San Jose Rubber Stamp Convention and our 20 year High School Reunion

What a weekend! Phew!!!! This has been a memorable weekend, indeed! We arrived in San Jose, California on Thursday night. The journey was uneventful. I couldn't believe that we didn't have one late flight or lose our luggage! LOL! (Knock on wood!) Friday, the family spent much of the morning just putzing around. I got my hair cut, Lucas got his hair cut; and around 4:00PM, we met with the rest of Sean's family at Dave and Buster's for a joint Sean-Lucas birthday party. Later in the evening, Sean and I left the birthday party to attend a pre-reunion party with classmates who we hadn't seen in 20-years. So, our high school reunion-weekend began!

Saturday, I took some "me" time for myself and went to the Original Rubber Stamp Convention, hosted by A Stamp in the Hand. It was so much fun!!!! Here is picture of me and Leavenworth Jackson, at her booth:

And, here is a picture of the stash I bought yesterday. Many of these stamps are going to several Shackies from the Stamp Shack. Not going to say which ones...... That's a surprise!!

Now, onto our 20 year reunion. OMG! It was such an emotional night. I laughed, I cried. Yes...I cried! I got so emotional from seeing friends who I haven't had contact with for 20-years, I started crying. I LOVED every minute of our reunion. Many folks didn't know Sean and I got married (Sean and I graduated from the same class, but didn't date in high school). It was just an incredible evening. I found out one of my friends had lived in Nicaragua right after graduating from UC Berkeley. She helped to open schools there. Now, she lives in Costa Rica, doing the same line of work. Just incredible stuff! Another friend traveled to Japan, and taught English in Tokyo for two years. Then, she traveled to West Africa, where she met her future husband. Some friends moved to the Seattle area. Another friend is a professor at NYU, teaching dance. He and I were on the same dance team in high school, and he ended up going to Julliard. I solidified old friendships, even though I was pretty bad about keeping in touch. I met people I didn't even know in high school. It was just an incredible, indescribable, wonderful evening that I'll treasure forever! Here is a picture of me and Sean:


And here is a picture of me with my dear friend, and maid-of-honor, Mary. She was a classmate of ours also:

Family Arch

Ooops! I haven't had much of an opportunity to get caught up on Gothic Arches. The theme "family" was the theme two weeks ago. I created this arch to swap with an awesome artist, Lianna of Llama Tales. I hope this travels safely and quickly to Lianna. I can't wait to see what she's sending me.

Marvelous Mauve

It's a day to work with Mauve scraps today. I had some scrap mauve and burgundy cardstock, and complimenting paper, so off to work I went. The picture makes the paper look more pink, than a mauve/lilac color. I incorporated a few "standard stuff" like heat embossing, stitching, and pop dots. Just wanted to keep it all simple.

Hauntingly Yours

While I was working on another "masking" project, the idea for this card came to mind. The tricky part was knowing exactly where I stamped the moon lady's face, and where to add additional embossing ink for the "aura" surrounding her face. I used black, gold and silver EP on and around her face; and red EP for the sentiment. I decided to go with a textured cardstock (although I don't think you can really see it in the photograph), to give the card added interest. Finally, Swarowski crystals added to card gave the look for sparkling stars surrounding my moon lady.

Expanding my horizons a little more

I've had this stamp in my collection for at least one year, now, and I've never used it. I was attracted to it, the minute I saw it, but I think I've been too intimidated by it. I finally gave myself the "nudge" to use it in order to meet a challenge by a friend. I'm glad I did, because I'm rather pleased with how this card turned out. It's simple, and it didn't need to be cluttered by anything else like an overly busy background. I learned the "saran wrap" technique from fellow Stamp Shack Creative Team member, Jan Jenitis (blog-host of Far North Designs.) . Just take a good size piece of saran wrap and crumple it up. Dab it on your ink pad and start stamping on your cardstock. I used Nick Bantok Vermillion and Brown ink on my background. The stamp of this African man is by Stamp Cabana.

Cards from sketches

Just playing around with a couple of card sketches. I wanted to create two completely different cards using the basic same sketch (cards one and two above). One being a vintage collage, while the other being an asia-theme collage. I couldn't believe I struggled with the third one. As simple as it looks, I didn't have a sentiment that was the "right length" for this card. It kept chopping off the little boy's feet! LOL! And, my colors were way off, initially. After about an hour struggling with it, I finally pulled it off!

