Stamps, Paper, Scissors

Cleaning out Christmas

Did you have a lovely Christmas? I know I did. I also know I was STINKIN' BUSY, between shopping, cooking, wrapping, decorating, practicing the organ for Christmas Eve, baking, and, oh yes, FIXING MY STINKIN' COMPUTER!!

Yes, my hard drive took a dive last Thursday, just as I was getting ready to start working. I looked down a minute to adjust my pedal, and when I looked up the screen was black, with just my cursor blinking rapidly on the screen. When I tried to start the Task Manager, it just stopped blinking but nothing happened. So there was nothing for it but to reboot the thing and get the awful message "Hard disk not exist".

I have to think Bill Gates has cavemen working for him. "Hard disk not exist"? You can't put the word "does" in there somewhere? While "Hard disk does not exist" gets the message across nicely, you might consider "Does hard disk not exist?",which would add a plaintive note of existential pathos to a situation that is already fraught with sorrow to begin with. Or you could go all Yoda-like and say "Hard disk exist does not". Just a little thought, Bill.

So I was stuck buying a new hard drive plus a copy of Windows 7 because my copy is an upgrade and I had no hard copy of Vista to upgrade from, since it came installed on my laptop and why should ever need a disk, right? Bah (humbug!)

Then of course, came the fun of reloading software, including things that required a fresh activation code, hard to obtain over the Christmas weekend, and restoring my personal files from my online back up. I lost a few things, even things that should not have been lost. I am having to rebuild my expander files for work, which is a pain in the bucket. And I had to reinstall all my fonts I had purchased for scrapbooking.

One of the worst things, though, is reloading all my purchased My Digital Studio downloads. Being the lemming that I am, I have {cough} a lot of them, and I am not finished yet.

But mostly, I am good to go again. After the orgy of cooking, wrapping, etc, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I dragged my can downstairs, completed my Controlfreaks Occasions mini swaps and sent them on their way yesterday.

Since I have been somewhat incommunicado over the past few weeks, I have a backlog of Christmas projects that I have made but not shown. So let the parade begin:

Ingredients: Stamps - Merry Winter, Sparkling jumbo wheel; Paper - Baja Breeze, Rich Razzleberry, More Mustard, Whisper White; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Whisper White craft; Other - Markers, blender pen, Small Oval punch, Cropadile, Word Window punch, Scallop Rectangle Clearlit die, Chocolate Chip scallop dotted ribbon, dimensionals.

This little number was a project we did at one of my workshops in December. Lookie at what is inside:

It's an easy project for party favors, classroom treats, what have you. Cut the cardstock at 2-1/2" x 9-1/2". Score at 2", 2-1/2", 6", 8", and 8-1/2". Wheel or stamp a design. Punch with the Word Window bunch between the 8" scoreline and the 8-1/2". Fold as shown. Adhere the image to the front in such a way that the upper flap tucks behind it.

STINKIN' CUTE (YILM!) Onward!

Ingredients: Stamps - Family Reunion; Paper - Holly Berry Bouquet DSP, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Real Red; Other - Holly Berry Bouquet buttons, Holiday Stocking BIgz L Die, Stocking Accents Originals Die, 3/16" corner rounder, Cropadile, Snow Burst embossing folder, Chocolate Chip scallop dotted ribbon, Early Espresso baker's twine.

Lookie what this one does:

As you can see by the inscription, this was originally meant to be one of three that I was going to make for William's teachers. But time got away from me and I ended up raiding the card stash to put their cards in.

Ah yes, before I forget STINKIN' CUTE!!! (YILM!) And now, finally:

Ingredients: Stamps - Gift Givers, Sparkling jumbo wheel; Paper - Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White; Ink - Basic Grey, Whisper White; Other - Markers, Scallop Circle punch, 1" x 8" cellophane bag, dimensionals, Early Espresso 1/8" taffeta ribbon.

STINKIN' CUTE!!! (YILM!) I was inspired by similar projects in the Holiday mini on page 11 with these cute little cello bags. These would look great hanging on the tree, with the understanding that they will be removed and eaten when Christmas comes. Of course, you could make these for any occasion. And you know what?

