Scallop Circle Butterfly Card

Wow, that was a mouthful! LOL.

I'm back with the card I referred to in my earlier post. I was inspired by this card on the Just Give Me Stamps blog.

Of course, I didn't have the die to make that pretty butterfly, but I did have Martha Stewart's butterfly punch. I think it looks okay with the blinged up butterflies. Actually, there's a somewhat funny story about the paper. In a previous post I mentioned I scored the 12 x 12 pack of Urban Prairie paper at Michaels for something like $5. Whooo hoooo me! Well, I've come to realize that the patterns are just sometimes too large to use on some cards. So the other night I couldn't resist the urge to head to Archiver's to see if they still had the 6x6 paper pack. Obviously, they did or I wouldn't be posting the card. Actually they had two pads on the shelf. I am considering myself lucky for giving into the impulse, because with my luck the next time I mindlessly wandered over to A's, they'd have been all sold out! (That's my justification thinking anyway).

Inside of the card...obviously.

I don't think I constructed my card in quite the same way she did, but it still works.

As you can see, I used my Nestabilities, both circle and scallop circle. I even ran it through again to emboss the edges (go me!)

The pink is from the paper pack, the yellow is from Papertrey Ink (Lemon Tart, I think...the lighter one). The pink ribbon is PTI Berry Sorbet and the yellow dotted ribbon is American Crafts. The rhinestones are from Kaiser Scrapbook.

I think the card is pretty self explanatory, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask away.

I tried to create on Thursday, I really did! What I got for my efforts was a huge dose of frustration. I have wanted to try to figure out a way to make this starburst to add to a card, since I don't own the tag punches. I got the bright idea to use my Cricut and a cartridge to make the tags. Great idea, but the tags don't line up right, no matter how many times I tried. Guess you need the tag punches to make this. Sigh. Giving up on this one. Then I was going to work on another card, but even that was a bust. I can't  remember right now what I was trying to do, I just remember chucking it. LOL

I had my Cricut handy and thought I might be able to get a butterfly cut out from Walk In My Garden, for the card I've shared today, but the attempts I made weren't quite right (read-too big). I couldn't figure out the correct size and, not wanting to chuck the whole thing in the trash again, I decided to try the Martha Stewart punch.

It's a card that makes me feel happy, so it must be okay. LOL

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to come back again sometime with more to share...in the meantime, hope you have an awesome day!

Jeanne

Goin' on a Mouse Hunt...

Oh wait, the song really goes...going on a bear hunt, doesn't it? All I know is I've got that line, plus the line I'm NOT scared running through my head. LOL

I will have to come back and share the card I actually made yesterday...need to take a picture and it's too dark right now.

So, for now, I'll entertain you with the latest adventure in mouse hunting. Read on, or skip, if you are tired of hearing about mice.

I was woken up by my useless at catching mice 18 year old cat, Sarah, meowing for food treats. Yep, nothing like having a cat meow in your face early in the morning, I tell you! Anyway, I plod to the kitchen, because she has me trained that she will NOT stop meowing until some treats land in her bowl. And I see that the tube is no longer on the counter! Yep, we scored another mouse. This one looks like the smaller one. Gosh, isn't it sad that I can now tell the difference in the mice that have been making themselves comfortable in our home? This is the second mouse we've caught using the tube idea and I feel safe in saying it works! LOL I got to make another trip to the dog park at odarkthirty in the morning. When I got home, Steve asked..."Did you remember to pick up my lucky tube?" I laughed at that one. I told him we really need to pull out the bookshelves behind the couch this weekend and see if there is a nest we've missed under them. Of course, he says okay, but you need to clear off the bookshelves to move them. Sigh...I just love all the fun stuff I get to do and look forward to.

