Understand Blue

CHA Winter 2012 - Live Coverage

2012-01-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

If you are reading this in a reader - please click over for live coverage of CHA winter in sunny SoCal! :)

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A Little Sunshine

2012-01-28T10:55:00.000-06:00

Whew! After a crazy storm this week with five inches of rain, we are back to glorious sunshiny days. I can't wait to get back to my walking routine after CHA this week.

Speaking of sunny we made the CUTEST sunny card for the Ronald McDonald House project at Leadership. This was simple, but may have been my favorite stamping project because I just loved the bold & bright look.

They taught us a little trick with the Scalloped Border punch to make that little wiggly strip of Poppy Parade - you punch one side, and then just offset it when you punch the other side. So cute and such a different look with that punch!

The stamps are from Mixed Bunch, which we got at Leadership. I love that bold flower. All the flowers match the Blossom Punch.

The little center of that flower is from the Blossom Builders Designer Printed Kit - SQUEE! We got this at Leadership and it comes with PINK RHINESTONES!! EEEP! You know you want to order that. :)

Tomorrow come back here for my live CHA coverage!

Loveyameanitbye.

In Summary - Human Pretzels and Lee Greenwood

2012-01-26T20:42:00.000-06:00

I finally downloaded my pics from my camera today from Leadership. A lot of my live coverage pics were with my Iphone, so I know they won't be hitting National Geographic any time soon. I thought I'd share a few you haven't seen yet that are a little better quality.

First, Manager's reception. This is only the second time I've been, and it was wonderful. Don't worry if you didn't come to Leadership or qualify for this or anything else. I've been having fun for ten years - this is just a bonus, really. So keep having fun - it pays off :).

We got to see some incredible acrobats from China. I held my breath nearly the whole time because I truly couldn't believe what I was seeing. Here are some of the crazy antics. (I'm translating from Chinese.)

Oh hi - please bring me a chair - this tower I built out of chairs isn't tall enough to scare these demonstrators!

I am not scary enough standing on a wobbly tower of chairs, I must do a handstand.

WAIT - BRING ME MORE CHAIRS. THERE IS ONE PERSON WHO HASN'T FAINTED.

Please, bend yourself into a pretzel so that I may balance teacups on your feet and chin.

Next, we really had an adventure, thanks to our friend Sue Farrant. She happened to get us tickets to the filming of the Extreme Home Makeover Christmas Special honoring the military. It was an incredible experience. We got to meet the veterans on the show, many of whom had terrible injuries. Very humbling. To begin the event, we had the privilege of having Lee Greenwood sing God Bless the USA 15 feet from us. I can't even really describe how amazing that was.

He was very kind and gracious, too. What an amazing moment.

Then we got an absolutely unbelievable performance from these Australian tenors and got to see Paige and Ty.

Here we are teaching them how to say y'all.

Roger Clements spoke and signed a few baseballs for the auction benefiting Helping a Hero.

If you want to do something charitable, this is a great organization, so be sure and check out their site. These brave young men and women deserve a roof over their heads.

Then we were off to stamp and be stamped! Here are some of the cute projects from main stage. I think most of the ones I picked are from Shelli's demo.

I didn't even want this set until I saw this cutie.

Um. Adorable. I love zig zags. I love this paper. I love these colors together. I love this. Is that clear?

CUTE feathers made from leaves.

Thank goodness the edgelits are on their way to me as we speak. I need to make exactly this card!

Love the rhinestone on the typewriter key.

Framelits make the 3D hearts on this CAS number - LOVE it.

I will be posting from CHA in a few days and then I'll finally get to come home and STAMP!! I miss it! :)

Loveyameanitbye.

The White Peony and Pink Catnip

2012-01-25T08:23:00.001-06:00

I went to New York a few years ago for a trade show. Trade shows can be crazy, and you're with people all the time, most of whom are selling you something, so it can be a bit overwhelming. I was also the only girl, which has its own disadvantages.

On the last day in town I was determined to do something without the herd of Y chromosomes, so I snuck off to the Russian Tea room for lunch. It was great, because aside from two extremely rich and somewhat drunk older ladies, the place was completely empty.

I couldn't pass up tea in the tea room, so I ordered something I've never had before - white peony tea. When it came, it was in a glass teacup, like those crazy Russians do :) and it had dark cherries at the bottom of the cup.

It was incredible. I wish I had thought to ask them what brand it was.

I guess they're not the only ones with white peony tea though, because imagine my surprise when it showed up in our Tea Shoppe set in the mini catalog!

I made this card with that set for the Leadership art contest. I didn't win. :( But I had so much fun making it!

I actually sprayed the stamp itself with Blushing Bride Smooch and then stamped it before it dried. So in the second picture you can see how shimmery it is.

I used other fun mini catalog goodies like the Doily Sizzlit, the Blushing Bride pleated ribbon, the striped embossing folder.

What a fun set. I saw an UBER cute tea gift set with this set that we are going to make at my February stamp class if you want to come!

Now speaking of pink - one of the most hilarious things in this AWESOME book I'm reading (Recommended in Carrie Cudney's Why Women Buy class) is the statement that "pink is not a strategy" in marketing.

She says that male ad executives view pink as "female catnip" and think that if they turn a product pink, that that is a new gender based marketing strategy. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Oh I love this book.

There are actually two books, so here they are again - one didn't show up in the reader version of my feed, so here is the one I'm reading now:

And here is the other one Carrie referenced - Marketing to Women.

I can't wait to read that one.

Female catnip!!

SNORT!!

Hope you're having a great week! :)

Loveyameanitbye.

Why She Buys

2012-01-23T11:23:00.000-06:00

I'm baaaackkkk......

Leadership was a BLAST! We had some amazing classes in addition to all the stampy inspiration.