The Holiday mini is still good until January 3rd, 2012, so it's still possible to get all of the things I used from there for these projects! You'll have a jump on everyone else when they are scrambling to make Christmas projects next year because you will have all the stuff already! Heck, you can even make this stuff in July and really have a jump on things! Just hop on over to my website and order a bunch!

Okay, shameless commercial plug is over. Back to the grind of everyday life. For those of you not of the Christmas persuasion:

 

 

Happy Kwanzaa!

Happy Festivus!

and if I am not back before then...

 

Ta!

Happy Post Thanksgiving!

How was your Thanksgiving (for my US peeps)? Ours was pretty good in spite of the fact that:

a) I had a cold and was the one that was cooking...for just our immediate family, though.

b) We got some bad news that we were pretty much expecting towards the end of the day. More later in this post.

I made my turkey again this year on my Showtime Rotisserie, which makes a really great turkey and frees my oven up for all the side dishes. I brined it again this year, which adds a ton of flavor and moisture to the bird. Along with this we had the usual mashed potatoes & gravy, dressing, green bean casserole, candied sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, rolls, a relish tray with olives, pickes, and raw veggies, plus the green jello salad Dan's mom always made for holiday dinners and pumpkin pie. The difference this year was that since Dan is now diabetic, I had to make a pumpkin pie for him that had Splenda in it instead and I made the green jello salad totally sugar free, thanks to sugar-free jello, ginger ale, and Cool Whip. And I could not taste the difference. I made my husband a very happy man since he can eat all the jello salad he wants and he loves that stuff!

I thought I'd show you this card today, as the Christmas machine gets it's big boost today all over the country. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Christmas Lodge; Paper - Island Indigo, Whisper White; Ink - Island Indigo; Other - Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon, Mini Jinglebells, Whisper White baker's twine; Tulip Frame embossing folder, Scallop Square Bigz die.

GOJUS!! (YILM!) I had actually originally planned this for the blog tour, but while it is simple in a way, it wasn't simple enough. I thought I had been extremely clever in figuring out how to use this embossing folder to create a square instead of a rectangle (cut the cardstock into a square, line it up at the end, run it into the Big Shot partway, then back it out again, then line the unembossed side up at the end with the pattern matching and repeat), but then Wendy popped my balloon and told me everyone's been doing this for months. Phoo.

No, I did not go out shopping last night and have yet to venture out today and probably will not, in fact. With free shipping available from so many online stores, there doesn't seem to be a point. And since I woke up this morning feeling really crummy, I didn't want to set foot out of my house. So I let my mouse do my shopping for me. I didn't get it all done, but got a nice start, anyway.

Our dinner was spectacular and we even got everything cleaned up fairly quickly. I had enjoyed cooking this big meal, since it is the kind of meal where you cook it in stages over the day. Mostly I like cooking, there are only two things I dislike about it:

a) Deciding what to cook.

b) Dealing with picky people.

With Thanksgiving, I don't really have to do (a) because the menu is set in stone at this point. And (b) isn't so bad either since there are so many things on the menu that almost everyone can find enough things they like. I say everyone because, of course, William is the exception. He doesn't like ANYTHING that is served at Thanksgiving, so he made himself chicken nuggets and was perfectly happy.

Then towards the evening,we got the call from Dan's dad that we were kind of expecting. Last week, Dan's mom, Sue, was put in the hospital with what was thought to be pneumonia, but then they discovered a pleural effusion between her lungs. On draining the fluid out earlier this week, they found cancer cells. Yesterday, they did some tests to try to discover the origin of the cells. Apparently, whatever they discovered,  we only know now that Sue is going into hospice immediately and has very little time left. I had read a bit about malignant pleural effusion online, so we knew the outlook was poor, but Sue has less time left than most people do. So now we just wait and hope she can be kept comfortable. Dan's dad asked us not to come over, and we are going to respect his wishes.

With our parents in their 80s, we were aware that we would be facing this some day, but we were hoping it would be further off in the future, of course. Any prayers you might like to say for Sue and for Don, my father-in-law, are very much appreciated.

Ta!

Freaky KISS!!!

