ANOTHER WINNER

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My blog hop candy is getting oldy-moldy - still looking for a winner ....

how about:

*****MAUREEN REISS*****

Maureen - contact me via email with your snail info, by Wednesday, Midnight (8/4/10) to claim.


AND EVERYONE - head over to Papercraft Star as voting begins today for this past week's submissions. !!!!!

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365 Cards - Friday sketch

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Here is a very very simple card based on Friday's sketch at 365 Cards.

Very easy, and just the sketch you need if you are looking to put a card out there real quickly. Boy, those don't happen very often, do they !

After no one has cooked me a meal for the whole month of July (sob) I finally broke down and put some baby back ribs in the oven today. I can't decide if I need to keep awake to take them out, or just take a teeny nap and let the oven turn off.

I KNOW I am not Rachael Ray, but I do make the very best ribs I have ever tasted, and everyone who has eaten them agrees. Easy peasy.

Cut them into 2 rib pieces. Put them in a shallow pan. Cover the pan with tin foil, seal tightly. Bake at 325 for a couple hours. You will know they are done cause your house will smell amazing. Brush on some cheapo bbq sauce, cover, cook another 15 minutes. They are falling off the bone, and truly, all the fancy rubs and sauces, and baking them for 3 days, doesn't hold a candle to this simple method. The smell wafts out the windows and onto the sidewalk, where all the walkers and joggers pause for a minute, drool politely and move on .

Hey, I can only cook a couple things, and this is one of them. Probably cause it is so easy, I cannot screw them up. Try this - your guy will be sooooooooo happy.... and your kids.

Don't forget submissions close tomorrow at Papercraft Star - bring your mojo out to play, and see you there !!

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365 Cards - Thursday sketch

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Wow, this card didn't turn out ANYTHING like I had envisioned, not even one iota. 365 Cards continues with its sketch week. I think I may try this one again down the road, since you can only see the bare bones of that sketch in here, if you squint your eyes real tight and wave your wand over it ...

Although the background looks like kraft cardstock, it is really a metallic (copper) kind of paper that looks really rich.

I made this one for Dom for our 33rd wedding anniversary, which is next month. He hasn't had one moment to look at my blog most of July, so I can keep it secret. There are lots of stickles on here, of course, my camera never sees them, but they are there.

And now, sigh, it is 5:30 and no one has made me dinner, sigh, so I guess I just hafta pop that quiche in the microwave myself, and eat on a tray in front of the tv, sigh. He says no work tomorrow night or this weekend, I am unbearably grateful...

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Time running out to claim candy

Sorry to say my blog hop candy has been unclaimed. If it is not claimed by Saturday 12:01 am I will award it to someone else.

Don't forget to get your submission in this week to Papercraft Star !!
Beth gave us a very versatile sketch I will use again.

365 Cards - Wednesday sketch

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As you can see, I am still working on a steampunk style, I think it will be an ongoing process.

Isn't it funny how something so simple can be so excruciatingly difficult to execute...

365 Cards is continuing its sketch week, and this is Wednesday's contribution. Pam announced that the triple winners this week will be asked to be guest designers in the future. Isn't that a great prize ? AND I am making absolutely no bones about the fact I am actively campaigning for my inclusion. Yup. Yup. Yup.

Dom is still working those terrible hours, 7 days a week, sometimes 14-16 hours a day, but he says the end is in sight. (Whew, someone has got to fix me a meal around here !! ) As Spencer would say, " Someone is MISSING!"

Stopped at JoAnn Fabrics today and spent $1.19 in a wild and crazy fashion. Spencer has spent the past year walking around with my little hand mirror pressed up against his eye. Huh ? Finally finally he has the verbal skills to explain to me that it is a magnifying glass, or so he thinks. So I bought him a real one - I will have to do a little treasure hunt for him to find it. But, can he find it without a magnifying glass ? what a dilemma ...

Played Word Racer at Yahoo last night, as I have every night (that I'm home) for more than 12 years. I told one of my buddies that I don't use the word "myrrh" enough in conversation, so here it is.

Don't forget to enter your card or layout at Papercraft Star this week !!

I am required to provide the fine print here for the ship's wall - and that is steampunkwallpaper.com, used under creative commons.