I think my favorite class was Carrie Cudney's "Why Women Buy." It was a really cool exploration of how marketing messages are tuned to men or to women successfully. She pulled a ton of information from this book, which I will be buying today:

It had these great stories in it about the differences between men and women when it comes to shopping - including a HILARIOUS map of a man's trip to the mall to buy a shirt at the Gap and that same trip with a woman. The woman goes into every store - the last one is the Gap. She spends $800. He walks in, goes to the Gap, buys the shirt, and leaves.

But all the information about the psychology of a female buyer is AMAZING and I highly recommend it. I can't wait to get it on my Kindle.

I thought that I would share a real picture of one of my Make & Takes at Regionals instead of an Iphone pic. This card was SO easy and fun to make!!

To make the flower, we used the largest of the shapes from the Triple Blossom punch - I adhered the first one flat, and then curved the second one with my bone folder. The center was stamped in Calypso Coral - it's the polka dotted kite from Send me Soaring, then we punched hearts from it with the itty bitty heart punch. The DSP is from the Sweet Shop suite.

Cute, eh?

I'll be back with more tomorrow! :)

Thanks for hanging out with me during Leadership. I had so much fun meeting and hanging out with a lot of you. Can't wait to see you again!

2012 Leadership Live Coverage begins NOW

2012-01-17T12:36:00.000-06:00

If you came here for live Leadership coverage, you're in the right place! Watch as our adventures in South Central Texas unfold!

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With Apologies To Lionel Richie...

2012-01-14T07:56:00.001-06:00

But today it's ...

Once

Twice

Three times a thank you....

I needed to make a bunch of thank you cards for some very special peeps this week and I wanted to keep them simple and pretty flat for mailing. I was falling asleep one night and came up with this simple punch design. I used the Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper Pad, the Full Heart Punch, the Small Heart Punch and the greeting from All Holidays.

Now, in addition to 80 thank you cards, I have 80 teeny hearts ready to use on something else!

Loveyameanitbye.

BC (Before Cedar) and AC (After Cedar)

2012-01-07T17:57:00.000-06:00

It's cedar season.

For those of you not living in Central Texas, I will translate.

We are all dying.

Go on without us. Encase our state in cement so that these trees can't follow you out. Refer to time as BC (Before Cedar) and AC (After Cedar) in the history books.

Tell stories about us so people will know how we lived during the non cedar infested months.

Show them this video and let them know we did our best, but no one could defeat this monster.

We gave our all. Every last sneeze was sneezed bravely.

We all have little survival tricks to get us through February and this madness. I alternate between fizzy water, things with hot chiles in them and hot tea to try to keep my throat from closing completely.

Who doesn't love tea, even if they can't taste it?? This is my favorite tea.

And this is my favorite tea stamp!! This set is from the new Occasions Mini and it's gorgeous! Everything a sneezing tea lover could want in a stamp set! I paired it with some lace trim to give that doily feel and made a teabag tag with the tag punch - cute, eh?

Stamps: Tea Shoppe

Ink: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Basic Black

Paper: Everyday Enchantment DSP (Sale-a-Bration), Crumb Cake, Island Indigo

Accessories: Victoria Lace, Tag Punch, Pool Party Twine, White Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Now in the fizzy water part of my remedy, I prefer LaCroix - the grapefruit is my fave. I got hooked on this when I did the 3Day walk in Dallas and they were a sponsor. No calories, no sweetener, just fizz and a faint grapefruit flavor. It's my fave water.

For the hot chile part, I like soup the best. I made the most fantastic soup last night - and I know I say that every time I make soup, but seriously - this was Soup Nazi quality soup. I promised I would blog the recipe, so here it is:

Pumpkin Peanut Soup

1 tablespoon corn oil
2 TBS butter
1 large onion, diced
1 medium orange or yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp-ish salt - more to taste
1 clove garlic, minced (optional - I didn’t add any)
1 TBS peeled and grated fresh ginger (I like to grate mine after it’s frozen)
1 can Libby’s pumpkin - 15-ish oz can
6 cups chicken broth (I used CM Organics)
1 (14.5-ounce) can Hunts tomato puree
2/3 cup Peter Pan peanut butter

Heat the oil and butter in a large soup pot over a medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and and cook, stirring until the vegetables soften and the onions are translucent and squishy. Add the cayenne, black pepper, garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the pumpkin broth, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, about 20 minutes.

Blend the soup in the pot with a stick blender. Then add peanut butter, stirring until blended, and heat on low until the peanut butter is blended and melted. Garnish with crushed honey roasted peanuts or salted peanuts.

This was insanely delicious - and even better left over. If you don't like spicy food - leave out the jalapeno and the cayenne.

Completely amazing.

If you need me, just walk towards the sound of the sneezing.

Loveyameanitbye. Achoo. Bless me.

Like Peas and Carrots

2012-01-05T06:50:00.000-06:00

I'm always making fun of all the Y chromosome types in my life for incessantly memorizing and reciting every single line from every single movie they've ever seen.

It's maddening. You'll be going along having a normal conversation, and suddenly, someone will say something a little odd, a little too enthusiastically, in their "I'm quoting a movie now" voice.

Then they smirk at each other and the assembled crowd. Unless it's one of six movies, I don't know the movie, I don't care what movie it is, and odds are I either fell asleep, started stamping or playing Angry Birds about ten minutes into said movie. I certainly have not memorized any dialogue. And I don't feel like less of a human because I don't recognize a line from Hot Tub Time Machine or the Goonies.

However, this ability comes with the chromosome, so they can't help it. We have to just empathize with their struggle with their genetic disorders.

There are only six movies worth quoting. Actually, if you can't quote these movies, there might be something wrong with your chromosomes!

They are, in no particular order:

Gone With The Wind
The Cowboys
Die Hard
Christmas Vacation
Elf
Forrest Gump

Of these, Forrest Gump is one of the most fun, because it comes with a VOICE. There's no one who can't do this voice.

My two favorite lines from the movie are: "Sometimes, I guess, there just aren't enough rocks." That one always knocks the wind out of me.

The other is "Me and Jenn-ay goes together like peas and carrots."

