Thursday, September 30, 2010

what are YOU reading?

I've started re-reading the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling before the movie's released, in celebration of Banned Books Week 2010 . I'd love to pick up a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and wonder if I ever read that as a child or just recall the Disney movie ... hmmnn ... So, what are YOU reading?

Check the American Library Association (ALA) for more info about the celebration or check out this list of banned books!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

it's all about the candycorn

... and new ribbon from the dollar bins at JoAnn's that I picked up after lunch today. We held our office's service awards during lunch today at the Olive Garden, thanks to Kim R's suggestion. We just LOVE their soup, salad and breadsticks combo, and hadn't stopped there for lunch in a while. We're enjoying a bit of down time at work and it just worked out for today that everyone was able to attend! We're in between sections of students right now but the freshmen will be arriving on campus tomorrow, you see.

Afterward, it being Wednesday and my usual and customary half day, I went shopping. I headed first to the local JoAnn's and then to Hobby Lobby, to support the local economy and use the coupons burning a hole in my pocket. I got a new border punch and a few dollar items including the black ribbon I used on today's card at JoAnn's , and a Spellbinders' Nestie - Labels Eight - at Hobby Lobby. Then my DH and I headed to a local golf course. It reached 70 degrees Fahrenheit and was sunny and just slightly breezy today - just a beautiful day to be outside!

stamps: an unknown SU stamp set (if anybody knows the name of this set, please let me know - it's from 1994 and I picked it up used a week or so ago but the container wasn't labeled); paper: Staples' white, SU's Kraft, YoYo Yellow, Pumpkin Pie card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink, SU's Pumpkin Pie, Yo Yo Yellow; accessories: Wyla's black ric rac ribbon

Sunday, September 26, 2010

family ... and Follett

The bookstore where I work (insert shameless plug for Kettering University here) is participating in a rent-a-text program and handing out free temporary tats in a promotion that in turn inspired today's card. I thought the postcard containing the tat looked nice and vintage-y and would work in a card using one of my fav color combos - black, white, and a splash of color - red being a personal fav! I made this 5-1/4" square card with a few stamps from a recent outing to support the local economy - in this case, Capture-a-Memory - tho' I picked up this stamp set specifically for the chandeliers (ha! spelled right on my first try! see? my college education really is working!) and ended up not using 'em on this one. The "remember" or "pointing" finger is a cute one that'll be used lots, I'm sure. Anywho, I'll have to pass the tat along to my DS who's attending a different college - UM-Flint - so he can be artsy and submit a photo to the contest! $1K grand prize and five categories winning $250 bookstore gift cards - sounds like a winner to me!

stamps: My Mind's Eye's Union Square; paper: Paper Reflections' black, Staples' white, SU's Real Red card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink

Saturday, September 25, 2010

happy fright night to you

This card's not really all that frightful, butI just LOVE rich fall colors. Loosely based on Clean & Simple's FTL109 sketch, I pulled a few of my fav fall colors to pull this one together. I may have gone a bit overboard on distressing but I was too lazy to go to my stamping stash to grab some sponges so just used a dried-out baby wipe that I'd used to clean stamps recently to apply ... rather uneven but such is life!

It's been a busy week and I'm SO pleased the weekend's here! My DH is enjoying some F1 racing while I catch up on blog trolling. No plans for the most part except a promised trip to video store w my DS and I'm hoping to make the trek to A2 to visit my niece and sister. I've got plenty of house cleaning to catch up on. I dunno about you, but I tend to collapse at the end of the work day and don't get much done 'til weekends.

And speaking of fall colors, I didn't catch the outrageous sunlit-drenched golden leaves, but my DH called me outside to catch what the sunset was doing to the leaves in the yard across the street yesterday evening ... this is the view from my driveway, with a tree branch from our yard that was blowing in the breeze. It's been quite breezy here lately and we had 19,000 residents without power and plenty of school closings this week due to power outages. We never lost power but two schools located in our neighborhood were closed. It's cooled considerably but the winds have died down - they're now averaging about 15 mph and gusting to 35 mph ... but it'd make for challenging golf, eh?!

stamps: SU's Carved & Candlelit, Eat Drink & Be Scary; paper: A1 Neenah Classic Natural White, SU's Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Old Olive card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot and old paper distress inks, SU's Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie; tools: Cuttlebug w Sizzix's large dot texturz plate

here's .... Johnny!

