Thoughts from a sunny cynic

      On this anniversary of 9/11, I have been reflecting. I keep hearing "Remember" and "Never Forget". I don't think remembering is enough. That is like being thankful once a year on Thanksgiving. What are you doing? Whether the glass is half full or half empty is moot, if you never drink from it or share it with someone else who thirsts. Do you value your freedom? Do you love your neighbor? Do you pray for your President?

       In the last few days, I have vacillated between solemn remembrance and holding back my gag reflex. I try not to be so dang cynical. It has been a bit more difficult the last few days as this anniversary approached. The impetus for this came in the form of an article about broaching the subject of 9/11 with children. There was a tone that gave me the impression that the author felt a bit sorry for himself. Boofrickinhoo. This was a normal guy who watched it unfold on TV. This was a horrific tragedy for our nation. It affected us all in some way or another. It is okay to revisit those thoughts and feelings.  I think it is more important to remember that urge to hug your kid and call your mom that you felt that day. Remember how suddenly your neighbor wasn't so annoying. I also think it is imperative to remember that many, many children have always known about that terrible day. Her dad went to work that day and never came home. His mom was on a plane that was overtaken. His uncle left in cammies and combat boots and returned in a flag draped pine box.

      There were many emotions that day and the days that followed. My innocence was broken on April 19, 1995 when I walked into my third hour speech class to find out that the Alfred P Murrah building had been bombed, but my heart was broken on 9/11. What I choose to remember is the solidarity I felt on 9/12/2001. It wasn't about who got your vote. It wasn't about how much money you had. It was about Americans holding each other together. People waved their flags and held each others' hands in prayer.  They stood in line to give blood.  People 2000 miles from ground zero thanked their local first responders. We were numb with pain yet filled with kindness for one another. I hope as a nation we never ever have to feel that pain again. I pray that the kindness, the love, and gratitude that followed is never forgotten.

     I welcome your thoughts and recollections.  However, I will mercilessly delete inappropriate or offensive comments. Have a nice day!

Too much daydreaming

has caused an overgrowth of dandelions. They aren't cute and cheerful. They are enormous and you may need a machete to hack them down. Mercy! Sorry aboout being MIA. I decided to stop waiting until I made the most gorgeous card ever and just post something for crying out loud. I am a slacker. I'll offer an apology without excuses.

So here is a little something I made when I got my catalog preorder from Stampin' Up!. It uses the Cherished friendship set.



It is pretty simple. I used watercolor crayons on the image. I was trying to use all brights. I did not find that at all easy! Anyway, it is nothing spectacular. I figured I best post something though before the blog police came by to condemn this place. Thanks for stopping by. I hope to post again soon. Have a good one!

Beef stroganoff, spicy shrimp and papercraft vomit

Here are a few more of my Mingle creations. The first one was from my selection of Beef Stroganoff from the menu. When I received the challenge, it was to use at least 4 stripes. The designer series paper made that fairly easy. I love these colors.



My second menu selection today was Spicy Shrimp with Ginger-Garlic Long Beans. The challenge was to make a long card. That wasn't too hard. I used the Crumb Cake, black, and cherry cobbler again.


Then there is this last card. This is the Cobb salad inspired challenge. It was supposed to be a green base, red texture, choice of third color (yellow, white, black, or green), and the use of a product I shall not name. They made a very generous donation to the Mingle. I see people do fabulous things with this unnamed product. I, however, opened it and blurted out to my friend that I could not do anything with this challenge. I said and I quote, "This is going to look like papercraft vomit!" And the idea was born.



All but the unnamed product are SU! If you have specific product questions, leave a comment or shoot me an email. I'm happy to answer.

Chicken Noodle Soup with a Mojito

Here are a few more cards I made over the weekend for the foodie challenges. My menu selections were Chicken Noodle Soup and a mojito. Two of my favorites! Maybe not together...

For the mojito challenge, we were instructed to make a white card with a splash of green. This is what I came up with for that one.





Up next is my Chicken Noodle Soup card. The instructions were to use a cream or off white base in the vintage style. This card also gives you a sneak peek at Stampin' Up's stamp set that will go on sale in May to raise funds for breast cancer. Sorry, the pic is a bit lopsided.