I don't know where that saying came from, but despite the fact that no one really likes peas, carrots or peas and carrots, it stands tall as one of the most charming phrases on EARTH.

Things like peas and carrots find their spiritual home on stamps I think! Suddenly, they are as sweet as they sound....

I rustled up some peas and carrots for the Sweet 'n Sassy blog hop going on today!

They were kind enough to let me play along with the big girls today - their Design Divas, and so I whipped up a yummy treat.

Stamps: You & Me Ink: Memento Paper: Bazzill, SU Crumb Cake
Accessories: SU Ribbon, ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: GY48, GY47, YR23, YR24, Fancy Favor Die, Tasteful Trim Die

I used the adorable You & Me stamp set for a little treat bag I cut with the Fancy Favor die and Crumb Cake cardstock. I stamped the veggies on a Crumb Cake tag, and then stamped them again on white, colored and paper pieced it. Before I stamped, I actually cut the greeting off the stamp so I could use it anywhere or stamp just the images by themselves.

This little bag is perfect for treats you tie in a bag, like, say... CHOCOLATE CARROTS! For "peas" I used green (mint) Hershey Kisses.

I used the Tasteful Trim die to dress up the side

Now look at those cuties and try to tell me you don't love peas and carrots!!! I double dog dare you.

Ready to hop along and see some other goodies?

Take a look at the rest of the Design Divas fun creations for some serious wow-age.

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog

Taylor Usry
Bridget Finlay

Cathy McCauley
Lydia Fiedler << You are here :)

Korin Sutherland

Thanks for coming by! Feel free to leave your favorite movie quote in the comments!

Loveyameanitbye.

Forget the Groundhog - Does Your Bunny Cast a Shadow?

2012-01-03T16:19:00.002-06:00

Can you BELIEVE it's almost time for the groundhog?

Also, don't you think it's funny that little cranky Phil is one of our country's most unifying events? It's really sweet and simple and charming.

It's also a little crazy.

That's really the perfect combination of things, if you think about it. Unifying, simple, sweet, charming and crazy. Actually, if you have children, you should tell them those are the things they should look for in a spouse!!

Well, in honor of the upcoming groundhog event, I thought I should do a little tutorial on creating realistic shadows for those of us who don't consider ourselves illustrators.

Basically, it's a tutorial on cheating. Heh.

I used my FAVE bunneh stamp ever - an ancient retired set - Hello Spring. I think this was on my very first ever Stampin' Up! order way back in 2001. Sheesh. I am old. Anyway, I used it with the no line coloring method to make him fuzzier. Because who doesn't love a fuzzy bunny?

Then, I used my cheaty method to make his shadow. I'm pretty sure his shadow means six years of sunshine. Or that's what I hope, anyway.

Stamps: Hello Spring (retired) Ink: None Paper: Whisper White, Retired SU DSP Accessories: ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: BR134, BR107, WG 0.5, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon (retired)

Want to see it on video? I thought so! :) If you don't see a video player below, just click

here for the Reflections and Shadows Tutorial Video

How about that? Easy, eh?

I decided to do a new thing with the blue list too just to share my fun finds every week - check it out below! :)

Oh - and are you ready for my live Leadership coverage? Just two weeks till it starts! Be sure and stay tuned!

Next Year's Words...

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!!

I, of course, am not awake right now, but you may be, and if so, I hope you are having a happy, loud, quiet, festive or peaceful New Year's Eve - whichever of those you like!

I saw a great quote on Twitter tonight. (via @ken_homer)

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. ~ T.S. Eliot

Isn't that the truth?

Remember - we didn't have Pinterest before 2011.

We won't have Steve Jobs in 2012.

We are going to be amazed and delighted and touched this year in ways we can't imagine, I'm sure.

After all, the internet has more LOLcats for us, there are crafts we've never done, apps that haven't been invented yet, and all those recipes we haven't tried.

I hope your New Year is filled with wonder and joy and peace.

And LOLcats. :)

This little kitty is a free digi (go get it!) from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps, who decided to set the tone for the New Year with generosity, humor and fun.

It doesn't get much sweeter than that!

Loveyameanitseeyouin2012.

If You Like It, Then You Better Make a Ring Out Of It!

2011-12-29T17:57:00.000-06:00

Aah vacation. As it draws to a close, it's just now getting to the point where I can do some fun stuff.

The first three days I spent shoveling out my craftastrophe. What's funny is it doesn't really look that different. But I spent most of the time on the closet. I threw away three huge garbage bags full of old class notes from conventions past, some old cards that were ugly and I was never going to mail to anyone, and a whole lot of random scraps of things or half finished projects that weren't worth starting.

After I got rid of the trash, I had a lot of stuff that was brand new or gently used that needed to go. I boxed these up in flat rate boxes (35 pounds across three boxes!) and mailed them off to friends. That felt good.

I did so much of this that I'm actually sore from squatting in front of shelves peering at ill advised purchases from bygone years. I have lots more to go but it's a start!

My goal for 2012 is to have exactly HALF of the possessions I have now. I only want to keep things I really love and use. The rest should go to people whole will love what I'm not using.

I've also decided if I win the lottery I will build a large, one-story home with NO closets, NO drawers and NO attic. Everything will have to live in the space it's used in, so things will have to be useful and artfully displayed. So put THAT in your hat and smoke it.

So today was the first day I've gotten to the point where I could be crafty. And it was SO fun!!

I used a tutorial I saw earlier in the year to make fake faceted jewels from floral stones!!

LOOK how sparkly and fun they are!! Here's the white one.

SQUEE!!!

And you KNOW I did a blue one!!!

Don't they just make you happy????

Okay - here's what you do. I started with this fried marbles tutorial on Craftster. However, I tried it with her temperatures three times and it didn't work. So after a lot of failed experimentation, this is what I did.

