Stamps, Paper, Scissors

I'm not ready

This is what started happening yesterday:

It's too dang early, I'm sorry. I think it's a plot! Because of this happening yesterday, this is what else happened (or didn't happen) yesterday:

Empty.

Nobody.

No one.

Sigh...I never know what will happen with an open house. I figure people were staying home because of the snow, otherwise, wouldn't they want to see all this STINKIN' CUTE and GOJUS stuff (YILM!!!)?!?!?! Including this stuff that I haven't shown you yet:

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Cute & Curly; Paper - SU! Wrapping Paper (retired), Starbright DP Ornament Kit, Real Red, Whisper White; Ink - Old Olive, Real Red; Other - 5/8" Real Red grosgrain, gold cord, Curly Label Punch

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Deer Friends; Paper - Ski Slope DSP, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Baja Blue; Ink - Baja Blue; Other - Scallop Circle punch, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches, paper crimper, Baja Blue striped ribbon, silver cord, 1/16" hole punch, pillow box die.

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Warm Words; Paper - Handsome Hunter, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Ski Slope DSP; Ink - Baja Blue, Chocolate Chip; Other - Felt Flurries, small and large oval punches, scallop border punch, silver cord, Swirl Sizzlet die

Ingredients: (all SU!) Paper - Holiday Treasures DP, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Baja Blue, Pink Pirouette, More Mustard; Ink - Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip; Other - Serif Essentials dies, 5-Petal Flower Punch, double circle punch, small star punch, ticket corner punch

Ingredients: (all SU!) Ink - Chocolate Chip; Paper - Autumn Vine DSP, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Sage Shadow; Other - Serif Essetials Dies, Leaf Bigz Die, Button Sizzlet die, More Mustard 1/4" grosgrian, Sage Shadow 1/4" grosgrian, Caramel gingham ribbon, ticket corner punch

(Props to Patty Bennett, whose ideas I continue to steal..ahem...continue to inspire me all the time!)

Oh well...I got a clean room out of it.

The real tragedy, though was this:

As you can see, this chocolate was SO UPSET at not having people eat it that it shook so hard I couldn't get a good picture of it. Sigh...I guess I will have to eat this myself. SEE WHAT I AM DRIVEN TO?!?!?!?

Again, I think it is a plot. And I'm beginning to realize that they are out there. They are coming for me!

Who? Well, they are in the first picture I showed you! You can't tell what that is in the grass? Well, just look at this:

There are no less than 5 in this picture.

That's right! SQUIRRELS!!! Usually these guys are chasing each other out of each other's territories, but here they are, all having breakfast together! So I'm suspicious...what are they doing out there and why did it snow so dang early...how can these too things not be connected?!?!?

SO I'm hunkerin' down...I got enough chocolate, thank goodness, to last me a while, but what do I do when that runs out? You tell me that! And we do need more bread and a yellow ink cartridge and milk and juice and more stuff for lunches and...and...

I guess I'm going to have to brave the squirrels. If you don't hear from me by tomorrow, call in animal control, would ya? Ta!

More Christmas....

Yep, I'm still jammin' on the Christmas stuff. And having a ton of fun, of course! All to get ready for the Christmas Open House I'm having here on Sunday! Are you coming? Whaddya mean you don't want to hop on a plane, fly hundreds (if not thousands) of miles, rent a car, get a hotel room, just to come? Wha'?

Oh, well...I know you can't all make it, but a girl can try, can't she? I'm going to have a ton of samples for those who haven't made a decision about their Christmas cards and stuff for holiday decor and gift giving inspiration. So with that in mind, I have been pulling sets out that I haven't gotten around to making samples with as well as trying to actually USE some of the stuff I bought from Holiday mini.

Remember how I said I still had a ton of stars left from the Starbright Designer Papers Ornaments in the Holiday mini? Well, I took some of those and did this:

Ingredients: Paper - Starbright Designer Papers Ornaments; Other - grapevine wreath, snow spray, berry pick, dotted organdy ribbon (all from Michael's)

Is this not GOJUS?!?!?!? (YILM!) And the amazing thing is that I STILL have stars left!

And now...some cards!

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - A Wish for Peace; Paper - Pacific Point, Handsome Hunter, Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White, Summer Sun; Ink - Handsome Hunter, More Mustard, Baja Blue, Pacific Point, Basic Black; Other - Whisper White Taffeta, 1 3/8" circle punch, dimensionals, 2-way glue, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Rose Red, Bravo Burgundy, Summer Sun, More Mustard markers, sponge wedges

The photo doesn''t show very well, but the trees are covered with glitter. GOJUS!!! (YILM!)

