Another showing

So do you think this showing tonight will be another rejection?  I'm beginning to take all of this personally.  I know our house has feelings and everyone that comes but doesn't  think it's the right house for them, hurts our house's feelings!  Poor thing!  I know that Dave and I are starting to get frustrated.  Last night's people said they weren't interested, so we'll see about tonight's.  I'll let you know tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I finished some more cards (all Stampin' Up products, of course!) This first one is using a watercolor technique.  I really like it, but would change it up a bit next time I make it.

 The rest of these are using Blendabilities!  Have I told you how much I like them?!

I just love these.  They are a little more labor intensive, but beautiful when they're finished.  I sure hope you like them!

More later...

Retired - and it feels so good!

Dave is retired!  He says it feels good to be retired, but I'm sure it hasn't really struck home yet.  Next week when he doesn't go to work every day, then he'll know that he's retired.  I sure like having him home!  He washed and detailed his truck today and I'm hoping he'll do my car one of these days soon.

Today, I had some fun in my studio.  I made two beautiful cards...all with Stampin' Up, of course!

I colored the flowers with our new Blendabilities markers!  Love, love them!  The top one is colored with the Cherry Cobbler blendabilities and the bottom one with Rich Razzleberry blendabilities.  The papers are new Designer Series Papers - the top one is from Back to Black and the bottom one is from Sweet Taffy (I think that's the name!)  The flowers take a while to color, but it's fun doing the shading.

More later...

Missed again.

I missed blogging last night - sorry.  At 9:00 Dave said that he was tired and going to bed, so I went up too.  I didn't even think about blogging.  I went upstairs to read and fell asleep shortly after 10:00.  That is not like me!

Today I had my sorority sisters in for a coffee.  We usually try to get together once over the summer.  Since I am not here for many of the meetings, I volunteered to have this coffee.  Now I won't feel so bad about not being a hostess thru the year.  There were 13 of us, out of 17 - pretty good percentage, I'd say!  We missed Linda, Bev, Carolee, and Judy.  It was fun getting caught up with everyone's happenings.

Dave came home about 11:30 today, so we went out to run errands and then we went to the Canteen for lunch.  It's fun having him home more.

Here are a few more cards we did recently.  These were the 6 cards we did in Sigourney.  Of course, they're all made from Stampin' Up products!

These were all different cards - very pretty, cuts that I'd never done before.  I hope you like them!

More later...

Super Sunday

Today was a beautiful summer Sunday..hot and humid.  It felt like 92 out, but that's a cool one, because yesterday it felt like 97 out!  We were about the same temperature as Largo, but it felt like 102 there!  I guess we'd have been at the beach or in the a/c!!  After church, we went to the Hotel Ottumwa for lunch along with 7 others.  I love going there because I can have bacon and eggs and they're always done just right!!

I came home and read after lunch, but Dave went over to our Pastor's home to help them load a pickup with appliances and furniture to take to Liz's son in Wisconsin.  They evidently bought a new home and Liz is helping them out with some household items.  She borrowed her dad's pickup and will make the trip by herself.

This evening, Dave mowed the lawn while I finished up some cards!  Here are the ones we demo'd the other night.  Of course, all products used are from Stampin' Up!!

 Then, these are the ones I finished up today.  I've been playing!!  Love these colors!

 These last 3 are colored with our new Blendabilities markers - they're super easy to use and very forgiving.

I hope you enjoyed them!

More later...

Busy, busy day

I started out the day with a list of 15 things and I actually got 9 of them done!  Of those 15 some of them were time-consuming like mowing the yard and getting a pedicure!  Oh, I also got groceries, which wasn't on my list!!  I'm pretty proud of myself!  My shoulder is killing me though, so I must have sat crooked on the lawnmower!  It's rough getting old!!

I also am typing this on my desktop computer, so I'm adding some of the cards we did at the workshop in Des Moines last week.  All products are from Stampin' Up!!

