More is More

 For Blog Candy please scroll down to the previous post and submit your comment! 🙂

I’m so happy that I seem to have some of my stampin’ mojo back!  For the first two weeks after my final Dirty Dozen upload on March 14th I swear I was in a daze.  I had no motivation to stamp whatsoever!  Here I thought I would jump right into “freestyle stamping” and do all the SCS daily challenges, etc., but NO!  I tell you, being a Dirty Girl was the hugest honor ever and I couldn’t have been more thrilled, but it was also more work and emotional energy than I ever could have imagined.  The invitation to join the SCS Dirty Dozen came at a time of grief for me and it I believe it was a God-given diversion.  Perhaps I hyper-focused on it – I certainly poured my heart and soul into it – but that’s ok.  I think it is what I needed to do.  And by the same token I needed it to be over when it ended.  All that to say…it took me almost three weeks to catch my breath again!  And YES freestyle stamping is FUN again!

If you have not joined the Fan Club at Splitcoaststampers, please consider doing so to help support that fabulous site!  As a thank you gift (just like when you support PBS) you’ll obtain access to the Fan Club Galleries (a.k.a. the Dirty Dozen Galleries) back to the beginning.  You’ll also be given the privelege of instant uploads to your personal gallery there.  If you’re already a Fan Club Member, then when the new Gallery opens this weekend PLEASE leave lots of comments on the fabulous work of the current team.  Believe me, they need to see your comments.  It fuels and energizes them for the next month’s work!  OK – stepping off my soapbox.  I just love those gals and want them to get all the kudos and encouragement possible!  I will always be an advocate for them!

And now for today’s creation –

Yep – another card made with the Whipper Snapper Spring Bird (Anna I love him so much!).  This is going in the mail to a friend’s mom who had surgery.  This card started with the Cosmo Cricket Jitterbug Peggy Sue 12×12 paper.  I’ve had it for a few weeks and have been dying to cut into it and what’dya know? – the flower with this little birdie seemed to coordinate perfectly! *wink*  Of course the fact that he was sitting out handy helped too!

I wish you could see that button IRL!  I’m so proud of it!  LOL!  It’s an SU clear button.  I stamped on the back of it with the Linen BG stamp in Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy and heat set it, then sponged on Brilliance Pearescent Beige – it’s oh so pearly!  (Get your Brilliance inks at eclectic Paperie) I’lll post more recipe details in my gallery at SCS in case anyone feels the need for the nitty gritty. 😉

I’m LOVING reading all your comments on my Blog Candy post!  Don’t forget to check back late Wednesday night or Thursday morning – I’ll draw a name Wednesday evening sometime after 7:00 pm Pacific.

I’ve been promising Blog Candy and here it is!

The package consists of 

• mini back pack from Provo Craft
• Mod Podge (4 oz) and a foam brush
• Fun multi-colored fiber (approx 5 yds)
• 6 medium weight white coasters
• Prism Papers cardstock sampler – 2 sheets each of 18 colors – cut to 4″ x 8″ – perfect to make 4″ x 4″ square cards or trim down to use for layering and matting.
• And of course chocolate – Dark Chocolate M&Ms to be exact!  🙂

I have opted to forego installing a counter here at More is More, for fear that I would become too obsessed with it.  I may give in at some point, but for now I’m standing firm.  LOL!  I appreciate everyone who comes here to visit and if you’d like to help spread the word about my blog candy, please be my guest!  And don’t forget that you can opt to subscribe for e-mail updates through FeedBlitz – just click the little icon in my sidebar.

To be entered into the random drawing for this Blog Candy (btw- I really really tried to come up with a clever name for it, but nothing came to me – maybe next time), please submit a comment to this post and tell me how you found my blog and if you have visited more than once before.  Even if this is your first visit, I’m very happy to have you and certainly hope you’ll come back often!  I will accept comments until 7pm Pacific time Wednesday April 11th.  The winner will be posted sometime after that time (maybe late) that evening.

The Pastor read the following story as part of his Easter sermon this morning and I thought I would share it withthose of you who might like to read it.  Happy Easter!  He is Risen!

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE EASTER!

