A Winter's day

Well 2008 has really started out to be something else here in Walla Walla. First the horrible wind storm on January 4th and then yesterday we got hit with a snow storm. - Mind you I am so NOT a "winter" person so if it sounds like I'm whining & complaining I AM! - We had some freezing rain on Saturday night so it made going to church a little difficult yesterday morning and then when church let out it started snowing & it continued to snow the rest of the day. This morning my poor car had so much snow on it and dear hubby didn't think I was going to need to get out so he didn't shovel it off for me like he normally does. Oh well...as he did have to come home and help me get backed out of the drive so I could take Coleen to her pre-school. Most of the roads have been plowed so I was able to get around. I am just so looking forward to Spring and hope that this stuff doesn't last to long. I told hubby today WE NEED A GARAGE! - If we ever move from where we are living now that is my No.1 requirement for a new house, one that has a garage. It doesn't snow all that often here in Walla Walla but when it does I don't want to be out there shoveling the stuff off my car before I can drive anywhere. - Okay enough whining. Enjoy your day & stay warm.

I shot an arrow - BCG Wk. 31 Layout Challenge

It's Friday and that means it's time for another Blogger's Challenge Group challenge. This week our challenge was to use the layout feature on Pg. 141 of the SU Spring/Summer catalog. (see photo at left).

Okay I must admit that when I saw the layout I seriously considered skipping out on this week. I did not like that layout at all. However....I decided to go ahead with the challenge and see what I could come up with. After several attempts at getting my layout just the way I wanted it to be I finally came up with this card. I'm happy with how it turned out & hope you enjoy it too.

Card base is Whisper White which I covered with a piece of textured Ruby Red card stock.

I added a strip of Whisper White, Pretty in Pink and Designer Paper (OOH LA LA CUPID - by BO-BUNNY PRESS) and added the piercing.

I stamped my Cupid (HERO ARTS) on Whisper White card stock with Ruby Red Ink, cut out one wing with an X-acto knife and highlighted the wings with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. The edges were distressed with the Cutter Kit & Ruby Red ink. Then I added a small piece of embossed Pretty in Pink card stock (Cuttlebug Hearts embossing folder) and pierced the top.

I stamped the Love sentiment (Hero Arts) with Ruby ink and added a tiny red heart (JoAnn's), then layered on the Pretty in Pink scallop (SU) and pierced this as well. The Scallop & Focal Image were raised up with dimensional tape.

While this may not have been a favorite layout I think it met the challenge and I had fun doing it. Be sure to check out all the other great samples. You can find the Blogger's Challenge Group on my side bar.

Techno Monday Sketch Challenge

Technostamper, Mary Jo Price-Williams started her own Monday Sketch Challenge. I didn't join the group doing the sketches but decided to participate in today's sketch anyway. So without further ado here is my sketch challenge card.

Card Stock: Purely Pomegrante, Basic Black, Designer Paper by, Heidi Swapp, Colorbox and Bazzill.

Stamps : Owl by Inkadinkado and Sentiment (SU-Holidays and Wishes).

Ink: Purely Pomegrante

Other: Spica Pink Glitter Pen, Island Blossom Dew Drops, Frosted Lace Stickles, Piercing Tool & Foam Mounting Tape

This turned out really cute (IMO) and I had a great time making it. Thanks for a fun sketch Mary Jo.

Do check out her blog as well as the other's who have done this sketch.

Color Challenge and Birthday Wishes

This week I decided to "kill 3 birds with one stone" so to speak. For the Blogger's challenge group our challenge this week was a "Color" challenge using, Blue Bayou, River Rock, and Real Red. It's an odd combination (IMHO) so I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to use the colors. We could use Whisper White or Very Vanilla as well.

Over on Julee Tilman's blog: http://poeticartistry.blogspot.com/ she has a Sketch Challenge on Monday's so I took MojoMonday - Week 20's sketch above and used it for my card.

Since today is also my mom's 79th birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!) I decided to make the card a birthday card for her.

So without further ado here are the particulars of this card. Card base: Blue Bayou, River Rock, Whisper White (stamped with River Rock and Blue Bayou ink) and distressed with the Cutter Kit and Blue Bayou ink. Then I added a small strip of Real Red which I ran through the Cuttlebug and layered onto River Rock. The bird image was stamped in Blue Bayou and the sentiment (Papertreyink) was stamped with River Rock. I also distressed the edges with the Cutter Kit and River Rock ink. I added faux red gem stones and some Waterfall Stickles (on the birds eye and flower centers). The flowers were stamped in Real Red ink and punched out with the 1/2" Circle Punch then layered on River Rock and Blue Bayou punched with 3/4" and 1" Circle Punches. The circles and the focal image were raised with dimensional tape.

