Mother's Little Helper

Sneaky Peek Week + Lemons...

Yippee!  See Sprinkle poking her divine feline head around up there?  That can only mean one thing: it's SNEAKY PEEK WEEK!  The Cat Pack has a week of previews to whet your stamping appetite using all the sets The Cat's Pajamas will be releasing next week! 

First set on display this week: A Cuppa, the first of THREE tea sets! 

Go visit these gal's blogs to get your glimpse:

Joanne and Ana!

Oh, and are you interested in HUGE prizes beyond your wildest dreams?  If not, just skip over this part.  If so, this is the deal: make sure you leave a comment on each of Sneaky Peeks you see this week.  One person will be selected from a MYSTERY CAT PACKER's comment section to receive all of the new sets - that's 8, count 'em: E-I-G-H-T new sets for free!  The winner will be revealed during the Release Party (TCP's FIRST!) in our new Member Company Forum on Splitcoast. 

Here's your official invitation to the party -- be sure to put it in your calendar to make sure you'll be there and not square:

What: TCP's First Ever New Release Party

When: Monday, July 19, 2010, 8-11 p.m. EST/5-8 p.m. PST

Where: TCP's Member Company Forum

Why: Fun & fellowship with The Cat Pack and other TCP fans (and you know who is on The Cat Pack, don't you?  Those girls will definitely keep things... lively!), games, prizes, more Sneaky Peeks, and according to Alma, "there just may be a SURPRISE at the end."  I don't even know what that surprise is, so I'm thinking it's going to be BIG!

*************************************************************************************************

(Those stars above are to indicate a break in the post.  Sprinkle would be seriously ticked off if she felt I combined her post with what I'm about to tell you.)

Remember last year when I did The Master Cleanse?  Well, once again, I'm feeling the need to clean up my act, both inside and out.  So tomorrow?  I'm on nothing but lemon juice, cayenne pepper, & grade B molasses.  And let's not forget those early morning salt water flushes!!! Get ready for all the gory details!

LOL -- Literally!

We all throw around the LOL acronym.  I'm guilty of it, even though most of the time that I use it?  I didn't really LOL.  I have to confess -- it's pretty hard to make me laugh out loud.  Something has to be really funny for me to do more than say to myself, "That's funny."  And as every credible smart-ass knows, it's bad form to laugh at your own jokes.  So even as I write something and it occurs to me that it's kinda funny?  I'm not sitting here at the keyboard, chuckling to myself.  I just type it out and wonder if anyone gets it.

Someone I know who always 'gets it' is my close friend Kristi (she's kmallett78 on SCS -- I'd link you to her gallery but the Splitcoast server isn't letting me on as I write this).  She's practically family (she's married to my DH's BFF -- they've been best friends since 1st grade and now practice law together.  When all the talk of 'bromance' was going on this past spring and Sean asked me "What's a bromance?" My response was "What you & Brad have had going on all these years.")  Suffice it to say, Kristi knows me about as well as any female on the planet.

When I received this card she made to congratulate me on finishing the Master Cleanse?  I really, truly, literally LOL'd.  She made it for a sketch challenge on Splitcoast.  Take a good, close look.  Click on the picture to blow it up if you need to so you can read the text.

Not only did she cut & paste some of the more 'choice' lines from my Master Cleanse blog posts to form the main panels, she topped it off with a bejeweled lemon slice and the 'Crap Tastic' sentiment from MFT's Twisted Too set.

Now that's funny!!!  And truly worthy of three exclamation points.

Man, I wish she'd start a blog.  Don't you?  Maybe we need to start a petition... all those in favor, leave a comment.  Let's shame her into it.  The stamping world needs her sense of humor -- she owes it to us! 

Sweet Summer-y SFYTT and Master Cleanse DAY 10!

First things first... I'm a wee bit late with my sample for today's Sketch For You to Try.  I took my sweet time making this, and had so much fun doing so.  Sometimes you just need to out and out play while you're creating and remember to have fun, you know? 

I always have fun when I make cards with My Favorite Things' iconic Who's That Girl, and today was no exception.  Ready for a peek at the newest WTG set being released on Wednesday?  Sure you are!
Isn't this so much fun? The set is called Let's Picnic.  You can't imagine how good that big ol' sandwich and bottle of wine looks to someone who's on Day 10 of the Master Cleanse!  (More on that later.)

