Kids First, Right?

KIDS

On Friday, Bean stayed home from school. He yacked for a good chunk of the day but was "all's well" Saturday morning. Moose also puked in the evening (but just once). After spending the day cooped up in the house (I was under the weather as well - so Husband got to wait on everyone and get puked on), I took the boys to the park Saturday for lunch while Husband volunteered at our church "clean up" day - a nice break from (a) the house and (b) puke.

Moose shot right up this slide, which is pretty tall for a shorty like him:

Oh, the static-electric hair and that smile. Doesn't he just melt you?

Bean wanted to try out the "see saw," which was pretty darn lousy. It just bounces a metal seat against your rump. What happened to REAL see saws? We couldn't make sense of it but took a picture anyway.

On September 30, Bean tested for his high white belt. He was victorious and we celebrated with a root beer float at Smash Burger.

CHICKENS

After two weeks, we got our first dozen eggs!


Here are their offerings after Day 1.

Production is very slow lately. I'm not sure if it's the weather or what. They seem happy enough, but they are not laying. Now, maybe it IS the weather, maybe they ARE unhappy. I don't know and haven't cared enough to look into seriously, but it is a little annoying. We've never gotten more than two eggs a day ... so one may turn out to be a rooster (hard to tell when they're juveniles, even to the trained eye sometimes). They don't make much noise, though. We'll see.

HOUSE

Ever had a sewer back up?

Gross. Our neighbors recommended some great plumbers, but they're not a clean up crew. We've never used so much bleach in our lives.

On the house front, we're very casually looking at homes. We went to an open house today - BEAUTIFUL home, nice lot size and neighborhood, close to a huge park. However, it's a little close to a busy road. No rush on our part.

CRAFTING

I've been working on lots of things. These are for a Disney-themed swap. A few of your lucky people will be receiving complete A to Z Disney Dessert Recipe Books for Christmas :)

Robin Hood's English Bread Pudding:

The Jungle Book: King Louie's Banana Cookies (incomplete, but I had the camera handy):

Finding Nemo - Dessert Sushi Rolls (Nemo is watermarked behind the recipe):

A cute card made for a caffeine-themed swap:

Some happy penguins done outside of my usual style (I think), so I'm pretty proud of it:

The folded card is and tied in front of the open card (this is for a wing-themed swap, same as the penguins):

Head Cold

Hit with a bit of a head cold. Took some Sudafed (which, rumor has it, also dries up breastmilk ... so that might be a bonus SINCE I STOPPED NURSING SEVEN MONTHS AGO).

A manager (possibly the general manager) of the local Michaels called me last night and asked me to give her a call back. (I copy and pasted and blog post to Michaels' corporate email.) She sounded sweet-as-pie complete with a Southern accent. I was hoping a man would call me, because then I'd have no trouble standing my ground ... but I am hopeless with nice-sounding ladies! I don't want to call back, I said everything I had to say in my email. My mom says I am a chicken. Ugh.

Met up with some fellow Tastefully Simple consultants today for lunch. They're such a nice group. I mailed off four packages with catalogs, recipes, and samples to a few out-of-town clients today. Enjoy! I am hosting an open house at my home Saturday, Oct. 2 and am planning on a mystery host catalog party online too (need to figure out those details). I have a good feeling about all of it.

Moose has been in a mood this week. Maybe it's the Terrible Twos or maybe he has a bit of a cold, but he's so disagreeable and whiny when we drop him off at Mother's Day Out (though, he doesn't CRY, he's just not so gung-ho like he usually is). He's just not quite himself.

Bean is still doing great with school and is making improvements with his karate. He's just growing up fine and dandy.

The kittens are psychotic. I have never met two things that poop so much. They also yacked three times for my husband this morning. Lord only knows what they ate this time. Why are we adding chickens to our zoo? Crazy people. CRAZY.

I rearranged some closets and my craft/crap room last night with some help from Husband. I'm trying to relocate all my hobby-type stuff to the craft/crap room and keep it out of our master bedroom, our master bedroom closet, the dining room, the kitchen, the living room the rest of the house. I sure know how to take up space!

