When the Chocolate Speaks...

you have to listen, right? Then why am I having such a hard time unwinding tonight? What are your plans for the weekend?

Flower Power to the People!

I am NOT a child of the '60's. I was a child IN the '60's. IN, not OF. So, to me, Flower Power is all about cards!

Let me explain. Flower Power Card Elements is a new product by SU! that has supplies to make 9 cards. Sold separately, but that coordinates with this, is a stamp set called Wow Flowers. These two items are in a line called Simply Sent, introduced by SU! in 2007 to help new stampers be able to create cards quickly and easily. The supplies set and the stamps used to be sold together, but this catalog marks the debut of them as coordinating, but not joined at the hip tools.





The Flower Power Card Elements comes with the following items:
6-8.5" x 11" sheets of textured card stock
2-8.5" x 11" sheets of designer series paper
brads, buttons, and ribbon
2 sheets of self-adhesives (otherwise known as stickers)
step-by-step instructions

I bought the coordinating set, although you could use any sentiment stamp sets you already own. Once I organized everything, the biggest challenge was deciding what to do first! I am really bad when it comes to stuff like this, because there's a limited amount of it. That means I want to hoard it and not use any of it frivolously. Oh the choices! Finally, I decided to make one of the cards using the instructions.

What I like about these is that there are words AND pictures. So, if you're not the type to read, but can figure out something by looking at a diagram or a photo, you're golden. This came out exactly like it was supposed to, and that inspires confidence.

When making the second card, I wanted to follow my own whims...well, sort of. Having already stated for the record that I get paralyzed by too many choices and it also being a well-documented fact that I like getting inspiration from those in cyberland, you should not be surprised that my second attempt was my own interpretation of this card by Diane Gilbert that I found on SCS.


I liked how she used one of the flower stickers and the sentiment from the Wow Flowers set to make a stem for it, thereby creating a focal point. What I did to kick it up a notch was use the stamp that looks like a 1000% enlarged asterisk and added glitter to said sticker. I was really stoked to figure out that that image fit inside that flower perfectly. Whoever designed this stuff was thinking! I was even more excited when the sticker didn't curl or freak out when I applied the heat tool to it to melt the Heat and Stick Embossing Powder so that the Dazzling Diamonds could stick to it!

I used some scraps of More Mustard and a rectangle of Perfect Plum to create a matting for the striped DP (oh, how I love STRIPES!), and the ribbon from the kit finished it off. The little leaves are a cut up felt flower from my Felt Flowers Accents and Elements kit.

I bought extra card stock in the colors of this elements kit because I really like the combination of Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Old Olive, and More Mustard. If you'd like to own either of these items, just contact me and I'll be happy to tell you how you can have them delivered directly to your doorstep!

Celebrating Again and a New Card

Fourteen years ago today I had a baby boy. He was named after his paternal great-grandfathers, "Mike" and Bill. That boy weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21" long. Today, Michael William is 5' 6" tall, weighs over 100 lbs. and wears a men's small shirt and size 12 shoes! AAAAACKKK!! Where has the time gone?

He is absolutely fabulous, and a delight to have around--I'm not kidding! He even tolerated having his mug shot and the moments of his special day preserved for posterity. My day started early because I forgot that he wanted an ice cream dessert for his "cake" (not a big fan of the stuff for some reason), so I trotted off to Kroger before taking him to school to get the supplies I needed. Ice cream sandwiches with a fabulous "glue" or "frosting" of Cool Whip, hot fudge, and peanut butter. While I was there, I picked up powdered doughnuts, one of his favorites. He's not much of a breakfast guy, as you can see by the photo.

He went to school, but it was early release today--the perfect gift from the school system--so he was home by 2:15 instead of 5:00. For his birthday meal from Mom's Restaurant, he ordered parmesan chicken, rice orzo pilaf, and the aforementioned dessert. Note the glaring absence of a fruit or vegetable to balance the meal. He's a typical guy! The best meals contain meat and starch and end with sugar! I couldn't stand it; I steamed some broccoli for me and Bob.

He chatted on the phone with his friend and birthmate, Emily, and is enjoying some time online playing a computer game that he has been on a leave of absence from so as not to be distracted during this first month of school. The special dispensation to play brought a big smile to his face.

Okay, thanks for tolerating that bit of family news. Here's the card I made this evening while Michael's online and Bob's at a meeting. The design is called a pop up card, and I tried it because I saw Mary Jo Albright's tutorial at SCS today. I chose Sage Shadow, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, and Very Vanilla as the color scheme for this card because of a car seat pattern I saw at Target this afternoon. Inspiration is everywhere, so keep an eye out for it!

