Catching Up . . .

Blogger is having issues with photos again, so once again, I'll write first and post the photo later.

Catching up, Marv, Bjorn, Mathias, and I went to Beltrami on Saturday to visit with my brother and his family from the Twin Cities as well as other family members who came by while we were at my mom's house. Rob's kids have grown so much since I've seen them. They're delightful kids - friendly, polite, typical of their ages - Grant is 13 and Olivia (shame on me) is either nine or 10. As I spent a good portion of my time chasing after two and three-year-olds, I didn't get to visit as much as I would have liked, but they hadn't seen the boys since they were one and two, so I'm glad we had them with us. My mom put out, what to me, was an unbelievable spread of baked goods in the afternoon, and little Bjorn had to have one of everything and more than one of some. That one's got a sweet tooth. As it was such a nice day, the boys got quite a bit of fresh air, which may explain why, even with all that sugar in them, they fell asleep on the way home and didn't wake until Sunday morning.

Sunday, Cameron joined his sons and his dad and me until it was time to take the boys to their mother's house. In the evening, I had stamp club. The photo is one of the cards we made this month - almost. While making the Santa (October Stamp of the Month) card, I used the last of the Liquid Applique I had on hand. That was kind of a bummer. As I told my stampers, the scalloped circle on the Thanksgiving card was cut with my Cricut (Mini Monograms cartridge). If you don't have a Cricut, there are several companies that make scalloped punches. While the cards were simple (same sketch reversed), club members got to use the new Edge Anchors. I really like them, and they're easy to use - easier yet, probably, if I'd remember to get a new piercing tool, one that doesn't have a bent tip!

Evidently, stamp club (or the weekend as a whole) provided too much excitement for me, as I had a heck of a time getting to sleep Sunday night. That resulted in my "napping" last evening and then wandering around until the wee hours of the morning again. I tell this story every week. Is there a pattern developing here? Tonight, I'm dead tired tonight, too, but I'm determined to keep my head off the pillow until a time when I will go to bed and stay there. After taking care of a little communication chore, I'm hoping to make my way back to Kathi's Corner and stamp a little more tonight. Thus, later!

Sneak Peak

The card is at a funny angle, I know, but I was photographing glitter again. This is a prototype project for my stamp club group that meets Sunday night. It's the snowman again from Magical Season, the October Stamp of the month set. I still haven't gotten my hands on a snowflake embossing folder for my Cuttlebug but think the circle design is OK, particularly since the patterned paper (from the retiring Deck the Halls paper packet) has dots on it. The snowy effect is created with a piece from an Adhesive Sheet (double-sided adhesive) and Prisma Glitter. A craft tray contained the glitter, and as I didn't cough or sneeze while covering my image, I avoided a second major mess this evening.

My arms are still Twilight. Bleach might do the trick but could result in a self-induced chemical peel, too. I think I'll just wear long sleeves for a day or two and see what happens.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone. Marv and I and Bjorn and Mathias are going to Beltrami tomorrow. My brother, Rob, and his wife and their two children from the Twin Cities are visiting my mom, and I can't remember the last time I saw them. I believe it was Easter 2006. That's too long, so I'm really looking forward to spending a little time with them again. Sunday, it's stamp club. I'm looking forward to that, too.

Flexability

These are not the sympathy cards I mentioned that I needed to make earlier in the week but instead a few more cards made with October's SOTM, Magical Season. This set is growing on me with the stamp I liked the least of the lot - the tree - turning out to be one of which I'm rather fond. I colored the tree with ink and a blending pen and now wish I'd done that with the others as well. While you can probably see the glitter on the punched stars, you might not be able to make out the Liquid Applique "snow" under the sleigh.

Now that I've made a few samples with this set, I might just get to those sympathy cards - and maybe not . . . My "honey do" list I talked about Sunday evening didn't fly with Marv either . . . for good reason (I guess). We have a move out this weekend, and he's got another apartment that has to be painted right away. It's kind of like the old story about the cobbler's children having no shoes. Oh well, perhaps if I take the draperies and wall hangings down and do all of the prep work, it will be sooner rather than later. We'll see. If there's one thing I've learned, it's to be flexible and go with the flow. Some things just aren't worth getting too excited about.

Magical Season II

Here's another card with the October Stamp of the Month. The scalloped piece I used to mat the stamped image was cut with my Cricut (Mini Monograms cartridge). There are scallop punches on the market in a variety of sizes, too. The embossed background piece was created with my Cuttlebug (I feel like a poster child for Provocraft!). The color combination is Crystal Blue and Petal - a bit unconventional for Christmas but pretty nonetheless. I used a little Prisma Glitter to give it some sparkle (me, too!). I am going to miss CTMH's Background & Texture papers. The Autumn Harvest and one of the winter collections (Winter Cozy, I believe) are already sold out. I hope that there is something coming to replace them. I really like having papers to match all (or at least, most) of the cardstock colors.

Sad as it is, I believe this is going to be the only card I'm going to be able to make tonight. Last night, I took a two-hour snooze after supper, which resulted in my staring at the clock until around 4 a.m. this morning. It didn't help that I was waiting for a phone call. Dustin and his girlfriend flew to Las Vegas last night, and he told me he'd call when they landed. I expected to hear from him around midnight. By 12:30, I was concerned. He called at 1:15. Their plane had been delayed in Fargo. In conclusion, I'm going to be early tonight.

I Could Stamp All Day . . .

I made this card while putting my stamps away last night. I'm a bit intrigued by the October Stamp of the Month, as it's not really my style, which means I might struggle with it a bit. The challenge is sometimes fun. I like this particular card, made with the bright papers from the Hollydays paper packet. While I'd love to stamp all day, I'd best get ready for work. Have a good one!