You're Out of This World!!!
I know I'm no blogging superstar, but gosh darn it, I'm just tickled pink that my counter says I've had over 1000 hits!
(okay, I'm not sure how many of those are actually me, but hey, I still think it's pretty cool)
Since it seems to be a bit of a tradition in the stampin' blog community, I'm announcing the first of my BLOG CANDY giveaways!
I've got an idea of what it's gonna be, but haven't taken a picture yet. I promise that I'll post the prize soon. ETA: PICTURES ARE NOW POSTED.... SCROLL DOWN TO SEE!
So here's the deal - leave a comment on this post before midnight (Eastern Standard Time over here in Massachusetts) ETA: that's midnight on Tuesday, July 17, and I'll pick a random number on WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 for the giveaway. If you want to, let me know where you're from - I love that we can all visit and share our ideas and creations from across the country and the world!
Thanks for stopping by!
Card Credits: Stamps - Rubber Soul; Cardstock - Stampin' Up! (Kraft, Bashful Blue, Whisper White); Patterned Paper - American Crafts; Ink - Versacraft Black, Stampin' Up! Markers for coloring; Accessories and Extras - Stampin' Dimensionals, Moss Gingham Ribbon, Sakura Glaze Pen (clear), Marvy Scalloped punch, Oval punch, Clear Embossing Powder
Without further ado, here's what's in store for the lucky winner:
Envelope seals from Martha Stewart and some ribbon with lots of yummy texture!
Wait... there's more...
Some awesome chipboard pieces from We R Memory Keepers!Okay, that's it.....
Okay, so I've been "tagged" for the first time since I started blogging. What fun! The super-fabulous Vicki C. did the honors. You MUST go see her blog. She does absolutely fantastic stuff - gorgeous albums, altered items... all kinds of cool projects. Really, extraordinary work. (Can you tell I totally love her? So flattered that she tagged me.)
So here goes - I'm supposed to post 7 random things about myself then tag 7 other bloggers:
Random Things About Me:
1. I love to get up early and drink coffee for hours before actually doing anything.
2. Chicago is my very favorite place, and I dream of living there someday.
3. I also dream of living on a farm with alpacas and chickens.
4. One of my biggest fears for a long time was having an airplane land on/crash into me.
5. I'm not a water person - no beach babe here!
6. I think cats are the neatest animals ever. (I have four).
7. My fingernails are a mess and my toenails are always painted.
Okay, here's who I'm tagging:
Anne
Erika M.
Julie
Kendra
Mary
Erika H.
Sue
Y'all can play if you want to!
I'll be back to post some pictures of projects I've been working on as soon as I can. I've gotten so much done this weekend, but still haven't gotten the pictures ready for uploading. Will do soon!
and write this. I'm dying. Dying!
Heard at the table in the last 5 minutes:
Quinn (looking at Mommy and Daddy): You know why you guys are so great? 'Cause you made a freakin' good dinner!
That is too much.
Good times. Good times.
(Also heard: "Daddy. You make freakin' good corn. I'm gonna call you the corn master.")
NO, I'M NOT HAVING ANOTHER BABY! (yet... <- did I say that outloud??? ;)
Well, it's nice to be back home with the boys (yes, I really do mean it!).
But I wanted to share something fun I made while I had the house to myself -
I have to admit something... my first little crafty secret... I'm not very good at altering things! Seriously! I always seem to get lost about a third of the way through an altering project - never enough embellishments, or things don't "connect".. I don't know.
More practice needed I guess.
That said, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, although the ribbons on top kind of look like a funky mop-top hairdo... oh well....
In case it's not obvious, it's just a little bucket that will be stuffed with onsies and towels and other baby things for someone special (I'm not saying who... ;)
The paper and the "design" were inspired by the "matching" card -
I kept most of the bucket's silver finish showing because I actually thought it was pretty, and it jived with the silver buttons I used on the card.
Now for the second secret - I bought the 120 box of prismacolors.... (But I used a coupon!). This is one of my first tries at coloring with them and some gamsol, and I had so much fun!
The stamp is one I got on sale at Michaels a loooong time ago, and then just shoved it in a drawer and forgot about it, but it was uber-fun to color.
Hope this makes the special someone smile!
Card credits: Cardstock - Stampin' Up! (Purely Pomegranite, Wild Wasabi), Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye; Ink - Stampin' Up! (Basic Black); Accessories - Prismacolor pencils, gamsol, Stampin' Up! ribbon, Button Brads and Safety Pin - Making Memories
I'm sunburned. My butt is bruised. And I think I pulled a muscle in my leg.
But oh man, it was worth it!
For our end of the week bang before the boys return, we decided to take a couple of days to explore beautiful Vermont. Yesterday, we rented bikes and headed out to bike the trail along Lake Chamberlain in and around Burlington, Vermont.
