Meet STINKER!

Meet Stinker! I don't even know where to begin. Last Thursday, we had a skunk in our garage. He barracked himself underneath our car with various car wash products, mainly sponges because that is what he can grab with his mouth. On Wednesday, we notice that things were moved in our garage. We thought it might be the wind or something, but we didn't think much about it. On Thursday., I went out to do errands with my car and when I came back, I saw car wash products underneath our other car. Good thing I didn't take the other car out to do errands otherwise I may be in trouble. I called DH and told him that something stanger is going in our garage. Luckily, DH's cousin was around, so I told him that I was going to pull out the other car, so he can pick up the things under the car. I told him to check underneath the car before I pull out the car, just in case there was a cat or something underneath it. Long and behold, out of all things, the skunk was underneath the car. Good thing the skunk was not scare or felt in danger to spray our garage. I was so nervous that he might spray our garage. We tried to lure him out with the dry cat food, but he won't come out. Finally, he came out by himself after nightfall to eat. He was scared to come out during the daylight. Nothing happened to our garage, but he did left poo and pee. We think he has been in our garage since Tuesday night. I think the skunk came in when DH's cousin came home on Tuesday, late night and the skunk fall him in. Poor thing didn't eat for a whole day.

Anyways, I decided to name him Stinker after this experience as he is now considered my outside pet, which we can look, but can't touch. We first spotted Stinker the night of Titan's vet emergency which is a month ago. I went outside to put more dry cat food for the feral cats when I saw Stinker lodging around the pond area, sleep. I quickly got back into the house without putting the cat food down. Stinker has been eating the cat dry food every night since, but lately he hasn't been sleeping around the pond area. The feral cats would sometimes stay and wait until Stinker is done with his turn before coming to eat. Stinker comes around at least 2 or 3 times a night. He is so cute, if he isn't so dangerous. Stinker hasn't spray our front porch and I am wondering if he knows its because he knows we feed him as well as the other feral cats and he felt no danger as we always looks at him when he eats and he isn't scare and continues to eat and drink until he is already to leave. Stinker doesn't look that old. We currently have at least 4 regular feral cats eatting on our front porch.

I am finally playing with my stamps again. I have nothing to show, but I have started on my Christmas cards. DH keeps wanting me to do CATS (dancing cats) for Christmas cards. I told him that I will for a few of them, but not for every cards.

Sorry, been MIA

I have been too lazy and feeling down to blog for awhile. I'm still alive. I haven't been making any cards or creating anything though I have been buying things. I wish I am a shopaholic, but I am not. I hate to see money go, but I like to spend if I can. Hopefully, I will start to creat some Halloween cards/gifts. Last Saturday 10/4, was World Card Making Day and I didn't make any card. I really need to push myself to create. While on a happier note, I have been reading all the "Confessions of a Shopaholic" books by Sophie Kinsella. There's a couple more of them I need to find and rent from the library. This books are lighthearted and entertaining novels.

Here's an update - my cat, Rusty (now know as Titan) got an allergic reaction 3 weeks ago. We had to sent him to emergency vet hospital as he was vomitting blood as well as bloody diarrhea. Doctor doesn't know what was wrong with him as cats can't speak for themselves, but they think it was an allergic reaction... maybe something he ate which he shouldn't have, like plant or bug/insects. Anyways, it started the night before as I heard vomitting in my bedroom when we were sleeping. All the vomit was underneath the bed which I didn't see at first. There was vomit on the kitchen floor and family room. I didn't think anything about it as my cats vomit all the time because of hairball and etc. Anyways, I haven't seen Titan the whole day and didn't realize it until at night when I ask DH, "Where is Rusty (Titan) as I haven't seen him all day". They found him downstairs, in the basement and got him to come up to the family room. He laid near the fireplace for a little while I took some pictures, then he left to the foyer area. He started to vomit and I saw blood in his vomit, thus I called DH and said something is wrong with him. We were going to confirm him for the night to see if he is going to get better, but he went and had diarrhea in the basement bathroom instead of the litter box. This was a sign that he was tell us that something is wrong, thus we took him to emergency vet around midnight. We stayed until they ran all the blood test on him. They said he was dehydrated which we know and that his blood level count was too high. We left Titan for overnight monitor and to hydrate him. We got home to find a skunk in front of our porch... sleep next to the pond. I was putting dry cat food in front of our porch when I saw the skunk and ran back into the house without giving food to the feral cats.
Titan looked better the next day when we went to pick him up as he no longer had any vomit or diarrhea. No too heavy favor food which meant no cat food or cat treats. We confirmed him for 2 days and then let him out to be with the rest of the cats, but the other cats had to make a sacrifice they cat food and treats for Titan. Lay was obviously annoyed that we didn't give him can food. Well, Titan is alright now.... but Kutsu hasn't been feeling well the last few days. I need to get pet insurance on Kutsu and Titan, they are the weaker two. Anyway, we change Rusty's name to Titan becasue Rusty mean to rusty and broken down which isn't good, thus we change it to Titan, short for Titanium.

We are still doing our weekly Saturday "Hope for Cats" donation and play with the cats. There are so many kitten and cats that needed to be adopted. DH and I was planning to adopt another cat, but with what is going to our cats and in our lives we don't know if we should take on another one.

Yesterday, DH came home and said the grey cat has been ran over. There is a grey cat that comes to eat on our front porch. He is one of the first ones eating in our porch and he has been netured. He had an eye injury/scabies awhile back, he was fine. We went to see if he was still alive. He was in the middle of the road at the main road outside our community. The cat was dead by the time we got to him. The pool of blood was all dry up around his head. We were sad to see him died. DH took it and buried him in our backyard next to the tree and set him off to heaven. He was taken away by the death god. He is in heaven now. His body is rotten away as bugs/insects are feeding on it. It sounds gross, but this is what happens to all bodies when it is not cremated. Both DH and I shred some tears for this cat even though it was a feral, but we did know it. He had such a short life. He will be remembered each time I look through the foyer blinds/window to watch the cats and skunk eat in the porch area. This is also the reason we don't let our cats outside as we don't know what can happen to them. "A house is not a home without a cat."
Sometimes, we loose touch of what is important to us. I know I haven't been appreciating with what I do have with everything that is going on, but the death of a cat put things back to perspective for me and things that are important to me.