It's that time again, time to freak out with the freaks on our monthly blog tour! If you've just arrived from Patty Bennett's blog, you are in the right spot!

But if you started right here, fear not! You can manage to get all the way around the entire tour just by following the links at the bottom of each post.

This post is going live on the evening of the 19th, so if you find some posts in our tour have not yet posted, please be patient.  The entire tour should be accessible at some point this evening. Keep checking back!

The theme this month is KISS!

 

Naw, not these guys!

 

Got nothin' to do with this either. What KISS stands for is:

Keep It Simple...Stamper! Yea, we won't use the usual word for the last S!

Can I tell you how hard this was for me? Me and Wendy were whining to each other that we just don't do simple that often anymore, so it was a real struggle for us to tone down our usual complicated style. 'Cause there is always something MORE we want to add to a card and we had to hold ourselves back!

But after a massive struggle, I managed to come up with some stuff. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Merry Winter; Paper - Letters to Santa DSP, Riding Hood Red, Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink - Early Espresso, Marina Mist; Markers - Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red, Marina Mist, Old Olive; Other - 5/8" Scalloped Dotted Ribbon, Gold Brads, Drafting Tape, dimensionals, sponge wedges.

I know it is not THAT simple, but hey, it is simple for ME. I have been really enjoying these kinds of softly sponged backgrounds lately that people have been achieving with the thin steel rule dies that have multiple sizes that we don't have...yet...heh heh...TIK A LOK! I achieved this look using drafting tape, which has less tackiness than regular masking tape so it is not supposed to rip the face off your paper (but I still stick it to my jeans a few time to take the tackiness down even more.) ANYWAY, yes, it is STINKIN' CUTE! (YILM!) and I love these colors and want to marry them, but then I would be a bigamist! Onward!

I got the inspiration for this next card from Darlene DeVries' blog. I twisted her idea a little bit, since she did hers with white cardstock, and as you will see, mine is NOT:

Ingredients: Stamps - Snow Swirled; Paper - Wonderful Wisteria; Ink - Elegant Eggplant, Wonderful Wisteria; Other - Elegant Eggplant marker, White gel pen, Basics Jewels, Drafting tape.

GOJUS!!! (YILM!) I just love this look and can think of many variations on it!

This next card has a bit of a sad story. My downline and dear friend Mary's mother died this past weekend. She really hated the thank you cards from the funeral home, but didn't want to make any herself, so she commissioned me to do 25 cards for her. When you are making that many, they gotta be simple. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Leaves of a Tree, Perfectly Penned; Paper - Spice Cake DSP, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink - More Mustard, Early Espresso, Pear Pizzaz; Other - Chocolate Chip taffeta (sorry, retired, but they do have Soft Suede), gold brads.

Okay, this is nice. It's not GOJUS, but it is nice looking and much better than those cards you get at the funeral home. And it's her mom's favorite colors and seasonal, yet somber enough without being depressing. So I guess I still can say YILM! Because sometimes creating cards means knowing what to leave out rather than what to add.

Well, it's time for you to go onward to Robin Spinner's blog and see the fabulous projects she has in store for you! Ta!

 

Time for a Reality Check

Really, guys, do I have to explain everything? Sheesh!

What am I talking 'bout, Willis? Let me 'splain, Lucy!

I posted last, as you may recall, for the Freaks' tour, for which I received a comment that kind of threw me for a loop. It wasn't in my comments, it was directly emailed to me and I am not telling you who. But I was not sure about how to respond and so I have been MIA while I have been contemplating it.

Here it is:

  Yes, we do LOVE you!!!  But PLEASE STOP, STOP, STOP with the YILM or I
may TU!!!  (throw up)!!

I was, to say the least, gobsmacked. So it think a little education is in order for those who just don't "get it". And let me hasten to add that this is all written in the spirit of SARCASM. I was raised to believe in Sarcasm as the ultimate expression of love for people you care about, so I hope you know that the mere fact that I am being sarcastic here on my blog means I wuv you vewy much.

People may think I am stuck on myself, if they haven't been around long enough to know better. YILM = Yes, I love myself. You know this, right? If you don't and always wondered, now you know. BTW, it is in the legend in the right sidebar that defines terms that are peculiar to my blog. I have always been happy to explain to anyone who asked what it means.

