The boss' bday and late father's day

My boss likes coffee and she's always cold, so I made her a coffee themed fleece tie blanket. This is the card I made to go with it. I used a rose colored paper I've had forever - it may or may not be Bazzill. The flowers are paper studio and just silk flowers with a dew drop in the center. The stamps are flourishes, which I had to redo 4 times because I had a five year old trying to "help" me. The dp is from Me and My Big Ideas.

My ex-husband's grandma recently moved into a nursing home. He got a lot of her recipes. So, my daughter came up with the idea of making him a recipe box. He has this print hanging in his dining room. So, I suggested printing a bunch of french pictures and doing a collage with this as the focal point. I think it turned out pretty well.

The card is made with the same print and is very simple. I just used a nestability and some dots. The smaller black frame is handcut, because nestabilities still hasn't granted my wish and made the in between sizes that I need for this shape! C'mon guys - get to it. I promise to be first in line to buy them!

Time to celebrate Pamikins week and a new pic of the mascot

Yes, that's right, another year has gone by and it's Pamikins week again. What? You've never heard of such a thing. Well, my sister Pam, decided many years ago that one day wasn't nearly enough time for her husband to spoil her as much as she deserves to be spoiled on her birthday, so Pamikins week was born. The nice thing about this is that her birthday is tomorrow, but since it lasts a whole week, this card won't be late! I used the SU set "Just Beachy". I stamped the fish and the surf wagon, colored them with copics and cut them out. I cut the circles with my nesties and stamped the fishes on the Cosmo Cricket wave dp circle. Then I adheared the cut out fish over them and added some google eyes, just for fun. Then I drove the surf wagon around the red circle. The base of the card is a tomatoey red cardstock paired with summer sun (SU) and a limey bazzill. Then more Cosmo Cricket dp. I was trying to decide upon what to add to the card when I remembered seeing a ribbon blossom like this about a hundred years ago. So, I pulled out a bunch of green ribbon and VIOLA! Happy birthday Pami!

And, for those of you who've been wondering what Wasabi has grown up like, here's a new picture of her. She rarely comes and sleeps on my desk anymore - she sticks to Kai's little chair in my studio. But, last night she came and got right up in the middle of everything, so I snapped this shot. Cute, huh?

A jewelry day

I started this necklace last night. I did the first two strands and then wanted a heart with drill holes going through it widthwise, rather than lengthwise. I looked everywhere for one or even a pendant heart. No luck - who woulda thunk it?? Anyway, I went to the dollar store to buy cat litter at the end of the day and found this on a bracelet, which matched the other heart beads really well. So, I'm finished. This is the first 3 tiered necklace I've made that's turned out very well.

Her loss, my gain

I tried to talk my mom out of buying this set. She has the SU set of wild animals - they aren't silhouettes and she thought she'd put them with the tree. I told her that she wouldn't like it. But, she didn't listen. So, now it's mine!

This is a bookmark for one of my son's Sunday school teachers. This Sunday is recognition Sunday. His teachers are a married couple who's granddaughter is in the class and they are so nice.

Kai asked me if I would make them a thank you card, but I figured I'd rather make them something they could use.

I started with post its, pumpkin pie, marigold morning, more mustard, cameo coral, brilliant blue, not quite navy and night of navy inks. After a few mishaps (I haven't used a brayer in a while), I got this, which I was ok with. The brayer, if you haven't ever used it, has quite a learning curve (at least for me). After inking the background, I stamped the silhouettes and inked the edges slightly with black, then mounted it on brilliant blue cardstock. I stamped the sentiment on marigold morning cardstock and inked it with pumpkin pie and a little black before mounting it on brilliant blue as well. The base is brilliant blue, layered with pumpkin pie. I hope that Kai's teacher likes this and gets some use out of it. I'm planning to make his wife a book thong with my beads, but not tonight - I'm tired.

No stampin' today

My parents are coming for a cookout on this, the 3rd day of the 3 day weekend. A day for family and remembering those we've lost. Nothing is going as planned. I've been trying to get the house clean and there's still much to do. I have a closet in my studio full of stuff and I want to get it cleaned out. My bedroom, I'm embarrassed to admit looks like my closet threw up - clothes everywhere, on my dresser and my desk that need to be hung up and a clothes basket full of clothes that need to be put in the dresser. Why do I stress about this - because I want to be perfect. I know that I can't be. But, I guess I want to come as close as I can.
I fall short in every area of my life: as a mom, as an employee, as a daughter, a friend and as a person. I want to be the best person I can be. I can't be perfect, so why does anything less than that seem like failure.
And, I like most, try to think of a quick fix cure for whatever isn't perfect. There is no quick fix cure. I've made a schedule for our family to keep the house clean and if we follow it, the house will be clean. Still, there will always be things that aren't on that schedule - it still won't be perfect. I will always fall short, no matter how hard I strive - so why does it upset me so much. Do I really think that other people have it all together and I'm the only one like this? No, I do know that everyone has problems. So, why do I still, even after recognizing all of this feel like I'm less than I should be.

Naked baby fishin'

I made this for my ex-grandma-in-law's bday. She likes the kewpies and I do, too. I colored them with copics, stardust pens and a white pen. The dp is from SU. It is paired with wild wasabi, bashful blue and so saffron. The flowers are paper studio. The ribbon is SU. The button is from my lss.

Chi-hua-hua

Yeah - who wouldn't want a chihuahua on their birthday cake? This is another new stamp from doggonestamps.com. I colored it with copics and souffle' pens. The dp is Two scoops from Basic Grey. It's paired with pirouette pink and wild wasabi. The ribbon is from Walmart.