More is More

Just trying out a new template with the banner Curt and I made a few weeks back.  Some friends have already tested this template and it seems to be working for them, so I thought I would give it a shot.  My sidebar has moved from the right side to left side which is disorienting at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll adapt.  I really really like everything about the other template, except the very boring banner which can’t be customized.  I’m still holding out hope that eventually I’ll be able to have a pink template with a custom banner.  Let me know if you have any problems with comments on this template.

Triva – yesterday we had record breaking temps – it was 97 and the record was set in 1960 (before I was born!)  at only 89.

Busy day today – work and then PACT (prayer group) this evening.  Have a great day!

Tomorrow (Sunday) my Dad turns 65!  Happy Birthday Dad! 

Here’s the card I made for him.

I love the Wild About You set, but haven’t used it nearly as much as I’d like so I happily grabbed it to make my Dad’s bday card.  You know I love embossing copper – so I went to the drawer and found this little scrap of copper just the perfect size – and ran it through my Cuttlebug.  And while I was at it I cut the “65” with the Harmony alpha with the CB too.  Alligator was stamped with Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy ink so he shimmers and the bird was stamped with Brilliance Cosmic Copper Ink.  The oval image from Memory Box was stamped with Versamagic Chalk Ink in Sea Breeze.  For the Cheesecloth background I used Classic Cool Caribbean.  Cardstock is Whisper White and Cool Caribbean along with Prism cardstock in Herbal Garden Dark.  Copper brads are the finishing touch.  Seems like I use copper brads almost every time I emboss copper sheeting. Finished card size is 4.25″ square.  Sentiment on the inside reads “They say it’s your birthday”. “Guy cards” are not my forte, but I’m pleased with this one. 🙂

I was tagged awhile back by Cheryl to share 7 things about myself, but just haven’t had a chance to play…I’m often late for the party on stuff, so no shock here…but I’m finally getting to it.  So here goes:

1.  I enjoy Country music.  People are often surprised by this.

2.  I have a B.A. in Social Ecology (bet’cha don’t know what that is, do ya?) from the University of Caifornia, Irvine.

3.  I was totally into scrapbooking before it was a hobby or an industry, but I completely lost interest in scrapping when I discovered stamping and card making.  I am now about 8 years (or maybe more) behind on my scrapbooks.

4.  I met my husband on a blind date that I really didn’t want to go on.

5.  I worked for Arthur Murray Dance Studio for 7 years (in my 20’s) teaching ballroom, latin, night club, etc dancing to adults.  I was the Studio Manager for the last 4 years of my time there.  It was a fabulous job!  No wonder I’m so hooked on Dancing With the Stars!!

6.  I hate clowns!  I still remembered being frightened at the circus as a very little girl.

7. I’m a people person.  I am totally energized by being with people.  I can be dead tired or not feeling well and not want to go somewhere to the point of dread, but 99% of the time once I get there I feel tons better just from being with friends!

Since I’m at the tail end of this tag  – or at least it seems so to me – I won’t tag anyone specific this time, but if you are reading this and haven’t been tagged please consider yourself tagged now! *wink*  Hope you are having a fantastic weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

The Stampin’ Up! Retiring List is causing quite the hubbub – it’s HUGE!!!  So I went through and separated out which sets I have that will be retired at the end of June.  There are a few that I’m just not ready for – Best Of Cluck (love those chickens), First in Fashion (even though I really really like that set I think I’ve only made 2 or 3 cards with it so far), Stampin’ Fun For Everyone (for pete’s sake that set was brand new last year and I just got it in January) and of course the set almost everyone is bemoaning – Roses in Winter (such a classic).

For the month of May I am going to try to use my retiring sets as much as possible – starting tonight with this Roses in Winter card.  The Color Challenge this week on SCS is any combo of pinks (how could I pass that up?) and I had pulled out cardstock for it Wednesday, but never got around to doing anything with it.  So when I felt inspired to make something with Roses in Winter and French Script this evening my color combo was already selected for me.

This card uses only 3 colors of ink and cardstock – Pretty in Pink, Pink Passion and Sahara Sand (plus the yummy Shimmer White cardstock to stamp the image panel) – it sounds like a strange combo I think, but I love the result.  The Sahara Sand ink has a greenish cast to it, so it works great for the leaves while still being “neutral”.  This is a pretty simple card. I started by stamping French Script in Pretty In Pink, then the roses and leaves and then finished with Aida Coth in Sahara Sand.  The velvet ribbon is from one of those wodden spools from Michaels and the rhinestone ribbon slide is something I got at Target on clearance awhile back.  I just got some new Stickles colors from eclectic Paperie, so I tried the Diamond Stickles here – love that sparkly finishing touch.  This card is so so so sparkly and shimmery in person!

I think this will be my Mother-in-law’s Mother’s Day card.  It’s funny because when I first thought about making this card, I thought “that set has been used so much I can’t come up with anything I’ll want to show anyone”, but you know using this set just makes me happy.  And heck, it’s pink, it’s sparkly, it has velvet and bling…how could I not show it?  LOL!!!  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to be a more consistent blogger now that SCSM4 is done.

It’s Tuesday night and I still haven’t recovered from the whirlwind weekend of SoCal StampMania IV on Saturday along with the excitement of gathering with so many friends (both local and out-of-towners) Friday and Sunday.  We had 99 attendees at SCSM4 – 115 had pre-registered, but of course when registration starts four months in advance stuff happens.  Joy and Emily and and I along with our team of 15 volunteers were at the church at 10:45 Saturday morning and never stopped until we got to dinner at Frantone’s at 6:00 for that incredible Italian buffet.  The entire day was a BLAST!

Above is a group shot of everyone.  And below is Emily and Joy and me (I’m the tall one *insert eye roll*).  More pictures in the SCS gallery.

Emily and Joy (along with Taylor) ran a make’n’take all afternoon while I spent most of the day emcee-ing at the mic.  Anyone who was there can testify how much I LOVE the mic!  LOL!  Several people expressed that they felt bad for us that we didn’t get to stamp, but very honestly I love event planning and being in charge and being on the mic.  Hard to believe, but I would actually rather do what I was doing than stamp!  And it was such a feeling of pride and accomplishment to see other people having such a good time and to have them come tell me how well organized they felt the event was.  I was on Cloud 9!!!  I was so sore all over that I could barely walk the next couple of days, but it was totally worth it!

 And how awesome was it to have so many sweet SCS friends fly in from all over the country – some I had never met before IRL even though they felt like old friends with the very first hug! 🙂  And even more are already making plans for next year!

I hope you can give me a pass for my blog abscence of the past week.  I hope to carve out some stamping time (and energy) tomorrow as I have about a million things to catch up on around here.