Mother's Little Helper

Panda-monium

Hello, hello!  How are my friendlies today? Are you happy it's Friday? Do you have big plans for Superbowl weekend? Me? No. I could not care less which team wins the Superbowl. Maybe I need to make a bet on it with someone, just to make it a little more interesting?  If I were to do so, which team should I root for?  On the one hand, I could root for Seattle because I love that city, and because my wonderful stamping-and-real-life-friend Karolyn Loncon is a Seahawks fan.  On the other hand, I could root for the Patriots because I'll be spending a lot of time in Boston over the next few years¹ and Tom Brady is very cute. Decisions, decisions! 

Enough football talk.  Let's get back to today: Friday!  Or, as those of us on the Your Next Stamp design team call it, "FUN FRIDAY!"² Every other Friday, half of the design team plays in the current YNS Sketch and Color Challenge.  Here's the sketch and/or color challenge:

 

This week, I opted to use the color challenge.  Here's what I came up with, using the new LOVE AND SMILES stamp set and YNS CIRCLES die set:

Here's a closeup of the cute little panda:

In keeping with the color challenge, he's colored in with dark gray Copic markers (from the cool gray family).

Pandas are some of my favorite stamp images, as Truman, my 18 year old, has loved pandas ever since he was a little, little boy.  In fact, one of the first cards I ever made for Truman was a Valentine that featured pandas, using a trio of panda stamps I purchased on eBay³.  Here's the card I made for him, almost 8 years ago to the day⁴:

I think that's a pretty awesome card, especially when you consider that I really only began stamping three or four months before making that. It kind of depresses me, in a way. I prefer to look back at my old stuff and think "Whew! That's terrible! I've come a long way, baby!" and then light up a Virginia Slims (even though I don't smoke).

This card makes me think, "Huh. That's pretty good. I don't think I've improved that much in eight years..."

Anyway, all this talk about pandas and Truman -- let me get to the point I wanted to make before I went off on various tangents: I was messaging on Facebook with a stamping/blogging friend⁵ of mine, Joan B.  When her son was a freshman in college, she embarked on what she called a "100 Card Challenge" to make and send 100 cards to her son before he graduated. Thinking about Truman going away for college, I told her I was considering embarking on her challenge and asked whether it was sustainable. She recommended I get started now and build up a stash for him. Her son loved getting the cards, but getting to 100 is harder than it sounds, especially with a full-time job, etc.

Fortunately, I have a TON of cards just sitting there, collecting dust. (Why, I don't know. I have no excuse!) But most of them, I doubt Truman would really like. Too frou-frou or girly or cutesy. Today's card, though, I know he would appreciate.  And now I'm going to consciously start making cards with him in mind. I always find that if I make cards with someone in mind, I end up liking them better than if I just make them for the sake of making them. So, in advance, consider this 1/100.  Thanks for the inspiration and great advice, Joan!

With this challenge in mind, I made my card (almost) as flat as can be, for mailing purposes:   One other card note: I used the current Sweet Sunday Sketch, #253.

Alright, alright!  This is by far the longest post I've written in a while.  I'll let you go!  Don't forget to visit the YNS Blog and see what fun creations my fellow YNS designers have created with YNS Sketch and Color Challenge #6.  Have a wonderful weekend, and I hope your team wins on Sunday!

 

Footnotes:

1.  Um, is this a convenient time for me to mention the fact that Truman will be attending HARVARD?!  Is that obnoxious of me?  I swear, I very rarely drop that factoid except for here on the blog-io. After all, I live on a college campus, and it seems inappropriate to talk about a different college under such circumstances. But still. I'm proud of him and excited -- you'll indulge me every once in a while, won't you?

2.  You can call today "Fun Friday," too, if you want.  YNS doesn't have a copyright on that term.

3. I also used a sentiment and heart image from the SU! set, Loving Hearts, and a lower case 't' from CTMH's Solo T set.

4.  I know this fun fact because I had to look it up in my Splitcoaststampers gallery.  I made it several months before this blog came into existence. It was waaay back in the day when you could upload a card to the SCS gallery and get lots & lots of views (1,322!) and lots & lots of comments (28!).  Makes me feel like breaking into the theme from "All in the Family."  Those were the daaaaaays!

4.  I've actually met Joan in real life, but it was so briefly (at a CHA several years ago; I believe I was helping out with a Make-N-Take at the Splitcoast booth, and she waved hello), that I can't really say she's an IRL friend.  But she's one of those cyber/crafty friends that I KNOW I would love to hang out with in real life as we seem to have so much in common.  We're both lawyers & stampers (a weirdo combination if there ever was one) and the mother of son(s), we've had complicated relationships with mothers who were "characters," etc.  If you don't yet read Joan's blog, I highly recommend you start.  She's a really good stamper, and an even better writer. She's wise and witty and just a cool chick.  ("Cool chick" is about the highest praise I have for someone.)