Start with these flat bottomed marbles.
Preheat your oven to 500.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Fill a stainless steel bowl with ice water - lots of ice.
Spread stones out on parchment paper in a single layer.
Bake for 20 minutes, and when finished, take the cookie sheet and dump the marbles directly and immediately into the ice water, where they will make a satisfying sizzle and crack. Leave them there about 15-20 minutes and dump them out onto a paper towel.

Some will crack better than others. They are SO fun!! I made a squillion of them.

Then, take some of this glue and glue them to these ring blanks.

VOILA!! Ring bling!!

How fun is THAT?

And for a few Christmas gifts, I bought these stacking espresso cups and some candle making supplies - a little hot pot (nice because it's easy to pour the wax out of), wicks and some unscented wax and I filled the cups with wax. When they were cool, I added a circle of stamped tissue paper and heated it with my heat gun to melt it into the candle. The stamp is the retired background stamp - Musical score. Aren't they sassy?

Now after I gave them away I was left with the holder the cups came in:

What ever shall I do with it? Got any ideas? Lay em on me, stringbean!! :)

Loveyameanitbye.

Forever Praise We...

2011-12-25T05:30:00.000-06:00

You know how people (who don't have/like animals) always tell you that the reason your pets like you is because you feed them? That all of the purring and snuggling and tail wagging is designed to get you to give them some pet chow?

Well of course you know I don't believe THAT. I know they love us.

And I also know that not everything that motivates behavior on this earth is food or shelter or some other primitive need.

I know that some things exist solely to give us joy.

One of the ways I know this is because I heard this on the way home on Christmas Eve.

Now listen to that and then tell me that that gift she has serves some utilitarian purpose. I won't believe you.

That is a gift meant purely to enhance the joy of humans on earth.

And does it ever.

Joy is good. The sense of lightness and fun we all share for a few weeks at the holidays is really a treasure. I hope you are enjoying it, no matter what you're doing, or where you're doing it.

In addition to the joy, I always think on Christmas of our brave men and women who won't spend this Christmas at home, and their families getting through the holidays without them. Today on the radio, a General said "remember the empty chair."

So in honor of both human joy and the empty chair, here is one of my favorite Christmas songs on my Ipod, but with a very special twist :) Welcome home to the troops headed our way, and God bless all the rest.

(click here if you don't see a video player)

This Christmas I decided my card should be merry and bright! You know by now that I love to make monochromatic, sort of subdued Christmas cards, but I decided to step out a bit this year into something splashier. More joyful.

To make them, I used my Aqua Painter and Poppy Parade, Summer Sun and Tempting Turquoise reinkers and painted stripes around four sides of Naturals White cardstock and punched that out with the ornament punch. I got 20 of these per sheet for a total of 8 sheets of cardstock. Then I cut 1/8" strips of silver glimmer paper. This was a wee bit more than half a sheet total. Then 80 sheets of Whisper White, the stamped greeting from Peaceful Season and the music from Nature's Pace and voila! 160 handmade cards for $19.75 in consumables - or .12 a card!

Add the joy of making handmade cards and what do you get?

Priceless.

I hope your Christmas is joyful. And filled with pie. :)

Loveyameanitbye.

It's Just a Little Primitive

2011-12-23T10:15:00.002-06:00

I've been having fun looking at some of the primitive Christmas decorations on Pinterest. Besides just being beautiful and simple, I have been surprised at how many of them can be made with things you already have.

Pinterest is definitely a DIY-ers dream.

Were I not a procrastinator, I would have been able to make many more of the beautiful, simple things I pinned this season.

But one of them really grabbed me and I had to try it since I had all the stuff.

The original pin is here, and this is my version.

You knew I had to make Mary blue, didn't you?

The circle behind them is shimmery white cardstock, and it's hanging with white twine. The star is cut with the Stars #2 die from Silver Glimmer paper. I painted them with Apple Barrel Paints. There are a bunch of different shapes of old fashioned clothespins you can find in bulk, like these.

I love the simplicity of the symbols. So sweet.

I hope you're in that phase of the holidays where you are enjoying some of your hard work and preparation!

This afternoon, we are kicking off a week of Christmas vacation with the second annual wrapping party at my sister's. We provide wrapping paper, tape, bows, ribbon, tables, music and food, a DIY tag craft table and assistance for the neighbors so that everyone can wrap presents in a relaxing setting where they don't have to hide gifts from the kids or do it after everyone is in bed. It's a really, fun, festive little thing we started last year and everyone loved it, so it's year two!

I guess I should go prep the tags, eh?

A gift without a tag is just downright primitive. :)

Oh - speaking of primitive, how about the instinct to soothe a crying baby? Even cats have it. This video is amazing - shared by my friend Karol. If you don't see a video player, click here to watch.

Loveyameanitbye.

Pea Happy

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I made the world's best split pea soup this week.

Seriously - the world's best. And I know there's a lot of good pea soup out there. But this? This is the best.

Now the reason I'm making split pea soup is because Texas is still pretending to be a climate that would be produced if England and Antarctica had a baby. A horrid, ugly, wet, grey baby that no one likes.

So I've just given up being a southerner and decided to buy a sweater and make things like pea soup. I might even learn to knit or go digging for clams in the cold, wet earth.

See how dramatic it makes me?

Well I told a bunch of people I'd share my recipe, so here you go. Don't forget to whisper my name when you taste it.

World's Best Split Pea Soup Ever in the WORLD

1 pound dried split peas. Soak these overnight. Throw away the nasty pea water a few times and add clean water.
1 large sweet yellow onion, lazily chopped into large pieces
Fresh thyme - about 10 sticks of it, a handful, whatever
Crushed red pepper flakes - I used a lot - like 1 TBSP - you make up your own mind.
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Smithfield smoked ham hocks
6 C. chicken broth
2 tsp. salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 C half and half

Throw it all in the crockpot. I stripped the thyme leaves into the crockpot and threw away the stems. Cook it on low for about 6 hours and then on high for the last two or three hours, depending on your crockpot's personality. At the end, toss the hocks, add the half and half and blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth. Whisper my name. It's even better the next day because it sort of firms up and gets that real split pea texture.