He leaves for work and we get Amy off to school. I decide that I'm not waiting for him to help me move these shelves AND I'm not taking all the stuff off of them! ha! But first, I needed to check the couch and chair again to be sure they have not decided to make the insides of the furniture their future "love" nest. I got the vacuum out and sucked up what little stuff had already fallen below the cushions.  No mice in either. Then I gingerly "walked" the bookshelves away from the wall after telling Jessica to hop onto the couch "just in case." The only things I had to take off were the scrapbooks I've got stored on a couple of shelves, they can be kinda heavy. No mice! But lots of poop! Yuck! Out came the broom and mop. And I even got onto the floor with a flashlight to peek at the couple of inches of openings at the bottom of these shelves. (remember...I'm not scared-in my best sing-song voice). Thankfully, no mice! Got that all cleaned up and then decided I was pulling out all the furniture in this room to keep the mice from having places to hide. I hadn't done this before, preferring to think that setting out all those mousetraps was going to scare them into leaving. Then I got to thinking...(I know...scary isn't it?) what could I use to seal up the gap between the bottom shelf and the floor, so they cannot hide under the bookshelves in the future? I thought of  towels, but decided that might encourage them to stay rather than discourage them. The answer comes later.

So now my room is feeling smaller and smaller as I pull out things towards the center and clean up poop (e-gads, I should have done this job a lot sooner). I pulled out the girls' computer desk and cleaned up. Then I noticed a gap in the wall by the fireplace. The guy who lived here before us did a lot of woodworking and he must have put the wood frame up around our fireplace to support the wooden mantle. Anyway, there was a one inch or so gap between the end of the piece of wood and the floor. I have NO idea what this opens up to, if anything, but... just in case... I wanted to close it up. What to use? What to use? I know! Packing tape (the clear stuff you use to seal up boxes for mailing)! So I rip off several strips of packing tape and cover the gap. Great, I'm thinking...if this is where they are hiding I may get to see them trying to get out. Can you imagine it...a little mouse tooling along thinking he's gonna sneak into this house where he's found lots of cool hiding places and food stuff, going to the opening and bonk, he can't get out and even gets stuck on the tape? Makes me laugh anyway. Then I see a 1/2 inch gap on the other side of the fireplace by my computer. I cleaned up what I could, taking extraneous items to the garage.

Then I noticed a message popping up on the computer screens...little or no connectivity. GREAT...I messed up the internet on this little (big?) mouse hunt. Another reason to just love the little critters, no? Called Steve and get the girls' computer back online, but mine is a no-go. To make it even more fun...the printer was offline as well. grrrrr I had planned on printing off some images to color while Jessica was at school. Sigh...oh well. It's not like I don't have a TON of other supplies to use, right?

Steve gets home from work and fixes the computer problem rather quickly...in my cleaning frenzy, I knocked the ethernet  box off the desk and somehow it caused a cable to go ka-put. It just needed a new cable, which Steve had in the garage. Then he decides to use insulating foam for the gaps in the wall. Only his can is so old it won't work.

A quick trip to the Home Depot netted a new can of foam and also some hardboard to cut down and fit over the openings in the bookshelves.

I didn't see any mice in my hunt today, thank goodness. But, get this...now Steve wants me to pull out stuff from under the kitchen sink to see if there are any gaps that need filling there. Sigh...it's never ending...

goin' on a mouse hunt, goin' on a mouse hunt. I'm not scared. I'm not scared....

Jeanne

Amy's Hooded Poncho~Take 3 & Other News...

I've finished my 3rd attempt at the hooded poncho. Actually I finished the other day, but didn't get to take a photo until this morning. Remember I made one for Amy, then Jess and now this because I absolutely did not like the previous ones. I figured out the mistakes I made before and this final version looks better. Still not terrific, but better. For one, it's longer! Even Amy commented on that. I still think she looks sort of like she's in a cocoon but I like the colors and the stripes. (btw, she chose to sit in the chair by my computer - don't mind the mess behind her). I'm relieved to have completed a decent looking hooded poncho, but I think I am done with this pattern! LOL

And onto other news....I have to say, it was too good to be true. As much as I'd hoped we were done with mice, alas, we are not. We had a couple of quiet days, but the other night as I was sitting on the couch, knitting, I heard an unmistakable scratching noise. Remember, we have our couch in front of two very tall book cases (that are side by side). I looked behind the couch in the open shelves, no mouse. Under the couch, no mouse. BEHIND the bookshelves....MOUSE! Erggggghhhhh. The space is maybe 3/4 of an inch between the back of the shelf and the wall! Of course he was closer to the end of the second one, which is more difficult to pull out. Drat. Re-baited traps both conventional and tube ones and so far he's not falling for them. Double drat. I didn't hear him last night, but maybe he was regrouping. I was pretty tired though, so I might have dozed off...