Sick Kitty & Holly Berry stamp

As I was saying from my last post. I purchased these Holly Berry stamps from Stamp Works, my local stamping store. I got this because those talented design team did a wonderful and beautiful job with these stamps. I tried it myself and the outcome isn't the same as the samples I saw. I thought I will share it anyways as I haven't have time the last couple of days. This week is payroll and month end, so I am a little busy these few days. Hopefully, I will have some time later this week to play with some of the challenges out there.
Recipe: Holly Berry stamps, gamsol technique (prismacolor pencils and blend with baby oil), stickles, embossed the basketweave frame, black cs.
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I have a sick kitty this week. Kutsu has diarrhea since last Wednesday. We got some antibiotics (pill forms) for him. This is bad news for us as we aren't good at feeding our cats medications nevertheless in pills (first time feeding my cats solids as it is usually liquid forms). We had such a difficult time feeding him the first day, DH clamped him down while I shoved the pill into his mouth. After 3 tries I thought I had it as we didn't see the pill anywhere. We thought Kutsu swallowed it. The next morning, I had to give Kutsu the antibiotic myself. I had to climb on top of him to restrain him, so I could put the pill into his mouth. Kutsu kept spitting it out and ran away. I ran after him (upstairs & downstairs) to give him his pill. After 5 or 6 times, I finally got him to swallow his pill before I let him go. During this chase, I notice yesterday's antibiotic (pill) was underneath the coffe table. He didn't take it, he spitted it out. Today, Kutsu was actually pretty good, he swallowed the pill the second time. I realized I have to really put the pill into the inside of this mouth and close this mouth, so he had to swallow or let the pill melt inside his mouth. I think Kutsu finally realize he will have to cooperate. I have 4 more days to go. I hate giving my cats their medication, they are just like little children... struggles with you.

Hope everybody is having a nice week, can't believe this week is coming to an end and summer is over as most children are going back to school after Labor Day or are already in school.

TECC30 - Seize the Cupcake

I came back last week from California. I enjoyed my time with my family. I didn't haven't time to play, so I didn't blog for 2 weeks now. This week I was able to play with my stamps. This week's Hero Arts blog challenge is "birthday", so I went out and purchase some Hero Arts stamps including this cupcake set. I started to do Hero Arts birthday challenge when I saw Taylor's weekly sketch challenge. I decided to combine the two challenges together. This is a birthday card done with Taylor's card sketch. I enjoy reading Taylor's blog (Taylored Expressions). This week's sketch is TECC30.

I finally play with my House Mouse stamp. I replaced the flower with the Hero Arts cupcake stamp. I added buttons and stickles on the cupcake. I love how this card turned out.

This is the second Hero Arts "birthday" project I made. The Acetate Treat Box is Monday's SCS new technique challenge, TLC182. I was having some problems with the box measurements. It didn't turn out as good as I would have liked, but this is a nice try. I will definitely do this box again. It was so easy to make, but time consuming to put everything together. The camera shot of this box isn't great. I can't seem to capture all the details like the pearls on the roses and the little blings on the cupcake. This cupcake stamp is from Hero Arts. The dp is SEI and the scalloped edge is from Martha Stewart edge punch.

I made couple more cards which I will show later this week. I purchased those stamps for a while now, but haven't used it. I don't think I like these stamps that much now. I was inspired by the sample cards made by these stamps, but mines didn't turn out as beautiful as the samples. I guess this is what marketing and advertising does...makes people like me buy the product.

Purse Card for Audrey's Birthday

I found this designer pattern paper (dp) months ago. This is from Basic Grey called "Sultry". It is so pretty and vibrant.... look at the colors, so so pretty. I made this today for Audrey's 3rd birthday. She is turn 3 this month and her birtday party is this Sunday. I thought this will be so fun for her as she is starting to like all things "girlie" as I have been told by grandmother (my mom). She can actually carry this around her arm like a real purse, but can't put anything in it. The closureof made by having 2 magnets which are adhered under the light pink paper, invisible to the eye but it helps to close the card.

After finding this dp, I thought it will look so nice for the Hero Arts color challenge. I pick the hot pink, lime green, and soft pink color combo. These dp just have all those colors. I added the "A" which is from Hero Arts clear Alphabet stamp set and that is also Audrey's initial. The stamps inside the cards are all from Hero Arts.

Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts alphabets, happy birthday, flower
Ink: Color box: pink & lime green; Onxy Versafine
Paper: Basic Grey sultry pattern pattern, light pink, sparkling lime green, white
Embellishments: Prima flower, Memories brad, cuttlebug swiss dots embossed folder, ribbons, and Basic Grey magnets

I got "Honorable Mention" on Hero Art Challenge

Remember this card from last week. I got tons of comments last week on SCS, the most I have even got since I joined SCS. This morning I went on the Hero Arts blog like I usually do to learn new techniques and card inspirations from them. This is a fabulous site. I entered in last week's challenge with my butterfly card and I got "Honorable Mention", check my card out on the Hero Arts' blog! I can't believe it when I saw my card displayed on their blog. Wow, I never won a contest (technically I didn't win, but I felt like I won). I don't know anything about art designs, let alone the basic such as color scheme which is this week's challenge, but I am consistly learning.

I have a few things to do before going to California for a whole week of fun and relaxation time with my family. I am visiting my family and see my parents retired as they are getting ready to move out of their store, V&W Liquors, which they own for over 24 years now. This store will no longer be called V&W Liquors after the change of ownership. How sad I feel that this is the end of a legacy for this store. It had the same name over 3 ownerships (my parents being the last owners) and now no more V&W Liquors. It will be my last time seeing the place from the inside and packing up and going through all the memories as I sort through all my things (things to keep, throw away, or donate). This is going to be a bitter-sweet week as there were so many memories of this place as I have lived there most of my life, 20 years, before moving to Arizona. All my childhood memories is from that place. I will be taking my camera back home to get lot of photos. This will be a very memorable week for me and I am glad everything turn out this way where I am going home to see my parents retired and last time to see my childhood place.

So much has happened to me and DH this past 6 months since. DH was kind enough to let me to take a little break from this stress while he has to go to work and to take care of our cats next week while I am gone.

Candy Blog @ Melanie Muenchinger

Go on over to Melanie Muenchinger's blog to read her some fun tips for her new Little Tees stamp set (Gina K Designs). She is also having a candy blog for her 150,000 blog hits, so go on over to her blog to enter to win.

Julie's Bonus - Friends Challenge

Julie stopped by and this is her bonus challenge ... make a humorous friend card. When I think of the sitcom Friends, I think of the coffee shop where they always hang out besides their apartments. I don't think this is a funny card, but here it is anyways. Thanks Julie. The two bands or tabs on the top is inspired by Carolyn King.

Jennie's One Tree Hill Challenge

Jennie's challenge is to use one A Muse stamp, but you can use it as my times as you want. The sushi set is my favorite and I have used the fan. I just have to CASED this when I saw this done by Lisa Spangler when Lisa and Julie did the Designer Swap back in May. Thanks Jennie.