Fall Classic

Hello, hello!  How are you doing on this fine fall day?  Me?  I slept in until 9:15 a.m. or so, which is pretty much unheard of in these parts. The opportunity arose because my youngest is spending Fall Break with his cousins and grandparents, my oldest sleeps late whenever possible, and my husband had to go to work. Thus, for several uniterrupted hours, I snoozed all snuggly-wuggly with my darling rescue girlie, Sweet Pea, and my horse of a German Shepherd, Ringo. Then, I got up and did a bit o' stamping while still in my pjs, a cup of coffee nearby and a new-to-me episode of "Best Ink¹" playing in the background. It's the simple things that make life sweet, don't you agree?

I used the current Deconstructed Sketch (#123) and this week's Color Throwdown Challenge (#264 - Night of Navy, Calypso Coral, Silver, and Pool Party) to come up with this little number, featuring Taylored Expressions' October Stamp of the Month, Instant Love:

Here's a close-up look at the distressed retro camera...

Pretty straight-forward stuff, so I'll skip the creationary details. After all, I need to get around -- it's nearly noon and I'm still in my nightshirt. Gotta get ready before the Old Man comes home. Keep your fingers crossed that the expected rain blows in a different direction so that we can hit up Tulsa's Oktoberfest this evening.  Cheers!

 

Footnotes:

1. Have I mentioned that I am currently obsessed with the idea of becoming a tattoo artist? It's true. No, I don't have any tattoos myself (yet). But when you think about it, it's fairly close to stamping. I'll need to work on my drawing skills, but I like the idea of creating permanent, walking art. I'm immersing myself in all sorts of tattoo shows (Best Ink, Ink Master, LA Ink, Tattoo Nightmares, etc.) and books, and I'm starting on a drawing self-study course called You Can Draw in 30 Days. When I mention this to friends and family, they think I'm insane. I tell them I'll remind them they said that when I'm needling my masterpieces on their epidermis.

*stamp of the month subscription - united states	*remember when	*choice snow white cardstock	*foam tape - 1/8" thick
*best glue ever

InLinkz.com

 

Taylored Expressions March Spotlights: Vintage Dreamer and Chevron Cutting Plate

I hate to play favorites¹, but I'm thinking this has been my favorite release since I became a member of Taylored Expressions' Bakers Dozen.  I have thoroughly enjoyed playing with every single stamp and die I've used thus far, and (happily!) I still have a few more to test out, like the Graphic Greetings Thankful image and the Flutter-Bys, Open Scallop Border, and Luggage Tags² dies. Not only that, but I'm looking forward to going back and working again with the sets/dies I've already used; that's when (as a designer) you know the release is a home run.

 

A stamp set you might be surprised that I am LOVING is the VINTAGE DREAMER set.  Me and vintage?  We typically go together like ice cream and onions, but this set is so easy and elegant on its own, that even I can pull it off.  For example:

Isn't that CHEVRON CUTTING PLATE  just the coolest?  Very on-trend, and the patterning combinations you can make with it are endless.  I cut one layer out in Choice Snow White Cardstock, and then I cut another layer out with PTI's Raspberry Fizz cardstock.  The white became the 'skeleton' of the background, which I 'fleshed out' by piecing rows of raspberry in the larger chevron spaces.

I heat embossed the sentiment panel in white (love the Art Deco looking flower and flourishes that surrond the label image) on Bermuda Bay (SU!) card stock, then popped up a the actual sentiment on a hand-cut fish tail banner.  I debated whether to use the "Celebrate", "Thanks", or "Hello" sentiments that come with the set, but I opted for "Dream" as graduation season will soon be approaching, and I think this works well for new graduates.

Plus, the finished card lays pretty flat for easy mailing - love it when that happens!

Ready to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen and our guest designer, Broni, are spotlighting today?  I know I am - I'm truly in awe of their mad skillz!