Every Who down in Who-ville
Liked Easter a lot…
But the Grinch,
Who lived just North of Who-ville
Did Not!

The Grinch hated Easter, the whole Lenten Season,
And if you’ll be patient, I’ll tell you the reason.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But that wasn’t the reason he loathed with such might.
The Grinch hated Easter, alone in his cave,
‘Cause his heart was as dead and as dark as the grave.

So he stood there, on Good Friday, and he pictured the scene,
Of Easter in Who-ville and all it would mean.
They would rise with “He’s Risen” on each pair of Who lips,
And they’d dress for church services and after church trips.
“They’re rehearsing cantatas and pageants and prayers,
They are ironing their clothes and they’re curling their hair.”
Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
“I MUST find some way to stop Easter from coming!”
For on Easter he knew, all the Who boys and girls,
Would have much more to think of than fashions and curls.
They would think of their Savior, and all girls and boys,
Would open their Who mouths and make joyful noise.
And that’s one thing he hated, the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise!

Then the Whos, young and old, would fold hands and bow heads,
While prayers of thanksgiving and worship were said.
Then they’d sing about Jesus, how He died, how He lives,
Then some windbag would talk on the hope that He gives.

And then they’d do something he liked least of all,
Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Would stand close together, with Easter bells ringing,
They’d hold hands in a circle, and they’d pass Easter Greetings!

“Go under His mercy”, they’d say to their brother,
“The Lord bless and keep you”, they’d say to each other.
And the thought galled the Grinch from his hat to his shoelace,
And a frown seemed to darken each part of his Grinch-face.
“Why, for 53 years I’ve put up with it now!
I must stop this Easter from coming …..But how?”
Then he got an idea? And awful idea!
The Grinch got a Wonderful, Awful Idea!

“I know just what to do,” the Grinch said with a hoot,
And he made a quick pair of Bunny ears and a suit.
And he chuckled and clucked, “What a great Grinchy trick!
With these ears and this suit I can steal Easter…slick!”

He died baskets pink and he filled them with grass,
Then he set one aside for each Who-lad and Who-lass.
Then he went to the Wal Mart, charged his card to the max,
Spending thousands on chocolates, not counting the tax.

Then he bought fancy bonnets and gaudy bow ties,
And he grinned as he pictured Who giggles and sighs.
“This will keep them from praying and singing those songs,
This will please and distract them for all the day long.”

Then he loaded the goodies and baskets and clothes,
The bonnets and dresses and ties that make bows,
And he packed his Suburban till it threatened to pop,
And he grinned as he mumbled, “This Easter must stop!”

Then long after midnight, with each Who in his bed
While thoughts of Sweet Jesus filled every Who head,
The Grinch left for each as they finished their nap,
A sweet basket of candy, a distraction, a trap.

He smiled his Grinch smile as he tiptoed away,
And he pictured the mess he would cause the next day.
He pictured the Whos rising and finding their stash,
And forgetting about Jesus in less than a flash.

They would fight over chocolates, over bonnets and toys,
They’d forget about praying and making glad noise.
“We can’t get them dressed” would shout Who dads and moms,
“They’re covered with chocolate from their nose to their thumbs.
From their heart to their heads they’re absorbed with themselves,
We’ll have to put Easter and such on the shelves!”

The Grinch hardly slept as he waited the dawn,
He could not stop imagining the row that would come.
“Pooh-pooh to the Whos” he was grinch-ish-ly humming,
“They are finding out now that no Easter is coming.
They are just waking up. I know just how they’ll be!
Their mouths will hang open a minute or three
Then the Whos will all shout, “Easter’s all about ME!”
And they’ll forget the Carpenter of Old Galilee.
The Grinch cocked his head, put his hand to his ear,
“That’s a noise,” grinned the Grinch, “That I simply must hear!”
And he did hear a noise rising over the meadow,
It started in low, and it started to grow.

But the sound wasn’t selfish or angry or sad,
It just couldn’t be so, but the sound sounded glad!
He stared down at Who-ville and the Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who boy and girl had their chocolates and bonnets,
But every Who face had a peaceful smile on it!
They had their bow ties and their chocolate treat basket,
But the Grinch had a question and he just had to ask it.

