More Mini Cards

Here are a few cards I made using scraps....I used lots of paper flowers, pearls, and pre-stamped images. Enjoy!!







These are simple cards that I like to have on hand, but they aren't fancy enough to stand on their own.

Little of this, Little of that

More organizing...Well, sort of. I have lots of junk on my craft table...little scraps of this and that. Leftovers. I love making mini 3X3 cards with these sorts of goodies. Here is a 4 card set I made using 3X3 Twilight card bases.



Some of the paper is from new CTMH paper packs (available in Sept.) Grace, Twitterpated.

Look for more mini cards tomorrow! Enjoy!!

Stamp set: CTMH Beautiful Day

Planting Love.

Use only stamps???? This is a tough challenge for me. I don't know if this card even counts for this Simply Creating Challenge since I did use a heart punch....but it was definitely a challenge for me.




Well, no embellishments or extra paper.....I think I did it correctly. Anyway, I played along with Krista in a challenge a couple of months ago and I actually won so you should try it too, she will send you a sweet prize!

Also, thanks Krista, I got my First 5 goodies (I didn't take a picture yet, but they are lovely prizes!!)

BTW For all my posts this week, I am using images that have been exported to the smallest possible file size....I am hoping that this will make my blog load faster for you....I dunno....it might not be worth the loss of details....We'll see...just thought I would try something new!


CTMH Dream Big, Beautiful Day
Craft card base
Heavenly blue, Desert Sand Tulip Ink

Did Somebody Say 80's Card?

Well I wish I could say that this is part of an inspiration challenge, but I actually just watched a Finally Friday video over at kwerner design and couldn't get the idea of creating an 80s card out of my head...in fact, I made TWO!



My sister's birthday is next week so I thought I would be proactive (ya know, not wait until the day of) and create a special card just for her. I had a lot of fun using these glitter thickers and some bright green card bases. I even threw on some flowers with skulls (don't know how 80s those are, but whatev)



These were super fun to make, enjoy!!

Simply Paper card base
Prima Flower Embellishments
Ribbon FX
Anna Griffin flocked, patterned zebra paper
AC Thickers
Brad, black card stock
From Me to You 'happy' CTMH

Hang in There Card

Wow-eeeee! Only one more week until school starts. I have a workshop, meetings and lots of other things going on this week so I thought I would write up some stuff to auto-post throughout the week and into next week. I have been busy making cards! Today I am going to make an apron to wear at school, I am super excited to use the sewing machine for this project so I will post some pictures as soon as it is finished.

Yesterday I was working on a couple of things and I just had to clear the junk off my desk so I started using up scraps and bits of this and that for some new cards. I found a little lion that was already flocked so I cut him out and added him to this card.

The background paper is from one of the new CTMH paper packs, Grace (available in Sept.). I like to buy samples of all the new paper and use it on cards so people can see lots of uses for it in person. The little pearls that are 'raindrops' are just gorgeous in person, I know I will be using those a lot. I hand-drew the cloud and used a polka-dot background stamp to give it some texture.

This is one of my favorite cards that I have made recently. Enjoy!!


CTMH Grace B&T paper
Life's A Jungle
Stampin' UP Ribbon

Just for Fun Cards

I went into Michaels the other day with my sis to get supplies for the baby shower invites (just envelopes, really) and I noticed that some Martha Stewart stamps were on clearence. Normally, I only buy acrylic stamps from Close to My Heart, because they are just the best, but there was one stamp set that I just had to have. The airplane and the sail boat are just darling. I have been making a lot of card sets lately...I can't seem to make just one....I was going to make these for a swap, but I think I will keep them for myself. Enjoy!!









Ink: Colorbox chalk ink, craft and teal card bases, Martha Stewart stamps, buttons, CTMH Classmate alphabet.

A case of the not-so-stolen Identity

So August 6th was full of ups and downs for me.

