New Plaything!

My good friend, Shelly Newkirk, played a great enabler last weekend and we both ended up purchasing a Sihouette electronic die-cut machine. Of course, I wait until the last minute of a deadline to do anything and so is the case with playing with this machine. For one thing, I was dismayed to try to download the software from the CD, only to have my anti-virus program tell me it was infected. After contacting QuicKutz, however, I was assured that although this message pops up, the software is not infected, so if any of you out there have recently purchased the machine and gotten this message - it just isn't the case. Download without worrying! I did also get the website to download, so either way, there's no problem.

A year ago, my DH had to have what is known as a collectomy, which is complete removal of the colon and connecting the small intestine directly to the rectum. He was operated on by the same doctor two years ago to remove a needle that had apparently been left in him some 20 years ago and had finally moved, thanks to an MRI, so that its presence was made known. Dr. Van, as he's called by his patients and the staff at the VA in Grand Junction, CO, has been very compassionate and wonderful through both surgeries and since then, so when Roy knew he was going to be seeing him again for a 1-year check-up, he crafted a scalpel out of oak. He wanted to put "#1 SURGEON" on it, so..........after playing long enough to half-way know what I was doing on the Silhouette, I cut the letters out of black cs, ran them through a Xyron sticker machine and violá - a "statuette" for the good doctor.

We aren't quite sure just what Dr. Van thought, but he did seem pleased and even joked about wearing it on his scrubs - altho with a 3"x3" wooden base, it would have been a little difficult! I am sure it is a one of a kind, tho, and probably sitting on Dr. Van's desk right now!

Here's another card I've done the last few days, using the Stampin' Up markers with a spritz of water. The stamps are from Stampin' Up's Inspired by Nature which is one of my favorites. It is done with Garden Green, Pixie Pink and Pink Passion inks on Whisper White paper, then layered on Pink Passion and Pixie Pink paper. The ribbon is probably from Wal-Mart.

More cards!

Got a couple more cards put together yesterday from techniques in the latest TJ newsletter. Without further ado:

Technique: Golden Coat (really shimmery, altho you can't tell it from the picture.

Inks: Stampin' Up Gable Green, Sage Shadow

Flourish Stamps: Inque Boutique

Word Stamp: Stampin' Up

Swirls: QuicKutz

Wreath: Cuttlebug

Paper: Stampin' Up Whisper White, Hunter Green

Technique: Mono Masking

Stamps: Stampin' Up Happy Heart Day, Pocket Silhouettes

Frame: leftover from cutting Big Top die

Ink: Real Red

Paper: Whisper White and Real Red

My muse is finally back!

Now that my creative muse has finally decided to reappear, I've been playing this last week with several of the techniques in the new Technique Junkies newsletter. Still have a few more to go, but must say these are some of the best yet. I don't have cards made from all of the backgrounds I have made, but will post the ones I have made so far.

Like my good friend, Shelly Newkirk, from the Nebraska panhandle, I like western, plus southwestern stamps. I was especially please with this card, which features both the pots and the collage stamps from I Brake For Stamps, one of my favorite vendors (besides Stampin' Up, of course - LOL!). This is the Block Collage technique from this last newsletter. I used both SU's chocolate chip and Stazon timber brown ink and Whisper White, Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip paper from SU.

This is my husband's valentine - I realize it's a little unconventional, but then, so is he - as any of you who know him know! It was done in the brayer tapping technique and the windmill is from B & J Stamps, words from Stampin' Up. I used the Autumn Leaves Spectrum pad and Stazon Timber Brown on Creamy Caramel Paper, layered on Chocolate Chip and Purely Pomegranate. Brads are from SU, also.

Like I said, I like southwestern stamps and this is another one from I Brake For Stamps and uses the Pierced Spotlight. The pot is painted using Spiced Cider and Coal Shimmerz, which are really neat. I just hope they don't go the way of LuminArte! Anyhow, the shine is hard to tell here, but IRL, it's a much different story. It is layered on SU's copper, now retired, and then on black. The "arrows" are SU's photo corner punch with copper brads.

A major project for our backyard the last 2½ years has been a pond which is 14' wide, 17' long and 4' deep. It began it's life after we had a huge globe willow stump taken out. When I say huge, I'm not kidding - it was 40" in diameter and DH and the guy who took it out figured it must have weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 1½ tons. The guy who removed it used a regular backhoe to dig it out and when he tried to pull it out of the ground, after digging around it, the back tires of the backhoe came off the ground because it was so heavy! Anyhow, after much mauling, etc., he finally got it out of the ground and started shaping the pond.

The next summer, then, DH and I made several trips to the high country for rocks to build a waterfall which ended up to be 9½ feet! Trying to get the "lip" rock, which weighed about 90#, up that high was quite an operation and took four of us to get it there and in place. Since then, the pond and waterfall have been DH's pride and joy, and rightfully so - he has spent many hours working on it, working on filtration, etc., etc. Last winter, we didn't keep the filter running and ended up losing all of our fish, so this year, he has kept the filter running and it has made for some very pretty pictures!

This was taken this winter and please note the chunk of ice on the lower right-hand side. That is where the filtered water comes out as a small waterfall.

The next photo is a close-up of how it froze over this winter. It was amazing how crystal clear the ice was. Hope you've enjoyed these pictures!