RAIN! FINALLY! I HEAR IT. I SEE IT. We so needed this!

Local Michaels Store, WE ARE OVER!

Dear Shreveport Michaels,

I am sick of your store being in disarray. Your aisles are always cluttered, your employees are constantly blocking aisles while stocking shelves, your selection pretty much sucks, and I can count on one hand how many employees have said, "Good afternoon!" or "Can I help you find anything?" (and I'm in there probably five times a month, so that's a piss-poor track record).

Today, though, I am done with you. On previous visits to your store and Michaels across the country (see: Texas, Indiana, and California), I have been able to use multiple "different" coupons. I can't use eight "40-percent off one regular-priced item," but I can use one of those along with a "40-percent off Martha item" and "20-percent off all regular-priced purchase." Today, though, I was told, "No, corporate changed the coupon policy. It's ONE coupon per a customer per a day." She checked with the manager who reiterated the same statement. I told her I know it's not her fault, but the store was bullshit, and I wasn't going there anymore. She tried to hand me back my coupons and I said, "No. I am NEVER COMING HERE AGAIN."

I cannot find a "corporate coupon policy" on the store's website. They say to reference the coupon. The coupons do state "one coupon per a customer per a day," which they always have. BUT THE COUPONS ARE DIFFERENT. I AM NOT USING THE SAME COUPON IN THE SAME DAY. I'm glad it's convenient for you, the local store, to define that as you see fit. Multiple, multiple times I have seen people use the same coupon and just do one transaction after another ... but I was told they would no longer do that either. ONE COUPON. ONLY.

Don't release coupons if you don't want people to use them. I hate using something completely legit and being treated like I am trying to "get away with something." They're your flipping coupons, you cheap bastards. I know how to read too. You lost a good customer. I hope you get your act together so I can once again enjoy your store, but for now I am so done with you.

Sincerely,

MelissaInk Designs, avid crafter and former Michaels customer

Some Pretties

We moved to Louisiana and my crafting bug was zapped for months. I went to a crop and left early. All the crafting and the North Dakota accent made me "homesick" for my friends back in Texas (note: homesick for friends, not for Texas). Then my in-laws came to visit and my sister-in-law just started scrapping. I found myself re-energized and joined a few swaps to keep myself crafting.
These are recipe cards made for a swap entitled "It Starts with a Mix." I cut and stamped and colored and punched and picked out pretty paper from my stash. It was more fun than I remember :) Click on the pictures to make them larger and read the recipes.

Whose is Whose

Painting 1 was mine :)

Painting 2 was Husband's.

I agree that his look more real, but mine are prettier :) I said that from the moment we set them out at home. We had a lot of fun painting them, and I can't wait to do it again.

That said, I am in a major funk. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's time for school to start. Maybe it's time for this heat to subside, but I'm all sorts of mopey.

We adopted a new cat. She looks a lot like our old cat. Her name is Penuche (PAH-NUSH), well, that's the name she came with. Bean is pretty set on it. We mainly call her Cat. Today, Husband came up with Mrs. Nathan Fillion-Grylls (after his two man crushes). Obviously, no one is going to start calling her that. She is five and appeared to be just an obese lazy orange cat at the shelter. After bringing her home, however, I noticed that she's actually quite spunky and affectionate. She was also disgusting, so I took her to get groomed. She looks about 10 pounds lighter (but, no joke, she's still 17.5 pounds). She spends her days hiding under the bed and her nights curled up on top of the bed. Her and the dog are still ignoring each other, but I think they'll figure something out soon enough.

Regarding my hatred of litter boxes ... I bought a Clever Cat Top Entry Litter Box. This is what the shelter switched to recently and said it is AMAZING. I am also using pine pellets instead of cat litter. You're not supposed to flush cat urine and poop ... but let's just say that the pellets are so awesome that you CAN. No dust, fresh smell. Very, very few pellets make it out of the litter box (I've counted like THREE since we got her Wednesday - compare that to clay litter that is a freaking mess all the time). I am also lining the box with bags, so there's nothing sticking ANYWHERE. So far, this is a completely different litter box experience. Thank goodness.