Altered Index Card

I created this altered "index card" for a swap I'm hosting on the Stamp Shack. The theme of the swap is "Notes to my Younger Self." It is inspired by a book I saw on 2peasinabucket.com. The premise is to take a photograph of yourself, when you were younger, and write a letter or note to yourself. It can be a piece of advice or just an observation you've made now, about the person you see in that photograph.

On the front is a picture of me, taken when I was 22 years old. I asked a friend to take a series of pictures of me for my parents. I couldn't afford a professional photographer. I had this lacy dress (which I had purchased to wear on special occasions), and the grounds of Villa Montalvo in Los Gatos, California provided the perfect backdrop. Back then, being as young and inexperienced about life, I did EVERYTHING my parents told me, without hesitation. I was the "perfect daughter," excelling in school, choosing career over anything else, and just being "perfect" in order to earn their love and admiration. In other words, I didn't want to "rock the boat."

My reflection of myself is written on the tag, which is tucked in the pocket on the backside of the card (on the right, in the photo). It says, "Sitting in this photograph is that perfect daughter. Hair done the right way, wearing the perfect clothes, wearing a happy smile. What others don't see is your desire to spike your hair, or to wear it orange and purple. To wear black clothes and to pierce your nose. You want a tattoo, but you're afraid of what your parents and friends might think. If you could do this all over again, I'd encourage you to find a way to be genuine to yourself. If you can't accept yourself for who you are, then there's no reason for others to accept who you wish to become."

The stamps I used on the pocket are by Stampin Up. Some stamps were DTP (direct-to-paper), while the flowers were heat embossed with Seafoam White EP (Ranger).

Thanks for stopping by!

Faith, Hope and Love

I had to create "something" this last Saturday. I "think" while I work, so this was a great thinking project. It gave me clarity. LOLOLOL!

This shrine is called "Faith, Hope and Love." I guess it could be a wedding-theme shrine or an anniversary-theme shrine.

It started out as a mistake. I stamped the King and Queen and discovered they were both too tall for the card I wanted to make. So, I set them aside. When I woke up at 6:45 AM. I walked into my craft room, and started pulling cardstock, paper, stamps, inks...and just started to create. Really didn't plan to work on a shrine, but Lynn Pirella's book on Art Dolls was the last thing I read last night; and I was inspired by a shrine one of the contributing artists had made.

By 9 AM, it had developed into a full-blown shrine-project. Before I went to do my grocery shopping, I made a pit-stop at Michael's and bought an 11 x 14 shadow box (they're all on sale at 40% off this week, by the way). Also, I picked up some beads with peridot (green) crystals, to stay with Stacy's color choices for the week.

Anyhoo, the rest is self-explanatory. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed making this shrine, and plan to make some more. I am thinking of selling a bunch of shrines that I make at a local co-op gallery. I've seen some things sold there, and I think my shrine would sell.

Rosarch Blot background

I pulled out my reinkers this evening and decided to create a Rosarch Blot background. All you need is glossy cardstock and coordinating reinkers. Two would be enough. Three would be more than enough. Anything more than three, you may end up with a muddy glob. Anyway, just take your two pieces of glossy cardstock. On one, drop your reinkers randomly. Not on top of each other, but spaced closely enough to cover any white spaces when you press the two pieces together. When you're ready, just press the other glossy piece on top of the first piece. Press, don't rub. Lift from one corner, carefully. Voila!

Oh, wow!

My dear friend, JENNIFER bestowed upon me the Nice Matters award. I don't know what I did to deserve such an honor. I believe that we are a reflection of the company we keep; so if Jennifer thinks I'm nice, it's because she is 10x nicer than me! LOL! We're just going to keep throwing this back and forth to each other. To pay this forward, I will shout out TEN names of folks who I think are super nice. I'm supposed to name five, but I think I shall name 10. In no particular order, here they are: GODELIEVE, KIM, TAMI, SUE, NANCY, LIANNA, JANE, JAN, DAWN, and DYMPHIE . These ladies bring sunshine to my days and I look to them to pull me through my creative slumps. They are all so wonderful, and I am honored to know them all!