Mind you, I haven't ridden a bike in a long, long time (I'm talking years... and I've never ridden a bike with gears...).
But I was geared up and ready to go!
It was an absolutely gorgeous ride. Breathtaking. The lake on one side. Surrounded by trees and grass and wildflowers along the path.
A brief thunderstorm popped up, but we waited it out in this crazy little store/bait shop/boat dock - a kind of creepy/kind of kitchy time-warp of a place. We shared a water and a payday candy bar and chatted with the old lady behind the counter... great fun!
Then we hit the trail again!
After passing out of Burlington, the bike trail is no longer paved. It's just a gravel path along a causeway out in the middle of nowhere.
It was an amazing little strip of an oasis. A tiny little path in the middle of the water. Some trees and plants along the side - replete with raucus, dive-bombing birds whizzing past our heads and the constant drone of wheels on loose gravel.
And then we hit the end.
Seriously.
The path stops suddenly just a little way from another island in the middle of the lake. A local organization is working to have a ferry running regularly so that bikers can cross back and forth, but, alas... no ferry that day.
It was kind of wierd.
But I was happy. And exhilerated. And proud of myself (and Jason) for riding that far (10.5 miles from our starting point, 3 miles on gravel road).
And very, very tired.
But so ready to do it all again!
The obvious solution to my missing mojo problem - today's Color Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers! (duh...) SCS has such awesome challenges, and I rarely have time to participate. I've done a couple, but this is the first one I'm sharing. Today's challenge was to use Pretty in Pink, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. Luckily, some of the odds and ends lying around my desk fit the color scheme perfectly!
Pretty easy card! And I love how cute the little birdie is... :)
Card Credits: Paper - Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive); Ink - Stampin' Up! (Staz-on Timber Brown, Old Olive), Stamps - Stampin' Up! (In the Spotlight), Savvy Stamps (sentiment), Inky Antics (birdie feet), Accessories - Stampin' Up! (white organdy ribbon), Jenni Bowlin Studios scrap kit (Felt Birdie and Flowers, Brad), random button from a bottle on the shelf....
Aaaack! My mojo .... it's gone... and I think I know who took it....
It all started a couple of months ago with a phone call from my mother - "Liz ..." [my mom calls me that, and other immediate family members, but don't you try it... nicknames are off limits with me]... "Liz, I wanted to let you guys know that your father and I can take the boys for the week of the fourth of July if you and Jason would like to have a week to yourselves."
HECK, YEAH! A week? A whole blessed week alone? It's every parent-of-a-toddler-and-preschooler's dream come true!
So... after a wonderful weekend celebrating Quinn's (official) birthday, they're gone. Both of them. At the same time!
Oh, the creating! The card-making! The pure, unadultered paper and stamping fun!
But wait! Where's my mojo? I know I had it somewhere around here - usually under the pile of dirty laundry, or stuck the bottom of a muddy shoe. Sometimes I find it in the grubby ring around the tub after an especially energetic bath... or at the bottom of my coffee cup. But, no. It's missing. I cleaned the whole house - but couldn't find it anywhere....
I must have stuck it in one of the boy's suitcases, 'cause it just ain't here. And I know I had it before they left...
Ah, well, I'll share something a little old with you instead:
I made this card a few days ago or so (while the boys were frantically trying to grab my stamps and getting ink all over them... so I know I had my mojo then...). Used my new Pick a Petal from my preview order.
I really like these adorable petals, but I do think they'll be easier to use and arrange if I cut them out. But I had an idea for this one... and it's pretty much how I envisioned. Actually, this started out as a 3" x 6" card - I had a pack of white ones plus envelopes from Stampendous that I got a while back. After I stamped the flower petals on the edge, though, it didn't quite look right, so I chopped off the back of the card and trimmed it down into a panel. Then I wheeled the craft cardstock with the new See You Around jumbo wheel in Versamark - although it doesn't really show since the panel and matting ended up larger than anticipated. I also stamped the circle outline from Pick a Petal in versamark to add some interest to the white and added the sentiment from Hugs and Wishes! Pretty easy and I think it's pretty cute, too!
Well, this card was/is on its way to a fellow blogger - I'm not gonna say who, 'cause I don't know if she got it yet! *wink* But I hope it makes her smile!
Okay... gotta get off here before hubby comes back with the sushi! MMMMM... sushi... and a little Tuaca (anyone else drink that stuff?... it's so beautifully smooth and yummy....) and a few crazy rounds of dominos!
Adios!
Card Credits: Cardstock - Stampin' Up! (Kraft, Groovy Guava), Stampendous; Ink - Stampin' Up! (Groovy Guava, Sage Shadow, Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue), Versamark; Stamps - Stampin' Up! (Hugs & Wishes, Pick a Petal, See You Around jumbo wheel); Ribbon - Stampin' Up! (moss gingham)
