New Kitties, Calming Down & Tommorow Is A Brand New Day :0)

Alright, it's 8pm. Lee is in bed. Kittens fed. Talked to my friend Debb. I feel much calmer. What a day!

I hope you like the pictures of the kitties we are taking care of right now. About a week ago I heard their cries. They were under a hosta plant by my front porch. There were 5 of the tiniest kittens I had ever seen. Maybe only a day or two old. I left them alone thinking the mother cat would return. After 2 days and finding that 3 of the kittens were dead. I had to take matters into my own hands. I brought them in and have been hand feeding them. (the first 2 pic's were the first day we had them. The others are about the 5th day)

The tiger cat is a female and the black and white a male. It's funny how in a week you can see they have personalities!

When they the boy will lay his leg over the girls. Such a sweet sight. But what's really cute is Jasper(our male Yorkie) is cleaning the kittens. I never knew a dog would do that.

Well, I know I haven't posted a thing today craft related. But tomorrow is a new day. :0)

Till my next post...

Do You Ever Have One Of Those Days That's Seems To Never END!!!

Ok, I know a lot has happened around our home this year. It was a follow up of having a poorly done remodel by what turned out to be one of the worst companies ever. Ahhh...but I digress. :0) So this year we had made it through the freeze, power outage and flooding. I was thinking I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But it really was the headlights of the train! hehe

Last week I put 4 towels in to wash before bed. Set it like always on a double rinse cycle. Well, when I woke the next morning I walked into a swamp! My rug was soaked and there was standing water all around the washing machine. After cleaning it up you could see the new wood floors buckled. :0( Our washing machine was nothing fancy BUT it wasn't even 6 months old!

The repairman came today and couldn't find anything wrong. Of course I felt like he thought I was lying or probably thought I was crazy! He said he went ahead an over-rode the water level for me.(like this was a big favor) So as soon as he left I put in a load of towels to see if it was like Lee said "just a fluke or air in the line". Ok, you know what I'm going to say next...you can see by the pictures it still isn't fixed.

I started the washer and went to start lunch when I hear Lee yelling "Stop the washer! Water's going everywhere!". So we called the repair guy right back. He hadn't been gone more than 15 minutes. He told Lee for him to call and have US(that's right he wants us) to order a pressure switch. Do you think this sounds like he knew what was wrong and just didn't want to repair it?

After lunch, I have to empty out the water from the drum. The water is ALL the way to the TOP! I guess it's a good thing he over-rode the water level! HA! I know they will come out and fix it when the part comes in but I will always feel a sense of worry every time I wash a load of clothes. I'll worry is it going to leak or is it just going to break. All, I can say is no more Whirlpool! I'm going back to Maytag!

Ok, no more ranting...

Shaving Cream Technique ...Step By Step

I have had a few requests to share how to do this fun technique. I haven't figured out how to post under each picture so I hope my directions will be clear enough. I really can't wait to get a good camera to do videos! Ok, so here goes!

1. Pictures of all supplies. (you don't really need the freezer paper but my counters are white laminate and it helps for a little extra stain protection. But most of all it just makes clean up a breeze!)

2. First put shaving cream on paper plate. (if you are doing bunches you could always use a cookie tray covered with foil) Do not use gel shave cream. I find the cheaper white foam type shaving cream works the best.

3. smooth down the shaving cream...it doesn't have to be perfect just not big bumps. (I used a plastic spoon to smooth it down...oops! I didn't picture that in the supplies)

4. using the reinkers now place drops of chosen colors.(I wear gloves at this point to keep the ink from my hands) You can use as many colors or just one color. The possibilities are endless) I'm not sure if you can use any reinkers. I have only used alcohol based ones. If anyone knows please post the answer for us. I will also check and add any info I find to the comment section on this post. :0)

5. next take toothpicks and slide it up and down(or swirl) to move the colors around. I used toothpicks this time but I think I like using a plastic fork better. It seems easier to manipulate the ink better. You can swirl the ink anyway you like.

6. now just lay your cut cardstock on top of the shaving cream, press down a bit so as to make sure your cardstock it making complete contact to the shaving cream so as to pick up your ink pattern. I used Whisper White cardstock from Stampin Up for this demo.

7. now gently peel the cardstock holding one corner off the shaving cream and place on paper towel.

8. I turn my cardstock upside down and press squeezing off as much of the shaving cream first. Then turn it over and gently wipe with a paper towel. Viola! You now have your shaving cream background. if you notice in the pictures I have one that is a bit lighter that is the second piece I used. I keep repeating the process(I didn't add more ink) but just swirl the ink a bit and use it till it's too light for your taste. You can always add more ink to keep going if you are making a lot of backgrounds at once. You can make a lot of backgrounds with not much shaving cream!

9. let dry then you can use as a background or stamp directly onto the paper. I made two very quick cards to show you both. I still need to tweek them a bit. Some crystal lacquer and glitter on the balloons. Pearls and use the glitter pens on the butterfly card. But I thought this would give you an idea of what you can do. (I'll come back and add the pic's of the cards once I have them "blinged" up! LOL)

I hope you'll give this a try. I know it's a messy techinque but it is so cool to see the papers when your finished.

As always I wish you time to be creative but most of all time to stamp!

Till my next post...