Why was I so tired? The girls went back to school yesterday and I was busy all day (but don't have much to show for the busy-ness). Up to and including a last minute run to the doctor's office for Jessica, who at 4:15 started wailing that her ear hurt. Got in at 4:45 and sure enough, she has an ear infection. Sigh. Go from the doctor's office to the pharmacy, but they had only just gotten the fax of the prescription. It's now 5:55pm. Amy has a Brownie meeting at 6pm. Run home quick (Pharmacy is just up the street from home and Steve got home from work before us and started a quick dinner) and eat quickly. Luckily the Brownie meeting is also only a few minutes from our house. Get there in good time. It's an informational meeting, so it only lasted an hour. Took Amy home and went back to the pharmacy to get Jessica's amoxicillin. Got home gave her a dose and then hung out on the couch the rest of the night. Thankfully, she slept all night (in the past she's been awake all night when she has an infection) and no fever today, so she went to school. No swim lessons for her though until next week, even though she tells me her ear no longer hurts.

There are so many projects I want to work on, but haven't had an opportunity to get started! Hopefully, things will start to settle down and I can get creative. LOL

Thanks for stopping by...hope you are having a great week!
Jeanne

I Felt Like Coloring Today...

Hi! Back again with a couple of cards this time.

Just to give a little update from the mouse post, I neglected to put a cover on the trash can, so I'm sure you can imagine how nervous I was driving with the mouse behind me. I don't think my back touched the back of my seat the whole time. LOL (I know that is silly, but some things you can't help). I get to the dog park and grabbed hold of the trash can, one hand at the top, one at the bottom and I FLUNG that rodent as far as I could. I saw him sail through the air and then run as fast as his little legs could carry him in the opposite direction as me. Whew! A lady noticed what I did, so I felt the need to explain. She was all kinds of impressed and will remember the tube idea. She complimented me on catching the mouse in a "humane" way. LOL I didn't explain that being humane was a coincidence. LOL

Alright, onto the cards. Yes, there are two! I do have to share a little back story to go along with the cards. I tried something new to me today. I've read about digital stamps recently on different blogs. The one that comes to mind most is Lauren Meader's blog, My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence. She's colored images that she downloaded from a site called Squigglefly. I was really intrigued, but worried that the images printed from the computer would smear, especially if you colored with markers. A very nice lady read my comment on Lauren's blog asking about that and she emailed me to assure me that she hadn't had problems with smearing especially after she heat set the images with a heat gun. This was before Christmas and you all know how sidetracked I got with the yarn projects. Well, today Lauren posted about a contest at the Pink Cat Studio blog and you could download a Lily Fairy image free from the site. I thought she was adorable and remembered what I'd been told about printing off images and heat setting. So, I downloaded and colored and this is the result:

Isn't she adorable? I'm not very good at coloring as you know, but I still think this came out flippin' cute. I even added some Prisma glitter to her wings, but you can't see that too well, unfortunately. It's pretty sparkly in real life.

I just bought a couple of Ornare templates from Ellen Hutson's store. I had a bit of Christmas money from my dad and have been eyeing these templates for a while. She had a one day sale on Monday and I took advantage of it. I was quite impressed when the package arrived yesterday. That's pretty fast service! I tried to take a close up of the piercing, but I don't think you can see it too well. I didn't want the holes to be too much, so I just used a straight pin to poke the paper. It might be just a tad too small to make the holes. Oh well. I got this and another template, but the second one must be out of stock as I don't see it on the website right now. I just used my Bic and Sharpie markers to color as well as the Flesh colored Tombow marker. The dp is from the Blossoms and Butterflies matstack. The cardstock is all CTMH, Clover Meadow, Bubblegum and Watermelon. I used a Martha Stewart border punch and a little bling to finish off the card.