Saturday Happenings

Moose woke us up at 6:05 a.m. Good grief. We caved and let him watch cartoons in our bed while we tried to snooze and then Bean joined the party. We finally got the gumption to get ready and head out to breakfast - which went well. I love Strawn's (may need to go back for a couple slices of ice box pie later).

We drove by a few garage sales, but we didn't find anything.

Then Bean projectile vomited at the last garage sale.

So we came home.

Husband set the TV up in his room temporarily and they are in there relaxing and watching Indiana Jones. I mowed the lawn ... on the hottest day of the year. (So, I'm going to skip my walk today.) Moose toddled around outside, sometimes following me his play lawn mower.

Made some gift card holders yesterday for Christmas and am hoping to work on the cards some more today.

I am still trying to figure out the blog situation. I like writing about my kiddos AND scrapbooking AND writing AND reading AND my homesteading experiments (not to be confused with running a grow house), but I don't want all the family stuff public, but I do want to share the other stuff publicly. Still haven't found the right answer, so I'll have to think about it some more.

Oh, and something I don't want to forget:

If I leave my car unlocked, sometimes Moose will get himself in the drivers seat and turn all sorts of buttons and levers. When I first get in the car, I have to turn a turn signal off (sometimes the emergency blinkers) and the windshield wipers. Then, hours later, when I go back to my car and it's dark, I turn on the lights ... my brights are on too. It just makes me smile.

Christmas in July

I am on it.

I got the bases of my Christmas cards cut up and scored today. I even purchased my first Christmas gift for someone! I'm hoping to have all my Christmas hoopla complete by Halloween, so I can participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It's good motivation and will hopefully make for a smooth holiday season. It'll be so quiet this year - more than likely no extended family and no House of Toys or House of Trees. Regardless, we will make it a Merry Little Christmas.

I have my "to buy" list written out. The kids and I went to Hobby Lobby where, for the first time, I was thrilled they already had their Christmas stuff out. We got some nice craft kits to make a few gifts and they had all their glassware 50-percent off - I got several jars for things like dried herbs (hey, ladies from my writing group will love it) and dry mixes (for the neighbors).

So, remember my dishwasher detergent? I ran one load of dishes, and they were fine. The next two loads, however, are awful. Ugh, we'll be washing dishes BEFORE putting them in the dishwasher until we use up all this lousy stuff. I shouldn't make a final verdict just yet, but it's not looking good.

The boys and I had a really good day. Don't get me wrong, I still needed to escape to the book store after my husband got home (where I bought a magazine that I thought was about urban homesteading but is mostly about growing weed indoors ... I'm too embarrassed to return it).

We went to the dollar store and bought 15 tubs to sort the Lego blocks into (mainly by color). Aside from Bean's two largest (and, umm, most expensive) sets, all the sets are mixed together. The playroom often looks like Lake Lego - you must wade through them to get to anything else. Their wooden trains have been put away in favor of Legos. I step on Legos all day ... they find their way into nearly every room of the house. By some miracle, I haven't vacuumed any up yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

I actually did a little bit of research on "Lego block storage" BEFORE deciding on a system. By set would be my first choice, but it's so tedious to find each piece and put it back together like that. By color is an easy ways for the boys to help. It's not flawless, but hopefully it'll be better.

Also, Moose added the following to his vocabulary:

"I need help."
"Trash can."

What a wordsmith.

Bean's Valentine's Day

Here is Bean celebrating Valentine's Day with his classmates (I don't think you can make any of their faces out too well, so I think it's OK to post). Also, there are the valentines that Bean and I worked on. Let me tell you, three stickers are no comparison to HUGE suckers and BIG boxes of chalk candy. One girl gave GIFT BAGS to the entire class. What am I missing here? In 22 years we went from paper and an occasional sucker to entire GIFT BAGS? Wow. Anyway, it was a fun party. I helped the kids make valentine cards for their parents.

End of February, Where Yat?

Another month of 2010 has come and is nearly gone.