Broni Holcombe

Charmaine Ikach

Jami Sibley

Jen Shults

Kerri Mchaud

Regina Mangum

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Supplies available from Taylored Expressions:

• Vintage Dreamer stamp set
• Chevron Cutting Plate
• Choice Snow White card stock

Other supplies:

• Ink: Versamark, Pink Passion (SU!)
• Paper: Bermuda Bay (SU!), Raspberry Fizz (PTI)
• Accessories: Stampendous White Opaque Detail embossing powder, Jody Morrow's foam boosters

Footnotes:

1.  Who am I kidding?  I love to play favorites.  I routinely tell each of my boys that he's my favorite when he's being particularly sweet or pays me a compliment.  Conversely, I also say things like "I wish I'd had Carter first then quit..." or "Why didn't I leave well enough alone and stop after I had Truman?" when they're being especially obnoxious.  Of course, they pay about as much attention to me when I say those things as they do when I suggest they go play in traffic or with matches; they think I'm kidding.  And, most of the time, I am.

2.  I'm especially giddy about the Luggage Tag dies -- awesome, awesome gifting possibilities with these.  I received some adorable laminated baby tags when Truman was born.  At least, I thought they were cute at the time; they were basically just little business cards with his name on them in a computer font.  NOTHING like what I can make with these fabulous dies now that I'm a bona fide papercrafter! 

My Ink-credible Swatchbook

I know I mention my cardstock swatchbook all the time, to the point where you regular readers are probably thinking to yourself, "Enough about that dang swatchbook!  If you love it so much, why don't you marry it¹?"  It's just that it's so so handy, and has really changed and streamlined my cardmaking.  I can't tell you how much time I wasted, getting up from my desk, browsing through my cardstock filing cabinet for a shade to grab me, taking it back to my table, then comparing colors under the Ott light, only to have to get back up, return it to it's proper file, and start all over again.  Now, I just grab my cardstock swatchbook at my desk, flip through it for a moment, pick the shade under my Ott light I want, then get up and get it.  So much better!

It got me thinking: maybe I should do the same thing for all of my inks?  I don't know about you, but I have an OBSCENE number of inkpads, even though 95% of the time, I just use trusty old Momento Tuxedo Black.  Still, when you want to use a colored ink, you want the right color when you need it, and without having to test a bunch of different shades on scratch paper.  And maybe, if I could easily distinguish which color I needed, I'd be more apt to use those colored inks and feel better about all the money I spent on them and the space they take up in my craft room.

So I got to work, cutting out a whole bunch of 2.75" by 2.75" squares of white, Georgia Pacific cardstock², trimming a couple of corners with a Fiskars Ticket Corner punch³, and punching a hole in the top for a jump ring.  Now, if I need a particular shade of green (St. Patrick's Day is coming up, after all):

Or maybe something from the orange family?

I wanted to use a stamp that provided me with a good amount of area to cover for comparison purposes, so I selected this funky flower from Taylored Expressions' new Posh Posies set.  Here's the cover:

For the cover, I took a scrap of glossy white cardstock and used a brayer to lay down a coat of Celebration Kaleidacolor ink.  I mounted that on black cardstock covered chipboard, then made my title out of die cuts from TE's new Whimsey Alpha dies. 

Be on the lookout for things to get colorful around here! :)

Footnotes:

1.  Maybe I will, once the kids are grown.  Until then, I'm for sure keeping the old man.  Lucky guy, isn't he?

2.  I used the cheap stuff because there were an awful lot of cards to be trimmed down & punched.  How many?  I don't know & lost my place trying to count the other day.  To tell you the truth, I'm a little embarrassed to know.  I mean, why on earth do I have 39 varying shades of red/pink ink?!  (I do know that number, because I counted it just now.)  That's insane.  And yet, I still want to try out those new shades from Hero Arts, and every Distress Ink that Tim Holtz comes up with, etc.  It's sick, I tell you!

3.  For a tiny bit of flair.  A plain rectangle would just seem so sad...

Good News, Suckers!

Hmmm... maybe that title should be 'Good News / Suckers', or perhaps 'Good News and Suckers'?  Whatevs!  Y'all will get my drift in a second or two...

Ready for the good news part?

You'll recall¹ that in October, I was the guest designer for  i {heart} papers, an online store that carries everything a paper crafter could want or need.  I had made that guest design commitment several months in advance, and by the time it actually rolled around, I hadn't stamped for months² and I had given serious thought to packing up my acrylic mounts and inks for good.  My craft room could be turned into a playroom/den for the boys, etc.³ But a deal is a deal, and I had met Kate at CHA in 2012 and really liked her a lot.  So, I dusted my stuff off and got to playing with a variety of products from companies I adored (like Paper Smooches) to those I wasn't too familiar with but thought looked like fun (Technique Tuesday, Lawn Fawn, Gourmet Rubber Stamps, etc.). 

