Sites of the week

Happy Friday the 13th! Anyone believe in the unlucky day? I was born on August 13th and when people hear that I was born on the 13th, many ask if I was born on a Friday. I find that quite amusing. For the record, no I wasn’t and no, I don’t really believe in the unluckiness of the day.

Last Saturday I promised a blog tart to a random participant of last week’s SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY. Drumroll please for…

#37 Leigh Anne Baird. You can see her cute iPodabella creation HERE.

Leigh Ann…please email me all your info {link under my pic}

Well, it’s Friday and that means ABC…Anything But a Card. Last night I opened my alterables cabinet…nuthin’…no divine inspiration, no projects just begging to be done…nuthin’. I tried to force it with a tin, and it just wasn’t working for me. I guess my mojo is running on “E” just a bit. I have been working on LOTS of fun projects to show you in about a week, plus getting ready for my Copic class tonight. So instead of making some big and altered project, I made something that my mojo could work with…an ATC. An ATC is an Artist Trading Card. They are 2.5″ x 3.5″ and lots of fun to make. HERE is the tutorial that I wrote for SCS. In the past I have hosted HUGE ATC swaps, but that last couple were so tedious that I have not done one in some time. I do host one from time to time on the MFT Forum. Here is the ATC I made to show you today…

This ATC uses the set Garden of Life designed by Alli Miles for Papertrey Ink. I got a chance to meet Alli at CHA in February and she is just the sweetest. It’s very exciting to see a friend’s designs come to life and it’s even more fun to play with them.
I stamped the flowers with Brilliance Graphite Black ink and then colored them in with Copic markers. The stems and leaves were stamped with SU! Old Olive. When making an ATC, I make it a standard to use at least one embellishment. For this ATC, I used black satin ribbon. The sentiment is also up on dimensional glue dots, which could be considered an embellishment.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. As always, I’ll be here tomorrow with another Sketch For You To Try. See ya then!

Ahhhhh…I can’t get enough of these chichiboulie designs at Stamping Bella!…something tells me that you probably know that already though! This one is called Betty Bombshell and she is just the cutest thing to hit the beach! Well, at least I think so!! I have seen a few Bettys wandering the SCS gallery, so, I know that I am not alone! For this card, I dressed the bombshell in bright Copic colors and then paired her with some K & Co. paper. Have you noticed that I have been using a ton of K & Co. paper lately? It may have something to do with us not having ANY major local paper sources. Unfortunately, they have all closed down. I still have Michael’s and my local stamp store that carries a small variety of papers. HOWEVER…I did pick up a ***FEW*** sheets of American Crafts paper last weekend at the Great American Scrapbook Convention. Take that as a warning that you will probably be seeing a huge influx of projects using it. Anywhooooo…back to the project. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things and I just love it with her!! As for the finishing touches, did you notice the DOTS?? I got these last week and I am in love! First there were eyelets and brads, then there came baubles and now there are DOTS!! Maybe you should take that as a warning that more DOTS are coming, too. LOL! Did you see how many colors she has??? Egads!!…LOVE IT! Ok, ok, back to the project. Where was I? Finishing touches…the ribbon is from May Arts and I paper pierced the bottom portion of the card, just because it needed *something.* Now I’ll quit my yipping and yapping and show ya the darn thing…

Don’t forget, those that participate in this week’s SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY will be entered to win some goodies from me. Who knows, I might just throw in a DOT or two.

OMG! Last night I saw that I passed 500K hits! HOLY COW!!! Since I am already in the process of offering up a blog tart, I will just make it a little sweeter. If you didn’t see, I am putting everyone that participates in this week’s Sketch For You To Try into a drawing for some goodies. Be sure to link your creation to the Sketch For You To Try post HERE. Thank you all so much for making my day!!

Ellie’s friend Addison came over yesterday and I snapped off a couple of shots. Notice that they are playing on her “Ellie Park.” She has overcome her fear of the slide and is constantly wanting to go out there now. So, YAY!!! and UGH!…it’s 95 degrees+ here during the day!

BIG HUG!!!….

This one CRACKS ME UP! Addison took the chalk that Ellie had. I told Ellie that she’s gonna need to do a little more than that if she wants it back. LOL!

SQUINTING IN THE SUN…

Hey Buckaroo, it’s TCP Tuesday!! Today challenge Hipster Hostess With The Mostess is the uber talented, Leigh O’Brien. She has issued you a sketch challenge, and please note that she is flexible with her design. You can see all the deets HERE on her blog.

Here’s my card…

This card uses the TCP stamp set, Havin’ A Pow Wow, as well as SEI Dill Blossom DP. The images are colored in with Copics and the cowboy is mounted on dimensional glue dots. As for finishing touches, I used brads and linen thread. Hope you all have fun with this sketch!