Oh - since everyone keeps asking, this is my crockpot and I love it like I love the sun.

It has given me many fabulous meals.

Now, if the sun would just come back, I'd be totally happy!

I made this card for a Hope You Can Cling To challenge. The hexagons are a Westminster / Sizzix quilting die and the B is from Serif Essentials. The bee is from Nature Walk and the greeting is from my beloved Pursuit of Happiness. I dyed some of our white twine with Summer Sun.

I never get tired of "be happy" cards. :)

And now that you have my recipe, you can PEA happy!

Loveyameanitbye.

You Might Think I Don't Remember, But I Do

2011-12-16T16:30:00.000-06:00

You were counting on me not remembering, I know.

But you're out of luck.

You see, I happen to be old enough to have been alive BEFORE plastic bags.

In the olden times, all there were were paper grocery bags. And it was good.

And then someone got their freak on and started telling all of us who were grocery shopping that we clearly hated kittens and baby seals and that's why we used paper bags. And that it had to change. For the kittens. And the baby seals.

Then, they introduced plastic bags to the stores. For the earth, they said. It's for the earth.

They kept the paper bags, though. This was so that they could ask you "paper or plastic?" and then judge you with a beady you-hate-seals stare when you chose paper. They didn't care if your jar of sauerkraut busted right through the bottom of the cheap, thin plastic bag and landed on your toe, permanently disabling you. They just glared at you and your paper bag and heaped planetary destruction onto your shoulders.

Trust me, I hated plastic bags before hating plastic bags was cool.

So let me attempt to describe my surprise, when suddenly, it is decreed from on high that plastic bags are bad for the environment. My city is considering banning them altogether. Clearly, they have determined that the world is about to abruptly end. And once again, it's my fault.

If I'd woken up with my HEAD sewn to the carpet, I couldn't be more surprised. (source: Christmas Vacation)

Not.

I actually always knew plastic was bad.

However, we are now at war with Eastasia instead of Eurasia and people think we don't remember.

But we do.

So ban whatever you want. Freak out all you want. But paper bags always ruled. We were right. Even when you were judging us.

Line up for apologies here beady glarers. I am waiting here with a smirk, and a lovely recycled brown paper bag.

I thought I'd bring you a little something different today in honor of the new paper friendly world order.

This is an encaustic painting I did in one of my classes, and I think it's my favorite.

It reminds me of Santa Fe, and I love that warm, desert color. It's amazing how much variation you can get with just a little iron. Maybe if my clothes looked like this when I ironed, which I don't, then I actually would. But they don't, so I won't.

Maybe I'll have time to make some more encaustic art over the holidays. This painting maybe took 15 minutes from start to finish. I should tell you it took days or weeks or months, but that would be a fib. And Santa is watching!

Here are some resources if you want to try it yourself.

This is my favorite encaustic technique book. I used this to form my classes.

Here are some of the waxes. I prefer the opaque colors, but that is just because I'm a newbie. You don't need many colors because you mix them.

Any craft iron (must be smooth - no holes) will work.

You need glossy cardstock, which you can of course buy from me :).

So, I must ask you, "paper or plastic?"

Loveyameanitbye.

When You Care Enough To Send the Hairy Beast

2011-12-14T10:54:00.000-06:00

I bought a stamp that says that - it has the little Hallmark crown over it and it just cracks me UP!

I thought about stamping it on the back of my Christmas cards, but then I decided I should be more serious so I used my normal one.

That's right - I said Christmas cards. Again.

I'm in full assembly mode at night. I have a mobile command center in the living room and am on phase 3 of assembly. Sadly, phase 3 is always where I discover the flaw in my design that grinds everything to a screeching near halt of slowness. Phases 1 & 2 had me feeling all smirky that I had designed a pretty smooth mass production piece of paper art, but 3 is always the DOH moment.

Oh well. I plod on, still determined to make my weekend mailing deadline! The hopelessness has left me!

Now to today's fun!

LOOK at this gorgeous Color Throwdown combo!!

I knew when I saw this I was going to get all Die-licious all over it, and I was so tempted to use my butterfly embosslit, but I knew I couldn't resist my new toys.

I busted out my Fashionable Hearts Embosslit and my Labels Collection framelits from the upcoming Occasions mini, along with the Rue Des Fleurs stamp set for a quick & happy card.

Those Color Throwdown ladies are brilliant. This combo just makes my eyes happy. Especially in this drizzly nastiness that will not leave my state.

One of our local radio hosts even commented on how we're all going crazy from this Seattle-ness. We Texans are not built for this. I'll be thrilled to see the sun again. I may not come inside for a while when it comes back.

I'll just post a pic of the sun here and you'll know why I'm gone!

Loveyameanitbye.

It's That Time Again...

2011-12-12T09:01:00.000-06:00

You know - the time when you have cookies in the oven, your holiday lights are twinkling, your favorite Christmas songs are on the radio, and you're all settled on the couch with your Kindle, reliving the magic of A Christmas Carol.

Yeah, if any of that is going on, you have one of the following:

Your mom living with you
Some sort of delusional disorder
A team of elves working around the clock doing your bidding
Illicit stimulants you mix into your espresso

The other possibility is that you are not a stamper.

Because what time it REALLY is is the time in between when you got the lights out and when they got up, when your desk is covered with the debris from no less than 40 failed prototypes of your Christmas card, and there is more of a chance that you'll be hit on the head with pieces of the international space station when you go out to start your car than that a cookie is going to get made in this chaos any time soon.

Now is the time we must throw away our dirty clothes, put in scheduled pizza orders (you really can do that, you know) and put out bowls of kibble for any living creatures that require food and buckle down for the stampy opus of the year.

Or at least that's what time it is at my house. After trying all day yesterday to make one particular image work for my Christmas cards, I went to bed in frustration without even a hope of a design.

