MAKING FRIENDS

On our family trip to New England, we drove to Boston and stayed two nights there. We spent one whole afternoon at the Science Museum where I was able to make friends with this Lily the Bear look-alike. What a great museum for kids! (and grandparents, of course...)

For more photos of our trip to Boston and Mystic Seaport, check out my Fox Mtn. blog HERE.

(For more on Lily the bear, check this out.)

VBS Fun

The men in our church all seem to have a great sense of humor. One of our "greeters" in the parking lot adorns his hat with a different animal each day to start everyone off with a chuckle. With over 200 children in attendance (plus 65 teachers and helpers) we really are blessed to have so many men willing and able to help.










After the initial gathering inside the church, crafts are held one class at a time under the pavilion outside. The theme this year is "rain forest," reflected by the gecko clothes pin project we did yesterday.

Since thunder storms are forecast for tomorrow, the theme may become all the more relevant!

VBS STARTS TOMORROW!

In case you're wondering why I haven't posted in so long, it's because every available minute has been spent getting all the crafts ready for this week (except for a brief vacation.) We start tomorrow, and I'm so glad the heat wave broke this afternoon. With 200 kids coming, it would have been less fun in 90 degree heat. A line of showers came through today, pushing out the hot muggy air, reducing the temps by 10-15 degrees. Yay!!

Meanwhile, in spite of the oppressive heat and humidity in Boston last week, we had a great time sightseeing with our son and his family on our 4-day trip there. Hopefully, I can post some pictures one afternoon when I get home from VBS.

Hope you're getting some relief from the heat where you are too!

SILVER STAMPERS

There's a group of us called "Silver Stampers" because we are over 50 (silver) and stampaholics (stampers) from all over the country. Should any of you be interested in joining, you can contact our present leader at her email address below.

The dues are very low and entitle you to our latest mailing list, newsletter and email updates throughout the year. Whether a beginner or more advanced stamper, all card makers are welcome to join in the fun of exchanging birthday and/or holiday cards at your own pace. I joined in 2002 and have loved corresponding with other stampers, just like when we were kids writing to pen pals! (only better...)

If this sounds like fun, contact our president via email at silverstamperbiz@att.net and tell her I sent you!

I'M BACK!

This past week at my sister's with my grandkids was a blast! The temps were hovering near 100 under clear skies every day, which made her pool and household a/c very refreshing. The heat was so oppressive Tues. and Wed., we had to take an a/c break inside between 12 and 3 pm. We watched a movie, "Racing Stripes", and played Mexican Train dominoes until it was time to go back in the pool. My sister and I, when we weren't in the water playing volleyball with the kids, did NY Times Sunday crosswords together on the deck under her shady umbrellas.

Rick, meanwhile, spent most of his week in our a/c with the cats. Even they didn't want to stay out more than 15 minutes at a time in the heat!

We were all having such a good time in the pool and on the deck, I didn't even get stamping withdrawal!

FELINE SMILES

Sometimes I could swear my cat is smiling at me, just like this one!

Basic Grey's "Max and Whiskers" paper is just right for all my cat stamps. This pad has a wonderful selection of images and coordinating designs in beautiful colors--an outstanding collection! Some of the patterns (plaids, stripes, polka dots, solids, etc.) can be used for other themes, such as florals. So versatile, I may just pick up another pad before they're gone.

The cat stamp is from a foam stamp collection by All Night Media. The twine is actually heavy embroidery floss which I tried for the first time and like it enough to buy in a few more colors.

This card would be great for lifting someone's spirits, don't you think?

(This post is pre-scheduled to appear while I'm at my sister's on Long Island for a few days of pool fun with the grandkids in 95-degree heat! "See" you when I get back on the 16th!)

CAT DREAM

What do cats dream of? Catching mice, perhaps? Or would it be catnip pouches? or a sunny spot to nap in? or how wonderful their owners are?

The main image is just one of the cats from this Basic Grey designer paper mounted on black cardstock and popped out with a dimensional. The mouse was stamped on a cloud diecut which I stressed with my fingernail for some texture.

The metallic "dream" eyelet has been in my stash for years. I padded the top with a few layers of scrap papers to protect it from the pressure as I attached it to a piece of black cardstock with my Crop-a-dile. Then I trimmed off the black edges and mounted it to the card with double-stick tape.

Inside this card, I have a stamp that says "May all your stamp dreams come true"--just the thing for a stamper's birthday!

BIRTHDAY CARD

While I had my fern stamp out, I also made this clean and simple birthday card.

After stamping the fern on a white cardfront, I also stamped the SU Happy Birthday on off-white cs with the same Olive Green Colorbox chalk ink. Next, I used a Nestie scalloped square to cut and emboss the greeting and "rolled" it on the ink pad to give it a shadowed effect against the white. Then I attached it with a few dimensionals.

For embellishments, I used a Hero Arts flower overlapping the fern and greeting. Using a Hero Arts small flower stamp, I added a circle punched from a piece of olive green cs scrap and added the three gold beads for a little glimmer.

This actually sounds more complicated than it was to make!

FINAL SHINGLES UPDATE...

...I HOPE!

Although I still get very tired by the end of the day if I overdo, I'm feeling much better. No more pain or itching. There are still occasional twinges now and then, which I've been told is normal for a few months after the symptoms recede.

I never thought I'd be so happy to be able to do housework and errands again! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayer support.

NOTE: BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO MY LAST THREE CARDS NOW THAT I'VE BEEN BUSY STAMPING AGAIN!