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Papercraft Star 6

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Wow, we are on Papercraft Star challenge 6 already ! A really versatile sketch from Beth is our challenge this week.

This is full of Tim Holtz, paper, stamp, and Ranger Ink and stickles.

And to balance that out - a whole lot of Michael's dollar bin !! You know you love that $1 sign just as much as I do ... Bonjour I simply printed in Word on some cardstock.

The challenge opens today, and submissions close Saturday, 7/31, and voting closes Monday 8/2.
So head on over to Papercraft Star - even if you don't submit (and I sure hope you do!) be sure to vote for your favorite.

So - here is the small print:

Details :
Cardstock : Recollections
Paper : Tim Holtz
Ink : Ranger distress ink, Versa-mark fine
Does anyone : ever read this stuff
Stamps : Tim Holtz, Recollections (on the tag)
Stickles and Rock Candy Stickles
Die Cut : Spellbinders
Edge punch : Martha Stewart
Image : Whimsical World of Fairies
Ribbon, bling, flowers : Michael's $1 bin

365 Cards - Tuesday sketch

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365 Cards has sketches all week, this is Tuesday's.

I thought I wouldn't post this because it just wasn't very good, but you know, I do my best to be honest with my readers. And it is what it is.

I don't know if I just jumped in without a real plan, I do that often enough. Or, the papers don't gel together, that does happen once in awhile.

But, with failure comes the opportunity to be better next time !! When I once told a friend how foolish I had been she said well, that is part of who you are now, and I love that person !!

Well, tune in tomorrow for my Papercraft Challenge 6 sketch. I did much better on that one.

Oh, the little tag is from Tattered Vintage etsy shop, it was a freebie !!

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365 Cards - Monday sketch

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365 Cards has a whole week of sketches, how fun is that!

Haven't done a wedding card for, oh about 3 weeks, lol. Not only are they functional, but they can be so attractive too. Plus, Cuttlebug time - Spencer loves that little crank.

Do not know what possessed me to work on an all white card on a 90 degree day, when the best part of the white is that it is so crisp. But I did manage to keep the sweat off of it, whew.

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BLOG CANDY WINNER !

Papercraft Star's first blog hop was quite a success ! I really enjoyed reading all the comments, and want to thank everyone who became a new follower, both here at chai tea n me, and at Papercraft Star.

Of course, the important question is who won the candy ?

The winner here was Pam Sandy !! SO, MISS PAM - email me with all your snail mail info, and this will be in the mail to you right away. Hope you enjoy all the goodies!

I would personally love it if you all came back to Papercraft Star with your submissions. Our challenges are posted way in advance. Please vote for your favorite, and take advantage of our super forums too. We would just love to have you as part of our Star circle !!!

CHRISTMAS IN JULY BLOG HOP !!

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Hi there friends!


Welcome to the first ever Papercraft Star Blog Hop. I hope that you are enjoying all of our "Christmas in July" projects.


If you have arrived here from Regan's blog, you are in the right place. If not, you'll want to start at the beginning, right HERE. Each member of our team has some wonderful blog candy to give away, so be sure to visit every stop along the way.


All you need to do here at Chai Tea N' Me to win all these goodies is become a follower and leave me a comment. My regular followers need only leave a comment. You will have a lot of fun scrounging through this pile!!
I'll announce the winner on Monday July 26th, so be sure to come back and see who wins.


Now on to my project..

I did a wall hanging for my Christmas project. This was super easy, and would have been easier if I had just sewn the paper into 4 blocks, instead of cutting them apart. This is a good way to use those 12 x 12 papers that have just one really large image on them. I do cards almost exclusively, which means you can only ever see a part of the paper itself. I did back it with another piece of cardstock, and shadowed the letters too. I cut the letters with SCAL and a font from dafont.com.

Glad you stopped by ! Hop on over to Kristina's World next - you will be glad you did !

and now for the small print:

Paper: DCWV, Rustic Stack
Cardstock : Martha Stewart
Brads : Recollections
Ribbon : Michaels $1 bin
Distress Ink from Ranger Ink
Beading thread
Old dead stick from Jan's back yard

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365 Cards, Book Cover

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What an interesting idea this was for a challenge - choose a book cover, and model your card after it.

What is really unusual is that I actually had my choice of several papers to do it !