At 4 AM, after dreaming that a particularly crazy person from my past was piloting a Southwest flight I was on, I was suddenly and irreversibly awake with an idea in my head, finally, for a nice, colorful, simple card.

Since there's not much else to do at 4 AM, I tried it out, and I do, in fact, like it, and *think* I have everything I need to make it. I have to thank my beloved Dana for planting the idea in my subconscious, unbeknownst to her.

She also is responsible for this insanely adorable video of red pandas, which I must reshare, because I adore you that much.

Seriously - is that not the cutest thing ever? I used to think I only needed one red panda, but it should be pretty obvious after you watch that that I do, in fact, need two.

Now while I was procrastinating my own card this weekend, I made a card for the blue Christmas challenge for VSN. Come on - don't judge me - how was I supposed to resist that??

I decided to use one of my fave stampy images on a simple, watercolored background. Oddly enough, Blogger does not think either stampy or watercolored are words. Hmph.

Stamps: Come to Bethlehem Ink: Basic Black Craft, Basic Black Classic Paper: Watercolor Paper, Whisper White

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Pentel Watercolor - Cobalt Blue & Prussian Blue

I took an awesome class on watercolor not too long ago, and the instructor had us doing salted watercolor. In order to do that, you need a lot of pigment to be sitting on the paper when you apply the salt. The best way to do this is to use the tube watercolors, rather than the pan ones. Well what I found in this class is that I liked how saturated the colors of tube watercolor are, so I just kept using them!

Someday, when I grow up, I'll do REAL watercoloring. Right after I bake those cookies.

Yeah right.

Pardon Me, But You Look Like a Murderer in That Outfit

2011-12-11T12:00:00.001-06:00

Male readers - this post is for you.

It doesn't get cold for too long down here in God's country, but each year, when it does, we Texans just try to survive it with whatever we have laying around.

There's no point in buying a lovely cashmere duster or a mink swing coat or anything because if we can just get through the next month, we'll be back in flip flops, sipping margaritas on the patio and cursing the stinging insects.

However, sadly, this means that our normally gloriously handsome and legendary Texas men look like murderers and rapists for a month.

I'm sorry - but it's the truth.

When the warmest thing you own is black hoodie or God forbid, a knit cap you've owned since your teens, the bare fact is, all women instinctively reach for their pepper spray when they see you lurching around dressed like this:

Take this guy I saw at the Starbucks drive through window this morning. He's actually gone beyond the rapist/murderer/burglar look and fast forwarded straight to the Grim Reaper.

See her reaching into her apron pocket? I'm certain that's where she keeps her taser.

I'm only telling you this as a public service. I don't want you to be surprised if you get pepper sprayed or tased during our little cold snap. You might want to look into a respectable coat.

Until then, try to stay indoors. It's for your own safety. I'll smile at you again in the spring.

Speaking of winter, I had my last stampy class of the year last weekend, and it was a BLAST!

I was inspired by this lady and her beautiful card to bust out a little Pennant Parade fun. Whaddaya think?

Fun eh? I love aqua winter cards, and those sparkly red dots just make me happy.

I'm going to start torturing you pretty soon with some Occasions Mini goodies - you can see some of them in my Virtual Stamp Night cards. Are you playing in our fun challenges? You have tons of time - come on over and play!

I'll sneak peek you one of my VSN cards if you follow me over to Project Reanimate for a surprising "can do" reanimation!

Loveyameanitbye.

A No Horse Open Sleigh

2011-12-09T10:56:00.001-06:00

I hate to quibble with a Christmas song and all, but come ON - you know that horses don't pull sleighs - reindeer do.

And we all know reindeer aren't horses. And horses aren't reindeer. I'm also fairly certain that horses can't fly. Or sing. And also, I don't think their noses light up.

So now that we've settled that, let's talk about open sleighs!

I saw this adorable paper sleigh on someone's blog that the random epic battles between Photoshop and Firefox that always end in a reboot erased, so if you saw it, please post a link so I can give credit.

Anyway, I just reverse engineered it - she didn't say what the sleigh body was made of, but I discovered that it works with pretty much all of my box dies - Box #2, favor boxes, you name it.

I started with Crumb Cake, for my monthly class, and used the Pines and Poinsettias set for the little accent. The white gel pen does wonders for that pinecone, don't you think? It looks so real!

All you have to do to make this is trim off the top flaps of your box - in this case, the Box #2. Then put a large super sticky Post-It Note™ (put the sticky part at the bottom of the box) on one side of the box and draw a curve that you want for your sleigh and cut it. Then use that as a template to cut the other side of the sleigh. Stamp whatever you want on the sleigh before assembling the box and then put it together. I hand cut 1/4" sleigh runner and curved them like you do with ribbon with my bone folder.

So easy and fun!

Using another shape, I made a white one fit for a snow queen - remember her?? *shudder*

This project was featured on the Sizzix blog hop, thanks to sweet Stephanie!

To embellish this sleigh, I added "fur" with a silver pipe cleaner, I embossed the outside with our fun snowflake folder, and added pearls along the bottom. The tag uses the Tim Holtz die and The Stamps of Life Joy2Christmas set.

I love, love love putting these peppermint striped gorgeous Ghirardelli candies in all my holiday projects - I sort of hoard them because they look so pretty with blue cardstock!!! :D

I made the cutest treats for my Starbucks peeps with these candies and Tempting Turquoise.

Anyhow, the important thing is that you are NOT going to expect a sleigh next time you see a horse. Because there isn't going to be one.

If you see a REINDEER though - well, keep your eyes peeled...

Loveyameanitbye

We Interrupt This Broadcast...

2011-12-07T00:30:00.000-06:00

To bring you some squealing!

I didn't finish work today until 9. Normally, that would just be a long day. But today, it was more excruciating than normal because I knew as soon as I was done, I could bust into the box containing my Occasions Mini pre-order that was torturing me with its silent presence while I slaved away!

GAH it was nearly unbearable.

