The Secret of Qisma

While I was locked out I got a tattoo

2008-11-07T18:26:00.003-06:00

It is each of my girl's birth month flowers and I have it on my lower back. This was taken only 4 hours after having it done. It looks even better now! :)

I'm back -kind of!

2008-11-07T18:16:00.002-06:00

Things have been really crappy since July. We thought were past all the yuck but ignorant people managed to screw things up. I have had to creative mojo since! On top of that, I couldn't remember my password and yahoo had shut down my yahoo mail and I couldn't restart it so I couldn't retrieve my password. Google customer service SUCKS! They told me to start over they couldn't verify who I was! WTH? I can prove who I am, they wouldn't even work with me. So I just started trying every password I have EVER used and I finally got it!! I am hoping to start stamping and sharing again soon! Maybe this weekend!

2008-07-13T13:14:00.002-05:00

I love silhouettes, this set from Stampin Up makes me smile every time I see it. Of course a card in pink should make everyone smile when they see it! ;) I mass produced this (OK only 3 times) in 3 different colors for some birthdays that I was late for! I hate mass producing but at least they got their cards before Christmas.

My nephew Devin

2008-07-13T00:26:00.002-05:00

This is my nephew Devin. He is 3 years old and lives in New Zealand. My hubby's sis her DH and Devin came to visit for 3 weeks this year. The last time I saw him he was barely walking! :) For his 3rd birthday I sent him a Star Blanket in a blanky size. He loved it so much that for an early 4th birthday gift I made him a twin for his bed. I made an identical one for Nikolas too. Right now I am working on a monocromatic (my fav) purple queen size one for my bedroom. Not very fond of the process but love the finished product!

More Copics!!

2008-04-23T17:14:00.002-05:00

I haven't used my House Mouse stamp in years. It was one of my first stamps ever. Now that I kinda know what to do with these wonderful markers I thought I'd give it a try. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how you can layer on the colors. Look at how you can "see" the books through the fishbowl. There is no way you can do that with regular markers. Once I get the clear one for "erasing" I will be a lot happier too. I'm not crazy about the mice's face color and I went out of the lines a bit, so I really need the colorless blender to "push" the ink back into the lines. These really are the most wonderful thing. I emailed Marianne about Copic Certification and she said she was gonna add Minneapolis to her list for 2009! Yeah! I'm not quite sure how I will manage to wait that long, I am dying to go!! This card is for my girlfriend Nancy who is celebrating her birthday on Sunday. Not very birthdayish but I like it anyway! TTYL!!

Copics!!!

2008-04-19T15:08:00.004-05:00

So Cambria went to Copic Certification and my watercoloring improves drastically -go figure! I would kill (OK not really) to go to that. I LOVE my copics!! This took a really long time but I had fun and this might be my all-time favorite card that I have ever made. I made it with my Barb in mind. I would have like to sue this for her birthday card but time got away on me. Now I will just have to mail it!! I had a really hard time matching the papers after I was done coloring it but in the end I think it is just about perfect!. I REALLY wanted to add some ribbon but I either didn't have the right ribbon or this card really shouldn't have any. Now I need more detailed stamps so I can color! I really don't have a lot!! Sounds like it's time to go shopping!

So the gist is you don't have to have a blender to blend (mine hasn't come yet from Gina K's marker club) you can use the lighter colored markers to "push" the color around the paper. I used shimmery white from SU and there was no pilling and the color moved easily. I didn't have the blender to "erase" where I went out of the lines so I created a background color with 2 markers. I also didn't really get that "shadow behind the item" look because of this but once I get the blender i will be able to erase where I need to and then put the shadow in and leave the background white!v Thanks for looking!

2008-04-19T12:38:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Sandy!! It was my PSF

Sandy's birthday this past week. I didn't know what her favorite color was, so I made her card my favorite color!! LOL!! Oh well it's the thought that counts right?!? I'm not sure if this is "Clean and Simple" or just plain boring. For the longest time I was playing around with a "More is More" style of stamping and now I am in a "Clean and Simple" mode. I kinda feel like I don't have my own "style" yet, so I guess I will just keep playing around until I find my way. Today is SoCal Stampmania, I had bought a ticket and then life happened, so I couldn't go. I am so sad!! :( I had designed my shoebox swap and everything. I liked it so much that I am using it for my PSF/Dork swap that is due in June! June!! It will be awhile before I can post that one! LOL!! I am hoping to spend some time in the studio creating in honor of those at Stampmania without me, but I am TIRED!! We went to friend's house last night to watch Smoke Signals with Adam Beech. It is a classic if you live somewhere with a First Nations population. Otherwise, I don't know if you would get a lot of the humor. I love Adam Beech, just adore him, I will watch anything he is in!! He was in Windtalkers with Nic Cage (whom I also adore) and is now on Law and Order: SVU. Did ya know he is a born and raised Winnipegger? We even have a big mural on the side of a building near where he grew up! Anyway, we watched movies and didn't get to bed till 4:30! I keep forgetting that I am not 21 and I can't do that anymore! LOL!! Maybe I am going to have to have a nap instead!