To my delight, and to my boys' dismay, I re-discovered the pleasure I experienced when I first started stamping, so many years ago.  For that, I truly credit the liberty I found in dabbling⁴ with IHP's vast inventory of all that's au courant.  I am THRILLED to now be joining the IHP design team - I think it's a perfect combination for me: the structure of a team environment⁵ with the freedom to explore and create with a plethora of product.  Color me excited!

For my first official IHP post, I created a bumper crop of cuteness (this is the sucker part of the post, btw):

I think I may have mentioned before that Carter was wanting me to create homemade Valentines for his classmates this year...

Carter's teacher is Miss Hartsock, so how could I resist using Lawn Fawn's adorable My Silly Valentine stamp set?  Answer: I couldn't!

I first stamped the cute socks with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock, colored the heart and the sock edges with Copic markers, then fussy cut them out. I cut my kraft circles with circle Nestabilities, stamped the socks, then 'highlighted' them with a light blue prismacolor pencil and odorless mineral spirits.

I created 27 of these (there aren't that many kids in his class, but he'll have a few extras to pass out to teachers, therapists, office workers, etc.).  Note the washi tape - my first ever use of it!  I really thought it was just a passing fad, but after this year's CHA, I am comfortable in saying I was wrong in that prediction.  Washi tape was everywhere at CHA and it appears it's here to stay for a least a few more seasons.  Very fun and easy to use, especially if you're doing any sort of mass-production.  IHP carries a wide variety⁷ of washi tapes with fun patterns.

Side view:

Backside:

(Isn't his handwriting getting nice and legible? #proudmama)  And on the inside...

A Charms' Valentine lollipop - mmm... cherry!  Charms are the best lollipops ever, IMHO.  You can find them online, but they're more expensive through those sources.  I bought two bags for $5 at my local Walgreens. :) 

Funny-but-true-story: While I was putting these together (it took me a couple of evenings to get them all done), Carter asked: "Mom, when did you become a craft genius?"  Man, is that kid following in his politician daddy's footprints, or what?!

 

*************EDITED TO ADD!**************

Ugh!  I'm such a dummy!  I almost forgot, what with all of my excitedness for me - there's something in this FOR YOU, too!!!  Kate has generously donated a $10 gift certificate to i{heart}papers to help me celebrate!  All you have to do is follow IHP on Facebook and/or Pinterest.  If you follow IHP on both, you get to enter twice.  Just leave me a comment (or two) and let me know what YOU are planning on doing/making for Valentine's Day, as well as which way(s) you're following IHP, and I will randomly select a winner.

 

Supplies used:

From i {heart} papers: Lawn Fawn's My Silly Valentine stamp set; Copic markers; washi tape; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Dimensional Dots

Other: cardstock - White (Georgia Pacific), Tempting Turquoise SU!), Kraft (PTI), Red Hot (MFT); Circle and Pinking Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders; Tuck 'N Close Notecard die (Taylored Expressions); Crop-a-Dile; Charms Valentine Lollipops

Footnotes:

1.  Of course you'll recall what I was doing in October, because (like Sting, himself) every breath I take, every move I make, you're watching me and committing those acts to memory, both short-term and long-term.  Because you have nothing better to do and I am The Most Interesting Woman in the World.  I don't often drink beer, but when I do... ;)

2.  You'll recall (see footnote 1 - I'd put a footnote here, telling you to do just that but I think it might be a bit tacky to put a footnote within a footnote) that Carter had a big ol' surgery/recovery/immobilization/rehab period from April on. 

3.  And, as I'm sure you know, once you give up prime real estate in your house to other family members, you will NEVER get it back!  That's a serious surrender that should be done only when one is absolutely certain.  That's like giving up a kidney.

4.  I used to think being a 'dabbler' was something to be avoided, at all costs.  There's a great passage from a wonderful novel, The Here and Now, by Robert Cohen (who was my teacher in 2002 at the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference and for whom I have great admiration and affection) that has haunted me for over a decade... damn it, I've been searching through that book for the last half-hour and haven't been able to find it.  Guess I'm going to have to re-read the book and get back to you, because it's just that good. 

The gist of the passage is how utterly disappointing it is when you discover that instead of being an expert/genius/one of the great ones, you discover you're merely a dabbler, flitting from one thing to another.  It's heartbreaking and funny, simultaneously.  Now, I recognize I am what I feared (and must have sensed - why else would that passage have affected me so?  I even brought it up in a conversation with Rob. C) when I first read that: I am a dabbler.  With a few more years on me, and having survived a few more of the requisite kicks in the teeth that life occasionally serves up, I have come to the realization that  that's okay. I wonder if I'll be struck by that passage in the same way, reading from the vantage point of my early 40s (as opposed to early my 30s)?  In so many ways, I feel like a totally different person than who I was 11 years ago, when I first read that book (and paradoxically, I feel exactly like who I was at, say, age eight...).  Interesting experiment - I'll let you know how it turns out and share that passage when I find it. 