But as I finally sliced the tape on the box and lovingly beheld the beautiful Pool Party twine, the cherry scented embossing powder, the Framelits, and OMG the stamps, I forgot my long day.

Actually I forgot everything else in the world. Most notably laundry and dusting. Actually, I hadn't been thinking about those at all, so that's kind of a gimme. Anyhoo...

Isn't it fun after all these years to still have a box of new stampy goodness turn you into a squealy five year old on Christmas morning?

I love that.

Of course, the next thing that sets in is the paralysis of "where do I start?" "What do I play with first?"

Under normal circumstances, I respond to this paralysis by seeing something shiny and wandering off to Pinterest or Twitter and not stamping anything at all.

But today, I had a mission. This week's Color Throwdown.

Now tell me that when you look at these colors, that you can refrain from thinking about a gnome. And if you do tell me that, I will totally call you liar. Because you're thinking about a gnome.

Well darn it - so am I! And I happen to HAVE a gnome in my big box of stampy goodness. Actually several, ridiculously adorable gnomes and some hilarious sayings. Like "You light up my lawn."

Bwahahahah!

Stamps: Gnome Sweet Gnome (Upcoming Occasions Mini) Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White, Old Olive

Ink: Soft Suede, Creamy Caramel, Daffodil Delight, Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Going Grey

Accessories: Perfect Pennants Die, Circle Die, 2.5" Circle Punch, Blender Pen, White Gel Pen, Dazzling Details

That cracks me up!

This set is called Gnome Sweet Gnome, and also has a girl gnome, a baby gnome - yes, a baby gnome - and 9 other adorable stamps. (Available January 4)

I hand fringed the grass with my rubber scissors. The ticket with this is to put the highest row on first - believe me, I've done it wrong and it's embarassing.

A person doesn't need to be humiliated by an improperly terraced card. Save yourselves. My pain is your gain.

In case YOU have a new box of stamps you want to play with, come play in the Virtual Stamp Night challenges this weekend on Splitcoast! I'm hostessing one with a very "me" theme and I'd love to chat it up with you in the forum so come on over.

Also, be sure and check out this month's Creative Crew gallery (you have to be logged in to Splitcoast to see the gallery) - it's AMAZING.

Oh lookie - we're halfway to Friday. :)

Loveyameanitbye.

Edelweiss

2011-12-03T20:08:00.001-06:00

I remember SO vividly the first time I saw the Sound of Music, (which is great, and I could go on yada yada) that what I loved the MOST was Edelweiss. I don't know why I loved that song more than all the other fantastic music in that movie, but I did, and still do. (Click the link above if you don't see a video player.)

Doesn't that song just make you feel peaceful and happy?

I might have to put the 45th Anniversary edition of the movie on my Christmas list. I don't have a Blu-Ray but the boxed set is a combo Blu Ray/DVD so maybe I could give the Blu-Ray to Kim! :) If that's even what combo means. Honestly, I don't even know. Audio/video/stereo/movie stuff is the one tech area where I'm not a geek and could completely care less. If I can see it and hear it before I fall asleep - I'm fine. I don't need it to come with 3D and aromatherapy and 30 gigahertz of decibels or whatever. But here's what I'm adding to the Blue List.

Every time I make a white flower on a card, I think of that song, even though I've never seen one of those flowers in real life.

Here's a beautiful illustration of one from Wikipedia, in case you haven't either.

I was humming that pretty little tune late on Friday night when I made one of my class projects for yesterday's class. I kept the two cards pretty CAS since we had a more complicated (and adorable) 3D project to make. I will show it to you when the Sizzix blog hop gets rolling because I made the project for that hop - SQUEE!

But speaking of Sizzix, my sweet white flower is just two of the flowers from the Fun Flowers die, curled up with the fat end of my bone folder.

The center of the flower was punched from red glimmer paper with my Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.

In the background, trying HARRRRRDDDDDD to steal the show, is the stunning Holly Berry Bouquet designer paper. I wish I had oodles of this paper - I love these roses.

This would make a super Christmas card and it would easily mail flat.

Speaking of those - I haven't designed mine yet. I better get cracking.

Oh - before you go - head over to my Project Reanimate Blog and see what I was up to on TV last week with some fun recycled Christmas ornaments!

Loveyameanitbye.

I WANT to Care About The Drought, But I Don't.

2011-12-02T11:16:00.001-06:00

Yeah, so it's raining.

I hate rain.

Rain fills me with despair.

Actually, much to my father's horror, water in any significant quantity fills me with despair.

I feel like some crazed woman in a Bronte novel who will soon be driven out onto the moors and into the soggy heather to lose her mind.

I understand that there are people out their who CLAIM that rain fills them with joy. Or they CLAIM to care that we need rain.

Because I'm about to run into the soggy heather in my petticoat and gnash my teeth and rend my garments, I cannot CLAIM to believe any of these people.

Perhaps when the sun returns I will be more tolerant of the aquarian types, but not now. Do not talk to me about aquifers and your dead grass.

I cannot hear you above the English accents in my head telling me to flee and cast myself into a bog.

The only place where clouds and rain are beautiful are on paper.

Stamps: Pace of Nature Ink: Pool Party, Basic Black

Paper: First Edition, Silver Glimmer Paper, Pool Party, Crumb Cake

Accessories: Sweet 'n Sassy Cloud dies, 3/8" circle punch

I miss you, sun.

Shop Small Please, Love, Me

2011-12-01T16:20:00.001-06:00

Yeah, so stuff happens.

You know how suddenly after your car is out of warranty the dealership suddenly finds $80 squillion in repairs that have to be done right that second or your car will explode? Well that just happened to me recently and I'm not super happy about it. I wonder if they think we don't know they are complete shysters. In case you dealership people are reading my blog - newsflash - we know.

Anyway, that's actually not really related to my story but I needed to get it off my chest. I do feel better.

However, I did recently have an unwelcome, very expensive problem that I had to get fixed, and I decided to check out a new-ish auto repair place near me called Christian Brothers Automotive.