Our favorite pirate ... 'nuff said!

snipped from the upcoming Pirates 4 movie, here's a more "period" piece from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) - directed by Rob Marshall, its release date in the U.S. is May 20, 2011.


And the poll results, you ask?
12 - Johnny Depp
1 - Orland Bloom
1 - Dustin Hoffman
and write-ins:
1 - Errol Flynn
1 - Tim Curry
1 - Gene Kelly

Thanx for stopping by, folkes!

Friday, September 24, 2010

S&CT fall edition released!


When it rains, it pours ... another multi-post day! Just a quick "heads up" to alert you that the kind folkes at Scrapbook & Cards Today have released their fall edition. You can download the digi version by clicking on the picture at left (fair warning, though - it's 13MB)

OR

(edited to add - you can view the entire mag online - THANX, S&CT!)

Catch ya later - I'm off to scope out the magazine myself right now!

it's not easy being green

American puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets - including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and my eldest son's favorite, Elmo - was born this day in 1936. We'll have to celebrate and watch one of our many Sesame Street DVDs tonight! Or Muppet Treasure Island - now there's another pirate I hadn't included in my poll - Tim Curry! How could there have been no write-ins for him? Sigh ...

edited to add: oops, sorry 'bout that - just rechecked comments and there WAS a write-in for Tim!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

happy b'day SueB

Another SueB buddy of mine is celebrating a b'day this week. We generally celebrate each others' b'days by heading out for movies and dinner on a weekend close to our b'days. There are 3 Sues involved (SueB, SueS, and me) and a Barb. The other Sues and I all used to be on a workplace bowling team in years past.

Anywho, this is a knock-off of the e-card I sent SueB earlier. I'm cheating and did some screen prints and put together this tri-fold card to give her later this weekend. Easy peasy and no stamping involved in the making of this card.

Hey, hope you've enjoyed our last day of summer! I'd planned on heading out golfing but work didn't cooperate so I just cooled my heels after putting in a full day at work. I can't remember the last Wednesday I worked a full day! Sigh ...

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

trick or treat!

It's almost the end of summer and while I SHOULD probably be celebrating how beautiful it was today, in the 80's and sunny and breezy, I just happened to pick up this cutie patootie house die cut this past Saturday while out supporting the local economy! I don't know the vendor ... it's something I just happened to notice from some past project that Karen had left-overs of, so I asked for some. It's CAS and too cute to be called spooky, don't you agree?!

We celebrated the end of summer by eating lunch at a sidewalk cafe of a restaurant I'd not been to before - it was way to nice to stay indoors today and they say rain's on its way for the rest of the week - Blackstones' in downtown Flint. It was a last-minute decision 'cuz we still didn't know where we were headed at 11:50 a.m. but they had YUMMY seasoned thick-sliced crinkle chips ... more like fries, and I had their signature sandwich, the Blackstone (grilled classic Irish bacon (who knew?! IRISH bacon?!), turkey, pastrami w spicy mustard and swiss cheese on pumpernickel (I opted for toasted wheat)). What'd you have for lunch today?

stamps: ki memories' halloween icons, SU's Home Is Where The Haunt Is; paper: SU's Cast-A-Spell DP and Barely Banana card stock; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink

Sunday, September 19, 2010

on the five As

I couldn't help myself ...

q. How much does it cost a pirate for a piercing?
a. A buck an ear

talk like a pirate day

avast, me hearties! would ye be ready for some pirate humor now, ye landlubbers?!

q. What's the pirate movie rated?
a. Arrrr!

q. What kind o' socks does a pirate wear?
a. Arrrrgyle!

q. What's the problem with the way a pirate speaks?
a. Arrrrticulation!