Summer colors to me always include red, white, and blue/navy -- I love this Strano ribbon that adds a dash of turquoise to the patriotic mix, so I built my card around that color palette.  I used three random patterns of paper (two oldies from my scrap files and the turquoise is SU!'s Pink Flamingo dsp).  WTG scenes are perfect for paper piecing, thus there's a whole lotta that going on.  I sponge inked the grass with a foam dauber, and then airbrushed the sky.  The ribbon treatment was threaded through the turquoise panels by using a Making Memories ribbon tool (that's not quite as easy as it looks, btw. If you happen to be interested in how that sausage is made, though, let me know and I'll try to do a write-up on it sometime).  The white dots in the corner are actually opaque white Swarovski crystals from MFT's Chocolate Kiss Adornments.

Of course, it all starts with a great sketch, and Jen's Sketch for You To Try this week is definitely one of those!  Be sure to stop by Jen's blog for the sketch and to see what she and May Guest Designer Julie Lacey have created.  Then, blurf on over to my SFYTT Sisters' blogs for even more fabulous fun:

Susan Liles
Kelly Lunceford
Amy Sheffer, and
Amy Rohl

Now, ready for a Master Cleanse update? I've been promising one for a few days now...

Master Cleanse
Can you believe it?!  I'm on Day 10!  Ten days of choking down that God-forsaken salt water flush each morning, drinking glass upon glass of that so-called lemonade, and winding up the day with an unsweetened cup of Smooth Move tea.  It hasn't been that bad, but it hasn't been a whole lot of fun, either.  I really, really, really miss the taste and texture of different foods. 

I can't say I've been hungry.  I don't think I've been hungry the entire time I've been on this.  I have had powerful cravings and mad desire to cheat, but somehow I've been able to put those to the side.  You know what that means?  If I can do it, so can you if it's something you're considering.  Believe me, I am no paragon of self-discipline.  This should motivate you!  Kinda like everytime I think about running a marathon, I think, "If Oprah could run a marathon?  So I can I."  Not that that's ever motivated me to actually run a marathon.  Or even a 5K.  But I think I could if I really wanted to, thanks to my buddy O.

The worst part of the Master Cleanse is that foul salt water flush each morning.  Man, do I hate that with the white hot passion of 1,000 suns.  See, you have to chug a quart of water mixed with two tablespoons of uniodized sea salt.  It's positively revolting.  Other people who've done this say it gets easier the longer you do it.  Not me, I dread it more every day.  But it's part of the package, so I've been doing it.  Yuck.

In addition to doing the cleanse, I've been walking with my next-door neighbor each morning, and my hubby every evening.  In the morning we cover about 2.7 miles, and in the evening just over 4 miles.  Between the Cleanse and getting moving, I'm really feeling much better as far as getting a jump-start on a more healthy way of living. 

Before I started the Cleanse, I felt out of control with respect to my weight, and now I've proven to myself that I have the willpower to make positive changes.  I know I'll be able to make better choices with respect to food and drink, and I'm definitely going to keep up with the walking.  It's a great way to start the day and check-in with a good friend, and in the evening, it's become almost a mini-date for my husband and me.  But for the occasional dinner out, Sean and I don't do a lot of things together just the two of us, so it's been great to walk for an hour and chat about whatever happens to flit into our minds.  Sometimes it's just silly stuff like, "What's your very favorite food in the whole world?" or "What's your favorite candy?" (Hmm... notice a theme here?) Questions we used to know the answers to in the pre-children years, but that haven't been pondered in a really long time.  Anyway, that's been a really good, totally unexpected benefit of doing the Cleanse.

So here's the part I know you're all waiting/weighting for: I've lost about 8.4 lbs!  Yay!  And for that reason, and to support my hubby throughout his last days, I'm going to hang on and do it for two more days.  Can you believe it?!  Me neither, but I am! 

Be sure to let me know if there are any questions about the Cleanse you'd like answers to, and I'll definitely try to address them within the next week.  And remind me to tell you next time about being about a mile away during one of those evening walks and being seized by an intese urge to... well, you know...