Rhonda's Lost Challenge

This is Rhonda's challenge... make a card with all your favorites. These are some of my favorites though some of them might feel a little neglected. Thanks Rhonda.

Geeta's Grey's Anatomy Challenge

The challenges go by so fast. This is Geeta's challenge .... make a card that has something to do with love. I love elephants. Thanks Geeta.

Michelle's Passport to Europe Challenge

Finally got the time to upload my cards from yesterday's VMAA party. This is Michelle's challenge. I love watching Samatha Brown, "Passport to Europe" I was inspired by the colors and of course vacation came to mind. This is a great challenge.

VMAA - A MUSE Challenges

Tonight was really fun, I enjoy all of the challenges! My pictures will be up tomorrown because the lighting in my crafting area isn't that great. I will wait until morning to get better lighting for my pictures. I'm going to get something to eat now. I didn't get to eat dinner yet because the party started at 6pm.

SC187, WT177 Challenges

I got woken up early (before 6AM) this morning by my orange tabby. I decided to do some stamping this morning since I didn't stamp last night. I combined yesterday's SCS sketch challenge (SC187) and today's "Ways to Use" challenge (WT177) and this week's Hero Arts challenge "Amazing" . Julia S. from SCS made my day by having today's challenge. Guess what the challenge is.... "Scrap-It". I was just telling myself to use as much of my scraps as possible throughout this week. Well, this challenge surely made my day. All the papers are scrap papers on this card are from my scrap basket... I have a humongous pile. I pull out my cuttlebug today, for it has been collecting dust. The sentiment (the only stamping I did for this card) is from Hero Arts so that qualify it for the Hero Arts challenge... cheesy, but hey, a challenge is a challenge and I am going to give it to Nick, the LSS owner I ALWAYS go to. She is a talented, creative, and amazing woman. She's my creative inspiration, if it wasn't for her, I won't be addicted, but fulfilling hobby. Is this suppose to be good or bad? It is totally good for me, but bad for my pocket book. Maybe I will make another card for the Hero Arts challenge later this week. I am so excited for this Saturday's VMAA party. See my blog below to join in the fun.

Recipe:

Stamp: Hero Art

Ink: Stazon timber brown

Paper: white, pink, brown, blue pearl, dp, vellum dp

Accessories: Cuttlebug, embossing folders and die, dew drops, and crystal

Let's Party A*Muse Addicts

I am so EXCITED over this party. This will be my first A*Muse Addicts party! I have already joined the A*Muse Addicts forum. I love A*Muse and Elzybell stamps, they are so cute. I love the clean and simple style. Where is the Party..... the VMAA (Virtual Meeting of A*Muse Addicts) is this Saturday, August 2nd @ 8pm CST. The is where all the A*Muse addicts gather online to have great time... chatting and stamping off course. There will be challenges that have to be completed in 30 minutes from a choosen theme. Join us this Saturday evening ... Let the party begin!

Playing Again!

I was actively playing with my stamps yesterday. I think I spent the entire day making these two cards. I have been wanting to try the pull-up pop-up card technique tutorial, shown by the talented and famous Jennifer McGuire in the Hero Club Blog. I just got to try it. I did it with my new Magnolia stamps I received at the end of June. I was so EXCITED to receive my new Magnolia stamps that I shown it to my DH and telling him how CUTE and ADORABLE they are. My DH wanted to cut the rubber because the stamp images are in a whole sheet. Off course I won't let DH cut the rubber because I will be very sad if anything happens to my Magnolia stamps. I decided to let him stamp the images on white cardstock for my file. This is just one of the first stamps I received. I signed up for the Magnolia's Stamp club which they will sent out 4 times a year (about $50 per quarter). I already colored (prismacolor pencils and baby oil) this Tilda last month, but didn't do anything else with it until now.

Like I said, I have been trying to use up all of my scraps as much as possible before going for a new piece of paper, so the color combo is the same for both of these cards. I actually did the SCS New Technique challenge first before doing the pull-up pop-up card. This was yesterday's new technique (LSC179 - Blintz Base). I have to say that I didn't really like this fold that much. I used Gina K's Just So Hippy stamp set. Love this set, but haven't play with it much. I finally inked up the hippo stamp. The umbrella and the sentiment is from My Favorite Things (MFT). Love their stamps also, but only has this set for now. This is the first time this set has been inked. This card is just so cute, just love the shorts on the hippo and the faux zig zag lines. I don't know how to sew, so don't have a sewing machine, so I have to do make faux lines with my pens to mimic sewing threads. Maybe one of these days, I will buy a sewing machine and learn how to sew. As of now, I have too much on my plate to take on another hobby.

I have to admit that I have purchased quite a bit of stamps and accessories over this pass year and haven't even inked it up. Shame on me, throwing so much money and not play, but I do have a very good excuse! I better go play... running to my craft area!

Gina K July Sketch Challenges

I fianlly got my hands dirty again. This past Saturday, I went to Stamp Works, my local stamping shop, for some motivation and inspiration. Nicolette, the owner of Stamp Works is such a talented lady. I usually do the make n' take from Nicolette every Saturday. Yesterday, I finally clean up my crafting area, but now it is mess again after do last night's cards. While I was cleaning up and going through all my crafting items, I have so much things I hardly even touched. Some things are still seating there in their packages for over a year now. I really need to use up all the pattern papers, cardstocks, and embellishments before I buy anything new. I am such a HOARDER and these things can't be collected because it gets dusty and discolored by the dust, incense fumes, and our cat furs and rubs. I still have tons of papers and embellishments since I start stamping almost 2 years ago. Wow, I can't believe I have been doing this for 2 years now. I know I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on this hobby. I am slowing down with my purchases because I need to tell myself if I will use, is it worth it, can I find an alternative item I already have, and can I wait. I have so much scrap paper laying around. I need to start using my scraps before going for a new piece of paper.

I finally got back into making some cards. Since last Thursday, I wanted to play with my Gina K stamps after seeing the sketch challenges on the Gina K forum on SCS. I have to say that some of this stamps are not inked. I am so bad, I like to collect rather than play with them. This first card took me at least 2 hours to make such a simple card. I couldn't decide on the paper, rubber stamp, and ink. I just couldn't decide what to do. I guess after 2 months of not playing, it gets rusty. The next card, took me 30 minutes. That is an improvement. I haven't bought any new stamps from Gina K Designs since January. I LOVE her stamps and check out all the monthly releases. They have some talented designers.

...More Updates

I had a follow-up with my OB earlier this month. My placenta isn't cancerous, so that is a relief. I am feeling much better and thanks for all the well wishes!! Thanks everybody for keeping up with my blog.

