My Biscuits are Burning!

Good Morning :-)

Today is already looking to be several shades of wonderful. The boys are finished their chores and are walking the dog before starting their school work. Tip for homeschoolers - some nice exhausting exercise before lessens really reduces squirminess.

Plus, my butt is not on fire.

Yes, you read that right. You don't need more coffee. Yesterday around dinner time I put hot pepper cream on my back. It has both menthol and capasin so initially it felt nice and soothing. But as the night wore on it got hotter, and hotter, and HOTTER! Finally around 11:00 PM I took a look at my sore, flaming back and saw big red welts. I jumped in a cool shower only to discover it wasn't cool enough. At this point I was feeling like a Looney Tunes character - just call me Daffy. Soap. Rinse. Soap. Rinse. All it did was make the welts worse. Then I remembered that I have some cream for after at-home micro-dermabrasion that is supposed to stop chemical reactions and soothe irritated skin. So I slathered that on too. Finally around 2:00 AM the fire was quenched and my back was sunburnt looking as opposed to swollen. The pain dudes claim that hot pepper cream "distracts your brain from the pain in your back" That is certainly an understatement. I thought I'd share my experience in case any of you with sensitive skin were considering giving it a try. Also, use it very sparingly.

On my friend Tiff's blog I saw that Limelight Papercrafts is celebrating their first anniversary. Lorie posted a really cute sketch challenge that I thought I would combine with Kathi's red, white, blue and stars challenge.

Here's the sketch:


I print my sketches out - using "contact sheet" in iPhoto I get 4-9 per page depending on how detailed they are - and the peachy-pink (looks black on screen) was really hard to see at 1:00 AM while waiting for my bum to stop burning. I mistook the Limelight Papercrafts watermark for a top right corner detail. Oops. Here's the card:


Stamps: Bombshell
Paper: Basic Grey

Shameless Double-Double Dipping

Don't you just love killing two birds with one stone... or even better, four birds?

I made this card and managed to fit it into the parameter of four different challenges. It's fun and adds to the puzzle.

Some tips on double-dipping:

1. Make sure it's "legal". Not everyone approves.
2. Combining color challenges with any other challenge (like sketch for example) is easy-peasie.
3. Combining sketch challenges with embellishments or theme challenges is also a breeze.
4. Have fun. If combining challenges is making your brain ache make more cards ;-)


Here's the challenges:

Moxie Fab World Citrus Color Challenge
Rubber Stamp Chat Sketch Challenge
Emily's " Show Us Your Style" Challenge at The Scraproom

My challenge at Paper Craft Planet's Bombshell Stamps Group

I scrapped a LO

I know... boggles the mind *grin*

This was for TSR's May Sketch of the Month:


Just a reminder, the free sketch class at the scrap-room is still going on for the month of June. The sketches are awesome - you should come and play.

Victoria Case Challenge

This is a card I made for a challenge over at Victoria Case.

It is using her free image, Willy the Worm and the challenge sketch.



I'm trying to figure out how to use copic markers. They are wonderful to work with but will take practice.

A Few Good Things

I have a lot of fun news to report.

My Making Memories finally arrived in the mail and there I am on page 68. Yikes. While having my LO in the mag is totally cool I cringed a little when it was one featuring my old mug right there front and center. LOL. I was a little surprised about the journalling as I was asked to include it all and the thrust of the article was to be "new beginnings- overcoming adversity" but none of the text was printed. It was a great issue this month and I'll be sad to see Memory Makers go.

A little while back Split Coast Stampers hosted a Vegas Themed Stamp Night. I was thrilled to be chosen for VSN Honors and receive one of the high roller distinctions for my Something Blue card. The talent over there is off the charts. I am incredibly honored to be chosen. If you haven't joined Split Coast Stampers I highly recommend checking them out. They have scrapbooking too :-)

and speaking of Bombshells...

I've been asked to be a full-time Bombshell Girl and I accepted. I think my love for Shannon's images is pretty well-known and continuing to work with Bombshell Stamps is an amazing opportunity for me. So expect to see a lot more Bombshell love in the future.

I finally tried out digital stamps last night. I decided to give the Bollywood set by Sandra Dry a whirl. It is a big challenge coloring open line art and I have a lot of room to grow in my skills. That said, I thought the images were decent enough to make into a note card set - what do you think? Hair is KILLER! You just have a general hair shape and have to draw in all the texture and sections yourself. Yikes!

Happy Birthday, Johanna

Happy Birthday, Johanna. Wishing you a wonderful year full of creativity and unexpected joy!

Many Happy Returns.

Stamps Used: Cupcake Creature and Happy Birthday (JJ Mix)

P.S. I used my Stampamajig for the first time today and I don't know how I lived without it. It's so much better than "eyeballing" and we;; worth the four bucks I spent. Love it!

Hello Summer

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day and are enjoying the warmer part of the year :-)

Here are some cards I've made over the last few weeks:


Stamps Used: Little Prince and Kelly's Gnome Girls with Baby Doll


Stamps Used: Ghost Bird and Boo To You


Stamps Used: For You (JJ Mix) and Birthday Sparkle Chicklet Right