Supplies used:
Stamps: Let's Picnic by My Favorite Things
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Night of Navy, Adirondack Lettuce (grass sponging)
Paper: Real Red, Night of Navy, Blush Blossom, Pink Flamingo dsp (SU!), Solar White (Neenah), navy gingham by Creative Memories, paisley by Magnolia
Accessories: Copic Markers, Strano ribbon, Making Memories ribbon tool, SU! scallop border punch, MFT Chocolate Kiss Adornments

Nutty Backpack and Master Cleanse Day 5 review

(First, look to the the sidebar -- notice the updated TCP blinkie.  Cuteness!)

When I saw the new Happy Camper set by The Cat's Pajamas, the first thing I thought of making was a little backpack.  Here's what I put together:

Can you guess what's inside?

Boy, oh boy -- those Honey Roasted Cashews sure look yummy to someone who hasn't had a solid bite to eat in 132 hours or so...

Here's a close up of the flap:

 

And a view from behind:
Now, I'd like to claim that I'm the papercrafting genius that came up with this little number, but that wouldn't be the truth. (And you know I always, always tell you the truth.)  I actually first saw one of these on my friend Amber's blog.  She used a template (as did I) that you can find here on Tonya Klar's blog.  Since this was created, Splitcoast has also put a backpack tutorial in the SCS resources section; it's a slightly different version, but the same basic idea.  Moral of the story: if you want to make one of these for yourself, you've got options!

What's not optional?  The ADORABLE new Happy Camper set from The Cat's Pajamas!  Seriously, folk: you NEED these stamps.  I don't say that lightly.  I'm just telling you like it is.  Fortunately, this need can be fulfilled when these stamps are released this Friday, May 29th!  I hope you order yours before Alma runs out.  Otherwise?  You'll be in a world of hurt.  This isn't a hard sell -- just the truth as I know it to be. 

Master Cleanse Update
Well, yesterday was Day 5 of the Master Cleanse.  Really nothing terribly new and exciting.  But I will tell you this: if you watch TV, you are going to be bombarded -- BOMBARDED!-- with things that remind you of food and what you could be eating at any given moment.  I swear I'm beginning to think our entire lives are built around thinking about food, shopping for food, preparing food, eating food, and thinking about food some more.  Maybe I'm saying this as a cranky, hungry person, but that doesn't mean there isn't a little validity in my statement.

Wanna know what made my mouth water the most?  It wasn't any of the ads created to do just that; rather, I was watching an episode of Law & Order: SVU and two cops were sitting at a bar, waiting for a perp (like my authentic law enforcement lingo?) to show up at his usual table.  They'd both ordered burgers and drinks.  Their burgers were served, and they were big, greasy, old-fashioned cheeseburgers.  Watching that cop take a big bite of that beautiful burger, I had the most intense craving I've ever had in my life.  In that moment, I would have shaved my head for an order of Chili's Big Mouth Bites. 

Instead, my hubby and I went for a walk.  We haven't done that in a long, long time.  At one point, I grabbed his arm and gave him a snuggle, saying "Isn't this what romantic-couples-in-love do all the time?  After more than 20 years together, we've still got it..."  His response?  "You know, I'm sure this is true for me, too, but I think this cleanse is starting to make your breath bad." 

I'm going to remind him of that comment the next time he asks me to stay on the Cleanse two extra days, just to keep him company...

Supplies used:
Stamps: Happy Camper by TCP
Paper: Kraft (PTI), Natural White (Neenah), Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy pp
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: TCP Buttons & Ribbon Trim (Great Outdoors), corner rounder, hole punch, Copic Markers, twine, red line tape, Velcro dots

Blog Bon-Bon Lookie-Loo and Master Cleanse Day 4

Okay, I've gathered up some goodies for the Blog Bon-Bon giveaway I'm having in honor of my swell new blog 'do.  I have to say, it almost pains me to do it -- these are some great, unused stamp sets that I acquired with every intention of getting inky.  Of course, more have come in the door since and more continue to do so, and because I've only got two hands and so much time to stamp... I need to find these lovely images a new home where they will fulfill their destiny and be played with. 