Currently, DH and I have a lot on our plates right hopefully that hopefully everything will start to smooth over in over the next few months and things will start to be better by later this year or early next year.

I haven't created anything for almost 2 months and is not feeling the drive to create. I guess I am in a slump. I still read other artist's blogs and SCS and online craft products, but I don't seem to be able to go to my create station and create something. Maybe one of these days, I will find the drive to create.

Currently, we have four cats we are feeding on our front porch. There is one cat that seems to have an eye issue which we are currently trying to trap, but it seems like he/she is already neutered or sprayed. We will be trapping any of the four cats and getting them neutered or sprayed. Maybe one of these days, I will be able to get some photos of them to show you.

More Updates....

I went to my OB appt last Friday because my HCG level was extremely high... over 100K. We found out that I have a molar pregnancy which is when the placenta is still there which caused the HCG to be so high. My OB scheduled for a D&C to be done on the same day... Friday evening because the doctor stated that the placenta may be cancerous if we just waited for it to naturally miscarried. I have to go back for a follow up as they are doing a biopsy of the placenta to make sure it isn't cancerous otherwise we will have to wait for a year to conceive again. This has been such a roller coaster for us over this past half year. I thought it was not as dramatic as the first time because I didn't see the fetus, but yesterday night, this second pregnancy hit me just as hard. I guess I finally realized I miscarried again and my chances of miscarriage increases. I know you guys are saying we are young and there is always next time, but each time it is just as dramatic and frightful. I know friends and family who had miscarried, but at least they have one child that survived. I feel so lonely going through this eventhough DH is going through this with me and just as harm on him as on me. We will continue to try and the thought that I will not be able to have a child though I don't have an inferility problem. I am sure this is just as tough for those that have inferility problems. We really don't know how others feels if we are not in their shoes. Right now, we are going through a lot emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially.

I just want to thank Marisa for the lovely flowers. I am stopping my crafting for awhile. I still have so much other things to catch up on and emotionally and mentally I am drained. This may be the last post for awhile.

Update....

The scare is over. Well, we went to see the doctor and we didn't see a fetus on the ultrasound. Dr. thinks I already had a natural miscarriage and the fetus never formed. I have to get some blood test done. I have been bleeding, not heavy, for the past few days, but I didn't have any major cramping or pain which is a good sign. Emotionally and physically I am doing fine after seeing the doctor and got the answer. There is no more worries.

Because of what was happening this past week, I didn't get to do any father's day cards and I probably won't be making any at this time. I will not be blogging for a little bit during my recuperating period.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads!

A Scare Yesterday...

This is actually Wednesday after midnight. I woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom which is common since I have been drinking a lot of fluids. The scary part was there was pinkish blood when I wipe myself. I totally freak out. There was minor spotting as appeared on my sanitary pad in the morning. I was too scared to use the bathroom in the morning because of what may happen. When I did went in the morning it was brownish when I did wipe. The spotting seemed to have disappeared in the evening, but still a little slight brownish residue spots on the sanitary pad this morning. There was nothing major to send me to the ER yesterday. I didn't feel any severe cramping or pain, just slight pulling, sore, or pricking pain on the abdominal area. I didn't vomit, but feel a little nauseated, but otherwise felt ok.

I am putting myself on bed rest and no crafting until I feel better and checking with the physician. I am praying nothing is wrong, for this is so scary for me after the first time. I must try to keep my spirits positive and myself relax. This is all in God's hand right now.

June Card Swap

Finally finish my June card swap with a some gals on SCS. I am the hostess for this month and this is my card. I am so glad everything came together. I had the stamped image and dp selected for a month now and finally got around to do the sketch layout, coloring the image, and cs color choices. I used the Penny Black Hedgehog. Don't you just love this stamp, Harvey (I named him) the Hedgehog is just having a wonderful, relaxing day. I added some yellow flock on the center of the flower for texture.

Today is also my American birthday. My Chinese birthday is not until October. I am so bliss to be pregnant this year as said by my friend, Teresa. I feel really bliss to be "a mom to be", my my health, and my family and friends around me. I am very fortunate and grateful for all I have though it may be tough at times.

This is what I received from my brother and SIL. Isn't this just sweet of them. I love it. The front has "Marked with Love", Charlotte's full name, and birthdate. The inside is a baby stoller bookmark. Yesterday, I spoke with Audrey and she was sad because she misses me. How cute is that! I love her and miss her too. Hopefully, I will to visit them in mid-September. It's been almost 4 months since I went to California. I will not be travelling until I know my pregnancy is going well. That reminds me, I need to call for my OB appointment next week or the week after.

Recipe:

Stamp: Penny Black

Ink: Stazon Jet Black

Paper: DCWV yellow texture cs, purple cs (received from a swap), American Craft dp

Accessories: prismacolor pencils, baby oil, ribbon, and stampendous yellow ducky flock

June, Already!!

June is here, another month gone. I finally did my June month swap card. I just have to finish making them and sent out the packages to my group members. Hopefully, I will have it done by today otherwise Monday. I can't wait to post it up after I am all done.

My brother and SIL sent me a wonderful gift for my birthday. There are photos of my adorable nieces, Audrey and Charlotte. They also sent me a very cute bookmark which was Charlotte's red egg and ginger party favor which I wasn't able to attend. You guys made my day yesterday and what a wonderful birthday gift! I will have to take a picture and post it up.

Have a wonderful month as summer is just around the corner.

May Card Swap

I am at clinic today getting most of this month's entries into Quickbooks. Thank godness this month is ending as production was/is really bad. I hope it picks up next month or else we have to take extra measures to cut down on the expenses.

I belong to a monthly card swap on SCS. July is our last month and I don't think I will sign up again for another 6 months as my back is killing me from all that couching. This is my take on the May card swap. I made a flap card, the tutorial is on SCS. There is actually a magnet used to help keep the card closed. I hid it under the dp. The stamp is Elyzbell. As you can see, I am in love with drawing dots lately. Every card has to have some dots. I have to use my white gel pen. I actually bought myself another white inkssential pen because it works so well and got rid off the old white pen I had. Anways, I need to make 6 more of this card and start on the June card swap as I am the hostess. I still haven't decide what my card sketch will be yet, but I have all the images, dp, and embellishments already.

Recipe:

Stamps: Elyzbell, A Muse sentiment

Ink: Memories black dye ink

Paper: red Brazzil, dp, yellow DCWV, sand cs inside

Accessories: prima flowers, diamond stickles, inkssential white pen, red copic spica pen, tombow markers

A MUSE May Bumper Card

I received this adorable May bumper card from Christine Gagnon aka ChippySue on A Muse Addict. I have this stamp also. Isn't she is just so darn cute. The stamp is Elzybell stamp which is part of the A Muse line.

