Another Day, Another Card!

Again, I am trying to use material in my inventory. I made this card using a scallop circle that I received from my DSS. I really want a scallop circle, oval and square but they are just impossible to find in stock anywhere. I picked my colors from the Michael's spool ribbon. I just love this ribbon, the design is on both sides. I used my last sheet of gable green and ballet blue cardstock. I also used, for the first time, the SAB stamp set Happy Harmony.



I'm happy with the way it turned out. Simple but cute.

I did go get a pedicure yesterday it was wonderful. AND, my neighbor sensing that I was missing Kerry, invited me over for an evening in the Hot Tub. It was so relaxing. She popped a cork of champagne and there we sat chatting and sipping the bubbly and eating shrimp cocktail. It was a fun night. I did miss Kerry's call though since I wasn't home. She called early this morning asking where I was and why I didn't call her back (lol, that's a switch!). She was on her way to Sea World. She is having a blast but is looking foward to coming home tonight. I pick her up at the school around midnight.

Also while in the hot tub, Jack came home and over to the neighbors saying he had been calling me for a while to pick him up b/c his car broke down AGAIN! We've only had it 6 weeks and it's been back to the dealer 3 times (they towed it again this morning). Granted it's a used car but we weren't expecting such trouble within the first month. So much for the relaxing night in the hot tub!

Remember, tomorrow is April 1st and I am having a blog reader contest (no April Fools Joke)! Check back to see how this prize can help you organize your supplies.

Buzz.....

Today I decided to make a card with a stamp that I have had for a while and never used. I have had this little Bee Stamp (from Rubber Stampede) for years and have never used it. I used the dots from SU Polka Dots and Paisely and the letters are from SU Alphadots (which I have also had forever and never used). I also used my cuttlebug for this card and my favorite pen - the white signo gel pen.



Maybe someday I will open the SU watercolor crayons (the original set of 48) and use them (lol).

Kerry called last night (on her way to the hotel pool) to tell us she was having a blast. She'll be home tomorrow night around midnight. With her gone, I am home alone (the guys are working tonight) so I am trying to decide what to do....Pedicure...ok, decided.

Have a nice weekend.

On April 1st I will have a blog contest with a great prize. Check back.

Looks Like Spring

It's feeling a little springy out there. Here is a card that uses the Looks Like Spring Stamp Set and Punch as well as the DP from last year. Hopefully, the cold weather is gone and Spring is really here.

Book Club was a blast last night. We had a full house (15 woman) and EVERYONE liked the book. We had a lot of conversation and a lot of laughs. Julie, as usual, had an elaborate buffet and everything was delicious. I particularly liked the Pineapple Upsidedown Cake (and had several pieces). Next month is WICKED by Gregory MaGuire and our hostess is Carol. Several ChickLits are also going to see the play WICKED several days after book club. Can't wait!

Kerry Ann called when she arrived in Florida so she is safe and sound and I'm sure having a blast. I am looking forward to hearing from her today. She spent yesterday at Universal Studios and today she is going to Epcot. Tomorrow will be back at Universal for their Island of Adventures Theme Park and Saturday she will have a behind the scenes look at Sea World.

Don't forget, there will be exciting new blog candy on April 1st. Check back then to enter.

Book Club Tonight!

Attention ChickLit's, just a reminder, Book Club is tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Julie's. We will be discussing Lisa See's "Snowflower and the Secret Fan". I have bookplates signed by the author for everyone!

HELLO to my Secret Sister Brenda. She received my reveal package this week and was going to check out my blog so I wanted to make sure I said hello! It was a fun round of DSS over on SCS. I am still waiting to find out who my secret sister is and should know by the end of this week...so exciting.

Kerry Ann is flying to Florida as I type this. I dropped her off at school at 3:45 a.m. this morning for the bus ride to the airport. She should be landing in Orlando around 10:00 a.m. this morning. Lucky kid is taking her second trip to Orlando in as many months. I'm sure the one with her friends will be memorable. I miss her already!

Here is a card I am sending to someone at work who is out for a few weeks. Again, using a color I ususally don't use, Creamy Caramel. I matched it with red and a creamy caramel gingham ribbon. In addition to the retired SU stamp set I also used the Canvas background (not sure if you can tell from the picture). I also matched the envelop. It's not a new card, I had it in my card basket. I probably made it a year ago for a swap.



Have a good day. I will edit post after book club. Our book for April is Wicked! Some of from book club are also going to see the play in NYC in April.

Fun Weekend!