Now this card seems a bit "BUSY" to me so I'm not entirely thrilled with it so I hope that my mom likes it. Just in case I bought her a card too! (LOL) - So let me know what you think and be sure to check out all the other great blogs as well to see how they used this Color Combination and go to Julee's blog as well as she has some great stuff there as well.

Always - Everything to Me

This is the 2nd card we're doing for my Stamp Club meeting this week. I absolutely LOVE this bird image. I wanted to showcase how you can use this set in a variety of ways. This card could be used for a Friendship, Birthday, Mother's Day or even a Valentine's Day card. It's so bright & cheerful looking (in my opinion).

My card base is Only Orange (a color I usually only use at Halloween). I stamped the Dotted Background stamp with Versamark ink on the card base.

Then I cut a strip of Old Olive and pierced it. Next a layer of Tempting Turquoise and finally a layer of Bali Breeze Designer paper.

I stamped the bird image on Whisper White card stock with Tempting Turquoise ink and stamped the sentiment with Old Olive ink. I rounded the corners and layered it to a piece of Apricot Appeal card stock. Then I stamped the flower with Only Orange ink and cut it out. I added an Apricot brad to the center and Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the flower petals for some sparkle. This was mounted with dimensional tape to complete the card.

Always - On My Mind

The very first set that caught my attention in the Spring/Summer catalog was (Always). I loved the elegant look of the heart and the bird image is so pretty. I wanted to make a Valentine card with this set and found this great card by, juliemlacey here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/770839?cat=12461 and decided to "CASE" it.

I changed a few of the details but it's pretty much her card idea and I wanted to give her the credit & the "thanks" since I'll be using this for one of my Stamp Club projects this week.

The card base is Whisper White with a layer of Purely Pomegranate and then a layer of Basic Gray card stock. I added the piercing at the top and bottom of the gray piece using the Crafter's Tool Kit. Next I added a layer of Bali Breeze Designer Paper (those flowers are just so pretty) and tied some Gray Satin ribbon around it. I'd been wanting to use that ribbon since I first bought it so this was a great time to do so. I also added the 3 silver brads and stamped the sentiment with Basic Gray ink. Since there are no markers in the Pomegranate and Basic Gray inks I had to stamp 2 separate hearts and cut out the Gray one and layered it over the Pomegranate one. Then I raised this up on dimensional tape to complete my card.

I'll be sharing another card with this set tomorrow so be sure to check back.

Layout Challenge

This week we were challenge to use the layout on the "Save the Date" card found on page 37 in the Spring/Summer Collection. At first I thought there was no way I was going to be able to use that layout. It just didn't appeal to me at all. I had no time yesterday to stamp which was a "good thing" because my hubby cut out my new stamp set: (Always) this morning and I had a "light bulb" moment and decided to go with that set for my challenge card.

I also wanted to use some of the Purely Pomegranate & Wild Wasabi inks and card stock that I bought entire packages of and have yet to use much of it, even though I like the colors. I started with a Whisper White base and added a strip of Pomegranate stamped with the Canvas BG to give it the textured look. Then I added a strip of white stamped in Wasabi ink with the "You mean everything to me" sentiment and added some piercing to the side. I used a piece of my new Bali Breeze designer paper (aren't those flowers pretty?) and then cut a small strip of Wasabi card stock & crimped it. I then added a punched layer (Fiskars Border Punch) of Soft Sky. I stamped the large bird image (I love that bird!) in Soft Sky ink. Then I stamped the larger sentiment "Everything" in Pomegranate ink onto the bird image. I stamped a small flower in Wasabi ink cut it out and mounted it on the bird image with dimensional tape. You can't see it in the scan but the flowers on the designer paper, the small Wasabi flower and the birds eye have been dotted with a clear Spica Glitter pen that I purchased here:http://www.ellenhutson.com/servlet/Categories?category=COPIC+Corner%3AGlitter+Pens I had never tried them before but now that I have I can say that they are just "Way Cool" and add a nice sparkle to your cards.

Be sure to check out all the other great creations. There are a couple of new members to the group, Nikki Bond - Military Wife Stampin Spot and Amber Porter - Ramblings of a Sassy Stamper so be sure to WELCOME them to the group. - Good to have you aboard ladies!