Yesterday was Memorial Day and DH and I spent a quiet weekend at home. Yesterday, the cats saw a lizard outside the basement window. They were very intrigue by it, but off course to prevent the lizard from getting hurt we closed the window so he can't get in otherwise my cat will have a field day with him. I wanted to get a picture of it, but I time I went back to the basement, it was gone. DH and I have also been feed a neighborhood feral cat. We have been seen him around our house and the neighbors house for a couple of weeks now. We have been leaving can food for him and he has been eating it or something has been eating the can food. DH calls him our "outdoor cat" as we don't allow our other cats to wander outdoors by themselves.

I was trying to do my May and June monthly card swaps today, but my back is killing me while I was couching down to cut, adhere, and color. I just have to take it easy and just take extra breaks and do one or two cards per day until I get it done.

Nothing new with me

Just wanted do a short post today. Nothing new. Our Saturdays are relatively routine... we do these activities in no special order.... we donate cat food and litter to "Hope for Cats" at the local Petco as Saturday is adoption day for them, a Costco trip to get food supplies, cat food and litter, and I go to Stamp Works for my weekly fix of make n' take for $2 and buy stamps and craft supplies. The rest of the day we usually stay at home watching movies and I some times do my crafting.

I have been feeling very tired and fatigue to do anything else except rest and sleep whenever my body tells me. I don't think I will be doing much stamping and crafting right now as my pregnancy is my first priority.

Penguin Popsicle

This is a card for a 1 yr old. DH's dental assistant asked me to do a card for his nephew who is turning one. I thought the penguin with the popiscle stamp from Imaginisce would be perfect as it is really hot in AZ now and all children like popsicles. It was cute to add the yellow flock onto the pegiun's nose as kids like to feel and touch things. It feels a little velvety. I added the flock to the giraffe inside, but it doesn't look that good, but oh well, the kid is only 1 so he probably won't remember any of this.

I have to admit, I am not the cleanest person. My craft desk is so cluttered with paper, tools, stamps, and embellishments. I can barely find anything in this mess. It took me two hours to do this card as I was deciding and looking for tools and embellishments to make this card. I need to be more organized, but I never like to clean up after myself once I am done with a project.

This morning I woke up with an awfully bad cramping pain on my lower abdominal. I finally subdued after awhile of deep breathing. There was no blood from my urine, so this is good news. I am concerned I might have ectopic pregnancy where the egg is implanted outside the uterus where if the tube burst it will destroy its ability to carry fertilized eggs on their way to the uterus in future conceptions and could also threaten the mother's life.

Happy News....

I am very nervous, but happy to announce that I am pregnant again. I found out this past Sunday and I went to my OB/GYN today and its confirmed, I am pregnant again. I am very nervous this time around because of my recent miscarriage. This past Saturday, I thought my period was coming because I felt stomach cramps which hurted pretty bad in the middle of the day, so I took a vicodin to ease the pain, but I felt so dizzy afterwards. Since my period didn't come, I took a home pregnancy test on Sunday and it show two lines meaning "pregnant". I guess I am pretty emotional right now because I felt it is too soon to get pregnant again, but I'm lucky to be pregnant again. I am praying every day since I found out the new. I have been feeling fatigue, bloating and gas, dizziness and blury vision each time I get wake off the bed and/or couch, and some cramping. The nurse practitioner said that just as long as there is no period like bleeding, then just take it easy and relax as these may be just some pregnancy symptoms and it is too early to tell, so I will just have to wait. Last time, I didn't have any period like bleeding, but only a little spotting right after the OB visit, but I thought it was nature until the ultrasound confirmed that there was no heartbeat from the fetus. I pray this won't happen again otherwise I know I am the one with a genetic or chromosomal problem. For all the friends and family that reads my blog, please pray for me and my unborn.

Now, onto my hobby. I missed Gina K Designs release yesterday because I was just feeling so tired and went to sleep earlier. The new stamps are really nice..... I like, I like, but I have to save money for my maternity bills. My insurance isn't covering my pregnancy bill and we all know how much medical bills cost. There are so fun sketch challenges yesterday from the Gina K Design's new release, so I thought I will play and see if I can win a free stamp set. I will post those pictures tomorrow.

Another Dottie Card

Today I am at the clinic. Here's another card I made with my favorite tools right now which are white inkssential pen and the cuttlebug. This is also inspired by the Hero Arts Monday challenge of using "flowers". The sketch is from one of SCS Wednesday sketch challenge (I think this was from 2 weeks ago). I finally open my new prima flowers which I purchased from Michaels a couple of weeks ago with the 50% coupon. Nothing beats a good saving. The sparkling lime green cs is from Doodlebug. I got this from the "Color Me Happy" swap I participated on SCS in which we choose our favorite color or color combo and the we can shopping for our "Color Me Happy" sister. My colors were lime green and purple. I got some cool things. I better start to play with them.

Its been relatively quiet this past weekend since the boys are back in California. DH and I just stayed home because the Arizona summer is officially HERE! This weekend, it hit over 100 degrees. We have started to turn on the AC. We didn't go outside except to go to the supermarket to stock up on sodas because its on sale (5 for $12). DH consumes about 4 -5 cans a day.

Recipe:

Stamp: Hero Arts and A Muse sentiment

Ink: Brillance Graphite and Coral inks

Paper: white, lime green, pink, and red cs

Accessories: Cuttlebug and swiss dot embossing folder, white inkssential pen ,prima flowers, dew drops

Dottie Flower Day

I have been having trouble sleeping these few days. Mainly, it is because my cats are playing around our bedroom and the other thing is my stomach hasn't been feeling so well (I kept having cramps).

After a whole week of not creating, I finally found my mojo to play with my stamps again. This is inspired by The Hero Arts Club Blog, Monday's challenge. This week's challenge is to play with "flowers". I used Hero Arts stamps, "friendship writing" and "sunflower blossom". My favorite part is embossing with my cuttlebug and pulling out my white inkssential pen and made dots on the cs. This was pretty simple, but it brought back my creativity again.

Tomorrow is Gina K Designs May new stamps release and the sneak peeks so far have been awesome. Gina is such a generous person, so check out her blog as she is giving away some of the new stamps. The release party is tomorrow night at SCS. Be sure to check it out if you have time.