So, where am I at on those New Years Resolutions?

• Read Harry Potter 5, 6, and 7. DONE!
• Save up to buy an SLR camera. Still have that same $50 saved up, but I haven't added to it.
  
• Value myself more. Hair and makeup are rarely getting done. Haven't been to the gym all month. I did join Weight Watchers, though, and am having success with that. I do feel better, so that counts for something.
• Cut TV time. Some days are better than others. Overall, I do think I've cut out a lot of mindless TV watching most days.
• Rework my novella into a novel. Haven't written a thing. Haven't worked on a thing.
• Enter 3 writing contests. See above.
• Participate in Eat from the Pantry Challenge. DONE!
• Submit 1 piece of writing to an editor. See previous answers.
• Commit to housework schedule. Absolutely not. This month, I've taken a couple loads to the Consignment Shop on base and packed several boxes. So, umm, there's less to clean. That's something!
• Begin bucket list. DONE!
• Update blogs three times a week. Still struggling with this. I'm not sure what I want to be where. I've been toying with keeping this blog just about the kids and family and converting my rants (like, umm, about cheese and vampires) and other items to my public blog. Regarding my paper crafting blog, I'm starting to wonder if I should scale back on the paper crafting and start writing again. I just don't think I have the time to be a crafter and a writer.
• Attend 2 scrapbook retreats. Nothing yet, but it'll happen.
• Make money blogging. Also wondering if this is what I want. I don't want a blog created to make money. I want a great blog, and if I get the traffic and then add some ads that create some revenue, then that's great. But my goal is not to blog for money.

Some other interesting things:


Since the New Year, I have purchased seven stamp sets (most second-hand) and adhesive. I haven't spent a dime at Michaels or Hobby Lobby on crafting items. You might think seven stamp sets is A LOT, but, trust me, it's nothing compared to my usual shopping habits. I'm pretty proud of myself and a bit disgusted by how much I have. I had three boxes of stuff to sell/donate and only have one box left now! I'm getting to a place where I know and use what I have. It's a great feeling. (Don't get me wrong, I still have a disgusting amount of stuff, but there's marked improvement.)

I'm feeling better about the school search in Louisiana. I think I'm down to two public schools that I'd find acceptable. They have good ratings and reputations, from what I've gathered through obsessive internet searching. They're in an area of town that I think my family would enjoy living in - near the university and "things to do" (a lot of the better ranking schools tend to be in less desirable neighborhoods, and I like to live within walking distance of the school). Rentals are hard to come by (at least online), but housing prices are fairly reasonable (more than here, but not that much more). Buying isn't out first choice, since we may only be there for a year. I'm guessing, though, that even losing a bit of money on the house would still be cheaper than private school tuition and outrageous pet deposits. We'll see. But I am feeling more positive about it.

The boys have pictures today! We are meeting a photographer at the Train Museum. Ever since Bean was born (almost 5 years ago!), we have gone to JCPenney's exclusively. We had a membership, and you couldn't beat the prices. It has since expired and, overall, the JCP here is just not as nice as the JCP in Indianapolis, so I'm in no rush to go back. I found this photographer online. She's fairly new to the business, so her rates are super reasonable. I'm so, so eager to see how they turn out.

Finally, I need to sell about $250 worth of Tastefully Simple this month to stay active. So. Send me some orders (and thanks to my friends who have already ordered). I'll cut you a great deal.

Side Step Card - Fairy Tale Birthday

This is called a Side Step Card ... because there are steps on one side, of course :) For directions, check out this post by Julie Davison. I colored these images some time ago and just set them aside. The Side Step Card technique is a great way to showcase lots of detailed images. Be careful that you leave room for a sentiment, though - I almost didn't have any.

Recipe: Stamps from Stampin' Up Dreams & Dragons, Ink from Memento.

Stained Glass

I spent six hours today learning about and creating stained glass. Oh. My. Goodness.