5.  This is going to sound insane to some (if not most) of you, but I need deadlines and requirements to get me off my duff and into my studio.  Even though I love - in theory - creating for the sake of creating, left to my own devices, this is what I'd look like 95% of the time:

It reminds me of something Carter and I were talking about this morning, as he was getting ready for school.  He had checked out a Junie B. Jones book from the school library, and he was discussing how he needed to get it read before Monday so he could return it and get a new book.  I said, "Don't you have all of the Junie B. Jones books up in your room?  Why do you check them out?"  His response: "Because if I check them out, I read them, but if I don't, I won't."  Makes perfect sense to me.

7.  I'm going to have to come up with a list of synonyms for 'variety', I can see... ;)

Moony Mojo Monday

Good morning, friendlies!  I've got a lovely little combo of a card to share with you this Mojo Monday.  I was a little stuck on exactly how I was going to do it, but I'm pleased with what I ended up with.  Don't you love it when that happens?

First things first: here's this week's Mojo Monday sketch, created by that lovely ray of Virginia¹ sunshine, Teresa Kline...

I love it when the Mojo sketches have a big focal point - makes it so much easier to insert my beloved cartoon-y images. :)  This is such a great, classic design, it may just wind up in my Go-To sketch file. 

I combined my Mojo sample with the current TCP TUESDAY challenge (brought to you by The Cat's Pajamas).  My dear buddy, SUSIESTAMPALOT (aka Susan Liles, Sus, Sus-a-palooza, and the Birthday Bowling Queen) is this week's Hipster Hostess With the Mostess, and she's come up with a doozy of a Stamps/CutUps challenge: use any stamp that starts with the letter "M" for May.  And for the CutUps, use the Pennant Die (none of the dies start with M!). As Susan explains, "The stamp SET doesn't have to start with "M", just the stamp or something within the stamp.  Like the penguin holding a Margarita, the little girl holding a Mug, obviously the MUSTACHES, Merry Christmas, the bunny riding the Moped, the Monkeys, the bunny on the Mushroom, all the bears have Muzzles, Music--now ya'll get the idea?"

Got it, sister.  For my M 'mage², I chose the bunny on the moon in the brand new WISH set.  I wasn't sure exactly how I'd get the pennant die to fit in with the Mojo Sketch, but I played around with it an came up with something that I think works³.

Isn't that image cute?  Lovey!  I paper pieced the moon and colored the bunny with Copic markers, then fussy cut the image out and popped it up with foam boosters on the starry background paper.  Notice the way the card is opening - I usually cut my card base from cardstock then score it with a top fold.  I was doing a little LONG OVERDUE cleaning of my craft room this weekend, and came upon a stash of store-bought, pre-scored white card bases.  I figured that since I'm on a white card base kick these days, I might as well use them up.  Hence the side-fold.  Top folds are much easier to photograph/balance, but I do feel nice and green not letting these card bases go to waste.

Head over to the Mojo Monday blog to see how you can participate in this week's challenge, and be sure to visit the blogs of my fellow Mojo Makers for further inspiration:

• Debbie Carriere
• Julee Tilman
• Mary Fish
• Sarah Bigelow
• Teresa Kline
• Stephanie Kraft

You've still got a few hours to get in on the TCP Tuesday Stamps/CutUps challenge (see this post on Alma's blog for all the details).  Still, even if you don't finish it today, it can get you thinking about the TCP Tuesday challenge that will be issued tomorrow (a little bird told me it's going to be a sketch challenge...).

Alrighty, I'd best be going.  I have a little man in the other room demanding that I help him organize his Lego Star Wars minifigures.  May the force be with you!