2008 Roars In With The Wind

JANUARY 4, 2008 - Will certainly go down in "history" here in Walla Walla, WA. - My mom & I started out that morning to take some flowers out to the cemetery as it was the anniversary of my dads death 10 years ago. It seemed a bit windy outside but I thought, "Hey we might as well take the flowers out anyway" even though my mom questioned my judgement. Just as we pulled up to the cemetery entrance we discovered the gates were locked. Right then a gigantic tree inside the cemetery came crashing to the ground. Needless to say I was more then willing to head back home at that point. We had Coleen with us and the poor little girl was scared of all the wind and noise so I had to get her inside and calmed down. Once we got back home we discovered that our power was out. I kept noticing people driving down our street suddenly turning up one of the side streets instead of going on down the street and I wondered why so I ventured outside and discovered the reason, a tree just down the street from us had fallen across the power lines. I took Coleen over to my mom's and braved the elements to walk down the street and take a few photo's. It was a LONG day without power. My husband was out of town and I had a difficult time contacting him as my Cell Phone battery was nearly dead and then the service kept going out. He had to drive back to town with a truck and trailer and got home about 4:00 pm safe & sound! - Our power was restored about 5:00 that evening thankfully. As of today there are still homes without power even though the power company has had 22 crews working round the clock to try and restore power. Our parks and the cemetery look like disaster areas. Some of these pictures were taken the day after the storm. It was just amazing to see the damage that was done. The last official wind report that day clocked the winds at 78 mph. but they said they were probably much higher but they lost their tracking ability so there wasn't any way to say if they were or not.

We still don't have our Cable back on yet which is a bit of an inconvenience but hey, we only lost a few branches from our fir trees and had our power back on relatively quickly so I am not going to complain. It is a blessing that nothing worse happened at our place or my mom's and for that we thank the Lord.

Let's just hope that as 2008 progresses there won't be any more repeats of this historic storm.

In Love with Pink & Brown

This is my very first card of 2008! - When I saw that the challenge for the Bloggers Challenge Group was a color challenge and that the colors were Pink & Brown I just knew I had to create a card for this challenge. I had the "perfect" paper sitting in my storage cabinet so I got it out and started trying to figure out how I was going to use it.

I looked through my February issue of Crafts n Things (the magazine that bought The Rubber Stamper) and I found a really cute card on page 91 by Stephanie David that I really liked so I went with her layout idea for my card.

I started with a card base of Pretty In Pink (one of my favorites as it's so soft & delicate). Then I added a layer of the Paisley print (Making Memories) and topped that with a scalloped punched border (Fiskars) of Pixie Pink and some Brown satin ribbon (American Crafts). I had purchased a Paisley Heart stamp (Hero Arts) a couple of years back and figured it would be perfect for the designer paper I used. I stamped the heart with Pixie Pink ink on Very Vanilla and cut it out. Then I stamped the "Love" sentiment (Hero Arts) with Chocolate Chip ink. I layered this on Pretty in Pink card stock with a layer of Chocolate Chip & two brown brads (Not sure who these are from anymore). I love how it turned out & hope you do as well.

Make sure you check out the other challenge members blogs to see their work. I am off to do that myself! It's good to be back again. Happy 2008 to everyone!

A Tribute to my Dad

Henry Peter Antes - May 27th 1920-January 4th 1998

It's hard to believe that 10 years have already passed since my dad passed away. The memories of that night will be forever in my mind.

My niece's had been away for Christmas in Mexico so we were celebrating a late Christmas with them that evening. My husband and our kids had went down to my parents house to pick them up and take them with us to my sister-in-laws. Dad got up from the chair he was sitting in and asked me if we had everything and I said, "Yes, Come on dad, let's go."

We walked outside and as I started to get in the van I happened to catch my dad falling on their carport and yelled out that he had fallen. We all rushed right over and my husband dialed 911 immediately. There was an off duty Paramedic driving by who stopped in and started CPR right away but we knew that my dad was gone as his skin had already turned an ashen gray color. Still the ambulance arrived and they transported him to the hospital. Other family members were summoned and they worked on my dad until my mom told my oldest brother to tell them to stop. It was a very traumatic time for our family & for my mom as well. They told us that my dad either had a massive heart attack or that his heart basically exploded. It was just such a shock and hit each of us very hard and in different ways. Our family has been forever changed by my dads death but his memory lives on in our hearts.

My dad was a kind man. He loved hunting, fishing, bowling, stamp collecting, his model train, cats & his dog Rosie (who has also since passed on) - He was a hard worker and even worked 2 jobs when we were younger to make sure that his family had food on the table & clothes to wear. He & my mom were married 47 years before he passed away and while they didn't always have a perfect marriage they loved each other very much. I was always "daddy's little girl" even as an adult and being his only daughter made me even more of a daddy's girl (if that's possible). He was a "people" person and loved being out with other people and joking with them. One of his favorite things to do was walk up to someone and asked them what they had spilt on their shirt and when they would look down he'd tweak their nose. I have so many fun memories of my dad & I just wanted to say how much I loved him and how much I still miss him.

Rest in Peace Dad, I know you are in a better place now & someday I'll see you again. Love Always, Your little girl.