The book is my baby book, oh deardee dear, how long ago was that. Well, babies still wore clothes that needed to be starched and ironed - no sweet little fleecy things or even pants for little girls. Gosh, no wonder I am such a grump now....

This was the challenge at 365 Cards, and a really good one too !

Don't forget tomorrow begins our Papercraft Star blog hop - I have lots of "stuff" here to mail off TO YOU, if you are my winner. Goodies at everyone else's blogs too, so don't miss it. AND, you can win more than once ! See you here and there, I hope !

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365 Cards, What's Cookin'

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At 365 Cards today we have a cooking theme.
The tag is left blank for an invitation to tea or lunch.

So here is another customer service story ... ok I have two. Both at the same fast food restaurant.

1) Me: "I would like a 99 cent drink please
2) Him: " That will be $1.09"

huh?
and
1) Me: "I would like a 99 cent drink please
2) Him: "Your number is 62"

huh? gimme the cup and no one gets hurt ....

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Papercraft Star 5

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This week's Papercraft Star challenge is circles !

If you have had a look at the forums at Papercraft Star, you may remember the discussions about cutting circles. Everyone avoids them ! That is what makes this challenge so much fun - stretching our minds and fingers to do those difficult things !!

So, today I tried to use a lot of circles a lot of different ways. Of course, the circle paper (my first easy-way-out solution to this challenge ), the card, the swirly, the sentiment and the little paper piercings.

I used my SCAL to cut the card by simply welding two circles together, and the swirly was (gulp) in an actual paid-for file from SVGcuts. I usually use only freebies, but I will admit I have spent about $20 at that site and acquired a huge truckload of things I am crazy about. So, while I was at it anyway with the SCAL I just cut my scalloped circle and blue circle too....

So - challenge opens today ! Submissions close on Saturday 7/24, voting closes Monday 7/26. Head on over to Papercraft Star, and vote, even if you don't submit. It is a terrific way to support your fellow artists, and while you are there, check out the fun forums too !!

And now for the small print:

Details:
Cardstock : Recollections
Paper : K & Co.
Ribbon : Michael's dollar bin
Rub-on sentiment : old, from stash
Wow, what a cheap little card this was !!

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Blog hop coming up !!!

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ADVANCE NOTICE !!!

Papercraft Star will be having a blog hop next week starting Friday 7/23 !!

Our judges, Beth and Kristina, and our whole DT will be on board, and everyone has a little blog candy to offer.

Mine is pictured here, lots of stickers, buttons, ribbon, lace, some Martha glitter, some stickles, a couple stamps, some tags I have made, a little pillow box and a dinosaur edge punch.

I will be giving this away on Monday 7/26 - so be sure to check back next Friday for our Christmas in July blog hop. It should be fun !!!

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Project Tuesday - Easel Card

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I have been wanting to do a steampunk card for awhile, but gosh, they are so hard. It is a style I have admired for many years, and maybe I have it or maybe not, either way, still a good card ! (AND I will keep trying...)

Click on the pic for a nice up close view. I know it looks like I put a magnifying glass on it, but that is really a part of the image. I just put some Ranger gloss on the glass part, and I think it looks pretty real.

Project Tuesday has an easel card project this week. Who doesn't love that kind of card ! It looks complicated, and always sharp. (Don't ever tell your recipient how easy they really are !)

The art on the top of the card is Rob Kleemen.

Hope you enjoy - I am definitely going to keep trying with this style, as it really is my most favorite to look at it, and I would love to gain some finesse.

Have a wonderful wonderful day !

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365 Cards, Warm and Cool

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A simple warm/cool card today for 365 Cards. Half warm, half cool. It is pretty shiny, which of course does not show here, and rather beautiful.

I don't mix paper brands very often, but in this case I did as the opposites are hard to find in one place ! The hearts are metallic paper, run through a cuttlebug, which gives it much more texture, and exactly what I wanted.

No Dom again tonight, so I figure I will do a stop at the library, and maybe even eat out. Am I the only one in the world who really enjoys eating out by myself ? Of course I would rather have him with me, but I enjoy it all the same.

Have a great day, see you all tomorrow !

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Papercraft Star #4

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This week at Papercraft Star we are challenged to base our project on our favorite sports team.
Who are they? How would they inspire me ? Colors ? Mascot ? Name ?

