PAINT JAM

This guy is fun to watch! Enjoy!

HIM WAS MAD ABOUT HEMPZ!

Chadrick was looking for a receipt and other stuff that came with a part he ordered for his paintball gun, and I had put it in my purse but couldn't remember
what I did with it when I took it out of my purse. That's a normal occurrence, right? I looked in a few places and then told him to go look on my dresser since I may have "unloaded" there. He came back in a few minutes, with a stern look on his face, showed me a bag he'd found and said, "Just what is this? I'm very disappointed in you!" He was partly joking, but still unsure of what was in the bag. I started laughing and told him that it was a gift from the girl where I tan. Earlier this month, they had gone to a show for the indoor tanning industry and, obviously, a lot of vendors were there, giving out free samples, so the shop owner was sharing with her customers. I told Chadrick that he had not uncovered a secret stash and that the two-pocket zippered pouch contained several samples of tanning lotion. He checked it out and was relieved, somewhat. Now, he and I need to talk about that ring tone on his cell phone. It rang last night, and this is what I heard, "Roll, roll, roll your joint, take out the seeds and stems . . ." Once again, they put unpleasant lyrics to the nicest music! And he was concerned about my little green leaf????

HA! AN ACETATE BOX THAT I WILL MAKE AGAIN . . . AND AGAIN

After a little more digging, I found instructions that could be modified for this acetate box, and it is MUCH easier than the one I made yesterday! I'm trying to finalize projects and set a date for a holiday stamp camp, so look for this box to be one of the projects! ;-)

Stampin' Up! products used to create this box: Bashful Blue card stock, Blizzard wrapping paper, Chocolate Chip Satin ribbon, The Snowflake Spot stamp set, Chocolate Chip Classic ink, and White StazOn ink.

The snowflakes are hard to see in the picture, but they're really there!

CAN YOU SAY "EYE CANDY?"

Isn't this a cute box? I'm going to enjoy it because it's the only one I'll ever make! I didn't have any nicely wrapped candy to put in it, but that's just as well.

In case you'd like to make one, the acetate is made like a 2-4-6-8 box (only larger), and then the top and bottom pieces are attached to it. The instructions I had totally STINK because they leave a LOT to your own devices, and the measurements for the top and bottom Chocolate Chip pieces are scored exactly to fit the acetate box; however, don't we all know that won't work???? I know, I know . . . so why did I do that? I think I would have been better off to not even score the Chocolate Chip card stock and just wrap it around to fit. Images from Stampin' Up!'s "Priceless" stamp set were used to decorate this little dilly. White StazOn ink was used on the acetate (it worked GREAT and dried VERY quickly), and White Craft ink was used to stamp the Chocolate Chip card stock.

If nothing else, it does make a nice picture, and it really is something sweet for the eye to behold. ;-)

Have a stampin' good day!

BOY, DID I FEEL STUPID!

I'm sure you've felt stupid before, but how long has it been? For me, it actually happens quite often, but I had one of those moments today. Well, it actually started about two weeks ago when I put on a new shirt that had been freshly laundered. This was a brand new shirt that I was sure would become a favorite. It's a gauzy fabric that has a fair amount of "give" to it--the kind that feels like you're not wearing anything. And . . . best of all . . . I got it for like $12 at Dress Barn. When I put the shirt on, I was so angry because it had drawn up! And I didn't even put it in the dryer!!!! WTH? I didn't throw it away, though, I just threw it in the closet. For the past week or so, I have continued to look at that shirt each time I went in the closet for something to wear, getting mad all over again because I wanted to wear THAT shirt! Today, I tried on several shirts and didn't like any of them, which was making me kind of mad. So, I picked up the new shirt with the intention of putting it on . . . just to see if it looked as bad today as I remembered. Or maybe I just wanted to top off my frustration with something REALLY frustrating. Shrunk clothes never unshrink, so it was still shrunk and shriveled-looking. Argh!!!! In my heightened frustration, I just started pulling on this shirt to make matters worse but then I noticed . . . it was actually unshrinking!!!!! OMG!!!! Why didn't I think of this before . . . gauzy fabric does that . . . it wrinkles, shrinks, and then the shrinkage just disappears when you put it on. I am so loving this shirt today!!! I could be mad that I've wasted time kicking it around in the closet when I could have been wearing it, but I'm just thankful that some old knowledge finally came to the forefront of my brain.