Recipe

Stamp: Hero Arts - friendship writing and sunflower blossom

Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Marvy yellow, brilliant yellow, and brown inks

Paper: DCVW yellow and brown cs and My Eye's Mind dp

Accessories: cuttlebug, versamark pen, sponge, sand paper, white inkssential pen, and ribbons

Where's my MOJO this week

Sorry, I haven't posted all week. I have no MOJO this week, thus no cards or project done this week except to finish my Asian ATC cards, but I didn't take any pictures of it because I forgot before it went postal. I am not up to creating this week as my crafting table is a mess and I haven't clean it. I took some time to do some leisure reading. One of my favorite author is Julie Garwood. She writes romance books and I think my SIL is the who got me started on her novels. Here is my unfinished Precious Moment cross-stitching project I talked in my previous blog. I started this almost a year ago and haven't touched it for almost 10 months now. This is suppose to be for my wedding as a guest sign-in framed photo, but didn't get to finish yet. I changed the mailbox to a "Double Happiness" wedding cake. This is it for this week. It is the mid-month already. Where did the time go, half a year is almost gone for 2008? Hopefully, I will find my MOJO soon and start to put up more things on my blog. As always, next week is Gina K Design's new stamp release on May 20th and I am excited as the sneak peeks have been awesome.

This morning, I was up early and recorded my cat Rusty's "play catch", but I was unable to upload it to my computer. I spent all morning trying to upload, but no luck, so I decided to record it using my camera, but Rusty didn't want to play catch anymore. Here is brief video of Rusty's talent. Enjoy the short video. Do you guys see my unfinish painting project for the house. I painted the hallway, but I didn't do the family room, stairways, kitchen, dining, and living room area. I don't think I will ever finish painting unless we are selling this house. Maybe if I get really tired of see white walls again, then I will nag my DH to paint again. Just another example of the unfinish projects in my life. If my Mojo doesn't come back soon, I will upload pictures of my small crafting area to show you where I do all my crafting.

Cross Stitched Cottage House

No card today, but I do have to share this with you. This is my baby and I show everybody that comes to our house. People usually think it is just a picture until I show it to them close up and their first word is "WOW!". Yes, I am being a narcissist here, but I am very proud of myself for finishing this. My DH says I am a starter and not a finisher and I am learning to finish my projects more. There are tons of ideas in my head and start on some, but never finish like painting the house or have to trash it because it didn't come out the way I wanted to.

As some of you already know, before I got into scrapbooking, stamping, and cardmarking, I love to stitch. I stitched this picture 2 years ago and don't remember the name of the picture or the illustrator. I think I started this project in Fall 2005 and didn't finish until Summer 2006. This was one of the longest project for me. Some days, I spent all day like 10 hours stitching and counting the grid and some months didn't even touch it. Sometimes with any project, I get bored and some doing it for awhile or sometimes for a LONG while and when I do get back to doing it, I am stitching vagariously. This picture isn't perfect, but nobody can see my mistakes which is why I totally love this picture. I have to frame it and off course, I didn't want to do custom framing as it costs more than the picture, but not my time of course. The matting didn't fit my picture, so some of the outside stitches are being covered up. I was going to have my uncle, who is an artist, cut the matting to fit my picture, but I din't know have to carry this on the plane, so I have to wait until he has time to come out to my place. Can you believe I haven't hung this on the wall yet? It is still on the floor. This reminds me that I have haven't finish a Precious Moment wedding stitch picture. It was suppose to be for my wedding, but my wedding has since passed. I will eventually get back to it, but not now. Now I feel guilty for neglecting my other hobbies. I start stitching back in my college days when my college roommate shown me how to stitch. When I first make cards, I did stitched cards because I didn't know how to "really" stamp yet. There is still a lot to learn on stamping as there is so many techniques to learn, but I am glad to see that I am improving and trying some new techniques once in awhile.


Have a wonderful Mother's Day to all the fabulous mothers out there! I may or may not be posting tomorrow. I am trying to do some ATC cards for a ATC swap I signed up for, but I am just being lazy these few days. I guess somethings, we have to take a break, even if it's good thing.

Magnet Bookmarks

Have you guys seen magnet bookmarks at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon which costs quite a bit depending on the designs. Well, I have purchased a pack of three over 2 years ago for $3.00 and it isn't even as nice as those that are out now. I was looking in my crafting magazine for quick and simply inspiration and the magnet bookmark caught my eye as it was used to bookmark a page inside the magazine. I know most of us use post-it tabs to mark of our favorite page in a magazine or just fold the page, but why ruin your magazine or book, including cookbooks or favorite recipe card or page. I used my expensive magnet bookmarker to bookmark a favorite project page. How clever is that and it is re-usable as the post-it tab looses its stickiness and people usually trash it after they are done marking that page. We have to think recycle nowadays, but with $1.00 and up magnets, who can afford this. The ladybug bookmark on the left is the one I purchased from the bookstore and the one I did is the one on the right. It was like a 2 minute project. Just cut the 2 half inch magnet strips, cut a piece of cardstock and make to line folds. Stick the magnets on each end of the cardstock as shown. I stamped the ladybug on a red cs then cut it out and glued it onto the bookmark. I suggest getting the really strong bond magnet strips (don't buy the ones in the rolls as it will not bond together once the magnets are stuck to the cs that well because the rolled magnet makes a curve to the magnet). You can buy this at Michaels, Joann's, Hobby Lobby, or any craft store. I got mines from Wal-Mart, but I don't think it is as strong of a bond magnet as the one from the retailer. I will have to go to Michaels or Joann's to get the really strong bond magnets. Make sure you test the bonding of the magnets before sticking it on the cardstock. I tested the bond and once I have stuck it to the cardstock, it didn't bond together, so I have to rotate the magnet and finally it bonded together. This is probably around a $0.15 or less project as I only used small pieces of magnet and cardstock. That is a total saving and you can get really creative with this as you can do any design and size. This is just my sample to show you as I was just experimenting to see if this is going to be a fast and easy project and it is. I am sure all the crafty people out there are going to make more beautiful bookmarks then what I am showing here. Once I have time more time, I will send all the avid book/magazine readers (you know who you are) some bookmarks or just leave me a comment and I will send you some. I love to share what I made and currently I have only been sharing it with my friends and family because I don't feel confident enough to share or sell my work. There are just so much more experienced and talented artist out there and I am still a novice searching for my talent if I have any. This is just a relaxing, fun, "my time" hobby for me as I don't want to be pressured or stress out over this otherwise it will not be fun for me anymore and I will have to trash this already expensive hobby. LOL

I planned on showing you my little cat's talent, he fetches toy cats. He just loves them, but today he didn't feel like performing when I got my camcorder out to video tape him. I'll try it tomorrow, but here is a shot of Lay, "King of the House". He is really the King of this house as my DH and I spoils him. He is very smart, brave, devilish, lovable, outspoken, well-tempered, and very alert of his enviroment. He cheers me up whenever I am down or sad.

