Vacations, Valentines and Vitamins

This is the last week of our month-long vacation in Sunny Alabama. We've had it all weather-wise - from thundersnows, to snow to freezing temps to balmy 74 degrees. February had it all. But, locals tell us this February weather is not at all normal for this area so we're determined to come back and try again. Of course, the free golf has a lot to do with it, too. LOL! Yesterday, we traveled to Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Florida. My DH and his friend Joe are camera buffs. Between the two, there are several hundred photo snaps and videos as well. Here's a video of the shoreline. Don't you just LOVE the music? I'll admit I'm not a water baby, but after this past winter, being on a seashore where the temp is moderate and the wind is balmy does tend to rejuvenate one! Check out my Facebook page and click on photos of the fort itself.



Before I left, I had a hard decision what to bring with me for hobby time while my DH was on the links. I had wanted to stay in touch with my upline as far as Stampin' UP! goes, so she suggested I only bring one set of stamps, and coordinating paper and ink to show what can be done with such limitations. So, I did several valentines just before I left and mailed them out and then brought the store with me anyway. Of course, I didn't take pictures of them. Talk about limitations! I did do three birthday cards for March gals over at Cardmaker Magazine, but I can't post them until later in March because I've just mailed them out! Arrrggghhh!! So, guess there will be no pictures of cards.

That's it for now. I do wish I had done more blogging while we were here. Nearly every day was some kind of adventure....or not. It's hard to go back and try to recapture each day or at least each adventure and tell about it. I will say having high speed internet access was definitely a PLUS in my book. At one time, we had 3 puters and an iPod going here at the condo!! The ink was just flyin' off those keys!! LOL!!

Thanks to our friends and family who came down and shared some of these good times with us.

TTFN!

We're thankful for our missionaries

It’s Thursday and I’m a month behind with Sale-A-Bration already. I do have two cards to post for you today. Last Monday night, a group of ladies from my church met to make cards for our missionary families. We needed 21 sets of 4 so each family could have 4 cards – we got 20 sets done!! Took about an hour and a half – they were real troupers too! I had everything cut and sized, had all the accessories, punches, inks, dimensionals, etc., prepped as well. Then I needed to have a sample card and instructions for each table. All that took almost 2 days to prep and we got it all done! I’m so proud of those ladies! Several of them had never been to a Stamp Camp before.
These two are just samples. We used 4 different stamp sets that Stampin’ Up! has offered over the years and that contain the phrases, “Best Wishes”, “Get Well”, Thank You” and “Happy Birthday”. We wanted consistency for each set as far as font and color, but the ladies were free to adjust or move or add to the elements on the cards. As a surprise for their hard work, I had a separate table for a Make-and-Take Valentine card, but, because of time constraints, I went ahead and made up some of them for the gals who had to scoot early. Unfortunately, I don’t have a sample of the Valentine Card but it does use this year’s Occasions I {heart} Hearts stamp set, the Curly Label with Heart Big Shot Die, and this year’s Sending Love DSP. The cards were stinkin’ CUTE!!! Stampin’ Up! goes all out to ensure our products are all color-coordinated. You simply can’t make a misteak even if you tried!! HA!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

Best Wishes for 2010

It's still cold but I'm not the only one! We had a minus 3 (F) when we awoke at 7 am today. Florida is set to lose nearly two/thirds of their citrus crop - statements were made on Fox and Friends this morning that the citrus crop would only be good for orange juice and not eating the fruit. Apparently the fruit is filled with ice. Fortunately, the trees weren't seriously harmed and will be good to go for next season. But the warming should start today. I saw Miami will be in the 50s today!

Today's card is an anniversary card for several friends and family who have an anniversary in January. I'm almost POSITIVE none of them read my blog so I think I'm okay with this. If not, then I won't post this kind of card again til after they are mailed. (I'll share the recipe after the picture.)There is something seriously wrong with the picture, but I don't know how to fix the problem. When I look at the scanned picture, all the elements stand out in sharp relief. But the bottom of the card reads "Best Wishes" from the Sincere Salutations stamp set (retired). The inside (which I didn't post), simply reads "May happiness be yours today and always" and is also from the Sincere Salutations Stamp set. This card was easy-peasy to put together. Coming up with a card layout is always hardest for me so I'm very grateful to see so many good quality photos in magazines and online services. I just learned a lesson - when I CASE'd this card (which I'm sure I did), I forgot to write down the person who created the layout. I apologise. So, without further ado, here's the recipe.
UPDATE: My DH stopped by and helped me out - he said if you have fast internet you should be able to see the picture really clear. We clicked on the photo and it shows all the elements in clear relief. That's a relief to me. YES!
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Card layout: CASE'd from a magazine (??)
Card Stock: Real Red and Basic Black
DSP: Washington Apple (2008/09 IB&C, ret)
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Stamps: Vintage Labels (Occasions 2010), Sincere Salutations (2008/09 IB&C, ret)
Punch: Round Scallop
Measurements: Black Strip, 2"x5.5", DSP Strip, 1.75"x5.5"
Other accessories: Dimensionals, Snail, Clear Stamp block

If you have any questions, email me! I've also added a link on the side today so you can share my blog (if you wish) with your friends on Google Friends, Facebook, and Twitter.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Friday so it must be snowing.....still.....