When I decided I wanted to try to color a printed image my brain started whirring. I have a bunch of DJ Inkers CDs and discs full of images that I used to use when I was teaching and when I used to write the newsletter for the MOPS group I used to belong to. I hadn't used them in forever, it seems. So long ago that the stuff wasn't on my hard drive. But I knew where they were located and I brought them into the house and manually installed what I could. The floppy discs are so old, the computer doesn't recognize the information on them! Anyway, after spending a bit of time doing that, I printed off a bunch of images to color. I got one done! Here it is:

Again, I used the same markers as before. Something different I did, though, was run a piece of pink vellum thru my Snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder. To be sure it would work, I had a piece of white cardstock behind it. Then there are those little snowflakes in the corners. This was a fun find at Michaels. They have their Christmas stuff on clearance for 70% off. As I wandered the store, I came across these packages of "garland" that were originally $1.29. That's a good price for how many snowflakes and little iridescent beads were attached. Figure the 70% off that price and a package was just 38 cents! Whoohooo! I probably should have bought more than one package, but just how many cards will I truly make that would need snowflakes? Anyway, I just cut apart the flakes with my scissors and added them to the card with glue dots. I'm tickled with how it looks.

On both cards, I pop dotted the focal pieces to have them stand out just a bit more.

I hope you've enjoyed my little foray into creativity today. I sure had fun creating! It's always nice when you feel the mojo.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope your weekend concludes on a great note!

Hugs,
Jeanne

Stuff I used:
Fairy Card:
Downloaded image from Pink Cat Studios blog,
Paper: Clover Meadow. Bubblegum, Watermelon cardstock(CTMH), pattern paper from Butterflies & Blossoms Matstack (DCWV)
Accessories/tools: Oval and scallop oval Nestabilities, Martha Stewart border punch, Prisma glitter, Quickie Glue pen, Bic and Sharpie Markers, rhinestone bling. Ornare Piercing template, straight pin

Snowlady Card:
Printed image from DJ Inkers software
Paper: Bubblegum, Watermelon(CTMH), pink vellum (Hobby Lobby)
Accessories/tools: Rectangle and Scallop Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Snowflake embossing folder, Bic & Sharpie markers, snowflake bling (Michaels)

I Can't Believe It Worked!

Good Saturday morning to you! I don't have any photos to share, but I have another installment of our Adventures With Mice. Read on, if you'd like. But, be forewarned, this could get long.

One morning last week, before the girls got up, I was catching up on reading my emails and blog entries. Steve was getting ready for work. It was quiet. I kept hearing a rustling noise, which is the tell-tale sound that a mouse is out and about. I almost always hear this noise in or near the corner where the girls' computer is located (the opposite corner where my computer is located). Which is odd, since it's fairly open (no hiding places). So, after a few minutes of hearing the noise I got up to investigate. Steve at this point was sitting at the kitchen table getting ready to eat breakfast. I looked in the corner and sure enough, didn't see any mouse there, but I sure could hear the rustling. As I turned to tell Steve it was around there somewhere, my eyes scanned our fireplace, which is between the two computer corners. Steve often throws papers in there to burn. Sure enough, one of those papers was moving inside the fireplace! I quickly slammed the glass doors shut and told Steve the mouse was in there. He didn't believe it, and came to look. We could see the critter running around in there, trying to find a way to escape. Now what? I wasn't about to open the doors again, even though Steve said I should put a trap in there.

The fireplace has a door (vent?) on the floor that can be opened up and on the outside of the chimney (in our backyard) there is another door to open. I think it is so you don't have to scoop out the ashes, you could send them all down this hole when the door is opened. The thought was I should go outside (when it was light out) to open the trap doors and let the guy scurry out that way and be gone. I tried it, and got it open (using a couple of sticks). I went back into the house to see if the mouse was still moving around in there. But then I worried the open doors might invite other mice IN, so I went back out and closed it all up. I didn't see any evidence that he had jumped down (there were ashes in the opening). I figured just keep the fireplace closed and let Steve deal with it later. LOL We (the girls and I) saw no movement in the fireplace the rest of the day. Steve got home from work and decided to light a fire. Great, bbq'd mouse, if he was still in there.  Thankfully, he didn't seem to be in there anymore. Not that I know for sure, because I haven't investigated too closely, but we didn't see him run to the glass doors to get out either. We think he might have climbed up the chimney and got away.