 

Footnotes

1. Virginia is my home state - I born and raised in Alexandria until I was a sophmore in high school, and then I lived there once more for a year and half as a newlywed. Gotta love the Old Dominion! Truman - my 15 year old - did break my heart a little bit yesterday (on Mother's Day, no less!) when he told me he had no interest in going to college at UVA. I grew up wanting to go to school there, but fate had other plans for me... I've always hoped one of my boys would end up a Cavalier.  Guess I'd better get to work on Mr. Carter... 
2. Get it? "M 'mage"?! As in "image"?! *chortle!*  Like Ralph Malph, I still got it! Speaking of Happy Days, do you remember when Potsy would say "Funny as a crutch, Rich"? I never understood that. Is he saying that crutches aren't funny? Okay. That I get.  But why does he think "Funny as a crutch" is a snappy comeback? He's such a Dren... (remember that?  When Joanie had a crutch on Potsy and would write love notes to him addressed to 'Dren' because its 'nerd' spelled backward?  Man, I watched way too much TV as a kid... Just think if I'd had all the channels kids today have? Or Netflix?!  Oooh...)
3. And by 'works,' I mean that I actually think it looks like it goes with the card and wasn't just tacked on there to fulfill a challenge requirement. Even though it was.
   

August Sketch For You To Try

It's the first Saturday of the month - you know what that means: a brand new SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY, designed by the stamping industry's premiere card architecht, Jen del Muro!  She's the Howard Roark of stamping.  Now, generally, that last comment would set me off on a long Fountainhead/Ayn Rand tangent, but I've got ground to cover and must be disciplined today.¹ *sigh*

On a very happy note, this month's SFYTT is sponsored by one of my favoritest stamp company's in the whole wide world...

If you're a regular reader of my blog (God bless you and keep you), you know that I'm a proud Krafty Girl (aka member of the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps design team).  Getting to show you the SFYTT while using Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps makes me happier than a tick on a fat dog.  Ready for the sketch?

Another thing that makes me happy?  Combining challenges!  Saturday is also the day that Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps' weekly challenge is revealed, and this week the marvelous MELANIE is our hostess.  This week's challenge: DISTRESS IT²!  

Here's my distressed SFYTT, using the new MELANIE³ Travel Girl image from KKS's Moonlight Whispers line:

Here's a close up...

Doesn't she look happy?⁴ 

Using the new SFYTT and/or this week's Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps challenge is GUARANTEED to make you just as happy, or Jen and Kimmie will come to your house and clean it.⁵ So what do you have to lose?!  Nuttin' honey.  For more inspiration, go to Jen's blog to see how she and August's Designer of the Month, TENIA NELSON, have used the new SFYTT.  And of course, you'll want to check out the creations by my sublimely talented SFYTT Sisters:

Amber Hight (she's on vacation, but will be posting later this month)
Amy Sheffer
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Then, you'll need to head over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge blog for inspiration by the Krafty Girls -- including our two brand new team members, the beautiful and talented PAM VARNELL  and NICOLE ASPINALL!  You can also find out how to participate in this week's challenge and win the fun-fun Fred and Ginger image.⁶

Alrighty, friendly friends.  I must get this thing posted as - true to form - I'm already a wee bit late with it.  Have a great weekend!

Footnotes:

1.  Damn it.  I dislike having to be disciplined.  It interferes with my joie de vivre.

2.  Distressing... well, it distresses me.  To "distress" paper means to rough it up - rip it, shred it, wrinkle it, ink it up - whatever.  I never do it unless it's part of a challenge.  Weirdly enough, I created another distressed card earlier in the week for SCS's Dare to Get Dirty Challenges.  Distressing paper is counterintuitive to my preppy sensibilites.  Like buying jeans that are already ripped. 

3.  This image was named for Melanie, but I think it looks like another Krafty Girl - my buddy Kerry, who, like Melanie and KKS, also hails from Canada.  She's got a cute short-brown 'do, just like the image.  And I think she often makes this exact same pose...

4.  Like she's had maybe one too many Grapehead martinis.

5.  Subject to terms and conditions, which are beyond my imagination to think of at the moment.

6.  Which I've always thought resembled Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.  Poor little Jenny from the Block... will she ever find true love?

That's How I Roll...

You wanna know how I roll?  You REALLY wanna know how I roll?  Well, I tell you in a bit.  It's a little scary.  Definitely not for those with delicate sensibilities or a strong gag reflex... But let's save the salacious stuff for the end.  It'll give you something to look forward to.

In the meantime, how'z about we throwdown for uno momento?  Yep, it's Wednesday which means it's time for the COLOR THROWDOWN! (<-- please read silently to yourself, but use an echo effect as you do so.  It should sound like Michael Buffer when he says "Are you ready to rumble?!")

This week, Teamster Tammy (aka Tammy the Hammer)¹ is our charming challenge hostess, and here's what she's throwing down...

Fresh, fun, classy & sassy.  Just like Slammin' Tammy², herself!  Here's my attempt to make our Tamboni³ proud...

I used one of the newest Emilie's Etchings images from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps: SPEEDY.  Get it?  "SPEEDY" is the turtle's name.  Turtles aren't generally considered fast animals.  Yet this one is wearing ROLLER BLADES!!! 