Well, golf is the game our lives revolved around for many many years. From Brie at age 8 I spent nearly every single afternoon on a golf course for ten years, watching her hit hundreds and hundreds of thousands of golf balls, lessons, tournaments, tv appearances, you name it ! After she was old enough to no longer need her mother to drive her around, her dad and I spent even more hours as volunteers with the Oregon Golf Association.

So, I would say that my favorite team would be an Oregon golf team, maybe men's or women's amateur teams, boys' or girls' teams, maybe Oregon State, maybe University of Oregon. No matter - they have all worked diligently to secure their team spot, and I am proud of them.

This card represents each of those players, old or young, man or woman. Maybe they are out at the crack of dawn, or as sun is setting. Maybe they were in the zone, maybe they were in the trees !

The challenge begins today, submissions close Saturday, 7/17 and voting closes Monday, 7/19. Hope to see you at Papercraft Star this week !! Even if you don't play, vote for your favorite - there is no better way to support your fellow artists!

Details :
Cardstock : Both black and Orange, Recollections
Golf Figure : Word clip art
Sticker : stash
Trees : cut with SCAL, freebie from svgcuts.com

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City Crafter 13

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City Crafter is honoring London this week, with a red/white/blue requirement.

This is the most London I can think of - Abbey Road.

And isn't this song on this album too ! My most favorite Beatles song.

The cuts were freebies from svgcuts.com. I wish this would have been as easy to lay out as it was to cut - gotta get those feet just right, and I am not sure I completely succeeded, but hey, close enough.

Now that I am thinking of it, I am not sure this card will translate for everyone - if not, then just enjoy the English colors !

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365 Cards, White Space

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365 Cards is a white space challenge today. I always love these as they are completely freeing, just pick out some paper and follow the sketch !

Now, generally I would stick to the WHITE part, even though I know "white space" isn't literal, but today I thought why not show off these beautiful papers...

Spencer came over last night so we could watch him (on Dom's one night home this month) while his folks and other grandma went out for a lovely quiet meal. We can tell the sort of compromises his folks make with him, as he is all about the "how about..." such as, "how about I put in the DVD" and "how about I push the button."

When they came to pick him up last night he said to his dad "how about I start the car..."

Is that better or worse than the time his mom told him they were going to go to the store, and he said "how about I stay home" ....

and we are still 4 months from his 3rd birthday.

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365 Cards, Sunday sketch

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It has been a long time since I have been able to play the Sunday sketch at 365 Cards. Usually on a Sunday we have Spencer entertaining us. Today however, Spencer's other grandma is visiting, and she gets first crack at that little guy !

Brie is playing the Oregon Mid-Am over the mountains in Bend. One of the "state" titles, she was leading after this morning's round by 1 stroke. Now, the hard part, I have to wait for two groups to post their scores to find out if she won her 8th Oregon title. Whew.

Dom is working, and has worked every day for, well, since we got back from our little coastal trip last week. And nights. I will be so glad when their big warehouse move is over, and things go back to normal - and by that I really mean he cooks me dinner !!

Oh dear me, I just rechecked and she ended up tied for the win - which means sudden death, and that could go on eternally.

Ok, now to sit a while, and just plain wait, and I will post the results later ....

Oh yeh, the card, I forgot ! Well, not much to say about it - nice sketch, but not easy !

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BRIE WINS HER 8TH OREGON GOLF STATE TITLE, BIRDIES IN SUDDEN DEATH !!!

365 Cards, Banners

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I had no idea this would be so hard to photograph, and so darned hard to see !

365 Cards has a banner theme today, but you know, we were supposed to put them on a card ! Well, I wanted this, and have wanted to do one for awhile so I guess it is just all about ME.

Everything on this had to be done twice, only because it would be hanging at Christmas and I needed it nice and sturdy. So, everything was cut twice, which made for a long day ! (and it is over 90 degrees, what on earth was I thinking, my sweat is glittered ...) The embossing had to be done in pieces, 3 per pennant, due to the size of this monster.

Yes, a card would have been simpler ...

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City Crafter 12

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City Crafter has a red and summer challenge this week.