I spent the morning working at school to prepare for new year and then I ran home for a just a minute to drop off my computer so that it wouldn't get hot in the car. When I got home, I was walking into the house with my hands full of bags, computer, lunch leftovers, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a huge black ribbon snake stretched out between the bushes looking up at me. (I have a history with big black snakes, I once found one stretched out across the doorway of the bathroom and I almost stepped over it...snakes give me the heebie geebies now.)

Upon seeing the snake with yellow stripes down his back, I immediately went into full freak out 'ohmyghosh there is an unexpected snake in my yard and I am super creeped out and my hands are full and I want to scream, but that is just dumb, but I am still freaking out ohmygosh' mode.

I wasn't sure what to do so I sent a text to my neighbor Kaanan and she sent Maynard over. Maynard walks into the yard talking on his blue tooth headset (on a work call) and he kills the snake with his shovel. It was a little gruesome but I felt like he saved the day, I was sort of a damsel in distress....

After an afternoon meeting, I went out with some friends for dinner. As I was finishing my sushi, I found a long, limp hair slithering across the surface of my plate. I couldn't take another bite.

When I got home from the dinner, I picked up a letter from the Department of Revenue. Hmmm. That is a little odd.

" On September 3rd 2009, your privilege to drive a motor vehicle in Missouri will be suspended for 30 days for an accumulation of traffic convictions. You are to surrender [your Missouri driver license}"

Haha...there must be some mistake. I have had 2 tickets in the last 3 years. One was for speeding in 2006 and the other was for running a red light in Duquesne. I paid them both. No big deal.

I open a second letter:

"We recently notified you that your privilege to operate a motor vehicle will be suspended for 30 days, beginning Sept. 3 2009. After your notice was sent, additional points were assessed on your record. The conviction changed your suspension TO A ONE-YEAR REVOCATION."

Conviction(s) we received and processed:
Speeding
Careless & Imprudent
Improper Lane
Speeding
No Driver license
Traffic/Turn signal viol
Traffic/Turn Signal Viol

"After you are reinstated you will have to pass the written and road tests for a new license....and you will have to file an SR-22 with your local insurance company to show proof of financial responsibility."

Okay. Not funny. Someone has obviously made some sort of clerical mistake OR someone has stolen my identity. After reading the first letter, I thought it was sort of funny, wow someone is in serious trouble...the second letter must be a correction letter....But the second letter was worse. I am a teacher, I can't have my license revoked. This is madness. I am just a normal girl, minding my own business, la la la, I saw a snake today, and then WHAM!

My 'worst-case survival handbook: identity left" started to kick in. If my records indicate that I don't have a license, I can't even drive to the DMV to get a copy of my driving record...if I get into a wreck or get stopped on the way, I will go straight to jail--do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.

If someone has stolen my identity and points have been added to my record then this person when to court and plead guilty--pretending to be me.

A million fears started circling in my brain. Do I need to get a lawyer? What do I need to do first? Who would do this? I was awake until after 3:00 a.m. tossing and turning, worrying about how I will prove my innocence, going to court, fighting the state to clear my record.

This morning I made a phone call to some friends I have over at the highway patrol to report my possible identity theft. (Thankfully I used to work there and one of the troopers is now a detective and he happened to be in the room when I called). When they looked at my driving record only my 2 tickets showed up. The revocation wasn't in the computer. They suggested that I go down and talk to someone at D.O.R. So I head to the driver license office.

The woman at the counter told me exactly what they did and she printed a copy of my driving record. She told me to call Jefferson City and find out what was going on with these letters.

The state of Missouri has a very outdated system for storing driving records. The screen is an old black mainframe with green lettering. I asked the woman how these letters were generated....they were obviously from the same matrix, but now this info isn't in the computer? How is that even possible? She didn't know.

I called the D.O.R in Jefferson City. Carolyn answered after the second ring.
ME: "Hi Caroly, wow....I can't believe I got a human so quickly. I just had my driving record printed at the license office in Joplin and it reflects two tickets that I have received in the last 3 years. But I got a letter in the mail from your office stating that I have 7 tickets and my drivers license is being revoked for a year. There must be some sort of mistake."

CAROLYN:"What is your driver license number? And your name?..........Okay, yes, there was a mistake with your records but it was corrected on Wednesday so you can disregard the suspension notification."

