A must read!

Altho my reading room is the "throne room", I just finished reading a very impressive book. If you get your hands one it - I know Wal-Mart sells it - the name of it is "The Shack" by Wm. Paul Young. It is the story of a man hurting deeply inside over the abduction and death of his young daughter and how he meets God. I don't want to give away any more of the story, but it is a terrific book. It's hard to put down, once you get started.

Some breathing room - maybe!!

For once, I actually don't have a real deadline looming like yesterday and can breathe just a bit. I am down to the last five of the 200 wedding invitations I have been doing and would be done with them except I ran out of paper. Had planned exactly enough, then the bride and groom came over last week to help and he accidentally cut through two of them and cut another one a little short, so............ Paper should be here the end of the week. Actually, I just checked and it will be here tomorrow!! Yea! Then that will be out of my hair.

This is the final version of the wedding invitation. I had envisioned a picture of the bride and groom together in the center of the heart, but they never could come up with one for me. The swag across the top is from Inkadinkado and the wedding bells are from a retired Stampin' Up set called Wedding Elegance. This is the third invitation this particular set of bells have been used on. I used them for our invitations, a gal I worked with at the bank used them, and now this one! The word stamp is also a Stampin' Up stamp. The heart was cut with a Spellbinder die. Papers used were Lavender Lace and Shimmer White and stamped with Lavender Lace ink, all from Stampin' Up. The little pearl in the center of the flower is from Hobby Lobby.

Our next-door neighbors just recently had a baby boy, so to celebrate the occasion, I made this card using the Depth of Field technique from the latest Technique Junkies newsletter. The bunny is done with the Penciled Twinks technique.

Stamps: A New Little Someone, retired Stampin' Up set

Warmest Regards (word stamp)

Paper: Brilliant Blue, Ballet Blue, Whisper White

Ink: Brilliant Blue, Ballet Blue, Brocade Blue.

Wish I could go back in my rubber room and play for an unlimited amount of time, but my class reunion was held over the 4th and we are in the process of putting together a booklet of what each member of our class has been doing the past 45 years - providing they sent us the information! Since I'm doing all the typing..........has been rather harried. I do have all the individual histories, as well as the 12-year class history done, so I don't have quite so much to tear my hair out over! We are meeting next week to, hopefully, get them put together and ready to mail!!

A little stamping time.

I've had some time to stamp but haven't gotten anything added to my blog. For one thing, I was sick all of last week, so spent most of it sleeping. One of the unfortunate side-effects was that the workshop I had scheduled for Saturday had to be postponed until late July. I have 200 wedding invitations to get made by July 22, so..........


But, since I will be teaching masking, this is a simple masking card that we will be making, using one of the new Level 3 hostess sets, Asian Artistry. I know we don't really like making sympathy cards, but we all, on occasion, need them and this is a simple, but elegant one.

One of my all-time favorite techniques from the Technique Junkie newsletter is called Faux Batik and is so simple, plus when you lift the iron off the cardstock, you are ready to finish the card. You don't have to wait for anything to dry and the results are usually spectacular. I used the butterfly from the Great Friends set, in large part because it has a pattern on it other than a normal butterfly. The word stamp is from Echoes of Kindness, a hostess gift set that just retired. Pink Passion is the paper color and the ribbon and flower are some I picked up at Wally World.

My sister recently celebrated her birthday and since our parents thoroughly enjoyed watching the hummingbirds at their feeders, I thought this would be a good birthday card for her. It was done with the "Penciled Twinks" technique from an earlier Technique Junkies newsletter and I tried to be as nearly correct as possible on the colors on the hummingbird. Hope you got this okay, Sis!













One of the techniques from the latest newsletter is called "Heavenly Holes" and is a quick and easy way to make a pretty impressive card. The rose is from Fifth Avenue Floral by Stampin' Up and the flourish is a stamp I picked up in a bargain bin, but it was really effective for that. Happy birthday is from Stampin' Up's Flexible Phrases.













This technique is also from the latest Technique Junkies' newsletter and is called Double-Buggy. It involves using two different Cuttlebug or other emobssing folders. I used one Cuttlebug folder for the leaves and the new Stampin' Up rose embossing folder. I used Stampin' Up's new Rich Razzelberry for the roses and I really like the color - think it will be a favorite for sure! The word stamp is also SU.



