Friday CPR 7/25 - What Comes of This Seed?

To view my Friday CPR post for 7/25 - What Comes of This Seed? click here.

Thursday's Throw Aways - Week 19 - Postcard Matchbox

I work in a school and part of my job is putting the daily mail in the staff mailboxes. Believe it or not, we do get a lot of junk mail, most of which goes into the recycling. Every once and a while something will come in that catches my eye. It might be a catalog with an interesting cover, or something like this postcard below.

This is an oversized postcard from a local college addressed to a retired teacher and would have been thrown into the recycling container, but what you can't see from the picture is that it is heavyweight and glossy and, well, I just thought it could be repurposed into something useful.

I carefully laid it out on my matchbox die so that when I ran it through the Big Shot, old Thomas Edison there would be on the front of the matchbox top.

We have a college graduation party to attend this weekend, so I think I will put some chocolate nuggets in there and, if I don't get around to it, I will fold up the gift check and include that too!

Here is another way to use that matchbox die. I made three boxes using the new In Colors and stacked them one on top of the other. Then I wrapped a pretty piece of DSP around them to hold them all together. I added the ribbon knots on the front of the "drawers" as pulls. This will be a nice addition to my desk at work or maybe another gift. What would you use if for?

Teapot Tuesday 56 - Tour De France Snails

Don't think your eyes are deceiving you, yes, it is a snail teapot! I think it's cute. Just look at that happy face! I'm reminded of that snail from Dr. Doolittle. Do you remember that one?

This snail teapot comes along with a story - of course. And to get the real scoop you have to visit Cindy Motherway's glob to read all about it. She got her inspiration from a suggestion that another stamper made about possibly attending a tea party during the Tour de France. Where does the snail fit in? Well, apparently while watching TV coverage of the race, someone noticed that there were some snails trying to cross the street during the race. You have to see the awesome card that Cindy made. She is such a paper genius!

So we're off to the Tour De France, snails and all.

I haven't watched any of the coverage this year, but I remembered from the past that there is a special significance to the color of the jersey's that the bikers wear. So I did some homework at school. (There's a name for that kind of sentence - someone tell me.)

The yellow jersey is worn by the race leader.
The green jersey represents the best sprinter.
The polka dot jersey (yes it really is polka dotted!) is worn by the best climber, or the racer who does best in the mountains.
The white jersey is worn by the highest-ranked rider in the competion age 25 or younger.
I added the blue jersey because if I had to choose team colors I would choose blue.

These snails wanted to get into the race so they jumped on a spare bike tire and are spinning their little hearts out. Can you tell by the color of their shells who's winning?

Now for the deets:
Stamps: Snails come from Unfroggetable (retired), Sentiment from All Year Cheer II (also retired).
Paper: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Gable Green Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise, Sahara Sand, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Real Red
Accessories: Black brads, silver eyelet, silver embroidery floss, Scallop punch, 1 3/4 and 1 1/2 circle punches, googlie eyes, word window punch

Are you wondering how I made the tire? I punched a scallop circle and then put a notch in each scallop. Then I took a single strand of floss and started wrapping so that there would be a small open center where I could put the eyelet and then brad. I trimmed the scallops so that the black tire could be glued right onto the spokes without showing the white edges. And yes, with some assistance, the tire does spin.

I was thinking I would send this to our nephew for his birthday, then I realized that I used pink as the background. What do you think about that?

Check out the Teapot 56 gallery here.

Summer Rose to Cheer You

I've had this rose sitting on my table for some time now. It finally found a place on this simple background.

The CAS (Clean and Simple) challenge for today was to use the colors of summer: Turquoise, Orange and Yellow.

I'm sending this to my Godmother as I've heard she's not been feeling well lately.

The rose is from Fifth Avenue Floral and it was stamped on Shimmery White CS with VersaMark and embossed with white EP. I then used my aquapainter and ink from the lids of my inkpads to color it. It is shimmery in real life!

I hope this will cheer her up a bit!

Views From the Backyard

Who's Looking at Who

A Visit With St. Francis

Checking the Box

I See You

Caged Dahlias

Perilous Perch

Dad Standing Watch

Scalloped Die Box/Bag

Uggghhhh. I just can't seem to take a good picture lately. This is another one of my new dies. The scallop box/bag die. You can't really see that I stamped the leaves from God's Beauty in VersaMark on the box and then added the flowers and butterfly. The box is Tempting Turquoise, as are the flowers and butterfly highlights.

I like this box, but, after I finished it, it didn't hold what I wanted to put in it! I'm going to have to rethink this one!

Friday CPR 7/17 - New Door Lock

To view my Friday CPR post for 7/17 - New Door Lock, click here.