A little boy is trick or treatin' on Halloween by himself, dressed as a pirate. At one house, a friendly man asks him, "Where are your buccaneers?" The little boy responds, "On either side o' me 'buccan' head!"



And thar ye have it. A symposium on pirate humor that'll last ye a lifetime - so long as life is violent and short! Enjoy ye day, me hearties! 'Til next voyage, same time, same place ... 'cuz I be shippin' out soon ... Aaarrrrrr ...

(aside from Sue - the stick figure pirate's from the t-shirt I vote for from the contest at talklikeapirate.com ... sigh ... in not enough time to order one beforehand ...)

Saturday, September 18, 2010

did ye hear the one about ...

... the girl who was called a "pirate's dream" when she was growing up? Ye see, she had a sunken chest. Aargh!

Tomorrow's Talk Like A Pirate Day, me mateys! Here's a card for me other brother! Aargh! It took a while to find me stickers from days o' yore ... but I did, and the treasure chest stamp, in "honor" o' the joke. Based on Paper Craft Planet's sk091810 sketch challenge, thar be no stampin' involved in the making o' this card. I collected stickers way before I stamped and still have a booty chest filled o' them.

stamps: n/a; paper: Reminisce's Infinity Pool DP, Color Mates' Light Berry Red, Paper Reflections' black, SU's Kraft, Staples white card stock; accessories: asst'd Mrs Grossman's stickers; tools: Fiskars' apron lace border punch

Friday, September 17, 2010

favorite pirates ... who's yours?

Avast, ye mateys! You got 2 days to Int'l Talk Like A Pirate Day ... and tho' I don't have a card to share today, I DO have some of my fav pirates thru the years. I wonder which is yours?

Care to cast ye vote to declare the best of the best?! See the poll located on the right sidebar on me blog! There are no write-ins, 'cuz I make the rules here; I'm the captain o' this here blog ... Aaarh!

p.s. I'll share the findings in a week's time.!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Arrr!

We're in countdown mode to get cards into the mail if we're to celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day this Sunday and this one's heading to my brother ... if one of 'em happens to read this post, they'll just have to wonder who it's for, eh?! It's based on the lovely and talented Kristina Werner's Class 8's sketches (see September's class here - I SO look forward to these each month!) Arrr!

stamps: MSE's old world alphabet; paper: Paper Reflections' black, SU's Kraft, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink; tools: Fiskar's apron lace border punch

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

nat'l creme-filled donut day

I couldn't go to bed tonight without first sharing that today has been national creme-filled donut day! We've a donut shop in the area that's pretty well-known for their donuts (Donna's Donuts) and I have it on good authority that their creme-filled donuts are 225 calories each.

Yeah, I skipped it too ...

Check out the ABC12 piece on the day!

Monday, September 13, 2010

so thankful for you ...

... and all that you do! Remember my mentioning that I had a card that just didn't make it 'cuz the four leaf stamps were too much off-center? Well, I cut them out, matted them with black, and then double matted the set of four leaves. And my latest stamp set has such an appropriate sentiment - "so thankful for you and all that you do" can have multiple meanings!

My niece Jenn is recovering from a brutal car accident she and her son Nick were in back in late June. It's just amazing to watch her recovery. Now she's able to walk, talk, eat, drink, sit, kick ... things I don't think I'll ever take for granted again. Yep, friends, she's added walking to her list of recent accomplishments! She was using parallel bars with assistance yesterday and today she's moved up to a walker! And they removed the tube in her stomach today - that was the last of the tubes! I'm SO proud of her and all her hard work to get to this place! We visited yesterday - the whole Blondin clan on this visit - and took this pic of her resting in her hospital bed snuggling with friend Cherri (hmmnn ... 1 "r" or 2?).