To say I was inspired by Linda Robinson is an understatement for sure !! Her image was so much like my Aunt Hazel it was amazing. I could see Hazel in that woman completely.

Well, that sparked me, along with the red paper, and white rickrack to think back to how much fun I used to have visiting my Aunt Hazel and Uncle Frank (but mainly cousin Linda!!) in Minnesota many many youthful summers. Long long train ride or drive from the west, broiling hot, but so much crazy fun when we finally arrived.

So here I am with my little suitcase visiting for the summer !!

Thanks, Linda, I had a riot making this (and laughed so many times) and I even used the same website for my image, the Banner Haus News.

Hope you enjoyed this too - I don't think I have ever seen a card in a challenge that inspired me to this degree. Holy cow, I didn't copy it did I ????

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Kim's scavenger hunt

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Kim, our 365 Cards DT member, is having a scavenger hunt for her blogiversary. I thought this was a pretty great idea, and lots of fun !!

Here is her blog, and she is giving away 6 different prizes. The one I chose to enter was for a bag of stamps (by now you all know how stamp-challenged I am, so any new ones will help in my effort to actually learn how to do this...).

So the picture is "what's out my window". AND, as you can tell I have a screen over it ! So the pic isn't so hot, but this is actually what I can see from my window right here while I am on the computer. I think I said before we don't have grass, (Dom hates to cut it, and I am allergic to it) and Dom is always working on making our yard a really lovely resting place. This is one of two entries to our backyard, and one day I will have to post some pictures of it, sans Spencer's balls, bats, etc.

Hope to get back later on today with a new card !

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365 Cards, Aged Look

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Yuppers, my most favorite kind of challenge, take something new, make it look old ! At 365 Cards Pam says it is all about the process, not that the things just look old. Or ARE old.

So I used a lot of stamps, and rub-ons to create this, including a stamp for the spatter (what a great idea, no mess like those spatter brushes !!) and a stamp on the kraft cardstock. And lots of distress ink.

Which brings me to the one problem.... I did use something very old on here. I have some REAL vintage seam binding, not the new-made-to-look-vintage seam binding I see all over the etsy shops. And here is the problem. It is too danged good ! Keeps its shape, won't bleach out the color, even cuts neatly and refuses to scrunch up, and does not shrink !! Who knew. Well, I do have some that had very very old rusted pins in it, so at least the rust will be honest when you all see it.

Spencer was telling us about a new friend he made at the pool. He put his index finger to his jaw and said "but I can not remember his name." pause pause pause "It's a monkey name."

signing off, ♥♥♥ Jan ♥♥♥ (not a monkey name)

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Papercraft Star #3

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This week at Papercraft Star our inspiration was this sketch by Beth.

I am not usually an orange kinda gal, but boy, do I love an Orange Julius. That is exactly what this makes me think of - quenching my thirst with something delicious !

I cut the glitter paper with SCAL, and popped the "squares" up. I used a font for the "flowers" and printed them, and the sentiment, in Word on my computer.

The challenge opens today, and submissions will close on Saturday, July 10th. Then comes the voting !! That will close on Monday, July 12th.




And now, for the small print:

Details:

Cardstock : Recollections
Glitter Cardstock : DCWV
Paper: K&Co
Black braiding cord : Bead Party
Green braiding cord : Clubhouse Crafts
Buttons : American Crafts Elements
Flower font : dafont.com
Miss you font : kevinandamanda.com/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/

if I missed something, please ask !

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365 Cards, Color Scheme

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Just returned from a wonderful respite at the beach. Yesterday I had an autopost, as I knew I would be out of town. How fun to see all the comments from my guest spot over at 365 Cards ! I really enjoyed doing that.

Today is Manoli's shot at the guest spot, and these are the colors for the challenge.

I usually fuss over my cards, maybe it doesn't ever look that way, but I spend a long time looking through my paper or other "stuff". Today first paper I looked at was this, and thought, I could never find a more perfect paper for these colors, could I !!

Just like everyone tho, I am always disappointed those fun stickles don't show on camera very well or very often, as they do add so much to the card. Oh well.