Wish me luck with the wedding invitations. Thankfully, they aren't real labor intensive like some I've done, just have to get them done!! Add in a 45th class reunion this coming weekend and three other cards that have to be done - not too much to do!!

Y'all have a safe 4th, ya hear?!

Playing Catch-up!

Now that I'm home to stay for a couple of months, I have been playing catch-up. And with having five birthdays and Father's Day between this Thur. (6/11) and the 20th, I have a severe need to get caught up! The new Technique Junkies newsletter is out and I'm having fun with some of the techinques.



These first two cards are done with a technique called Depth of Field. It is a fun, quick and easy technique - one I probably will use quite often! Our daughter-in-law loves dragonflies, so making a card for her is relatively easy - as long as I don't run out of dragonfly themes! It doesn't show up here, but the dragonfly was painted with Shimmerz paints.



Stamps: Winged Things - Stampin' Up (Retired)
Word Stamp - The Stampin' Place
Inks: Lavendar Lace, Elegant Eggplant, Basic Gray
Paper: Lavendar Lace, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White

This card is for a dear friend with whom we have lunch nearly every day. She and her husband are both quite a bit older than DH and I are, but we still enjoy them tremendously. The small diamonds were punched out of paper. All supplies are Stampin' Up.

Stamps: Looks Like Spring, Happy Harmony and Perfect Pairs

Inks: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Going Gray

Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Pale Plum, Whisper White

Another cool technique is the Clear Coat Collage. I don't know whether I will use it as a swap for June's Just One swap or as a birthday card for my BIL! The directions say to use colored pencils, but since I didn't read the instructions real closely, I used a combination of Stampin' Up markers and colored pencils.

Stamps: Angler - Stampin' Up (retired), Words of Fishing Wisdom by Inky Antics

Markers: Old Olive, Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Garden Green, Real Red, Sahara Sand, Going Gray, Basic Black

Ink: Noir Black by Palette

Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive

Home for a while!

After our trip to Santa Fe, I turned around and went to Lafayette for a workshop at the home of my good friend, Jen Lowe. We were playing with Opals embossing enamels, so it was great fun and she is such a wonderful hostess. She talked me into teaching a class at the retreat this coming October, so...... I will be getting certified in Opals in August when Linda Hanson of After Midnight Art Stamps comes back to Colorado. Can hardly wait!

In the meantime, have done a little bit of creating in the card department. Of course, Father's Day is coming up and and since I wanted to try some of the techniques in the last Technique Junkie's Newletter, decided I'd get ahead of things so I don't have to do a Father's Day card at the last minute for DH! The car is colored turquoise with colored pencils because my grandfather used to have an old turquoise Chevy. It was in our family until about 10 years ago, but I do know where it is and would love to get it and restore it. Had lots of good times in it! All supplies are Stampin' Up

Stamps: Thoughts of Father

Inks: Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa

Paper: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip

An e-mail friend from Stampin' Up, Ruthann Suttles, sent us a very sweet anniversary card, even though she's been running ragged with her DH in the hospital, so the least I could do was to RAK her back. I tried the color pop technique from TJ for a thank-you card. Again, all supplies are from Stampin' Up.

Stamps: Soft Summer

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Old Olive and Yo-Yo Yellow

Paper: Almost Amethyst, Whisper White

Last, but not least was the monthly DTP swap for Technique Junkies. I was a little delayed, thanks to being gone, plus having several medical procedures done the last couple of weeks, but I finally got my card off to Linda Aschenbach, who had sent me such a lovely card. Even though I wanted to do something out of the last TJ newsletter, I ended up falling back on one of my favorite techniques - faux batik. It is such a fun technique and so easy, plus when you're done, you're ready to use the background right away since you don't have to let it dry or anything! And I so dearly love butterflies, so........... The shimmer and shine doesn't show up

Stamps: Winged Things (big butterfly) and Great Friend (small butterflies), Sweet and Sassy (word stamp)