“Why aren’t they distracted and selfish and rude,
Why aren’t they absorbed with their dresses and food?
Could it be that they’ll sing whether chocolate or not;
Could it be I don’t understand Easter one jot?”

What happened then…. well, down in Who-ville they say,
The Spirit got hold of a Grinch heart that day.
The heart that was empty, and gloomy, and cold,
Became warm and alive, filled with promise untold.
And Jesus, who had been to the Grinch just a bother,
Became Savior and Master, Redeemer and Brother!

Easter is more than just trappings, all Who-ville agreed,
It’s a Savior who lives to meet every man’s needs.

They made their Who circle in the First Church that day,
And after their singing, they started to pray.
“Go under the mercy,” said one to his brother,
“God bless you and keep you,” said one to the other.
“He is Risen,” cried one in the midst of the blessed;
“He is Risen indeed,” said the Grinch with the rest.

It’s been passed down as fact, or so the Whos say,
That the singing was louder by threefold that day.
And the circle seemed fuller, more warm and more sweet,
Two green, hairy Grinch hands had made it complete.

First I want to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to friends Julia and Chantel who are both celebrating birthdays today!!!

I am just loving the Whipper Snapper Birdies designed by Dirty Dozen Alumni Anna Wight!  You all know what a bird person I am anyway and these are just the CUTEST!  The first one is the same image that Anna has in her blog banner and I made this card for the Color Challenge on SCS this week.  The funny thing I actually thought I had already posted this card here, but I guess I just got it in my SCS gallery. That’s what happenes when I do all this stuff late at night. *eye roll*

The Color Challenge was Kraft Cardstock with Real Red and Basic Black – a really great combo I think!  The birdie was stamped in Palette Hybrid Noir Black ink on Confetti White CS and watercolored with markers scribbled on a CD and an aquapainter.  Sentiment was done with Karen Foster Snap Stamps.  Then I sponged Caramel ink around the edges.  This image was a little too big for my oval punches so I used my Coluzzzle and scallop scissors.  Background was achieved with Aida Cloth in Close to Cocoa and then Soft Swirls in Real Red Craft.  I love double backgrounds – afterall More is More!  Added some ribbon from Jacksonbelle Embellishments and a big red flower rhinestone.

 This next card was for the Ways to Use it Challenge to use uninked rubber.

I started this card with some paper from a Basic Grey 6×6 pad Phoebe from eclectic Paperie. First I chose the pattern at the bottom.  There’s a tiny bit of blue in the pattern so I decided to pull that out for the bird and was happy to find the coordinating solid blue in the pad as well.  The bird was stamped on Confetti White CS and watercolored with Watercolor Crayons.  I scribbled various crayons on a scrap of Confetti to see which colors matched the Phoebe paper best.  In some cases I was quite surprised – for example Garden Green was the best match for the leaves and the for the bird I ended up using a combo of Tempting Turquoise and Not Quite Navy.  I don’t think I had ever used my NQN crayon before, but now I really like it!  The image was cut out using my Coluzzle and the NQN mat was distressed with my SU paper distresser.  I sponged on some Pretty in Pink and doodled with a NQN marker.  The sentiment from Curvy Verses was placed using a Stamp-a-majig (not sure how I ever lived without that thing!). The ric rac is yummy felt and came from Walmart (thanks Pixie!).  The main image is popped up on thick foam tape.  Some brads, primas, stickles and rhinestones finish it off.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  In case I don’t get to post tomorrow – Happy easter!  He is Risen!

This week’s Ways to Use It Challenge on SCS is a good one – find ways to use those stamps – rubber, foam or acrylic – that have never seen ink! I’m ashamed at how many stamps I have that remain virgin rubber! This was such a great opportunity to use a brand new set I have from Lizzie Anne Designs called Funky Floral. Lizzie Anne is a fairly new company and my friends Taylor and Chantel and I spent some time chatting with them in the New Vendor section at CHA. We loved several of the sets they were showing. Their sets are unmounted and come in a clear CD case…the really cool thing though is that they are RUBBER not acrylic! This is a pretty simple card using just the one set plus the sentiment from SU’s Graceful Words.