I know that in the first picture it doesn't look like a pop-up at all, but I wanted you to see what it looks like for mailing. It's great that it folds up and fits in a regular A2 envelope!

I'm really happy with how this turned out--the Always set never fails me--and I enjoyed adding little details, like the border and CTC 1/4" grosgrain ribbon around the base. It doesn't show in the photo, but it's on both sides. I like the idea of this card. It can sit around and serve as a reminder for someone in need of encouragement. It could even hold a photo, although it would have to be pretty tightly cropped. (Hmmmm...an idea for Christmas cards?) I'm going to write out a message on a separate piece of VV and attach it to the back before I send it.

Well, tomorrow's another day off for me, so I hope to make another card, this time featuring another new product from the SU! F-W Catalog--Power Flower Card Elements. Come on back and see me then!

Celebrating

As I shared earlier today, my anniversary was yesterday. Tonight we went out to dinner as a family, since our son's birthday is tomorrow. The restaurant choice was mine--Rice, a sushi bar with traditional Asian food as well.

We started off with an appetizer plate, and Michael enjoyed the chicken satay--thus the menacing spear--but he really enjoyed the crab rangoon most. I was proud of him for trying something new! Bob tried a smoked salmon sushi and liked it.

Then we moved on to the main course. The guys had traditional entrees, but I knew I wanted sushi, so I took the recommendation of our waiter and had the house's featured roll, aptly named the Yummy Roll. Raw salmon and tuna with a bit of cream cheese and blanched pencil-thin asparagus, wrapped the traditional way, then lightly battered with a tempura and quickly fried. It was soooooo good! I think what I like best about sushi is the texture. It just has great mouth feel, as well as tasting marvelous!

After dinner we went to the Verizon store and upgraded my phone and Michael's. We both chose the LG Voyager. Michael has been using my old phone for the past 2 years, and he wanted one that had a texting keyboard. He was very surprised and pleased with his present.

Tomorrow my boy will be 14. I can hardly believe it! Only 4 more years with him and then he'll be off to college. I've been told not to blink.

Crafty Mini Backpack

Meet Custard. He's Michael's, and he stuffed him with love and gave him a heart many, many years ago on an end of the year field trip to Build-A-Bear with his kindergarten class. Custard has been sitting on a shelf in the basement since our move, but he willingly came out of hibernation to help me show you a new project I made today. I figured that having Custard model it will help provide some proportion perspective. Besides, he looks really cute with it, and I think there are lots of kids and moms who might have a really good time making this project for a special doll or stuffed bear.

Isn't this just one of the cutest little things you've ever seen? This mini backpack (finished dimensions are 3.5" x 6" x 1.75") is such a fun project! HUGE THANKS goes out to Tonya Klar, who took a template that was posted on SCS without any measurements and revised it into something VERY VERY helpful. She also went to the effort to make this video so that those who are visual learners would have a resource to help them be successful with this project. I utilized both, and am so thankful to Tonya for what she did for the stamping community.

This project utilizes 1-8.5" x 11" sheet of paper for the main body of the backpack,a half sheet for the outside pocket and flaps, and one-fourth of a sheet of designer series paper. I used 2' of ribbon, 12" per strap.


The little girls I know who have American Girl dolls of their own moved to California recently, so instead this will go to a friend I have who's in need of some encouragement (without Custard, of course). I'll be using my sneaky ways to get this to her. I made a coordinating note to slip inside it, along with some chocolates. Did you know Dove makes a new individually wrapped milk chocolate infused with a hazelnut caramel center?! Yum...

Tonya has posted her template for anyone to download, although it needs a few little adjustments. I've informed her of those, so hopefully she'll make those little fixes. It's a great project, and I want to make another, so don't be surprised if this becomes a special class soon! Let me know if you'd like to see this on my schedule of events, or if you know some moms and daughters who you'd like to gather and have me help you make these. They'd be a great little teacher encouragement too, or a very creative way to package her/his Christmas gift card.

Guess you know what this means...I have to go clean the bathroom now.

Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head--YAY!!

It's a beautiful day here in north GA because Fay is finally dropping a motherload of RAIN on our area! It started raining yesterday, off and on, and it has been raining steadily all day today. It's creating a large red dirt puddle and small stream just off our deck in our backyard (which conveniently slants away from the house!), but bring it on--we'll take it!