About TCP Tues…

1. Each a week one of the The Cat’s Pajamas DT members will host a challenge.
2. The challenges will vary {stamp, color, theme, sketch, etc.}
3. You will have until {this} Saturday night to complete the challenge.
4. Link your project on this week’s hostess’ challenge announcement. This week you will link your project HERE.
5. TCP stamps are not required, but of course, highly encouraged. {Unless it is a challenge calling for a specific stamp}
6. There will be one winner each month. They will be deemed that month’s Swankiest Stamper and get $25 in Cat’s Cash {money to spend on the TCP site!}.
7. When uploading to SCS, please use the keyword TCPTUES11 for this challenge.
8. Alma will post the entries from the week the following Monday on her blog.
9. The newly crowned Swanky Stamper will be announced on the First of the Month and have his/her winning entry posted on The Cat’s Pajamas website where he/she will reign for the entire month.

I despise flying.

I don’t know anyone who just jumps up and says “I love air travel! I wish I could make a big living as a flight attendant so I could be in the air all day!” Thus I don’t necessarily expect you to feel sorry for me from the first statement alone. We all have a special little morsel of spite inside we save just for the airlines I’m sure. But, the maker chose to grow me over six and a half feet, so imagine your discomfort with another foot of height (and probably a few extra “ell-bees”).

On top of that, I’ve had “malfunctioning” ears since before I could walk. Tubes as a toddler, years of infections and problems, a surgery in 2003 to help, and lingering troubles ever since. (I should shoulder most of the blame for the chronic issues. I’ve grown so used to the symptoms that I hardly think about them anymore. Once I get some good insurance this vicious cycle must end.) As you can imagine, bunk ears and going from zero to 35,000 feet and back down within a few hours can make for some additional discomfort.

So with all that in mind, guess what? I’ll be getting on a plane 6 times in the next three weeks! D’oh!

As part of my summer internship, I’ll be visiting most (if not all) of the company’s branches. So envy me as I travel to such exotic locations as Enid, Oklahoma, Springdale, Arkansas, and chic Muleshoe, Texas! (yes, there is really a city called Muleshoe in Texas.)

Wherever possible I’ll be driving between locations, but logistically I can’t just pull a John Madden and cruise from town to town or I’d spend half my time in the car. So I must brave the airways time and again, this summer. I’ll probably have to pay surcharges just to use the lavatories.

But, I am enjoying the heck out of my internship so far. I have been able to use a lot of my school-taught theories, and have learned even more. The next few weeks should be pretty eye opening in the grander scheme of my project (which I can’t really share in detail, top secret stuff!)

So while I’ll undoubtedly run across a TSA agent that I will wish bad things upon, fear not, for I shall come out on the other side with a grander prize than my own crystal skull – inventory data! So what if I’m “hung over” for a few days afterwards.

Td

P.S. For anyone looking for an Indy review, I don’t plan on writing one. I liked the movie a lot. The most common complaint I hear from people is that “it’s not very believable.” And the first three were what, non-fiction?? Give me a break. Three thumbs up from Td.

It’s Saturday!! WaaaHooooooooo!! That means a few things to me today. First, Susan and I are going to the Great American Scrapbook Convention and will hopefully scope out and return with some cool products. Also, I have a SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY and last, but not least by any stretch of the imagination, there is a new Guest Designer to introduce. So, let’s get on the with the show!!

Drumroll, please…

For the super sweet and talented DAWN EASTON, June’s Guest Designer. Dawn will be creating Sketch For You To Try samples that will be seen exclusively on iheart2stamp.com for the month of June. YAY!!

From Dawn, a little about herself…
Wow! Was I shocked and delighted to be asked by Jen to be Guest Designer on her blog this month. I’ve been busting at the seams to let this secret out for over a month!! Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not good at keeping secrets. Not that I LIKE to tell them, I just seem to let them slip out
I’ve only been stamping seriously for about a year and a half now. I signed up as a SU! demo in August of 2006 but only to get the discount. I hadn’t learned a whole lot up to that point but once I found SCS and the blog world, I couldn’t get enough.
I’m lucky to be married to a wonderful man, Brian, who supports my addiction 100%(yes financially too)! We have a fantastic daughter who is nearly 9, named Chloe. I’m a SAHM who does some volunteer work at the school.
Quite often I am asked how I get so much done in a day. Well when you only have one child and you are a SAHM, you seem to have a lot of extra time. I always get my daily chores out of the way first THEN I begin my stamping day! I am currently on the All That Scraps Design Team and previously was a Guest Designer for Paper Pretties.
Thanks so much Jen for this wonderful opportunity!

Now, here is this week’s sketch…

My sample, using a Rachelle Anne Miller designed Stampavie stamp…

Dawn’s darling sample…

You can also see great samples from my buds Amy, Carole and Shannan. No, I didn’t forget Susan. She doesn’t have a pic of this week’s sketch up because her computer recently took a trip to computer heaven. R.I.P. Susan’s computer, although from what I have been told it is undergoing some surgery and may make a miraculous recovery. Cross your fingers!

Also, don’t forget to use the keyword SFYTT on SCS and link your creations here BECAUSE…

All participants will be entered into a random drawing to win some goodies from me. Like what, you ask? Some bling, a handful of ribbon, maybe some chipboard stuff…I dunno, whatever floats my boat the day that I throw it all together.

ETA: Winner will be drawn on Friday morning

Ohh…don’t forget…VERVE is having an awesome sale!! Check out the deets HERE!!