What's that?  Oh.  You think you're too sophisticated for such humor?  Well, I'll have you know that my six year old thinks this card is a RIOT, and he's the funniest person I know.  So there!  I think it's going to KILL with the first grade set, if I do say so myself...

The Color Throwdown is working with a smaller crew through the end of the month, since so many folks are on vacation and/or taking a little time to spend with familia.  But what we lack in quantity this week, we more than make up for in quality. I've browsed through this week's challenge gallery, and I know you're definitely going to want to visit the participating Color Throwdown designers (including the aforementioned Tammy Tutone⁴, whose number is indeed 867-5309) to oooh and aaah over their colorful creations and for further inspiration:

• Tammy Hershberger
• Broni Holcombe
• Barbara Anders
• Danielle Kennedy
• and our special August guests Lori Tecler (my fellow Cat Pack-er!)and Keva Brown

Why not stay out of the heat and stamp up a cool scene with this week's combo?  You can find all the details for how to play along on the Color Throwdown Blog.

Okay.  As I promised, here's a tiny bit about how I roll:

• I prefer mustard to mayonnaise.  The spicier the mustard, the better.  There's a jalapeno mustard I've been putting on everything these days, since mustard has fewer calories and less sugar than almost every other condiment.
• I'm rooting for Bert to win this season of Project Runway.  He's the old guy who made the adorable little dress that one the first episode (shown last week; if you missed it, you can find full episodes to watch on the Lifetime website).
• Truman (my 14 year old) and I went to see "Crazy Stupid Love" yesterday (with Steve Carrell and my new boyfriend, Ryan Gosling).  It was great - both Truman and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  If a teenaged boy and his mom can both give the same movie two thumbs up?  It's a good one.  Although both Truman and I also enjoyed "Jackass 3-D."  You do know who you're dealing with, here.
• Given the opportunity, I wait as late in the day to shower as I possibly can.  I dread getting ready.  Every day.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  I don't know why I fight the system.  I should be more like water, as Sayuri recommends in Memoirs of a Geisha...
• My BSF Amy asked me the other day if my brain ever stops.  No, it makes random associations with everything, all the time.  It's like that annoying Bing commercial.  Exhausting!

 

• This is just a random collection of nothing, have you noticed?  But... THAT'S HOW I ROLL!  And now I'll leave you with more randomness - "Once In a Lifetime" by The Talking Heads.  I watched this yesterday -- one of my favorite music videos ever -- because it made TIME magazine's list of the 30 Best Video's Of All TIME.  I "get" this song in a way that I didn't when I first used to watch this, oh, 30 years ago. The existential angst of waking up to yourself at mid-life: who among us hasn't wanted to shout, "This is not my beautiful house!  This is not my beautiful wife!"  Same as it ever was...

 

(Interesting note: this video was created before the existence of MTV.  Which, to me, makes it even cooler.  It was an art project as opposed to something strictly commercial, you know?)

Footnotes:

1. There is no rhyme or reason for the nicknames I've given Tammy.  It makes me giggle just to type them.  And I think it baffles her a tiny bit, which makes it all the better.

2.  And now bafflement?  Has crossed the bridge to irritation.  Which of course, makes it even more fun.

3.  And by now?  The subject of full-on flummoxed!  Hurray!  My job is done.

4. Just in case you missed #3...

5.  There is no fifth footnote.  But - say it with me, now - THAT'S HOW I ROLL!!!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Speedy and sentiment from Roxy by Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps; Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, & Kraft (SU!), Copic X-Press Blending paper, patterned paper from Pink Paislee's Hometown Summer 6x6 paper pack; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, A|Muse Studio - Slate (for stippling the road); Accessories: Inside Pinking CutUps die by The Cat's Pajamas, Copic Markers, Copic airbrush system, Nestabilities Wonky Rectangles, Cuttlebug Circles embossing folder, grosgrain ribbon, foam mounting tape from Jody Morrow's Sticky Stuff Store.

Check Out the Clams on That Mermaid!

Sorry for the *racy* title.  A girl's got to entertain herself somehow when Mother Nature holds her hostage for nearly a week...  Apparently, we're supposed to get more snow today (Sunday), and even more accumulation on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Yesterday, I took a few steps out on the street in front of my house, just to get some fresh air.  Naturally, my feet slipped completely out from under me and I fell flat on my fanny.  In the middle of the street.  There weren't any neighbors in sight, but if they were peering out their windows just then and their reactions were anything like mine would be, they were busting their collective guts and had tears streaming from their eyes.  What can I say?  I'm immature and fairly easy to please...  People falling = funny!