I don't have to work today, so I'm spending the day in the craft room or on the couch reading or in the bathroom cleaning (I'm avoiding the last task as long as possible!). The sound of rain pattering on the roof and pinging down the gutters is one of my favorite things. I just hope the ground can absorb it, or that all the runoff finds its way into our lake and returns it to full pool--we're about 12 FEET below normal!

In other news, yesterday was my 18th wedding anniversary! I made this card quite awhile ago, but had saved it for just the right occasion. Well, yesterday certainly was the right occasion.

Let me tell you about my wonderful husband. We met 19 years ago, dated 3 months before getting engaged, and were officially married before we'd known each other a full calendar year. When you know, you know, and we were certain about our love for each other, even when others weren't. I have been so blessed!

I have a husband whose unconditional love for me is steadfast, whose support of my abilities and talents is unwavering, whose wisdom and gentleness set the tone for our home, and whose friendship makes me feel so secure. I so love you, Bob! We have had, by the grace of God, a strong, stable, fun life together. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Thanks for all of you that you give so generously to me, day after day, year after year.

Since our anniversary happened to fall on piano lesson night this year, we're going out to dinner tonight. We're bringing our son along because his 14th birthday is tomorrow! I'll post pictures tomorrow of our meal out, because I'm hoping to get "my boys" to try sushi!

There's a break in the rain--hey, the sun's peeking out!--so I have to run out and try to pick up some Velcro dots so that I can post a picture of this WAY CUTE project I found online this past weekend and made this morning. Before I go, though, I wanted to post two cards I received this week. I'm just like everyone else--I LOVE REAL MAIL!--and these two cards are beautiful, aren't they?

I hope you're not hoarding your cards. Get them in the mail! They really will make someone's day. They don't have to say much. Just sending a little message communicates more than you know. Thanks, Lydia!

Thumbs UP for Upsy Daisy and Urban Garden DSP!

I was under the gun last night. I had not come up with a fifth card for SAS that I was just thrilled with, although the other experiments I'd made had turned out fine. I wanted something that was different, unique.

I had all the card stock and ribbon and supplies culled together for the other four cards, so I had dinner with my family and watched the Olympics we have stored on TiVO. (Marvelous invention!) So, now that it was 9:30 pm, I had to get down to business.

I had ordered Upsy Daisy because it coordinates with Inspired by Nature and Pocket Silhouettes, two sets I already own. I ALSO liked it because it has a variety of very useful sentiments. I ALSO liked it because it's on special from now until Sept. 30 at 15% off. Stamps on sale? I'm there.

This flyer has all the details. Click to enlarge and see ALL that's on sale!

The other thing I reached for at the late hour last night (keep in mind I'd been up since 3:30 am to work an 8-hour shift at Starbucks) was a package of Urban Garden Designer Series Paper (DSP). This too has been designed by SU! to coordinate with Upsy Daisy, as well as 4 other stamp sets, ribbon, rub-ons, chipboard, brads, and some accents and elements adhesives. With all that work having been done before I even pick these things out of my pile of goodies, how can I fail?

I CAN'T! This card came together almost by itself. It's so lovely that the only reason I can stand to part with it because I know the person I'm sending it to will love it too. The soothing combination of Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, and Whisper White just puts me in a mellow mood and creates a certain calm, don't you think? It certainly had that effect on me last night. After I'd chosen the color combo, I looked over all the pattern options in the DSP pack and chose a portion of one page as the focal point.

Then I took the main silhouetted image of flowers and inked it with Versamark. I wanted to repeat the floral image that's in the DSP in the background, and so I began stamping and this pattern emerged. Stamping an image UPSIDE-DOWN intentionally is really "coloring outside the lines" thinking for me, but it was late and my creativity took over the rational part of my brain. If this is the result when that happens, conquer away!

The other design tip to share is that I inked the sentiment with my Basic Black Stampin' Write marker and stamped off once to get the "gray" you see. I should also mention that the beautiful ribbon is the new SU! Whisper White taffeta ribbon. So soft and elegant...

I also want to point out, in case you missed it, that the envelope is featured in the picture with the card. Don't forget to do this! It really makes everyone at the post office wonder what's inside, and it alerts the recipient--who's mindlessly thumbing through her junk mail--that she's about to have an encounter with beauty and encouragement because someone cared enough to create for her.

The gals who came for SAS today really enjoyed their time together. At one point, my husband looked at me from the other room and asked, "Are they still here?" They were so happily ensconced in their creating that they didn't need to speak! It was great to be back together. Hope you can join us next month--the date is Sept. 27!