Halloween card candy

I have a couple of really late Halloween posts that for some reason didn't get posted when I posted them.

A few weeks ago I decided I would start doing card candy again on the SCS swappers forum. Card candy is a quick fix for those of us that at not so patient but want to create something quick and easy. I like card candy satisfies twice...once when you are creating it you get a sense of accomplishment quickly and secondly when you use the card candy to make a card.

This swap was for 2 sets of 6 pieces of candy each. Both of these sets were made using Stampin Up! card stock, stamps, and punches. I love Stickles from Ranger and tend to use it judiciously in all my card candy. There is some glitter card stock from my stash and a few Dew Drop or Skittles clear decorative beads.




Lots of fun making this card candy!

Joans Garden Challenge #11

I decided that one of the things I would like to do in my semiretired state was to play along with some of the challenges I see on line all the time. This week Joan Fricker at Joan's Garden has a challenge that runs from one Thursday till the next. This weeks challenge was to make a tag out of grunge board or something a bit heavier than card stock. Joan's Garden is one of my favorite online places to shop for scrap booking and stamping stuf. Joan has all sorts of awesome stuff in her store and she does awesome work as a crafter.

I didn't have any grunge board to make my tag out of but I did have some left over chipboard tags from a book I made last year. I covered it with Tim Holtz Paper and embellished it with Tim's film ribbon, grunge board flourish inked with the distress ink aged mahogany, distressed the card with antique linen and Victorian velvet. The stamps are from the Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous line.




Embellishments are from Tim Holtz again. The philosophy tag and memo pin come in sets with many thoughts/philosophies. The key and face plate are from Spare Parts and the flowers are from the Prima Flowers line.



I have been not feeling well recently and I feel a bit melancholy and introspective. I think that the tag acts as a cathartic for me in that it says a lot about where I am right now. I love my art and sometimes those folks I know don't really consider it art. To them I say tough!! The clock and key marks time and passage and I have an admit one ticket. If I am happy with my life then that is what counts. The stamped sentiment says it all.



This was fun!

Friends lost and friends found!!!

When Ruth told me about the Late Night Stampers being a demo only site I thought that it would probably be a little more technical than I wanted to deal with but... I keep surfing into and learning from the Late Night Stampers (LNS) site and my latest 'gift' from the site has been a reunion with a long lost friend from 25 years ago! I surfed into the LNS Bulk Buy site to look at some craft items and low and behold I saw the name of a friend that I thought was lost to me forever. Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a shrinking Violet so I emailed the 'friend' and sure enough (!!) It is her!

Billie and Ted Rice welcomed us to Colorado in December of 1982 and shared their Christmas with us. They became G'ma and G'pa to our children. Billie was my friend and confidant! We shared laughter and tears over the years we were together and it was bitter sweet when they had to move to SC to be close to Billies father who had become ill. A couple years after their move my Christmas Card came back and the link was broken. We didn't have the internet or cell phones years ago and a call across country was cost prohibitive at the time. I thought they were lost to us forever. Billie told me that Ted passed away in 1997 and that is sad. Wish we could have seen him one more time.

I know the kids will be happy to hear of my find! They ask occasionally if we have ever heard from the Rice's now I will be able to respond with an affirmative!!

I have been a Stampin Up! hobby demo for the past couple years and have met some wonderful folks in the business! This week I am going to go per diem as a nurse and I think I am going to start working my business more seriously. If I stumble into such awesome things by accident by just touching the business then think what will happen if I seriously start working it!!!

Thank you Ruth for sending me the link to LNS! It has become one of my most favorite sites!!

My Create Ink

I found a new site (for demos only) thanks to a Stampin Up! stamper/scrapper friend. Ruth turned me on to the site on Yahoo! It is called LNS (Late Night Stampers). Awesome place! Lots of things to learned and shared on the site. One thing I have learned is about the My Create Ink which is a widget that helps you create color combos. Anyone can use it but the only colors there are the Stampin Up! sells. Check it out!