I can't thank you enough for your continued prayers. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Praise: Jenn's using a walker, and her stomach peg/tube's removed
Prayer: Continued strength building in her arms and legs

stamps: SU's Falling Leaves; paper: Paper Reflections' black, SU's Kraft, Ruby Red, Summer Sun card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink, SU's Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Really Rust, Ruby Red; tools: Fiskars apron lace border

on this {grateful} day

When I stamped the card for Susan's OLW19 challenge yesterday, I was SURE I'd seen this layout - the four stamps in a square - as a layout challenge ... and now I'm not finding it! Sigh ... of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most, y'know?! So, if and when I re-locate it, I'll return to edit this post. This stamp set had been on my wish list since the 2009-10 catty was released; I'm SO thankful to have it in time for this year's Thanksgiving Day cards!

I'm still at odds with the finished result. First I stamped the four leaves a tad further apart, but the result was a bit too low ... not leaving me enough to include a sentiment. This time I stamped them a bit closer together than I'd intended, but centered better ... and I used a darker brown ink than the last card - an oops on my part, but it looks okay. I'm hooked on leaves, but how can anyone not like this stamp set, I ask you?!

And what are you grateful today? I'm GRATEFUL (yep, in caps!) that my sweet niece is healing from her injuries resulting from the car accident she was in this past June.

stamps: SU's Falling Leaves; paper: The Paper Co's white card stock; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink, SU's More Mustard, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, and Ruby Red

Sunday, September 12, 2010

what's love got to do w it?!

I snatched up this stinkin' CUTE dollar stamp at Mike's this past summer and would you believe this is the first time it's seen ink?! To keep it a one-layer card for Susan's OLW19 challenge (b&w with a spot of color - one of my fav color combos), I used the heart punch as a mask and sponged on the bright red heart in the center of the letter "O."

The deets for this CAS lovely?!
stamps: studio g's series 48 soloz LOVE; paper: Staples 100# white card stock; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink, SU's Real Red; tools: unknown heart mini punch

Saturday, September 11, 2010

it's all about the candycorn

Ain't it the truth?! I almost titled this post, "be careful what you wish for," because I'd been thinking it was too bad that I didn't have any candycorn yet to use as prop items to sprinkle next to the card for the picture ... but then, if I DID have any, I'd be nibbling on them and we wouldn't have any by the end of October! This stamp set was a July purchase that was on sale - so I gobbled it up - this main stamp and 3 sentiment stamps for $4 - a deal, don't you think?! So of COURSE I kept shopping ... don't just want to ship one item and pay more for shipping than I did for the stamp, right?! So I have another BK stamp too, at 24% off its regular price. So sweet in more ways than one!

A new challenge site to ME, I was inspired by last week's Friday Mashup sketch challenge:


stamps: Unity's Hauntingly Sweet; paper: Paper Reflections' black, Staples' white 110#, SU's Crushed Curry, Kraft, and Pumkin Pie card stocks; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink, SU's Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry (after the pic was taken I also added some Old Olive to the pumkins' stems) markers; tools: Fiskars apron lace border and Marvy corner rounder punches

9-11

It's hard to believe it's been 9 years ... and I'll always remember when I received a call from my DH to alert me to the fact that the first of the towers was struck by a plane. My heart goes out to those who lost so much that day.

Friday, September 10, 2010

spooky

My buddy Pat and I got together after work last night to head to Angie's class where I was pleased to see we worked on 3 Halloween cards and a couple assorted ones. Here's one of the Halloween ones we made, tho' it's hard for me to pick a fav. They're all darlin'!

Quick post tonight - it's late and I'm zonked so I'm hitting the hay! See you in the morning!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

movie night

I was checking Facebook late yesterday afternoon, when a buddy spotted me online and suggested we head to the movies. A nice surprise, eh?! We'd had family up for a cookout and they had to leave by 3 p.m., so we'd settled down to watch a bit of golf on TV, and then my DH had snuck off for a bit of shut-eye. I figured he'd be okay with it ... so we agreed to meet later, after checking out what was playing locally, and picked the 7 p.m. show of The Switch, w Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Jeff Goldblum, and Juliette Lewis.

We had a nice relaxing evening and the movie was cute. Apparently it was the last night it was showing at the Trillium, 'cuz I went there to grab a picture and didn't spot it thru movietickets.com any longer. Talk about timing!