Recipe:

Stamp: unknow maker of the ladybug

Ink: Memories Black ink

Paper: American Craft and red cs

Accessories: glue and self stick magnets

Think Pink... and Summer

Just made this quick card for today. I needed to play with the new toys I just bought. Monday's challenge on the Hero Arts Blog was to do something with the color pink. I just got my new swiss dots embossing folder (this folder is just so elegant and pretty) for my cuttlebug and I just couldn't wait to play. I didn't use any Hero Arts stamp on this card, but I will on the next card. Just wanted to do something pink and off course one of my favorite color combo is pink and brown. I pull out the JudiKins's Hibiscus stamp out. Hibiscus just reminds me of Hawaii and my family's first summer vacation trip to Hawaii. Doesn't everybody need a nice relaxing vacation away from our daily busy schedule. What a nice stamp to use right now as it feels like summer over here in Arizona.

I went to Michaels because they are 50% coupons for this week. I purchased some prima flowers, the Martha Stewart bird stamps (50% off), and some circle and square piercing templates as suggested by Melanie Muenchinger (a talented and out of the box creative artist) who got the idea from Jody Morrow (TexasJodyLynn on SCS, another talented lady). Since it was only a couple of bucks, why not make the investment and try it out. She is such an enabler and I just love her work. I will have to try this new toy on my next project.

I also got some stamps to use for Father's Day. I love this stamp for a long long time, but didn't want to buy it. Finally, broke down and purchased it. I just mail out my Mother's Day cards to my Mom off course and my two sister-in-laws whom are the sisters I never had. Sorry, I didn't get to make more cards to send to my wonderful and cherished family and friends. Have a wonderful Mother's Day to all the mothers, I should be back blogging before this Sunday. Hopefully, I will be a mother to a baby by next Mother's Day. Crossing my fingers, LOL. I guess I am a partial mother, I am a mom to my 4 cats. LOL. I think I should get a Mother's Day card also.

Recipe:

Stamp: JudiKins Hibiscus and See D's Phrase

Ink: Brillance Pearlescent Coral and Versafine Onyx Black

Paper: White, brown, and pink cs

Accessories: brown satin ribbon, white inkssential pen, black pen, red pen, cuttlebug, swiss dots embossing folder, scalloped circle punch, fiskar circle template, x'mas red stickles

Cat Fight...You're Mine

I made this card Monday night, but was too tired to upload and yesterday I was just beat. The tabby woke me up before dawn and I was at the clinic all day and was so exhausted that I went to bed by 9 o'clock. This card is so representative of my cats, but DH says the black cat should be the one on top of the tree doing the teasing and the white cat on the bottom looking and the yellow/orange tabby scratching/climbing the tree. I have to agree, but mostly the tabby is the most annoying and wants to get into fights with the other cats. The white cat really detest the tabby, that each time the tabby comes near him, he hisss... at him and paws him and obviously the tabby doesn't like that so the fighting beginnings. My DH favors the 2 older cats because they have been with my DH for over 10 years, thus seniority plays a huge roll in this house. There's sibling rivarly in the house almost every day. Too much testosterone in the house as they are all male.

I colored the image with prisma color pencils and just did simple layering. Nothing extra except to add the ribbon and the paper slider for the sentiment, "Your Mine". I didn't have "Going Getta", so I improvised.

Recipe:
Stamp: Magenta, unknow clear acrylic sentiment

Paper: brown, black, white cs

Ink: Colorbox sky blue , Versafine Onyx and Sepia

Accessories: prismacolor pencils, clear copic spica pen, cuttlebug and slider die cut, ribbon, sponge.

Shadow Box

I saw Carolyn King's shadow box tutorial and wanted to try it. Carolyn is another talented artist who I visit her blog frequently. There is no stamping involved, but very time consuming to put all the little pieces together. I did a flower shop window display of flower pots. The awning is made from the corner punch. I don't have a rotary scalloped cutter and I hate using the fiskar scalloped scissors or I better start learning to use them. I hate them because I can never cut a straight line, but the fiskar website has suggested to draw a straight line on the back of the paper and then cut. I prefer the corner punch better. I punched out the flowers in various colors, flower pots and drew a line, and bamboo as flower stems. I added buttons and circles that are colored with various spica copic pens and added crystal effect on top. The card looks so plain right now, I wanted to stamp a bee and the sentiment "have a beautifu (bee-utiful) day" on top of the flower pots to fill in the empty spaces. I think that is what is missing besides having a name for the flower shop. I looked in the Stampendous website under the Bee Happy collection, but can't find it. If you know where I can get those stamps to complete this project, let me know. This was a fun project. The men in my house said this is an ok card as it is too flowery and femine for them. I take all comments, good and bad because I am still learning and developing my paper crafting skills.

I think this is it for this weekend as I need to replicate the Thomas Kinkade and shadow box cards to sell for the "Hope for Cat" cat shelter.

Thanks for looking.

Recipe:

Paper: American Craft dp, Brazzil purple, red, brown, and green cs

Accessories: small flower, flower pot, bamboo, corner, and circle punches, flower brads, mini buttons, spica copic pens, brown ink pen, crystal effect

Mother's Day Card

I finally decided on my mother's day card. This is it. I had this stamp over half a year now and finally inked it up. There were so much details on it that I thought I won't be able to color it. This stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms, Thomas Kinkade Series called "Make a Wish Cottage". I colored this image with prismacolor pencils a few days ago. Last night I decided to just make a simple layered card, thus the focus is on the image. I don't think I did justice to the actual Thomas Kinkade painting. Have a nice weekend.

Recipe:
Stamp: Cornish Heritage Farms Thomas Kinkade Make a wish cottage, savvy stamps sentiment
Ink: Vesafine Olympia Green, Memories Black
Paper: Brazzil purple, white, and black cs
Accessories: prismacolor pencils

Another Red, White, and Black

Happy Friday. I made this combining SCS Wednesday's sketch challenge (SC174) and Thursday's ways to use it challenge (WT164, All Ruffled Up). This card looks like the 2 way card below, but can't resist the faux cross stitching (done with my magic white pen) eventhough I did not use the paper piercer (too lazy). I made a mom's day card. I don't really like the pleats I made on the side, thus I added a ribbon to make it less noticable. Another Now, I need to make a few more mother's day cards to make. SCS Friday's Limited Supplies challenge (LS166, Spotlight on Circles). I love making circles. I definite do for this challenge. I only own circle punches, I really need to buy a curvy or other circle cutting machine, so cutting circles, ovals, and other shapes will be a breeze instead of the old fashion way which is trace and cut with scissors. I am over my crafting budget; wait, do I have a crafting budget, DH doesn't impose and doesn't know what I purchase except when the credit card bill comes and I need money to pay for the bill. I really need a paying job to feed my addiction.

