RIP Shirk children...

I created the cutest little box with dew drops and Never At A Loss For Words (by Kitchen Sink Stamps). I left the house for a meeting and got back late. I noticed that the box was not where I had left it. I asked Jason about the box and he said it was on the floor (ugh) but he picked it up and put it on the table. It was late and I was tired so I decided to sleep on it and check the desk in the morning.

I came down the next morning and the box is nowhere to be found. I look on the desk. I look in the desk. I look behind the desk. No box. Then I notice a spill that the children have not cleaned up. With fear in my heart, I look around to clean up the spill and find my beautiful box soaked in soy milk. The beautiful stamping was all bled together. All my dew drops were barely holding on the the paper. Grrrrr...

Of course Not Me has struck again. When I find him someday, I am going to ring his little neck.



Here's my new box. This great box/bag is a One Sheet Box. With a few folds and cuts, you can make this super cute box. I stamped on a 8 1/2" x 11" piece of with Close To My Heart's new watermark stamp pad. It creates a lovely bleaching effect on certain card stock. I stamped X and O from Playful Alphabet buddy and let it sit overnight to bleach. In the morning, I followed the easy directions (found on SCS). The little tag on the front was punched with my Giga Scallop punch. I put Poinsettia dew drops on each scallop and attached a photo hanger. A little stampin' and a little ribbon finished it off. I really love the colors. Hope you like it too. :)

Have I told you lately?

I missed you all SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much! I was in Washington last week and got back from Iowa very, VERY early this morning. I am so tired and ready to stay home for a while. :)

I can't wait to stamp today. I need some major therapy and relaxation that ONLY stamping can bring. Have you ever felt that way? I will post my creations later today.

Great Aunt Adeline

My great aunt Adeline passed away this morning. I will really miss her. I hopes she knows that I love her and have thought of her often. Please include her family in your prayers tonight.

My first card for my 52 week ATC challenge

Here is my first ATC card that I created for my weekly challenge-


This card measures 2 1/2" x 3 1/2 inches. I covered the first card in my deck with Indian Corn Blue card stock and sanded around the edges. I used these great daisies from Happy Birthday Cupcake (made by Kitchen Sink stamps) and stamped them onto acetate using white Stazon. I punched them out with my 1/2" punch until the acetate got jammed in the punch. *Note to self- punches don't like acetate
I attached the daisies to some Topiary textured card stock with some pink brads. I tried yellow at first but pink just seemed a lot more fun to me. I used my ticket punch on the corners and taped it to some Chocolate card stock. I stamped the sentiment (from Never At A Loss For Words from Kitchen Sink stamps) with Cocoa chalk ink.

I like how this turned out. I am excited to see how my art will evolve and change throughout the year. I'm looking forward to actually doing a journal in 2008- a difficult goal for me any time.

Why is there a lizard in the picture?
*I posted a picture of Sydney (my bearded dragon) holding the card because I want you to notice my art, not comment on what I look like, any grammatical errors you might find or how you feel about my header, etc... I started my blog so that I would feel more accountable to posting pictures here. I wanted to motivate myself to create more projects. Here's how this whole topic got started-

There has been a lot of talk "In the Kitchen" about the boldness of people who post on blogs. I often get people asking what I look like. I can understand being curious but there are two main reasons I don't post pictures of myself on the internet-
1- I don't post pictures of myself on here because I don't have that many. Nine times out of ten, I am the photographer so I am not in the picture. I am not hideous. Nor do I have any unsightly or unusual growths on my body. I'm just me.
2- In my job, anonymity is the most important thing I need to preserve. I don't post pictures of myself because (even though it is highly unlikely) I don't want to lose my job if some one recognizes me while I am working. I would love to get to the point some day where I can make a living on my love of stamping. Until that happens, I have to work at a job just like everyone else.

Sometimes people ask me questions that are personal. I am always surprised at how people perceive me based on just my art. I don't mind that you ask me questions. I only ask that you treat me (and everyone else for that matter) with the same amount of respect that you would wanted to be treated with.

32

Today is my birthday! :) It has been a great day so far. Tonight Jason is making my favorite dinner and got some spumoni for dessert. YUM! I am so looking forward to relaxing and just doing what I want to do. :)

One ATC a week...

Sparkle (a fellow CTMH sister) took a deck of cards and recovered one a week for a year. I thought that this was an interesting idea so I bought a deck at the store yesterday. I want to recover both sides but leave the backside for journaling. I am kind of excited about it and curious to see what I will have by December 2008. :)

I am really in a Valentines Day mood today so check back tomorrow morning to see some fun cards and paper crafts I have been working on and will load later tonight. :)

New Year's Sales

Hurry on over to http://www.newcleardollarstamps.com/servlet/StoreFront
Lori has put a ton of stamps into the clearance section that are being retired. Some of the sets are only $1 and they are so cute. :)

Tomorrow, the new Close To My Heart catalog will be available to order from! Woo hoo! You are going to love it. This catalog has a wonderful feel to it. I feel like there are new sets, paper and accessories that will meet anyone's needs. Email me if you would like me to send you a free copy. :)