Yes, I know it's Saturday. The problem with posting ahead, at least for me, is that you have to go back to the post on the day that it posts to actually link it to another source (like this blog). Otherwise, you link the whole blog, which, in this case might not be so bad because it looks like I'm not getting many visitors to that blog (even my followers!!!!).

So, from now on, I think I'll just put in a generic link here on Fridays. The current post will be at the top anyway, and maybe, just maybe, some of you might be interested in reading on!

But, just in case you're new here, and you're wondering WTH I'm talking about - Friday CPR is my other blog in which I write about experiences I've had, or heard about in school. Some are funny, some are sad, some are just plain stupid. It's just my way of dealing with the absurdities of life in a school.

Hope you take a look and find something you enjoy!

Thursday's Throw Aways - Week 18 - Hang Tags

Thanks to the deer eating our flowering plants in the backyard, I happened to have these hang tags from some decorative fence posts that we bought to hang bird netting on. I loved the black and white drawing of a metal forge on them and decided to try to reuse them.

The color I chose for the card base is Basic Gray which plays well with the drawings themselves. I wanted something lighter to help highlight the drawings so I chose a layer of Taken With Teal and added a band of Bermuda Bay that I punched on both sides with a MS fence post punch. (Oh, I just realized that I had another theme going here with fences.)

The bow is Basic Gray taffeta and the brads are styled silver. The sentiment is stamped in Basic Gray and it's from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. (You can't see it too clearly in the picture - it says "thanks so much".)

I had another tag on the table that I had been saving from a sundress that I bought. Again, the design was what caught my eye. There was some text on it, but the ribbon covers it. The colors in the tag went well with the new In Color Melon Mambo so I used some DSP from the Razzleberry Lemonade pack and the polka dot ribbon in the same color. The striped ribbon was a scrap that I had on the table at the time.

The circles are from the Circle Circus set and stamped in Melon Mambo and punched out. A couple of them are popped up. And the sentiment was from the Pocket Silhouettes set too!

These two cards came together rather quickly. I think the tags deserved to be saved from the household recycling. What do you think?

Teapot Tuesday 55 - Meeting Martha Stewart

Tuesday's the day for Tea Parties on Cindy's glob. This week she featured a teapot with these crazy cats!!! The CAT-erer's as she put it. Since we had the sneak peak last week and I saw that it had cats on it, and I knew that I had but one cat stamp, you would have thought that I would have used the time between last Tuesday and today to stamp and color the cat. But no!!! I did what I do best - procrastinated - and left it for today.

This is Furleasha (named for our last cat). She is in charge of the shopping for the dinner tea today. I suggested that she might want to go to Costco, as we usually have a big turnout for these parties and at Costco you can get lots for less (as long as you have room for it!!!).

It was during this catversation that I remembered today was the day that Martha Stewart was going to be at our Costco signing her newest book about cupcakes. When I shared that with my co-worker, we asked our boss nicely if we could use some comp time and leave a little early today so that we could get to Costco and stand in line to buy a book and get it signed. (I didn't explain to him that Furleasha and I were also doing tea party shopping because I don't think he would have let me go - he probably would have called to have someone take me away!!!)

Yes, we were about the 85th people in line who waited for Martha to arrive. It wasn't so bad, really. While we stood in line we shot the breeze with the people in front of and behind us, and Costco had some of their workers walking up and down the line handing out cookies.

Martha was very nice. She signed the books and would speak to you if you talked to her. Just before it was my turn to approach her table, they brought her some snacks. She told me that she had only had a small salad for lunch today and needed sustenance. I told her that she looked lovely today.

Yes, that's all that I could come up with. Should I have said -

Martha, I am here with the ghost of my dead cat Furleasha and we are shopping for food for a dinner tea party today. Do you have any suggestions?

Then she might have suggested a recipe for Blue Tie Fish and we would have been golden!

I think she would appreciate how I used those ties to make fish and cupcakes to make a hat today! (Do you see the glitter gel pen I added to the fish to make them sparkle?)

So, I hope you like my card this week. It's a little Dr. Seussish, now that I look at it again. All those primary colors!!!!

Here's the details:

Stamps: Holiday Blitz (the tie and cupcake), Cat from Rubber Stampede, Studio G Clear Stamps

Paper: Real Red, Summer Sun, Ballet Blue, Basic Black, Watercolor

Ink: Basic Gray, Real Red, Ballet Blue and various markers to watercolor the cat

Accessories: aquapainter, glitter gel pen, circle punches, 1/4" black grosgrain ribbon

Now, please go take a look at the Teapot Gallery for this week. And thanks Kris for sharing your teapot with us this week.