I knew it wasn't going to be easy (umm, that's why I decided to take a class and not just teach myself), but I had NO idea how tedious it would be. The actual process is actually easier than I was expecting. The scoring and breaking is fun ... but the grinding! Oh, the grinding! I stood at the grinder for the better part of the day and kept thinking, "If this way paper, I could just trim it!"

I have HOMEWORK, people. Because I'm the third SLOWEST person in the class. There are two people slower than me ... and English is their second language. I very CLEARLY understand every word out of the instructors mouth, and I'm just flipping slow.

So, I am now copper-foiling all my pieces and will play with the sauder gun next Saturday. That's right, I'm learning about stained glass and did not even touch sauder today, because I am so slow.

It'll look fabulous when it's done. One day, when I have wide stretches of time and a real studio to work in I can see enjoying making stained glass projects and selling them (and I'm now well aware as to why stained glass pieces cost so much - the materials are expensive and the time involved in one piece is lots).

All in all, I love learning something new and artistic, but rubber stamps and ink remain my first loves.

Now that I think about: I once thought embossing was difficult and wasn't that impressed with the Cricut the first time I used it. You know, I've been wrong before. Stained glass might just win me over yet :)


The finished product will have a stained glass border as well and be framed out with hooks, so I can hide show it off.

Have I Posted These?

A few weeks ago, Husband took Bean and our neighbor's kiddo to a classmate's birthday party at The Other Place. On the way home, the two of them (Bean and our neighbor's kiddo) were talking about their dads and talking about how their dads could fix anything and how their did built that. (That is an out-of-business go kart track ... and neither of their dads built it. I think the place was out of business before either of their dads was ever born.) Anyway, it was highly competitive.

Our Neighbor's Kiddo: Well, my daddy has a gun.
Bean: My mama has a gun [dramatic pause] for tape.

It still cracks me up. (And, yes, I do have a serious tape gun. I'm a serious paper crafter, people!)

Also, another great conversation about sweet Moose's conversation skills.

Bean: "Mama, we not know what he say because he speaks Spanish."

It's been months since that little tidbit, and I'm still laughing.

A Toucan of Friendship Altered Notebook

I picked up a set of 8 mini notebooks for $2 from Big Lots the other day. They look like a million bucks after a bit of stamping :) The notebook itself is stamped with hearts, then I added the ribbon to the binding for a fun look. The image is attached with a "sleeve" that holds that whole thing together (simply remove ... and toss, if you must) to use it!

The throw away part? Much of the ribbon came from a random bag of stuff I got from a retreat - I often end up throwing these bits and pieces away. All the paper was from my scrap drawer as well.

I am swapping these out for other Valentine's Day-themed items, but I have two left. I think they'll make great teachers' gifts for my son.

The toucan from A Toucan of My Love stamp set is one of my absolute favorites. It's just so darn clever.

Recipe: stamps from Stampin' Up, ink from Staz-On and Memento, other from Copic, Michaels, and miscellaneous.

Retreat

Yesterday morning, I arrived home from my very first scrapbooking retreat!

It was a last-minute decision to go, so I went alone ... into the deep, dark mountains of southern Oklahoma ... responding to an ad ... that I saw on Craig's List.

While Husband encouraged me to go, he did question if the retreat was legit. "Are you sure it's not just some people trying to lure you into the middle of nowhere and kill you," he asked. "Hmm, I don't know. I don't think so. They have a website," I told him.

Anyway, I arrived to the cabin and texted my husband. I texted him again the next morning and again. I thought it was strange that I hadn't heard from him. Saturday afternoon, one of the organizers asked if anyone knew this phone number. Apparently, someone had called the organizer's home number (where her husband answered) and now her husband was convinced that someone was coming out to the woods to kill a few dozen scrapbookers ...

As it turns out, I had no reception in the downstairs on the cabin and my texts hadn't gone through, and I wasn't receiving my husband's text. He found the ad on Craig's List and called the phone number and then refused to identify himself or me (because he didn't want to tell some strange guy that his wife was out in the middle of nowhere).

I used another girl's phone (AT&T got reception out there) to call Husband and let him know I was OK. The organizer called her husband to let him know that it was just " a husband" and not a killer who had a vendetta against paper crafters.