However, what it does not mean is that I am so stuck on myself that I think I am perfect, or even practically perfect in every way like Mary Poppins. Frankly, the only use I can make of an umbrella is this one.

Anyway, what YILM means is that, in that moment of creation aftermath, while I am still basking in the glow of a successful project, that I pretty much think I am extremely clever to have made the whatever it was I have made. I am, rest assured, still well aware of all my failings, including the pathetic fact that in order to feel like I am validated, I have to post a picture of my project online and hope people agree with me about how cool it is and how wonderful I am. If that isn't the supreme example of a person who has low self esteem, I don't know what is.

And thus, when I first was writing this blog, in the spirit of Sarcasm, I coined the phrase "YILM". It is MY acronym. I use it to remind you that you actually are on MY blog and not anyone else's as well as to remind myself that I am a pathetic scrambler after people's good opinions. After all, if I had perfect self esteem, I would simply use the card and never show it to anyone.

Of course, there is all that "sharing" stuff that we all do to help those on their papercraft travels to explore the vast universe of papercrafting and to boldly go where ...

Well... Never mind!

Honestly, I have received a lot of comment on my little acronym over the years I have been using it. Mostly, people laugh. That is what it is there for, after all. People who know that I am poking fun AT MYSELF for feeling the way I do about a project, who feel the same way when they make something they just fall in love with.

Other people have told me that YILM gives them a great feeling, since it is good to see a woman who seems to think well of herself, since most of us do not, as a matter of course because of the way we are brought up or have been treated later in life by other people. You would be amazed at how much they like to see that, because that is not at all the way they feel about themselves and they  are trying to feel better about themselves, after years of being told by other people that they are unworthy of any kind of esteem, their own or anyone else's. For those people and for the sheer reason that YILM has become a hallmark of my blog, I have continued to use it.

Frankly, I could stop writing YILM tomorrow and it wouldn't bother me a bit, except for letting down the people who I mention above. If you were to comb through my blog posts, you may even find somewhere I have forgotten to put it in. Sometimes I have had to go back and add it when I notice I left it out. Yes, sometimes even *I* grow weary of YILM.

But hey, it is just FOUR LITTLE LETTERS. Four little letters that are easy to skip over. Four letters you need not shield your children's precious eyes from if they happen to glance at it, unlike other words and acronyms with the same amount of letters that are far more offensive than YILM.

So, let's just accept the fact, shall we, that I will continue to use YILM. If it bugs you, just skip on over that part, after all, it is always in the same places in every post. If not, I believe you can get a good deal on barf bags over at Airline Liquidators Inc.

And now for something completely different, a card:

Ingredients: Stamps - A Beautiful Season; Paper - Holly Berry Bouquet DSP, Silver Shimmer paper, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Real Red, Chocolate Chip; Ink - Versamark, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Real Red; Other - Black EP, Boho Blossoms Punch, Decorator Lable Punch, Eyelet Lace border punch, Word Window punch, Chocolate Chip Dotted Scallop ribbon, Subtles Glimmer Brads, gold brads, sponge wedges, markers.

Yes. It is GOJUS!!! And... And.... And...

YILM!

Sorry... I meant to make 4 little letters and it just got away from me. Ooops. My bad.

Ta!

These are a few of my favorite Freaks!

It's that time again, time for that spectacle of creativity aka the Tour de Freaks!

If you've just arrived from Dawn Olchefske's blog, you are in the right place! But if you started right here, fear not! You can manage to get all the way around the entire tour just by following the links at the bottom of each post.

This post is going live on the evening of the 19th, so if you find some posts in our tour have not yet posted, please be patient.  The entire tour should be accessible at some point this evening. Keep checking back!

This month's them is "Bows, Boxes, and Bags". I have to tell you, when I heard this theme, I was not jumping for joy. Because, ya know, I kind of have this thing about being innovative and crafty-like, so I figured I would have to come up with something completely new and startlingly innovative to keep my rep, you know? Being a stampin' jeenyus has it's hazards and this is one of them!