It was a fun weekend celebrating Kerry's b-day. On Friday after Kerry's jazz class we met her friends Cassandra & Kelly and went to dinner at a Japanese Restuarant. The food was great and we were entertained by a clumsy chef. We sang Happy Birthday to the Birthday girl, who turned red. After dinner we went bowling. While I used to be a great bowler, I haven't bowled in 12 years. I have bowled my whole life in leagues but stopped when shoulder pain made it impossible to stay in a league. Kerry Ann bowls infrequently and usually throws a gutter ball. On this night, however, she had the best game of her life and bowled a 121. She was so happy! I also was pleasantly surprised that I could still bowl and bowled a 178! I might try to join a league again. Since we were there for Kerry's B-Day, the desk at the bowling alley made an announcement on the loud speaker that Kerry was celebrating her birthday on Lane 1 an d we all sang Happy Birthday again. After bowling we went to Friendly's for some ice cream. Again, we sang Happy Birthday. We had a great time!

On Saturday, Kerry had her usual dance and acting classes. In the evening we went to see the High School Musical Guys and Dolls with Kerry's friend Cassandra and her mom, Brenda. The play was very good. When it ended at 11, we headed back to Friendly's for a late night snack, the sampler - - no icecream.

Now on the 23rd I said I would post another card on the 24th, so if you checked back, sorry about that. That didn't happen because of our busy Saturday night but I did make the following cards on the 24th. I am in a swap in April where the theme is baby cards. I wasn't sure what to do. I had a card made by a swapper from the monthly swap I host that was in the shape of a baby's onesy. I had wanted to try to make that card anyway (it was so cute) so I thought I would try it for the April baby swap. I can't remember who made the card originally but I have asked on my SCS thread and as soon as I get an answer I will credit the original creater of this cute card. EDIT: Just had a reply and the original card was made by Pampopular on SCS. Thanks Pam for the inspiration.

Here are my attempts at the cute card.



On this card, I used the cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss the front of the card. In the April Swap I can't use the cuttlebug (only SU supples) so I have another idea. I will post the card I end up using when done.



Getting ready to start a new week. Kerry is packing for Florida. She leaves on Wednesday. I am going to miss her.

Another Card (Two Days In a Row....Oh My!)

AND....this is my first card using my new Cuttlebug. I love it! The embossing at the bottom of the card was used with the Happy Birthday embossing folder for the Cuttle bug. I just love how easy it is to use.

Before I get into the card, Happy Birthday Kerry! Big day for my youngest as she celebrates her birthday. She starts a new jazz class tonight and then it's off to dinner with friends.

On the subject of birthdays, I attempted a masculine birthday card today.

I always have trouble with masculine cards. My BIL's birthday is coming up and didn't have one birthday card in my card box that I would send to a man. I don't even have any "manly" type stamps, except for golf. Today I played with some colors I never use. I have the original package of paper for SU Really Rust and Creamy Caramel. I pulled them out and matched them with some very old SU Designer Paper that I don't even remember buying and came up with these masculine cards.



They are exactly the same except for the ribbon. I liked the card so much that I decided to use it for my monthly swap and made an additional 10 cards (that's why I ran out of the ribbon and had to change). So I am ahead of the game again. My cards for April are done. If you are in my Monthly swap and prefer to be surprised, do not look at these cards. Opps, I probably should have put that at the beginning.

Have a nice weekend everyone. I am going to post a new cuttlebug card tomorrow. I am on a roll....

Finally....

I finally finished the faux stitching card for the new swap I joined. We had to pick a technique and I piced Faux Stitching. As you can see from earlier posts, I have been trying to come up with a card that I liked enough to reproduce for a swap. Today I finished this card (made 12) and I like it. I used the SU Floral background stamp (I like the look with the white craft ink) and the SU Heartfelt Thanks Stamp Set. I added celery ribbon and some crystal effects in the center of the flower. The word heartfelt is in script on the left side of the card...can you see it? Also, I used Winter White Embossing powder on the flower.

Again, I am hoping to post photo's of cards more often. Thanks for your patience.

I am reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan for book club next week. It's by Lisa See. I am halfway through and I do like the book. Book Club is Wednesday and as usual I am looking foward to it. It is a fun night out. Julie is our hostess (have you visited her new blog yet? Look to the left under places I go for a link to her blog and photo's of her beautiful jewelry) and if you are a member of the ChickLits, I look forward to seeing you at book club.

Kerry Ann's birthday is tomorrow. She is starting a new jazz class on her birthday and is very excited. For her birthday we are going to a Japanese Restaurant and then going bowling and friendly's. On Saturday we are going to see the High School production of Guys and Dolls. It should be a fun weekend.

Let me know what you think of my card and check back on April 1st for a new blog contest. It's a great prize...here's a hint: it will help you get organized. Check back to enter the contest.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope you are all having a Happy St. Patrick's Day. We did get about a foot of snow last night (heavy, icy snow). Hopefully, this is our last snowstorm of the season. We are happy that the snow stopped in time for our trip to the dinner theater tomorrow. I am going to see GREASE with my mom and Kerry Ann. We are are looking forward to that.

I will try to post my latest faux stitching card tonight.

I am cooking corn beef and cabbage for dinner tonight. Here is an Irish Blessing for you on this snowy St. Patrick's Day.

May those who love us, love us.

And for those who don't love us,

May God turn their hearts.