DIORAMA CARD FOR THE FAIR

With Vacation Bible School coming up at the end of next month, I'll be busy getting the crafts ready for 130 children. Since I wanted to enter something in the State Fair again this year, I had to get ready way ahead of VBS preparations!

I came up with this Diorama card for my entry. The stamp set is "Swan Lake" from Flourishes and it's really a pretty set. It was a lot of work doing the cutting, especially around the leaves in the upper right corner. The leaves were colored with a green Spica pen to add some glimmer. I also used a sparkle Gelly Roll pen on the water and the feathers of the swan. I didn't want to overdo such a delicate image with anything too elaborate.

Whether or not it's a winner, I'm happy with the way it turned out.

COLOR CHALLENGE

Here's my take on the Color Challenge posted HERE.

Using yellow, gray and white, a summery color combo, I used my sunflower stamp from Inkadinkado (a gift from my friend, Linda) and some dsp in my stash. The petals are colored with a Barely Banana SU marker, and the center is enhanced with some fine white glitter.

Enjoy!

FIRST MARQUEE CARD

When Jackie came over to stamp in the Tower last week, one of the cards we worked on was a Marquee card from instructions in a book. If only we had Jan Tink's video (HERE) it would have been a snap instead of a 3-hour trial and error marathon. Somehow, we just couldn't figure out how to attach the "curtain" so that it would open and close properly. Once we finally got it, though, we realized it should have taken less than a half hour to do.

Here's the one I came up with. Using stamp pegs of leaves and blossoms, I decorated the inner circle. The punched-out circle came in handy as a mask, although the inks probably wouldn't have shown up on the black anyway. The dsp scrap came in handy as a cover over the white cardstock of the base card. Then the leftover pieces were used to decorate the corners of the inside.

When opened, the curtains part to reveal a Hero Arts flower that was stamped on a scrap of dsp and glued in position.

After all the work that went into the making of this card, it will indeed be a special card for a special person!

FINAL DESIGN

Thanks for all your votes and comments on the Christmas card post. After some minor changes of Card #2 suggested by Susan Raihala of Simplicity fame (in a private email) here's what we came up with.

First, by restamping the greeting on lighter dsp and mounting it over the green, it's much easier to read. Using the BOHO Flower punch, I added some red in the center of the flower to make it more Poinsettia-like and added some dark green ferns. I also chose deeper colors of embroidery floss for the bow.

Lowering the whole greeting line down to the bottom third of the card made it more visually pleasing. It's amazing how minor changes can make such a major impact!

Tour of Our Yard

For a look at all the colorful flowers in our yard, click HERE.

WATERFALL CARD

I finally got around to trying a waterfall card, and it was fun! The pictures show the card closed and pulled down to reveal the message underneath. Dawn's video tutorial made it super easy. Check it out HERE. Click on Dawn's video links and scroll down to Waterfall Card listed at 5-10-08.

For my card, I used two shades of green to match the colors in the dsp and two coordinating SU markers for the flowers.

(The flowers are from the Hero Arts clear stamp set, "Big and Small Flowers." The stamp used on top is from Endless Creations, Inc. The hidden birthday sentiment is from SU "Whimsical Words.")

CAST YOUR VOTE

Which of these three Christmas card designs do you like best?

#1 is stamped on lightweight white cardstock, distressed, sponged and mounted over hunter green cs. The ivory Hero Arts flower has a gold embellishment which I colored with a red marker to match the red embroidery floss on the side.

#2 is also stamped on lightweight white cardstock, distressed and sponged, mounted over SU poinsettia dsp. The flower is ivory and the two-tone embroidery floss matches the colors of the dsp underneath.

#3 is printed on vellum (using my printer), then mounted over dsp that was distressed and sponged on the edges with Tea Dye distress ink. For a brighter look, I used a white flower with a gold embellishment.

The inside stamp says, "Let the song of Christmas fill your heart." All stamps used are from the new Flourishes "Christmas Music" stamp set.

Please vote for your favorite and add any suggestions you may have for improvements! (Don't forget to click on each for a closer look at details.)

Make a Wish

This dandelion stamp takes me back to my childhood days when we made wishes as we blew dandelion seeds off their stalks and watched them float away, like blowing bubbles. Later on, when weed-free lawns became more important, bubbles eventually did replace the dandelions!

Somehow the colors don't show up well here. The card base is from a package of Hero Arts Yellow cards and envelopes, much brighter than it looks, like the dandelions that pop up every Spring!

KING OF THE CATNIP

During the rain delay at the Nascar race in Pocono (only an hour from here) Archie decided to mellow out on catnip and rest up for the restart. The storm is headed in our direction and should be here within minutes. He'll probably continue his catnap right through it. Notice how tightly closed his eyes are!

(Click to enlarge.)

Shingles Update

I'm happy to report that I seem to be improving slightly. Yesterday afternoon, I drove to the post office to pick up my mail (3 miles) without as much pain as even earlier in the day. Today I'm going to try grocery shopping (16 miles, round trip)--what a thrill! (I mean that literally!)

For any of you who haven't had a Shingles vaccine, I strongly recommend that you get one ASAP. You don't want this, and I don't want it again. As soon as I'm over it, I plan to get vaccinated before it has a chance to return.

Thanks for all your comments and prayers--I cherish them all.

Ready-for-anything Card/Scrap Drawer #9

This card was made entirely from scraps on my table!