Getting ready to teach cardmaking classes again!

Hey there! Hi there! Man, was I busy today. Not only did I clean out my craft room (it took me roughly three hours), I was under a deadline to get at least four cards ready for my stamping / cardmaking classes in September. These cards are for my beginner's stamping class on 9/4/08. While I stamped, I also managed to get six loads of laundry done. My husband and son left the house to watch "Dark Knight." I think I can wait until it comes out on DVD.
Yes....I am going to teach collage. This is a simple, basic, collage card. I used seven stamps on this card. It incorporates some over-stamping, layering and the use of different shapes to create the layout.

Another technique I will be teaching is spotlight stamping.

I'll be teaching folks to color their stamp directly, using Tombows. It's kinda like a watercolor card. The green paint on the edges is Glimmer Mist. Unfortunately, the camera didn't pick up on the gold glitter in the Glimmer Mist.

Last, but not least, I'll be showing folks how to create a monochromatic card and some heat embossing.


OK....time to take a break! We're going to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, and then pick up some salad greens for our lunches this week! See ya later!

Little Maestro ~ Music ATC

It's my birthday today! I spent the day relaxing around the house, for the most part. I worked on an ATC swap (my Little Maestro ATC), and went out for breakfast. After breakfast, we went to the zoo to see the butterfly exhibit, did grocery shopping for the week, and came home to rest. My husband bought me a pecan pie, instead of a cake. I've come to realize that I'm a 'pie' person, and not really a 'cake' person .... unless it's cheesecake. Yum! I used a Paper Inspirations music script stamp for the background; and a stamp set by Inkadinkado. Thanks for stopping by!

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More Sugar Nellie stamping

I'm so glad I found time to stamp this weekend. We got home around seven yesterday evening, and I've been doing laundry and just trying to recoup from our short vacation, ever since. I won't post any pictures up, just yet. I want to make a CD out of the pictures before I create a post about our entire trip. This card was created for a swap I'm in. The stamps I used are from the Sugar Nellies line (Pickin' Apples); Papertrey's Faux Ribbon set (to create the striped background); and Stampin Up's One of a Kind set (the floral background). I also used a Threading Water punch (Fiskars); a Sizzix die, Nestabilities rectangle die (used two rectangles to create a giant rectangle) and a floral punch by Stampin Up. She's colored with prismacolor pencils; and I added a little bling here and there. Thanks for stopping by!

A recap of nightcaps in Chicago

Last night, my husband and I decided to head down to the bar in our hotel for a few cocktails. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza, just one mile southwest of the Magnificent Mile. We had a gorgeous view from the 15th floor above the Chicago Sun Times building. It was raining outside, and the skyline was being lit by lightning. I wanted to be a little adventurous and ordered a drink of their cocktail menu. The first one I had sounded great on paper. It was a concoction of whiskey, maraschino cherry, orange juice and sugar. Yeah.......not so much. (I apologize for the quality of these photographs. They were taken from a cell phone camera.)

Initially, the thought that came into my mind was I was drinking cherry-flavored rubbing alcohol. I told my husband I was going to 'suck it up' and drink the rest, since it was a nine-dollar cocktail. So, with the next sip, I decided to hold my breath while taking it down. Much better. Now, it simply just tasted like rubber bands (I've never chewed on rubber bands. Just smelled them. So, this is how I imagined rubber bands would taste like if they were to become a drink). It tasted like rubber bands with an after-taste of cherry cough syrup. I finally finished off the final 6 oz. My husband was telling me that I shouldn't make myself drink it all, but I hate to waste food......even bad cocktail drinks. OK....here's the next drink I tried. It's called an Apple Melon Fusion (I think). It's a martini. I'm not much of a martini fan, but after the first drink I had, I thought I'd give this one a shot.

Oh, it was DELICIOUS! Oh, my, my. It's a mixture of Seagram's Apple vodka, a melon liquer, Sprite and lime juice. It was just HEAVENLY! The bartender sorta shared the recipe with me, so I'll have to try making this when I get home. Aren't martini's usually made with gin and vermouth? I think that's why I always disliked martinis. I think the vodka substituted in place of the gin and vermouth made a difference in how I liked/disliked the drink, because I am not a big fan of Vermouth. So, if you're ever in Chicago, and you find yourself at the Cityscape Lounge in the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza hotel, you'll have to try their Apple Martini.

Sugar Nellie Saturday

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. We've been out and about, going to watch fireworks at the lake, meeting with old friends from California, and I carved out some time to work on some swaps cards. The main image that I used on the first card is from the Sugar Nellie line. You can order her from Funkykits.com. The illustrator of this wonderful Sweet N Sassy image is none other than Australian illustrator Elisabeth Bell. On the first card, I also used stamps by Autumn Leaves, Heidi Grace and High Hopes rubber stamps.
The second card uses an image I purchased from the Stamping Cottage.com. I colored the cute gal with COPIC markers and Prismacolor pencils. On the second card, I used a Stampin Up stamp (Riveting.) This cute little lady was conjured up by Canadian illustrator Rachelle Anne Miller, and is colored using COPIC markers. Thank you for stopping by, and for all of my American readers, I hope you're continuing to have a wonderful long-weekend!