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Baby Jesus is Born, Canvas; Paper - Baja Blue, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Naturals White, Kiwi Kiss; Ink - Stazon Jet Black, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Baja Blue, Pacific Point, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, Sahara Sand, Tangerine Tango; Other - Word Window Punch, Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain, sponge weddge, aquapainter

STINKIN' CUTE!!!! (YILM!) I've had this set for a year and had done NOTHING with it. I'm glad I finally managed to welcome it into the Club of Used Rubber!

But that's not all! I have one more card for you....and you better hang on to your seats, because it's the best yet! Ready? Ready?

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Home for Christmas; Paper - Baja Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Holiday Treasures DSP; Ink - Versamark, Baja Blue, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, Going Grey, Ruby Red, Really Rust, More Mustard, Summer Sun; Other - Black EP, Jumbo Antique Brass eyelet, Whisper White tafetta ribbon, aquapainter, white gel pen

Have you caught your breath yet? Isn't it GOJUS!?!?!?! (YILM!)

Well, it's 8:05 AM and since I have two kids with a day off playing the Wii they rented for a couple of days and since I've taken the oldest to the bus stop and since i'm really sleepy...think I'll go take a little nap. Ta!

Christmas Decor and a Card

Have you been wondering where I was?

Well, let me tell you!

I have been digging my way out of the world's biggest pile of leaves!!! Well...maybe not the world's BIGGEST pile. But it was a pile. And it was big. So let's just leave it there, shall we? Har har....

Nineteen bags. Nineteen bags of leaves out on the curb this morning for trash pick up. I did four last week, and raked up more into piles. The girls bagged five or so bags over the weekend. And then I did all the rest today. And I am DONE. There are still some around the margins of the yard and in the bushes, but Dan will have to do those because I am DONE. Our tree has finished its dump, the oak tree next door has finished and the sugar maple next door is almost done, but those are small spidery leaves and hopefully they will blow far away and if they don't, they tend to break down pretty quick. Yay. I am DONE. Did I say that already?

As bad as leaves are, once you get them in bags, they are gone for a year. Unlike our new visitor...

Yes, it has already started to snow. If we are going to be completely accurate, it started to snow at the end of October. So much for global warming.

To celebrate the end of leaf bagging season, I am going to show you several items I have been working on and something else I just whipped up today. Why? Because I am SO NICE, that's why!!! (YILM!)

 

Here's my little feather tree that I've had just FOREVER or at least since Amy's Craft's in Canton, Michigan clearanced them out in...um...1988? 1989? Wow..20 years...good lord, but I feel OLD NOW! Isn't it just STINKIN' CUTE?!?!?! I haven't used this tree for a few years because the base became separated from the tree (it comes apart) and whenever I found the base, I couldn't find the tree and whenever I found the tree, I couldn't find the base. But finally, I managed to find BOTH the base and the tree at the same time.

ANYWAY...these are the ornaments that SU! has in the Holiday Mini Catalog right now! I should say, SOME of the ornaments, because the kit has SO many ornaments in it that I haven't had a chance to put all of them together yet! I did do all the strip globe ones and the ones with the circles, but I still have a ton more stars.

Here's some close-ups:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I said, I had a ton more stars left, so I made this:

I put the stars back to back, attaching them together with SU!'s pop-up glue dots. The silver elastic cord is threaded through the centers of the back to back stars and stuck to the glue dots as well.

A while back I did this pennant die banner:

 

 

Ingredients: (all SU!) Paper - Ski Slope DSP, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip; Other - Jumbo Antique Brass eyelets, 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain, Pennant Bigz XL Die, Snowflakes Set #2, Serif Essentials dies

GOJUS!!!(YILM!) I cut the pennants and letters at Sharon's house the last time I visited. I have since ordered my own pennant die and soon, sigh...the Serif Essentials. I've decided I. simply. can't. live. without. them.

My pennant die came last week and now that I finally can have it all to myself to play with, I went ahead and made something I have had in mind for a while:

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Deer Friends, Many Merry Messages, Scandinavian Wheel; Paper - Old Olive, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Baja Blue, Whisper White; Ink - Baja Blue, Chocolate Chip; Other - Pennant Bigz XL die, Scallop Circle punch, Word Window Punch, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches, dimensional, sponge wedges, Baja Blue striped grosgrain.