That's all I've got for today. Tomorrow I'll have a few more for you. Maybe even a look at what happens when you just cannot make it work. Have a good one!

Stop the presses!

This past weekend something AMAZING happened. I got together with some local friends for the annual Michigan Mingle. The three ladies who plan this do a fantastic job, but that is not the astonishingly amazing part. Are you ready? They had these fun challenges and I actually stamped. I did more than flap my jaws and feed my face. I'll wait for the smelling salts to start working... I'll share a few of the cards over the next few days. All of the challenges were based on a menu that you picked beforehand. So creative!

This first card was a huge challenge for me. My menu item was 7 Layer dip so I had to make a card with at least 7 layers. Ack! That could have gone horribly wrong. It just seemed like SO many layers. I thought about friends who make cute bazillion layered cards and made it work. This uses the Celebration line again along with the cupcake punch.



Supplies: Celebrations DSP, Cupcake punch, Brads, real red CS, Old Olive CS, WW CS, Pacific Point CS, dimensionals, glue dots

Thing 2

These are flashbacks of my little guy. He has always kept me on my toes, but he brightens every day with his joyful soul and insures no day is boring. I used Stampin' Up's Celebrations line of products on these. These fun products made these pages go together lickity split. The pages are pretty basic; but I think they are fun, and I tried to keep the focus on the pictures.



In these he is enjoying an apple. He used to swipe them off of the counter and then stash the cores throughout the house. That was motivation to regularly clean under the couch! I added a few buttons, some ribbon, and letters from the Timeless Type Alphabet.

This second layout highlights a bit more of life with Luke. Look at his face in these pictures. I was searching for him in a mild panic. I thought maybe Caleb locked him outside, except I had been playing with Caleb and Luke was supposed to be napping. Maybe we were being a bit too loud. He found a quiet spot. The dryer!


The left page and his, "You're going to make me get out." face.



This is the right side. That is Luke right before he pulled, "These are not the droids you're looking for." on me. I want to get mad at him, but I just can't do it. Darn Jedi mind tricks.



Some of the circles are stickers, some are punched. I also cut some of the arrows from the Celebrations DSP.

I enjoyed this little trip down memory lane. Thanks for coming along! Later in the week, we'll flashback with Thing 1.

Shaking off the dust

Anyone need a Kleenex? I can't stop sneezing. This place is dusty! Thanks to a couple of lovely friends and a little bit of guilt, I am back. I have been a scrappin' and stampin' fool the last few days. I may even have something for you tomorrow. Yeah, don't bet the farm on it. :-)

So right now is my favorite part of the Stampin' Up! year. It is Sale-A-Bration! Hot deals galore! Who doesn't love FREE? There is so much to choose from this year. There are cute stamp sets, a scrappin kit, some adorable accessories; and then if that doesn't suit your tastes, there are dozens of sets from the main catalog you can choose from. Yippeeee!

This card uses one of the SAB sets. It's called Sweet summer.



This second project, I love. It makes me happy every time I look at it. I better stop before I have to buy all new hats. These pictures are special. This is my beloved grandmother and her family. I used the Nature Walk set and the matching paper along with some of my favorite embellishments. This set has so many possibilities. This project was hard to photograph, but I took a close up of the tag to give you a little feel for the texture. I finally broke out my Distressing kit and used the tea stain on this project. It was a great fit.







Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit!

All products are Stampin' Up!
Sweet Summer
Stamps : Sweet Summer, Teeny tiny wishes
Paper : Poppy Parade, Pear Pizazz, So saffron, Marine Mist
Ink : Black Stazon, Poppy Parade
Accessories: Markers, oval punch, scallop oval punch, label punch, Poppy Parade stitched ribbon, square lattice die, tulip die

Grandma's Family
Stamps : Nature Walk
Ink : Early Espresso, tea stain, Old Olive
Paper: Crumb cake, So saffron, Early Espresso, cream, Botanical Gazette
Accessories : Markers, Distressing kit, crochet trim, antique brad, Crumb Cake seam binding