Do you have a favorite?  I do!  I love the one with the purple chevron stripes (2nd card from the bottom).  I just love the simplicity of it and the colors used!

Enjoy your day tomorrow.  We're not doing much.  Craig & Sue are coming by to pick up a generator they bought from Dave, but that's it!  Saturday we're going to Des Moines to see some ex-athletes of mine and their families.  Then Sunday is church where Dave is ushering...so that's our weekend!  Happy Independence Day to you and yours!

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Uneventful Friday

Dave went to work this morning and I was lazy!  I didn't even take my shower until around 11:00.  I woke up around 7:15, ate my breakfast, and just hung out upstairs until about lunch time.  I worked in my craft studio putting away some of the supplies I had out last night for our class.

I told you we made some cool cards last night, and we did.  Here is one I demo'd..  I love this card because it's entirely done freestyle.  Each time you do one, it looks different.  To me it looks a little like a famous artist painted it.  Anyway, it's entirely done using Stampin' Up products.  The inks are Blushing Bride, Hello Honey, and Pistachio Pudding and the stamp set is Work of Art.  Everyone had fun with this card.  I was a little concerned that some of the ladies would be too stressed to make it fun, but it didn't turn out that way at all!

Tomorrow we're leaving early for Indiana, so I may not be on here until Sunday.  I don't think I'll take my computer with me.  We plan to be back Sunday late afternoon.


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Friday

I had a good day today.  I worked on finishing up some loose ends I've had around here.  I got the bank accounts all reconciled.  Dave came home just long enough to help take our old paperwork to Financial Partners where they had a shredding party today...and we had a free hotdog for lunch, too!  Then he went back to work and I worked on some of the cards I had only half finished and I got some ideas for next week's cards.  I also made a card for Kyle's little guy, Blaise - my great, great nephew!  Here is his card:

Isn't it cute?  This is made from all SU products.  The paper is shades of Lost Lagoon, one of the new colors, as well as Hello Honey.  I stamped in those two colors and "cut" the onsie, duck, and banner out with framelits.  I love the fact that SU is making framelits (or dies) to go with lots of their stamps.  Since I shake so badly, I just can't cut things out...but I can put the framelit on my magnetic board and run it thru the Big Shot with no problem!  I love this card!

More later...

Saturday

I'm beginning to wonder if realtors are even working in O-town.  We haven't had a single call for a showing, other than the first two which were before the house was even listed.  I guess I'll leave our bed unmade and underwear lying around and then leave for the day - maybe that'll bring potential buyers to town - haha!!

I didn't do much today - I just didn't feel well.  I was going to go to Allison's game this evening and I didn't feel well enough to do that even. I think the stress of the two homes in Florida (which should all be finalized next week) and this one being on the market, plus the lack of warm weather, is getting to me.  I have at least gotten almost all of my paperwork done...I still have to file and as you know, I hate doing that.

I did get some of our cards uploaded.  Here are the three that Juliene and I demo'd this past week.  They are all made entirely with Stampin' Up products.  This first one is a new stamp set called Works of Art.  I think it's going to be very popular!  I used Crushed Curry, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding and Baked Brown Sugar inks on Whisper White paper, backed with Crushed Curry cardstock.

 Our graduation card was made with the Pennants Bigz die and lots of scraps of Real Red and Whisper White.

 This is a simple card using Everything Eleanor and Petite Pairs stamps...just an easy peasy card!

 Hope you enjoyed them.  I've got more to show you!  Maybe tomorrow!  Have a great Sunday.

More later...

Cards and Cards

It was a cards and cards kind of day for me.  This morning our PMS card club met at the church and made some cards.  These were hard cards for me with my shaking, but I think they turned out pretty well!  Shirley R. demo'd these cards.  The first one is made from SU's top note and word punch, but the music and the sentiment are from another company.