And if he can not turn their hearts,

May he turn their ankles,

So we may know them by their limping.

May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.


H A P P Y
S T. P A T R I CK ' S
D A Y !



Last call for one of my Blog Contest Winners. I still haven't heard from Sherrie. Please e-mail with your address so I can send you your prize!

Faux Stitching

I made my first attempt at Faux Stitching. What I discovered is that, at least in my case, it's harder than it looks. I followed the tutorial on SCS and used the paper piercing template in the SU tool kit. No matter how many times I tried, I just could not get it to look like the pictures in the tutorial or gallery. I will keep trying and really need to get it down by this weekend since I joined a technique swap this month and I picked Faux Stitching (what was I thinking?) as the technique I would use. I really thought it would be easier to obtain the look of stitching. I will keep trying. Here are photo's of my first attempts.


I can't get that stitching straigt

A little straighter on this card

Gave up stitching the big rectangle and will stick to the smaller one

I went to the casino with Bea and Jeanne today. We had a great time. I even came home with more money than I left with (which is unusal). We played a few of the slot machines (we liked the monopoly slots) but mostly played blackjack. I was very hot in the morning playing blackjack. I think I got at least five blackjacks within an hour and a half of playing, In the morning we had a great dealer and sat with some ladies who were a lot of fun (and who helped us along the way). We took a break and had a nice lunch at the Summer Shack (we had calamari, stuffed shrimp and whole belly clams). We had so much fun we are planning another casino trip in June. This time it will be an overnight.

I have some more cards I am working on with the Faux Stitching. Hopefully, they will come out better and I will be able to submit to the technique swap. I'll post when done.

Snow is on the way. Looks like we will have a snowy weekend.

So Sorry...

For not posting recently. I just haven't had a lot of time for card making this past week. I have my new cuttlebug, my new 3x3 cards, new designer paper & my new SAB stamp sets, yet I have created nothing! I am hoping to get some crafting time this week and will post something new soon.

Meanwhile, I am still waiting for my blog contest winner, Shelley, to contact me. Send me your snail mail and I will get your prize out to you.

Update on stove: The new stove arrived today. Finally, we can be back to our normal life and cook! Poor Meghan was home for a whole week on spring break and never got a home cooked meal. She did get to go out to dinner several times though. Meghan, we all miss you!

Here's a great new blog you can visit. My good friend Julie (the jewelry designer) just started blogging and has photo's of some of her latest designs. She is so talented. Stop by and say hi to Julie at: www.juliesheartsdesire.blogspot.com

Leave a comment and tell her Diane sent you! I have a link to her blog under the heading of PLACES I GO!

Thanks for stopping by. I will add some cards soon!

Diane

And the winners are.....

Shelley and Melanie and here are their comments:

shelley davis said...
Great blog candy. I love Spring break. My child is going to N.Y. instead of coming home this year:).
You enjoy Meghan. Have a wonderful weekend and a great week.
Shelley

Melanie Kuzik said...
Oh wow primas...got to love them...Great blog
Melanie Kuzik

Meghan did the honors of picking the winners. Congratulations! Ladies please email me your snail mail and I will send out your altered notebooks and primas!

Sorry, I was late announcing the winners. Left the house early this morning and simply forgot. Meghan, Kerry and I spent the day with my mom. We had a great brunch at the Waterfront Grill and then went to the movies to see Music & Lyrics. I really like Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant and having them together in the same movie was a treat! Fun day.

On our way home we stopped at JoAnn's "just to look". I was surprised to see that the cuttlebug was still on sale for $49.99 (I thought it was only for last week). They only had one left and it seemed to be calling my name. Then Meghan said, "mom, I have a JoAnn gift card that I never used and you can have it". It was for $10.00 bringing the price down to $39.99. It was calling my name louder and louder so I gave in. I now own a cuttlebug! I haven't opened the box and I only have a few embossing folders (they were on sale for 40% off but they only had four left - and no dies). I can't wait to see what I can do with the cuttlebug.

Keep reading...when my next contest pops up, it will be for a RIBBON HOLDER! Keep looking.

My Second Blog Reader Contest

First, Happy Birthday to my cousin Karen! I hope you had a great day (card is late but will be on the way).

Today I am having a second blog readers contest with two prizes. Leave a comment and I will print out the comments and draw two names.

One person will win this small altered notebook and some prima flowers.



The second winner will win this small altered notebook and some prima flowers. The altered notebooks were made with some cardstock that went through a cuttlebug. The cardstock was a gift to me from my great DSS at SCS.


I love making the small altered notebooks. I had originally planned to stamp them as well but they looked so pretty with the embossed cardstock, I decided to leave them as they were.

I will leave the contest open until 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night (March 3) and announce the winners on Sunday morning (March 4).

Meghan comes home tomorrow for spring break. We are all looking forward to spending a week with Meghan. I'll let Meghan pick the lucky winners.

Thanks for reading my little blog.