2008-04-13T11:05:00.003-05:00

Finally some of my creations are reaching their new homes so I can post them here!! This card I made for a dear PSF Sarahstampart's Birthday. When I started this card I had no idea who I was making it for or that it was even going to be a birthday card! :) But when I was done I knew exactly where it was headed -California! If only I could figure out how to mail me to California too! Seriously, the weather has been better here and Spring is definitely my favorite time of year. I love that it's warm enough to not need winter stuff but still cool enough in the mornings and at night to still wear a jacket. It is all about the accessories ya know! ;) Probably because I have this fabulous leather jacket and I just want to wear it every opportunity I get! TTFN!

2008-04-12T01:20:00.004-05:00

This card was inspired by my PSF Dawn (aka Dawnsing on SCS). Her cards have a simple, clean line feel and alot of Designer Series papers and I ALWAYS love them. I tend to go for the "more is more" effect. So I started making cards like her and now I can't stop! LOL!! I have lots more to share, but my cards need to arrive at thier destinations -just in case thier new owner were to read my blog first! I sent them out on March 28 so surely they will be arriving soon?!? The card in the previous post was inspired by her too!

2008-04-04T19:17:00.002-05:00

I am so hyper! I wanna go dancing or something! LOL!! I guess I am finally ready to celebrate my Birthday. I think I am still about 23 KWIM?? How did I become this responsible adult (OK fairly responsible) This card I made for my Barbie who I love even tho she drives me nuts. She is forever working on my being even more responsible and mature and keeps me out of the trouble that I try to find myself in! ;) I just adore her she is like my Mom but better cuz she is my BFF! (Although once the shop opens and i have to start working with her, I am sure I am gonna kill her and then have to hide the body! ) Love you Barbie! Happy Birthday may you torment me for many years to come! I really like how this card turned out. This is the first time I used that Bridal Confetti on a card and I just love it!! Thanks to Lauren (mytime) for the hot tip!!

2008-04-03T14:52:00.005-05:00

I started this card in January for my PSF's. Then I decided to send Valentines so this card sat and waited and waited and waited. Finally I realized I needed to get it sent because there wasn't going to be any snow left here in Canada and then this card was gonna have to wait until next winter! LOL! I love this Bella! She is so cute and sassy and with those bare legs in
-40 very SEXY! :) Blues usually aren't my colors but they do help with the cold snowy feel so I think it worked. I practiced shading with my new copics WITHOUT the blender. I don't have that one yet so I just layered the colors. I think it turned out pretty good! TTFN!

2008-03-31T14:18:00.003-05:00

This is my nephew Devin. He lives in New Zealand with Kevin's sister and her DH. He turned three this past November. For his birthday I made him a traditional star quilt. I think that it is a pretty good first try. They are really complicated to get them to fit together just right. Apparently he loves it alot and tries to drag it everywhere with him. This is the baby sized one. I am currently working on a bedspread size one for him to take back home with him after he comes to visit in May. I am feeling quite overwhelmed on the first day of Spring Break. The weather isn't that nice yet and my boys have cabin fever extrodinaire. They each have a friend over and I am ready to run and hide. 6 little boys made more noise that I thought humanly possible. We are so gonna have to find some "field trip" activities this week or I will be sitting in a corner babbling when it is over! :) TTYL!

Libby

2008-03-27T11:00:00.005-05:00

So here she is! BPISS CH Leolynne's Liberty Belle or "Libby". Finally a picture of the American Cocker puppy that I can't stop talking about! This was her second dog show. She had flown to BC the weekend before with her breeder taking Winners Bitch for 5 points and Best Puppy in Specialty! This is a very big win! She finished her championship easily in the weekend pictures with way more points than she needed! :) This weekend there is a local show so although we are not playing to get points we are hoping for some more Puppy Groups and maybe even a Puppy Show. That is of course if I can get my act together. She is certainly nice enough to do it but showing these small dogs on a table and holding thier tail is just kiling me. I have been going to classes on Tuesday nights so hopefully some of it will pay off! I have been stamping away with about 10 cards and a couple of projects just ready to upload but I want to wait until they arrive at thier destination. No sense in spoiling the surprise! TTYL!!