Paper: Watercolor, Elegant Eggplant and Pacific Blue

Sprays: Pearl Glimmer Mist, Tsukineko Lilac Walnut Ink and Blue Lagoon Memories Mists

One More Day

Well, we have just one more day left in Santa Fe before we head back to Colorado tomorrow. Thursday, we were going to go to the hot springs at Jemez Springs, but by the time we got there, plus a few other factors - such as cost plus the water is 154-180° and it was fairly warm outside, we decided to pass. Considering we would have drive another 1½ hours to get back to the condo, we would have been totally wiped from the heat of the water. We are going to have to rent the movie, but Jemez Springs was featured in The Wild Hogs with Tim Allen and John Travolta. We saw it in the theater, but would like to see it again now since we've been in Jemez Springs.

Went to the flea market yesterday and really shouldn't have - LOL. Found a gorgeous butterfly pendant with a turquoise center, as well as a couple of vests. Need to get mine done at home, too! At least with Good News Club over, I'll have a little more time, altho Bible Study will take some time, but well worth it. Have been studying it while we're here - called Heart Like His and is the study of David.

Have been invited to Basement Babes at Jen's next week - DH says okay and would love to go since they will be working with Opals but have mixed emotions, especially after just getting home. Have so much I need to do at home, but since I'll be doing a workshop on it the end of the month........ Vivian also contacted me about leading TOPS next week since she needs to be gone, too, but she won't be leaving town. I'm afraid she's going to have to because I really need to learn more about the Opals.

It's been interesting here in Santa Fe, but it is quite expensive. We had talked about going back out to the flea market today, but it was so hard on Roy and we really don't need to spend any more money, other than maybe for dinner tonight. Maybe we'll go back up to Buffalo Thunder Casino tonight - had good luck the other night!

A Few Quiet Minutes

After running for 2-3 weeks steady, DH and I are taking a break and spending a week in Santa Fe, NM. We left home Sun. a.m. - finally - DH was in a great deal of pain and had a very hard time getting things to work. He was so worn out, he slept most of yesterday a.m., so it was afternoon before we got out of the condo. Decided to go to the Loretto Chapel after we ate lunch and there was supposed to be a stop by the "Gumball Rally" - a coast-to-coast run by several varieties of cars. They were supposed to have been in town by 5:00 p.m., but apparently had several hang-ups. Someone said that one of the participants had been picked up for doing 180 mph., then they took a wrong turn somewhere! We finally gave up a little after 7:30 and came back to the condo.

Don't know specifically what we will do today, but think we will "walk" rather than take the car - by that I mean I will walk and DH will use his 3-wheeled cart to get around. The streets are very narrow, plus all the traffic, both local and tourist. Santa Fe is, of course, a big tourist attraction.

And DH was, as usual, very generous, buying me a beautiful honker of an opal ring - opal being my birthstone - as well as a beautiful opal bracelet. I will get pictures of them later to post.

I did get some stamping done - for one thing, I had a workshop a week ago Sat. and we made very pretty aperature cards similar to the ones we made at Jen Lowe's workshop in Denver the week before. I have used my card for my daughter and SIL's 1st anniversary. We also did the star book in Denver, so will be doing a workshop on that later because they are fun! Unfortunately, I was unable to scan it in, so had to take pictures and they didn't turn out very well. My apologies - I hope you can tell basically what they are.

Our trip to Denver was a ball, regardless of the fender-bender and all the snow. My friend, Michelyn Kirkman, who went with me, is new to stamping and she thoroughly enjoyed it! I don't know when I have laughed as hard as I did while we were there - seeing Jen, Kathy Watson, Kathleen Matelasky, Linda Hansen of After Midnight Stamps, and those we met, just really capped a great weekend. Thanks, ladies!

Another project we did while we were there was faux carnival glass pendants and using Opals to make gorgeous pendants. Michelyn did hers with the Opals and I tried making the faux carnival. Michelyn's is gorgeous in shades of blue. Mine is okay, but I'm not real happy with it. Hopefully, I will be able to take a certification class in Opals with Linda in August. I have been having fun since we got back making some more pendants and will see what I can do about selling some jewelry!

Well, we're off to see more of the city as soon as I get my shower.