Could yours be the one?  There's only one way to find out: you have to leave a comment on this post by noon CST on Wednesday.  Later that afternoon, I'll randomly select a winner.  (EDITED TO ADD EMPHASIS!  You have to go to THIS POST (<-- click the link) to enter -- don't leave a comment on the current post because it will not be considered an entry for the blog candy!)

Ready to see the prize package?  I tallied it up, and it does indeed retail for more than $100!

Included is:

• Flourishes' Cake Decorating 101 (which I can't find on their site -- maybe it's retired? I'm going to estimate its value at around $20 since it's a large set with a lot of images)
• Stamps Camp's Children Are... (unmounted, uncut red rubber -- this really is a gorgeous set.  I bought two by accident.  I was enabled to buy this set from Becca Feeken's awesome Dirty Dozen gallery project a couple of months ago; I'm still planning to make a couple of similar baby gifts with this set CASEing her.  Hopefully before those babies are teenagers. Retail price: $15)
• Hanna Stamps' Route 66 (I'm already wanting to recall this, but I don't want to take another picture.  Claremore -- the town I live on -- is on Route 66, you see, and maybe one day... Retail price: $15.50)
• Verve's Cupcake Affair (I think this is such an elegant set, but I've already got a bunch of cupcake sets, and I'm trying to be generous to my readers. Retail price: $12)
• CHF's Shady Tree Studio's Closed Tulip ($6.49) and Iris Bloom ($6.49) (these are gorgeous, but I'm flower challenged, and I know you'll be able to do more with them than I am.)
• Gina K. Design's Kindred Spirits: Slumber Party ($6.95) and Little Guy at Play ($5.95) (so sweet, so precious!  Love that little guy with the blocks, but I'm certain my little guy will have his driver's license by the time I would get around to using it.)
• Studio Calico's Limited Edition Bundle Up set (can't find it on their site -- maybe it's retired, too?  Fun & funky -- great sentiment... rethinking, rethinking... nope.  Not taking another picture. Estimated retail value: $5.50)

and last but not least, I can't have a blog giveaway without giving my ALL-TIME FAVORITE SET IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD...

• MFT Presents Cuddle Up Carter!  (If you don't know why this is my favorite set, read this blog post.  Retail value: $9.00)

So, what do you think?  Not too shabby, huh?!  Then make sure you've entered!  Once and only once, though, please. :)

Master Cleanse Day Four:
I'm on Day Four now.  It's only noon, but so far, not bad.  I've not been hungry at all, but I would like to have something in my mouth to chew, and to taste something other than spicy lemon drink.  Truman had a Bueno Chilada Platter from Taco Bueno last night and ate only half of it.  As I was cleaning up the den (he ate at the bar area, watching TV), it was all I could do not to scarf up his leftovers.  But I quickly threw it in the trash to avoid the temptation.

If you go on a cleanse like this, you will be amazed at how much of your day is spent thinking about food and/or drink, and either eating or getting ready to eat.  I mean, it really leaves you with unexpected time on your hands.  Which could be a good thing if I was in the mood to be super productive, but ... eh.  So, instead, we did something yesterday we hardly ever do: Truman, Sean and I went to the movies and saw Star Trek.  It was awesome!  Loved every minute of it.  And if I had to choose between Spock and Kirk?  Well, what can I say?  I really like a guy with a great big... brain, so it'd have to be Spock. :)

Supposedly Days 2, 3, and 7 are the hardest on the Cleanse.  Therefore, I'm due for a few good days. Get this: Sean is trying to talk me into doing the Cleanse for the duration of the time he's on it (which would make my cleanse a total of 12 days).  I told him that whatever it is he's smoking?  Is not legal on the Cleanse or in our country.  But maybe I'll change my mind.  It would be easier to break the fast for both of us if we were to do it at the same time.  (It takes a total of 2.5 days after the cleanse to break the fast properly.)  I'll let you know in a few days what I decide.

I can't believe I haven't eaten solid food since Wednesday night... C-R-A-Z-Y!

I'll see you tomorrow for another JiFFy Girls Challenge and thoughts on Day 5!