But first, since I left this until the last minute, as I almost always do, I made something that popped into my head and was easy to do, something you could whip up at the last minute if you happened to have a supply of gable boxes in the house. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Hand-penned Holidays; Paper - Frostwood Lodge DSP, Real Red, Garden Green, Early Espresso; Ink - Whisper White, Real Red, Early Espresso; Other - Scallop Oval Frame Bigz die, Scallop Oval punch, Snowflake punch, 5/8" Real Red Satin Ribbon, sponge wedge, dimensionals.

GOJUS! (YILM!) Look at my punch art pine cones!

Sorry for the blurry photo, but it was very dark around here today as it rained, so it was hard to get good pictures. The pinecones are made with the scallop oval punch, stacked and layered up.

Now, while that is fairly innovative, I really stretched myself on this next one. The idea just popped into my head and it worked exactly as I though it would. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Pines & Poinsettias; Paper - Holly Berry Bouquet, Real Red, Silver Shimmer, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip; Ink - Very Vanilla; Other - Blossom Builder Punch, Scallop Oval Frame Bigz die, Fire round rhinestone brads, red and green glitter, Chocolate Chip Dotted Scallop ribbon, Chocolate Chip marker, paper crimper.

WOWWEEEEEZOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

(YILM!)

Yes, it is a box made with the Scallop Oval Frame die. While I would love to show you how to make it right now, I really do not have time to go into it, but I will try to get a video made to show you how! As far as I know (and Google can tell me) nobody has done this before! I am feeling pretty darned innovative!

Well, as much as I would like to crow on and on about the American spirit of innovation and it's relation to modern papercrafting and why I am embued with this spirit, though not to the exclusion of all others, and worthy of much praise and chocolate, I will instead allow you to proceed onward to the next blog.

So off you go to Barb Mullikin's blog. Ta!

Vintage Kitschmas

Yes, I'm talking about cardmaking and not my wardrobe! I will have you know that my wardrobe is not vintage kitsch anyway. It's standard suburban-mom-trying-to-afford-parochial-school-works-in-her-basement-and-likes-her-clothes-to-be-comfy style for me!

No, this is what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Ingredients: Stamps - Pines & Poinsettias, A Beautiful Season; Paper - Holly Berry Bouquet DSP, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Silver Glimmer, Very Vanilla; Ink - Wild Wasabi; Markers - Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight; Other - Snowflake punch, Decorative Label punch, Little Leaves SIzzlit die, Snow Burst embossing folder, Brights Glimmer brads, Basics Jewels Rhinestones, Chocolate Chip dotted scallop ribbon, Smooch Accent Ink Pearlized Top Coat, sponge wedges,dimensionals.

Remember when Christmas was all about glitter, the more the better? Then we went through the 80's and everyone was into that country-style decor and suddenly glitter was just not cool or restricted. But if you grew up with the days of glitzy glittery baubels scattered all over the house, with those insane elves with the sewn together arms hanging off every door knob, you will feel right at home with this card! Yes, the Glitter Beast was unleashed on this card. Rawr!

Not only do I have the Silver Glimmer paper, glittery polka dot paper, plus a Glimmer brad, I painted over the stamped image with some of the Smooch accent ink, so I gotcher shimmer, yer shimmer, yer all over glitter girl blues! OOOOOOH, yeaaaaahhhh!

(YILM!)

Seriously, I really love this look. Would I joke about a thing like that? Nah!

Some folks wanted to see my pics of my beautiful daughters in their homecoming attire. Lookie:

Aren't they GOJUS?!?!? (YILMDs!!)

Well, time to go back to doing what I do so well, wasting time until the work arrives. Ta!

 

Christmas Lodge in monochrome

I told you this set was sparkin' mah creativity, didn't I?  Oh yas, yas! Mama love her some Christmas Lodge! And I've been have a great time with the Simply Scored tool, an easy way to add some texture to your monochromatic cards. Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Christmas Lodge; Paper - Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer; Ink - Cherry Cobbler; Other - Scallop Border punch, Cherry Cobbler quilted satin ribbon, Simply Scored, dimesnionals.