We stopped by Spencer's house yesterday on the way back from the coast, and brought him over here while his mom and dad went golfing. As we were pulling out he told me to look at his duck chair on the deck - and said I had bought it for him. Oh no, I said, I didn't buy that chair for you, it must have been your other grandma. OOOOhhhh he said, SCARY Grandma. (Who is arriving today to visit from Indiana...) Well, Dom said there was horror all over my face - oh please oh please don't say that to her. And of course, she is not scary one little bit. And thank goodness she doesn't read this blog. right ?

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365 Cards, Old/New/Borrowed/Blue

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Happy Monday !!

OLD/NEW/BORROWED/BLUE

Today I am Guest Designer at 365 Cards ! One of my most favorite challenge blogs EVER, as you know, and was I honored that Pam invited me in for a guest spot.

I do a lot of wedding cards, but this one is completely different from my usual lovey one. The three heels I cut using SCAL, with a freebie cut from my favorite SCAL shop, svgcuts.com. I could not find any sort of cut for that borrowed boot, but the sticker works nicely I think.

I had a lot of fun with this - hope you are inspired with it too!

Details:
Cardstock : Recollections
Heel paper : Stash scraps, glitter paper from DCWV
Paper Punch : Martha Stewart
Boot sticker : Jolee's by You
Flower sticker : Sandylion Essentials
Ribbon : Michael's bin

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365 Cards, Shades of Orange

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Well, I knew it was coming, and here it is - 3 shades of orange. And maybe even 5 or 6 !

Said it before, not an orange kinda gal. Nothing orange ever did anything good for me. So, I wasn't looking forward to this challenge at 365 Cards.

But I think I did ok. In fact, this is probably my favorite of all the color cards we did this week !

The bingo card I made myself, as I do all of my bingo cards. That went quickly, and Dom added the suggestion of a fried egg on the card - he has the best ideas. But after that, well I know I stared at this for more than 3 hours cause I kept wanting to quit and get a nap as my allergies are full throttle. So, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, and finally 11:00 I managed to cut some paper. THEN it was easy. Sorry you can't see the glittery paper the sun is made of, it is so cute.

In the end, I am most happy with this. Kinda cheerful, kinda hot. (gosh, hope you noticed my Paris Hilton imitation there, I do it so well....)

Oh, and I got the hot & numbers font at : ken and amanda's. All free scrapbook fonts there - check it out, very cool stuff.

Be sure to vote today at Papercraft Star for your favorite artist !!!

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365 Cards, Shades of Purple

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Wow, never thought I would get here. It has been one of those days for certain.

Woke up to hear an old friend had passed away, complications of Agent Orange - for you youngsters Agent Orange was a defoliant used in VietNam during the war that caused our young soldiers irreparable harm.

Then, as I struggled with the purple card for today I heard the fire and EMT guys outside, taking my lovely next door neighbor away. She has been so supportive of my cards (and bought so many ! after spending the afternoons enjoying each and every one of them) and is such a dear.

Then the internet disappeared - and the repair said no one could come until next Tuesday - what ??? I must live without the internet for all that time ?? And I haven't paid the bills or renewed my library books yet ....

So I gave up the purple card, which was on its third try anyway, as I couldn't find the template I had downloaded, and so had to cut from hand, which leaves me now without being able to give someone credit for it, and the sewing machine bobbin won't cooperate and tore one of my versions. I figured I will just miss this challenge.... So I spent the afternoon working on a future challenge project.

But, just as I was ready to go sit down and read (a banned book) the internet started up again, and I had to rush and finish this....

Over on Papercraft Star forum there was a Kristina question, like how could this day get worse... that was my day today.

So, 365 Cards, purple challenge, finally here and posted. (I know it looks blurry, but it really is the paper and not me for a change.) Whew.

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365 Cards, Shades of Yellow

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The picture cooperated with the camera today, but the sentiment has just a wee blur - it says Joy is the feeling of grinning on the inside.

Or the outside too I think.

Shades of yellow is the 365 Card assignment today. I don't use yellow often enough.

The pretty swirly piece behind the flower is a SCAL cut - I am running my Cricut hard these days, and loving it.

Dom is in the midst of a huge acquisition at work, and everyone is working so hard - he asked me to make some encouragement cards to go with a gift card for some of the employees. The original card will be coming up at Papercraft Star in two weeks, when we have our sports team challenge. Be sure to watch for it - he says it is the best card I ever made.... lol

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