The retreat was great! About 30 women in a big cabin with all out supplies. I was the only one who arrived alone, but I quickly found plenty of people to talk to. I completed cards and layouts and border sets and lots of other fun stuff. They fed us meals and did our dishes (that alone was worth the registration fee). Aside from washing my own face and brushing my teeth, I wasn't responsible for anything other than crafting! I got to try out a fellow scrapper's ATG Gun (a sort of tape gun that was intended for profressional framers but has also gained a reputation for being PERFECT for paper crafters ... if you buy in bulk, a 300-foot refill is only $1, compared the $1.75 I pay for 30 feet for my current tape gun). The ATG Gun is awesome, and I can't wait till Christmas for one ... so I must get one immediately (only sold online)!

I would love to say that the time away recharged me, but I only slept for maybe 11 hours the entire weekend! It recharged me in other ways, but I was certainly tired Sunday night! I was up till 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. both nights (with several ladies, most of whom were much older than me). The last night, my 74-year-old table neighbor was up right there with me. I hope I'm still heading off to scrapbook retreats at 74! It was so cool to be in an environment where I could say things like "swap" and "Splitcoast" and "border set" and "emboss" and "Crystal Effects" and "ATG" and people knew was I was talking about! Oh, and some of the supplies these people hauled ... I look like an amature (and, if you've seen my ROOM FULL OF STUFF, you would know that I have lots). There were FIVE sets of mothers and daughters on the retreat, so I may just have to birth a girl and in 15 or so years, I can be one of those sets.

I received a lot of compliments on my work, so maybe I do have good taste (in crafting, at least) after all.

A new technique I discovered and have fallen in love with is embroidery on paper. I simply must head out and get some floss and needles and templates to do this with. I'm generally not a fan of sewing (but I sometimes forget and end up making things like curtains and costumes), so I never thought of trying it out ... but I love it! It's such a unique and custom look. Very special.

So, yes, I had a GREAT TIME! I was certainly ready to get home and see my boys, though, after two nights away.

I'm hoping to make it to the May retreat (they have one in May and one in November). Maybe I'll even have some friends to bring along? Any takers?

Negative Cut Cards

So, after using my Cricut to cut a few dozen letters, I'm left with sheets like this:
I hang on to these, because I am (a) a pack rat and (b) will make great use of them one day. Seriously, though, they accumulate far faster than I can use them. They snag on my other scraps, and it's time to toss them out. Before I do that, though, I can make these: Recipes: (TOP CARD) Cardstock from my scrap drawer, Stamps from Stampin' Up All About U, Ink from Stampin' Up Craft White and Green Galore, Embellishments from The Paper Studio and Stampin' Up Chalks. (BOTTOM CARD) Cardstock from my scrap drawer, Stamps from Stampin' Up Trendy Trees, Ink from Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel and Green Galore, Embellishments from Stampin' Up Window Punch.

Card Box

It's one of those pay periods where you have to make the paycheck last through three weekends instead of just two. In most every way, these pay periods stink. One good thing, though, is that it forces you to dig through the freezer and find forgotten food. Today I found breaded shrimp (score!) and au gratin potatoes from Omaha Steakhouse (even better than shrimp!).

After lunch, I was left with a box much like:It's a sturdy, fabulous box. I've almost kept a few in the past, but my husband would move out if I kept every item that had potential :) Today, though, I got right to work. I suspected the box was the perfect size to hold two stacks of A2-sized cards side-by-side. My suspicions were correct:



My husband actually suggested the divider in the middle, to keep the two stacks from falling into one another. Very smart! Each side holds about 12 cards with envelopes or 24 cards on one side and 24 envelopes on the other. Pretty nice! I ran the chipboard embellishment through some Pixie Pink ink and applied some paper and brads for a "knob."

I started out by spray painting the box, inside and out. I then measured and cut my paper and Modge Podged one side. Pretty easy.