GOJUS! (YILM!) I know what you're saying. Where is the rest of the ingredient list?!?! Usually I have a MUCH longer list of ingredients, but this time everything just fell together. This card is both simple and complex at the same time. When I was done, I fell in love with it. I couldn't believe how awesome it turned out and how awesome I must be because I made it! (YILM!)

You must, you simply MUST look closer:

See the pattern on the Cherry Cobbler layer? I did that with the Simply Scored tool! I love the way it echoes the Cherry Cobbler quilted satin ribbon.

Look some more! Look closer....

There is a line scored around where I placed the image popped up on dimensionals to create a frame. I have been having so much fun with this scoring tool, I tell ya!

I decided to make yet another monochromatic card, using the reverse masking technique:

 
Ingredients: Stamps - Christmas Lodge, Bells & Boughs; Paper - Marina Mist, Whisper White; Ink - Marina Mist; Other - Snowburst embossing folder, Scallop Square Bigz die, Northern Frost Sizzlits Decorative strip die, Marina Mist dotted scallop ribbon, Basics Jewels Rhinestones, Frost White Shimmer paint, dimensionals, sponge wedge, sponge dauber, Simply Scored.

GOJUS!!! (YILM!) Does it just get you in the mood for ? Cool crisp air, catching snowflakes on your tongue , skating on an icy pond , building snowmen , throwing snowballs , winter sports , and...and...oh yeah, the most important features of winter:

shoveling and shivering! Er...guess I can wait!

 

As you can see, I once again made a nice little scored frame around my main image with my new bestie, the Simply Scored tool! Love. It.

Today I get to take my oldest child to the doctor to check on how well and (as much and maybe even more importantly for her parents) how fast she is recovering from her bout of pneumonia. She got a box o' homework yesterday that her sister (bless her heart!) lugged home from school for her that she has to tackle. Fun stuff!

Ta!

 

 

I'm about to harrow your soul

And not just by posting twice in as many days!

Once you see these cards, what can I say? You will follow the call of psychic resonance that is clearly shouting for joy from these cards and buy Christmas Lodge and the Frostwood Lodge paper. Really. This set totally rocks and I have made 5 cards with it so far and there is no end in sight! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Christmas Lodge; Paper - Frostwood Lodge DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Garden Green, Vellum Cardstock; Ink - Garden Green, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler; Other - Ticket Corner punch, Curly Lable punch, Early Espresso Quilted Satin ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Dotted Scallop ribbon, Bitty Punch pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Basics Jewels Rhinestones, dimensionals, sponge wedges.

Holy Guacamole! (or maybe Keemosabi Wasabi! LOL!) (YILM!) I initially thought this tree stamp would be hard to ink and stamp with but it is NOT. I love the Garden Green ink on the Wild Wasabi cardstock. Why did I not see how cool this was before now? The world may never know!

But if THAT wasn't enough, I went on to create THIS:

Ingredients: Stamps - Christmas Lodge, Frame It, Petite Pairs; Paper - Frostwood Lodge DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Whisper White, Naturals White, Early Espresso; Ink - Whisper White, Versamark, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist; Other - Stampin' Write Markers, Ticket Corner punch, Northern Frost Sizzlet Decorative Strip die, Cherry Cobbler Quilted Satin ribbon, White EP, Basics Jewels Rhinestones, dimensionals, sponge wedges, Dazzling Details.

Shazam! (YILM! and Go-o-o-lee!) Have I done it yet? Are you so overcome with psychic resonance that you have reached your mouse hand over and clicked on the "Show with me now" button? Just remember that mama needs a new set of stamps and the only way mamma gets those is to expose others to psychic resonance. Resistance is futile!

I have to tell you something I am still chuckling over. I have this widget on my blog called "Lijit". Yes, the Lijit Widget, which is a nice little search engine that allows people to search on my blog. It's over there on the right sidebar in with the subscription options. For using this service, the Lijit people send me a monthly report with various useful statistics and sometimes just for grins, I even look at this report. I was bored yesterday, what can I say, so I opened it.