I got this idea orignially from Susan Cobb's Journal of Paper Engineering Secrets, a book that I bought long ago, lent to someone who never returned it, so I had to buy myself a new one. It's just chock full of great ideas.

Lookie inside:

 

Now you can see where the Word Window punch comes in. The closure is hidden under the scallop circle, which is attached with sticky strip on the left side ONLY. That allows the point of the right triangle to slip into the WW punch hole. See?

I know, I know...I am a GENIUS!!!!

Well, it's off to make more stuff. I'll check in tomorrow...or the next day! Now that I am leave-free, that is! Ta!

Christmas Stamp-A-Stack

Hey y'all!

I'm really excited to announce a collaboration with a new scrapbooking space called "Scrap & Yap" in Livonia! Scrap & Yap is pretty unique, in that it is not a store where you buy supplies, but simply a space where you can go scrap. Sharon & Cynthia, the new owners, wanted to have a place where people could go and scrap (or stamp!), without being distracted by a multiplicity of supplies. Their scrap space has nice roomy tables, comfy chairs, a natural light fixture at each table and lots of tools that are available to use while you are there. For only $3 per hour, it's a real bargain.

In addition, Scrap & Yap will be offering some classes, which is where I come in. Cynthia came to my class last month and invited me to be a "featured artist" at the scrap space. So I spent part of last week working like mad to get something together to teach. And here it is:

This is a One Sheet Wonder class using a template that I adapted from one that was on the Stampin' Up! website last year. I tweaked the layouts of the cards and made some improvements on the template. Here's some close ups of the cards:

There are a total of 16 cards. The class includes all the carsdtock and ribbon to create the cards plus 16 envelopes. Participants will need to bring their own adhesive, a sharp pair of detail scissors, and a paper trimmer (there will be some trimmers available to borrow.)

Cost is $25 and we are going to have two dates: Friday, December 4, 2008 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm and Saturday, December 5 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Your payment is your registration. Registration must be paid in full by November 28th. Email me at jantink at sbcglobal dot net for payment information.

"But, but...Jan!" you wail, "These cards are GOJUS!!! I live in (insert your location here) and no way can I come!!!"

Well, for all of you people so unfortunate not to live in the Metro-Detroit area, since I feel so sorry for you not to be living in this wonderful, thriving metropolis (yes, I am being sarcastic, LOL!) I will be putting together kits for those who want to simply order one. Let me know if you are interested. Cost will be the same and includes priority shipping.

For demonstrators, if you are interested in teaching this class yourself, I have been trying to develop a class kit and will let you know when I get it done.

Well, that's it for today. Must dash to pick up children! Ta!

The Vault opens....

Creeeakkkkk....

Yes, that's the vault, though the rest of me made that noise when I got up at 6 AM, after having stayed up until 3 AM to watch the election returns. Amazingly, the world was still here! And Stampin' Up! boxes continue to be delivered to front porches and on this day, I was blessed to receive my order by 11 AM, HOORAY!

However, we are speaking of the VAULT, not Al Capone's vault or the vault on the Titanic, mind you, but the VAULT that cards go into whilst we await the conclusion of a swap. And since Jami Sibley's Christmas Card swap is now complete, with swaps scheduled to land in our mailboxes today or tomorrow, I am now free to post these:

Round #1

Ingredients: (All SU!) Stamps - Season of Simple Grace, Itty Bitty Backgrounds; Paper - Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant; Ink - Elegant Eggplant (Craft & Classic), Perfect Plum, Whisper White; Other - Pretties Kit, Wide Oval Punch, Always Artichoke 1/4" grosgrain, dimensionals, sponge wedges

IS THIS NOT GOJUS?!?!?!?!?!?! (YILM!) And it is fairly simple, which is something I have a hard time doing. I love how it turned out; the little white speckles I created with IBB look like a starry night sky. I went with purples for this card because it's a royal color, even though we don't know who the wise men really were, whether they were simply men who were wise, or if they were kings, or even if there were only three of them. But I like the royal imagery, anyway.

Round #2

Ingredients (All SU!) Stamps - Winter Post, Punches Three; Paper - Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Blue; Ink - Perfect Plum, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Blue; Other - Ticket Corner Punch, Word Window Punch, Scallop Square Punch, white taffeta ribbon, silver brad, dimensionals, sponge wedges.