OK so it's not a card.............

2008-03-17T09:28:00.002-05:00

My Mom has been driving me crazy forever about learning to quilt with her, either taking a class or reading a book and teaching her. LOL! My Mom isn't, how can I put it? gifted in the instructions department. All the while she was slowly amassing more quilting supplies than her dining room could hold. Well in August I gave in. Sh started with Native American Star Blankets and I started with a traditional Sue Bonnet Sue pattern. I'm not sure if it was the "Holly Hobby" dollies I loved or it was because the sample was pink, but I had a plan. Alliyah and Summer were already fighting over who was going to get it. I was leaning toward Summer since on the bottom bunk we could see it as well as her bunk was a double and this was quite a large pattern. I had all my dollies done by the end of August and back to school for me and the kids. By then my Mom had a good handle on things and she kept going on her own. In October we made a trip to Fargo where I bought the pink for around my squares and then my quilt just sat, and sat and sat. Well I finally got up enough gumption and finished it. Here it is. I am quite proud of how it turned out! Proud enough that it's final resting place is my stamp room! ;)

Cards, Cards and more Cards!

2008-03-16T16:45:00.004-05:00

I have been stamping like a madwoman as of late. I guess what they say about depressed artists doing great work is true! LOL!! Stamping has been soothing my sadness and I am even creating stuff I love! The problem is I love it all so much I have either submitted it for contests or am giving it to my secret friends, so I can't post it just in case. But I do have a few things I could share. This card I made for Betty. She is da bomb! My Nik has asthma (quite serious) and isn't able to have stuffed animals. A couple of years ago, I found this awesome bear at Target, made especially for kids with asthma. After a close encounter with Marco the Aussie, I realised that we needed more than one. So I posted to my dearest friends on SCS if they could watch their Targets for them, and if they could pick one up for him. Well Betty went above and beyond. She found 2 bears, a Rottweiler, and a panther. She found a few others too but those are the ones Nik chose to share his heart with. The first bear made it to our house late last week. Here is a pic with Cuddly and his new buddy Robin. Robin is named after the little girl at school he has a crush on. Yes, he is only 8! :) TTYL!

Baby in da Belly! (no not me ;) )

2008-01-27T19:40:00.000-06:00

So finally after much lamenting it seems my stamping mojo is making a slow comeback! I have stamped more in this last week than I have in 3 months I am sure! Kev's work friend from a million years and two workplaces ago is finally pregnant!! :) I am really happy for her cuz I know she really wanted a bambino! SO I decided to make her a congrats card. I started with this wonderful DS paper from SU's Ginger Blossom and Ruby Red and Groovy Guava Cardstock and of course Teddybella. Now this is not a Bella I even own yet, but I just LOVE how you can pop out the belly so she looks preggers!! I think pregnant women are so beautiful, even pretend ones! And I love ribbon, any ribbon and this Guava ribbon is beautiful!! This is one of those cards I love so much I don't want to give it away!! I have made a couple of other fabu cards but they will have to wait. I am mailing them to some girlahs that I love that do frequent both my gallery and my blog but I will tell you this, one is a valentine so I'll post it on the 14th and the other is a Canadianabella! LOL!! Dying yet?? I know I would be! TTYL!! Mwah to my girlahs!

I'm back -FINALLY!

2008-01-25T00:31:00.001-06:00

Well, I didn't think I would ever get back to stamping or my blog. But I am HERE!! I briefly picked up a few stamps last Friday at Jenn's and managed to make a few cards and then I even managed to squeeze out a few minutes tonight. Things have been interesting around here to say the least, and I am hoping that it will settle back down to the status quo very soon. Anyway, this card I made for one of my PSFs, (Pretend Stamping Friend) a term that was coined by a special little girl for a special group of women. I knew as I was working on it exactly who the card was going to be for as it developed. Funny enough, I posted it in my SCS gallery for the Virtual Stamp Night Challenges and she saw it already! LOL!! But she doesn't know that it is on it's way to her and that it was made especially for her.

