Mailbag Mania - July 10

I only have one card to share with you this week. It isn't that I only received one card in the mail--I got three. I sort of never got around to photographing the other two. But that's something to look forward to for next week.

This card is nice and sparkly and festive and fun. It inspired me on a card I needed to make. I can't share that with you either because that picture is still on my camera.

I'm sounding pretty hopeless but in my defense, I'm seriously allergic to my own house. It got painted this weekend. Our little pink house is now a little brown house. I guess it really isn't "little" but it isn't a McMansion either although we contemplated moving into one during a moment of madness.

Anyway, it's the fumes from the paint (and probably all the dust that got stirred up) that is wreaking havoc on my allergies. Probably I should leave my house outside to air out...

I card I made.

The Fine Print: Balloon card parts from and old Simon Says Stamp kit. 

The Bus is Late

At work I often have to do a shift on the switchboard for our department. The phone number is for our department but it is treated like a general information line. I guess I should clarify that it is treated like a general information line for the college I work for. We're not in the business of giving general information for all of life's little follies.

But that doesn't stop people from calling and asking us about them. The other day I was asked if I could Google a phone number for a casino "after all you have a computer right there in front of you." Indeed I do so I did. The very next call was asking me what road the airport was on. I mentioned to my fellow phone-answerer these calls and she told me she recently told someone how to cook fish.

I suppose it is all fine and well if we aren't busy and we know the answers. Yesterday a different phone-answerer got upset because the caller wanted to know why her city bus was late. My coworker told the lady she had no idea and that was a question best asked of the city bus people and offered to look up and give out the city bus hotline number. But no the caller insisted that she called our number all the time and "that nice lady" would look up her route and times for her.

I can attest that I am not that "nice lady" because I don't know the first thing about riding the bus and neither did the my coworker. The lady insisted and persisted, wanting to talk to the supervisor about our lack of customer service. She hung up in a snit before we could get the supervisor involved (and he said he backed us all the way for not giving out city bus information).

Seriously, the city bus people will know if the bus broke down, or was hijacked, or if the routes and times changed. All we know is that we are the end of the line for several different city bus routes. I guess we also know that unless you pay a return fare the bus driver kicks you out here rather you wanted to be way out in the desert boonies with us or not.

The Fine Print: Still celebrating my independence from riding city busses and all that other good stuff. Stamps and banner punch by Stampin' Up. Other stuff from my stash. 

July 4th

Happy July 4th no matter where you are or what you're doing. Hopefully it is something fun.

I made my July calendar so now I know what the date is. It's the 4th in case you didn't catch that.  The 11th has a star because it is a little known national holiday--hubby's birthday. 

The Fine Print: Teddy bear stamp by Stampin' Up, calendar and elephant stamp by Taylored Expressions.

Patriotic Pig - TTT03

It's time to play Tic Tac Toe again. This time I went for a diagonal flight from the top to the bottom. My card base is blue, I've wrapped twine (and tied a persnickety bow) and I laid many many rectangular wood planks onto my card.

I was inspired by a card I saw where wood grain paper had been cut into planks and placed on the card. I thought I'd change that up but using different colored and textured woods for mine in patriotic red, white, and blue.

Once my card was done I thought it was rather ridiculous, but in the way that makes you laugh and puts a smile on your face. I call that a win!

Speaking of winning, did you see that I was chosen as a Designer Pick for my last TTT entry? How cool is that!

The Fine Print: Piggy from Stampin' Up (This Little Piggy), designer paper by My Mind's Eye (on the bright side, dies by Stampin' Up and Spellbinders, twine from my stash.

Happy Independence Day!

May you enjoy your day today whether you celebrate America's independence or not.

The Fine Print: Stamp from an oldie but goodie Stampin' Up set, die by Spellbinders, designer paper by HOTP, lady liberty and ribbon from my stash. 

Celebrate Freedom!

And celebrate that is is Friday!

Our department is having a BBQ lunch with potluck sides in honor of Independence Day and because it is Friday which is slow because it is summer school time. There is an international component to our school and it was suggested that we invite some international students so they could partake in a real American tradition.

Except for that we are having Sonoran Dogs, which is a Mexican street dog, and by that I mean a Mexican version of a hot dog, not that we are eating chihuahuas. That's probably not a real American tradition except in this city on this side of town.

The Fine Print: Stamps by Taylored Expressions, designer paper by DCWV, vellum and star eyelets from my stash. Srly, try this Sonoran Dog thing. You'll be glad you did. Start with a traditional Mexican bolillio bun or lacking that one of those fancy thick bakery hot dog buns, add some pinto beans, a regular old hot dog wrapped in a strip of bacon, some diced tomato, some diced onion, mustard, mayo, and jalapeno sauce (or not if you're not from these parts). 

Happy 6th of July!