This one was really hard for me.  Shirley had the parts all cut for us and she used her scissors and cut out my little pink flowers.  Actually it was a die cut just like the green die cut and she snipped the flowers off of it so we could glue them on the greenery.  These all came from another stamping company.  They're very nice cards but hard for someone with shaky hands to do.

After lunch, I went to the Club and played 7s from Hell with Ann, Juliene, and Bob P.  We had a good time, but Ann and I got beat by about 3,000 points.  We just couldn't get our 7s or our wild cards!!  Next time we'll get them!

More later...

Now you see it...

...and now you don't.  Us and our neighbors agreed to go together and pay to have a dying tree taken down between our properties.

It was getting really bad.  The base was cracked clear up the trunk so it was definitely a disaster waiting to happen.  So Budget Tree Service came to remove it this morning.  They started about 8:30 and by 10:30 the tree was down and by 11:30 they were finished and gone!

 T - I - M - B - E - R!!!!

Now you don't!!

It looks really nice not to see that scraggly tree!  It was fun to watch them take it down branch by branch!

I almost forgot.  Here's a picture of my jazzed up card from yesterday!  All products are from Stampin' Up!

Looks nicer, doesn't it?  

More later...

Hot time in the old town today!

This was a hot day!!  It was 90 when I went to the grocery store about noon and it got hotter this afternoon.  The only thing that saved us was a lovely breeze - albeit a hot, dry breeze!!  I had planned to go for a bike ride this afternoon, but vetoed that after getting groceries!  My air conditioned house felt mighty good!

I  had a pretty good day today.  I worked in my studio trying to come up with a couple of card ideas.  I think I have an idea or two that will work for our next class.  One of the ideas I had was this card, but I think it's boring.  So tomorrow I'm going to try to jazz it up a bit!

I like the concept, but it's way too plain!  Hopefully I'll get a jazzed up version on here tomorrow night.  I was trying to be frugal with the shimmery paper, and the card looks like it, too!  All products are from Stampin' Up, of course!

More later...

Thursday

I started out a little slow this morning.  I took my time getting ready for the day.  I just wanted to hibernate this morning, but I had a luncheon at noon.  I made it on time; in fact, I was the first one there.  It was a preinitiation lunch for a new PEO member. It was delightful.  Both of the ladies I lunched with are master gardeners so they had lots to talk about.

I got home about 1:30 and at 2:30 I was supposed to be at church for the preparation for our food pantry day.  Dave covered for me until I arrived at 3:15, but they'd already started giving away food - they started early!  We served 140 families today!  I had 3 in a row who had 7 or more in their household!  Big day!  I came home about 5:10, but Dave stayed and helped clean up.  Then he came home and mowed!  We didn't even have supper until 8:00!!  Busy, busy!

Jami and the kids fly into Cedar Rapids tomorrow.  They'll be with Bryan until Sunday morning early.  They're hoping to be here for church at 9:30!!

Here are the cards we did on Tuesday night.  I thought maybe you'd like to see them.  Remember all supplies are Stampin' Up!!

This Christmas card is just a sample.  We ended up embossing both the sentiment and the snowflake in platinum embossing powder.  It's much more striking than just using Pool Party ink like I did here.

 This second card is the one Juliene did.  It includes lots of piercing, so it took more time than the other two combined!

This was our CAS card (Clean And Simple).  It is also very striking in person.  We did it in either green, baby blue, pink or yellow!

Hope you enjoyed a look at our cards!

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Wonderful Day

What a beautiful day we had today.  It was a great day and night for the balloon races to start here in O-town.  I hope to get out there this year to take some pictures.  The balloons are so big and so colorful.  Maybe Friday evening?  That's my plan, anyway.

Today I ran errands again.  This time I had to pick up Dave's shirts, mail a card to Cheyenne whose birthday is tomorrow (I missed the mailman), and get Dave's medicine for his nebulizer (sp?).  I also got my nails done - they were way too long...I was having a horrible time typing!  Then I came home and just enjoyed the day!