And ANOTHER GOJUS card! Winter Post has been getting a workout at my house, that's for sure!

Well, it's off to try to actually get something done, my SU! box awaits!...(yawn!) and get a nap in there somewhere too. Ta!

More Stamp LaJolla

I'm almost finished with my commitment to MaryAnn...one more card to go. I finished these last week and have been waiting for an opportune time to post them. No time like the present!

Ingredients: Stamps - Stamp LaJolla Oil & Vinegar with Breadsticks, Rag Quilt Words; Paper - Always Artichoke, Ruby Red, Basic Black, Summer Sun, Sahara Sand; Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, More Mustard; Ohter - black gingham, 1 1/4" circle punch, Vintage brads, Prismacolor pencils

Isn't this GOJUS!?!? (YILM!) I used my technique called "Painterly Pencils" which you can find my tutorial for here.

And then...

Ingredients: Stamps - Stamp LaJolla Palm Desert, Jeremiah 29:11; Paper - Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard, Watercolor Paper; Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Stazon Jet Black, More Mustard; Other - Basic Black grosgrain, gold brads, Peerless Watercolors

GOJUS!!! I love this verse, but couldn't quite fit the whole thing with the verse citation at the bottom. I omitted that, stamped it, then stamped the citation on the side. I used my Peerless Watercolors for this card again...they are soooo prettty.....

Well, gotta go, lots to do! Be sure to go vote!Ta!

I'm about to make...

A lot of people kick themselves. For not ordering what I'm about to show you. Ready?

One person I KNOW will be happy will be my upline, Sharon. (BTW, Sharon has started her own blog...go visit and give her a little LOVE! But come back here when you're done! Are you back? Okay!) Back when I ordered this thing, I did it because Sharon told me she would be interested to see what I came up with for this item. Before that, I probably wouldn't have ordered it. But I did. And I'm GLAD!

What am I talking about? Why, the Create-a-Calendar '09 kit from the Holiday Mini, of course! I put it on my preview order. Then I got it and stared at it. A lot. For the life of me, I could not figure out what the HECK to do with it. Other than the original idea, that is. Which I thought was kind of lame, actually. I looked at it and looked at it again. I got mad at Sharon for making me buy this so that I would just end up making a fool out of myself because I couldn't think of anything nifty to do with it! Her fault! Not mine!!!

Finally this past weekend, I decided I might as well just put it together as shown. And then the kernel of an idea got into the hot oil of my artistic creativity and POP! I decided to try my idea and see what happened. And it WORKED!!! YAY!

By now, you're probably just chomping at the bit and thinking, when is she going to show us already!?!?!?!?!? I'll take pity on you. Here:

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Boho Backgrounds, Priceless; Paper - Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive; Ink - Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Bashful Blue; Other - Create-a-Calendar '09 kit, Scallop Circle Punch, Large Flower Punch, Chocolate Chip button, sponge wedges, Bind-It-All 1/2" wire

Well?!?!?! Isn't this STINKIN' CUTE?!?!? (YILM!)

More views:

I know you are all agog to know how I did this.

1. I cut the striped cardstock pocket that they give you to put the pages in into two pieces, trimming so that I had a front and back cover, each 3 7/8" x  8".
2. I cut one piece of Bashful Blue cardstock 3 7/8"" x 8" (front) and another 3 7/8" x 11" (back).
3. I took the back and scored it at 1", 2" and 3" from one of the short ends. The first inch of this piece was adhered to the back of the front piece. The first score line was folded so the point was down, the next score line folded so the point was up and the final score line was folded so that the point was down. The whole thing looked like a big "W" at this point. This was my easel for the calendar so it would stand up.
4. I decorated the striped cardstock covers.
5. I adhered the back striped cardstock covers to the back of the "W" piece. Then I put the whole thing in the Bind It All and punched the holes. Then I bound it with a 1/2" wire.
6. Since you have a little sheet of sticky die cuts you are supposed to give with the calendar (as this is supposed to be a gift (if you can bear to give it away!)), I cut another piece of cardstock 3 7/8" x 2" and using sticky strip, I adhered it inside the back of the easel so that the recipient could store their little sheet there when they weren't using it. Note: cut your sticky strip in half, as my little sheet would not fit very well...I had to trim off the edges so that it would slide in nicely. You don't have to put any on the bottom of the pocket, since it rests in the fold and the sheet will not slide out.