I didn't get to update my blog yesterday because a thunderstorm rolled in and meant business.  That's okay though, we desert dwellers will gladly forgo the internet for some much needed rain.

Anyway, now that we are thunder and lightning free I might as well show you two of the three Independence Day cards I made this year. I had good intentions and a ton of supplies ready but it just never happened.  Ah, well, I have it on good authority that we'll do that Independence Day thing again next year.

The Fine Print: And next year there will be some other reason that I didn't get cards made.... because the more things change the more they stay the same.  And while I have a lot of supplies I don't have a lot of stamps. I'm open to suggestions! Top card flag die and Freedom sentiment by Taylored Expressions, stickers from my stash. Bottom card stamp from A Muse Artstamps/Saltbox Greetings, sticker and ribbon from my stash.

Happy July 4th

Somehow that whole Independence Day thing manages to sneak up on me every year. I have lots of fun papers and embellishments (not so many stamps however) that are all 4th of July themed, and I rarely get to use them because one day I'm minding my own business and the next day they are shooting off fireworks and giving me the day off work.

I managed to remember Independence Day was coming enough in advance to squeak out a few cards.  It helped that I had a new star themed die to play with.  I thought I'd try that hot trendy thing and piece parts of the die cut back in and boy, that's fiddly.

It does give you an excuse to immediately made two cards at once though, so there is that.  I made a couple more that looked like this one below.  I wanted to use that flag looking striped ribbon since I have a spool of it.  Yeah, two cards barely made a dent in it.

I also made this sweetie patriotic bear for a swap.  This is probably my favorite 4th of July stamp out of the few I own.  Hope you have a great July 4th, whether it is a holiday for you or not.

The Fine Print: Star border die by Memory Box, Uncle Sam hat by A Muse Artstanps, Hooray and patriotic teddy bear stamps by Rubbernecker, fat scalloped rectangle by Spellbinders, star dies by A Muse Studio.  Papers, ribbons, and star bling from my stash.

Freedom isn't Free

This is as close to a Memorial Day card as I have on hand, nice and happily patriotic.  Happy Memorial Day and thanks to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so I can sit on my backside and not worry about unjust persecution.

The Fine Print:  Stamps and die by Taylored Expressions, paper by DCWV, ribbons from my stash. "Unjust persecution" does not include anything dished out by those of the feline persuasion.  They know whatever guff they give me is completely justified.  Just ask them.

A Mutt 'n Jeff Tale

A bazillion years ago I didn't date this dude I used to work with.  I have to say it that way because he apparently thought we were dating.  Or perhaps an item.  Or at least he had a snowball's chance in hell.  We'll call him 'Mutt' because isn't that a great name?

Mutt worked in a different department than mine but he stopped by our office quite often to chat with the ladies. Many people dropped by to chat since we were open and friendly and had lots of ridiculous things to say.  I never had an inkling that Mutt was to stopping by to see me specifically. 

There was a group of us from work, most from my department, who often did things together.  We'd plan lunches together, we would do things for each others' birthday, we'd meet after work, we'd see each other on weekends, and once we got on a bus and went to Disney Land together.  We couldn't all always make it and sometimes it ended up just one or two of us went to lunch together.  I remember going to lunch twice when it was just Mutt and I, but I never thought it was a date.  In fact... well, that's another story for another time.

One time Mutt had a bunch of us stop by to help him move from one apartment to another one weekend.  Out of all those people, he asked me to loan him a vacuum cleaner when it was time to clean up his vacated apartment (which apparently is akin to a marriage proposal on Planet Mutt).

Another time the entire group of us met at a restaurant after work to celebrate someone's birthday.  We ate and drank and laughed.  I had given Mutt a ride there and he was to get a ride home from someone who lived in the same general area as he.  As the dinner was winding down, I got up and went to the restroom.  If you've been paying attention to anything I say, you know I can go potty by myself. I'm not the type of woman who needs a whole posse to back her up.

As I went into the restroom I noticed Ed on the payphone outside the restroom door.  I had to wait my turn for a toilet and when I emerged, Ed was still on the payphone.  I looked at him and held up my hands in a "what the hell, man?" gesture.  He and the birthday girl wanted to see a specific movie but were unsure where it was playing.  Ed was calling the theaters to get movies and times.  He had already tried two theaters and had to listen to their long recorded spiels.  I suggested he buy a newspaper and thought their might be one of those newspaper boxes outside the restaurant because it was a large place on a busy road and had a city bus stop out front.  The two of us walked the few feet out the front door of the place and looked around.