And timing, come to think of it, was pretty much what the movie was all about. Jennifer splits from her latest of failed romances and decides it's high time she had a child, regardless of whether she has any husband prospects in her life. She's best buds with Jason Bateman, tho' they'd dated previously. He's buds with Jeff Goldblum and she's buds with Juliette Lewis. A comedy of errors ensue and Jason switches the sperm sample of her intended donor with his own. Jennifer's character moves west and seven years later she and a young version of Bateman move back to New York. I don't think I'm giving away too many plot points here ... and you can guess from the movie promo picture what the "switch" will be about!

I liked Bateman, and wonder what pieces he's done that he'd list as his top 5? I loved him in Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium and Juno ... this movie's probably heading into another of my favs of his ... and I liked Aniston in this one, after being hugely disappointed in the last flick I saw with her, Bounty Hunter.

So, if you can can catch it still at the dollar theaters, check it out! I may rent it to see it again after it comes out on DVD but probably wouldn't purchase it to watch repeatedly ... so I guess that means a 3/5 star rating ... Lemme know what you think of it if you saw it!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

it's my day!

In 1956, Les Waas founded Procrastinators’ Club of America. Shortly after, the club’s committee designated September 5 as Be Late for Something Day to promote the positive parts of procrastination. “Most people think they don’t have time to stop and smell the roses—this day tries to alleviate that factor,” Waas says. Photo by iStockphoto.

(aside from Sue - I keep MEANING to join this group!)

I know where I'LL be ...

... on September 9-11 - at the Greater Flint Art Council’s 16th annual Festival of Quilts. Amazing stuff, here, and if you like quilts, it's the place to be next weekend! Held in different locations thruout Flint, it'll feature themed quilts, demonstrations, raffles, quilt sales, classes, lectures, and more. I try to take it in each year, occasionally with my Mom or DH in tow. Here's a quick synopsis of the various sites and what they'll offer, gathered from a couple recent articles from the kind folkes at Genesee Fun and MLive:

  1. Flint Public Library, 1026 E. Kearsley St., Flint
    “The Busy Hands of Quilters” -- Flint African American Quilters Guild
    Flint African American Quilters Guild hosts their 21st Quilting Show in the General Reading Room.
    Sept 11 2 p.m. - Lisa Shepard Stewart of Rahway, New Jersey, guest lectures.
    For more information, call (810) 232-7111, ext. 2131.

  2. Longway Planetarium, 1310 E. Kearsley St., Flint
    “Star Quilts at the Planetarium”
    The 10th Annual Star Quilts at Longway Planetarium features quilts with star blocks, fabrics and space themes created by local quilters. This exhibit continues from noon to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, and my friend Hazel usually exhibits a quilt here (hi, Hazel!).
    For more information, call (810) 237-3400.

  3. Greater Flint Arts Council, 816 S. Saginaw St., Flint
    “South of the Border” -- Michigan Quilt Artists Invitational
    Curated by locals Mary Andrews and Marty Calhoun, this exhibit highlights the cloths, colors and textures of Latin American fiber art, by Michigan artists. “South of the Border” continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until Oct. 1.
    Sept 10 6 - 9 p.m. - ArtWalk Friday* - enjoy food, beverages, vendors, a book signing and music by local acoustic guitarist Hannah Fralick. This event is also free and open to the community.
    For more information, call (810) 238-2787.

  4. The Lunch Studio, 444 S. Saginaw St., Flint
    “Progressive Patchwork: Eclectic and Eco-Aware Quilts” -- Flint Handmade
    Flint Handmade features a mix of modern quilted pieces by area crafters, highlighting eco-friendly, upcycled and local material. Free raffle on a patchwork tote.
    For more information, call (810) 241-2660.

  5. Hoffman’s Deco Deli, 503 Garland St., Flint
    “It’s a Wrap” -- Material Girls
    This local group sews quilts for the Genesee County Community Mental Health (CMH) to give out at Christmas through CMH’s “It’s a Wrap” gift program. Various pieces on display and tickets sold for a quilt being auctioned off in November.
    For more information, call (810) 424-6070.