One of the things it tells me are the top 6 search terms. Check out the report this month:

Top Search Terms (Top 5 shown)

amazing punch trick	(19)
magic marque card	(7)
scrapbook purse	(7)
10 quick cards	(6)
husbands underwear (emphasis mine)	(6)

I recognize the top 5 as things I have indeed posted about and am, shall I say, ahem, somewhat WELL KNOWN for.

But then I get to #6. Needlesss to say, I'm gobsmacked. What is that 6th search term about anyway? Six people used this little engine to try to find a post of mine about my husband's underwear (or someone else's husband's underwear)? Wha?

To my recollection, I have never mentioned anything about my husband's underwear on this blog!

Children's socks, wayward fingers, yes, many OTHER subjects entirely irrevelant to stamping, but I have no clue what inspired this search! I even tried searching on Google (for some reason, I can't use the Lijit search box on my own blog, goodness knows why) and some of the things I pulled up (shudder), well, let's not even GO there.

If you are one of the 6 searchers for posts about husbands underwear, please let me know what you were looking for. I am dying to know and now so is everyone else who reads this blog! Ta!

 

Opening the Vault

Yup, it's time to reveal my swap for the Controlfreaks Holiday Mini swap! This is a fabulous mini catalog and I've got a bunch o' cards waiting to get a moment in the sun on my blog! So here's just one of 'em! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Stitched Stockings, Sincere Salutations; Paper - Frostwood Lodge DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Whisper White; Ink - Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler; Other - Stocking Builder Punch, Snowflake Punch, Garden Green 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Quilted Satin ribbon, dimensionals, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, Mini Jingle Bells.

GOJUS! (YILM!) I have already had to reorder this GOJUS paper because I used a ton of it with these swaps and what was left I have been burning through at a fantastic rate! LOVE. IT.

And this punch is faboo too..why...I guess I have to show you what ELSE I have been making with it, can't leave you hanging, even though these stockings are! Lookie:

Ingredients: Stamps - Stitched Stockings, Many Merry Messages; Paper - Frostwood Lodge DSP, Naturals White, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Whisper White; Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green; Other - Eyelet Lace Border punch, Stocking Builder punch, white gel pen, Mini JIngle Bells, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, silver brads, dimensionals.

GOJUS! (YILM!) I've seen a lot of cards like this though, so HARDLY original!

I hope you all are having a great Labor Day weekend! We are just hanging out at home and trying to stay cool. We've had a few days in a row of scorching heat and humidity. But the usual saying in Michigan is "Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes and it will change!" And while it has been a bit longer than 5 minutes, the forecast for Monday is cloudy and 69 degrees. From the 90s to 69 degrees. Sigh...At least we'll be able to turn off the air and open up the windows! And we won't be broiling ourselves while we're grilling our bratwurst! Ta!

 

Slowly but surely...

The new structure of my work week is starting to take shape. The beginning of the week is slower and probably when I will get some stamping time in. The end of the week is when the work starts flowing in. It should change once January gets here, once work starts to pick up. Fancy, people don't like going to the doctor just before Christmas! Who woulda thunk it?

I hope to be more prolific in my stamping AND my posting once I get a pattern that I can depend on. It doesn't help at all to stamp if you don't post, I always say. For instance, this next card we actually made at my last workshop which was at the end of October and I simply have not had time to post it! But here goes!

Ingredients: Stamps - Tags 'til Christmas, Baroque Motifs, Grateful Greetings; Paper - Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, Whisper White, Old Olive; Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive; Other - Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Decorative Label Punch, Ornament Punch, Movers & Shapers die, Basic Jewels, dimensionals.

Isn't it GOJUS?!?!?! (YILM!) Actually, I should say, this is the card we were SUPPOSED to have done, but yours truly cut the bases the wrong way so that we couldn't send them through the Big Shot to cut the M&S window in the front.

Bad Jan! Bad Jan!!!

It just goes to show, there is always SOMTHIN' (thanks Rosanna Rosanna Danna!) So we just made a simpler card.

Luckily, I got all my work done yesterday so I can stamp today! And it's a good day to stamp for two reasons:

We are getting dumped on with a big snowstorm! Good reason to stay home and stamp!

-and-

My Occasions Mini preorder schtuff came on Friday! So I am going to play all day! Woohoo! Ta!