First, when I called, the guy answering the phone didn't put me on hold, but pulled up a schedule and asked me what would work for an appointment. After I got the smelling salts out, I made an appointment. He told me that I wouldn't want to wait there based on the repair I needed, but that they would drive me home and then come pick me up when my car was done.

I'm sorry if you just fainted. I almost did too.

So I popped over there at my appointed time and went into the business. Instead of the normal grubby, linoleum and fluorescent-light-and-burned-coffee hell that normally greets you, this place had couches and comfy chairs and was playing soothing music. Instead of doors slamming and intercom noise, there was calm and quiet and a nice man in nice clothes waiting to get my info.

Shortly after that, a very nice man in a nice car drove me and several other customers home to wait for our cars.

Sadly, they called me with bad news about a big expense. But instead of the normal ambiguous garbage, this guy told me how they get their pricing from their suppliers, what the cost of the parts were and what they were charging me. He gave me every conceivable option for what I could have repaired, and I told them to do the work.

When I picked up my car, my seat was in the same position I always have it in, my radio was on the same station, and my car was clean. As the service manager gave me my keys, he gently told me I was out of gas. I'm always out of gas, but it was nice of him to notice. Sometimes it comes in handy to be a long distance walker. I realize that some people find gas more important than I do, and I appreciated that.

But the real magic of this experience came two weeks, and then a month after my service.

Two weeks later, I got a hand written thank you card for my business from the owners.

Now THAT is nearly unheard of. But wait.

Last week, I got a phone call from them asking me how my car was performing and if I had any issues. I have NEVER in nearly 30 years of car repairs had that happen. As a matter of fact, I'm fairly sure one he-who-shall-not-be-named repair chain obliterates all customer records immediately after any repair just to guarantee they can never come in contact with you again.

I am so grateful for this stellar service. Even if it hadn't been going well with my car when I got the call, the call would still mean so much.

So, I ask each of you, as we enter the holiday season, to do a little something for people like Neail & Patti Hand at Christian Brothers Automotive.

Shop small for Christmas. Buy your gifts locally from the people in your community when you can, and buy from small companies or individual sellers online - especially from our sole proprietor and small business friends in the crafting industry.

No one is ever going to call you from China and ask you how your xyz is working for you.

Since that small biz experience made me feel the Christmas spirit, I thought I should express that with this week's Color Throwdown!

When I first saw this combo, I really did think Christmas. Green and red, plus the blue of the night sky and the yellow of *the* star.

So this was my interpretation.

Stamps: Bright Christmas Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White Ink: Basic Blac, Real Red, Not Quite Navy, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Basic Black Accessories: Retire star punch, Basic Black Marker, Scissors, Foray Pencil eraser, ruler

To make the dots, I used a Foray pencil from Office Depot - the eraser part is white, so after I finished stamping with the eraser in one color, it was easy to see when I had cleaned it all off and could move to the next color. It won't work as well with darker erasers, especially when you're using red inks.

I just covered a quarter sheet with dots and then cut it into trees. I hand - well, with a ruler - drew the trunks :).

By winter wonderland, btw, I mean - here's to 70 and sunny for a few months. God bless Texas.

Loveyameanitbye

An Ode to the Pen and the Mystery of the Stolen Knife

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Remember when we used to write?

I don't mean blog.

I mean WRITE, with a pen.

My grandfather filled a journal each year with daily, handwritten entries. Do people do that anymore? I keep telling myself I will, but then life gets in the way.

What is so amazing about the handwritten word is that the ink and the handwriting physically connect you to the writer. You can feel the writing process in the visual experience.

It's a lost art we need to bring back.

What I've always found interesting in looking at little handwritten gems is that handwriting style appears to be genetic. Generations of my family on both sides seem to have writing styles and quirks that persist. Fascinating.

Also, my relatives appear to prefer blue ink. Or maybe blue ink used to be more common than black ink.

My mom let me scan this awesome combo of recipe and letter from her mom, and I hope it will change the way you give recipes to people.

Translation:

Bean Soup

I usually use the pinto beans - Ham bone or smoked butt or neck. Put meat or bone in large pan 3/4 full of water, cut up an onion, salt & pepper - bring to a boil & add beans & I usuall [sic] use a can of del monte stewed tomatoes, you can use just a regular can of tomatoes or a lot of ketsup [sic] - tomatoes are best. Boil until beans are done, takes about 4 or 5 hours. Gin [my mom's name] get yourself a box of bay leaves - put just about 2 leaves in the soup - gives good flavor. If you like dice 1 or 2 potatoes & add when beans are about done (optional) - the smoked butt gives you good meat to eat along with it - Hope it all turns out.

Glad to get your letter, now tell me something - did Telghman's or Stieff ever send your silver knife back to you? If not, I have to go on a tear looking for it - I took it at Thanksgiving time or there about - I don't have time to write any more this AM but anxious to know how all this turns out - I will send you recipes later for a good lemon cheese pie & french bread. Love, Mama.

This has it all, doesn't it? It's not just a recipe - it's a letter, a cooking lesson, a tradition, and last, but not least - intrigue about the missing silver knife! You probably had better check your drawers - who knows what some errant family member may have made off at Thanksgiving with while you were in a turkey stupor!

What a gem. You should write a recipe/letter with one of your favorite Thanksgiving dishes and send it to a loved one, don't you think? Who knows - fifty years later, some relative that hasn't even been born yet will treasure it in her holographic, spaceshippy world full of seamonkeys and flying cars.

I think about my own love for pens and my preferences. I'm one of those complete pen freaks - I have like 80 squillion pens and yet I can't resist buying more. I prefer blue ink unless I'm drawing. I remember my first fountain pen I bought in college. Oh how I loved that thing.

Stamps: Established Elegance, Word Play Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake Paper: Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP

Amazing how a pen can be such a happy memory.

So next time you go to share a recipe with someone, step away from the email, and pick up a pen.

You never know where it might end up. :)