The restaurant door slammed open and Mutt came stalking out, "Where the hell have you been?" he asked me.  He didn't believe my story of being in the restroom because no one else from our group had gone.  Mutt barely let me get a word in edgewise as he harangued on and on.  He was convinced that Ed and I were sneaking off together someplace like I was cheating on him or something, that we were trying to ditch him, that we were trying to ditch the group, that I was a no-good whatever the heck, and blah, blah, blah.  He wouldn't let Ed or I say a single thing as his mind was made up and he wasn't going to hear another word.  Mutt stuck his nose up in the air and stomped off into the night.

Ed and I shrugged and went back in to the group who was packing up to go.  The coworker who was to take Mutt home asked where he was so Ed and I recounted the tale to the group.  There were many hoots and hollers about Ed's manliness asking one woman to the movies but sneaking out the front of the restaurant with a different one and many other snickers and eye rolling about Mutt's behavior.  The consensus was no one in the group was going to go look for him and offer him a ride home.  In fact, after that night Mutt wasn't invited to hang out with our group anymore. 

The Fine Print: You did catch that this happened a bazillion years ago and ergo no one had a cell phone or smart phone to find out movie times, right?  Also interesting to note that Ed and I are best friends now.  I'll have to ask him if he remembers Mutt and that night.  I thought of Mutt and this story because I was listening to a couple girls talk about how what makes a guy an undesirable boyfriend.  I immediately thought of Mutt and several things he had done that would qualify him as undesirable and this story wasn't even one of the first things that came to mind.  Top card--parts 'n stuff by Club Scrap "Hopes" June 2013 kit.  Bottom card--stamps from Taylored Expressions and other stuff from my stash.

WOYWW 161 and Random Blatherings

Hello Everyone!  Waves at everyone dropping in from England.  Today is Independence Day, the day we Americans celebrate our divorce from you.  To celebrate most folks will cook and eat formerly living creatures, consume copious amounts of alcohol, and blow shit up!  Ain't more American than that, huh?

Today is also Workdesk Wednesday where a bunch of friendly, nosey people gather together to ogle each other work spaces, projects, and goings on.  I'm almost embarrassed to show my desk today. It has been cleaned off. This is because I needed to change out the papers that protect my desk.  Now that that task has been done I can mess it all up again!

Here is the card from last week that I thought needed a little something more to it, complete with that something more.

Here is a a card and ATC I received from Vickie AKA Okie Nurse from the WOYWW birthday celebration.  Isn't that ATC great? The card is no slouch either.

Here are the bits and pieces of a card that have been on my desk for months. I keep shuffling them around from one side to the other, always taking care to not lose the pieces.  Really, I should just finish the thing off already.  That will be my goal for next WOYWW--show the finished card.  The problem is I'm not sure how the surfer chick fits in.  Maybe it doesn't?

Last of all, I am starting to wonder if the cat doesn't have a prescription drug problem.  Stay tuned to see if we have a Kitty Intervention.

I can quit anytime I want. I just don't want to.

That is a lot of blathering. I'd better shut up now.

The Fine Print: No real Brits were harmed in the making of this post. Americans are petitioning for joint custody of "Jolly good, then!" and "Bugger off."  Independence cupcake stamp by Stampendous, papers by Bo Bunny, star brad by unknown. Wonderful friend card papers and greeting by My Mind's Eye, flower by unknown. Unfinished card base by Club Scrap, papers by Paper Salon, stamps by DeNami.

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

I have tomorrow off work for Independence Day. I know it and my brain knows it (we're aren't always in sync). I also know I have it off for a holiday, not a vacation day (quite brilliant, my brain is).

I'm an asthmatic and asthmatics and oil based paints do not mix so I left work early today since offices are being painted. When I left the giant cement box I work in I was surprised to discover that it was cool (for us, for this time of the year), breezy, and very, very gray.

I stopped by the craft store on the way home to pick up this little gem.  It is a new stack by DCWV. I have learned that if you are strictly a card maker who does not scrapbook, you may be better off buying the smaller versions of DCWV's stacks, especially the non-seasonal ones.  I really like this new stack I have, but wow, the colors sure are autumnal.

The craft store had foresaken summer and moved right into fall.  The colors were fall, the decorations were fall, and there was a huge Thanksgiving display in the window and front door.  Combine those three things-having a holiday, gray skies, and Thanksgiving decoratins and what does my brain think as we've driving home?  "Holy crap, I'd better come up with some special Thanksgiving dinner for tomorrow!"

Um... yeah.  Tomorrow's Independence Day and here's a little card to jog your memory of that.

The Fine Print: Patriotic Teddy bear by Rubbernecker, kraft card base by A Muse Studio, decorative papers and epoxy brad by Bo Bunny, tiny brads by Recollections.  New stack by DCWV "Gilded Orchard."  They have 4 new stacks, but this is the coolest one.  BTW, we have pizza for Thanksgiving dinner so I'm really not sure why I thought about making dinner.  We're probably having hamburgers tomorrow and multi-layered Mexican dip.  America! F--- yeah!