Hey Girlahs!!

2007-11-16T00:31:00.000-06:00

So I have been neglecting my stamping. Worse yet I have been neglecting my Girlahs!! My training is going really fab but most days it is 9-7pm and I come home burnt out and after seeing the kids a little and Kevin a little, I head to bed. Also my Granny is in the hospital, long story that ends with surgery and her doing much better. But WOW have I been busy with trying to visit her every day after work. This is the Christmas card I designed for this year. When I am gonna find time to make 50 of them I dunno! LOL!! I'll try to post more soon. Miss you all!! Counting the days till January.............

MWAH!! (kisses)

Stamp Club

2007-09-22T22:56:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time long before SU came to Winnipeg a group of stamping diehards found each other and began stamping together once a month. They are called Just Stampers. I joined about 5 years ago. Last night was the first stamp night of the 2007-2008 season and it was at my house. After a long week of grooming training I sure appreciated kicking back and stamping with some very talented stampers. We do a card exchange and some kind of technique or challenge. Since I was hosting I picked a fall card theme, either colors or stamps and a card sketch challenge. Susan suggested one sketch and the other I found on Lauren's (Mytime's) blog. I used my umbrella stamp set for the exchange and ended up not following the sketch too well for Lauren's and ended up with a pretty decent card for Susan's. Above is my fall card and below is Susan's sketch.

TGIF!!

2007-09-14T07:22:00.000-05:00

I have had this lunch pail for at least a year. It sat patiently on my things to do shelf for all this time. Finally, I sat down and made myself this tin. I still need to modgepodge it but that requires digging out by craft bins from the depths of storage an I can't quite make myself do it yet! LOL!! You really can't go wrong with the Cutie Pie paper and Pomegranate tho! :) I LOVE ribbon so this Celery stuff is fabu!! Now I have a pretty tin to hold all my cards. But I am trying not to be a card hoarder and send more random cards to my friends! I am also hoping to finish cleaning my stamp room this morning, I got a lot accomplished last week end and my tables reflect it! LOL!! I also need to pack up cuz it's FRIDAY NIGHT -so stamping at Jenn's! I think I am going to tackle a few challenges. It has been awhile since I have done some! The best part of all?? My Favorite Things Shower Time set JUST arrived!! Wahoo!! I have been dying to ink up this set! The first card I make tonight will be with this set for sure! I just love umbrellas -go figure.

I made the Leaf Pile!!

2007-09-13T08:26:00.000-05:00

So I get up this morning and I am having a dragging-your-butt-how-am-I-ever-gonna-get-6- kids-to-school-on-time?? kind of morning. I always peek quickly at my email before doing much of anything. More comments on my SCS gallery -YAY!! So I go and read the comment and it is a congrats on winning?? Well wouldn't ya know, but my wiper card was nominated for the Leaf Pile for the Sept VSN. I had big plans of my participation in VSN this month and had been looking forward to it since May, but with all the other projects that had been screaming to get out of my head and working on Sat, I just didn't get to participate other than this one pre-challenge. So anyway I am really excited about that. I need someone to pay me to stamp and blog all day long I think............ :)

SO not only are my gaggle of children back to school, but so am I. This past January I thought I would try something new and did a short apprenticeship to be a Pet Groomer. I thought I was doing it for fun like most of my ADD half-projects that I never finish, but low and behold I loved it. But you see being a pet store groomer just doesn't cut it for me....If I love something I have to be one of the best at something. Back to school I go!! SO now I am studying (if you can call it that) to learn fancy cuts and show cuts and stuff. I'm loving it but it is long days and it seems as tho I'll never be done (in reality hopefully I'll be done by Christmas). In addition to ADD I have a real issue with delayed gratification. This was my first week and I went Mon-Wed. Next week I'll go Mon-Fri. I like the flexibility of working at the shop, I can work as many or as few days as I want. This going everyday stuff sucks!! LOL!!

I made these this past weekend........
It's a cardstock purse and 9 matching cards done with one 12x12 designer sheet of paper. I am making them for all the kid's girl teachers for Christmas. (any boy teacher ideas out there??) I got the original template here. I love the Au Chocolate paper by SU but you can't get it wanted something a bit more mature that the usual invite so I used my quick notebook cover to anymore. Jenn says the Charbon is supposed to be nice and make cute purses. I think I am gonna try a Cutie Pie one next as soon as I get my new order of Pomegranate and DS paper. I can't bear to use all of what I have!!