Oh, I am so not a winter person. I dislike intensely being cold and having to wear cuddle duds and long flannel pajamas and having to heat the bathroom to sub-saharan temps just so I can take a shower. My friend Mary says she thought she saw a ray of sunshine yesterday, but she said it disappeared before she could verify its identity. But, I just KNOW spring must be up there somewhere! Hope springs eternal. Um-hum.

Today's card is a Valentine. Not too early to think about those! If you go to any of the card-making-and-sharing websites, these are already being showcased. So, I made one last night from a tri-fold card. I'll share the recipe with you after the photos. If you are as obsessively compulsive about details as I apparently am, you'll see what I mean.

The first photo, captured by my DH using a "new" photo box, is the "back front" view of the card. The second will be the "front front view" and the third will be the "full front" view. Because a Tri-fold card has elements all over it and technically no back, taking a picture of one can be an exercise (not even to mention trying to upload three photos with DIAL-up!). Are you confused yet?
(Bulletin: it has taken 2 hours to upload 2 photos - you're out of luck and I'm out of patience with this Dialup service. Sorry - only two photos.)

A couple of notes: The scallop on the front was cut close to the lines and then mounted on another scallop of Melon Mambo with Snail adhesive. The two birds on the "back front" of the card were stamped upside down on Very Vanilla and then punched out with the large heart. (Try it...you'll see what I mean.) I then mounted it on a right-side-up embosslit heart using Dimensionals between the hearts and snailed the whole thing to the back. In the "middle" middle, I used four Embosslit hearts (two of MM and two of VV cardstock). I punched a MM heart and snailed it to one of the VV embosslit hearts. I used a MM marker to spell out LOVE on four small punched hearts, but if you have stickers or a tiny letter stamp set, try that instead. If I were to do this card again, I'd use stamps - I have bad handwriting. I also used one of the elements from the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt kit, but I kinda think it's overkill. I probably could have just put a few more punched hearts or something. Or not.

And lastly, the DSP sheet is a sparkly one from the Sending Love Specialty paper, giving a look of fireworks around the little hearts! The look was unintentional, but came out really cute. Of course, you can't see the sparkly effects with "my" camera, but it's there!

Now, I know there are purists out there who would tell me I have my Tri-fold card upside-down and as OCD as I am, I would (probably) agree. But, honestly, I did try to do this the conventional way and it didn't work! The card had to be upside down for me. Okay, so I'm not as OCD as I thought, but I'm close! LOLOLOL!!

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Recipe:
Type: Tri-Shutter Card
Stamp Set: Love You Much (IB&C)
Papers: Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla
DSP: Sending Love Specialty (2010 Occasions)
Inks: Melon Mambo Marker and Basic Black Classic
Punches: Small Heart (2010 Occasions), Scallop Circle, Large Heart, Embosslits Scalloped Heart of Hearts
Adhesives: Sticky Strip, Snail, Dimensionals
Elements: Sweet Pea Stitched Felt (2010 Occasions)
Extras: Scoring Board, Craft Knife, Cutting Mat, Detail Scissors

Happy 2010 to all!

It's here! A brand new year! Happy New Year everybody! We had our very good friends from Maryland here to help us celebrate the new year's arrival, but we were all in bed by 11pm. That's okay. We did Friday good! Watched West Virginia's loss to FSU and Bobby Bowden. We played lots of games, ate lots of food and then watched a good movie that they had brought with them. They left this morning, but I guess I didn't ask for enough snow to keep them a little longer. We only had about 3 inches on the ground so they went ahead with their homeward bound trip. I hope and pray they got home safely. I miss them already.

So, did you break a new resolution already? If you did, you're in good company. Nearly all of Congress has broken their resolutions already, too! 'Nuff said.

Since we had company, I didn't work at all on any of my card projects, but I did get my January birthday cards off so I'm in the clear on that. However, Valentine's Day is coming, and the Sale-A-Bration marathon starts the 5th (that's next Tuesday!!) and boy do we have some good things going! For the first time ever, Stampin' Up! is offering a punch as a free item! Our Occasions mini selling period starts the 5th also and we're offering some beautiful items as well as clear stamps!!! We're heading down the right path with these items. I just KNOW you'll like them once you get your hands on them, either at a workshop or a gathering! This is just the perfect time to get started on any of your cards for 2010. (Is that going to be twenty-ten or 2k10 or 2 thousand and ten?) I like twenty-ten - easy to say at least for me!

So, for now, that's it! Stay tuned and please let me know you received your new Occasions Mini Catalog in the mail! I understand that some of you have not received them. Believe me, you'll like the mini when you see it. I've also got the Sale-A-Bration flyers I've got to mail out. They will be in the mail as soon as possible!

TTFN!!