Little Kirby

So with my house a disaster zone I decided to spend the day outside. I got this sudden wave of energy and decided to trim the cedars that line the fence between us and the neighbors! Nice thought...they look all nice and tidy but I'm a hurtin' puppy now! I can barely get off the couch! Not looking forward to morning, that's for sure!

On to the card...little Kirby finally made his debut on my blog! He has been in the works for a few weeks but this kitchen reno is really getting the best of me. So he had been all nicely coloured, I had picked out some paper that went perfect with him but there it all sat. Until...I came upon this sketch on Amy's blog and knew that it was the perfect layout for Kirby. Hope you like him.

I have also been working on a couple cards for a class at Pickle so hopefully I should have those posted soon.

I'm NOT a pioneer woman!

<--This is my kitchen



and this my
dining room
with all the
stuff that was
in my kitchen -->









and this is where I have been the past week...Myrtle Beach!

Yup, I'm no pioneer woman and I wasn't about to stick around and come up with creative ways to cook dinner and wash dishes in my bathroom sink...me and the hubby took off to the beach! The kitchen isn't done YET and I still have about a week or two of creative meal planning, but at least one week is behind me now!

So that is why there has been no stamping, because I stamp in my kitchen!!!!! However, Im gettin' a little anxious so I think I may have to set up a temporary location soon. That could be tricky though, since my alternate location is the dining room and you can see there ain't much room there!

Crafty Secrets Birthday

I'm such a BAD stamper! It was my brother in law's birthday last week and I completely missed it! LIKE TOTALLY FORGOT! (I blame it on work...it consumes my brain). Since it was only a WEEK late, i figured I'd better get something done and mailed. I knew I wanted to use the Crafty Secrets Favorite Fella's set but was under a time crunch so I did a quick surf of their gallery to get inspired. This was the card that got me inspired! I even had crafty secrets paper, albeit I used a different one than the sample, the idea gave me the groundwork I needed to pump out a quick card. (I still think it took me a couple hours though! LOL!)

I hope he likes it, even though it was late. But you can be rest assured, now that he turned the big 4-0 I was quick to remind him that the mind is the first to go!

Where's Linda???

Well, she has been pretty busy this week! Work has been CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! I am mentally exhausted at the end of the day and haven't even spent much time on my beloved laptop! On top of that we have a kitchen reno that started yesterday so at the end of the day I chat it up with the contractor and have to spend the evenings making decisions so I'll have answers for him in the morning! It's all good though because this will be pretty darn close to my dream kitchen. Let's say, everything I've always wanted but in a smaller scale!

But, before the reno and the work craziness started I did get a couple cards in! Just haven't had time to post until tonight. This is another card I made for Bride & Joy. It's pretty and simple and I think I'll make a couple more in some other colours. The stamp is from Stamping Bella and I used a cuttlebug embossing folder in my Big Shot with Papertrey paper for the background. Since Paper Pickle is right next door, the girls actually prefer I leave the inside blank and then folks who buy them can take them next door and pick out a sentiment. Again, that is easy, because Pickle rents stamps! The customer just needs to pick a sentiment off the wall that suits their fancy! Cool! We are sooooooo lucky in our little city of Chatham to have a phenom store like that! Oh ya...one other thing about the card. I coloured the dress with my copics then added two layers of Stickles Frosted Lace over top. It softened off the pink and it looks just FAB when you see it.

Stella goes green!

No, not green around the gills...but if she has too many martini's it could happen! And it's not a true green, more of a turquoise, but I thought it was a catchy opening!

This was one where I thought i would try to pick my paper first. It was a lime green paper with a bit of teal in it. But alas, when all was said and done, I decided to flip thru the stash and once again, Basic Gray Romani stood out front and center! That lime green and teal paper went back to the 12x12 pile to hopefully find it's way on a card in the future.

To trim it up I used more of the American Craft ribbon that was a gift from my Mom and I also added a bit of dry embossing on the corners. The stencil is by American Traditional and I've had it for years. I think it was the very first brass stencil I ever bought and it is filled with wonderful borders.

Thinking of the dry embossing I have to tell this story. I was a bit too lazy to drag out the light box for that itty bitty bit of embossing so i used a piece of repositionable tape and stuck the stencil to the garden door in my kitchen so i could easily move my piece of paper around and emboss the corners. Well, I removed the stencil, but forgot the tape was still stuck to the window. The hubby asks me later that afternoon why there is a piece of tape stuck on the window of the door...so I try to explain the process of dry embossing and how you need a light source behind it, bla bla bla...I knew I wasn't explaining it very well because he look puzzled, and I also didn't waste my breath on a good explanation because I knew he wouldn't care. So I said, do you really want me to explain the entire thing to you? Enough said! Topic was over, i removed the tape and he'll never know how to dry emboss!

What celeb is your pet?

I just did a quiz on Dogster to find out that my little Bessie is Madonna! Too Funny! And to tell ya the truth...IT'S ALL TRUE...and I'm sure those who know her would agree! I love my sassy little Madonna dog!

Madonna
American Queen

Come on, let's just face it: We are living in a material world, and bessie is a material girl. So go ahead and thank your lucky stars—bessie is the one and only Madonna!

Always desperately seeking attention, bessie is multi-talented and savvy, not afraid to get her paws dirty and experiment with new methods of getting into the groove in order to reach her peeps. She commands respect everywhere she goes, a sophisticated traveler who insists upon the best—and more often than not, she gets what she wants. Appearance is everything for your true-blue diva and while her look may change as often as the Pellegrino in her water bowl does, her commitment to exercise is unwavering. bessie's in tip-top shape, which makes her age in pet years a non-issue. Despite the hard fur and the no-nonsense approach, she's a softy when it comes to her devoted owner. It's fair to say that bessie is, yes, crazy for you.

New Fireman in Town

Yup, Chatham has a new fireman! A friend asked me to make her a card to send to a friend who just became a fireman. I know...I said I don't like selling cards to friends but she's a good friend, I'll probably just give it to her!. This one is really out of my comfort zone, no painting, no shaded colouring...but I did a small bit of masking so that made me happy! The little fire truck is from A Muse and it had a banner hanging off the ladder that said happy birthday but I omitted it. I rented it from Paper Pickle (yes they RENT stamps...how cool is that!) The trees are from Lizzie Ann, the sentiment is Hero Arts and the grass is Hampton. Talk about pulling out all the pieces for this one! And I couldn't resist adding the hubby's little antique toy firetruck and vintage Hardy Boys books in the background...he will be proud (that is, if he ever reads my blog!)
See ya later, I should have another Bella later this week!

Preggabella

I sooooooo want to keep calling her 'preggObella' but I know that is not her name. This is another one of those images I coloured then looked for paper to match and came up with the perfect combo in the Basic Gray 6x6 Sugared paper pack. Is she NOT the cutest thing!
So why am I making expectant mother and baby cards you ask? Especially because I'm too young to be a grandmother (thank god) and too old to be a new mother (double thank god)! Well here's why. I don't often sell my cards (I feel weird about selling cards to friends), except occasionally I make them for Paper Pickle and they sell them in their sister store Bride & Joy. Bride & Joy sells PHENOM stuff for the bride to be or the expectant mother and even really neat gifty things for just about anyone. Sources tell me they will be going online in 2008!
On a personal note, this will be a pretty hectic weekend for me...I'll be shopping for backsplash tiles for my kitchen reno AND...I'm going with a bunch of girlfriends in this 'bus limo' to a wine tasting cooking class! I LOVE to cook and I LOVE wine...I'm anticipating a wonderful day!