Anyhoodle, back to the aforementioned mermaid.  Did you see that cute little blinkie to the left of your screen?  The one that refers to me as a GUEST STARLET for Your Next Stamps?¹ Well, with that prestigious title comes some sweet stamps and a few challenges.  In fact, YNS hosts challenges every week, which you can find on the YNS Challenge Blog.  There are some nifty prizes involved, too, for those of you who like to get stuff for free.  Which definitely describes me.  Here's the gist of it: every week, one random challenge participant receives $10 in YNS Stamp Bucks, while another creation is selected as the Top Pick with a prize of $5 in YNS Stamp Bucks *and* an exclusive Top Pick blinkie.²

This week's challenge is... PRETTY PLEATS!  When I first saw the challenge, I saw the two 'P's in the title and misinterpreted it as "paper pleating."  It's actually any kind of pleating.  But for whatever reason, I thought I had to paper pleat.  I must confess, it's been a while since I've paper pleated and I think maybe I've done it only once before.  So, smart me just starts scoring a strip of paper paper every 1/4", like so:

Um, no.  This is not right, as I found out once I started folding it.  What you need to do is start at an edge and do, say, a 1/2" score, then do a score at 3/4", and the next one at 1 1/4", and so on, so that you're alternating 1/2" and 1/4" scores down the length of your strip.  This will allow you to achieve a nice accordian fold.  I may have mentioned before that I'm ever so slightly lazy, thus I didn't feel like doing all that scoring once again.  Instead, I convinced myself that the extra score line in my pleats would add visual interest and a little wabi-sabi³ to my project.⁴

Man, I feel like I've been typing forever.  I think I'm just going to shut my yap and show you the card.  Here it is:

There's that wabi-sabi!  And isn't this just the happiest little mermaid you've ever seen?  I love her.  She's from the Happy Days Mermaid set and is just so adorable!  Even Truman and Sean commented that she was cute, which is practically unheard of.  They usually just humor me if I show them something, and toss me a bone like "That's nice..."  This fishy gal was colored with Copics and then glammed up with Aqua Stickles.  I wish you could see the cute-cute patterned paper from Doodlebug; it's got the sweetest little happy faced sea-creatures.

Now, at long last, I'm going to give you a glimpse of what you've really been sticking around for...

Va-va-voom!

Footnotes:

1 - Who'da thunk I'd FINALLY be considered a STARLET at the age of 41?  I guess I'm a late bloomer.  But, as I tell my boys, much better to be a late bloomer than to peak early.  Who wants to reach his or her zenith in high school?  How depressing would that be?  So 'Glory Days.'  (<-- the Bruce Springsteen song.  I'd add a footnote here, but it's just too weird even for me to footnote a footnote.)  Sadly, teenagers don't really seem to get that particular piece of wisdom.  *sigh*

2 - We stampy types do love our blog flair, don't we?  Like the waitstaff at Chotchkie's, I think blogs should be required to wear at least 15 pieces of flair...

3 - Wabi sabi is a Japanese philosophy I embrace (when it suits me).  According to wabi sabi expert, Richard Powell, "[wabi sabi] nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."  If you're interested in learning more about wabi sabi, but don't want to read a whole book on the subject, might I suggest the excellent 6th episode from season 7 of King of the Hill ("The Son Also Roses").  No, I'm not kidding.  If you're a member of Netflix you can watch it instantly.  *Love* my Netflix!

4 - Does this sound like a rationalization?  Well, I'm okay with that.  Speaking of philosophy, as I did in the previous footnote, I also embrace the observation made by Jeff Goldblum (as Michael) in the movie The Big Chill: "Don't knock rationalization. Where would we be without it? I don't know anyone who'd get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex. Have you ever gone a week without a rationalization?"  Word, brother.  By the way, you can also watch The Big Chill instantly on Netflix.  Just sayin'.

Supplies used - Stamps: Happy Days Mermaid by Your Next Stamp; Paper: Summer Sunrise & Aqua Mist (PTI), Solar White (Neenah), Doodlebug Designs - Sealife, October Afternoon - Go Fly A Kite; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Adirondack Earthtones Butterscotch; Accessories: Lemon Divine Twine from The Cat's Pajamas, Copic markers, Aqua & Pink Distress Stickles, Cuttlebug Circles embossing folder, Nestabilities - circles & pinking circles, sewing machine, foam mounting tape, button, pinking shears, dimensionals, Score-It, bone folder.