD vs WCMD

Today is World Card Making Day which is very similar to Weapons of Mass Destruction except for the weapons are a lot more fun and the only thing getting destroyed is the budget.*

Anyway, to celebrate WCMD I cleaned the closet. And it wasn't even the closet in the craft room.

Okay, then I went to a friend's house so I'd be forced to make a card. Or two. I'll share those later after they've been properly photographed. Or improperly photographed, however my photography skills take me.

The Fine Print: *And maybe some paper. Stamps by Stampin' Up.

Vitamin E

Earlier this year my fingernails gave up the ghost. They got thin and started peeling, cracking, breaking, and just generally being a wreck. I started taking Vitamin E to see if that would help them any.

I can't say it is doing anything for my fingernails, but my toenails are fabulous! They are thick, shiny, and healthy looking. Plus they are growing like weeds. I swear I have to trim them every week now.  So, that just proves that growing old is a bitch. Sigh.

The Fine Print: Stamps 'n stuff by Stampin' Up.