I was relieved to think that we might be done with mice finally. But experience this year has taught me not to celebrate too soon and I decided not to gloat on the blog. Good thing. THAT NIGHT I saw another fricking mouse scampering around the living room. This one looked smaller than other ones I've seen. GREAT...they had babies! I cannot for the life of me figure out WHERE they are hanging out! Steve got up and helped me look around. Then we discovered the HOLE in the chair. UGH. Yes, there was a hole in a chair we have sitting by the girls' computer. Steve and I quickly dragged it outside and he proceeded to take off the bottom mesh. No sign of a mouse OR a nest or anything. He did find some scraps of fabric so I could patch up the hole (which I did the next morning).

Are you laughing yet? Because it is comical!

So now Steve is more involved in trying to get rid of the latest mouse. He decides we should put dog food in the traps (remember I have like 7 or 8 of them IN THE LIVING ROOM alone)! No takers on that. Then he thinks raw nuts would be good...nope no go there either. Amy saw it the other night and it freaked her out.

We were out and about most of yesterday for Steve's birthday. We went out to dinner to celebrate. As I walked into the kitchen after that, I could swear I saw something run across my counter behind the sink. Steve said he'd SEEN the mouse on the counters (but never said anything to me....ewwwwww). But of course, we couldn't find him.

So, Steve gets on the internet and is searching out ways to get rid of mice, because now I'm thinking we just might need an exterminator. He doesn't think so (they cost money, you know). So he comes across this article? Post? Something where a guy explains that he had a mouse and he caught it without a mousetrap, in an hour, no less. It involved using a toilet paper tube or paper towel tube and a bit of bait. You balance the tube on the edge of the counter with the bait on the side of the tube hanging over the edge. Underneath the tube, you put a tall,empty trash can. The idea is, mice like tunnels (guess for the furtive aspect of getting around). He runs through the tunnel to get the bait, and falls into the trash can. I was TOTALLY skeptical, but our other methods weren't working and it didn't cost a thing. Steve set it up last night and we went to bed.

At about 4am this morning I thought I heard a thunk coming from the kitchen. Wishful thinking, I thought. Then I heard the sounds of something moving around, bumping into the sides of something. I finally get up and investigate. The tube is no longer on the counter! I creep up to the trash can and in the dim light of the stove light, I saw a mouse in the trash can! I gasped and jumped a foot first. I cannot believe it worked! I gingerly took the trash can and set it outside because if that puppy gets out, I want it to get out...OUTSIDE! Then I thought, I don't want him to get out by the house, so I found a box large enough to cover the top of the trash can.

I am leery of saying we are done with mice, but I sure hope so. I think this makes #3 or #4 that we've gotten this year. If Erin's theory of when you see 1 there are really 10 holds true...then we've got a ways to go!

If nothing else, I could have more mousecapade stories to "entertain" you with this winter! I still can't believe the tube thing worked! I'm going to take the trash can with the mouse over to a dog park to dump it. It's about a mile away from the house.

Thanks for reading if you got this far!

Jeanne

Gold Star Birthday Card

Hello again! Well, I wandered into my little corner this afternoon to see if I could figure out a way to make this starburst, but without the tag punches (because I don't own them). That didn't turn out like I had hoped, although I might end up with something to show another time. I'm trying to use square punches, so we'll see what happens.

Since that wasn't working out, I thought I'd try another technique to make a card. Back in October, Becca Feeken posted this card with a simply stunning origami star. I contacted her to try to find a pattern to make one for myself. She said she was going to try to create a tutorial and I waited patiently. In the meantime I would do internet searches to see if I could find a similar star. I didn't have any luck. Then, last Friday, I got an email from Becca letting me know that she wasn't able to create a tutorial, but she did give me the information on the book she used. It's called The Origami Handbook by Rick Beech. The ISBN of her version is 0-681-32320-5. She thought it might be at my local library. Lo and behold it was and it was available to check out. Whooo hooo! I picked it up the other day and tried a sample star using copy paper. It wasn't working out at one step, so I put it aside. This afternoon I tried to figure it out again and had success. 