I don't think I shared our last cards with you.  We had class a week ago tonight and these are two of the cards we made.  I guess I didn't scan in the one that Juliene demo'd.  These are the ones I showed.  Of course, all products are from Stampin' Up!

We try to do a Christmas card each time and this one is really cool.  You can't tell it by the picture, but the bottom of the card was run through an embossing folder with ink in it.  Therefore the flowers are three-dimensional.  I really like this technique.

This one is called a swing card.  If you were to grasp the card at both sides and pull, the center will swing around.  This one is done in So Saffron, but we made ours in the new In Colors for 2013-15.

This swing card can also be a Christmas card just by changing out the colors!

Now I've got to figure out my Christmas card for next time!

More later...

Wednesday

I think it might be starting to warm up a bit.  It's 47 here now with no wind!  The moon is absolutely gorgeous here!  I don't think there's a cloud in the sky and a full moon!  I believe there's supposed to be an eclipse tomorrow, too.

I worked today on getting my Stampin' Up things organized.  We got our retired lists today, so I went through my catalog and marked everything.  It seems to me that I only buy the sets that are going to retire next year!  I'm sure that's not true, but it seems that way!  We also got a preview of the 2014 catalog today.  I love it when we get a new catalog.

Tonight Dave fertilized the yard.  I went to choir practice.  My voice sure isn't what it used to be!

More later...

AWFUL DAY!

I knew it was supposed to be cold out today, so I wore jeans to my dentist appointment.  I also knew there was a chance of rain and maybe some snow, but I wasn't prepared for the snow we got!  Thank goodness it didn't stick except on the north side of the house AND it didn't stay!  It was a veritable blizzard for a while...looked like someone opened a can of Fresca!!  Big flakes and bunches of them!!  I checked on the long-range forecast and the 70s are coming!!  It's about time!

I had a pretty good report at the dentist's office.  I had broken off a little chunk of my last wisdom tooth so Dr. Tom suggested I just have it extracted.  I wasn't ready to make that appointment yet, though.  I'll get an appointment sometime this summer and have it removed.  I hate that!  I'm really going to lack wisdom after that - all of my wisdom teeth will be gone!

I worked on my desk today and then this evening I had a Personnel meeting at church.  I got the cards scanned from last night.  I hope you enjoy them!  Everything that was used was from Stampin' Up as usual!  I did this first one.  I love this Secret Garden bundle.  I love the fact that we now have framelits to "cut out" the shapes of so many of our stamps.  When you have tremors like I do, scissors are almost impossible for me to use.  These dies make it do easy!

Juliene did this butterfly one.  The light part of the butterfly's wings stands up away from the stamped image on the card...so it's 3D.  Plus it's got 2 rhinestones on its body which you can't see from the scan.

I also did this dress card.  This is another set that was bundled - stamps and framelits.  It's like playing with paper dolls!!

 Here is my wedding dress version!  Too bad you can't see this in person.  It's all shimmery!!

More later...

MY Day

Dave went to Sarasota today to change some hinges on his dad's bathroom cabinets, so I had a day to myself!  I enjoyed my day...I even made some cards today!

All three of these cards use Stampin' Up supplies.  I think they turned out really good.  I embossed on each of them and added hearts that were either punched out or where I used embosslits.  I love the fact that SU is making so many items to cut out their stamped images.  I have a terrible time using scissors any more, so this makes things much easier!

I also took 3 bike rides today.  It wasn't easy riding south - the wind was really, really strong.  I had quite a workout!  When Dave got home, we went up to 104 to see their home.  They're selling, but it's not what we want.  It had 2 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths, plus a big porch on the front.  It wasn't as big a unit as we're used to.  It was very nice and the price is great - $4,500, but we haven't sold ours yet, so no go.

This evening it's been raining here and that's wonderful.  I hope it rains all night - we are really dry in this area.

More later...