There, now you know, if you didn't already, that I'm a genius! (YILM!!!) I've got a crick in my elbow from patting myself on the back all weekend! I've got more stuff I made this past week, but I've decided to dribble it out a little at a time and TORTURE YOU....BWAHAHAAHHAHAH! As for you, you can stop kicking yourself! You've still got time to order this for Christmas giving! Call your demo or use that handy button near the top of my blog and order one from me! (Shameless self-promotion mode OFF)

As for my own customers, let me know if you're interested in doing a class with these. I can schedule it for the beginning of December.

Ta!

Mr. Twigster

There were snickers when I announced the stamp set used on last card of the night on Monday. Because the last card used the set "Mr. Twigster".

Yeah, the name is kind of silly, but Mr. Twigster is mighty cute! Originally, I was not going to buy Mr. Twigster, but by the time I signed up for the Controlfreaks Holiday MIni swap, The Twigster was one of the few sets that hadn't filled up. But I regret nothing! And now that the participants are receiving their swaps, I am free to reveal my swap:

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Mr. Twigster, Cute & Curly; Paper - Bashful Blue, Tangerine Tango, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Frosty Day DSP; Ink - Basic Brown, Bashful Blue, Tangerine Tango, Old OLive; Other - Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain, Curly Label Punch, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and Bashful Blue markers, dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, sponge wedge

Yes, I know, it's STINKIN' CUTE!!!! I really love the Frosty Day DSP, even though orange is not usually a color I connect with winter time. And speaking of winter time...if you live in upstate New York or Vermont... I offer my condolences on you getting SNOW today! It's pretty cold here too...the only global warming going on here is the hot flashes yours truly is having!

Well, time to go take a shower, update my gallery on SCS and my SU! website and try to fight off this cold that is trying to take over. Ta!

Here I am!!!

Hey, it's that time of the month again....no not THAT time of the month, thank goodness! It's time to show you WHAT YOU MISSED at my class last night!

I already showed you this card, so I don't need to show that again, but there were three other GOJUS JanTink creations that, if you were in the area, weren't taking your daughter to a piano recital or your dog to the vet, weren't in the hospital yourself having your gall bladder removed or some other minor thing, you could have actually made along with the rest of the bunch I had! Too bad, so sad!

There were six ladies in class last night and we had a ball. Three ladies totally new to me (Judy, Sheila and Cynthia,  you were so much fun and I hope to see you at the next class) and three ladies who had been to class before (Jeanette, Nan and Pam.)

ANYWAY, here's what you missed...before you look, grab some chocolate (for consolation) and maybe a tissue just in case you start to weep, realizing what you missed out on. Let's go!:

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Scandinavian Season, Scandinavian Wheel, Best Yet; Paper - Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Real Red, Ski Slope DSP; Ink - Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Baja Blue; Other - Pennant Die, Large Star Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 3/16" corner rounding punch, piercing tool, 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain, sponge wedges, dimensionals

This is...oops, yes, this GOJUS creation! (YILM!) is an adaptation of a card by Patty Bennett...she has a nifty video on her blog so you can learn to do this too. I don't have the Pennant die (yet...heheheh!), but Sharon has it and was nice enough to let me crank out some stuff using it the other day so I could do this card last night.

I hate to do this to you, but here's the next one...got that chocolate? If not, go look here...it might help just a bit.

Ingredients: (all SU!) Stamps - Season of Friendship; Paper - More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Whisper White, Autmn Vine DSP, Creamy Caramel; Ink - Chocolate Chip (Classic & Craft), Sage Shaddow, More Mustard, Really Rust; Other - Creamy Caramel gingham ribbon, Earth Elements buttons, dimensionals, sponge wedges

GOJUS!!!! Aw, don't cry! Get that kleenex! What? You're out? Well...paper towel, toilet paper or a paper napkin will do. And even a real cloth hankie, if you have such a thing. Here's the last of the cards and you will be able to recover.

Ingredients (all SU!): Stamps - Mr. Twigster, Warm Words, Itty Bitty Backgrounds; Paper - Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, Whisper White; Ink - Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Bashful Blue; Other - Creamy Caramel & Pumpkin Pie markers, 2-Way glue, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, blender pen, Small & Large Oval punches, slit punch, silver eyelet, Black Gingham ribbon.

STINKIN' CUTE!!! (YILM!)