Proud as a Peacock SFYTT

Another Saturday morning, another great Sketch For You To Try!  Thanks to my newly redecorated cyberhome, I'm feeling mighty proud.  Thus, it was time to ink up a new Kim Hughes Collection set -- Zooper Fun -- that I hadn't had an opportunity to play with yet.
The sentiment is from Verve's Great Expectations set.  (Gotta love Verve sentiments!)  Pretty self explanatory, but if you have any questions, let me know.

You know the drill: you can find the sketch and samples from Jen and May Guest Designer Julie Lacey on Jen's blog, then hop on over to my SFYTT Sister's places for a creative kick in the pants (that's a good thing, you know...):

Amy Rohl,
Amy Sheffer,
Kelly Lunceford, and
Susan Liles

Master Cleanse Day 3:
You'd be so proud of me!  I have a group of girlfriends that I get together with pretty frequently; we take turns hostessing happy hour and appetizers -- very low key and easy, but fun and necessary, too.  We've all got to make the time to get together with our girlfriends, or I'm convinced something in us becomes untethered and we forget we're people in our own right.  It's good for the soul. 

Anyway, the four of us got together last night, and while the other girls sipped their Pinot Grigio and noshed on crudites and crab dip, I was good and drank my 'lemonade.'  Fortunately, I was too taken by Heather's sweet baby boy (only a month old!) to be too jealous (actually, Heather only had water, so I wasn't the only tee-totaler).  I even got to feed and burp him -- I miss that so much! (Bottle fed, btw -- God bless her, I'm no Salma Hayek...)

After I got home, a fierce headache came on.  I've heard these happen a lot during the Cleanse due to caffeine withdrawl, but I'm not a huge caffeine drinker -- only a cup or two of coffee in the a.m., which I enjoy more for the ritual than anything else.  The headache lasted through the night, and I still have a bit of it this morning.  Hopefully it will go away soon.

I have some company on the Cleanse now -- Sean is home from the Senate (for the most part -- he has to go back on Tuesday to wrap up some unfinished business but should be coming home for good that evening) and started the Cleanse today.  I'm very grateful -- I can do okay with not eating what the kids eat, but watching him eat without me would be harder to take.  Isn't he a good guy to do this with me?  He's a keeper!

See you tomorrow, with a picture of the Blog Bon-Bons I'm giving away (see this post) and an update for Day 4!

Supplies used:
Stamps: Zooper Fun by Cornish Heritage Farms (Kim Hughes Collection) and Great Expectations (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Neenah Solar White, Chatterbox 'Sunbursts' patterned paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: buttons from TCP's Great Outdoors Collection and PTI, Fashion Sense Posies (Sassy), Copic Markers, Nestabilities, SU scalloped border punch, satin ribbon from one of Jody's share, Jody's foam boosters

Happy Camping in The Cat's Pajamas, and Master Cleanse Day 2

In one short week, you'll be able to get your hands on the swankiest, most fun outdoor-sy stamps you've ever laid eyes on.  On May 29 -- next Friday -- The Cat's Pajamas will be introducing two new sets: Happy Camper (full of critters and camping stuff) and Nightie (a FABULOUS alphabet no stamper or scrapper will be able to resist)!

As an RVer, I *LOVE* images with campers, so it's no surprise this is one of my favorites from the Happy Camper set:
  Isn't that retro wagon and trailer fantastic?  What do you think about the ribbon and buttons?  You likey?  Well, guess what?  TCP is coming out with it's own line of accents, too, perfectly coordinated to go with the new sets!  Here's what the Great Outdoors Trims and Buttons look like:

Aren't those delicious?!  Don't you just want to eat 'em up???  Okay, maybe that's just me, considering I haven't had anything but 'lemonade', salt water, or senna tea for the last 36 hours...

Master Cleanse, Day 2:
So far?  So good.  No hunger whatsoever.  I'm not even allowing myself to think about food.  For example,  I was folding clothes earlier and searching the channels for something to watch.  Top Chef was on Bravo -- I love Top Chef, and haven't seen it in months.  Normally, I'd be all over it.  But today?  It seemed like a bad idea to be watching a show about cooking and food when I'm not going to be chewing anything until a week from Sunday.  I settled for Cold Case Files on A&E instead.  Nothing like a little blood guts to quash the appetite.