This is a somewhat unusual color combo for me, but I like the way it turned out – Ruby Red, Garden Green, Cameo Coral, Summer Sun. I colored the flowers with SU markers. The cross stitch at the top is a Doodlebug rub-on. The white cardstock is from Prism Papers. Cameo grosgrain is from Fabric Barn (if you beg Taylor you might be able to convince her to sell you some. *wink*) Thanks for stopping by!

ETA: oh my heavens I wrote this a couple of days ago and never published.  What a dork!

Today was a busy day out and about starting with the dentist, and then shopping for something to wear on Easter (that was very discouraging! 🙁 ), stopping at the cleaners, etc. I had promised my Uncle that I would wrap a package for him to take to a 50th anniversary party he will be attending this week, so I decided to run into Tuesday Morning (yep, it’s a store – we only recently got one in our area) hoping to find a nice gift bag. Well indeed I did find a nice gift bag, tissue and ribbon but waaaaaayyyyy better than that….I got an awesome rolling craft tote in bright pink for $29.99!!!!

I know it’s hard to believe I didn’t already have one – I must be the last stamper on earth! I have been looking at them for 2 or 3 years. The thing that has stopped me each time is storage space. We have a real storage issue in our 2 bedroom, 1 bath house built in the 40’s. So each time I find a tote I think I want, I begin to wonder where I will put it and I’m done. However this was a deal I just couldn’t pass up!

It came with everything you see in the picture. The tote is approximately 17″ x 17″ x 10″. It looked quite a bit bigger once I got it home than it did in the store – maybe because I truly have no place to put it! *roll eyes* It has zippered pockets on 3 sides and tons of velcro-in vinyl zipper pouches for all kinds of little doo-dads and what-nots. 🙂 A three piece set in bright pink for only $29.99!!! As my friend Joy would say “It’s practically free”. I also saw them in green and purple, but I think they only had 2 left. They also had a couple in the faux leather (one of the big brands – I can’t remember what it was) and I think they were maybe $50 or $60. Tuesday Morning (if you’ve never been to one) is one of those close-out stores and they put out new items on Tuesdays. If you have one in your area I’d highly suggest you check it out – all kinds of fun bargains to be had! Happy shopping!!!

PS Blog candy coming soon 🙂

Sheesh! How did I let so many days go by without a blog entry? Thanks Tandra for the kick to get over here and post. I had actually planned to post last night, but the saga of the card photo began. I swear sometimes it takes me as long to photograph a card as it does for me to make it!

Curt purchased a light box thingy for me for Valentine’s Day and I was thrilled. However we didn’t research them at all and it turned out that the one he got me just didn’t have strong enough lighting for cards and such. So it was back to my piece of white panne velvet tied to the curtain rods in the corner of my kitchen banquet. (I’m not kidding!) That had been up continually for a few weeks and for some off reason the other day I decided it looked ridiculous and had to take it down. So late last night I’m looking around the house for a place to take the picture without setting that up again. Well I was tired and gave up. This morning I found a good spot, got the card set up and wouldn’t you know it…the camera battery was dead and I was already late for work.

Shoot! Throw the danged thing in the scanner like I used to always do! It’s so quick and simple. I think I might start scanning cards more often!

It’s funny how almost all cards on SCS used to be scanned and then photographed cards became the “in” thing. Actually I think sometimes you can see the project details more clearly on a scan. And like I said – way quicker and easier process for sure!!!

This is the card I made for Daven’s birthday. (Daven – for those of you who don’t know – is the owner – DA MAN – over at SCS). I just got this fun Cupcake Mouse image from Whipper Snapper and had to try it out!. Card base is Gable Green stamped with Paisley in Gable Green and overstamped with my favorite little starburst from Snow Flurries in Cool Caribbean. The sentiment is from Mixed Greetings. Image is colored with watercolor crayons and ink using an aquapainter. The edges are sponged and the cupcake frosting is covered in Stardust Stickles from eclectic Paperie. My stamping is usually so girly and when I make “guy” cards I tend to get very serious, so it was fun to make more of a silly guy-birthday card!

Thanks for visiting More Is More and please be on the lookout for my very first blog candy give away very soon!!!