And now for the comedy that is my life. This weekend was hectic. First, I realized had another swap due, Jami Sibley's Christmas Card swap. In a moment of madness, I jumped on board when Jami emailed for one more person to fill the swap. And like a sucker, I bit. Why, WHY, do I do this to myself?!?!?

Of course, I put off actually designing or doing the swaps until the last possible minute. I'm warped that way.

So after working flat out on Saturday running errands, practicing the organ for church the next day, then working in the kitchen for the school Halloween party, I finally got down to making cards Saturday night. I designed my swaps (still in the vault, so you won't see them here until next week) on Saturday night. On Sunday after church, I designed the cards for last night's class. Spent Sunday night until about 2 AM finishing (or so I thought) my swaps.

In the meantime, Saturday night my beloved son, William, left the car door open. Sunday dawns, I'm supposed to take my kids plus our neighbor's kids to church for the church Halloween party and my car is dead as a doornail. I couldn't get it started, even with the jump start device I'd bought long ago. I am firmly of the opinion that new mommies should get one of these at their baby shower. Because if you drive a van, especially, kids will leave the side door open. Or they will leave a map light on. Something...after a while of these sorts of things happening when my children were preschool age, AAA sent me a letter telling me I'd used up my roadside assistance for the year. So I bought this device and I love it. Except it wasn't fully charged when I got up on Sunday morning, so we ended up taking Dan's car.

Finally I got my car started on Monday morning, after attempting to start it with the device. You have to get the clamp on the battery post JUST RIGHT, I found after about 5 or 6 tries over the course of Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. Grrr...

So I was operating on very little sleep yesterday morning. Emily spilt nail polish remover on her school skirt just before it was time to go to school, which is all polyester, so who knows if that stuff will eat a hole in it. We had to rinse it out and iron it as dry as we possibly could get it in time for them to get to school, still a little late. Then I had to come home and bust my butt to get those swaps out the door because, guess what? I found out that I was supposed to make TEN instead of the EIGHT I thought I was supposed to make. Quick cranked out 4 cards and got them ready to go. Then I had to prep for my class.

So right now, I am punchy and sleep as all get out. It's been an effort to stay awake long enough to type this, but you, my lovely readers, are worth it all. If you've managed to survive this post, eat some chocolate...you deserve it. I'm going down to grab another mini Milky Way off the table downstairs. Ta!

Where is the time going?!?!?

It seems like yesterday was Monday...and here it is Friday already!!!

On one hand I'm really looking forward to sleeping past 6 AM. I have to get up at 6 AM and stay awake until it's time to take Laurel to her bus stop. I used to get up on school mornings at 6:30 AM, then go sit in my chair and fall asleep until 7 AM. Now, I get right on the computer because I know if I sit down in my chair, I'll conk right out. Laurel had the day off yesterday, so that's just what I did! Dan woke me up when he got up at 7:00...yawn!

And it doesn't help that I end up staying up late: a) because with kids playing on the computer in the evening I can't really even get near it until they all go to bed and b) because Dan has bronchitis and has been snoring horribly. I stay up late to make sure I'm so tired that I fall asleep quickly...yawn!

But on the other hand, on the weekend everyone will be home and I really relish my days alone. Ah, well...I like spending time with my kids too, but it's hard to have a phone conversation or eat a little private chocolate with everyone on top of you all the time! At least I satsifed my son's heart's desire yesterday and we put up the Halloween decorations.

Anyway, last night I repaired to the stamp room to listen to Dave Ramsey (did he do a rant last night or WHAT? LOL!) and play with my Holiday Mini sets. I got one card done:

Ingredients (all SU!) Stamps - Happy Blessings, Canvas; Paper - Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Taken with Teal, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla; Ink - Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss; Other - Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal, Blush Blossom, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Summer Sun, More Mustard markers, blender pen, jumbo Antique Brass eyelet, chocolate chip 1/4" grosgrain, vintage brads.

Isn't this STINKIN' CUTE?!?!? I love this color combination, it was Color Throwdown #14 on the Color Throwdown blog. I'm way behind, since this challenge was posted a couple of weeks ago, but hey, better late than never!

Well, I have to get my act together, try to wake up and get going to Sharon's house today to help with HER blog. I've been told that one of my recent blog closings was a little too Mary Sunshine for at least ONE of my readers, so I'm just going to say, "Stamp 'em if ya got 'em!" LOL! Ta!