Clean and Simple Art Challenge

I saw this challenge posted at Splitcoast today in the CAS (Clean and Simple) section. You were to go to the (www.art.com) website and choose an artwork to inspire you today.

The gallery for circles drew my attention. Click on these pieces that inspired me:

http://www.art.com/products/p11736671-sa-i1170681/rachael-stroud-abstract-iv.htm?sorig=cat&sorigid=206580&dimvals=206580&ui=0ba719ae416e4540b12da273458da04e

http://www.art.com/products/p10339741-sa-i1170680/rachael-stroud-abstract-iii.htm?sorig=cat&sorigid=206580&dimvals=206580&ui=0ba719ae416e4540b12da273458da04e

They both are done using the Circle Circus and Trendy Trees stamp sets. They are stamped on Confetti Cream CS and the images are colored with Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, and Soft Suede markers.

This set lends itself very well to Clean and Simple stamping. I think I will make one more each of these and wrap them up for a gift. You never have enough Thank You cards!

Saturday Inspiration

I decided to try another Inspiration Challenge today. Over at Splitcoast the Inspiration Challenge for today was to was to visit a site called Chasing Fireflies. I found a pair of slippers that I thought were cool and would also give me a chance to play with one of my new big shot dies.

These flowers are from the Birds and Blooms set. After I ran the paper through the Big Shot, I used my markers on the edges to give the flowers some depth. Then I curled them like a real flower to give them dimension. The hardest part was the little centers. I punched a 1/2" circle out of the same color cardstock and then rolled it into a ball shape - sort of. They are adhered to the rest of the flower with liquid Tombow glue.

There's a bunch of colors in this card (again with the color!!!). Green Galore, Handsome Hunter, Gable Green, Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry, and Dusty Durango. The sentiment is from the All Holidays set and stamped in Handsome Hunter.

The Handsome Hunter cs on the top was scrunched up after I cut it to size and then I pulled a layer of it off. The rough side is facing the back. The lighter green strip across it is scrunched up too. I put down a skinny piece of red line tape and then pressed the strip into it so it looks gathered.

It just so happens that I need a couple of thank you's this weekend, so this will go right out in the mail!

So, have you been inspired by my inspiration? Love to hear from you.

The Roosters of Smithville

On our trip last weekend we spent a morning in Historic Smithville. Walking around the little village we went in and out of the shops there and happened upon these roosters. They were begging to have their picture taken.

I decided to use them as an inspiration for the Limited Supply challenge for Friday - to stamp an image 3 times and crop it.

So here are my roosters.

The stamp set is Rustic Rooster and I stamped it in Basic Gray on Whisper White and used markers to color it. I punched them out with my oval punch and back them with Ridinghood Red scalloped ovals. The card base is Basic Gray, and then a layer of Ridinghood Red. I used a scrap of Basic Gray DSP and More Mustard torn on the diagonal for the next layer. The ribbon is Bravo Burgundy with a bow of Basic Gray Taffeta.

Oops - it seems I didn't read the directions carefully enough. We were only supposed to use brads or eyelets as our embellishment. Hope I don't get a ticket for using the ribbon!

Ice Cream Anyone?

This is the secret project that I was working on a couple of weeks ago. I was asked by a friend to make some favors for her daughter's engagement party. She showed me a picture of something she saw somewhere and asked if I could come up with something similar.


I knew that Creamy Caramel would make a good ice cream cone. I played around with copy paper in one of the cellophane cone sleeves to make the pattern. After I traced it onto the creamy caramel and cut it out, I ran it through the big shot with the diamond texture plate. I added the red line tape to the side and gently curled it with my hands and around a wooden chopstick until I saw that it would form a cone. Pulling the tape off and adhering one side to the other is a little tricky, but can be done.



After the cone was taped together I inserted the chopstick again and used a bone folder to burnish the two sides together. This is an important step, because without it, even with the red line tape, the sides will pull apart. The burnishing adds heat to the tape making it more adhesive.


The washcloth is folded in half once and then once again. Then roll it from side-to-side gradually lowering it to give the effect of the swirled ice cream. Wrap a rubber band around the bottom portion and stick it into the cone.


Lastly, put the finished ice cream cone into the bag and tie with a ribbon at the top. For the favors I printed the couple's names and the date of their wedding onto copy paper, punched them out with the oval scallop punch and ran them through my Xyron to make them into stickers.

Hey, it's National Ice Cream Month!!! Have a scoop of your favorite!!!

July 4th Fireworks '09 - Barnegat, NJ

Thursday's Throw Aways - Week 17

This recycling tip is so simple. Using newsprint as a background. Most people have magazines or junk mail that contains text capable of being used as a background, or back drop, or even for paper piecing.