Tomorrow is Steve's birthday and I thought a "gold star" was in order, LOL. I'm pretty pleased with out this one turned out. (by the way, I'm trying out a bit larger of an image size. Let me know if it causes any problems on your end)

I can definitely say that this looks much nicer in person. I used a gold metallic paper for the stars (I made three) that I picked up at Michaels and it's from the Paper Company. I cut the paper into 4 inch squares so it would fit on a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card base. The brown metallic cardstock is from Archiver's (before I realized Michaels sells the same brand) and is also from the Paper Company. The center is a button I picked up at Joann's. Right now all their buttons are 50% off (til Sunday). I cut the shank off and adhered it with a glue dot. I picked up some gold self adhesive bling at Michaels in the scrapbooking aisle. The sheets have several sizes and are only $1.99, a far better deal than the $3-4 for a similar item at Archiver's. Becca shared that she uses these on her cards and that she picks them up at Michaels. Thanks, Becca! All these items were purchased before my "non resolution" took effect...LOL The Happy Birthday is stamped in Black and is from Papertrey Ink's Birthday Basics set.

I think that's it! Thanks for stopping by. I may try to get a better photo of this tomorrow, when the light is better. We'll see!

Have a great night!

Jeanne

Happy New Year & Jessica's Poncho!

Happy New Year to you! I hope you had a pleasant New Year's Eve, whatever you chose to do. Our evening was quiet as I'm not a huge fan of going out and partying it up. We were all in bed and asleep well before the new year arrived. I actually had a sort of tough mommy moment yesterday when I had to tell Amy that she wouldn't be participating in the Brownie sleepover that was scheduled to take place last night. I quite honestly had a negative gut reaction to this activity when I first heard of it. It's not that I don't think Amy could have handled it, but I really felt she was too young for this type of activity, especially amongst girls she doesn't know too well. I remember sleepovers with close friends growing up, but I'm sure I was older than 7 when I participated. Thankfully, she seemed to take the news in stride and didn't throw a fit. I made her her favorite dinner as sort of a treat. She didn't even bring it up after we talked about it and I am/was relieved about that.

2008 ended with me working on more yarn projects. Big surprise, given my recent obsession with yarn, huh? I think looking at all the different yarns available is akin to being drawn to different pattern paper! I showed you the other day the beginnings of Jessica's poncho. I was able to finish it yesterday and she's quite happy with it. I really appreciated her patience in waiting for Mommy to make it and wanted to get it done as quickly as I could. I love the color combo.

I'm now working on another hooded poncho for Amy. I must be a glutton for punishment! No, not really. I just was so NOT happy with that project (even though you all were so encouraging of my efforts) that I knew I'd try to make it again. Amy mentioning quite a few times that it was falling apart (*blush*) added fuel to my desire to try again. I'm making very good progress on it and have already discovered a couple of things I did wrong the first time. Namely, I got larger needles to get closer to the gauge required for the project (sometimes the gauge is so important to a project, while other times not so much. It's a pain sometimes to stitch up a piece for the sake of checking the gauge-correct #of stitches per inch-in this case, it was important!). The needles I used the last time were too small. And I'm actually doing the stripes, which is helping to keep me on track. There was one part of the pattern that stumped me a little the first time and while I thought I figured it out, I now realize I was wrong, wrong, wrong! I've definitely figured it out now and am happily working toward the completion of the body. You can be sure I'll share when I'm finished.

I've decided not to make any hard-core resolutions for the new year. I never follow through and then feel bad about it. My goal will be to continue to strive toward bettering myself be it through knowledge, fitness, creativity or what have you as cliche as that might sound. As much as I love blogging (both sharing on my blog and reading others' blogs) I have found that it is quite enabling. I'm such a sucker for cute projects. Given the state of the economy (and my wallet) I am going to have to strive NOT to buy up supplies, just because I think a project is cute or whatever. I am going to make a conscious effort to use more of what I already have on hand rather than buy new stuff. (oh my gosh...that might mean I have to be creative all on my own-YIKES) Of course, there will be times when I may use up a coupon for a good deal, but my decisions will be much more thoughtful and will consider more the versatility of the product I'm looking at before buying. That being said...I just got a new flyer from Archiver's with two 30% off coupons...sigh...I have seen a stamp set for Valentine's that I like there...it's SO hard to resist. I'll look at it again and think long and hard, I promise.

I'm not sure if I'll make it into my corner today. Although, it is nice and neat and needs a good messing up. We'll see how the day plays out, I guess.

Thanks ever so much for stopping by. Happy New Year and let's look forward to another year of Creative Bliss!

Hugs,

Jeanne