I also threw together an invite for Bailey's birthday, he's gonna be 11. Boy does that ever freak me out!! I can't believe it was 11 years ago that that red-haired terror ;) entered my world!! He's thrilled with the results. When I made the notebook cover I colored it perfectly, but I realized that a less perfect coloring job is EXACTLY what a stamp like this needs! I love it!! Kevin even commented on liking the way I colored it and for him -that means something!!

So with all this free time.............

2007-09-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

what is a girl to do?? Well stamp of course!! I found out that AmyR was doing a call for designers for ATS so I figured why not?? Maybe an expert grass drawer is what they need! ;) I also happen to have gotten my stamping mojo back so I had projects galore to share!! This Changito card is my favorite and it has been living in my head for awhile now so it is nice to finally get him into the jungle where he belongs!!

My Max also turned 6 this Summer but waited to celebrate his birthday with the boys in his Grade 1 class. A Glow in the Dark Mini Golf place opened nearby and we are going to check it out. They provided invitations but I couldn't use those!! But I did cut a piece of them off cuz I thought it made a nice Designer paper look. I wanted the invites to look like they were glowing in the dark so I went for a bright on black sort of look. I think they are really cool and better than that Max loves them!!

Tomorrow I start upgrading from pet groomer to being able to do "fancy styles" and stuff! I am all nervous in my tummy just like I used to get before school started. And freaked out that I am not going to be good enough!! I always get like this. I hate the process, but love where I am going! I can't wait till the next twelve weeks are over. It's going to be a long three months!! I'll feel better in a day or two once I get the feel of things, but right now I am like "Mellie, why do you want to do this again??" I guess I better head to bed and try to sleep (rolls eyes).

First Day Back at School

2007-09-05T09:17:00.000-05:00

So this is it!! The first day of school. Can you hear the quiet in my house?? Nah, I guess not. We were off to a great start this morning (not) with a thunderclap being what woke my kids at 7 am. Two crying kids that didn't want to leave the house did not bode well for being on time but we did it!! I'm a bit sad cuz summer is over and my babies are off to grade one!! I like Kindergarten when they are home with me every other day. Just enough of a break to do your own thing but lots of time with the kids!! I am however really excited to focus on my grooming and stamping!! I'm just thankful that my kids go to such an awesome school that I can send them out the door with no worries!! :) Nik of course insisted on a silly picture too! He'll be thrilled to see himself on the web!!

RAK'ed

2007-09-04T22:38:00.000-05:00

So I am FINALLY all ready for the first day of school! YAY!! I was sure I was never going to be done labeling all those supplies. So in the middle of this chore, right when I was needing a break the mailman brought me a letter from Helen. She sent me not one but two rak's. My friend Helen is VERY talented, she does all kinds of paper crafts. She sent me one of her beautiful Spirelli cards. Here are the two cards she sent me. Now wouldn't that brighten up just about any one's day??

One more day till school starts...........

2007-09-04T09:42:00.000-05:00

Do I sound excited?? I'm not really. I haven't even BEGUN to label my kids school supplies. I figure it is going to be an all day project. I really like school supplies and I enjoy doing the labeling, I just didn't get to it soon enough this year. I am one of those mom's that label each and every individual crayon in the 64 crayon box -yep! That's where I'll be till 2am! LOL!! What I did actually manage this year was to make covers for my kids notebooks! The three older ones needed notebooks for school so last night when I was at Jenn's I threw together 4 quick covers. And I CASED Lauren Meader's lunch box cards so when my kids open their lunch kit on the first day of school they will have a card with a note in it from me and Kevin. I'm feeling really good about that. My babies Max and Summer will be in Grade One. I'm a bit traumatized, I liked having them around every second day. Even tho Max is only 6 weeks younger than Summer, I see him as the family "baby". Probably cuz Summer is so mature. I really don't want to let him go. He was the last one I gave birth to and I feel really close to him. Yesterday we were snuggling on my bed and I told him I changed my mind, I wasn't gonna let him go to first grade cuz I wanted him to stay home with me. Wanna know what he said?? He said "I have to go to first grade or I won't be able to get a good job" ROTFLMBO!! You can see what I drill into their heads at a young age huh?? And Bailey my oldest, the one who made me a Mom, he is going to Grade 6. Yeah, I can't even think about that -boggles my mind. Where did the years go?? OK I suppose I have procrastinated long enough. Wish me neat printing!! :)