I came across a wonderful blog by Lydia called Understand Blue and saw this technique used by the author. I really like the simplicity of it as well as the way it pops the stamped image. Check out her posts from June 14th and 26th to see two cards where she used this technique.

My card is based on both of Lydia's cards. I couldn't find my Micron pen (or rather, one that worked) so I used my SU Basic Black marker for the outlining. And, I don't seem to have much luck with gel pens. They don't seem to flow very well for me, so I wasn't able to highlight as much as I would have liked to, but I think that you get the idea.

This is one of the new hostess sets called Wings of Friendship (I used the flourish for my star card last Thursday). I stamped the image in Pacific Point on the newsprint that I had run through the Big Shot with the Top Note die. Backed that with Basic Black and mounted it on Tempting Turquoise. The flourish in the lower corner is stamped in VersaMark and embossed with clear EP.

I think, no, I know I'll try this again! Thanks Lydia, for the inspiration!!!

Jersey Driver

As seen crossing the bridge on 72 into Long Beach Island.

Yes, the car is moving.

Yes, she is texting.

Yes, she has one hand on the wheel and one foot on the dash.

Yes, she is oblivious to the fact that I actually took her picture.

Yes, her face is blacked out so as not to embarrass her mother.

Teapot Tuesday 54 (American Oyster Catchers)

Last week Cindy gave us a sneak peek at the next teapot. This is something new. She also gave us a teaword: botanical gardens. Well, I went off on a mini-vacation this weekend and while I did remember part of the picture, the word completely left me.

So here we have this week's teapot. Isn't it beautiful? I love the soft floral look. You should go and check out Cindy's card this week on her glob. It's absolutely beautiful and SO the teapot!

We did a lot of walking this past weekend. We went to Smithville and shopped and then we went to Barnegat Light and walked out to the point. When we got to the lighthouse it was high tide and water had come through the rocks on the inlet making pools that we had to walk around to get to the point. The rocks were on our left and on our right was a roped off area of the beach. This area is roped off because ocean birds nest there and you are not allowed to enter the nesting area during this time.

As we got closer to the point, the water got closer to the rope and at times we had to walk through it. It was during this walk that we came across this family of birds. The little chick kept wanting to go towards the water and didn't seem too worried about us being near, however, the parents were wary and kept trying to redirect the chick. They would peep back and forth to one another and walk around that young one in circles to get it to go the way they wanted.

These birds had striking coloring. The beaks were long and straight and bright orange, as were their eyes. I remembered last year we had seen some plovers, but these were definitely not plovers. It wasn't until I got home and did some research that I found out that they were American Oyster Catchers. That would explain the long beak.

The chick still has his juvenile coloring.


I knew the teapot that Cindy showed us had doves on it and I know that doves signify love. But I chose to add this loving family to my card this week. How much love did these parents show by keeping that little chick safe! They just fascinate me.

So here I have a little beach scene. The water, the sand dune with the birds and grasses and just beyond the dune you can see the tops of the beach roses that form a barrier between land and sea.

There's a ton of color on this card. I did go a little wild with it I admit. On our way home, while HWNSNBP is driving, I usually get to nod off and this time I kept seeing these colors in my head. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them and then I remembered the birds and the beach and the sky and well, here's what I came up with.

Now, we're supposed to be having tea in the botanical garden in Dublin this week. Sabrina, one of our fellow tea partiers is hosting this week. I'm supposed to wear a hat so the birds don't christen me, but I've heard that that's supposed to be good luck, so I'll leave my hat home. Since my card is a beach scene, I will take a boat to the party and bring some oysters. Hopefully, someone will eat them, and maybe we'll get lucky and someone will find a pearl!

The papers used are: Apricot Appeal, Melon Mambo, Cameo Coral, Kraft, Taken With Teal, Bermuda Bay.

The Stamps used are: The More the Merrier, Trendy Trees, and Itty Bitty Buds

I used markers for all the coloring: Basic Gray, Only Orange, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal

And I used a white prismacolor pencil for the birds and, I hope you can see it, the froth of the water. All those flowers were cut out. (Yes, I know I'm nuts!!!)

Now, go check out Cindy's glob and make sure to look at all the other Teapot Tuesday 54 cards here.

Dana's Card

My blogging friend, Dana sent me this beautiful card. She's temporarily relocated away from all her crafting supplies so she's had to wing it with what she can find in her new location. I heard tell that she did break down and purchase some supplies, but you see that gorgeous paper that she uses - she prints that from her computer. What a great idea!!!

I gave you a picture of the center medallion up close so you could see how she embellished it. When you open the card the medallion is actually on the inside. Very clever Dana!

She's not only cleverly crafty - she's got a great blog that is guaranteed to entertain you. So please go take a look at Dana's Life is Good.