  6. Stockton Center at Spring Grove, 720 Ann Arbor St., Flint ($3 admission fee)
    “Stitches Over Time”
    This display features hand-quilted, machine-quilted and appliqué pieces by local fiber artists, as well as antique quilts from the collection at Crossroads Village. Free hand massages Thursday, door prizes for the first 50 attendees, and Bell’s Blazen Blades classes offered throughout the festival.
    Have your scissors sharpened on Friday 9 a.m.–12 noon or Saturday 12 noon–4 p.m. by Bell’s Blazen Blades (fee)
    Sept 12 11:00 - 11:30 am Lecture - Care of Quilts
    For more information, call (810) 653-4280.

  7. Whaley House Museum, 624 E. Kearsley St., Flint ($5 admission fee)
    “A Mix of Old and New: Quilts from Bedcovers to Wall Art”
    A collection of traditional quilts from the Whaley House Museum and pieces from Michigan fiber artist Barbara Holmer. On Saturday, Holmer demonstrates the quilting process.
    For more information, call (810) 235-6841.
* ArtWalk happens on the 2nd Fridays monthly at The Greater Flint Arts Council, Buckham Gallery, St John's Church, Pages Bookstore, The Yoga Loft and The Rowe Building in downtown Flint. ArtWalk runs 6-9 p.m. and features work from national and international artist in many mediums. Light refreshments are served at every stop. Admission is free, though donations are welcome and appreciated.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Home is where Love is

I've been out and about, supporting the local economy again. I met my buddy Kim Saturday morning for breakfast before heading to the every other Saturday make-'n-take at Karen's Creative Stamping where we made this and another cutie card, and I made a pair of 6x6" scrapbook pages. It's the last of this themed scrapbook and we'll be taking a break while Karen develops the next scrapbook.

Anyway, I was impulse shopping and picked up both sentiment stamps that Karen's DH made for this weekend. They create a Stamp of the Month which is offered at a substantial savings over their regularly priced stamps (which are pretty reasonably priced already), but I couldn't sway Karen to offer one or both of these for the month's stamp - you see, she hadn't decided on a stamp yet for this month's offering, tho' we teased her about it being SEPTEMBER, already! (Hi Karen! wink!)

... and on strange coincidences? The card pictured above used some funky paper that one of the gals who works at Karen's demonstrated how to distress using Ranger distress inks. She misted and crumbled the yellow paper, then methinks used a couple colors of distress ink to rub over the wrinkled result after first flattening it back out. Any WHAT's the coincidence, you ask? I just happened to be carrying a similar project - a tag this time - that I had from a similar make-'n-take from Capture-a-Memory, another shop across town that I also frequent (you see, I'm blessed in that we have two papercraft stores located nearby!). Anywho, I had put it in the front mesh pocket of my tape carryall bag, and my buddy Kim asked me about it while we were walking to Karen's from our cars.

sigh ... things I love

I'm sometimes an impulse purchaser ... ok, I admit it ... and I'm blessed to be married to someone who only occasionally teases or sighs about it. This weekend, while I SHOULD have been showering and getting ready to go meet my buddy for b'fast, I was surfing the Web and checking out blogs and came across THIS sweetie (thanx, Cath - I LOVE these "collections" inspiration posts). And the rest, as they say, is history! I'm so glad there was still one available - and tho' I don't wear jewelry very often, I've always loved lockets and realized I'd never purchased one for myself. This baby's shipped already ... it's mine in just a few short days. See Sue. See Sue smile.

And my DH's response? "I hope it doesn't arrive in kit form." You see, my last piece of jewelry ordered online was a big bead watch kit ... you pick a color combo, large vs. smaller chunky beads, and a watch, and receive directions and kit. And so, yeah, I ordered it ... in early March. The issue? You got it - it's still sitting on the end table next to my favorite chair, waiting to be assembled.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

if it's the 1st of september ...

... that means the new holiday mini catty's out! lots of yummy new goodies! click on the picture to see the catty!