Disclaimer!
If you have a weak stomach and don't like reading about other's digestive system (a delicate way of saying POOP), you might just want to stop reading right now.  You've been warned.

Here's the deal about the Master Cleanse.  It's a cleanse -- all sorts of yucky stuff are being flushed out of your system.  Any my poor system?  Is very polluted.  My eating and drinking habits are atrocious.  Which might be one of the reasons I'm not very... regular, if you know what I mean.  The wind blows?  I'm stopped up.  We go on vacation?  Forget it.  Nothing's leaving until we get home, for sure.  So imagine my surprise when I woke up out of a dead sleep last night having to do number two.  Now mind you, it wasn't one of those nice, S-shaped number twos that Dr. Oz and Oprah are always raving about.  Only in my dreams do I have those.  No, this was ... splashy.  Gross, I know, but at least my beleagured colon is getting a rinse.

A couple of you have asked about measurements and letting you know the number of inches I lose.  I will do that and post the results a week from Sunday. 

One other thing: but for the trip to the bathroom, I slept like a baby last night.  Fell asleep before ten and woke up about 6:15 a.m. (Actually, Carter woke me up saying, "Mommy!  I'm your alarm clock! Wake up!"  Couldn't find the snooze button on him to save my life...).  I'd love to get in the habit of getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night -- maybe that's one more benefit that will come from this exercise.

I'll be back tomorrow with a sample for Jen's SFYTT and thoughts on Day 3 of the Master Cleanse.  See you then!

Supplies used:
Stamps: Happy Camper by The Cat’s Pajamas
Paper: Kraft, True Black (PTI), Solar White (Neenah),
Blush Red Dark (Prism)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: buttons and ribbon from The Cat’s Pajamas’
Great Outdoors line, Copic Markers, corner rounder,
foam mounting tape, embroidery thread

When Life Gives You Lemons...

... do the Master Cleanse!
Have you heard of the Master Cleanse before?  It's often referred to as the Lemonade Diet.  The gist of the Master Cleanse is:
for 10 days, you eat nothing and you drink 8 glasses a day of a 'lemonade' concoction consisting of lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and grade B organic maple syrup.  In the morning, you do a salt water flush by drinking 1 quart of water + 2 teaspoons of uniodized sea salt (this definitely gets your bowels a-purgin'!) and at night, you drink a cup of Senna (natural laxative) tea.  For complete information, you'll want this book by Stanley Burroughs.

Beyonce has gone on the record stating that she dropped 22 lbs. for her role in Dreamgirls by doing the Master Cleanse for 14 days.  Though she may have revived it's popularity recently, it's not a new, fad diet as Stanley Burrows first came out with it in 1941. 

Here's what the 'lemonade' actually looks like:

It really doesn't taste that bad.  A while back, I read someone describe it as tasting like 'spicy Gatorade' and I suppose that's pretty accurate.

Why I am I doing this?  Well... I'll go in depth about each of these in separate posts, but for now here are the bullet points

1.  Weight Loss -- I have a couple of trips in June that I'd like to look and feel better for (including one to the beach).  Stamping has not been kind to my figure these past couple of years... LOL!
2.  To actually cleanse my system.  No telling what's in there or how long it's taken up residence.
3.  To prove to myself that I have the self-discipline to start and finish it (I've started it once before and lasted for about 2.5 days).
4.  To jumpstart a more healthy lifestyle once I'm done with this.  I've got The China Study on my nightstand, and from what I hear, it lays out the cold, hard facts connecting nutrition and disease.  One of those "Can't put the genie back in the bottle" things once you learn of it.

I'm publicly announcing this to my MILLIONS (*giggle*) of readers to shame me into sticking with it, in case I begin to waver in a couple of days.  I figure now that I've published this all over the world, I HAVE to see it through -- no turning back!

For those who come here purely for the stamping, that'll be here, too, but I do plan on giving daily updates on my cleanse experience for the next ten days.  If this is something you've ever considered doing, consider me your guinea pig!  And if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them as best I can.

See you tomorrow, for Day 2!