Card For David...Week 12

As you all know I have been "blog surfing" to get masculine card ideas. This card is inspired by the card I found on Marie Shaughnessy's blog Called "Stamping Inspirations" at WWW.mariestamps.com. Her site is set up so nicely. It has all the categories on the left hand side. The card I used for inspiration was designed and created by Jenni Shaughnessy. It uses a shaving cream background. I had done them years ago but I loved the look of the card so put my own twist on it.

The pictures on my post show the supplies used. My first attempt was to make the card with 2 or 3 colors of blue but I just didn't like it. So I went with just one color(night of navy). I used all Stampin Up supplies except for the 3 tiny brads. They are "outdoor denim" from Close To My Heart. I left off the bakers twine she used on her card and instead just used some dimensionals to pop up the compass. I stamped the boat and the compass twice. Cut out the center piece of the compass and the sails then used dimensionals on them for some more dimension. I loved using my color spritzer tool. It gives it the feel of the water splashing around the boat. After I was done, I kept looking at my card thinking what was off? Well, in Jenni's card she had the "shaving cream" background going across the page like water. DUH...I put mine up and down. :0) I still love how mine turned out. A clean and simple design always works for me.

And as always I wish you time to be creative but most of all time to stamp!

Till my next post...

Card for David...week ?

Time has really gotten away from me as of late. I even sent two cards out to my brother for the same week! I thought I had forgotten! Ok, can we say feeling a little overwhelmed and so so so behind! Lee and I have had so much going on around here since we got back from our trip to Missouri that I just still feel a bit out of sorts. But never fear...I will catch up...I am catching up! LOL

This card was inspired by the "states" pen I found at a small gift shop called "Main Street Treasures" here in Plain City. It has some really fun and creative things. My brother, Lee and I had a good laugh since I put the cities in the wrong directions but hey it's just a card. David said the pen writes so smoothly. Glad he liked it.

All supplies used from Stampin Up!:

Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, and Early Espresso cardstock, Ink used Tangerine Tango and Early Espresso, Stampin dimensionals, used a discontinued "map" background stamp and the saying is from the set Word Play.

As always, I wish you time to be creative but most of all time to stamp!

Till my next post...

Father's Day...I Miss You

Today is Father's Day. This November my Dad will have be gone for 10 years. He was never much for fussing over him(or at least he acted like we didn't need to). We got him the same things year after year. Shirts, cologne, funny statues, cards some funny, some with letters of how much we loved him and of course who can forget soap on a rope! When he passed and we cleaned out his belongings he had kept every card and letter!

Just before he died I made him a small scrapbook. I remember him sitting on the blue couch in his blue pajamas(I bet you can guess his favorite color, LOL). He turned the pages slowly, smiled, laughed out loud and then looked up at me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He died later that year. I'm glad I took the time to share my memories funny and sad with him before it was too late. You see my Dad like many other Dads was sometimes hard to talk to. I usually used humor to connect with him. Most of the time it worked. Saved my butt many a time!

Growing up I was scared to death of him. After he was hurt things were different and so was he. The real turning point with my Dad came when I married Lee. They had an instant connection. Both being through accidents that changed their lives. My Dad visited quite a bit when he was able. He talked to Lee just about everyday or at least 3 times a week. And in turn I got to see a different side of my Dad. Anyone that knew my Dad knew how much he loved Lee. And I loved my Dad for that. I felt like I got to know my Dad all over. Some of the stories he would tell Lee! What a life he had lived.

I use to hate that I looked so much like him(chunky too). I'm the only child that has his brown eyes. Sometimes I'm caught off guard when I look in the mirror and see his eyes stare back at me. But it is a good feeling that I'm a part of him and he lives on not just in me but in each of my brothers, my sister and his grandchildren. Lee and I have had many a conversation about how each one of us has certain traits like my Dad's and who is the most like him.

When my Dad had his accident the hospital called and asked my Mom to bring someone who could drive just in case she needed help getting my Dad into the car. They told her my Dad had just broken his leg. So she took me and when we got to Mt. Carmel East Hospital they took us to a private room and told us how bad the accident really was. My dad had almost every bone in his body broken. Dr. Schlonsky(along with other doctors) worked on him till almost 6am! He spent months in intensive care and almost 13 months total at the hospital. My Dad had so many surgeries over the years and suffered so much but he told me when I got married that he was glad he lived to see me marry a good man. (and of course he told me not to screw it up!...really that is what he said!) I'm glad for the doctors that gave us the extra years with him. But most of all I'm glad he was my Father. Good or bad he helped make me the person I am today.

So Happy Father's Day to all the Father's out there and to my Dad...I miss you.

Card For David ...week 13

Where have the weeks gone? I can hardly believe only 13 more weeks and my brother David will be 50 years old. I decided on this image since this coming Sunday is Father's Day.

All supplies from Stampin Up. (the image is from a retired set)the cardstock colors used are whisper white, night of navy and really rust.

This isn't a very good picture of the card. I hope to figure out how to get better pictures with my camera soon! :0)

I hope you all have a wonderful week full of creativity but most of all I hope you find time to stamp!

Till my next post...

Graduation Card

Yesterday was Graduation Day for Jonathan Alder High School. I made this for David(Diane's son). I didn't have any graduation stamps so I figured a mortar board is only a square. Easy peasy! LOL I used a piece of a book mark for the tassel, attached with a small black brad then used pop ups to make it stand up off the card. I used an embossing folder for the background to give it a little umph. :0) And then just stamped the saying layering it with the real red and basic black cardstock. Another clean and simple design.

As always I wish you time to be creative but most of all time to stamp!

Till my next post...