The moral of the story: It is often during times of great distress that we discover that which has once before been discovered. [slap forehead with palm of hand]

WAKE UP CALL - NEW MUSIC

I started getting a little tired of hearing some of the songs on my Playlist, so I made a few changes recently. One of my current favorite songs is "Wake Up Call," but it has a dark side. A guy murders his girlfriend's lover . . . and disposes of the body! I saw the video and wasn't too impressed--I'd never promote murder--but I still like something about this song! If it should happen to pop up while you're visiting my blog, just enjoy the music and "tune out" the lyrics. ;-) Now, "Bubbly," on the other hand, is a happy little tune. Another new song on the Playlist is "Everything." I don't even know what this one is about . . . I can't seem to concentrate on the lyrics for listening to the music (ADD kicking in, I guess). Since Chadrick and I spend a lot of time in this room together (his computer is at the other end of the countertop), I hear a LOT of the music he listens to and, while I hardly ever listen to the words, I manage to pick up on a few choice words, if you know what I mean. For instance, there's an interesting song by Afro Man that I really like, but the lyrics REALLY turn vulgur. Why do they have to ruin songs with words that prevent the song from getting air time????? I hope you enjoy the music!

SNOWFLAKE BOX

It's that time of year . . . time to start thinking about the holidays. I don't really mean to skip over Thanksgiving but--truth be told--it's time to prepare for Christmas, particularly if you're planning to make gift items, decorations, etc.

I found the pattern for this little box and thought it might be a good holiday item. It is a good one--and would be a fun one to receive. The problem, for me, is that I don't really like working with patterns . . . I would much prefer to have measurements so that I can work solely with my paper trimmer and avoid having to copy a pattern onto card stock. Your printer might like card stock, but mine would just as soon chew most of it up and spit it out . . . if it didn't get choked on it. ;-) I have to admit, though, that I looked at the pattern, took some measurements, and used my paper trimmer to create this little gem. Between now and December, this might be a workshop or camp/class project!


The first picture (of the top of the box) doesn't really depict just how glittery the punched snowflake is. I used Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder on the punched snowflake, but I used Hologram Highlights Embossing Powder on the snowflakes that are randomly stamped on the outside of the box. Other snowflakes are stamped with Brocade Blue Classic ink on the box, too. In the second picture, you can see that there's a piece of acetate covering the window, which gives the recipient a peek at what's inside.

FYI: RIBBON ORIGINALS - COLOR MATCHES

Have you ever wondered which SU colors coordinate with the Ribbon Originals (p. 191)? Well, wonder no more!

BEACHFRONT: Basic Gray, River Rock, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Whisper White

DISTRICT: Basic Gray, Blue Bayou, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Sage Shadow, Whisper White

FAIRY TALE: Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Rose Red, So Saffron

JERSEY: Basic Black, Brocade Blue, More Mustard, Real Red, Wild Wasabi

SHERBET: Groovy Guava, Mellow Moss, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Very Vanilla

THEATER: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, River Rock, Very Vanilla

ARLENE'S APPLE CIDER'D, HARDWARE'D, Z-FOLDED B-DAY CARD!

Arlene had a birthday this week. Yesterday, as a matter of fact. Her sweet husband ordered a HodgePodge Hardware Kit for her, and I thought she'd appreciate getting a birthday card with some hardware on it. And she did!

Apple Cider designer paper was used to decorate this card, and I used SU's Cutter Kit to distress the edges of the front panel. Card stock colors were Really Rust, River Rock, and Wild Wasabi. Stamp sets used were "A Tree for all Seasons" and "It's Your Birthday."

Shhhh . . . don't tell Arlene that by the time I was finished with this card, I REALLY wanted to keep it! Had to push myself all the way to the mailbox!

SO VERY . . . SORRY

One of my favorite SU Sell-A-Bration stamp sets of all time is from last year . . . "So Very." I "so very" wish that it didn't have to retire at the end of the SAB sales period. I had an opportunity (a need, really) to use it this morning. I found out that a person whom I've done business with a few times lost her home, her business, and three pet poodles to a fire this past Saturday. Fortunately, her family was able to get out of the house. I cannot imagine the magnitude of such loss--it's unfathomable! When I sat down to make a card for this family, the one and only stamp set that would work to convey my message was "So Very." The inside of the card just reads "sorry." What more can one say?