ME: "Seriously, Carolyn...I thought my identity had been stolen, I am freaking out, I was going to get a lawyer......wow...um okay....can I get something in writing that says to disregard the first two letters?"

ME" "A letter will be mailed out on Monday."


So....I think killing that snake was a bad omen. Luckily nothing seriously bad happened. It was all a huge misunderstanding. I think MO-DOT punked me.

Baby Shower Invitations

This week my sister and I got together to create invitations for a baby shower. Of course, I wanted to do lots of detailed cutting, etc. but we were able to keep them pretty simple with the little zebra popped off and a few pieces of patterned paper. We made all 25 in one sitting. We chose jungle themed patterned paper to coordinate with the baby's nursery.




Zebra, Dark green crushed paper and Animal Cookie paper is from CTMH. "You are Ivited" is from a Hero arts stamp.
Other papers include: bulk card bases and envelopes, green textured martha stewart paper.

On the D500

(low-light, slow shutter @ city museum)

This post is for Sarah! The photos in this post are from my St. Louis trip 2009. Some are from Missouri wine country, the zoo, the City Museum, and the roller derby.


Okay, so I am totally not a camera expert. I started using a Nikon camera in college and I really loved it. I will be keeping my old film camera and I will probably buy some film for it in the near future because I don't know how long FILM will be available at Wal-Mart...I am guessing that if it isn't a disposable camera, you won't be able to buy film unless you go to a camera shop in the next 5-10 years.

I had a lot of fun in the butterfly wing at the zoo:

Anyway, having a good quality digital camera is important to me so I have been saving up for one that will fulfill every need. I have a Fujifilm Finepix S700 that I will probably carry around for snapshots and other small events, but for the most part, I will be using my D5000 for most pictures.

If you are thinking about buying a Nikon, but you just aren't sure which one....I suggest reading the Amazon.com buyer reviews. Click here to read reviews for D5000. Read the good and the bad for 2-3 cameras so you can distinguish authentic critical information buyers remorse.

Nothing beats going into a store and trying the camera out for yourself before making a big purchase. I thought about ordering mine online, but when I went into Best Buy and realized how quickly the camera turns on/off, goes from one picture to the next, and how easy the 19 auto-settings were to use, I knew this was the camera for ME.

On the pet portrait setting:



While in St. Louis I had lots of time to play around with it, but I found myself wishing I would've brushed up on the tutorials over on the website before going to the zoo. I spent a morning in early July watching all the video tutorials and practicing with my camera, but remembering all of those things (when there is a lot going on around you) takes time to master, and practice!

On the flower detail setting:


Picnic lunch...I skipped the sandwich, in favor of a sushi roll...and I got to try out the food setting:





At the winery, this barn had an owl on the weather vane!



My friend Danielle and fiance David with vineyard behind them, portrait setting:




@city museum

This is why I don't play in the ball pit...this little name badge was a PIN--super sharp!


City museum, night landscape setting:



Again at the city museum, this was taken in low-light/no flash...long shutter speed. This is a wall covered in old stamps--metal ones...Next time, I will take some chalk and paper and do some rubbings, it was awesome!



This one was taken at the roller derby...I really wish I would've studied a little more about taking moving pictures...or at least had my big flash, it was hard to get a good shot here:



As you can tell, I had a lot of fun taking pictures on my trip-- lots to scrapbook! Overall, I really love my new camera, but I don't feel like I have fully mastered in yet, in the four weeks I have owned it...but I kind of like that....There is a cool stop-motion animation setting and an auto-tracking setting....lots to learn and play with!

Also, I ordered a custom camera strap for my camera and I bought a Swiss Diana bag to carry it in.

Fun Photo Shoot--Loving my new camera

I love my new digital camera! It is so fantastic. I don't know how I ever lived without my Nikon D5000!





I did a little photo shoot earlier this week of my niece. These turned out great!

She is sweet, but she has an attitude.




Good thing I had a box of 'goodies.' With little kids, playgrounds and props are a good thing.