Have a wonderful weekend. I feel like BBQing, but we don't even have a BBQ grill and our backyard is still bare except for the 8 palm trees and the weeds (trying to get it under control). Can you believe we have been living in our house for 3 years and still no backyard landscaping done and probably won't have it done for another 2 years. We did our front yard because the HOA requires us to do it and we didn't have it done until 6 months after we move in. I accept all donations to help speed up the process of getting my backyard landscaped. LOL

Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts and unknown clear acrylic "Happy Mother's Day"
Ink: Memories Black dye ink and Marvy Crimson Lake ink
Paper: White, Black, and Red cs and white tissue paper
Accessories: Marvy scalloped oval punches, ribbon, inkessential white pen, black pen, ribbon, red copic spica pen

Red, Black, and White

It's May already. Where did the time go? It is feeling like summer over in Arizona already. The weather is usually in the 90's right now. It's making me feel lazy, but this is month end, so I have a lot of entries to do for the clinic. I did this card 2 nights ago, but haven't have time to share. I am currently in love with the Faith Hofrichter's (aka markie's mom on SCS) use of white pen. I frequent Faith's blog a lot, she is so creative and does magic with the white pen. Look at all my faux stitching all done by a simple white pen. I have to do faux stitching because I don't have a sewing machine and I don't know how to sew. I took home ed like 17 years ago in junior high, so I have no idea. Hmm, should I invest in a small craft sewing machine or a heavy duty sew machine and learn how to sew for real? What do you guys think? I know everybody's mom probably has a sewing machine laying around. That reminds me of yesterday when I was at the clinic and Dr. Hinh asked me where I want to go on vacation. I told him vacation for me will be at my parents house, back in California, because my mom does everything for me and I don't have to worry about a thing except to get up and enjoy the day with my nieces, Audrey and Charolette and the rest of my family. I doesn't get any better than that.

Anyways, back to the card, this card is from Monday's SCS challenge, TLC166, Two Way Open card. It is actually an easy card to do. There is very little stamping involved on mycard. You can find the pattern for this card over at SCS. I used my cuttlebug swirl folder and butterfly embosser and die cut. The flower is from "Hot Off the Press" folding template. You just trace, cut, and fold to make it into a flower. I stamped dots on my flower with VersaMark. I added bling (acrylic gems) on my butterfly and a black big brad on the flower. I add a black photo corner holder with white brad on the corner to hold the card closed. Everything else is the done with the wonderful white pen, a little black pen for contrast. Love this tool right now! There is one more layer opening to this card which I didn't take a photo of which is to flip the white cardstock up.

I am almost finish with Wednesday's SCS challenge, SC174 (long card) and saw Thursday's SCS challenge, WT164, All Ruffled Up, thus I will be combining the two challenges. I should have this posted tomorrow if not later today if I have time to play. I need to do Mother's Day cards, any suggestions or ideas?

Got to get back to my boring work of data entries. Have a wonderful day and enjoy May.

What Kind of Shoes Are You?

You Ar Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek – and almost always achieve – a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you. You should live: In Europe You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

This is a lazy warm day for me. I went for a walk around the mall. I am taking a break from papercafting today. Just want to enjoy the day.

Happy 70th Birthday - Hugs to You

I made this for Terry, YuRee putted in a requested on SCS "Need a Lift Forum". She needed 70 cards for her father's 70th birthday. YuRee said her father's tag line is "I need a hug" thus this is what I made. The stamp is from Gina K, "You know you are old when..." set and the sentiment is from Penny Black. I have been admiring Faith Hofrichter aka Markie's Mom on SCS. Check out her cards, it is awesome. I love how she used the white gel pen (Signo pen) on the borders of all her cards. I love it and wanted to try it and I tried it here. Mines off course its as complicated as Faith's cards. I don't make many masculine cards. I hope this doesn't look feminine.

I hope everybody had a wonderful weekend. My DH and I went out fishing at Tempe Town Lake with our friends this weekend. We caught some touts and a carp. The weather is getting warmer over in Arizona. It will start to get HOT in mid-May. TFL

Recipe:

Stamps: Gina K and Penny Black

Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Colorbox Red Lipstick and Chocolate

Paper: Espresso DCVW cs, Olive Brazzil cs, Light blue cs, and Basic Grey dp

Accessories: prismacolor pencils, cuttlebug slider die cut, ribbon, crystal effect, clear copic spica pen.

Yesterday was VMAA

Yesterday night was the Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts which I missed! Today, I made it up and was only able to play for a little while as I have to make time to post the challenges. I did two challenges. A Muse stamps are so cute. I got hook on them a year ago. They are so fun and simple to play with.

The Challenge #4: Saturday Night Fever , which was to use only black and white. I used the A Muse animal acrylic stamps, the cow and the sentiment. I did my own background by making cow prints. I punched out two photo corners and decorate on with black brads and the other is stamped with the "holy cow" sentiment. I recyled the cripple black cs which was from the incense boxes.

The Challenge #3: Do the Hustle Challenge, which was a sketch challenge. I used the Elzybells stamp, "Girl in car". I stamped her twice, one in white cs and the other one in left over scrap dp. Cut out the car from the dp and glue it on the white cs. Use the left over black cs as the road by adding white lines. The sentiment is from Penny Black.

I am glad I was able to play even though it is only for a little while. I will be doing the other challenges when I have more time to play. Thanks for looking.

Flower Butterfly

I was at Stamp Works yesterday to find inspiration, see Nic, and buy a few things. I wanted to do some quick cards that I can give in packs as gifts. Nic showed me a sample card she did in one of her make n' take and I totally have to CASE'D it. It was so easy and fast. I am thinking of donating my handmade cards to our local no kill cat policy shelter, "Hope for Cats" for them to sale to get some funding. This is where we adopted Shui Di and Rusty. We have been donating dry cat food and liter every week to help, but I thought this may bring in extra money for all the vet bills, foods, and liter expenses.

During this week's stamping, I found the Brilliance Graphite Black ink comes off the acrylic, mounted, and unmounted stamps so easy unlike the Stazon Black or Memories Black dye ink which I have to really scrub the stamp to get it clean and I have to clean it right away otherwise the stamp is stained. I have a few stamps that are stained because I was too lazy to clean it right away. Before, I usually use the Versafine Onyx Black or the Stazon Black, but now I am always reaching for the Brilliance Graphite Black. For fine detail stamps, I would still use the Versafine. This is my two cents.

Recipe:

Stamp: Stampendous "Flower Butterfly", See D's sentiments

Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black.

Paper: White and Scarlet Red cs

Accessories: prismacolor pencils, diamond stickles, odorless mineral spirits, paper piercer, mat, and grey souffle sakura pen