Things I learned: The thinner the paper, the better. I originally started out with a thicker cardstock, and it was quickly a disaster - too thick for the Modge Podge to really hold well. Today's piece of trash was almost in the trash before I tried some thinner scraps. I also recommend using a brayer, it gets all those air bubbles out for a nice hold.

Recipe: Paper and embellishments from The Paper Studio, Ink from SU.

Packing Tape Technique Tutorial

Welcome to my first Technique Tuesday. I read about "Packing Tape Technique" on a forum today. For what I've done, all you need is packing tape, water, and an image from a magazine.

First, find your image. I got mine from the latest Oriental Trading Scrapbook magazine. It's a set of fanned out Halloween patterned paper:

Cut your image out:
Pull out a piece of packing tape:
Press your image down on the packing tape. Get 'er all pressed down, you don't air bubbles:
Drop it in some water and let soak till soaked through:
Lightly dry it off. You might want to use a microfiber towel so you don't get any lint. I sort of thought the lint added to the cool look. You don't want it bone dry, just not dripping:
The soaked paper will easily pull off:
Keep peeling:
In the end, you'll have a transparency! Cool stuff:
I stuck it on some white cardstock. I needed some additional adhesive, since my image covered the tape from edge to edge:
Trimmed it up and made a pretty card with something that was headed to the compost:


Recipe: Cardstock from The Paper Company; stamp from Stampin' Up; embellishments from The Paper Studio

Sweet & Sassy

Well, someone at Splitcoast had the clever idea to do a "Sweet & Sassy" card swap. I signed up or a spot in each catagory and chose to match it with a sketch challenge from Splitcoast. Sweet Angel is for SC239 and Sassy Peacock is for SC238.

Sweet Card Recipe: Stamps from Stampin' Up! (Heavenly Days), Ink from Memento (Tuxedo Black), Pencils from Stampin' Up!, Paper from The Paper Company and The Paper Studio, Embellishments from The Paper Studio (Spare Parts).

Sassy Card Recipe: Stamps from Unity Stamping Company (Hey Chick!), Ink from Memento (Tuxedo Black) and Stampin' Up! (Green Galore), Markers from Copic, Paper from The Paper Company and The Paper Studio, Embellishments from Jo-Anns.

Happenings

Last Saturday, I had a planning meeting with the M&Ms group. (I'm on the steering committee. Oh, and M&Ms stands for Moms & Munchkins.) We planned out an entire year of meetings - themes, food, speakers, etc. It was actually ::not:: that bad. We've carried over some of our popular themes (finances, PJ night, Christmas Party) and added some new ones (marriage, which will have a bridal shower theme, and personalities, where will take a couple tests). I think it's going to be a fun year! We also decided on a regular play date and possibly introducing a quarterly Bunco night.

I also applied for my first design team! The four spots are open till August 15. I assume (though, I really have no idea) they'll have their decisions made by the end of the month. We'll see. I totally dig their stamps, and I would love, love to work with them!

Also, a few guys in my husband's "assignment year" (or something like that) got their assignments. Everyone got something good (probably their first or second choice, we would guess), so we're not sure if that's good or bad news. It could mean everyone is going to get their first or second choice. It could mean those first round of guys took all the "good" stuff. It could mean nothing. It probably means nothing. There are always rumors of this or that, but nothing can be confirmed. We can just be happy for the guys who got their assignments and be happy with whatever we get. My husband has done his best, so we'll just keep waiting.

Oh, and Cappie (our beta fish) died Monday. Yet another example of my inability to keep a small pet alive. The dumb thing lived through three weeks of my husband feeding it one pellet a day (he misunderstood what I said, to feed it one or two pellets twice a day), but I get home and clean its home and it ups and dies on me. Dumb fish.

Checked Toille Tri-Shutter Card

Tri-Shutter cards are one of my favorite things! I'm making these for a black and white card swap. The patterened paper features French toille, checks, and stripes. A tutorial on the tri-shutter card technique is available at The Craftiblog. It's actually very easy and looks like a million bucks (OK, maybe not a million, but it's sure fancy.)

Recipe: Paper from Hobby Lobby and SU!, Embellishments from Prima, The Paper Studio, and Michaels